Author's Note: Since Devin/Deborvak seemed popular in the last "A Boy and his Poof" chapter, I thought I'd introduce him as he is on LJ, through a series of one-shots. The universe in which he exists is an LJ series exclusive, so you'll need some background info. Tootie is a half breed faerie, fathered by Juandissimo (this series was written a couple years before "Fairly Odd Baby", and it is assumed interspecies babies are bred in the traditional way). This is why Fairy World has been trying to ignore her, because half breeds are a blotch on their record.
They decide they can ignore her no longer, and she must be trained, so they send another half breed, Deborvak, to train her/serve as her godfather.
Except Deborvak's…a little different than Cosmo and Wanda.
Enter the Deb
Tootie had always known of faeries. From the moment she could walk, she knew something strange occurred in the universe, something not explained by science or man. Until recently, she had assumed her role in magic was ancillary; to observe and to keep Timmy's secret. Then she had learned she was actually a half faerie herself, despite not being able to exhibit any powers beyond a normal human. They had to be 'unlocked', guided by a faerie.
Her father wouldn't help, despite suiting the criteria. Juandissimo Magnifico was interested in few things, his appearance and ego superseding almost everything, and impressing Wanda with his daughter was higher on the list than actually spending time with Tootie. Tootie had thought this was the end of it- her father would arrive once in a while to try and cajole Tootie into interacting more with Timmy and company, in order to facilitate a dialogue between himself and Wanda. Wanda would refuse to play along, and she'd be left, no better off than she was before, still subject to Vicky's whims and unable to funnel her magic or frustration into something constructive.
At the moment, she watched Timmy's soccer game, where Cosmo, Wanda, and little Poof were cheering Timmy on. Tootie normally would have joined them, except she felt like she was being watched. Remy Buxaplenty and her father were in Paris, since his parents were on a business trip and dragged him along with them. Wanda had assured Tootie the anti faeries were safely back in their new Anti Fairy World, and no anti Tootie existed because Tootie was only half faerie, not full blooded. She also didn't see anyone else who could have been watching her- Vicky was tormenting another poor slob, and her parents were enjoying a rare respite.
Curious, she edged her way off the stands and toward the school. It was an uphill walk and she looked to her right. Disguised as a squirrel, Wanda had joined her. After a moment's indecision, Cosmo and Poof had come along too.
"What's the matter, sweetie?" Wanda asked.
"You're not gonna see the game from here!" Cosmo said. He and Poof were disguised as squirrels too; Poof was an adorable baby squirrel Tootie would normally fawn over, if her nerves weren't on edge.
"Tootie?" Poof inquired. After about four months of Tootie observing Poof and Cosmo and Wanda keeping Poof away from Tootie, just in case, they'd finally had a meeting a few weeks ago. Wanda wasn't certain what might happen if a baby faerie met a half blooded one, and they wanted to be sure. Plus, Poof usually hated being away from his brother so much convincing him to stay away for even a few minutes was hard. At the moment, he craned his head and whined, staring at Timmy playing defense a hundred feet away.
"There's someone here," Tootie said. She stared at a tree about ten feet away and brilliant violet eyes stared back at her. A raven with a shimmering crown atop its head flew to another branch and contemplated her.
"That's not Juandissimo…" Wanda mused.
Cosmo scanned the stands and Poof began to whimper, still staring at Timmy.
"I guess we'd better go back to the game," Cosmo said and vanished with Poof. Wanda remained, following Tootie to the tree. The raven lingered and its head changed from a normal animal to a humanoid. Its hair appeared black, but was actually a deep purple, and its eyes were only a shade off its hair color. The ears were pointed, unlike most true faerie, and he smiled at them. There seemed to be something slightly off about him.
"Hello," he said.
"I don't mean to be rude," Tootie said, eyes narrowing, "but who are you?"
"Come closer," he said and, with misgivings, she and Wanda did. Producing a wand, he generated sparks and a little flashing name tag.
"I'm Deborvak and I'm…your new faerie godfather," he said. Tootie opened her mouth and he continued. "I know about the whole situation. Jorgen filled me in. They thought it was best for someone to run damage control, before the situation got any worse. They wanted to pull Juandissimo off godparent duty, but the last time Remy lost Juandissimo…"
Tootie stared, perplexed, and Wanda quickly informed her. She nodded and folded her arms across her chest.
"Don't you normally have a flashy entrance?" she said.
"I was put on assignment about an hour ago," he said. "I didn't really have time. Plus..." He cast a disparaging look at the crowd. "Too many human witnesses. I suppose I could have waited until you got home, but what fun would that be?"
"I've never heard of you," Wanda said.
"I'm a half breed," Deborvak said and shrugged. "Jorgen put me on 'cuz I volunteered, not 'cuz there's any shortage of faerie godparents in Fairy World. 'Sides, no one else really wanted the job."
Tootie glowered. "Thanks."
He stared at her. "Payin' you a compliment, kid. I know what it's like to be a misfit. An' from one half blood to another, I think it oughta be fun. Plus, you won't forget about me the way Timmy will."
Wanda grimaced. "That's all very well and good, but why did Jorgen suddenly decide to not ignore Tootie?"
"Something to do with magic she might have already unleashed unwittingly," Deborvak said, affecting a disinterested attitude. Tootie sized him up. He acted like he was stupid, but his gaze pierced and there was a cool, reasoning mind behind it. It reminded her of Vicky when she wasn't actively being evil, just contemplating.
"You can't give us more than that?" Wanda asked.
"I could, but it doesn't seem pertinent at the moment," he said. The briskness in his voice gave Wanda pause and she shut her mouth on a reply.
"Let's go watch the game," Deb said to Tootie. "It might be interesting."
Wanda disappeared to her boys, and Deborvak transformed into a chipmunk at Tootie's feet. Tootie frowned at him.
"You were rude to Wanda," she said.
Deb tensed, taking several stiff steps. "I…don't…like other faeries."
Tootie stared at him. His eyes darted around and he changed into a flag for her. She clambered back onto the stands and noticed Deborvak's eyes lingering on the other faeries. He remained frozen, more like a plastic flag than a living, breathing creature, and only smiled minutely when Poof's eyes met his. He trembled once in a while.
"Not to be nosy, but why don't you like other faeries?" she asked.
"Flags can't talk," he said. She groaned, nodding at Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof, who were frolicking animals near the sidelines so they could talk to Timmy. Poof looked up at his god brother with admiration and love. Wanda, in the meanwhile, was tossing nuts back and forth to Cosmo, though her gaze shot to Deb every once in a while. Deb flinched.
"Neither can animals," she pointed out. "And besides, everyone thinks I'm weird anyway, since I have Vicky for a sister."
"Heh," he said, keeping as close an eye on Timmy's faeries as Wanda was on him. Deb shuddered again and turned his head to stare at the game.
"Weird…" she said. She should be grateful Fairy World had sent her a godparent at all, since they'd spent so much time ignoring her. But why had they sent her this one? He was all jumpy and nervous. Then again, he had volunteered…
She tickled the flag and Deb pretended to bite her. She yelped and he grinned at her, not looking the other faeries now. In fact, without them in his line of sight, he relaxed and stopped being so stiff in her hand.
"Flags don't bite either," she said.
"That's only a matter of opinion," he countered. "I'm sure there a lot of things that you think don't bite but secretly do…and they're all trying to bite you."
He shifted again into a scarf and nipped her arm. She yelped and he laughed, prompting her to giggle. He grinned at her.
"Aw, man, this arm is Tootie flavored," he said. "I want a refund."
"Sorry, I'm all you can eat," she said.
"That's what she said,"
Tootie's eyes widened. "Wow. You're not kid friendly, are you?"
"Hey, that's only dirty if you have a dirty mind," he replied. "An' besides, I think you can handle it. You have Vicky as a sister, after all. You probably know all sorts of things that would turn Timmy's head…inside out, upside down, contort it strangely…"
"I wouldn't want to do that…" she said.
"Oh, sure you would," he said. "It'd be fun. Stick with me, Toot, and we'll have loads of fun. Inside down, upside out, Timmy as a ballerina…"
The image came to her mind and she giggled again. Timmy as a ballerina in her mind looked very strange and incredibly displeased. He actually tapped his foot at her in his mind and Deb the scarf bounced up and down.
"Just say the word," he said.
"Okay, but only this once," she said. "And only for a few seconds."
"C'mon, I know you want to," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "Do it, do it, do it!"
"I wish Timmy were a ballerina!" she said and he raised his wand. All of a sudden, Timmy, who was the opposite end of field, went to block a goal and…had little pink slippers instead of cleats. He fell over and, prompted by Deb's hysterical laughter, Tootie laughed too. The fall was made worse by the fact the field was muddy and he was covered in pink, frilly things.
"Guys, what the hell!" he said and Deb fell off her lap laughing.
"Okay, change him back!" she said. He held up his wand and reverted Timmy to his normal soccer uniform. She stopped laughing. "You think he'll be okay?"
"His pride and manhood, probably not. His body, yeah, he'll be fine physically," he said. "I hope Trixie wasn't here. And by 'I hope she wasn't', I mean I hope she was."
"You're not going to be mean, are you?" she asked.
"You want me to give him an ice cream?" he asked. "You're gonna confuse the hell out of this poor kid."
"No more than usual," she said.
"Okay," he said and rolled his eyes. "This should be interesting."
He held up his wand and the ice cream sundae appeared…on his head. Tootie gave him a dirty look and he feigned innocence.
"You never said where," he said.
She rolled her eyes too. Ah, well, this could get interesting.