|The Sewers|

Just when Rhianwen started to feel some hunger pangs a bunch of pixies flew inside the room, carrying apples in a cloth suspended between them. She took one from the pile, hesitating before she took a first bite. Things between her and the prince were pretty tense, but…

"Catch." She said, throwing a bright red one at him. He caught it without words, glancing between her and the offered fruit with eyes that betrayed nothing. "Don't worry, I didn't poison it." She added, stopping herself from laughing hysterically at the notion.
When the elf laid the apple next to him she shrugged, starting to eat her own apple. If he didn't want to play nice that would be his problem. For now they were stuck with each other, and even if she didn't know why he was so upset with her, she still felt like she had the most reason to be angry. After all, she had never decided she wanted to set camp up here.

"Lenore." She started, licking some of the tart juice from her fingers. "How long are you planning on keeping me in here?" She hadn't forgiven them yet about dumping her in the freezing water the prince seemed to use for bathing. "I'd like to see the sun again, before I die here."

The pixie fluttered back and forth, hands on her back as she seemed to be thinking this question over. "I don't know, Pip is running this show." She finally admitted, settling down near a big apple. Rhianwen decided not to ask if they had bothered to pay for it or not. Pixies had a very broad concept of paying someone, including teaching them valuable 'life lessons'. "But please don't worry, I'm sure he'll hurry."

Rhianwen cast another look at the elf that was sitting on the stairs near her. The apple was still untouched, his work on his dagger going on without any hitch. The man looked menacing, especially with the scars that trailed his face, though the one line running across his nose seemed too regular to have been received in battle. She continued to study him, even after he looked up and stared her straight in the eye.

She could see by the way his jaw worked he was probably dying to ask the elven equivalent of 'do I have something on my face', while his stoicism forbade him from actually asking the question. She still didn't like him, but he was the only non-pixie she could have a conversation with while she was stuck here so he would have to do. "So… what kind of elf are you?" she decided to ask.

More silence. Just lovely. "Then don't answer. I'm just trying to be polite, something which obviously is above your conversational skills." This comment earned her a glare, though he still seemed to have a proper check on his tongue for now. "Guess I won't be calling you prince Charming for now. I'd sooner take my chances with a dragon the way things are going."

This brought a sort of crooked smile on his face, though clearly not for the reason Rhianwen found things funny. She had never encountered a dragon before… but those surely didn't exist, did they?
She decided against asking, mostly because she would never get an answer out of him. She finished her apple, putting the core next to her. The pixies were all busily eating, though they did mumble about missing milk with their food.

"You all do realize you can't keep me alive with just apples, do you?" she asked the pixies. The little ones shared some glances, though it was impossible to say what they thought about the statement. "Humans need other things besides fruit to stay healthy."

This caused a small huff from the elf prince, hardly audible. Rhianwen rolled her eyes, because if that was going to be the extent of her communication around here she might truly go barking mad. Things were a lot easier when she could just pretend she was not seeing anything, but she didn't have that luxury down here. She got up, trying to see what she could salvage of her now broken cellphone. She shouldn't have had that tantrum because maybe she could have called an alarm number or something that would come and get her.

And maybe Nuada would have killed any human who set foot in his lair, since he wasn't the most hospitable around. The realization the only thing keeping her safe was his honor wasn't exactly comforting. Even at a first glance she could see it was impossible to repair the thing, since the battery had fallen into the water as well. And who could she call, who wouldn't think she was a lunatic camping out in the sewers?

More pixies came flying in, carrying clothes, dropping the garments in a pile before they set to eating the apples as well. She walked over, vaguely happy they had taken the clothes from her own apartment. Nuada seemed less pleased with the development since it reeked of getting domestic in his own personal living space. The first thing she did was put on some wool socks to fight of the chill in the room. That was when she discovered the pack of cards one of the pixies had brought her. At least there was something to keep her occupied.

Ten minutes later she was attempting to play canasta with Mr. Wink, though the attempt proved to be largely unfruitful. Partly because the cards were too small for him to properly hold and partly since she suspected he was confusing the rules with an elf card game. When she looked back to her own cards again after helping him out she found she was holding an entire hand of heart aces.
"Okay, who's the funny pants who thinks they're being charming?" she demanded to know, waving her collection of cards around. "We're trying to play a serious game here."

All the while she attempted to not continue staring at Nuada, even though the two of them constantly looked at each other and caught each other doing it. It reminded her of a cat and a dog who couldn't get close to the other but still needed to keep an eye in check. As her cards were transformed to their usual state – a dreadful hand, but at least it was the correct one – she once again crossed eyes with the prince.

She attempted a thin smile to disarm him, which had about as much effect as when she would have tried to take down Wink with a toothpick. "Is he always like this?" she asked Wink, reshuffling the cards.

The troll gave a grunt that could be yes or no depending on who was listening, before saying something in what sounded like the gibberish she'd heard Nuada speak the day before, though she couldn't be sure. Cleo, one of the younger pixies, translated for her. "Prince Nuada hates humans in general, it's nothing personal."

The redhead let out a violent snort at that remark. "I feel so much better it's not because of myself he has decided to hate me. That would have been really small-minded of me." She raised her voice to make sure he could hear her. "Next time I'm reborn I'll make sure to fill out the questionnaire to say I don't want to be born as a human. Since, you know, we all get to make that choice."

Amber eyes glowered from the other side of the room, leading her to swallow. Perhaps she would do better to overthink the things coming from her mouth. "I still think it's ridiculous." She told Wink, unaware of how good Nuada's hearing actually was. "It's not my fault I was born a human. And it's not like I've been going out of my way hurting fae. More like I've been going out of my way to get away from it all."

"How very chivalrous of you." Nuada spoke, standing up. "Do you expect us to commend your behavior?"

Rhianwen dealt the cards, keeping her face as straight as she could. "I don't know, do you expect me to commend you on your hospitality?"

He approached them, lithe as a tiger on the prowl. She looked back at him, forcing her gaze to remain steady despite her heart rate going so high she could feel the thumping in her chest. "You are a human, a scourge on this beautiful earth and I will destroy all of you."

Rhianwen showed a wry smile. "I fail to be impressed by someone who thinks being holed up in the sewers is going to amount to much." She noticed how Wink and the other pixies decided to get away from the upcoming fight. "Remind me why I should feel friendship or awe for the fae?"

"We are better than you. Even the most vile and lowly of our kind is better than the noblest human you could point out to me." Nuada replied, his dark lip enunciating every word.

Rhianwen took a step closer to him. "How would you know anything about humans if you're locked away from the world. I refuse to take knowledge from someone who doesn't set a foot outside when he is fully capable of doing so!"

He stepped closer as well, looking down on her. They were standing as close to one another as they could without actually touching, she on the tips of her toes to lessen the difference in height. "I know all I need to know about your kind!" he shouted out, losing his composure.

"You don't know anything about me!" she yelled back at him, taking deep breaths to keep from toppling over. "If there's one of us who should be pissed, it's me. I don't remember trying to stab you for saying hello."

"You are human, therefore it is my right to-"

"Oh, shove it! Me being a human is no reason to-"

"There is no reason I should-"

"Maybe if you got that stubborn head of yours-"

"I loathe you!"

"I hate you!"

"Despise you with all I can muster!"

"Detest you with every fiber of my being!"

They were interrupted by a new voice interjecting in the argument. "It's nice to see you're both getting along so well, almost like someone cast a love spell."

The arguers both turned their gaze to the owner of the new voice, Nuada's cheeks colored a slight bronze from the exertion of yelling at a human, not to mention the shame of having lost his carefully constructed composure. Rhianwen's reaction was slightly more elated, though the way her hair stuck up suggested her own kind of inner turmoil. "Pipsqueak!"

"Lil Red!" the new arrival exclaimed with seemingly as much cheer as Rhianwen. "Though you ain't looking so little anymore. Can you still even pass through the door?"

Rhianwen groaned, the frustrated elf prince completely gone from her mind at the moment. "Please Pip, I never was able to pass through a pixie door. More importantly, why did you decide to come visit me? Are you going to tell your little subjects to let me leave? Is that it?"

Pip shook his head, holding up a finger to ask her to hold that thought for the moment before he flew to prince Nuada. This reaffirmed her attention for the insulted man, who narrowed his eyes at her. Both of them were daring the other to say something more, continue the argument. Pip started to speak some gibberish, though Rhianwen judged from the tone and movements he was thanking Nuada for taking care of her.

She folded her arms over one another. Everybody clearly knew Nuada didn't like mortals, so why had they insisted on locking her up in the same room as him? She sent another glare at the two conversing fae, before sitting down next to the pile of apples. "Don't look at me like that, Wink."

The troll was giving her the kind of look only disappointed mothers should be capable off. She rolled her eyes in reply, choosing an apple. She threw it at the troll, who caught it with his metal hand. "Look, it's not my fault, okay? And I'm not going to apologize."

Wink snorted, eating half of the apple in one bite. Then he growled something else, intonation so overdone she had no choice but to understand him.

"Who cares if I shouldn't have provoked him? For the record, I didn't choose to be here." The two royal fae were now looking at her, prompting the woman into shrugging. "As if you two never talked to a troll before."

Pip buzzed over to her side, golden flecks of dust trailing behind him. "Look Lil Red, we have time to talk now." He announced, taking a seat on one of the apples.

She chewed her mouthful of apple thoroughly, peering down at the pixie. "Lenore did give the impression that you were somehow the cause of all this." She picked off a small piece of the fruit, handing it to her old friend. "So, give me the skinny. How much am I going to hate you when you're done explaining?"

A tiny frown formed underneath the red mop of hair, Pip's blue facial tattoos swirling with the movement. "I was hoping hate would be an emotion too strong for the situation, though of course you would feel no elation. If Lenore would be so kind as to explain to the prince, in English it's hard to convince."

Lenore flew over towards Nuada, who had taken a seat close enough to be able to listen. Pip coughed once, searching for words and how to proceed with the situation. "Well, let's start with my own situation at the time. You know I'm the next in throne for the pixie realm, right?" He waited until Rhianwen nodded, Nuada also inclining his head that he understood after having hear Lenore's translation.

"Well, being the prince I obviously sought some way of bettering circumstances for our people. It just so happened I had an eye on a young lady back then, who absolutely adored children. And we fae aren't exactly the quickest to reproduce, so of course I had the brilliant idea of fixing that."

Rhianwen scrunched her nose. "So you what, went out in search of a fertility potion?"

Pip shook his head. "No, no, I went to look for something much more permanent and possible beneficial to all fae. Chicks dig it when a guy is all for the betterment of everyone else, you know. So, after asking around a little bit and digging around in libraries, I found one thing which was very suitable to our purposes. You know Lady Luck?"

He was met by a laugh as Rhianwen considered that. "You're talking to one of the most unlucky people on this entire planet. I may know her, but she sure as hell doesn't know me." When she was finished with her sniggering she motioned for Pip to continue.

"Well, as luck would have it – pun intended – Lady Fortuna possesses an orb that rules child luck. As in, childbirth and probability a child would be born alive." Nuada leant his head on a fist, observing Pip as he asked something. Rhianwen could guess the gist of it. Had he been foolish enough to steal from a god?

"And well, yes, gods do exist." Pip clarified to Rhianwen before he continued. "As do their artefacts. This was extremely beneficial to me, since the Sphere was exactly what I needed to win the heart of my lady. Getting inside her lair was ridiculously easy, since she never expected a pixie would try to get inside. And even if we did, surely we would be after something else that would enhance our probability to get away with pranks, so childbirth was the last thing she thought I would be after."

Rhianwen stopped him there, trying to keep up with the story. "So you robbed a goddess because you wanted to impress a girl?"

"I never claimed it was a smart idea." Pip told her, taking a quick bite of apple. "Anyway it worked since now she's my wife. Can we continue with the story?"

Rhianwen motioned a hand to indicate he was free to continue. From his place Nuada observed the royal pixie with slightly raised eyebrows. This was exactly the kind of story you could entertain a warrior with. "Of course she wasn't happy when she found out I stole the orb. It didn't exactly take her long to find out either, since she's the one who controls those shadows. So, they were after me and it's a miracle I managed to make it out of her realm without being caught which led me to the next problem.
I was stuck in the human world, carrying a sphere just a bit smaller than myself. The thing was bloody slippery too, as if it was trying to get away on its own. The shadows were tailing me, and we all know they can be pretty fast when they want to be. So I had the genius idea of hiding the Sphere in the last place they expected."

Rhianwen nodded, urging him to go on. She still didn't see where the story was going. "I entered a small house just a while from the city. The last place people will think you hid an important artefact that has to do with babies would be a crib, at least that's what I thought. So I made my way into the baby room and hid the Sphere beneath a pillow. Then I ran away, since the shadows were busy tailing a pixie and they didn't exactly have an interest in a human kid."

Rhianwen had a feeling she wouldn't like what was coming next. "You're not telling me…"

Pip shrugged, not feeling too comfortable about everything either. "How was I supposed to know you were in that phase where you stuck everything in your mouth?"

DeLacus : thanks for the compliment, though I'm sure I still have lots to improve on. I'll try not to let anyone down!