Pixies and Peppers

“Ahem. Do you think you might be done, or…?”

Eyna blinked.

A tiny voice squeaked out. Like a stone tossed into tranquil waters, it created ripples in the moment. Eyna pulled back from Sthuna, searching for the source.

Sthuna made a soft sound in the back of his throat as she pulled back. It sounded suspiciously like a nonverbal complaint. For such a proud dragon, Sthuna was surprisingly needy. A fact that brought nothing but delight.

She’d be inclined towards teasing him about it once the subject wasn’t so new and vulnerable. But she settled for ruffling his hair, marveling at how it glimmered in the light.

Sthuna tilted his head at the gesture. His sharp ears fluttered.

Eyna eyed his ears. The ends looked supple, almost soft. They were faintly stained pink, like flower petals. She was tempted to pinch them.

“Ah. Please don’t start again. I beg you.” There it was again. Their mysterious third party. A little voice calling again, muffled, but certainly there.

Eyna’s dress started wiggling. Eyna looked down, prying open her pocket. Inside, her passenger was awake. The silkfluff. In truth she had, rather embarrassingly, forgotten about him. It hadn’t been that much time, but it felt like an eternity ago when she found him and scooped him up.

But there he was. Deep dark eyes looked up at her with curiosity. The fluffy antennae wiggled and vibrated.

Eyna exchanged a glance with Sthuna. “Were you listening to everything?”

She cared about all the residents of the Heartsprings. But some of the things that had passed between her and Sthuna were deeply private. She didn’t want to share them.

“Everything?” The silkfluff tried to climb out of her pocket, scrambling against the fabric of her dress. “If you mean your weird light show, yes. But before that I was asleep. Now - mind helping me out of there? It’s a little hard to move when I’m squished against you.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. Gently tugging her pocket open, she offered a hand for the silkfluff to cling to. “What’s your name, little fluff?”

“Ah?” His claws tickled harmlessly, tiny paws holding on to her. “What do you mean? You-”

The silkfluff gave a startled squeak. His antennae moved wildy. His wings trembled and fluttered “Wha-what happened to you Eyna? What’s - what’s all this? You look - you - you’re-”

Sthuna snorted.

“And who is that?” The silkfluff squeaked, looking Sthuna up and down. The poor creature had a momentary, tiny meltdown in Eyna’s hands. Squeaking and rattling those fluffy wings.

Eyna tried to soothe him. “That’s Sthuna. Have you already met…”

She trailed off. She raised her hands so that the little creature was at eye level with her. Something about the mannerisms was tipping her off. She inspected him from side to side. He didn't look or sound anything like it, but…

“P… Pepper?”

A serpentine tongue flicked out of Sthuna’s mouth. “Yes. That is him. Smells like him.”

The silkfluff - Pepper - bristled. “Don't answer for me. And yeah, yeah, I know. It’s… Different.”

“What…? How??” Eyna frowned. “Is this related to the Executioner?”

She recalled, for a moment, the strangeness in the forest that night. The way things had seemed… Wrong. Empty. Despite the fact that the invaders hadn’t entered that part of the forest. There was a sinking sensation in her stomach. She didn't know what it was, but somehow she knew for a fact that these events were connected.

She glanced over at Sthuna. The dragon was studying Pepper, practically burning holes into the silkfluff. He'd always had quite the stare, as it turned out. It was simply that it had felt less intense when he was in his dragon shape.

“Is this something that the Executioner could have done?”

“No. Not that I’m aware. His expertise was… Killing. Destroying things.”

Pepper flared up his wings. “Don't change the subject! What happened to you two?”

Eyna answered quickly, almost dismissively. “The curse. Sort of.” She brought him even closer, inspecting him from all angles. “But Pepper - what happened to you?”

Father had said the Pepper was nearby. And Father couldn't lie…

“Whaddya mean ‘sort of’? No, no, no, no, no. You don't get to just dismiss this. You look fae, Eyna! And he-” Pepper attempted to twist around dramatically. But with the fluffy, chubby moth body, he only managed a clumsy scoot. “He looks…”

Sthuna tested the air again with his snake tongue.

“... weird.” Pepper finished weakly.

Sthuna looked down at himself. He picked at his shirt with clawed fingertips. Rather than being offended, he just seemed to be in agreement. “Hm. Yes.”

Eyna spoke up. “Pepper-”

Pepper squeaked, cutting her off. “Wait. Wait. You’re here with Sthuna.”

“Uh. Yes?”

“So you were kissing him!”

Eyna was caught off guard by the spontaneous pivot.

For a moment, Pepper's words just echoed in the grotto. Everyone stared at each other, dumbstruck. Even Pepper looked shocked by his own epiphany.

Pixies chose this very moment to make their return. Their small bodies fluttered through the curtain of water, darting into the grotto. They chattered animatedly amongst each other, tiny bell-like voices filling the stunned silence between the three.

The Pixie saw, caught sight of them and immediately became interested. Three alighted on Eyna, recognizing her and singing sweetly at her. One attempted to land on Pepper, treating him like a makeshift ride. Pepper squeaked in an outrage that wasn’t matched by his fluffy appearance.

Several of the Pixies seemed absolutely enamoured with Sthuna, however. They darted over his head. Landed on his shoulders. They even started tugging on his hair and reaching for his eyes to inspect them. Tiny hands on his facial scales, giggling and investigating.

Sthuna batted at them like a cat, trying to shake them off. But every time he dislodged, a few more would land on his shoulders or his head. They followed him in a little pixie swarm.

“Aw, they like you,” Eyna laughed.

Sthuna made a strange face, still adjusting to new facial muscles. “Ah. No.”

He snapped at the pixies. The gesture was significantly less intimidating in this shape than it was in his draconic one. Instead of the snap of jaws like an alligator, his teeth just clicked. He had sharp fangs, but his jaws weren’t strong enough to produce a loud sound.

It wasn't a very good deterrent. If anything, the pixies just seemed curious about his teeth now. One of them was so bold as to stick an entire tiny hand into his mouth.

The moment of awkwardness had been broken with the chattery, flitting creatures. Nothing like a pack of pixies to shake things up.

One of the Pixies was significantly less extrovert than the rest. This one darted to the nests of Moss that lined the grotto. In its arms it carried a collection of things we had been bringing back. Little treasures. A tiny gemstone. A pretty wildflower… placing them securely away in those nests.

The solitary Pixie went stiff. It gave a confused chirp, lifting one section of the moss carpet. Another chirp, more urgent this time. Then it started tearing through the moss, furiously looking for something. Clumps of dirt and plant matter went flying.

Eyna was the first one to realize. The pearl. The one Sthuna had carelessly knocked over. It was probably sitting at the bottom of the lake by now.

She inched her way towards Sthuna. Keeping her voice low, she whispered. “Sthuna. You dropped their pearl.”

The dragon boy paused in his efforts to dislodge one pixie, which had twined itself up in his hair. “Hm. Yes. That’s true.”

Eyna winced. The pixies were still friendly… For now. But once they realized?

“On my count we’re going to make a run for it. Follow my lead, okay?”

“I am not afraid of pixies.”

“Yeah, well, you should be. They hold mighty, fierce grudges.” She patted his head. “And you have hair now.”

Sthuna frowned. “Regrettably. But what does that matter?”

“Well! Unless you want to know what having thick clumps of honey and raw fish stuck in your hair feels like - and trust me, it's not fun - you better get ready to run.”

Pepper peered suspiciously up from Eyna’s palm. “What’re you two whispering about?”

“Pixie revenge.”

Pepper shuddered. “Gods. What have you done?”

Sthuna huffed. “You’re overreacting. I can handle these creatures perfectly well.”

The solitary pixie made an enraged sound. The other pixies turned swiftly, looking at their comrade. The pixie pointed an accusing finger at the dragon boy. Back to the moss. Then at Sthuna again.

Eyna quickly dropped Pepper back into her pocket. She grabbed Sthuna’s hand. He stumbled as she yanked him hard. “No time to discuss, run! Go, go, go!”

The three of them burst out of the grotto.

Behind them, the sounds of an enraged, chittering mob of pixies grew louder.