#4 - Faeries on the road
Title: Faeries on the road
Author: elebridith
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Chris/Steve, the faeries Elphie (purple, speaks in tinkles) and Lomy (blue, with retractable claws, speaks human)
Spoilers/Universe: Kane RPS not_a_firefly!AU
Wordcount: 2521
Summary: "Faeries. In our car. Uh-huh, sure. Steve... are you okay?"
Disclaimer: Not mine, nope, nothing. Just playin'.
Notes: This AU is brought to you by the cracky brains of elebridith and havenward . For more information on how the faerie family came to live, please see
not_a_firefly . *points and bows*
"Lomy, this is not good. Very not good." The purple faerie's voice tinkled softly through the dark truck bed as she grabbed her friend's arm and looked at him very nervously. "If they catch us..."
Lomy narrowed his eyes. He liked their two human hosts, he really really did, but should one of them even dare to try and hurt Elphie... well, let's just say he didn't have claws for nothing. He patted Elphie's hand reassuringly. "Maybe they won't even see us. We're still not sure they can, are we? When they're sober, I mean."
Elphie nodded slowly. It was a small reassurance, but they really had no choice except to stay where they were. The guitar case they'd both been sleeping in had suddenly been lifted up and had apparently been crammed in the back of some truck. By the time they'd managed to push it open and scramble out of it, the truck had been on its way. They had decided just to wait it out - they'd already been too far away to fly back. To make it worse, the guitar case had snapped shut again and they couldn't get back in. And since everything had been expertly packed, there wasn't much room even for two small faeries to completely hide in.
The engine's rumbling stopped suddenly. Elphie did a little yelp and Lomy straightened. They could hear a voice from outside - it was the blond singer, getting out of the truck. "Christian? Want a soda too?" An affirmative grumble could be heard from direction driver seat, and then the tail gate opened.
They both retreated behind the case as far as possible. Lomy hissed. "Get behind me and duck!" He nudged Elphie who obeyed wide-eyed and then he snicked out his claws. Elphie's eyes widened even more. "Don't hurt him!" she whispered. "He's so nice!"
Lomy tensed. "Not if he doesn't try to hurt us. You never know." Ready to lash out, he watched the blond singer rummage through a cooler until he dug out two bottles of soda.
"I don't think he sees us," Elphie whispered. Lomy nodded and just started to relax a bit as the singer looked in their direction.
***
Steve hummed to himself as he picked up his and Christian's favorite soda. He was just about to close the tail gate again as he saw something out of the corner of his eyes that made him stop. What the... He eyed the object in question and frowned. Why do we have a tiny blue puppet in here? And... He looked closer. And a purple one too, it seems. Huh. Where do they come from? I don't remember Chris owning any of those. And then he saw the blue one move. He almost jumped back in surprise, but then looked closer again. It... moves. He blinked, shook his head and looked again. The tiny blue figure seemed to bounce on the balls of his little feet like a fighter. It's... moving. It's blue, tiny and has wings like a fuckin' dragonfly. And obviously has purple company. Then the thought sank in, really sank in. He dropped the soda bottles. His eyes widened as a memory struck him (puppychasedsomethingpurpleanddearLordhadtheybeenhighthattime) and he recoiled hastily, slamming the trunk shut again and all but running to the truck's driver side. "Umm... Christian?"
Christian looked up and laughed at Steve's aghast look. "Steve, you look freaked out. What's wrong?"
Steve took a deep breath. "Chris... Am I high right now? Did I forget smoking anything?"
Christian blinked. "Uh. No? Not that I... Are you ok?"
Steve made a sound that was almost but not quite a hysterical laughter. "Yeah. Fine. Dandy. I... uh, forgot... um, the soda." He signaled back to the trunk and padded off again.
Christian stared at Steve's retreating back and narrowed his eyes. "What the fuck was that?"
Steve approached the trunk hesitantly and slowly opened the tail gate again. For a moment he thought he could hear a tinkling sound that sounded somehow frightened. He groaned. This is getting worse. There is nothing in here that would tinkle, and it sure as hell wouldn't sound frightened! He carefully looked inside the trunk. A weak sound escaped his throat as he saw the two tiny figures still huddled behind the guitar case. They are still here. And I'm stone cold sober, means that this is... real. Or I'm having a breakdown. Okay, Carlson, what now? He leaned forward to examine the little blue one more closely, but thought better of it as he heard a hiss and saw tiny hands raise.
"Okay, okay." He lifted his open hands. "I won't harm you, I promise." And I did not just talk to... whatever. Nope. He could swear that he saw green eyes in a blue face narrow in disbelief, and a chime like small bells came from the purple one. He took a deep breath and decided oh what the hell, he could try the communication thing. "Um... hi there. Can you... can you understand me?"
He startled as the blue one nodded and gruffly said: "Yes. We both can."
The voice was barely audible from the distance, and Steve stepped closer again. He leaned closer again, but more carefully this time. "Uh..." Manners, Carlson. If everything else fails, introduce yourself. "Uh, good. I'm, I'm Steve. Hello." He resisted the urge to reach out to give a handshake at the last second. The tiny creatures seemed to have noticed the small movement nevertheless, because the blue one definitely smirked and there was this tinkling again, this time sounding like a giggle.
The blue one looked serious again. He did a formal bow. "My name is Lomy. And this is Elphie." He motioned to the purple figure behind him. "She doesn't speak human, but I will translate whatever there is to say."
Steve nodded and had to smile as the purple one - Elphie - shyly stepped next to Lomy and did a curtsy. "Hello Elphie. So..." He tilted his head. "What exactly are you?"
"Well, we are faeries."
The tone of voice was still very polite, but Steve could almost hear the mentally added "Duh, stupid" in Lomy's voice, although the faerie did his best not to show it. He nodded again. "Faeries. Of course. And just how..." He was interrupted by the sound of Christian's voice behind him.
"Steve? Who are you talkin' to?"
Steve's lips began to twitch. Oh what the hell. If this is a dream, it's by far the most entertaining one I had in a long time. Well, apart from those that have Christian naked in them, but... Yeah. Might as well go with it. He turned around, met Christian's questioning look and raised an eyebrow. "Well, to the faeries of course."
The look on Christian's face was priceless. "Faeries. In our car. Uh-huh, sure. Steve... are you okay?"
Steve grinned and nodded. "Yeah. I'm not high, I'm not drunk, so... yup, totally okay."
Christian took a step closer. "Then why on earth are you talkin' about... faeries?" His voice had a soothing tone as if he expected Steve to freak out any second.
Steve grinned even wider. "Not 'about', man. 'With' faeries. These two here. Meet Lomy and Elphie." He stepped aside and made a hand motion towards the trunk.
Christian narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. "You're kiddin' me, right? Those are... puppets, right?" Before Steve could object Christian stretched out his hand and tried to touch the tiny blue figure. A sharp hiss and a quick movement was the immediate reaction, and Christian flinched back with a yelp. He stared at his fingers. "It... it scratched me!"
Steve tried not to laugh at the incredulous look on Christian's face. "Well, you tried to poke him first. Of course he didn't like that!"
***
Christian stared at him, opened his mouth and closed it again. He observed the small scratches on his fingers. "Ow." He looked at the pupp- Lomy, Steve had said, he reminded himself. He was still glaring, and now Christian could see the small claws protruding from his fingers. "I... uh..." He threw Steve a helpless glance and scowled as he only got an encouraging hand wave and a grin as answer. Fat lot of help you are. Stop giggling, Carlson. Clearing his throat, he turned back and once again leaned forward, this time keeping his hands to himself. "Um, listen, I... uh... I'm sorry, okay? Didn't wanna... well." His voice trailed off and he bit his lower lip, looking expectantly at Lomy.
The blue faerie tilted his head and huffed. But then the purple one - Elphie? And what the heck does that remind me of? - placed her hand on his arm with a pleading look and Lomy sighed. He looked up at Christian. "We really don't like to be poked. But your apology is accepted." His voice still sounded a little indignant, but then he bowed to Christian and looked a little more at ease.
Christian blinked and nodded. "Uh... thanks... I guess." He tried to figure out what to say next. How the hell do you make small talk with faeries? And since when do I even believe in them? That thought made him chuckle. Well, it's hard not to if two of them are standing in your trunk. He looked at Lomy again. A thousand questions whirled through his mind and he blurted out the first one that popped up. "Can you fly?"
Lomy crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. A funny tinklegiggle came from Elphie, but she quickly put her hand on her mouth as if to prevent it from slipping out. Her purple color got a little darker. Christian grinned. She blushes. That's cute. And...
"Chris? Uh..." Steve had stepped up next to him and now pointed at the two faeries. "Um, wings. See?"
Christian bit his lower lip again and looked a little sheepish. "Sorry. That was a stupid question, right?" He gave Lomy an apologetic look.
Lomy tilted his head and grinned suddenly. "Humans are not always familiar with our kind. But yes, if a faerie has wings you can safely assume that he or she can fly." To prove his point, his little wings began to flutter and then he flew upwards until he hovered directly in front of Steve's face.
Steve automatically stretched out his flat hand and after a small moment of hesitation the blue faerie decided to land on it. Steve stared at him with complete amazement, mouth open and eyes wide like saucers. Lomy grinned, obviously feeling more confident now. He turned around and waved down at Elphie. He made tinkling noises that sounded encouraging albeit a little less melodious. Nevertheless Elphie shook her head adamantly and retreated a bit more in the back.
Christian also reached out his flat hand and looked at Elphie. "Come on, little one." His voice had the soft tone that worked wonders on frightened animals. "I promise we won't hurt you."
Another tinkle was heard, and Elphie reluctantly came forward a bit. Steve had to chuckle. "He's right, um, Elphie. He'd never hurt girls. Well, if they don't hurt him first, that is."
A tinklegiggle, an encouraging sound from Lomy, and then Elphie fluttered upwards and landed on Christian's hand. She shifted on her feet nervously, but gave him a small smile in the end. She looked over to Lomy and said something. Lomy nodded and turned to Steve.
"She says she knows that you two are kind people at heart. Otherwise she would have left the house long ago." He paused a moment and then added "We just prefer to... stay unnoticed."
Steve nodded slowly. "That makes sense. Speaking of which..." He looked over at Christian. "We should probably move on. Before someone decides to check if we have car problems or something."
Christian blinked. "Right. Um... anything we can do for you now?" He looked back and forth between Elphie and Lomy. "I dunno... water? Food?"
Elphie fluttered up and landed gracefully on the guitar case again. She pointed at it and tinkled a question. Lomy shook his head. "We do not need any food or water yet. But we would appreciate to get back in the guitar case. It's quite comfortable in there." He also flew up and landed next to Elphie.
Christian blinked again. "You... live in there? That big enough for you? Okay... wait..." He removed a bag that had dropped on the case and flipped it open. "There ya go. We'll have a break from driving again in a few hours, so we'll check back on you then."
Lomy nodded. "Thank you. We will see you then." The two faeries retreated into the case. As it closed again, Lomy grinned at Elphie. "Now, that went better than I thought."
Elphie smiled. "They took it pretty well, didn't they? Better than I expected. Now, if they learn to keep the puppy in place..." She picked up a broken guitar string and began to mend it expertly. Lomy chuckled. "And I wonder when they realize... you know." He shared a grin with Elphie and began sorting his guitar pick collection.
***
Steve closed the tail gate again. They both went back to the front of the truck without a word. Christian took his place behind the wheel while Steve slid in next to him on the passenger seat. They both sat motionless for a moment, just staring out of the window while the whole event sank in. Finally they looked at each other.
"Well." Christian gave a nervous laugh.
"Yeah." Steve looked a little stunned.
"So... we have faeries." Christian shook his head, looking equally stunned. And more and more amazed.
"Uh-huh." Steve nodded. "For a while now. Huh."
Christian closed his eyes. "Wow. I can't believe it." He started to laugh, a delighted wondrous little sound.
Steve stared at him and suddenly began to grin. The grin got wider and wider, changed into a helpless chuckle until it grew into a full-size laughing fit, complete with tears and almost choking.
Christian looked alarmed and patted his back. "Breathe, man, breathe! What's so funny?"
Steve gasped for air and wiped the tears from his face. It took a little while longer until he could speak again. " I just realized..." The almost hysterical laughter threatened to start again and he had to bite his lip to stop it. He took a few deep breaths and then calmed a little. "I just realized how many times we had that guitar case stored in our bedroom. Maybe we should get our faeries some earplugs."
Christian had made the mistake of taking a sip of his soda. He almost choked on it now, and it was Steve's turn to pat his back while he coughed violently. As he caught his air again his face had turned into an interesting shade of red. He stared at Steve, lips starting to twitch. "Oh."
Seconds later they both exploded with laughter. The road trip had already gotten much more interesting that they had ever imagined.