The Grumpy Thistle Fairy Page 2

  Who wanted a pretty but dumb bird as a pet when one could have this odd but endearing human?

  The only thing of concern was that Felix didn’t seem to get on well with other humans. He was tense if anyone came to visit and wouldn’t relax until long after they were gone. It was rare that he went into the village as well and so Ellis always got the crow to watch him on his occasional journey, just in case.

  The crow reported some humans yelling at Felix one trip and it showed in his tenseness for the rest of the day. The crow had noticed one man that had been yelling at Felix had sometimes come down their path before going home, which concerned Ellis greatly. When the wolf pack came back within range, Ellis called in his favour for removing a thorn from the pack leader’s foot and asked them to keep a level of protection on their house while they remained in the area. Once he realised that this was the new peace zone, the alpha wolf agreed.

  Felix had been shocked the first time he had seen the hulking pack of wolves lazing in his garden but upon seeing Ellis sitting cross-legged on the largest wolf’s head, he seemed to relax and carry on about his day. Ellis held court from atop the wolf’s head, much to the pack’s amusement, but it was a surprisingly comfortable perch and the wolves were just resting for the day. Over the next few days, they could be seen occasionally at the border of the property while they hunted in the area.

  It proved a good idea when finally, late one evening, a large human stumbled up to the little house. Ellis heard the loud shambling steps and the odd curses as the man ran into things. He smelt awful. The fairy wrinkled his nose in disgust as he came closer and zipped up to call for the wolves. They were fairly close by and he could hear the pack leader coming closer already.

  Satisfied with the incoming help, he turned back to the house to find Felix pressed up against the outside wall of his cottage, screaming and cursing. He had been out doing the last of his chores before bed and clearly didn’t like the other human’s attentions, judging by the words he yelled about as he lashed out with his fists and feet.

  Ellis was livid. What did this awful human think he was trying to do to Felix?! Felix was still yelling for the other man to get off but the larger man only pressed into him even more until the alpha wolf came snarling out from the darkness, golden eyes shining in the dim light. Large jaws clamped around the man’s meaty thigh and he howled in pain, stumbling backwards. The wolf stepped between Felix and the other man, snarling and snapping his powerful jaws in warning.

  The bad human’s pants suddenly became wet with some awful smelling substance and then he was scrambling to get away, whimpering in distress. Satisfied that the man wasn’t coming back, Ellis thanked the wolf, who inclined his head in return, and went to check on Felix. He leant against the wall, shaking and white faced. The fairy caught one of his tears in his hands, trying to wipe it away but more fell in its place.

  Ellis hovered in front of Felix’s face, wings fluttering in agitation and, for the very first time, he was frustrated with his small size. This wasn’t something a little fairy dust could fix. The wolf stepped closer and carefully nudged Felix’s hand. That seemed to make the human come back to his senses and he blinked rapidly before rubbing away his tears.

  “Thank you,” he said hoarsely, the gratitude clear in his tone. “Thank you.”

  The wolf nodded, pleased with the thanks and finally left. His favour was now fulfilled; if anything, Ellis owed him. He placed a careful hand on his human’s cheek again to receive a shaky smile in return and another whispered thank you.

  ***

  An odd wooden structure sat beside his potted thistles. Little wooden supports held up some kind of fluffy pillow type thing and Ellis hovered around it curiously. Felix crouched down next to him with a grin.

  “Like it?”

  Ellis looked up at his human in confusion. What was it, exactly?

  “You sit here.” Felix patted the fluffy cushion. “It’s like a little throne for you when you talk with all the animals. I’ve watched you, you’re like a king presiding over his people,” the human said with a smile, fighting off a giggle.

  Ellis settled cross-legged on the odd fluffy cushion and sighed in comfort. There was enough space so that his wings didn’t hit the wood at his back too.

  “So, what do you think?”

  The fairy nodded his acceptance of the comfortable chair-like structure and Felix beamed at him.

  “I’m glad you like it. It’s a thank you for the other day.”

  The human was interrupted from speaking further by a pair of quarrelling sparrows and he left to do other things while Ellis sorted out their dispute.

  It was quite nice to have a comfortable perch from which to oversee proceedings, even better that he wasn’t having to crane his neck up or hover in the air when dealing with larger creatures.

  Chapter Four

  It was late at night and Ellis was returning to his thistle home to sleep. Felix’s window sat open and muffled moans poured out from the house. Concerned, Ellis fluttered into the house and saw that his human was in his bed. He flew closer, noting the lack of light inside.

  Felix lay completely naked and spread out on his back, the moonlight hitting his pale skin nicely. One hand slowly pumped between his spread legs and the other arm reached around at an odd angle almost under his body with that hand also moving. His teeth bite into his lip as though trying unsuccessfully to hold in his moans.

  He didn’t seem pained.

  If anything, he seemed to enjoy it. A pretty flush was painted across his skin to be illuminated by the moonlight. Ellis landed on his knee and peered down at the odd appendage he hadn’t seen before. The skin between his own thighs was completely smooth but Felix was very different. He supposed it was normally hidden by his clothing but it would be hard to hide with the way it stuck out like that.

  Aware that his hand had stopped its pumping motions, Ellis turned to find Felix starting at him with wide, alarmed eyes. His whole body suddenly tensed and Ellis tutted, he much preferred the moans from before. Ignoring the human’s sudden alarm, he fluttered down so he was close enough to gently caress the odd leaking appendage. Felix sucked in a breath at the touch but it still wasn’t a pained noise.

  Content with taking the lack of response as permission to sate his curiosity, Ellis hovered down to take a look at where the human’s fingers disappeared into his own body. The area was slick but it didn’t seem natural somehow.

  Ellis moved forward and fluttered his wings across Felix’s hands, interested to see how fairy dust would affect his human. The fingers removed themselves from his body with an obscene squelch sound and the human shuffled around on the bed; he seemed to be clumsily trying to cover himself but having trouble grabbing the blanket he lay on.

  “What… What did you do?” he said hoarsely, then moaned a little. That was a nice sound. Ellis watched in interest as Felix’s hands slowly moved back towards their original locations, twitching a little every now and then as though he fought it. “Ah… It’s so hot. What? Hah…”

  The fairy flew down and caressed the tip of the appendage again where it rested against his stomach. The resulting moan was sweet music to Ellis’s ears. Much better than Felix’s singing voice anyway. The human’s hands came down to bat half-heartedly at him.

  “I don’t…haaahh…need you…to help. Hnnngh.”

  Felix’s back arched slightly as he took himself in hand again with a low, drawn out groan. Pleased with the reactions and mewls, Ellis sat back on his human’s trembling knee to watch curiously.

  “Don’t…! Ooh, don’t watch!” Felix jolted his knee and Ellis flew to the side with a huff before caressing down his thigh, earning another shudder and a bitten-back moan as he went to watch the fingers that now pumped frantically away at the hole in his body.

  His movements seemed a lot more erratic after the addition of the fairy dust but his human did also seem to be feeling better as well. At least, it seemed like a good feeling.

  “Wh
at did you do to me?! Hnngh, oh fuck!”

  Hmm, that was a new word. Fuck. Ellis filed that away for later as he hovered, keenly watching the movements. There was something oddly mesmerising in his movements and something…attractive in the sounds and movements his human made. It certainly made Ellis proud to have brought his human to such heights of good feelings.

  Felix swore under his breath in between other sounds and then he tensed, muscles flexing, as fluid streamed out from the tip of his odd appendage. Ellis was completely entranced. Felix’s body was slick with sweat and shone in the moonlight while he lay there, chest heaving. He flew down to inspect the fluid and Felix batted him away with a shaking hand.

  “No, no. No. Don’t touch that.” He suddenly groaned and rolled over onto his front. “Fuuuuck. I can’t believe I just masturbated in front of a fairy! I stole your innocence!”

  Ellis huffed but filed away more new words as he flew over to land on Felix’s fleshy cheeks to try to peer at the odd hole he had been penetrating before with his fingers. His human rolled over alarmed and even more flushed for some reason.

  “What are you doing?!” he hissed. “That’s a private area! Why were you even watching?!”

  The fairy pondered the best course of action. His human seemed oddly flustered now, but he had definitely enjoyed before and Ellis wanted to see more and hear more of those sounds. Decided, Ellis flew back to the now shrunken appendage and shook his wings to get more fairy dust to float down.

  Felix yelped in alarm. “What are you doing?! I can’t believe you! Hnngh, fuck. You pervy fairy! No more! No! No! Fuuuuuuck!”

  Ellis watched in satisfaction as Felix rapidly hardened again, the flush spreading down his heaving chest once more. There was a beautiful little mewl and Ellis sat down to watch his human give himself pleasure again.

  He honestly didn’t think he would ever tire of such a stunning spectacle.

  Chapter Five

  Felix had been less than thrilled by Ellis's use of fairy dust. While he had passed out that night, the odd human had scolded the fairy for such inappropriate use of his magic the next morning. Then he had ignored Ellis for the rest of the day although he had caught him watching him with a blush across his cheeks. Ellis didn't understand just why his human was upset, he had clearly given him much pleasure, but he was determined to make it up to him. Mainly so he could do it again. There was something so intriguing and exciting about causing such reactions.

  In apology, he had bargained for one of the grand eagles’ flight feathers. It was beautiful, long and lush with speckled browns, greys and even hints of gold colouring on it. That particular eagle was rather vain, and it had cost Ellis a great deal to get the feather. It was well worth it however when he presented the feather to Felix that evening and received a smile accompanied with a small eye roll.

  Felix admonished him to not do such things again and Ellis nodded sagely even as he planned out his next opportunity to ‘help’ his human with his desires. Thankfully, Felix seemed satisfied with his agreement and added the latest feather with the others. He had such a pile of pretty feathers now that his human carefully threaded them all together on a piece of string and hung it up on his wall.

  Ellis couldn’t help but see it as a sign of his ownership as most of those had been given to Felix by himself. He was proud to have given such worthy gifts that his human displayed them on the walls of his home.

  ***

  Their routine continued on: Ellis governed the forest creatures in between looking after his pet human. Felix had brightened up considerably after the attack the other day and while Ellis was still concerned that his human didn’t seem to get along with the others, he was content with things as they were. The human still scolded him anytime he snuck in at night to play with him but he continued to leave the window open so Ellis ignored his flushed protests. There was something so very satisfying about giving Felix such pleasure.

  With all the animals that now frequented Felix’s garden, his plants were thriving. There was contention initially as the birds kept eating all the raspberries so Ellis had to set a rotation in place so Felix could still pick some for himself. The rotation worked well, the birds would get their fill and Felix still would end up with too many berries for himself. He had taken to carrying baskets of spare fruits and vegetables into the village to trade for things he couldn’t get for himself, like milk and cloth.

  The crow continued to be Ellis’s eyes and ears when Felix visited the village and the fairy was pleased to receive news that his human was starting to relax and mingle with the others. Felix even made a little nest of soft rabbit pelts for Ellis to sleep on inside. It sat on the windowsill so that the animals could wake him if needed at night but it was still inside and close to his human. As much as he adored his thistle flower home, he loved sleeping in with his human even more.

  It was all going well until his human didn’t come home on time after a trip to the village. The fairy shouldn’t be too worried as this had been happening more often of late and the crow still watched him in exchange for Felix’s meaty leftovers. Still, unease crept through Ellis and he couldn’t fight off the feeling of dread coiling through him the longer he was away.

  He was just considering sending off one of the sparrows for reconnaissance when the crow’s raucous cries filled the air. They were distant for a start but quickly came closer. The large black bird barrelled to a stop in front of Ellis and the fairy climbed on his back without even asking what was wrong. The crow immediately took off and flew at breakneck speeds through the forest towards the village. It was far faster than he could have flown on his own with his delicate wings but his gratefulness for his feathered friend was diminished by the worry that permeated his being.

  They came to a halt in front of a bloody Felix sprawled unmoving on the ground. His honey coloured hair was dirty and matted and blood covered his body. His face was already forming bruises and his nose sat oddly with blood slowly trickling out. His arm twisted around at a grotesque angle but what made Ellis rage more than anything was that his pants were ripped and sitting low on his thighs. The fairy could see bright red blood smeared across his pale cheeks and the knowledge that someone else had touched HIS Felix just fuelled his fury. This was his human to cherish and protect, no one else could touch him.

  Ellis tumbled from the crow’s back and flew down to land beside his broken human. His chest rose and fell with his breath but it was strained and rattling as though something was damaged on the inside of his body. Frustration and useless anger welled up in him. He was too late. Too late and too small to be of any help to this one creature that meant so much to him.

  As he flew over Felix’s broken body, getting a clearer view of the torment he had been put through, Ellis remembered his human’s bright smile and gentle hands. He had been nothing but kind and gentle and friendly. His joyful laugh and horrid singing had become the background to Ellis’s day and the thought it would be no more left a hollow feeling in his chest.

  Other forest creatures gathered slowly around their fallen human companion. Many had followed after Ellis’s rushed departure and more came as news spread like wildfire through the forest. A songbird started up a mournful warbling to farewell their beloved human as it was plain to see that he would not make it through the night.

  Ellis shook his head in denial. He refused to let his human die. He did not deserve such torture or an ending of pain on the cold hard ground. Upset beyond imagining, Ellis flew slowly over his fallen humans form and covered him in a layer of fairy dust. The human still didn’t wake, so he went over again and again.

  He unleashed all the fairy dust he had stored, wishing, praying, and hoping that something would happen. He tried to force more to generate and sprinkled that across Felix as well. Exhaustion quickly weighed him down but still his human didn’t stir.

  Ellis would give anything to heal his human’s hurts. Anything to take away his pain and injuries and have him laughing and singing again. He woul
d give anything for this human that had given him love and kindness and companionship.

  Felix had given him far more than his fairy family.

  He desperately wanted to give him something back.

  Exhausted by the overuse of his fairy dust and sick at heart at his fruitless efforts, Ellis fluttered almost drunkenly down so he lay beside Felix’s face.

  He closed his eyes as the world went black.

  Chapter Six

  Ellis came awake slowly. His entire body felt heavy and ached horribly. It felt almost like he wasn’t in his own body, so foreign was the feeling. He drifted for some time, vaguely aware of movement around him, with the odd snippet of sound reaching his ears but it was indistinct, muffled, and he couldn’t distinguish what it meant.

  Something soft and warm pressed against his face and Ellis tried to turn into it. More sound assaulted his ears, and it seemed almost excited. Eyes fluttered open but his vision swum and everything was blurred. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, his eyes focused and bright green concerned eyes came into focus.

  He blinked. He would recognise Felix anywhere but it didn’t seem right. He seemed smaller than before and Ellis was sure there was some other reason that meant he shouldn’t be in front of him. Memories lurked just outside of his vision, vanishing as soon as he tried to grasp them. He opened his mouth to speak but started coughing uncontrollably instead, his raw throat rasping. Felix pressed a cup to his lips and Ellis gulped down the water greedily. Only once the coughing subsided did he realise what was wrong.

  Everything seemed so small compared to usual. Felix seemed the same size as him but as Ellis looked around, he realised it wasn’t that the human had gotten smaller. No, the rest of the familiar yet not house still matched Felix’s size. It was Ellis who had changed size. He was the same size if not larger than his odd human.