A/N Just a little one-shot of an encounter between Pan and Tink. I really wanted to stick with the whole 'fairies can only have one feeling at a time' thing, but that was trickier than I originally thought. Not sure I pulled it off, but oh well, I tried anyway.
Peter Pan stood only a short distance away from the campfire where she was sitting. Leaning against a tree he was observing her intensely as if trying to solve a riddle. She was sitting with the Lost Boys, or... were the boys sitting with her? It made him angry that there was a possibility the latter was true.
One of them was definitely not sitting with her. He saw Felix directly opposite her with the crackling fire seperating them in almost a symbolic manner. His most loyal friend appeared highly uninterested, though Pan caught him glancing up every now and then to look at Tinkerbell who was passionately recounting a story of her days as a fairy.
The Lost Boys were listening intently to Tinkerbell. The younger ones in particular seemed quite enthralled by her tales. Pan listened on aswell, though his reasons for doing so weren't quite as trivial as he'd have them appear. He found it essential to know absolutely everything about the former fairy. Possibly find some weaknesses hidden in her words that he could use against her later. To know a person through and through is to control them afterall.
He more or less tolerated her presence after she lost her wings, since she had been an asset to him and the Lost Boys in the past. She was useless to him now though, a hindrance most of the time. No wings, no pixie dust, no real magical abilities of any kind. Rather pathetic she was, in his opinion.
Pan's eyes narrowed thinking about how, despite all that, she still sat there practically being worshipped by the boys. Mocking him with her presence. They adored her, that much was clear. The very fact made his blood boil. She's ruining everything. He should be the one to be worshipped and she, she'd do well to just die already. It felt gratifying to him, to know how unaware the ex-fairy was of his desire to put an end to her existence. The look on her face when he finally did take her life would be all the more precious.
He was so deep in thought that he had stopped listening to the words that she spoke, however, suddenly Pan heard something that ignited a flame of fury within him.
Happiness.
He heard her irritatingly cheerful laugh ring through the campsite like small bells fluttering all over the place. He saw her eyes twinkle and her lips curled up in a smile. This blatant display of merriment was the final straw.
Slowly, ever so slowly like a predator stalking its prey he moved over to where she was sitting. Visions of his knife tearing her slender little body to shreds flashed through his mind's eye as he got closer to her. When all the boys sitting with her suddenly cleared the area looking quite anxious, Tinkerbell put a hand over her heart. "Say, my story wasn't that bad was it?" she exclaimed, pretending to be offended.
Out of nowhere she felt a sharp tug on her scalp. Coming up behind her, Pan had viciously grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head back.
"What was that, Tink?" he spat out her name as though it felt like poison in his mouth.
Tinkerbell's heart started racing upon hearing the tone of his voice and a chill ran down her spine as she fearfully looked into his eyes. All she could see there was pure disdain. She could almost feel the hatred radiating off of him. It felt like being surrounded by nothing but suffocatingly cold darkness. She shivered, which apparently pleased him, because he grinned ever so slightly.
Tinkerbell had no idea, however, what on earth had set him off like this. One never did when it came to Pan. He noticed her ignorance so he clarified.
"You were laughing," he stated as though it was now perfectly clear what exactly her crime was against him.
And yet she kept looking at him with those big eyes. Not understanding what she did to deserve this kind of treatment. It was really annoying him. He wanted to slap the innocence right off her pretty face. He sighed. She was definitely trying his patience. 'Maybe she wants me to hurt her', he briefly wondered. Why else would she taunt him like this?
"Apologize," he demanded in low and dangerous tone. Suppressing the urge to shout at her for her stupidity.
Tink's thoughts were racing. What? She had to apologize? For laughing? Her mind was reeling at the absolute absurdity of it, but then again Pan's never been the very sane type.
With uncertainty in her voice she uttered, "I'm sorry..." making it sound more like a question than anything else. She still didn't understand, Pan thought and tugged a little harder on the roots of her hair.
"For..?" he growled, urging her to get it.
She feverishly searched her mind for the answer. When she didn't find one, Tinkerbell looked back up at him. Then it clicked. It was right there in his deadly gaze. She had laughed. And laughter meant happiness. And no one gets to feel happy without Pan's permission. Especially not her, or so she had learned the hard way a long while ago.
"For being happy," she finally whispered.
"Without..?" he stared maliciously at her. Wanting to make her spell out exactly who was in control here.
"... without your permission," she swallowed hard, her eyes cast down to the ground. She felt Pan stepping even closer to her than he already was, towering over her. She felt extremely intimidated and that's exactly how he wanted it. He wanted her to feel his hatred and crush her with it. And Peter Pan always gets what he wants.
"It won't..?" he continued talking to her like she was some sort of small child in need of discipline.
"Happen again," her voice barely audible now.
"Good girl," Pan said. He released his grip on her, shoving her so hard that she fell to the ground dangerously close to the fire.
He walked across the campsite and took one more look at her through the flames. He grinned devilishly, feeling satisfied that Tinkerbell was now once more, back in her place.