- I gotta ask...
Are there wings? –
Caleb broke the silence that ensued in the living room since Nick left to go pack some things from his house.
- No. Not yet, it seems. – she answered pensive – My sister's spell is wearing off, I guess. –
- So you really are a full-on fairy, with magic powers, wings, and all... –
Caleb confirmed to himself, the whole ordeal kind of still was a bit surreal to the young man
– and doesn't it graze on things or get stuck when you're out and about? – he asked remembering all the times his backpack was a hindrance. Could you imagine the nuisance a pair of delicate wings would be then?
- Sometimes – Ailrees told – but we don't have them out all the time. We don't even need them to fly. - she added.
- What's the point then? – Caleb wondered out loud.
- We can use them to fly... but we can also fly using magic. – Ailrees explained - it's just different. One way, it's physical labor, the other, it's mental labor. -
- I think I got it...
like math and sports; one you gotta think real hard, and the other you just do it, right? –
- Yes, somewhat like that. –
- Wait...
HOLD ON! –
the biker boy paused to assess what they just talked about
- So you're telling me you can freaking fly?! –
- Yes. - the fairy chuckled tilting her head to the left.
'Didn't they just discuss that?', it brushed her thoughts.
- What's it like? – he asked, curious.
And slightly enthusiastic, I'd say. Caleb's eyes widened a tad bit, and a grin began to form.
He couldn't wrap his mind around it, I mean, he'd never even been on a plain... how could it possibly feel to see the ground under your feet and float over it? To simply go, wherever you wish, without being limited on where your legs and arms can get you to?
The dainty fairy stood silent and pondering. Ailrees didn't know how to answer that.
Sure, she knew very well how it felt, but the words failed her. Talking was not her strong suit, anyhow.
- Ailrees? – he called softly.
'Why the hell did she freeze?'
- W - What? – she stuttered directing her sight to him.
- So, ... what's flying like? – he asked again.
She stared him in the eyes but didn't say anything. On her face, the expression made it obvious she was thinking of something. Words, maybe?
Then, out of nowhere, the fairy sprinted toward Caleb and hugged him. Pressing herself against him.
- You don't have to answer, you know. – he said, afraid of having hit a sensitive topic for her... he just wanted an answer, not a freaking meltdown – it's fine by me. –
Ailrees let out a sigh and hugged him tighter.
Her warm embrace pretty much forced Caleb to tighten his grasp on the dainty little fairy.
It felt so nice, the biker boy couldn't keep his arms to himself. He wasn't a hugger, but he didn't mind making an exception for her.
With his face buried in her hair,
'Goddamit is she made of flower petals?!', he wondered.
The smell of her. The warmth of her. The softness of her.
Drowning in her, gently flapping their wings, he felt butterflies.
He couldn't help his beating heart pounding faster. Oh, boy...
- Why don't you tell me? – Ailrees whispered and broke through his trance.
- Tell you what? – he inquired raising an eyebrow.
Caleb gulped dry, was she expecting a confession of his attraction?!
'Twas too damn obvious already, wasn't it?
- What it is like... - the fairy started saying and charging him up with a tingling sensation.
- ... TO FLY! –
The lights in the room flickered, and the moment she said it, like a thunderbolt through Caleb's body, a blast of magic burst from her... into him, propelling them apart.
They were blasted to opposite sides of the room.
Ailrees was thrown into the windows, making a loud bang sound.
'Oh, just great, the neighbors will love that'
it crossed his mind for a split second before he hit the wall full-on. Visits from the police must have made him that much popular already, now it looks like he's abusing a girl... the cops just left; maybe they would be called back?
Let's just hope no one saw it...
Instinctively, Caleb rubbed his head after the impact, but then he realized, it wasn't hurting at all.
'Huh?'
So, he made his way to the fairy feeling lighter than waking up after going to bed with an empty stomach.
'Weird...'
The young man went straight to Ailrees, not minding the couch nor any of the furniture, really.
It hadn't been as painless to her as it was to him it seemed, the fairy was still on the floor, covered by the long flowy curtains hanging down the windows.
Caleb unveiled her, rested her face on his hand, and gently caressed her cheek with his thumb.
'Would he ever stop finding her unconscious?', he wondered heavyhearted.
The dainty fairy slowly opened her eyes to his tender touch.
It felt nice, Ailrees could not deny it.
The care and worries he felt, were so obvious in each stroke.
"You Okay?" he asked, softly, thoughtful not to make her headache worse.
She wasn't in any pain, however. Ailrees was only stunned because of the mana loss. Of course, there was no way Caleb could have known it at that time.
Mana loss, well, think of mana as something like blood. It runs through your veins, bringing energy to your every cell, and if there is a sudden loss of it, you'll feel weak or even faint, right? The same goes for mana, the very energy drawn to create magic.
Ailrees was going to answer his sweet inquiry when she looked up at him. But instead, she gawked into his eyes and giggled.
- What? – Caleb asked, confused.
The fairy giggled a little more finding the situation terribly funny,
then jumped at him.
He grasped her trying not to let her fall and they ended up on the other side of the room.
She kept laughing and he was still clueless about the humor.
- Whaaat?! – he asked again, grinning out of confusion.
She could not believe him. Was he really that oblivious?
She looked him dead in the eye and gave him an expression like 'YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?!'
- Look down, you silly! – the fairy said bubbly.
-W... Wha... WHATTAFUCK!!! -
he yelled when he saw he wasn't touching the ground and jumped back in fright, which made him go up and bump his head on the hanging ceiling light... luckily his ceiling was pretty high, otherwise he might've hurt himself. Good thing, too, he didn't have any ceiling fans... Could you imagine?
- I'm - I'm Flying?! –
he exclaimed almost unconvinced, but the more he thought he couldn't deny it.
He was flying, floating, effortlessly weightless.
The young man felt lighter than a feather, moving around like one who swims in the open air trying to figure out how it works.
Heavy strokes and laborious maneuvers only to spin on his own center most of the time. A funny scene to behold, no doubt, Caleb looked like a puppet strung by a drunken puppeteer.
It took him a while until he remembered Ailrees mentioning that magic flying was a skill of the mind, not the muscles.
So, the biker boy started imagining himself flying around his living room, and suddenly, he was speeding like a pro.
Stopping... not so much so.
- Oh, easy there! – Ailrees cautioned
– I rather you didn't have bruises all over... - she said grabbing his wrist and pulling him to the windows - I can't heal you again so soon... - she told in a soft voice, coyishly.
He saw his reflection on the glass and realized the shiner Connor gave him when they met was gone. Without a trace. As well as other minor scratches and bruises he had sustained recently. Come to think of it, even his bad knee, which he broke years before crashing his bike, felt better.
- What's this sorcery? – the young man inquired jokingly,
by now it was sinking in that magic was certainly going to be a part of his everyday life
- What can't you do, doe? –
She chuckled.
What couldn't she do?
she'd been pondering, too.
- It's funny to you, isn't it? – he teased - Playing with me?
Having me question what's real and what's not... What's next? You gonna set me on fire? –
he brushed it off joking.
Although, it wouldn't be such a wild thought. He'd already seen, and felt, first handed her mess with the rest of the elements, like grass, water, electricity, and air(!)
Come on, ... fire was sure to come at some point.
Per usual, she didn't answer, not with words at least.
Ailrees smiled at the young man in a way that was obvious she enjoyed playing with him. He was right.
The way his eyes sparkled when he'd burst from one polar to the other, filled with life and the thrill of mortality. Honestly, the wicked fairy just could not get enough. If there weren't bigger issues in her life, she would love to just go about and show him the world, all he'd never seen or dreamed of, and play with his emotions day and night. To see and feel the depth of his fears and joy, and share them.
However, at that very moment, the way his eyes sparkled like a child's seeing something for the first time, reminded her of someone. Someone she missed dearly.
Blunt-stroke by memories, Ailrees smile quickly dimmed, and her eyes turned somber.
She stepped on the ground.
Flying wasn't fun anymore.