"Oi, Ironside reeks…Why the 'ell we 'ere again?" The peculiar man spoke, his gait a strange hobble. He was tall and scraggly, but hunched over. Dirt seemed to dust his body, although it seemed natural on him. His amber eyes held almost a glow, even with his nose scrunched up and a sneer on his face. His blond hair went wild, and though it wasn't too long, it could clearly be seen where the tips had been singed.
A heavier man was walking next to him, his blank brown eyes looking around the cityscape for something in particular. He wore simple pants and a shirt with brown linen gloves, his white hair was pulled back in a small tail. The chubby man had tattoos and wore rings of gold and silver. He snorted and pointed out across the road.
"A pawn shop? Why?" The thin man looked up to his friend.
The heavier man looked down to his friend, staring at him quietly for a moment before looking both ways and crossing the street.
"Eh…If you insist. But listen 'ere. I ain't buyin' it fer ya. Ya got that? Use your own gold." The thin man complained, following across the street without checking traffic. A vehicle nearly ran right into him, but he paid it no attention. The honk echoing past him as he casually lifted a hand and politely have the finger as he stepped onto the sidewalk on the other side.
The heavier man gave a snort again, opening the door to the pawn shop. A bell dinged to signal the door had opened and a lazy voice came from behind the counter. "Hello. Feel free to look around…" A short woman lounged in a chair, flipping through channels on a small television set that was mounted on the wall. The foil covered rabbit ears on the set barely managing to scrape even the slightest of signal from the atmosphere.
The thin man kept his hands to himself, he felt his skin start to prickle at the odd air of the place. His friend was right, there was something special here. As his heavier friend wandered towards the weapons case, the thin man found himself almost drawn to the instruments. No matter where else in the building he tried to peek at, his eyes always landed on a plain brown case that laid haphazardly against a shelf. He pursed his lips together, he was set on not buying anything. He never had a reason to come ironside, let alone buy anything.
Before he knew what was happening, he was knelt down on the ground examining the case. The brown leather worn down from years of abuse. The locks on the case made of hard wood instead of metal. That strange air in the shop came from this item. He could feel the energy radiating off of it like the source of an overwhelming scent. Goosepimples started popping up on his skin as he reached for the battered case. He pulled it closer to him and with a flip of the wooden locks, the case popped open.
He held a look of curious disappointment on his face. "Wha'? A violin? " He muttered softly, under his breath.
The violin is simple, but aged. The wood no longer shining but dull and fragile. Even the bow looked to be as decrepit as the violin itself. A snort brought the thin man from his wandering mind. Standing just behind him was his friend, staring with those blank brown eyes down at the violin.
"Yeah? This is it?" The thin man didn't take his eyes off the instrument, he reached out to playfully pull his fingers across the strings, but a sudden urging from his gut warned him not to. His hand seemed to pull back to his side.
The heavy man gave a nod, staring quietly at the violin still. Another strange minute of silence passed between the two until the thin man closed the case and growled out a "Will you shut up! We'll get the damned violin, now quit bein' a wanker and go pay for it!" He made to hand the case to the heavier man but he shook his head.
"What do you mean you don't have any money?!" The thin man said a bit louder than he probably should have.
The short woman behind the counter eyed the pair. She could have sworn she was going crazy. Both the thin man and the heavy man seemed different when she saw them from the corner of her eyes. Wings and pointed ears adorned them. Though now that she focused on them, they seemed as normal as any other druggie that wandered in looking for something to steal. Although, to her surprise the heavy man was quiet as a mouse. Even as he moved around the shop he barely made a noise. "What's going on over there? You two gonna buy anything or what?" She straightened herself up as she stood, leaning on the counter over the register now.
The heavy man nodded and reached a large hand into his pocket.
The thin man carried the case up to the counter and set it down on the glass. Even just carrying the case felt strange to him. He looked to his friend for distraction, and saw just barely the illusion taking place.
The heavy man handed over several dead leaves. Ones he had found on the sidewalk several hours prior. The woman looked them over, even going as far as counting them out, putting them in the register and even handing back change for the purchase.
To her, the leaves appeared to be bills. Cash in appearance and touch, even in the way it smelled. Illusions were a thing of beauty, to fool anyone without that special sense into believing something wasn't as it was.
The thin man started to chuckle, earning a roll of the eyes from the woman behind the counter as she went back to her chair and picked up the remote again.
The heavy man picked up the case this time, he visibly shivered upon coming in contact with it. His steps were quiet as he made his way to the door, the bell ringing once more as the pair left the shop.
"So, what made ya wanna come all this way jus' fer tha'?" The thin man had his arms crossed as the pair made their way down the sidewalk. He glanced at the case again, but then turned his attention ahead of them. He crinkled his nose as the scent of the city hit him again.
The heavy man was still quiet, walking casually without a care in the world. He didn't even seem to mind Ironside, at least, not nearly as much as his friend did.
"So, wait a second. You think that bringing this doohickey to the Unseelie Queen will get her to un-exile us? That's your plan?" The thin man stopped walking, shaking his head. "Well, it's worth a shot. I don't know if it'll do much good."
The heavy man looked over to the thin man, giving another snort. He cocked his head to the side.
"Well, yeah… She was really mad at me when I blew up the winery. And her boyfriend. But her husband is still alive so he really ought to reward me for that one!" The thin man argued as he started down the street again. "Ya know, this does bring up the question, why the hell was one of the Seelie Court's violins in a pawnshop on ironside?"
The heavy man followed the thin man and gave a snorting chuckle.
The thin man started laughing, "Oh! I like the sound of tha'. Maybe so, but what would be even better is if we could bring 'er a few casks of wine from the Seelie court as well as some of the wings offa one of the fae folk there. I'd love to toss a glass of blastberry over there an' see what happens. Ain't 'ad the chance to try it-" The thin man suddenly stopped speaking. The heavy man seemingly interrupting with his own silence.
"We're bein' followed? By who? I ain't see nobody!" He spoke too soon, his eyes landed on a young woman with brown hair and black framed glasses. Her earthy brown eyes seemed to stare right through his guise, and he knew it. "Damn it, let's get outta 'ere." He grabbed the heavy man's arm and took off running down the sidewalk.
It didn't seem to take too terribly long for the pair to get out of the city. Grass and leaves crunched into the soil beneath their feet as they started through the woods. The heavy man came to a halt, breathing heavily and sweating. He wasn't used to physical exertion like that. He was still holding the case tight with a white knuckle grip.
"Wha' the hell was tha' all about? That rotten little human child could see right through us! You're supposed to be good with illusions, did you muck up or somethin'?" The thin man was throwing a tantrum of sorts. Stomping into the ground until eventually he looked back at his quiet friend.
"I am not bein' unreasonable! The girl saw us. You know it as well as I. And I don't feel like dealin' with more humans than what's called for." He crossed his arms and turned his nose up at his friend, grumbling something else under his breath.
The heavy man sat on the grass, shaking the guise off of himself. The illusion revealing the man to be something inhuman. No eyes rested in the empty sockets, and long white hair was tied back. One of his ears was unusually long while the other seemed to have been torn off at some point. He had black clawed hands and sickly grey and green wings folded tightly to his back.
"What are you doing, stop that! We aren't over the border yet!" The thin man pointed off towards home. The direction really made no difference, they just had to find the right place and cross over.
The heavy man was still so quiet, but seemed to speak so much.
The guise over the thin man seemed to fade away as well. His eyes turning an otherworldly purple, both ears forming elongated points. His wings, amber and torn, unfurling with a sound similar to that of paper scattering. His right arm and leg taking on a new appearance, as though they were both made of tree bark from the elbow and knee down. "Argh…There ain't no talkin' to you when you get like this." He waved a wooden hand, dismissing any silent words his friend had been speaking.
"Oh, now you're sayin' you just need to rest because your magic was startin' ta fade? You used to be able to extend your magic for months... You really are getting' old." The thin man teased, hopping up into a tree and sitting with his legs dangling off the edge of the branch.
The heavy man snorted, then picked up the violin case and set it in his lap, opening it.
"You know I can't play. Ain't no good with them fancy things. " The thin man spoke in return to his friends silence.
The heavy man looked up at the trickster fairy, clearly saying something but his words inaudible.
"I dunno. It would be a smart idea to be able to play the thing. Make sure it ain't cursed. Last thing we need is for her to order us dead because we brought a cursed violin as a gift." The thin man spoke down to his friend.
The heavy man closed the case, locking it shut and giving a shrug.
"Ah-ha! There you are! I knew it, I knew I saw wings!" A voice called out from behind some shrubbery. The voice had a clear tint of an accent, likely Asian in origin. The girl from before had followed them this deep into the woods. Her jeans were somewhat muddy and her blue tank top was dirty too. She must have been hellbent on finding the pair.
"You're dreamin'. You don't see nothin. Hog, do somethin'. " The thin man looked to his heavier friend, who simply waved at the girl.
" Whaddya mean you're impressed? Can't ya see she's a human and she sees us?" The thin man complained.
"It's okay! I won't tell a soul, I promise. I just couldn't leave this chance alone. " The girl spoke with excitement as she made her way closer. "I didn't know fairies could be so scary looking. You really do not have eyes?" She focused on Hog as she spoke, then looked up to the thin man. "I heard something about a Violin. I can play. If you need the help, that is." She smiled kindly.
It was the thin man's turn to be quiet. He just stared at Hog for a moment before hopping down and landing gently on the grass. "As a matter of fact! We could use the hand. How well can ya play? Ya very good at it? Oh this could be good!" He chuckled darkly.
Hog looked up to the girl with a wicked grin, the empty eye sockets staring into her soul.
Though she didn't budge and retained her cheerful tone of voice. "I played all through highschool and college. Oh, I'm Mei. I guess that would help, huh?" She laughed, then looked down to the violin case. She cocked her head to the side, then looked at the pair. "I know fairies don't give out their names, but is there anything I can call you two?"
The thin man moved to speak, but a sudden deep guttural voice echoed from within the large man. "Hog…" He pointed to himself, "Rat…" He pointed to the thin man, then popped open the case, motioning to Mei then to the old Violin. "Play…" His voice seemed to echo in the woods. The area taking on a deep silence so much so that not even the wind through the tree branches made a sound.
"Uh..Alright. If you insist!" Mei suddenly seemed to be very on edge. Shakily, she reached down and picked up the Violin. She went stiff as her fingers came in contact with the wooden instrument, the energy that radiated from the violin seeming to shock her. Hesitantly she took up the bow, and placed the violin at her shoulder, her fingers on the strings. She pulled the bow across the strings, the sound unlike any violin she had heard before, but she didn't stop. She continued to create a song.
"OOhhh, Hog..I think you are onto somethin' here…" Rat cackled and bounced around a little. "This'll be good. Really good." He grinned.
Hog simply sat on the ground, watching the woman lose herself to a fairy song she never should have known.
A/N: This is an experiment. I saw some fan art of Junkrat and Roadhog as fairies and the idea hit me. Please leave feedback for this as I'm on the fence about this one. I may continue it, I may not.