The Colony
A story about fairies and magic, and the hurt that accompanies fraternizing with humans.
Part 2 can be found here.
Part 3
Not much happened at work, things went by pretty fast, seeing as Maverick was afraid to stop working. When the catered lunch was brought in, he stayed sitting at his desk, typing vigorously about expense reports and the like. Maverick stayed until 5:00 p.m., trying to make up for the hour he missed that morning. He was the last one left besides Roger but everyone knew not to bother him, especially when the door is closed.
Packing up his things, he walked down the short hallway out into the night. It was quite bright out, the Eiffel Tower was shining over the neighboring buildings. Maverick took the metro home, standing with his back against the wall, his wings sore from holding them in all day.
The metro stopped on his street and Maverick hopped off, walking quickly home, anxious to be in the safety of his own home.
The steps up to his apartment felt familiar under his worn shoes. The walk/ride home was peaceful until he neared his door at the end of the hall. Realizing how exhausted and drained he was, he sped his steps, yearning for the sweet nectar that would rejuvenate him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Maverick quickly twisted around, checking to see if someone was following him, but the hallway was empty. The floor creaked beneath him as he turned back to his door.
“Boo!”
A small human jumped out from the shadows, wearing all black. Maverick took a faulty step back, stomping on his own heel, then fell, hard, onto the wood floor.
Laughter echoed in the hallway, “I got you so good! You had no idea I was here! HaHa!”
“Daisy? I swear if that’s you . . .” Maverick said, groaning from the fall.
She laughed again, “You should’ve seen your face, it got all wrinkly and your eyes got so wide! It was fantastic. I wish you could have seen it yourself.” Her nose scrunched up at him.
“Here, let me help you up,” she reached her arm down toward him. After Maverick inched away from her she glared at him, “Okay, I’m sorry. You said you worked until four, so I came here ten minutes after four to meet you and you weren’t here. I waited almost an hour and a half for you. I got mad, that’s all. Let me help you up.”
Maverick slung his arm up to meet Daisy’s and let his full body weight dangle. Stronger than she seems, Daisy had almost pulled him all the way up, when Maverick tugged her down on top of him.
A yelp emerged from her body, “Maverick!” She slapped him in the chest, “What the heck!”
“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, isn’t that the saying?” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as Daisy’s face turned strawberry red. Maverick went quiet, studying her, “I never knew you had freckles, they’re cute.” He pushed her off of him and stood up, dusting himself off.
Jumping up, Daisy said, “There’s a lot you don’t know about me. Seeing as we only met yesterday.”
“Let’s go inside,” he said, disregarding her last remark, “But I was late this morning for work because of you so I don’t want you staying long.”
Twisting the key that he had just jammed into the lock, Maverick let them in.
He pointed to the kitchen, “There’s a little bit of food in there if you want any. Don’t drink the nectar or you will die. Got it?” Maverick began walking towards the bathroom, “I’m going to go take a shower alright? Don’t do anything stupid.” He pointed two fingers in a V at his own eyes, hitting the lens on his glasses, then flicked them to her.
“Alright, Maverick. So, drink the nectar for sure, and do something stupid. Got it.” She winked at him as he forcefully closed the bathroom door behind him.
The cabinets beneath the sink squeaked when Maverick opened them to get his soap for his wings. It was a soap designed for newborns, but it worked just as well for his see-through, delicate wings. Undressing, he placed his dirty clothes in the basket by the door, making a mental note that he needs to wash his laundry soon.
He carefully bent his wings when he stepped in the shower so that they would not catch on the rings holding the shower curtain up. The shower water grew warmer as it was on longer, allowing Maverick to finally relax. He washed his hair with conditioner only, and gently scrubbed his now drooping, wet wings. After he had washed the rest of his body, he shut off the water and stepped out onto the mat. He wrapped a towel around his lower half, wings still drooping, before whistling his way out to get some clothes.
Eyes going wide, he whipped his head to the kitchen after hearing a pan clatter, “I forgot you were here, sorry. I’m used to being by myself.” Maverick chuckled, running a hand through his wet hair and holding his towel extra tight. He sniffed the air, “Are you making something?”
“I haven’t eaten yet and you told me to get something from the fridge. I assumed you would have some sort of real food but all I saw were some potatoes, which you don’t put in the fridge, by the way, some lunch meat, a pepper, and some eggs. So I just cooked basically everything in a pan, nothing fancy, and we can put the peppers on top for some extra flavor. It’s actually pretty good.” Daisy looked him up and down, “Is that okay?”
“Oh yeah, for sure. Whatever is fine, it sounds good, thanks.” He fumbled in his dresser for some sweats and a shirt, suddenly very self-conscious that he was practically naked in front of this girl who he had just met. “I’ll just go uh, put some clothes on real quick.”
Daisy laughed at him, shaking her head as he waddled back into the bathroom.
The flowers on the windowsill in the bathroom were still looking beautiful as ever, but Maverick touched them and muttered a spell, just to be sure that they would last for a few more days. He shoved his clothes onto his body haphazardly and fluffed his hair with a towel in the mirror.
His feet padded softly on the carpet as he made his way towards the kitchen. There were already places set for them at the island, facing each other.
Maverick looked around confused as he sat down on a stool, “Where did you even find these placemats?”
A mess of eggs was produced from a pan, “I found them in the very top cupboard. Geez, have you ever looked in anything since you moved here?” Daisy poured him some nectar without him asking and poured herself some water.
“I’ve been here for about three and a half years, of course, I’ve looked in stuff.”
Daisy looked up from where she was dishing up plates of food, “Your wings are out.”
Maverick fluttered his wings and sure enough, they were out. “I must have grabbed the t-shirt that I cut holes into so that my wings could fit.”
Tucking them back into his shirt he said, “I can put them away if you want, sorry about that.”
“No, no.” Daisy reached an arm across the island to stop him, “Keep them out, they’re pretty to look at.” She slowly removed her hand from his forearm, “Can you still use them?”
He shrugged his shoulders, wings moving up in unison with them, “Haven’t tried since I left the colony.”
“Why haven’t you?” The stool scraped the only hardwood floor in the apartment as Daisy pulled it out from under the counter, taking a seat across from Maverick.
“Well it’s hard to fly in an apartment like this,” he said, gesturing to his bedroom/kitchen and at one of the four walls that made up the small bathroom, “ And it’s too nerve-wracking to try again in the colony. I would hate to try in front of all of them after I left and then fail.”
Daisy nodded, chewing a potato in her cheek, “I get that. I’m originally from the states but I left after my parents died in a car accident. I got some insurance money and money from selling possessions I inherited in the will, and from selling random furniture around the house. I bought a plane ticket, and a small place downtown with what I had left, I got a job, and sent myself to college here.” She blinked hard, an eyelash landing on her cheek.
“Here, let me get that for you.”
“What?” she swatted at his outstretched hand, her whole face flinched at him, “What are you doing?”
Maverick swatted her right back, “You have an eyelash, idiot. Geez, get it yourself then, it’s on your left cheek.” He took a bite of food.
After the eyelash had been swatted away by Daisy herself, an awkward silence settled around them. It was nighttime, but in France, that’s still a busy time, especially when you were right down the street from the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. They both munched on their food as sirens, shouts, and music were heard through the tall windows.
Maverick cleared his throat after several minutes of silence, “Well that was good, thank you. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in a while.”
Taking this as a chance to redeem herself, Daisy said, “Yeah, it looks like you haven’t eaten anything for a while after seeing you in just a towel.” Her eyes lit up when she saw that she had made him blush. “Sorry, not sorry.”
“Ha Ha, very funny.” Maverick suppressed a smile, “Anyways,” He swigged some nectar from his cup that he forgot Daisy had poured for him, “It’s getting pretty late, do you need me to walk you home or anything?”
She scoffed, “I don’t need protection from anyone, and certainly not you,” Daisy glanced at the time on her phone, “But you’re right. I didn’t ask for magic yet. How about today we just keep it lowkey. Are there any protection spells you could put on me for my walk home? I know it doesn’t last long but it would be nice still.”
“Oh yeah, for sure,” he covered his mouth with the inside of his t-shirt as he yawned, “Well, why don’t you collect your stuff, I’ll do the dishes after you leave.”
“Sure thing.” Daisy grabbed her small backpack that she came with and drank the rest of the water in her cup. “I’ll see you later, Maverick.”
“Alright, see ya. I’ll place the spell right as you get out of my sight so that it’ll last longer.”
They waved to each other and Maverick watched her go down the steps, then ran to the other side of his apartment to watch her walk down the street, and around the corner. “Oeprtct ehr ofrm ahrm ofr eytwnt-oufr ouhrs.”
The cold wind blew into his open eyes, causing him to turn away. He closed the window, and almost immediately lost his balance and fell to the ground. He pushed his way to the fridge and drank half a bottle of nectar, feeling better immediately. Taking a second, he slowly sat up, then stood, shaking his head. He flicked the lights out, turned on an alarm for the next morning, set his glasses on the bedside table next to him, and promptly fell asleep.
Part 4 can be found here.
