They noticed a change in him. The cheeriness in his voice, the improved mood, and the indifference to the odd insult. Some noticed how well he handled the mix-up that ended up cutting his hours. How he changed his schedule, taking the less desirable shift. It was all very off behaviour for Tracy, and the other fairies noticed. Some became wary that the years of overworking himself and the weight of his winglessness on his mind had finally taken their toll on him, that perhaps he'd finally snapped. Other, wiser fairies saw the signs and smiled quietly to themselves when they saw the man. They knew he hadn't snapped, though perhaps he wasn't completely in control of his mental facilities.
Tracy, they knew, was in love.
All in all, perhaps others regarded this with more shock than they would have learning that he'd lost it. Nearly 4oo years, and in such a long time, all of his classmates and colleagues had partnered off. A wedding here, an engagement there. Children. Meanwhile Tracy had kept to himself, to his office and his work. For him to so suddenly be in love, after so long, came as a shock. They made a sort of a game around the workplace, trying to figure out who it was that he was so obviously infatuated with. Was it Barbara from Accounting? No, she was with Robert. Was it Mary-Ellen? No, she hated him. Perhaps it was someone outside the workplace? It seemed plausible. His team mates had noticed that he didn't take the overtime he usually did, preferring to go home regularly, taking leave just when the sun began to set on the west coast of America on The Human Plane.
Some fairies were brazen enough to try to pry the answer out of him. Some would even ask who the special lady was. His reply would be a simple shrug of the shoulders and a smile. "You don't know her." he'd say, and stalk off back to his office. It infuriated them. They wanted to know who The Wingless Wonder had managed to find. It was one big puzzle to them. A part of them didn't truly believe that he had someone, but his happiness was too tangent for it to be a façade. You could literally feel the air around him crackle with the magic that only being in love could produce.
And yet, the mystery girl remained just that - a mystery. He never met her in the break room. She never visited him in the office. She never even called, nor did he call her, at least not during the work day. It baffled them, who wanted to know so badly who the woman could possibly be.
And yet he would not tell. It was a terrible game of cat and mouse for months. Every step forward they made, every time they thought that they had uncovered a possibility, their hopes were quickly dashed. Finding out was an accident. He'd taken leave on night, along with a group of other Fairies who had planned to go out for dinner. Marina happened to be among them, an the group gave a collective moan when she asked him if he wanted to join them. It was unclear whether or not Marina liked Tracy. She acted kindly to him, but seemed to be on a very short temper with him as well. He tried his best not to upset her, but sometimes, with his antics, it was inevitable.
But he'd politely refused, telling her that he'd promise the missus he's be home early that night. Their ears perked up immediately, and they took a sudden interest in the conversation that their friend was engaged in. Victoria was among them, a fairy well known for her exceptional stealth magic, and when Tracy had bit everyone a good night and made off to go home, she took a deep breath and followed him. He didn't go far - just past the bridge that connected Fairy's campus to the outer city - before he plucked his wand from his belt. She' frowned and leaned in to get a better look, hopeful to be caught in his magic field, taken along to wherever he was going.
Violet, pink and yellow swirled around them, colours that were already swathed in the deep purple of their surroundings, the ribbons of magic contracting to form a solid wall around them. There was a topsy-turvy sick feeling in Victoria's stomach, as she was swept away while still invisible (it was not recommended to travel this way) but after a staggering landing, she righted herself, not having lost any ability of her lungs. She remained safely out of Tracy's sight, silently taking in the shock of her surroundings. The grass was a sharp green contrast to the red brick that paved the roads, the large building that loomed in the distance, just past the gates that protected Tracy's entrance from the view of swarms of humans.
Her eyes went wide and she almost let out her breath, but merely made a small squeaking sound in the back of her throat and willed herself back to Fairy Land.
A Human.
The Wingless Wonder was in love with a human!
The rumours spread quickly. Even the wiser fairies became distressed at the notion. It was a most unusual love, they had to admit. Some scoffed at him when they saw him at work, much to his confusion, as if to say "You couldn't even find someone of your own species?"
The sudden cold shoulder dampened Tracy's happiness. He didn't know why, for quite some time. Not until the news reached Marina.
She's charged at him from across the lobby when she saw him, whistling some nonsense tune and carrying a stack of papers to Mab-knows-where. It didn't quite matter, as she drew her wand, holding it at shoulder's height, right at his chest. Marina was a higher-up. She's worked hard to get where she was, and was a talented Tooth Fairy. Tracy was still her subordinate, but they were friends, which is why he was rather alarmed to see her coming at him in a fury, wand-tip pointing right at his sternum. It attracted quite an audience as his papers went fluttering everywhere, his hands raised in surrender - of what, he did not know.
"Uhm… Good morning!" he greeted, hoping that this was just some odd way of her venting her frustrations. Marina was sweet, true, but every fairy in the complex knew that it was unwise to upset her. Tracy had, regrettably, done just that. "Might I ask," he began, rather nervously. "Why you're mad at me?"
She stared him down for a moment, wand arm rigid and her black hair almost as wild as her eyes. She swallowed thickly and tucked the device away, much to his relief.
She hit him. "Because you're an idiot!" she growled. "Are you mad? Do you even know what you could do to us? Any idea at all?"
"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what you're—"
"Listen, you've done a lot of stupid stuff in your life. That night on the field when we were younger, that human girl you brought to—"
There was dead silence. Realization dawned on her face and Tracy could hear a couple of chuckles from the crowd that had gathered around them. He felt the bottom of his stomach drop out as she spoke. "In love with a human… It's her, isn't it?"
The words were not kind words, and they stung him something terrible, right to the core. His jaw locked momentarily, biting the words back until he found a more suitable response. "Yes," he answered, solidly, properly. "It's her. Rae."
From the crowd her could hear someone whisper "Dream Killer."
He ignored the accusation. "And I do love her. You're acting like that's a bad thing."
She huffed in surprise at his response. "Tracy, she's human! How could you possibly think it's not? You know what they're like!" she looked around at the crowd, not having realized that she'd attracted so much attention. Marina grabbed him by the arm and dragged him from the lobby back to his office to continue to conversation there. The walk was short, but spent in complete silence between the two. She rounded on him once the door was shut, and found him leaning back against the desk, frowning down at her. His stature and usual benevolence made this a rather intimidating image.
"Now," he said, as the door closed, "Please explain to me why I can't love her."
She sighed. "That's not what I mean, Tracy, you know that." she snapped. Her voice softened. "It's dangerous. You know what humans are like."
"I know what Rae is like. I love her, Marina." he searched her face, his expression unyielding. She sighed. "Now you know as well as I do that there's nothing that will change that. You shouldn't try to change it. Love is magic. I love her."
She looked up at him, locking eyes. In the decades she'd known him, she'd learned that a sure-fire way to read him was to read his eyes. Wide and watery, there was the unmistakable look of determination in his eyes, the fire that was hadn't been present in centuries.
She sighed again. "You two are really in love?" she asked.
"Yes." came his answer, immediately. "She's staying in school until she graduates in a few years, and then I'm bringing her here, to live with me."
Marina was not pleased by these answers. Tracy obviously had no idea how much danger he was putting himself in, or anyone else. His girlfriend, the rest of Fairy Land. Things could go terribly wrong - they often did, with humans - and everyone could lose. But Marina also knew that Love was indeed magic. It was the strongest magic in existence, purer than anything they could ever extract from a tooth. And, above all, it was not to be tampered with.
She groaned inwardly. "Leave it to you, Tracy, to fall for a human." she muttered, unlocking the door. "You have to be careful. I know you're taking it lightly, but you need to understand that this is dangerous. You're setting yourself up for one glorious fall."
Tracy smiled sweetly at her as he made his way out of the office. "I've already fallen, Marina." he said gently.