Title: Fae Beer Bad (or the one fic where I torture Trick)
Rating: T for mature language, Gen
Summary: A crazy fae on the loose. A bounty hunter on his heels. The poor slobs they meet, minding their own business at a bar.
Disclaimer: Lost Girl is not mine. I'm not looking to profit from this story, it's all in good fun. Please don't sue.
A/N: An AU take on the episode Original Skin. Just a weird plot bunny that wouldn't leave my head. I totally changed Raynard's powers blah blah - or actually, since the show never mentioned what Raynard's powers were (aside from mentioning he's a deranged anarchist), I guess there's not much harm done? I just changed the whole premise.
Warning: this is unbeta-ed. Also, gratuitous use of "magic" for plot purposes. Please hang your disbelief somewhere safe before proceeding with the story.
Also, italics in dialogue means using a different language. I seriously didn't want to research/translate languages and butcher them.
One last thing, I'm sorry for my attempt at "southern" accent.
When Trick planned Bingo Night, he was already desperate. So the fact that only seven people came in (five of which didn't count as they were his friends and hung out at the Dal almost every day) didn't really surprise him. What was surprising was the Dark fae bounty hunter that had come in swaggering and had stared suspiciously at the near-empty place.
He asked for the book and simply signed himself as Woods before ordering a beer and asking (more like grunting) for directions to the bathroom. Trick had known of his reputation, all though he'd never met the man until today, and he felt slightly wary of his presence in his pub. However, before he could ponder on Woods' presence the rising, angry voices from Dyson and Ciara's corner distracted him effectively. And then Lauren came on, looking intense and frustrated, asking about dark shamans.
He didn't notice Woods come back or that Bo has somehow managed to bump into him, spilling the beer in his hands to his shirt. He only noticed, (along with everyone) because Woods had begun yelling and cursing a blue-streak in his gruff, southern accent and Trick tensed in anticipation of a fight breaking out.
Fortunately, Woods only stomped back to the bathroom and left the succubus to shoot him an irritated look. Trick debated on whether he should try to comfort Bo or ignore the whole thing for now. Finally, he decided instead to follow Woods and make sure the bounty hunter knew his non-violence policy.
He found the bounty hunter muttering what sounded like dark threats under his breath as he attempted to wash his shirt awkwardly from the small sink. Woods shot him a glare when he caught sight of him in the mirror and asked, "What're you looking at, old-timer?"
"I just wanted to warn you, since you're new to this waystation, that I don't condone violence of any kind," Trick said firmly.
Woods threw him a disgusted look. "Ah backed down, didn't I? That's why ah'm here 'stead of out there poundin' that righteous bitch's face on the floor."
Trick suppressed his irritation at the bounty hunter's description of his granddaughter (who didn't even know they were related) and only said, "I appreciate that. If you have need any help finding your quarry, I'd also be glad to assist." Anything that would take him out of his territory faster.
Woods merely grunted back at him and Trick took that as an agreement. He was about to leave when he heard the loud crash echoing from the bar and froze, meeting the bounty hunter's tense gaze in the mirror. They both snapped out of their surprise in a second and ran back to the other room just in time to see a man in white clothing trying to run away.
"Stop right there!" Woods yelled and Trick saw him throw a spinning ball of energy to the fleeing figure. The energy ball hit the other man's back dead in the centre and he screamed in agony before falling to the floor.
"Got ya, ya crazy bastard! Bounty's mine!" Woods said chuckling in glee. They both walked towards the fallen man and Trick finally caught a glimpse of the runaway felon.
"Raynard?" He turned towards Woods, who had begun to cuff the deranged fae and yelled, "You never told me you were hunting Raynard!"
Woods gave him an irritated glance. "Never got the chance now, did I? That bitch spilled mah beer and all."
Trick shook his head in disgust. "I didn't know he had escaped," he said, changing the subject.
"S'not like the Dark will admit to the embarrassment of letting someone like this psycho go free," Woods muttered, double checking that his quarry was indeed properly secured and hog tied. "After all, he was supposed ta be in a maximum security prison and all." He paused for a while to admire his work and then looked at Trick. "Ah heard, he strangled his Gorgon psychiatrist and stole some of her blood even..."
"Gorgon blood?" Trick interrupted, suddenly alarmed. "But that's..."
"Ah know, but don't you worry none now. Seems he never got the chance to use it," Woods said, brandishing an injection still full of the stolen blood. "Just found it lying in his pocket."
Trick released a relieved breath. Gorgons used their blood to literally get under the skin of their victims and essentially take over. They learn everything there is to know about a person and feel everything that person felt. A Gorgon psychiatrist actually wasn't a bad idea as they could easily find the root of a person's problems but having their blood stolen was definitely another matter. If Raynard had tried to inject it to himself and to any other person, he would be able to take over that person...
Trick absently glanced at the keg rooms and noticed that the door was ajar. Frowning a little, he found himself walking over to glance inside and froze in dread when he saw an injection sticking out of the keg's opening. "How much blood did he steal?"
Confused but curious, Woods followed him and immediately saw the predicament. "Aww fuck that shit-eating loon with his own fucking arm!"
Beside him, Trick winced as his ears burned from the crass cursing.
Woods stomped back to the bar still yelling, "If'n everybody drank the beer then there's no tellin' which one of them houses Raynard's spirit now, don't it?"
Trick was still trying to absorb the possible effects of Raynard's 'attack' and only half listening to the furious tirade of the bounty hunter but he immediately noticed the sudden silence and the small, "Oh" that followed. Afraid that something else had happened, Trick hurried out to the bar and stopped short.
"Well, I guess it's safe to say, Raynard here didn't use the Gorgon blood after all," Woods commented.
Trick barely heard him over the rushing of his blood. For a second, he thought he was going to faint and it was only his pride (I am the bloody, Blood King! I will not swoon like a maiden!) that saved him and helped him hold on to his consciousness.
He wondered how he missed seeing all this the first time.
Because on the bar proper were his friends, lying unconscious on chairs and on the floor. And not only that, they... weren't themselves anymore.
"That psycho musta used his own blood. Always out to sow chaos, ah guess," Woods finished.
Briefly, Trick remembered Raynard's fae powers. Like the Gorgon, it was based on his blood. Essentially, if he could inject his blood into another person, whatever he willed would come true temporarily. In a sense, he was a very powerful fae and he could do anything to a person infected with his blood. He could poison them, make them tell the truth, change their appearance or their affections and loyalties. As far as Trick knew, there wasn't much that Raynard couldn't do. Much like his powers actually, now that he thought about it. But not really because Raynard's was only a... wanna-be.
Because unlike Trick's, Raynard's powers were limited. He needed to get a significant amount of his blood into someone (a drop or two wouldn't do it) and, perhaps most importantly, there was a time limit to the effect.
"How long," Trick stuttered a little, trying to regain his speech, "do you remember how long his powers take effect?"
"Four or five hours? Ah'm not sure. Plus he's weakened right now, so maybe less?" Four hours didn't seem too much but it was enough to cause chaos and that was what Raynard fed on. (Normally, causing chaos wasn't an offense that required detention in a maximum security prison but Raynard had gone to the extreme and began killing some of his victims and targeted high profile fae instead of humans.)
Inwardly, Trick tried to feel relief but he noticed that his friends had started to stir and he could only feel trepidation filling him.
Woods noticed the same thing because he began to walk back to Raynard's trussed up body. "Well, good luck there, old timer. Got to get this one back to prison. And pick up mah hefty bounty."
He easily slung the body onto one shoulder and started to walk away. Trick had a half mind to call him back for help but he stopped himself. However, Woods did stop and turned back to him, "As mah thanks for helping capture this one so easily, I won't take down the barrier outside just yet. So's you can contain this situation and not let anyone interfere. Should wear off in about three, four hours or so."
"Barrier?" Trick asked in confusion but Woods had already left and he was alone.
He glanced back at his friends again, taking their changed appearance.
Trick didn't know what Raynard was thinking and what his plans were when he wrought this magic. Perhaps he thought that if everyone were vulnerable, he would be able to escape easily? Trick suddenly remembered and was thankful that Woods wasn't able to drink his beer.
And then he heard another one stirring and concentrated on his problem.
What was he going to do with six de-aged people?
Because that was what Raynard willed all his friends into: younger versions of themselves.
(The eldest "child" of which only looked like she was fourteen years old. Trick fought off another desire to faint.)
xxx
Trick only had about ten minutes left to prepare before the first kid, er, person woke up. He put blankets to cover all of them and grabbed extra clothing since it became clear that their own clothes no longer fit with their current bodies. (Trick didn't know if he should be glad that his clothes were more appropriate now or not.)
"Who... where am I?" a hesitant voice asked.
Trick hurried over to the attend the first one to wake up, slightly amazed to hear the Old British language again after almost 500 years.
It was Ciara and she looked about fourteen, innocent, confused and frightened. She was tall for her age and her original dress, while loose now, wasn't indecent as the others. When she saw him, she was quick to stand up and assume a fighting stance.
"Identify yourself, good sir!"
Despite the situation, Trick almost smiled at that reaction. Even as a child, Ciara was already showing potential and that was probably why she was a great warrior today.
"Calm down, Ciara. I am a friend," Trick said soothingly. He had deliberately spoken in English to test a theory: he thought that while the others have changed in appearance, they still retained their memories and abilities.
Ciara looked confused for a moment before she relaxed. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, sir. You seem to know me and yet I cannot say the same for you. Nor where I am and how I got here." She started to walk slowly, looking at her strange clothing and her surroundings with interest. "I remember falling asleep in my father's house last night."
Trick cleared his throat. This is the part where he'll have to be careful. They were children right now and he, well, he was their sole guide and protector. They would have to trust him, to make things easier for the duration of the spell.
"My apologies, child. My name is Trick. As for the reason you are here, a chaos fae had cast dreadful magic on all of us, I'm afraid."
"A chaos fae?" Ciara looked both confused and alarmed.
"Yes, he..."
But before he could continue with his made up explanation, a groan interrupted him.
"Oh, my head!" this time the voice was of a young male and he was speaking Spanish.
Trick headed over to where Hale had been resting and watched the boy struggle with his clothes for a moment. "Here," he finally offered, handing the embarrassed boy, a pair of shorts. His original shirt would make do for the moment, as long as he rolled up the long sleeves. He also passed some clothes to Ciara, who took them readily but didn't seem to know how to work them out. (He didn't even know if they would fit properly on her longer frame.)
Hale looked like he was eleven years or so and chubby in a still-filled-with-baby-fat-and-therefore-looked-huggable kinda way. Like Ciara upon waking up, he was confused and panicky.
"What is this? Where am I? Who are you? If you have kidnapped me, I assure you my Grandmama will have your head!"
Trick held up his hands and slowly lowered them. "Calm down, Hale. My name is Trick. I did not kidnap you..."
"A chaos fae performed magic on all of us and transported us here!" Ciara finished for him exuberantly. It seemed that she had forgotten her earlier mistrust and was now looking quite eager for this adventure. Trick noticed that she had abandoned the new clothes to a nearby chair.
Hale looked horrified for a second and then his face turned sour. "A chaos fae? I don't believe you! You're trying to fool me! You're actually kidnappers, aren't you! Father warned me about your kind!" He started to look around and saw the other sleeping children sprawled on the bar floor. "Look! There are other kids here! You kidnapped all of us!"
Ciara looked perturbed as she glanced at the other children and began inching away from Trick.
Trick felt cold sweat dripping down to his back and tried to remain calm. In retrospect, the whole thing did look suspicious.
"I assure you, Hale that I did not kidnap you. What I told Ciara was the truth. One moment I was minding my bar and the next, you are all here, unconscious. I am as much a victim of the circumstances as you are," Trick said.
Hale looked confused at first (probably by the big words he had used) but his eyes brightened. "Prove it! And stop calling me Hale! My name is Haley!"
Now Trick was at a loss, how was he to prove... Oh.
"The chaos fae had trapped us inside this bar. If you go outside, you will see a barrier and it will let none of us pass."
"But... " Hale scrunched up his eyebrows in deep thought. He was still fidgeting with his clothes and playing with his sleeves. "How do I know you didn't make the barrier yourself? You could just be pretending to be trapped here with us!"
Trick inwardly cursed Hale's impeccable logic. Weren't eleven year olds supposed to be stupid and trusting? Still he cleared his throat and gamely tried to project nonchalance and innocence. "Yes, you're right. The barrier isn't enough proof but I don't know what else to do. For the meantime, you may ..." He stopped short with a barely stifled squeak of alarm when he saw what Hale had discovered on his clothing.
"Look! I have a gun! And a golden seal thingy!" Hale said joyfully, brandishing his badge and the weapon around willy nilly. Ciara looked confused and was muttering the word pistola.
"Hale! Stop waving that gun around!" Trick barked, unable to help himself. His sudden shout startled the two children and Hale automatically obeyed, placing the gun slowly on the floor. "You should know better than to play with a dangerous thing!" Trick continued.
"I'm sorry," Hale muttered.
Trick's harsh look softened and he said, "Well, if you promise not to treat it as a toy, I won't take it from you."
"You'll let me keep it?" Hale asked hopefully.
"Yes. That should show you that I trust you and that I am innocent. I wouldn't be a good kidnapper now if I let you have weapons, would I?"
Hale thought it over for less than a second. "Yes! Thank you, Brick!"
Trick winced and sighed. "My name is Trick."
Hale was no longer paying attention, already cooing at his gun. Ciara had wandered over to his side to also gawk at the strange piece of weaponry.
Meanwhile, another child had woken up, listening silently in the background and managed to startle Trick so badly when he leapt up to face him.
"Hello Trick! I'm Dyson!"
"Agh!" Trick yelled out, clutching at his heart. "Dyson!"
This time Trick identified the language as Gaelic but before he could even reply properly to Dyson (and repeat the same story/explanation again), the boy had already joined the others to look at their new toy.
"Hey guys! I'm Dyson!"
Dyson looked like he was twelve or thirteen, and oddly enough, had long, brown hair that reached to his shoulders. He also didn't seem disturbed that he was running around with an oversized shirt and no pants on.
"Dyson," Trick called out, "Put on some shorts."
Dyson wandered back to him and looked at the new clothes curiously. He took them and brought them to his face, sniffing carefully.
"It smells like you," he finally said, after a couple of deep sniffs.
"Yes, because it's mine. I'm lending them to you for a while because your clothes no longer fit."
"Because the chaos fae messed with them too?" Dyson asked, cocking his head to the side as he inspected his large clothes.
"Yes," Trick said, simply agreeing. And then he had to help Dyson put on the shorts properly; the kid was surprisingly hyper and couldn't seem to stay still, almost tearing the clothes in his haste to put it on.
When Trick turned back to the check on the remaining children, he was again surprised to note that one more child was already awake. Lauren was silently clutching at her blanket and seemed to be watching the proceedings calmly.
"Lauren, you're awake," Trick said, his voice becoming soft and careful again.
Lauren frowned a little and then nodded, "Hello, Trick."
For a moment, Trick thought that Lauren had retained her present memories but then the girl (who only looked about eight or nine) ducked shyly and added in a soft voice, "...sir."
Trick sighed in disappointment but rallied quickly. "How long have you been awake?"
Lauren shrugged a little and pointed at Hale, "Since he started screaming stuff. I couldn't understand what he was saying though."
Now that Lauren brought it up, Trick began to be concerned about the language barrier. Obviously, the... "older" fae children still understood English but they all preferred to speak in their own birth language for now. And at this point, he wasn't even sure if they could speak English if they did try. But he might have a spell for that, if only he could remember which book it was...
"Whoa, who put the face paint on the baby?" Ciara asked, having now wandered over to where Trick had put Kenzi temporarily: on top of the pool table.
Dyson eagerly joined Ciara's side to take a look for himself. "Is she a sacrifice?" he asked in a hushed but awed voice.
"No," Trick said immediately, walking over to them to take a glance at the "baby" himself. Kenzi wasn't really a baby but she was clearly the smallest of the bunch, perhaps only two or three years old.
Trick was already formulating another theory that Raynard's magic didn't simply strip the others of an X number of years but made it proportional to their current ages. Ciara and Dyson were eldest and nearly the same age and therefore, they were the "teens" in this situation. Kenzi was the youngest and therefore became the "baby". Trick didn't know whether to thank the higher powers that the magic ignored the human and fae aspects because either Lauren, Bo and Kenzi might've disappeared completely or Ciara, Dyson and Hale wouldn't be so affected.
Trick pushed Dyson away, who had taken to poking the baby's cheeks gently. "If she's not a sacrifice, then why's she have face paint? She's not a warrior like my Da. He says they're only ones who get to have face paint when I asked him." Dyson reasoned out.
Trick sighed again and walked to the bar to grab a napkin, wetting it carefully before making his way back to the pool table. The so called face paint was actually Kenzi's makeup before she transformed and now looked strange and garish on her younger version's face. Trick painstakingly removed the makeup, trying not to wake her up but his efforts were mostly useless. On both counts.
Not only did Kenzi woke up, he also only succeed in smearing the thick mascara on her cheeks. Kenzi now looked like a weird dark goth baby.
Her startled cry at the abrupt wakening, grew in volume and pitch, as she began to throw a full blown crying fit. Trick felt so helpless that he was tempted to cry with her but was saved by a crooning Ciara who deftly took the baby in her arms and began to rock her slowly in comfort.
Kenzi's cries became whimpers until they fully subsided and she said in a clear voice, "Water, pleez?"
For a second, Trick's brain stuttered and it all sounded like mumble gibberish before he registered that Kenzi was speaking in Russian. (Give him a break, translating three, now four, different language in less than 20 minutes was taxing even for him.)
Ciara seemed to have understood it anyway and was already moving towards the bar to check for water.
Trick glanced at the others and saw that Hale and Dyson had managed to communicate (Hale didn't speak Gaelic but they discovered that Dyson understood Spanish) and was playing quietly in a corner while Lauren had asked for the bathroom's location with borrowed clothes in her hands.
That only left Bo, who had yet to wake up. (Well, Aefa always did like to sleep in when she was younger, Trick remembered fondly.)
For a second, he allowed himself to imprint the image of his young granddaughter sleeping innocently and peacefully despite the general noise of the other children, in his memory. He missed all of this. From her very birth and the next 28 years, Trick hadn't had the chance to bask in being a grandfather and spoil this princess. He was already moving towards his living quarters to grab a camera, when Bo finally stirred and he became aware of his unconscious movements.
Trick watched Bo wake up slowly but pretended not to notice as soon the girl opened her eyes as to prevent things from being awkward.
"What the...? Where, who...? Bo yelled, seemingly not able to decide which question to ask first. She grabbed her blanket as if it was a shield and held it against Trick.
Everyone had turned to look at Bo interestedly and the extra attention brought a flush of embarrassment at the seven? eight? year old's cheeks.
"Calm down, child," Trick tried again, "My name is Trick. You are safe here. I promise no one will harm you."
Before he could begin his explanation, a bouncy Dyson had already made his way to Bo and began sniffing the girl.
"Hey there!" he yelled out, "I'm Dyson!"
Bo looked at him in bewilderment and began to scrunch her face at his sniffing. She suddenly pushed him away and the unprepared Dyson stumbled onto his butt with an affronted expression. "Eww, get away from me!" Bo cried out.
"Hey! You pushed me!" Dyson protested.
Trick went over quickly to intervene. "Dyson, she just woke up. I don't think she appreciates you sniffing at her so suddenly."
"But..." Dyson looked up at him and seemed like he wanted to argue but then something else caught his attention, "Hey, she's wearing face paint as well! Is she the baby's clan? Her sister, maybe?"
Trick sighed deeply and merely shook his head, "No, she's... well, actually..." And then he stopped himself. Bo didn't really know Kenzi right now and to claim that they were almost sisters wouldn't fly well with the girl.
"Who are you people? You... you, oh my god!" Bo gasped dramatically, "You're kidnappers!"
Trick fought the urge to slap himself as he heard Hale snort in the background.
"No, Bo, we're not kidnappers," he tried to explain, yet again.
Bo glared at him with blatant disbelief and was about to say something when something else occurred to her, "Wait, who's Bo?"
And again, Trick felt that cold sweat pouring down his back. He knew that his shirt was probably drenched already, underneath his vest. "Uh... I thought that was your name?" he offered lamely.
Bo shook her head and still looked confused, "Who says? My name is Beth. Beth Dennis."
"Oh."
"Hello Beth! I'm Dyson, that's Ciara," Dyson interjected again, pointing to the others as he named them, "and that's a baby and that's Hale and that's Trick and that's um... Laurie," he finished uncertainly, pointing to Lauren who had just come out of the bathroom. Trick saw that her hair was now in two braids, the ends falling on each shoulder.
Of course Bo didn't really understand any of that but she recognized the names and began to look less wary. Now she wasn't sure if this was a kidnapping or not since she'd never seen children kidnappers before and well, aside from the initial shock of waking in a strange place, this wasn't too scary.
"I'm Lauren," Lauren corrected. She didn't understand any Gaelic either but she knew that Dyson managed to butcher her name.
"I'm Dyson!" Dyson offered again.
Trick sighed silently. Dyson's enthusiasm was becoming exhausting. And he was supposed to be a wolf! Why was he acting more like a golden retriever puppy?
For the nth time that day, Trick questioned what wrong he did that he was being punished right now. And then suddenly, he just felt tired and lonely. Here were his friends and yet, they're not. While it was a... privilege, to see them this way, he longed for their adult versions.
"Hello, um, Dyson," Lauren said, interrupting his dark thoughts. Trick noticed that she was inching closer to Bo, Beth, and was momentarily curious. Dyson was beaming and chattering in Gaelic, mostly about all the things he'd done since he woke up on the bar floor and a little bit about what he had been doing before he fell asleep at home. He didn't even notice that Lauren wasn't really paying attention to him anymore and was instead looking at Bo, Beth.
"Hey," Lauren offered softly. "There's extra clothes over there," she pointed to where Trick stacked the clothes on a bar stool, "and the bathroom's over there if you want to change."
Bo, Beth, (oh what the hell, he'd stick with calling her Bo) looked confused again before she realized that she was wearing bigger clothes. "Oh my god, what happened to my clothes?"
Trick was about to mention the chaos fae magic again but he stopped himself. At this point in their lives, both Bo and Lauren had no idea that the fae existed. He would have to be careful in broaching that part, although he was sure that being children, they would be more inclined to easily believe in "fairy tales".
In his hesitation, Lauren answered for him first. "I'll tell you later."
"Oh, okay." And then she dragged herself and the blanket to the bathroom, stopping occasionally to shoot suspicious glances at all of them.
xxx
Once Bo was done changing (Trick noticed that she managed to clean her makeup off.), they found themselves sitting around a table in silence. (Well, it was silent, if you didn't count Dyson's noisy fidgeting and Kenzi's mild babbling in a mixture of Russian and English - which near as Trick can translate was mostly commentary on Ciara's hair, Dyson's hair and Hale's hat, which the boy kept on.)
Trick herded them all around the table to explain, one last time, what "happened" to them, reassure them that they were all safe and more importantly, that everything was temporary. When he was done, he couldn't help but glance at the wall clock and despaired that only an hour and some seven minutes had passed since that psycho fae did his magic. He still had almost three hours to endure.
"Oh my god!" Bo yelled out again. (Trick had figured out by now that that was her current favorite phrase.) "Magic is real?" She was seated beside a silent Lauren, who only looked thoughtful at his words.
Kenzi seemed to think this was funny and began to giggle in Ciara's lap, clapping her hands excitedly. "Hi!" She began to reach for Bo, lunging out of Ciara's arms.
Even with her "hysterics", Bo couldn't resist smiling at the baby and waving back at her. "Hey there, baby."
At that greeting though, Kenzi visibly pouted and stopped reaching out, crossing her arms instead in annoyance. "M'not a baby! M'three!" she protested in English and held up an arm with two fingers up.
"That's only two!" Hale commented, a little mockingly, Trick thought. But since Kenzi didn't know Spanish, he was soundly ignored.
Ciara fixed Kenzi's fingers helpfully and murmured, "That's three." Kenzi looked confused at what Ciara had said but didn't protest the change.
While Trick was watching all this, it occurred to him again that he needed to at least try and find the translation spell. Although Ciara, Dyson, Hale and Kenzi proved that they knew English, they were still limited in their communication and Trick didn't cherish the thought of translating for everyone (even if it was only for the next three hours). He did notice that Ciara and Dyson pretty much understood every language, although they still replied in their native tongue.
"So, uhm, magic is really real?" Bo tried again and Trick remembered her earlier question.
He ignored Hale's quiet "duh" and Dyson's furious nodding and gave his granddaughter a small smile, "Yes, B-eth," he stuttered, "Magic is real. In fact, I can show a little demonstration if you like?"
"You can do magic? Oh my god, that is so cool!" Bo said, her eyes growing wide in awe.
"You are a mage, sir?" Ciara asked curiously. After her initial distrust, Ciara seemed to have mellowed out and was content to play nursemaid to the baby. Trick hadn't really known Ciara as well as he knew Dyson, but he was familiar with her former role as mentor and healer of Dyson's old pack so he wasn't really surprised by this behaviour.
"Magic!" surprisingly, the one who yelled out in glee was Hale. Their hyperactive Dyson was actually frowning at him and Trick soon learned why when the wolf boy offered his sage opinion. "Magic is for those who can't fight properly and weak. Like women or uh, old people."
Before Trick could explain otherwise, Dyson was already slapped in the head by a glaring Ciara, "Idiot! Magic is a tool, like a sword is a tool. A mage is no less powerful than a warrior if he has learned to hone his craft better," she stated with all the self importance of someone who had learned to recite their lessons perfectly.
Dyson was glaring at Ciara now and the rest just seemed confused but gamely trying to follow the conversation anyway, as if it was compelling TV drama.
"Enough," Trick said, putting up a hand between the two to break off their impromptu staring contest. He chose to continue his explanation to divert their attention. "I am not a mage per se, but I can do small magics. I thought that I could do a translation spell to help all of you communicate better."
"Oh, are you going to uhm, make a Babel fish?" Lauren asked, looking animated for the first time.
"I'm sorry, what?" Trick asked, confused.
"I read about it in Hitcher, uhm no, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and there are aliens and they all speak a different language so Arthur's friend, who was actually an alien too, puts a Babel fish inside his ear so that everything would be translated for him! It's like everyone's speaking English!"
Trick only grew confused at that babbling explanation but the other children had more violent reactions.
"Why? Why would you put fish in your ear?" Hale asked, plainly horrified.
Ciara was frowning too and had unconsciously covered one ear with a free hand. "I'll pass, I think. I understand you all, anyway. Though I don't know why."
Dyson and Bo seemed to have the same idea and started babbling, their voices overlapping. They didn't really seem to care if someone was really paying attention to them or not.
"Once a bee got inside my ear and it stung me and my ear swelled like this big," he made an exaggerated gesture, "and Ma had to take me to the healer and they put yellow smelly stuff in..."
"Oh, once I thought a spider got inside my ear when we were clearing the barn, but then it turns out it was just horse hair and I didn't even know how it got there but I screamed because it was icky..."
And Kenzi had to add her two cents in too. "I hungry."
Trick had to clear his throat a couple of times before they all got the hint and settled down.
"I won't be putting fish inside your ears," he stated and watched Lauren droop again, "I'm sorry. That must be a different method than the one I know," he offered, not wanting to completely reject the shy girl's idea.
"Then what are you putting instead?" Bo asked.
Trick stifled the urge to sigh again, he was definitely sure that he was being punished now. Perhaps because when Aefa was young, he had been too preoccupied with the war to become a proper, doting father instead?
"I'm not putting anything inside your ears. Period. I'll..." he shook his head a little and then an idea struck him. "Actually, I'll show you how I'll do it. I just need to find my book downstairs and then you can watch me perform the magic."
"Oh, okay!"
"Wow! Real magic! My Grandmama never lets me watch her when she does her magic, she says I'm too young," Hale said.
Trick hurried off then, while they were still somewhat stunned and weren't asking a thousand more questions. Behind him, he heard Kenzi ask again, "Fishie?"
xxx
Trick could have sworn that he was only gone for ten minutes, fifteen tops and when he glanced at the clock, he knew he was right. And yet, the scene that welcomed him when he got back was so amazing that he felt, he must've been gone for hours instead. He wondered how his bar was still standing.
The interior of the bar looked like a small bomb had exploded in it.
Some of the tables and chairs were overturned, and covered with a blanket. There was food and liquid on the floor (and he suspected, some on the walls too), as well as dirty serviettes and random clothing. And then there was also a wolf puppy, barking and running around, often bumping into table and chair legs making them wobble, and sliding messily on the food scraps in glee. He was being chased by a shrieking and laughing Kenzi (who was clearly mobile already) and their combined cacophony hid the soft strains of the jukebox music that Trick only noticed after a long while.
On the original table, sat Ciara and Bo, happily eating and somehow... talking to each other in cobbled English, Old British and hand waving. Lauren was still in her place beside Bo but she seemed to have found and started reading the book that he had left behind on the bar about African shamans.
Hale was missing.
Trick's heart stopped in his chest and he was sure this was the moment he would faint.
"Where's Hale?"
No one heard his barely audible croak and he had to clear his throat a couple of time to produce a loud enough sound to cut through the din.
"Hey, where's Hale?"
Dyson and Kenzi didn't stop their game of chase but Ciara, Bo and Lauren looked towards him and then towards the blanket covered area. Trick turned his head just in time to see Hale's head pop out of what was now clearly a fort.
The boy glared at him for a moment and said, "My name is Haley!", before his head disappeared under the blankets.
Ciara offered an explanation. "He didn't want to eat with us. He said he was hungry but then he asked me to make him something like chicken rice? I didn't know how to make it so he's sulking, right now. He did accept some wine." It was only then that Trick noticed a good, expensive bottle of red wine was open, as well as a bottled beers. "Speaking of which, I like your ale, sir. I've never had this brew before and it looks so strange, being inside this...jar?" Ciara looked to Lauren who mouthed the word 'bottle', "...bottle container. And I liked your ice box."
"Ciara had never seen a refrigerator before!" Bo told him cheerfully.
Trick heard Hale's furious but muffled reply from the fort. "Chicken with rice is my favorite! The chef always makes it for me even though cousin Albie said I'll turn into a chicken if I eat too much!"
"You're a being a brat, you know," Bo said, talking to the blankets. "Don't you know that people starve in Africa? You have to eat what's in front of you and thank Jesus for it."
Trick was a little surprised to note this attitude in Bo. But then again, he didn't really know what kind of background she'd grown up in, aside from that she came in a small town and had been an only child.
"Sir," Ciara interrupted, "How did the songs get into the box?" she asked, pointing at the jukebox.
Belatedly, Trick only realized that for the fae kids, it would seem like they had been blasted from the past. Even an old jukebox would be some sort of marvel for them. Thank goodness, he was minimalist in his decoration and that was actually the only piece of technology in the room. (He didn't keep a TV on the bar because he was adamant that this was a "gastro" pub and not a sports bar.)
Trick wanted to go with the easiest answer ("Magic.") but he was aware that Bo and Lauren would probably know enough to argue about it. So he only shrugged and said, "I'm not really sure. There's a mechanism in there that plays the songs."
Ciara frowned some more but she let it go. Trick then noticed that Lauren was looking at him. "Yes?"
Or rather, looking at the book he was carrying and the supply bag he had hastily packed.
"Are those your magic tools, sir?" she asked carefully. This was another thing that had struck Trick about kid-Lauren: the way she picked her words carefully and stayed silent, observing her surroundings. (If she had had these traits since childhood, then it was no wonder that she became such a great doctor.) He would be a bit concerned at her "reticence" but it was clear that she had no problems being friendly with others as well. She just seemed... a bit too mature for her age.
"Is there a hat in there?" Bo asked curiously. "I saw magic once, but Annabelle told me that it was fake and Gina told me that it was only a stuffed rabbit, but I clearly saw it move so she's wrong and I asked my mom about but she said she didn't know."
Trick still couldn't get used to this new tendency of everyone to speak in run-on sentences and it took him a while to properly decode that.
"Oh," he finally said after realizing that Bo was talking about magic tricks with hats and rabbits. "Oh, no. I don't have a hat here. It's a different kind of mag... ow!"
Dyson and Kenzi, who were still chasing each other around the bar, had finally managed to get near their location. In a comedic turn of events, Kenzi had slipped and fell on her butt, causing Dyson to try and stop but skidded over the wet mess of food left on the floor and both children had crashed right onto Trick's legs, toppling him like a fallen log.
He accidentally released the stuff in his hands, so his book and magic stuff were safe, but his nose wasn't because it met the floor directly.
For a moment, he contemplated staying on the floor like that and playing dead for the next couple of hours. And then he thought that since he was already bleeding, he shouldn't waste his blood and just use it to turn them all back to normal. No matter the consequence.
But then Trick became aware of the everyone's voices yelling his name and felt small hands patting at his back, as they all asked if he was okay in a mishmash of different languages. (One hand got dangerously close to his butt.)
He half-heartedly turned over on his back, groaning in pain. The moment he did so, Dyson-puppy was all over his face, licking it clean of the blood.
"Dyson! Gross! Get off!" Trick yelled out, suddenly motivated to get off the floor.
He stood up quickly, and when Dyson tried jumping on him, he was quick to command. "Dyson, sit! Stay!"
Dyson whined a little but stayed put obediently.
"Here," Trick turned to see Lauren offering him some ice on napkin. "I found the ice behind the bar."
"Thanks, Lauren," Trick said, placing the ice gingerly on his sore nose. He didn't think it was broken but it was definitely swelling right now.
While they had been preoccupied with the "accident", Hale had silently come out of his fort and was perusing the book that Trick had dropped.
"This is magic? But which one is it?" he asked.
Bo looked up from behind his shoulder and only said disappointedly, "There aren't any pictures."
Trick walked over to them and Hale gave him the book readily. "Thank you, Hale."
"Are we going to start now?" Hale asked excitedly. "Will there be flashing lights and weird smells? That's what happens with Grandmama's magic, I peeked once."
"Flashing lights?" Dyson asked suddenly.
Then Trick thought he was going to be deaf when an ear piercing shriek went off beside his left ear. Bo was squealing and jumping up and down, muttering, "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, he's naked! Eww, why are you naked! You're cooties! Gina said boys are all cooties!"
She ran over to where Lauren was standing, (Trick noticed that the other girl was staring at the ground determinedly with flushed cheeks.) and grabbed her arm, dragging the other girl to the far side of the room.
There, Trick saw them confer with one another in hushed whispers, Bo occasionally sending a glare and poking her tongue out at Dyson's direction, who had unselfconsciously started to put his clothes back on.
Trick shook his head, trying to get the ringing out of his ears when he finally noticed what Kenzi was wearing.
He had quite forgotten that Kenzi was just wrapped with a blanket earlier but now... was that a bar apron? It was. Somehow, someone had torn the bar apron and made Kenzi a sort of toga-like dress. Fortunately, it was still intact even after all the running around and full on collision with an exuberant puppy but it also looked filthy.
Kenzi must have noticed him looking because she began to walk towards him and raised her arms in a silent demand to be carried. Trick placed the book on top of the still relatively clean pool table and gathered the baby in his arms.
"Wan go wee-wee?"
It was another heart pounding moment and Trick tensed, ready to put the child back down on the floor if she suddenly decided to let go of her bladder. He was seriously beginning to fear for his heart too. Sure, he prided himself on being healthy especially for his age but this much stress wasn't good for him either.
"Wee-wee!" Kenzi repeated demandingly.
He was still frozen in spot but Bo's voice pulled him back. "Hey Trick, I think she wants you to go to the bathroom."
Trick let out a gusty sigh of relief and hurried to the bathroom. Thank goodness Kenzi was already toilet trained!
xxx
It took another ten minutes before he was finally ready to perform the translation spell. Although at this point, he wasn't sure why he was bothering because the children have managed to talk to each other in their own ways - mostly by repeating certain phrases, pointing at stuff and charades. But he did promise them a magic show and this was the most innocuous thing he could think of right now.
They had tidied up, somewhat - the fort was still there, but the mess was cleaned up to the best of the children's abilities and the rest of the fallen chairs were put back in their proper places.
Trick made them all gather in a semi- circle again, but this time they were all sitting on the floor and facing him. Hale sat with Dyson on his left, Ciara at the centre, while Bo and Lauren sat beside each other again on his right. Kenzi plopped herself down on Bo's lap and every once in a while would pull at Lauren's braid and giggle. (She was still wearing her bar apron toga and although Trick made an effort to try and clean it a little in the bathroom, it was still a bit dirty. Bo didn't seem to mind though and cheerfully cuddled Kenzi in her arms.)
"So, once you're finished we can all talk to each other? We'll say, uh English?" Hale asked curiously.
Trick was consulting the book for a last minute check and nodded. "Well, in a way yes. We will be able to understand each other but you won't speak English. You'll still speak the same way but the way Bo, Lauren and Kenzi will hear it would be in English." Actually, he wasn't sure how the translation will work on Kenzi - if the baby was more comfortable in Russian or English (because she was pretty much speaking in English now) - but he didn't bother mentioning that part.
Hale thought this over for a while before he nodded solemnly. "Ok."
"Okay," Trick repeated and began the spell.
It was easy enough: he only had to mix a few impressive looking spell materials (i.e. smelly and/or weird-looking stuff), ground them into paste, say a few binding words and voila! There was even a small glowing effect and a puff of smoke afterwards for everyone to "ooh" and "aah" at.
He took the paste, smeared a little bit on everyone's skin (Kenzi had to be smeared a couple of times because she kept rubbing it away, trying to taste it.) and then tried it out.
"There, let's try it," Trick said.
"Oh! Oh! I wanna try it! Uhm, uh," Hale yelled out, "Uh, I don't know what to say," he finished, looking a little frustrated.
"I understood that!" Bo yelled out in return, smiling widely at Trick. "He was speaking English!"
"Really? Wow, that's amazing! It really worked!" Hale said, jumping up to approach Bo. Everybody else was smiling, caught in the joy and excitement of the two. They were also watching what Hale was up to because he suddenly looked serious (which looked ridiculous in his chubby, baby-face features).
"I'm supposed to introduce myself, but I forgot and now I remember and my Grandmama always told me to have manners and so," he cleared his throat and stood up straight, puffing his chest self-importantly, "Greetings, I am the Baronet William Haley Santiago of the Zamora Clan. It is a pleasure to meet all of you."
Trick was slightly impressed by the boy's manners (and amused by the slight pompousness as well; Haley was the opposite of Hale as an adult: uptight and a little bit spoiled.) and decided to honor him in kind, "Greetings Baronet and be welcome to this humble waystation. I am Fitzpatrick McCorrigan of Clan Finarvin, keeper of the book."
Hale looked surprised at his reply and his chest puffed out a bit more. Before he could say anything though, Dyson interrupted him.
"The Zamora Clan? I've never heard of you," he said, scrunching his forehead in thought. After a few seconds, Dyson gave up and shrugged. "You must not be very powerful, then."
It was a mistake. Hale looked shocked at first and then he just turned redder and redder in his anger, that the other kids knew to take a step back away from him. And just before Trick thought he was going to literally burst, the siren let out a magnificent roar (adult Dyson would have been proud) and tackled the other boy, bringing them both down to the floor.
Trick had frozen like the others, watching the change in Hale's expression, but now he moved quickly to separate the two.
It was harder than he thought it would take, even with Ciara attempting to help him. (Bo and Kenzi were blatantly cheering on the sidelines while Lauren was content to watch with a faintly troubled expression.) It didn't help that Trick wasn't really concentrating either. He was thinking of Dyson's comment and Hale's reaction; they were both correct in a sense.
In Dyson's childhood, Trick still hadn't managed to end the Great War and therefore the Zamora clan was still quite insignificant. But in Hale's time, they were already established as one of the noble founding family of the Light Fae.
Still, that wasn't really important right now. The apparent disparity of the children's knowledge of their fae history wasn't his priority; surviving the next two hours was.
Trick finally managed to grab the flailing Dyson in his arms and readily torn him away from the furious Hale. Dyson didn't really look upset by the sudden attack, in fact he was still grinning despite his bleeding lip, and seemed to regard it as normal playing. When Trick pulled him away, he whined for a bit but settled down under his stern gaze.
On the other hand, Hale was still snorting like an angry bull and alternately wheezing like an asthmatic. He still looked like he was going to burst but he didn't charge into Dyson anymore. Trick was just glad that he hadn't used his powers. (If he even could, his mind added. Hale was a bit too young and he wouldn't have passed puberty yet - which was when powers were usually 'activated'.)
Trick stepped between them and glared at the both, before turning to Dyson, "That was uncalled for, Dyson! The Zamora Clan is a powerful clan in Hale's homeland and you shouldn't insult him, just because you don't recognize their name." When Dyson opened his mouth to protest, Trick spoke quickly over him, "Would you like it if someone insulted your clan?"
Dyson shut his mouth immediately and shook his head, looking both rebellious and apologetic.
"You know what to do," Ciara said from behind Hale, directing her words to the wolf.
Dyson shot a quick glance at the other boy and muttered, "I'm sorry."
Hale only shot him one last furious look and a scoff, (which heavily reminded Trick of Sturgis Santiago, Hale's father, who loved to looked down on anyone not of his clan) then pulled himself away from Ciara's loose grasp, before heading back to his fort.
xxx
After Hale's dramatic exit, everybody was silent for a while, staring after the boy. And in an eerie synchronization, everyone turned back to look at him as if to say, Well, what now?
Unfortunately, Trick didn't know the answer to that so he silently endured their stares and stared right back.
Bo broke first and began to complain loudly, "What are we going to do now?" She was looking around and frowned as she realized something for the first time, "You don't have TV!"
"TV?" Ciara and Dyson echoed in confusion.
Trick ignored them all and walked over to the jukebox. "We have this, we can play some more music," he suggested. Bo looked still looked skeptical but Ciara had beamed and nodded. He smiled back at her and said, "Excellent," before programming a few song to come out.
That worked for about a minute before Bo was once again demanding, "What else?" She began to look around again, as if things had changed in the last two minutes she had surveyed the room. "We can't even play forts because Haley took all the blankets!"
Trick bit his lip in dread. He had the odd feeling that that this behaviour was familiar to him and it just now occurred to him where he last saw this: a young Aefa beginning to throw a tantrum. The demands, the pouting, the restlessness - it was all there. For a second she allowed himself to smile inwardly: Like mother, like daughter; although he also believed Bo would be offended by that thought.
He glanced at the darts board and decided that was too dangerous, so he led them back to the pool table. "How about playing pool?"
The fact that Ciara and Dyson were the only ones who even managed to see the whole table without excessive tiptoeing didn't deter Trick from trying this one out. The children could just climb on chairs for their turn or something, right?
Of course not. It was a failure before it even began. He had forgotten that Kenzi couldn't even grip the stick and Bo was already bored before she even got the chance to poke one of the balls. Ciara and Dyson became more interested in using the sticks for staff training.
He was about to interfere when the two began to trade practice blows but then he noticed that the other three seemed content to watch. Trick sighed and decided to just clear a space for them and considered the imminent destruction of his pool sticks as a worthy sacrifice for the cause. Anything to stave off that tantrum and distract everyone for a little while.
xxx
About an hour later, the kids have mostly settled down on their own, finding activities to do as they all waited for the magic to wear off. They had the vague idea that they would just pop back into their own beds - which Trick deliberately encouraged - and now it was only a matter of entertaining themselves in the meantime.
Ciara and Dyson were still playing with the pool sticks, although they weren't sparring anymore. It was more of a teaching lesson now, as both tried to share their knowledge and put it into practice.
Kenzi had easily gotten bored when the "fighting" stopped and had headed straight to Hale's fort despite the boy's loud protests. (Trick had smiled at this, apparently even as a young girl, Kenzi was already fearless and blunt.) Fortunately, the boy didn't really harm Kenzi and grudgingly accepted her presence in his territory, even allowing himself to be pulled into a singing game and what sounded like a clapping game.
Lauren had wandered away first from watching Dyson and Ciara play with the pool sticks and went back to the bar to investigate more of the fae books that she had seen. Shortly after, Bo had followed her. And even though she looked bored again, she didn't make a move to leave the other girl behind.
Trick found himself tidying up and when he got to the bar proper, he decided to make them some "mocktails". Bo loved it, watching him closely as he gave her a show of mixing and shaking the drinks and Trick ended up making a lot more just to see his granddaughter's eyes twinkle in glee.
He gave the extra drinks to the other kids and was amused by their reactions as well.
Ciara and Dyson had looked suspicious at first and then pleasantly surprised by the fizziness caused by the club soda. When he entered the fort, he saw that Hale had somehow gotten possession of his "spell" book and was trying to read it. Beside him, Kenzi was pretending to read as well, pointing at words occasionally so that he could read it out loud for her. They too loved the fruity drinks and asked for more. Kenzi's butchering of his name when she requested, "More please, Tirck?" didn't even make him wince.
When he got back to the bar, Lauren had abandoned her book and she and Bo were just talking. He didn't mean to snoop really, but they weren't being quiet with their conversation so he couldn't help but overhear. Well, Lauren was quiet as was her natural state but Bo talked like a girl who hadn't yet learned to curb her enthusiasm over the simple things. He fixed Kenzi and Hale's drink quickly before returning to listen. (He decided he wanted to eavesdrop, after all.)
"So, do you have brothers or sisters? I don't. My mom tells me that I'm her special girl and daddy says I'm his princess," Bo said cheerfully, playing with the small paper umbrella he had included in her drink.
Lauren shook her head. "Nope. I don't have any but my dad says I'm his princess too!"
"We're both princesseses!" Bo declared happily. Lauren grinned back at her.
And then Bo took a sip of her cosmopolitan mocktail and said, "At school we're supposed to write about what we want to be when we grow up. I said that I'm going to take care of our horses and daddy says I'll run the farm when I grow up. How about you?"
Lauren looked wistful. "I love horses. I wish I could do that too but I'm going to be a libar, uh, lib-ra-rian, like my uncle. He takes care of books and I want to do that so I can read lots of books. When he comes visit us, he always brings me some and I like it best when he reads to me."
"My mom still reads to me for bedtime even though Annabelle said that's for babies but I don't care, I like it when my mom does her funny voices. She's great!" Bo took another pause to sip her drink and then readily changed topic, "I like your braids."
Lauren blushed and Trick had to lean a bit more to hear her murmured, "Thanks."
Bo was inspecting her own hair when Lauren gathered the courage to ask, "Do you want me to braid yours?"
"You can do it?" Bo looked awed.
"Uhm, yeah. My mom taught me how."
"Okay! Thanks!" Bo said readily, already fidgeting in her seat in excitement.
"Oh but," Lauren looked concerned, "we don't have rubber bands." They looked at each other for a second before Lauren shrugged and said, "Well, we'll just use mine."
"But you'll lose your braids! Where did you get the rubber bands anyway? Maybe there's still some?" Bo asked hopefully.
Lauren looked at Trick and seemed to blush again. "I took them from those cards," she said, pointing at where Trick had forgotten he'd put the bingo cards away. Indeed, when he turned to look, he saw that a bunch of cards were unbound although they were still stacked neatly on top of the other.
When he turned back to the girls, he saw that they were now looking at him. Bo had a puppy look on her face. "Can we have some rubber bands, Trick?" she asked.
Well, how he could he say no to a face like that? Trick felt his heart melt and was suddenly a little grateful that he didn't know this child growing up or else he might've tried to change the world with his blood to suit her whims.
For now though, he was just glad to pass her more rubber bands.
"Thanks!"
And then he was pretty much ignored again as the girls dropped to sit on the floor, Bo's back to Lauren as the other girl braided her hair.
"So, do you have a best friend? My best friend is Gina and Annabelle. They live near our house and we go to the same school. My mom is friends with their moms too so we always go to each others' houses. It's great. How about you?"
Lauren seemed a little lost finger combing Bo's hair and didn't answer immediately.
"Lauren?" Bo asked, turning around.
"Oh, sorry Beth. I, uh, your hair is pretty. But um, I don't have a best friend," Lauren said, scrunching her forehead in thought. "Well, I guess my uncle is my best friend. I love him."
"Silly, you can't be best friends with your uncle. He's your family," Bo protested. Lauren just shrugged at her.
Bo was silent for a little while, allowing Lauren to finish braiding half of her hair but she twisted violently while Lauren was working on the half. "I know! I can be your best friend!"
Lauren looked miffed at first that she lost her place in braiding and then Bo's words registered. "You?"
"Yes, this will be perfect!" Bo said, smiling widely.
"I... are you sure?" Lauren asked.
Bo finally caught the hesitant tone in her voice and frowned a little, losing her enthusiasm. "You don't want me?"
Lauren's eyes widened and she hurried to reassure to the other girl. "No, no, no. I like you a lot, Beth. I just... I don't know where you live and after the magic is over, we'll never see each other again."
"Oh."
They were silent for a while and Trick was riveted in this small drama playing on the floor of his bar.
Bo took Lauren's hand and squeezed, "Well, in stories, people always find each other later. And maybe the magic will do that too. We'll find each other later."
Lauren thought that over for a few moments while Bo waited patiently. Finally, she nodded slowly. "Okay. I won't ever forget you, Beth. I'll tell everyone you're my best friend."
Bo smiled widely and tackle-hugged Lauren. "You're my best friend too!"
Trick watched them hug for a few more moment before they both suddenly slumped down, unconscious. Alarmed, he barely took a step when he heard the clatter of falling bodies and sticks on Ciara and Dyson's corner. It took Trick a second to figure out that the magic was probably breaking.
He moved quickly, dismantling the fort (Kenzi and Hale were out, too) and re-distributing the blankets to cover their still small bodies. Then he realized that he'd probably lose a lot of clothes tonight as the "children" outgrew them but shrugged it off and added it to the mental tally of the all damages from tonight.
And then another thought occurred to him and Trick hurried off.
xxx
About ten minutes later, Trick was relieved to hear groaning - in adult voices. This time though, they all woke up simultaneously and Trick was prepared. With his hands firmly covering his ears, he could only hear the faint screeching (Kenzi and Hale) and yelling out as everybody woke up in now small, tight clothing and lying on top of/cuddled with someone else.
"Trick, what the hell?"
"What am I wearing!" came from Kenzi's corner as she huddled into her blanket, red with shame.
Trick could only grin in relief. "It's a long, long story."
"Start talking then," Dyson demanded, eyeing his long brown hair that didn't quite disappear when he transformed back.
"Clothes first," Lauren insisted, looking embarrassed as she tried not to look at the succubus beside her. She too, look confusedly at her braided hair.
Trick smiled and pointed at the table where he'd left their clothes. He watched them all run to the table and shifted to hide the camera in his hands. He glanced towards the stairs to his rooms and decided that they wouldn't miss him for a while yet. He had time to properly hide the camera.
After all, it was the only positive thing he got out of this experience (aside from meeting the younger version of his granddaughter) and he might need it for proof later (cough* blackmail cough*).
THE END
A/N2: Okay, so this is what I've been doing instead of writing the next chapter for Human Doctor. I know, I know. I'm procrastinating badly but parts of me really wishes that story never ends. And well, the large part is that this plot bunny has captured my attention a long time ago now and I've put it on the back burner then but it refused to be silenced now. It practically demanded that I finish it. So, here's another fluffy fic.
There's not much Doccubus in it nor is it centered on Lauren - which is my main deal - but I still hope you enjoy the story because I certainly enjoyed writing it. (Or as I call it, torturing Trick.)
I'm probably going to write an epilogue to look their reactions, I'm not sure yet, but this is definitely just a oneshot.
Okay, I'm going back to Human Doc now. Hopefully, I'll have something in a week or so. :D
Cheers,
rabastan04