A young fairy prince tries to escape the mortifying ordeal of being known by running away to the forbidden land of humans, blending in as one of them.
This totally won't go wrong, not at all.
Especially not when he falls in love with one of them.
**...
Matt cracked a warm smile, letting out a breath of relief. Hopefully they could negotiate things properly now without the fairy completely fearing for his life.
"What can I call you by the way? I don't think I caught your name at the show." He asked nonchalantly, before catching his mistake. "Err, wait-- can I ask that? Or is that part of your whole magic thing too."
Ezriel couldn't stop a tiny, awkward chuckle from escaping. Did all humans really know so little nowadays? Or had he just lucked out in finding an extremely oblivious one? Either way he was rather grateful for the way things were turning out, feeling more embarrassed about his initial reaction as time went on.
"You cannot have my name, but I will tell you it." The prince said, more than happy to return to some normalcy. He took a deep breath and composed himself from most of his panic, enough to give Matt a short bow. "I am Ezriel, and it's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
The brunet’s brows raised a fraction in surprise of the fairy's formality. It was a complete 180 from how he'd been acting until now, but it definitely suited him much better than cowering did.
"Thanks," Matt's smile deepened, "it's been cool to meet you too, as crazy as this all is."
He took another careful step into the room towards the fridge, looking for any signs of protest from the fairy as he moved. But Ezriel only watched, letting him walk freely for the most part as he grabbed a glass of juice and chugged it. He paused for a moment as he set the cup down on the counter, turning back towards the table.
"Do you want some of this?" He offered, holding up the container of juice. "Or anything else to drink or eat? I'm not sure what I've got but I can probably find something for you."
"...What is it?" Ezriel asked curiously, taking a small step forward himself. He wouldn't deny the fact that his stomach was rather empty, and had been since before the ceremony.
"Fruit juice." Matt said with a shrug. "It's like, fruit and water and sugar and probably a few other things…" He trailed off, now reading the ingredients list out of curiosity. Unfortunately, none of it clarified whether or not it was poisonous to fairies.
But Ezriel said yes to having some; all of those ingredients sounded edible to him, and he was excited to try something to drink other than water during his stay. However, he didn't take into account that asking for some would require Matt to get closer to him. He allowed it of course, recalling their terms, but it still made him nervous as a giant hand reached down and deposited a small cap full of juice at his feet.
"Hope you like it, it's my favourite kind so there's usually a lot of it around." Matt said with his usual half-smile. "Help yourself."
And in that moment, as soon as Ezriel's lips touched the liquid, he discovered that it was his favourite drink as well.
"This is delicious." He exclaimed, his wings fluttering lightly as he enjoyed another mouthful of it.
But Matt didn't share his enthusiasm, his smile fading as his eyes focused on the prince's crumpled wing.
"Is that fixable?" He asked, his brows furrowed in worry. "Your wing, I mean."
Ezriel paused his drinking, setting the cap back down as he properly assessed the damage. There was a decent crack down the middle of it which he wasn't sure what to do about, but at least the end of it didn't seem too hurt. It looks like it had just dried without being cared for after he got caught in the rain, a feeling he's only had once before and wasn't eager to repeat.
"It should be fixable.." Ezriel nodded, "Although I can't reach it to smooth it out. Usually another fairy helps with wing care- they are hard to reach by oneself."
"...What if I helped set it back?"
The prince looked up at him in surprise, unprepared with an answer before Matt continued.
"I mean, only if you want me to try. I swear I'll be very, very careful."
Ezriel hesitated. He didn't like the thought of such massive fingers touching his delicate wings, but what other choice did he have, really? The longer it stayed dried like this the more damaged it would be in the long run, and he didn't see any other fairies around to help him out before he got home.
"You may try," he eventually agreed with a solemn nod, much to Matt's surprise, "but don't you dare rip them."
After being assured again that he wouldn't, Ezriel took a few uncertain steps in the human's direction. He was within arm's reach now, dwarfed by the other's size even as he sat down at the table. It was strange to be so small, no matter how much he tried to familiarize himself with it. He always knew that fairies were tiny in comparison-- how did his ancestors ever live peacefully among them like this?
"So, how should I do this..?" The brunet asked, looking down at the fairy with determination. Ezriel snapped out of his thoughts.
"It must be wet again first, and then it can be shaped. Just- Just pull carefully on it to smooth it out." He explained, his hands starting to fidget once more as Matt grabbed some water to prepare.
It was nerve-wracking to willingly let himself be handled by someone so strong. It would be so easy for the human to just pinch his wings between his fingers and rip them away from his body, leaving him flightless for the rest of his life. Even though he knew it likely wouldn't happen, the idea made a cold shiver of fear run down Ezriel's spine and he found that he couldn't watch as a massive hand slowly approached his back. His hands flew up to cover his eyes, hunched over slightly as he buried his face in his palms.
