|The Next Day|
Rhianwen frowned as she regained consciousness, temporarily confused as to why her bed was so hard and unyielding to her body. Sure she lived in a really cheap apartment, but that didn't mean her bed had to be this inhumane. Her eyes still closed she felt her heart sink into her chest when she remembered where she was. The sewers. Though not quite as smelly as they could have been, there were memories that told her she would have gladly put up with the smell if certain factors could be changed.
She took a deep breath through her mouth, calming herself down. Prince Stabhappy clearly wasn't the type of guy that could be approached with a hot head. Not that he would be very much into diplomacy, since for some reason he had decided that her being alive was a grave personal insult. Ass.
With a sigh she realized she'd already gotten worked up to such an extent that even the vague idea of lying down a little longer seemed ludicrous. Which would not be a problem if she was sleeping alone.
Opening her eyes slowly Rhianwen had her suspicions confirmed when she saw – and felt – the weight of several pixies sleeping on top of her, little feet ice cold wherever they brushed bare skin. Tiny snores and sighs sounded whenever one of the winged creatures stirred, completely content with sleeping on top of their human-sized friend. Rhianwen let out her breath as evenly as she could, trying not to wake them up too soon. Having them asleep was about the only time she had any thinking time she got on a day.
She let her eyes wander the ceiling, trying to figure out how she was going to get out of there. There had to be some way to get past the magical barrier, other than somehow magically evolving powers of her own. Yesterday she had gone through the more mechanical motions, ranging from leaning and pushing against the obstacle to throwing several objects – and one surprised pixie – through it. The conclusion from that one had been that anything that was not Rhianwen could pass. Bloody brilliant.
If she had an ounce of brain in her skull she ought to grab Lenore and threaten to pluck those gauzy wings unless she was set free. Which would be a suitable technique if she hadn't proven time and again that she was a big softie when it came to the pixies. They just looked so innocent and sweet, if they weren't busy practicing pyromaniacs. She should know better!
Movement in the corner of her eye caused her to slightly incline her head to the side, trying not to squish one of the younger pixies that had nestled herself in the dark red curls that had previously smelled of a cheap perfume and now had the bouquet of not so smelly sewer. Great, the amazing elf prince was already up and at'em, with long strides that would have seemed very fluent if it hadn't been for the way his back was as stiff as an iron pole. Apparently her presence here would be serving as the proverbial stick in the arse for his royal paleness.
Their eyes locked for a moment, causing her to freeze up. If possible he seemed even less pleased than the day before, his scowl darker than the water that sloshed by lazily. She'd picked a place to crash in the only place where he wouldn't be able to see her when he was in what looked like his sleeping place, securely tucked away under a round alcove, while she was sleeping on a small maintenance pathway next to the smelly water. The pixies had opted for keeping her company instead of choosing the more comfortable sleeping solution the prince would have offered them. Or perhaps they too had picked up on the hostility lingering in the ear.
Slow shuffles came closer to the corner and her breath hitched as the troll came into view, moving slowly as if he didn't want to cause her any alarm. He looked down at her, and Rhianwen had to remind herself that breathing was a necessary part of actually staying alive. His one eye examined her, gauging her and the sleeping pixies. There was no immediate hostility coming from the troll, but then again, she never had had much experience with decoding body language coming from something that was taller than a gorilla.
With a surprising delicate touch the troll bent over, hooking a single finger so that one of the pixies ended up draped around him. Wink – she thought that was his name, and she assumed he was in fact a he – gently placed the sleeping pixie on his shoulder, before bending over for the next one. He worked his way up from her legs until she could raise herself up. Lenore had woken from Rhianwen's stirrings and was now working on getting the others awake as well.
"Thank you…" Rhianwen finally uttered, her voice trailing as she realized she didn't even know if the troll understood her or not. Even now his one eye flickered away from her as if she had disappeared from his view, causing him to sharply inhale air so he could find her again. "I don't suppose you're willing to help me break out from here, are you?" she added, half as a joke.
Wink snorted, blowing her hair away from her face. "I'll take that as a maybe." She replied, trying very hard not to breathe in secondhand troll breath. She stood up, the last two pixies falling out of her hair and flying off with a few muttered curses. Stretching backwards she looked up at the manhole that was one of the barely adequate sources of lighting in the underground chamber. She could hear cars rushing by if she really strained herself. "Does have me wondering who his interior designer was…" she said more to herself than anyone else.
Looking around she could discern no more than what she had seen the previous evening. By far the most interesting thing in the room – for how far she was concerned – was the elaborate potion set the prince had in his possession. Ignoring the idea that maybe she could slip him a potent sleeping potion she strolled towards the middle of the room, Wink and Lenore observing her as she did so. Biting her lip she glanced towards the troll. "Say… does high royal snarkiness has a bathroom of sorts. It's kind of an urgent matter." She said, clenching her legs together.
By the widening of Wink's eye she could see that he caught on rather quickly. She'd have to be careful, since it could mean he'd be quick to figure out any other plans she may have as well. If a girl couldn't even hope to trick a troll in this world anymore, what hope did she really have? The tall creature seemed to hesitate for a moment, torn between letting a mortal use Nuada's bathroom and Nuada coming back to an 'accident' in his personal space. Deciding the latter would make the elf's mood worse Wink gestured to a well-hidden door in the wall.
Rhianwen shuffled towards it, constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure the prince wouldn't jump out from the shadows. It would be something for him to scare her out of her skin after all.
The bathroom itself – if one could call it that – was about as Spartan as one could get. The thing that surprised her was that there was actually a bath present in the room, though a mirror was apparently too much of a luxury. The cold stone seat nearly froze her lower body parts clean off, but it was still a better option than behaving like some pet that had to be housebroken. Getting back out of the bathroom she was accosted by what seemed to be a small swarm of pixies.
"Lenore, what are you- gah, stop that!" The pixies were intent of getting her out of her clothes, and didn't mind using every underhanded trick they had to their disposal. Before she had managed to protest once more they had already loosened her black skirt, pinching her thighs to get her to jump up in surprise. Shoes and skirt soon were discarded, her once white shirt quickly following.
Resisting the urge to cover herself up Rhianwen placed her hands on her hips, glaring at Lenore and the other pixies who were getting ready for a second round of attack. "Explain yourselves, at once." She commanded, raising a finger to show how serious she was.
Her main caretaker flew towards her, wings fluttering furiously as she swayed back and forth in the air. "Your tattoos make it so difficult for Mister Wink to see you, he complained about it to us. Since you'll be staying with Prince Nuada for the time being, we thought it would be most courteous if you were to be more visible for them."
Folding her arms the redhead looked around the room, eyebrows raised. "And since when am I concerned with his comfort?" There was no doubt about who she meant. Her body language told everyone she would rather spend the time with Wink than the man who clearly loathed her.
Lenore scrunched her tiny nose, before wearing an impish grin. "You don't really have a choice in the matter, do you?"
|Nuada|
Inhaling deeply Nuada decided that training today would have to limit itself to what he had done in the past few hours. He would have been able to concentrate better if the nagging thought he would be welcomed into his chamber with the view of a mortal hadn't been there. Every single time he remembered how the pixies had tricked him his hands almost started to shake. Almost. He had not spent millennia honing himself to now succumb to the tricks of the little ones.
And yet there that infuriating woman was. The Unbending One. He allowed himself to violently exhale as he thought of how she was polluting his living space. He should have been quicker and just stabbed her when he had been unbound by a promise. Flexing his fingers he returned, entertaining the idea of taking Wink with him to the Troll Market and leave the human to her own devices. At least she had shown some initiative in getting out on her own, though he suspected he should be aware of tossed around pixies for the time being.
As he came closer he could hear the very distinct sound of screaming. It was so fierce and hellish he thought a banshee had come to pay their respects to him, though rounding the corner he found only Wink waiting for him, a very guilty look playing around on his features.
"What is the matter, my friend? Has our… guest been playing tricks on you?" Nuada inquired, not seeing the wretch anywhere at the moment.
Wink looked back for a moment. "Well, the thing is…" he started, before the bathroom door banged open, several pixies streaming out of it in a hurry. Nuada's unbound hair fluttered as several of the winged ones zoomed past, shouting something about quickly escaping.
"You little… little moths!" the woman screamed, having the air of a drenched cat. "I am this close to hanging around flypaper everywhere in my apartment and we'll see how you like that!" Three of the pixies hung above her, uttering soothing words while the woman seemed to seriously consider jumping in an attempt to catch them. "Common courtesy may be being visible, but it is NOT dumping me in freezing cold water, Cleo!"
Ah, so that was what had been happening in his absence. The human was now clearly visible, without the constant flickering that had made it so tiring to keep an eye on her. Green eyes, clear as glass, landed on him and her mouth immediately took on that specific stance she seemed to wear whenever he was visible. "I don't suppose you'll be any help either." She said, barely loud enough for him to hear her.
The only ideas he had about helping her involved blood or other nastiness, and his promise did not allow him to act on those. Instead he had to content himself with a scowl and the hope that perhaps he could scare her into a cardiac arrest. He watched as she tossed her shoes in the corner she had claimed for herself for the time being before she bent over to pick up her cellphone. He looked at Wink, who shrugged before telling Nuada she hadn't phoned anyone yet.
"I am so going to regret this." she said out loud before pressing a finger to her lips as if Nuada had been singing the Bethmoora anthem as loud as he could. Before he could be tempted to reply to her she started talking into the device. "Hi mom… yeah no I'm actually calling… would you… no seriously… I'm trying to…"
With every time she tried to start a sentence Nuada could almost see her growing redder. Finally she snapped. "I don't care what you cured miss Parkin off, I'm trapped in the sewers!" she shouted into the phone. A few seconds after that is was quiet, her chest rising with deep breaths. "Look, things got complicated and I'd really appreciate it if you would get me."
Her eyes flickered to Nuada and Wink, before she settled on the other fae in the room. "No, it doesn't have anything to do with me seeing pixies. We've been over this, remember?" She turned her back to Nuada, red hair gleaming in the faint candle light. He got a sour taste in his mouth as he heard the lie. "No really mom… no, I don't want a new appointment with him." She ran a hand through her hair, glancing right and left. "Look… it was just an early April fool's joke, so don't sweat it. Too bad I couldn't prank you."
She snapped the phone shut so fast Nuada almost expected it to break. When she turned around she looked to be furious, grabbing the phone with two hands. "What good is this thing if I can't even get help?" she shouted, exasperation coloring her voice so heavily the pixies retreated. "Piece of fucking junk!"
She threw the contraption in an arc towards the opposing wall, shattering it as she did so. Several pieces fell in the water, casting ripples throughout it. Nuada raised an eyebrow as she threw her head in her neck and let out another scream. She had a set of lungs that would make a banshee proud, with the temper to boot. With a volatile temper like that he was surprised someone hadn't decided she was too much trouble and get it over with already.
He took a seat on the steps, pulling out one of his best daggers and a polishing stone. Weapon maintenance was as important as daily training if he had any hope of reclaiming the crown pieces. Near him the human had turned around, throwing a tantrum like a child, pounding her fists against the invisible barrier. He had chosen his spot deliberately, to show he wasn't afraid to be near her. So far she seemed to be unaware of him even being on the same planet as she kept screaming profanities directed at seemingly every fae being she had ever heard of. Wink took a seat near the warmth of the improvised forget they had, his one eye fixed on the female in a way that had too much empathy for Nuada's liking.
Wink had always had a soft spot for humans, or rather, a dislike for killing anything that lived. His kind heart hadn't stopped him from aiding Nuada, but sometimes the troll had dared to contradict Nuada's decisions. And if Wink could help it, he would obscure himself from human vision in any way he could. He called it 'avoiding heated tempers'. It just meant humans tended to get violent every time they didn't get their way, like the one in his vicinity was just doing.
He sensed more than heard her dropping against the barrier, worn out from her emotional outburst. He glanced sideways to be sure she wouldn't try to direct her obvious violent streak towards him, but she seemed to be placated, pressing her hands against her eyes. "I didn't want any of this, you know?" the human said out loud.
Nuada tensed, hearing her say something that was directly aimed at him. She continued, clearly not caring about whether he wished to listen to her or not. "I can't help it if this kind of thing just keeps happening to me. And trust me, if I had never been able to see any of you I probably would have been a happier person. But I just had to get stuck here." A shaky sigh as she continued. "If it wasn't for those shadows you would have never seen me, so you can blame them if you want to be angry at someone."
Her face turned, looking at him directly. Nuada returned the glance, not wanting to back down from this kind of challenge. Her face was serious, drained of color for the time being. "I just hope you know I'm not lying when I say I never intended to be here."
That 'here' carried so many meanings layered in and onto each other. He could read into the meaning of that word, here, this moment, this place, this life. He returned his attention to the soothing view of his dagger. "I believe you, mortal. And it was never my intention to keep you here."
She chuckled, weary with the situation. "I actually did pick up on that one." He kept his attention to his dagger, chastising himself for actually answering her. "You're stuck with me for now, prince. Let's try not to kill each other while it lasts."
Moon's note : Yay, another chapter ^^ Ugh, uni has started again, leaving me with very little time to write, so I do apologize for that.
CrazyNorwegian : I feel so bad since you were happy about my quick updates just at the moment I actually started to get obligations in my life again. So yes, sorry about that. If I ever stray from a correct portrayal with Nuada, feel free to virtually kick me.
Charmcaster5 : Another chapter, so yay, party. From now on things can only improve between the two. At least as far as I have it planned out, which usually doesn't mean much.