The Fairy and The Ravenstag King

Laukiu Nesulaukiu

Will woke up feeling better rested than he had been in months.

The fragmented memories he had of the events of that night were brushed off as a lucid dream brought about by his sleepwalking. It would not be the first time his brain conjured up something so realistic. Looking down at his scratched feet confirmed he had wandered out at some point and he got up to wash off the remaining dirt and regular wing powder from his body.

The water was colder than he anticipated, jerking any drowsiness out of his body when he remembered too late he forgot to pay for the water heat. Hastily, he scrubbed his hair and body clean, the clear water quickly turning blue as he watched it flow down the drain. With another onceover of soap in his wings, he made his escape from the ice cold water. He shivered, quickly draping a towel over himself before examining himself in the mirror.

The face that looked back at him was pale and thin, Blue eyes were shadowed and bruised which gave away his lack of sleep for anyone who looked close enough. Wild brown curls sprung wildly up from his head, he could never seem to control them no matter how much he brushed. For now, he tucked the behind his ears to brush his teeth. Unlike what he had read and seen of fairies in media, his ears were not pointed or long, which gave him some relief that he could hide himself easier among others.

Slowly, he stretched out his wings behind him in the mirror, enjoying the stretch he felt as he carefully checked for any scratches or holes that he knew he'd never find. The membrane was an opaque blue that bled into black the closer it got to his back, segmented into four parts like a butterflies with thin black veins that branched out from his shoulderblades. The hindwings tapered downwards into thin black ribbons that lightly brushed the floor when he walked. If he had to make a near comparison of what butterfly they resembled, it would be a Dragontail Butterfly mixed with a Blue Morpho. Despite how desperately he tried to hide them from the world, he thought they were beautiful, which was why he went to such great pains to clean them.

Not like it matters though, no ones going to see them.

The memory of the dream came back to him as he spat the toothpaste into the sink. He felt a strange warm feeling grow in the pit of his stomach of the memory of the strange touches. Even though it wasn't real, the memory of the hand caressing his back and wiping his tears filled him with an intense longing. He found it curious that such a nightmarish figure was used by his brain as a comfort, but chalked it up to the melding of his usual morbid thoughts twisting his mental state.

Damn, I must really be lonely if I'm starting to have dreams about getting hugged by monsters...

His reflection frowned at him, unhappy at being reminded yet again of his isolation. Sighing, he toweled off the remaining dampness from his hair and changed into some loose-fitting sweatpants and sweater. The sweater being a handmade gift from Beverly a few years back that was far too ugly to wear in public but way too comfortable to just throw away. He had cut a large slit in the back for his wings to fit through in the case it was too cold to walk around his house shirtless. His dogs happily crowded around him as he prepared his breakfast, noting how Winston, being the newest, only sniffed his wings curiously before laying down at his feet when he sat down to eat yesterday's leftovers at the table.

Will eyed the spot where Hannibal had sat across from him the day before, a strange giddiness that was entirely alien to him started bubbling up in his gut at the reminder the man would be arriving again later that night. It was weird, being excited at the notion of another person in his house. Normally, the presence of another would eclipse his own personality due to his empathy, draining him of his energy as he subconsciously mirrored their behavior patterns based on what he absorbed from them in their interactions. But with Hannibal... he felt nothing but relaxed despite his initial feelings of unease. It touched him deeply that Hannibal refrained from touching him at all during his stay, normally when people first learned about their empathy, they would grab at him to see for themselves just how much he could see. It had led to a lot of fights in the past when he was younger.