Rated M for mature audiences, lol. Actually, it's just to be on the safe side. I wouldn't call anything in here seriously graphic, but you never can tell what another's opinion will be so better to be cautious rather than have it pulled, wouldn't you agree? Anyway, I hope you will like my latest offering. It's not what I wanted to get up next since I am WAY behind in updating OtR, but between being sick, being really depressed and my enthusiasm for reading and writing waning a little, I've been jumping about between some fifteen different story ideas I've been working only as the interest strikes me. I do hope you all, faithful readers, can forgive me for it and have the patience to wait as I work at my own snail-like pace.
Representatives of the Big Comfy Couch of Denial have confirmed that Trixie21 has publicly stated that she does not now, nor has she ever owned The Fairly Oddparents or the characters from said show as used in her stories based on said show's premise. They further state that she also does not own the Big Comfy Couch, only the Big Comfy Couch of Denial. Heck, at this point they admit that she owns just about nothing. In fact, she doesn't even technically own the computer she wrote this story on. If she did, that's about all you would get if you did sue her for any legally plausible reason. So in conclusion, they suggest you might as well read and just enjoy the story for what it is.
Shifted
Jorgon Von Strangle smiled to himself as he gazed out over Fairy World from the huge observation window of his private office. It really was a stunning view and the day it had been granted to him when he had taken over the chief role of Head of Fairy World Military and Fairy Academy was one of the proudest of his life.
He'd sworn to himself on that day, the day he finally held sway over "The Brass", that he would do everything in his power to ensure that not only would Fairy World be protected with true courage and bravery, but that the graduates of the academy, both its civilian and its military, would be only the finest and best to ever float out from its doors.
Happily, he could say that for the most part, he was succeeding in that endeavor, having a military that stood almost unrivaled in all the realms of magic and sending out only the truest paragons of excellence in their continued companionship of those select few on earth. For that alone, Jorgen was particularly proud.
Times had changed drastically in the last several thousand years of this, the earth's newest age, and there was but one race of magical creature that maintained contact with the inhabitants of the little ball of rock. Only one willingly braved its dangers and unpredictability to appear before those certain ones in a long standing continuation of that oh so ancient of covenants. Only one truly special group of beings continued to offer their help and make their presence known to those equally special of mortals.
It was his race.
Fae, fey, faerie, fairy; though their name was changed many times by those below, it remained that they were still the one and only one race of magical creature to keep their ties with the earth strong and stay so fertilely active in the minds of the humans.
His pride in his people's firm continuance of ancient traditions where others had broken and left caused him to swell his massive chest out in satisfaction. In his mind, there was no race finer, no group of beings to be honored and paid tribute to by those below more then his race. They deserved it. And he'd made it so.
Since taking command so many thousands of years ago, becoming more than just a fairy drill instructor (a roll which he most enjoyably maintained) he'd molded and built a military that could be relied upon without question to do exactly as he asked, exactly as he needed. He'd constructed some of the finest courses of learning ever devised for the civilian sector of the academy for God Parenting, and he'd managed to keep his world under control even during the most difficult of times.
He always stood at the fore like the valiant leader he was, and though some called his methods of training a little too strict on the civilian side, no one could say that it had all been done without effect. So he ruled over his precious baby of an academy with fear and intimidation and the mighty show of flexing biceps and triceps. Everyone listened to him and everyone obeyed flawlessly. His trainees were perfect soldiers and godparents every time.
Well…almost.
There were two who never seemed to fail to throw a cog in the wheel of his finely tuned machine on an all too regular basis. Two who never seemed quite to be all that they could be. Two who either exceeded expectations, or completely landed so far below them, they would have been neck deep in the sewers of it.
And in his work office they sat at this every moment, waiting to speak about the newest tossed cog.
For an hour he'd made them wait, letting them sweat it out to build their fear and panic. Interrogation… Jorgen corrected himself. Rather, 'discussion,' was so much easier when they were terrified enough to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth as quickly as they could to hopefully get out of punishment, be it a particular level of probation and retraining, or even jail time. All they knew by that point was that they wanted away from Jorgen as quickly as possible. Nothing else mattered.
And these two were no exception to that rule. What they were exception to, was Jorgen's standard of godparent. Never was there two more bumbling, pathetic, weak excuses for godparents then these. How they had ever managed to get through the civilian program was beyond him.
Alright. Not entirely.
Truthfully, it wasn't really the 'pair' of them that was flat out awful. It was really only one of the two that had somehow slipped through the cracks and passed while obviously not deserving to. The other one of the two had actually shown themselves quite adept at the business of god parenting; from the records, showing remarkable reaction time, excellent split second decision making and phenomenal magical abilities. This particular god parent had, right from the start, shown amazing aptitude for the position, displaying all the qualities seen and unseen to someday be prominent in the annuls of god parenting history.
Unfortunately, this 'best' had at some point allied themselves with the 'worst', and while it turned out that the best seemed to raise the skills of the worst, it worked conversely as well, and the best seemed to sink a level or two as evidenced by their continuing habit of getting mixed up in the most bizarre of instances.
Jorgen couldn't see how it would have worked out like this. He had expected the better godparent to take more control of the other and thus produce far better results. But that had never happened, and so they sat in his office waiting for him.
The white haired head of the academy turned from his splendid view with a mixed measure of distaste; for his quiet time finally coming to a close, and pleasure, at the coming prospect of terrorizing the smaller of his kind. Yes, it was a chore…but no one had said it couldn't be fun too.
The flightless fairy strode across the plush carpet of the private office to a door on the other side where he grabbed the handle and swiftly opened it to his common work office. His common office was where he met those in need of straightening out. The private office was where he relaxed and took care of the truly important business of running the Fairy Academy.
Looking quickly, he saw the two fairies he had been scheduled to met sitting in plain chairs, and as he strode in purposefully, the first of the two sat straight quickly and roughly elbowed the second fairy who, with a snorted grunt, opened his eyes sleepily to look at his counterpart. A flick of the head indicated Jorgen's presence, and once seen, the second fairy jumped up to float straight and at stiff attention.
If it weren't for the fact that he was irritated that one of them had been sleeping while waiting instead of quaking in fear, Jorgen might have actually smirked at the sudden standing at attention. It seemed that at least something of his teaching had actually sunk into the idiot's head after all.
Jorgen gave a scowl instead before sitting down in his chair on the opposite of his desk. Hitting an intercom button, he brusquely said in his heavy, what humans termed Bavarian or German these days, accent, "Bring in the file I requested earlier."
The answer of, "Yes sir," came back sharply before the connection was cut.
A moment later the door to the outer reception rooms was opened and a tiny fairy floated in, awkwardly handling a five drawer filing cabinet labeled across the front 'File C&W-827.' Over to Jorgen's desk he came and with a loud "ka-chunk" dropped the cabinet onto the top of Jorgen's desk before leaving quickly.
Jorgen looked at the five drawer file, then at the two fairies with a glare that sent the two sinking in their seats slightly with nervous, apologetic half grins. That they needed an entire 5 drawer cabinet to contain all the paperwork was no big deal. That they needed it solely for these two, was.
The bigger fairy sighed before opening the top drawer and pulling out the first clipped bunch of papers within the cabinet. He flicked a page or two as if really in interest, before he began.
"Cosmo and Wanda, you were called in here to discuss your sudden removal from a child down on earth. Let me begin by asking if it is true that you were with him less than a week?"
The pink eyed pink haired fairy, Wanda, shifted slightly in her seat unhappily and Jorgen smirked to himself. Good. Guilty conscience. That always helped make a fairy so much more eager to do better the next time around. IF there was a next time around.
"Uh, well, yes sir. Two days to be precise."
"Congratulations then," said Jorgen sarcastically. "You have beaten your old record of removal by three days."
Wanda seemed to hang her head a little and her fellow godparent, her (the stars above only knew how this had happened) husband gave her a nervous glance.
"You have filled out your paperwork verifying the reason for your removal…" Jorgen looked over the sheets he held, "and I see it is checked off here that 'your presence was exposed'."
The green haired fairy suddenly smirked and muttered, "In more ways than one…"
His wife looked over at him in mortification before whispering harshly through clenched teeth, "Cosmo!" as her neck began to turn a delicate shade of red.
Jorgen arched an eyebrow.
Well, this suddenly was getting a whole lot more interesting. He'd known it was a special case to begin with, especially since these two were involved. But by the odd comment and the even odder reaction to the comment, he could tell that it was going to be something new all together even for these two.
Jorgen set the report down and steepled his hands before him upon his desk.
"Perhaps you would care to explain to me the circumstances regarding your exposure and following removal from this most recently terminated assignment."
Wanda and Cosmo looked at each other worriedly and Jorgen, from where he sat, could have sworn they'd just had a complete conversation in that one fraction of a second of eye contact.
They turned to face him again and Cosmo said, "Umm…no we wouldn't?"
Jorgen leaned forward on his desk and said in a menacing voice, "I wasn't giving you a choice."
The two swallowed nervously in perfect unison.
Jorgen leaned back again.
"Well? I'm waiting."
Wanda began to fidget in her seat again, the once diminishing red on her neck slowly rising again.
"Uh…You're sure you want to hear how we got sent back to Fairy World?"
"Yes."
"Sent back after the last assignment were on?" she asked as if trying to reaffirm the order.
Jorgen's nose twitched in irritation. How hard did it have to be to get a straight answer from these two?
"Yes."
"This last assignment, right?
A vein bean to protrude slightly from his neck as his temper quickly rose. She was stalling! She was actually daring to stall from having to tell him the truth!
"Yes," he replied through tightly clenched teeth.
"The very last one we just got done doing because we were sent back…"
Jorgen rose out of his seat to stand and lean threateningly towards them as he yelled aloud, "Yes! YES! This very last assignment! I want to know what happened that led to you two bumbling idiots getting sent back in just two days! NOW!"
The two fairies looked back at each other, Cosmo giving a nervous half smirking nod which caused his wife to really fidget in her seat as the red continued to climb up her neck and onto her face to cover her cheeks brightly.
She looked back to Jorgen with a very nervous and embarrassed glance before looking down at her hands clenched tightly in her lap.
"Well, you see sir, The reason we were…revealed…and then brought back to Fairy World, is this……
Several hours earlier…
Wanda floated into the bedroom with a happy smile, tired yet pleased over the good day they'd all had. Though it had been long and hard, it had still been the kind of day that made a fairy pleased and proud to say they were a godparent
Their new godson of only two days, Robert, had made some wonderfully thoughtful wishes this day, some including fixing a wheel that had broken on a merchant's wagon, giving food to some homeless children and their families and saving an old woman from a small stampede of cows. He'd made a few fun wishes for himself of course (what child wouldn't?), but all in all, he'd had a mind to look out for others around him as well. He was a sweet boy, occasionally naïve, but there was something thoughtful and insightful about him. He seemed sometimes to look ahead through the years and see possibilities both for himself and the world, and he, not unlike Cosmo, could fall into rambling for hours about his little dreams.
Of course this had endeared him to Cosmo right from the start and they were practically two peas in a pod. Though now there was the question of whether this would be more or less work for Wanda.
Frankly however, she didn't care. She loved her husband and she was quickly growing to love their new godson and that was all there was to the matter. What ever else happened, happened, and she would deal with it all as best as she could when it did happen and move on from it all when it was done. That was just the best way to handle it. Live only in the moment, for holding onto the mistakes of yesterday brought about resentful distrust, and jumping to correct before it had happened brought about anxious paranoia. Not fair in either case to someone who lived as in the moment as Cosmo.
Changing out of her day clothes (a wool dress dated for the period to be long, heavy and itchy as hell) Wanda pulled her nightgown on and turned to find her husband watching her from his position under the covers of their bed with a bright look to his eyes. She smiled shyly in return. A few thousand years already under the belt hadn't simmered him down in the least and when he watched like this, so quietly, so intently, Wanda was always struck with how much he seemed to still need her.
Most husbands cooled off a little after the newness of the relationship had washed down into that comfortable and easy going fit, just casually and complacently accepting that they had someone to turn to when the need to do so struck. But Cosmo, while reaching that comfortable level, still maintained a strong air of thrill at what he had and he took every chance to tell her that when he could.
And it always seemed that his need to convey that ran high even more so when things in their lives and duties were going well. Like today. In effect, good wishes made for happy kids, happy kids made for a happy Cosmo, and a happy Cosmo, well…generally speaking, made for a very happy and contented Wanda. Especially in the latter part of the evening when god parenting duties were over for the day.
Cosmo smiled as she approached the bed, his face shining eagerly, and Wanda couldn't help but think to herself how useless it was to have spent the effort to put the nightgown on in the first place when by the look on her husband's face it was just going to be removed shortly anyway. Oh well. At least he could enjoy the pleasure of pulling it off of her with teasingly slow intent. Although why he tortured himself (not to mention her as well) like that she'd never understand.
Wanda slipped in under the covers and she'd hardly had the chance to even set the blankets down on top of her neatly when she felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her close to him where he immediately settled his face in against her neck to kiss her with feathery light brushes of his lips. The combination of the caressing touch and the warmth of his breath rolling down her neck made her shiver as her flesh goose pimpled and wrapping her arms around his shoulders she giggled at the tickling sensations.
"Well someone's in a good mood," she commented jokingly.
Cosmo lifted his face to look at her with an almost wicked smirk and without a word pulled her closer yet so that the two make complete contact down the full length of their bodies. The firm feel and heat of his body warmed her immediately and what goose pimples remained from his delicate kisses disappeared instantly. Her own temperature jumped by several degrees and she was quite certain that if they stayed like that for very much longer she was going to have to take that nightgown off herself.
He shifted slightly then pushing his hips against her and Wanda's eyes widened in surprise. She'd been wrong entirely a few moments ago; assuming that Cosmo would be taking his time and enjoying his self inflicted anticipation by delaying the inevitable. Being this ready so soon though, he wasn't going to wait much longer than the time it took to take bed clothes off before they moved on to far better, more active things. Not that Wanda minded. No, not in the least.
Wanda gave him a coy smile.
"Allow me to amend my earlier statement," she said playfully. "Someone is in a very good mood tonight."
Cosmo smirked. "Are you?" he asked.
His wife pulled her hand forward to cup his cheek, her thumb running gently across his lips as she looked from his eyes, to his mouth and back again.
Invitation sent…
"I don't doubt I will be in a moment," she replied to his question.
Her husband grinned before leaning in and kissing her. And Wanda melted into it as she smiled in her thoughts.
Invitation received and accepted.
Just as she'd latterly predicted, Cosmo wasn't in much of a state for waiting and as he kissed her with quickly rising fervor, he rolled onto his back, pulling Wanda with him. His signal quite clearly established what he was looking for and Wanda, feeling more than agreeable enough to it herself, moved to lay on top of him.
His fingers roamed down and finding the hem of the pale pink nightgown, he let his hands slip beneath it and begin to work the thin material up her torso. Shifting and rocking gently to both aid in the removal of the nightgown and increase the sensual pleasure of their contact, Wanda felt his hands scour her skin, his fingertips trailing delicate pathways along her sides and igniting nerves into running lines of fire upon her.
The nightgown came up and once off from her wings she shifted her shoulders and upper torso up, pulled one arm through, then the other, and a second later, off came the nightgown. He tossed it aside and pulled her back down to him, and as his lips sought hers once more Wanda was suddenly aware of the skin of his body touching hers. This meant that he'd already had his own pajamas off (or more likely had never even put them on in the first place) which in turn meant that he'd been quite settled on having a little personal time with her even before she'd come into the bedroom after making sure Robert was safely tucked in.
Wanda pulled her head up and looked at Cosmo squarely.
"So this is why you were in such a hurry to poof off ahead of me. Getting ready, huh?"
Cosmo grinned sheepishly.
"Well, there's that, and the free show before the main event. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't late and had a good seat," he replied, cheekily referring to his wife's changing.
Wanda gave him a faux chiding look, her amusement plainly evident in her warm pink eyes.
"Getting a free floor show? The manager won't be too happy about that. Maybe I should charge you extra for the headliner now."
"Well, funny thing about that…I sort of don't have my wallet on me at the moment."
"Oh no?"
He shook his head.
"No pockets. Guess I'll have to give you an IOU."
Wanda raised an eyebrow dubiously with a smirk.
"Sorry pal. It's cash up front or no show."
Cosmo shrugged with an imploring look.
"Awww, come on baby. You know I'm good for it."
Wanda pretended to consider it for a moment.
"Oh, all right," she relented. "But only because I like your face."
"You do?" he asked in pretend surprise, then asked naughtily, "What else about me do you like?"
She again pretended to contemplate him.
"Ohhh, your hair." She ruffled it to accent her statement. "It's so green."
Cosmo smiled broadly as his eyes started to shine intensely again.
"What else?" he asked softly.
Wanda smiled back. This had gone on more than long enough and she knew her husband had reached his limit. He wasn't going to hold back much longer. He wouldn't be able to.
"Your hands."
She felt them tighten their hold on her waist in response. There was a pause before he asked in a voice still quieter yet, his tone almost strained, "Is there anything else?"
Wanda smiled.
"Oh yeah," was her answer right before she leaned in and kissed him. Cosmo kissed back before Wanda pulled herself up onto her hands and knees, looking at his fervent face as she started to shift backwards. But everything that would have been expected to happen next was pulled to an abrupt halt a second later when a loud gasp was heard. Two heads turning as one to the direction of the sound, the husband and wife looked over to see an abnormally huge pair of eyes looking in at them from their bedroom doorway.
"Robert!" cried Wanda aloud in shock, for there stood the eleven year old staring in at the two fairies in flat disbelief and bewildered. Even in the dim light of Cosmo's night-light they could see as the boy's face turned pale and it was then they realized that he was not looking at either of them in the eye. He was looking between them and turning heads to look at themselves, they suddenly saw why.
In the moments of Wanda's undressing and her pulling up, the sheets had shifted more than enough to reveal a decent amount of themselves. Especially from where Robert stood. Cosmo and Wanda looked at each other in their own horrified surprise before Wanda said, "Oh my stars!"
Cosmo pulled her down quickly to hide himself and his wife as Wanda reached to grab sheets and pulled them up and between themselves and Robert's view. They then looked over to see the boy blink once, twice, three times…
"We can explain," tried Cosmo nervously.
Cosmo's voice, acting as a shot of adrenaline, roused Robert from his stunned stupor. He looked first to Cosmo, then to Wanda, then opened his mouth wide before letting out a cry of "MOOOOM!" so ear splittingly loud, Cosmo and Wanda both jumped with yelps. The boy whirled and proceeding to run off, he continued to yell for his mother.
Wanda looked at her husband in horror-struck worry and Cosmo returned the look.
"This is not gonna' be good," he said with a shake of his head.
"Cosmo! We've got to try and stop him!" cried Wanda as she quickly scurried from off her husband and grabbed her wand from off the nightstand beside the bed. With hardly a flick, both were once more fully dressed and another flick took them both poofing to appear outside the dog house they had disguised their home away from home as. At almost the same moment, Robert came blasting out of the dog house himself and finding Cosmo and Wanda already there and waiting, he gave a fresh yell before his godmother waved her wand and an oversized disembodied hand covered his mouth quickly. The boy tried to pull the hand away but it would not be budged. He continued to try and scream through it anyway and continued for his family's tiny thatch roofed cottage instead.
Cosmo swiftly brought his wand up and in a flash of smoke, Robert was suspended above the ground in a pale pink bubble. The boy thrashed within it for almost a minute before he stopped, his panic fogged brain finally comprehending that he could go nowhere.
"Please! Robert!" implored Wanda, her wide pink eyes stark with worry. "You have to settle down and listen."
The boy shook his head stubbornly, the will to fight still roiling high within him.
"Robert, hun, please. Just calm down and we can discuss this. Calm down and I'll take that hand off from your mouth. Alright?"
Robert looked at Wanda in fearful hesitation for a moment before slowly nodding. Wanda sighed and lifted her wand, but paused.
"You won't scream will you?" she asked.
The boy shook his head.
"Alright."
Wanda finished the spell and the magical hand disappeared from over Robert's mouth.
"There. That's better, right sweetie?"
"Let me out of here," ordered Robert in a shaky voice.
Cosmo shook his head.
"So you can go running off? Nuh-uh mister. I'm gonna' keep you right here."
"We'll let you go if you listen first," pleaded Wanda. "After that, we'll let you go to do whatever it is you feel you need to do. Just give us a chance to explain."
Wary eyes flicked back and forth between godfather and godmother. Then a nod. Wanda let out the breath she'd held. He could have wished to be let free and they would have had no choice but to grant it, but he hadn't. He was giving them a chance. Or else in his panic he'd forgotten they were under contract to grant what he wanted.
"Now, I know," began Wanda slowly and as understandingly as she could, "you're upset by what you've seen…"
Robert seemed to shudder slightly, obviously having recalled the scene in more than vivid clarity. He turned his head down and averted his eyes from Wanda.
"I saw…you. You were…were… I saw…s-s-sss…"
"Something we would never have intended for you to see. Something you shouldn't even really know about until you're old enough to understand."
"I…I understand what you were doing."
Wanda and Cosmo looked at each other in surprise before both turned back to the boy.
"You do?" the godmother asked.
"Of course. You were…were…doing what we are told we should never do."
Blank looks issued between husband and wife.
"What?"
"You were…fornicating."
"Forni-what?" asked Cosmo with a clueless expression.
Wanda shot him a silencing glance.
"Cosmo, hush dear."
Cosmo huffed as he looked away like an insulted petulant child.
"Robert, what you saw…it's not exactly the same thing," continued Wanda. "First off, Cosmo and I are married."
The boy looked up for a second as though he'd found a reprieve in the mess.
"Then, you were trying to create life?"
An unpleasant flush ran through Wanda. He was trying to write off what he'd seen as a simple act of procreation. He was trying to exonerate them before his beliefs. What he didn't know though…
"No." she said plainly after a long moment. "We've tried. And…we can't."
Can't…?"
"Have children."
Robert looked away again.
"Then you were forn…"
"No," she quickly interrupted. "It's not the same thing."
"But it was! I saw you. If you can not have children then why…"
"Because it can be more than just for creating life. It can also be an expression of love. A way of sharing who two people are in a physical sense. What we do isn't strictly for selfish pleasure. It's not because I just want to. It's because I want him to know how very special he is to me. It's a way for me to make him happy. There are other things we can do to share our love like emotional and mental bonding through a life shared, open honesty and trust. But we also choose to share ourselves physically as a way of proving how much we trust each other. It is very sacred to us and something we have sworn to never know with anyone else. It is something you shouldn't have seen, and I am so very sorry you did. We must have shocked you so horribly."
Robert said nothing, nor did he look up at them.
Cosmo grimaced.
"How did you get in anyway? I thought you were asleep."
"I pretended to be falling asleep, and when…she…" Wanda flinched at his refusal to use her name, "…left, I got up and went outside. I saw your house and wanted to see what it looked like inside, so I went in. I thought it was just a 'dog's house' as you called it, but when I went to turn, I kicked a stone by accident. It should have bounced off the back wall, but it didn't. It bounced further then the distance to the wall. I thought it odd so I went over and tried to touch it, but, my hand… It just went inside of it. I was scared for a minute, but I was sure that you would not have put anything there that could have hurt someone so I went through it and I was in the other house. I heard you talking and followed your voices and that's when I saw…"
Robert said no more and Wanda sighed.
Almost a thousand godchildren already and here was the first one to get curious. Or at least the first one to get caught. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say caught them? She shook her head. It didn't matter. He had certainly been braver than any other child they'd watched so far as no other had yet been brave enough to challenge the laws of their magic.
"Well, I guess this means we're out of the dog house now," commented Cosmo.
Wanda looked at her husband.
"I think you mean 'in' the dog house, Cosmo dear."
"No, I mean out. I mean, we won't want to use a dog house as a home anymore if anyone can get into that easily. Right?"
Valid point that it was, Wanda gave Cosmo a slightly baleful look anyway. That was something to be discussed only once the first issue had been resolved.
"What?" he asked with an uncomprehending shrug of his shoulders.
Wanda sighed with a roll of her eyes before looking back at the boy who was now eyeing the pair of them with an almost wary distrust. It was a look she didn't like. It was, to her, nothing short of a mark of failure. They were, after all, sent to make him happy, not cause him more problems.
Of course the big problem on the plate at present (whether Cosmo grasped the full scope of it or not), was how to smooth this over with Robert so it would not cause him undue stress at their continued presence. She could have suggested that he wish to forget it had ever happened, but it would have only been a lie to mask the truth and with a boy like Robert, she doubted how good the spell would have been at the job. Intuitive fellows like him always seemed to hold some part of an overwhelming experience within them no matter how much 'forget it' magic they used. She would have much rather he learn to accept that they just believed differently so he could find peace with it and move on.
Wanda suddenly started slightly.
Maybe that was the key. The difference. Though they had spent almost the first whole day with the boy convincing him what was similar about them so that he would accept them, a task needing to be done with any child so they could do their job more effectively, maybe now it was time to throw that training regimen out the window and set him to consider what was different.
"Robert, sweetie," began Wanda with a soft hopeful smile. "You would never consider that a bird would be just like you, would you?"
The boy gave a blank stare at the apparent change in topic.
"Of course not."
"And why is that?"
"Well, it is a bird. It has feathers, a beak, and it flies. None of which I have or could do."
Wanda nodded.
"And what about fish. You wouldn't consider them just like you?"
Robert gave a haughty smirk at the ease of the question.
"Never. They are fish. They live and breath in water, they have gills and fins and scales."
Wanda gave another nod.
"And what about fairies then? Are we just like you?"
Taken aback by this last question, Robert could only stare dumbly.
"Come on now Robert," encouraged Wanda. "It isn't a hard question. Are fairies just like humans?"
There was another moment of unresponsiveness before the boy finally shook his head and replied softly, "No. You are…different."
"How so?" pressed Wanda.
Robert gave a little look of indecision before a now grinning Cosmo, in an effort to aid the boy, turned and fluttered his wings dramatically.
"You have wings," the boy finally said.
Cosmo turned and proceeded to point at his crown.
"And floating crowns over your heads," was the next response from the boy.
This was then followed by Cosmo deftly twirling his wand as though in idle boredom as he leaned against the front of the dog house and whistled nonchalantly.
A hint of amusement shone in Robert's eyes as he said, "And wands."
And just as Cosmo proceeded to turn himself into a dog and happily run around in circles as though chasing his tail, the boy finished off with a small smile, "And you have magic."
Wanda smiled with a final nod, pleased that the boy had finally managed to relax thanks to Cosmo. Now was the time to test whether her little reverse in technique would work or not.
"Yes Robert. Wands and wings, crowns and magic. I know that in many ways, we seem very similar and I understand that the laws of your religion and your upbringing tell you to, even when married, avoid considering the actions you caught us in for anything other then the creation of a child, but do you think it's possible that you could accept it as a part of the differences between us? Between humans and fairies? Something that makes us as unique from you as the birds or the fish?"
And there it was. She wasn't asking him to change his beliefs about the laws within his society. She was only asking that he try to accept the differences between their two styles of thinking. No more, no less. He was under no obligation to agree with the difference. Just consider accepting it was what they did.
Wanda felt a back-to-normal Cosmo move to her side and without looking could sense his worry in this moment as easily as she could feel her own. She had no doubt in the slightest either that his face showed it clearly. He'd always had that way of letting his face openly display his every emotion like a picture book. Sure it annoyed her at times for it certainly made it difficult to say no to him when he really wanted something she was not as keen to be a part of. But she'd also found it right from the start endearing as no one she knew was so honest about themselves. He, unlike so many others she'd known, never chose to only let others see what he himself wished and not what was really going on. With Cosmo, there was never a question.
Robert looked at his feet in deep contemplation before he looked up…and gave a small smile.
"I…I think I can do that. Master Thane at school does teach us tolerance for the practices and ceremonies of others not of our lands after all."
Wanda felt Cosmo grab hold of her arm excitedly as she herself smiled broadly, equally sharing his happiness at the outcome.
This was what she'd been hoping for. Though they'd been trained in the Fairy Academy to accentuate what was the same about their races to make it easier for all the children of the world to accept them, she'd thought outside the box, challenged it, and found that in this situation, in this 'extenuating circumstance', the differences could be just as important as the similarities. Was it the right decision in the over all picture? Did she have a right to present them in such terms? Certainly there would be some who would not be happy with her use of fish and birds in the comparison of differences, but at the time it hadn't mattered. All she'd wanted was to save their relationship with their godson. She hadn't intended to change his core beliefs, and she doubted she had. She'd just wanted him to be able to continue to accept them.
Wanda lifted her wand high and with a soft pop, the bubble holding Robert in the air was gone and the boy landed on his feet in the grass.
Wanda smirked gently then as she said, "You know, you were pretty brave to go exploring through a wall of magic."
Robert grinned with a proud lift of his head.
"And what is a wall of magic when I have already been made the size of an ant, been taken to another country with great stone pyramids and have even seen a star being born all in one day?"
"Well, when you put it that way, I'd say it's pretty surprising that more godchildren aren't as curious," said Wanda.
"Yeah." added Cosmo with a grin. "Because is they were, we'd probably have been caught in compromising situations a lot more too."
Wanda gave a Cosmo a stiff glare.
"Uh, I don't think we need to draw anymore attention to our differences then we already have today, dear."
Cosmo merely smiled cheerfully in return.
"Oh, but I have one more! How about the difference that we're adults who can handle staying up late while Robert is still just a kid who is up waaaaayyyyy past his bedtime right now?"
"You know," said Wanda as she looked at Robert. "He does have a point about that."
"Awwwww," whined Robert petulantly, before suddenly yawning widely.
He grinned sheepishly.
"You are right. It is late and I am rather tired. I think I should like to go back to bed. For real this time."
"Good choice," Wanda concurred before flicking her wand and poofing the three of them back to Robert's tiny bedroom, the boy snuggly under his woolen blankets as Wanda and Cosmo floated beside the bed.
"Good night Cosmo. See you in the morning."
"You got it, Robert," agreed Cosmo happily.
"Good night Wanda, and thank you for being so patient and trying so hard. I believe I understand much more now than I did and I hope that I can be as wise as you someday."
Wanda blushed in nervous embarrassment over the compliment before waving her wand to send a soft shower of glittery sparkles floating down onto the boy's face. As the very first particle of sleeping dust touched him, Robert's eyes began to droop heavily as he quickly drifted off, but not before muttering half to himself, "I wish that just once my mother were as caring as you…" and with that, the boy was sound asleep.
Both wands glowed momentarily as a wish made was granted, before Cosmo turned and eyed his wife with a mischievous grin.
"You borrowed some of Sandman's sleeping powder again, didn't you?"
Wanda gave an admitting smile.
"Only a little."
Cosmo continued to grin. "Riiiight."
Pink eyes looked back at a now sleeping boy.
"I don't normally like to do that, but it is late and he really should get some sleep."
"Before we scar him any further at least," added Cosmo. "You do know they don't have therapists here yet, right?"
Wanda gave a slight grimace choosing to ignore the statement.
"Well, at any rate, we should go to bed ourselves. It has been a long night," she replied instead.
There was a pause before Cosmo's voice came back with a slightly unsteady and definitely nervous quality to it.
"Uhhh, Wanda… I think it's about to get even longer."
"What are you talking about?" asked Wanda as she looked up to see a stark faced Cosmo staring past her in wide eyed surprise and fear.
"What on earth…" began Wanda curiously as she turned to look in the direction of her husband's oddly transfixed gaze and immediately her own pink eyes mirrored Cosmo's.
There, standing in the doorway looking utterly as dumbfounded as the two fairies, was Robert's mother staring in at them in slack jawed shock.
Wanda's expression turned to stark dread as she said aloud, "Oh no…" just before the human gave an ear splitting shriek. Cosmo yelped as he slapped his hands over his ears, Wanda floating quickly to his side, her eyes never leaving the screaming woman.
"Uh! Now I know where Robert got his scream," Cosmo yelled above the din to his wife.
Wanda made no reply. She couldn't.
She understood what had happened, and what was going to happen, even if her husband didn't. It was Robert's last wish.
He had wished for a mother as caring as Wanda. Having been stipulated that it would be 'just once,' the two had granted it having no reason to be concerned that it would break any 'too much of a good thing' rules. In so granting, the wish had come about in the form of the woman having a sudden need to wake and go check on her son. As any caring mother would, the human had crept up as silently as possible to avoid waking her son, her 'silent' approach no doubt aided by the fairies talking, and had spied them floating by her son. Superstitious being that she was, the woman was more than likely running through her head a million possibilities for the presence of a pair of floating entities in her little boy's room, and since none would be of a positive nature she was sure, the woman had chosen to scream out her fears. Not that any of it mattered. She had seen them, their presence revealed, and that was enough by the standard of Da Rules.
As if on cue to some hidden invocation of her thought of it, the giant glowing book appeared, not unlike and just as heartrendingly, as every other time in the past, and opening its pages, the book sent out the cascading waves of its porthole back to Fairy World. Wanda felt the pull of it, felt Cosmo's trap-like grip on her arm, and all she could think to do was look back at a sleeping young Robert.
That was one of the wonderful things about Sandman's sleeping powder. The recipient was guaranteed a full eight hours of sleep whether he wanted it or not. Not even an earthquake would wake them.
He was lucky though, thought Wanda sadly as she and Cosmo spiraled home. He would never know the trauma of a sudden separation and then the forced forgetting of all that had happened. At least they had spared him that much. For him, the whole sordid incident will have never been and their short time together, nothing more than the indistinct essence of a dream……
Back in Jorgen's office…
Jorgen sat rigidly in his chair, his arms straight out before him on the top of his desk as his eyes stared off blankly into nothingness a very long minute after Wanda had finished her story.
He had expected a lot of things before this little meeting had begun, but he had never once thought to expect this. The tiny portion of his brain still operational after Wanda's full explanation was aghast at the ideas that it had been presented with and it had no idea what to do with them.
This was truly unlike any other circumstance he had ever been presented with and he was not quite sure what part really warranted the most further inquiry. Of course that a human child would be brave enough to enter a fairy's disguised home and was able to do so would have to be addressed. There was no question. But the idea that he… And she… Actually did…that… And got caught at it… It was a picture he most assuredly did not need to have floating about in his imagination. Sadly however, he'd been given little say in the matter.
Jorgen suddenly shook his head as his wide eyes blinked. The images cleared momentarily, only to resurface a moment later when he tried to look at the two. He shook his head again as he ordered his brain to come back on line after being so blinded.
"Uh…this is, well…a most…unique occurrence."
He thought for a long moment, completely uncertain as to which way would be best to properly deal with it. What he really needed was time to finally let his brain accept the facts that he'd just heard while surreptitiously forgetting several particular portions for the sake of his sanity. He really had not needed to know what he now did, nor did he wish to have anyone else know about it either. Assumptions about another's personal time was one thing after all. Not that he'd ever assumed that they actually did what they were caught at. But images and admission to it? Totally different. And in his mind, totally wrong.
Unfortunately, his tight rein over the godparents demanded action and an immediate completion to this. A correction or punishment of some kind. But how to do that without alerting everyone else in Fairy World and thus creating others that might ultimately remind him of what he'd really rather forget he knew?
Jorgen cleared his throat as he clasped his massive meaty hands before him and tried to take on an air of composure.
"I think it is clear enough that you will need to find a better and safer way to disguise your home when you are active…I-I mean on active god parenting duty. And you will need to be more aware of your…uh… surroundings…when in a puny human child's home."
Jorgen paused for an indecisive moment before going on.
"As for the matter of…well…" He couldn't bring himself to say it, so circumventing it, he asked instead, "Is there anyway that you can see that this…incident…could be prevented in the future? So that it does not have to be…elaborated on in any way to the rest of the god parenting community?"
Wanda's face went bright red once more and Jorgen felt a little better. At least he was not the only one here that wasn't keen on letting the rest of the world in on the private affairs of these two.
"I-I don't know," the pink eye fairy mumbled.
Jorgen, his control over his uncertainty climbing once more, wondered briefly what it was they could possibly do to avoid the opportunity all together of such things even being instigated. He couldn't technically separate them, as one; they were classified as a god parenting team and there were really too few of those as it was, and two; he had no wish to ever consider placing Cosmo in a god parenting role alone even if he could separate them legally. He couldn't pull them from duty all together without a valid reason and the whole process of removing their god parenting licenses required a tribunal by judge which would of course once more require the divulging of the whole story again. All he could do at this point was suspend them for an indefinite amount of time. But truthfully, he needed every godparent he had at his disposal at the moment. Removing them totally even for a short period was not really a viable answer. So what could he do to lessen the chances of…that?
It was then that it came to him. The image of them sharing a bed really had far too much ability to make him feel uncomfortable. But what if they didn't share a bed? Upon considering the idea, he found the image of the two in separate beds was no bother at all to him and it was something that while he still did not care to even consider, he could tolerate far better. Besides…what better way to separate two as obviously close as these then splitting them up at night? No married couple he knew wanted to be separated from their partner at night when the comfort of the other's presence was so easily had, so why would that be any different for them? It might not stop all of that, but it was a start.
"Cosmo and Wanda, I have decided that in order to cut the risk of the two of you being discovered in the future in such a compromising situation, you should find ways to avoid the situation as best as possible when on active god parenting duty. That, including the addition of distance between the two of you at night to lessen the chances of…interaction. Therefore, I will be proposing an amendment to Da Rules which will insist on god parenting couples classified and working as a team to maintain separate sleeping arrangements."
"Hey! You can't make me sleep in a different house from my wife!" argued Cosmo quickly.
"Cosmo shush. I don't think he means a different house. Just a different room."
"You mean I can't even be in the same room as you? But Wanda! I'll never get to sleep like that. You know I need you close by. You're the only one who knows how to turn my night light on! And what if it goes out in the middle of the night? I'll be in a different room and I won't know where I am. I won't be able to wake you so you can fix the light and make it all better!" Cosmo wailed.
Jorgen looked at Cosmo in flat disbelief while catching a sidelong view of Wanda as she rolled her eyes slightly.
He smirked.
Well, at least one of them wouldn't be happy with that kind of arrangement, and if he really had the choice over which he preferred to see suffer more…
"Uh, Jorgen, sir," interrupted Wanda. "Couldn't we stay in the same room and just have separate beds? I'm sure that would make things just as…well, counter productive. And we know now that we need to be more…discreet…about our personal time. I'm sure we can make an effort to be more careful from here on out. And this way, you wouldn't really have to make it a canvassing rule. It could just be a personal rule for Cosmo and I. There's no need to make anyone else who hasn't had to go through this suffer. Besides, we've just lost a godson. If that isn't incentive to be more careful, then just about nothing else would be."
Jorgen contemplated her proposal before nodding.
"Very well. Same room, but separate beds. And I demand that it be a personal rule. This way I can avoid more paperwork than I need. I warn you though, that if anything like this should ever occur again, I will drag you both before a tribunal with no sparing of your modesty and have not only your god parenting licenses removed, but your wand privileges as well."
"Thank you Jorgen sir. Thank you very much," Wanda with an overenthusiastic smile. Clearly she understood that he was letting them off far easier than he could have. So, seeing the need to have to reiterate the precariousness of her situation a little more clearly, the giant fairy stood and towered over them menacingly.
"You had better not make me regret it," he warned threateningly, his small blue eyes turning to slits.
The two smaller fairies shrunk down in their seats.
"N-no sir," stammered Cosmo quickly. "We won't. We promise."
The tiny blue orbs flicked from Cosmo to Wanda once.
"Good," Jorgen finally snapped. "Now remove your puny fairy bodies from my office before I change my mind and send you both to a thousand years in Fairy World Prison!"
The two fairies yelped at his closing roar and at his permission to leave they poofed off post haste to finally be free of his presence.
Jorgen sighed heavily once before turning and heading back to his private office thinking all the while on the oddness of the event. Had he been tough enough on them, he wondered. Too easy? Should he have made a big deal out of it as a warning to all the other couples god parenting out there?
What it came down to was that he wasn't really sure.
Of course he couldn't really stop any couple from doing what was only natural to them. Even he admitted that it was totally within their rights to share what they did with each other as a loving and devoted couple if that was what they saw fit to do to help express their love for each other. The only ones that had any say in that kind of a change was the two of them. But at least now, they might be a little more, as Wanda had said, discreet about it when actively god parenting. The shutting and locking of doors within the home would probably become routine if he'd read the pathetic little fairy correctly.
Although to consider the matter further, he did have to admit that the incident on the whole had once more shown that to remove Wanda from all god parenting duty would most certainly be a mistake. Though the experience could have traumatized the human dramatically, Wanda, with Cosmo's help, had managed to convince the boy that it was nothing to worry over in the case of fairies and with this particular boy's societal beliefs it was certainly no mean feat. Especially when some of the schools of thought and religious doctrines down there could be so darn strict and unyielding.
Who knew? Perhaps in time the overall outcome with just this one child might spark a movement of acceptance on the earth. Maybe someday it would be considered 'alright' to enjoy such actions beyond that of strict creation. The stars above knew that the boy's initially strict outlook on physical relations could never have worked for fairies on the whole. They were just too…well…expressive in that matter. Little magical devils they were, they certainly had no issues over enthusiastically sharing the more physical side of a relationship. And apparently Cosmo and Wanda fit right in there with the rest of them.
Jorgen shuddered again.
Forgetting the idea of those two doing certain…things…was going to take some serious distraction. Perhaps something in the form of tormenting a few lower ranking fairies? He did know of more than a couple that could use a little of his special brand of pain and fear right about now. Of course he could just take a break and go visit the Tooth Fairy.
The huge fairy smiled.
Now what in the world was wrong with doing both?
Although…now the quandary become which he would much rather do first…
And that's the story of how Cosmo and Wanda came to have separate beds while god parenting. Lol.
Okay. This TOTALLY did not go the way I had originally intended for it to go. It was supposed to be short and sweet but most importantly funny. Somehow though, this just took me for a ride all its own. At twelve MS Works pages long (font ten, single spaced as usual, lol) this just took on aspects I hadn't even considered when I originally came up with the idea. This was supposed to have a more comedic feel then it does and a far less serious outcome. But I have learned that sometimes, it is better to let one's muse guide in the telling of a narrative rather than let propriety or previously set plans dictate the final product.
Somehow, it became a study in some old world beliefs, a challenging of another's perceptions and a testing of their ability to accept a difference in open-minded tolerance. Of course being a young boy, poor Richard could only see things from his overly simplified learning. Still, he did manage to overcome his initial unsure mind-set and see his way around it to become a more open-minded person.
As you can see this was not entered in my 'Over the Rainbow' collection as in my mind, it does not fit within the category. (Oh, and yes, I know I need to update OtR VERY soon.) Sure the sugary goodness was there (and wasn't it yummy!), but in the end this was about something a little bigger than just adorable old C&W fluff.
So how does a parent (or in this case godparent) handle the intrusion of a child in a particularly private moment? To be totally honest, I thankfully haven't had to go there just yet (and certainly hope I never have to!), so this has been just a supposition based on my take of dear wonderful Wanda and this earlier time setting.
As usual I'd love to know what you thought of it, and while I hope it's all good things, I somehow don't imagine too many will be thrilled with it. Oh well. I liked it. And that's all that matters in the end.
Chao!
Trixie21
5/27/2006