A Land of Flowers and Fae

Morning

The first thing Elina noticed was the smell of pine, and something else spicy she couldn't name. That was strange, there weren't any pine forests in the Magic Meadow. The second thing she noticed was that she was sweating. That was also weird. Peony usually kept her bed perfectly cool, but never cold.

Elina blinked, morning sun filtered through green leaves. When she got her mind to focus she realized she was chest to chest with a male fairy. Naked and slick with sweat. The only thing that kept her from screeching in surprise was his even breathing. He was still asleep, and the embarrassment that threatened to drown her made her freeze in terror of waking him up.

Her heart thumped painfully as she wiggled, first out from under his arm, then out from under the blanket slung over both of them. Once she hit the cool morning air she shivered, casting around desperately for her clothes. She picked up a shirt, definitely his, and it was ripped down the front. The buttons scattered across the soft carpet of moss beneath them. A shimmering memory came to her. She had ripped his shirt, and kissed him, and....She felt like her head was going to explode from the strength of her blush.

She managed to find her dress. He at least had had the presence of mind not to rip her clothes to shreds like she had with his.

She slid into the pink petals and slipped her fingers through the straps of her sandals. She would need to be quiet to get out of here. The good news was, his even breathing hadn't stuttered even with all her shuffling inside the little tent made of leaves and ivy. It looked magic made. Definitely not her work either. Anything she made tended to be covered in flowers. This was efficient, clean, not a vine out of place. She cast one last look at him, and she nearly stayed just to stare.

He was beautiful, no doubts there.

His hair was medium length, with bare highlights of green that marked him as a wood fairy or something similar. With a short beard that gave him a mature edge. Everything about him seemed refined, almost elegant. From his long straight nose, high cheeks and the way he looked graceful while sleeping flat on the ground. Even his wings were artful, shiny green shot through with shimmering veins in geometric patterns. She could just barely remember what he had looked like when he was awake. But her strongest impression had been his eyes. Sharp, so sharp they seemed to cut straight through her.

She swallowed hard and slipped through the curtain of ivy.

No thinking about last night.

She had to get out of here before anyone else woke up.

She had to find Dandelion and Bibble.

The good news was, all she had to do was dig through the largest pile of unconscious fairies. Because instinctually she knew that's where her friend would be. She eventually found the orange-haired fairy sleeping with her back to a bluebell stalk. Snoring, with Bibble resting comfortably on her lap. Carefully stepping between outstretched arms and bare chests, Elina picked her way to her friend.

"Come on Dandelion. We have to go NOW" she hissed.

"fivemoreminutes" Dandelion groaned. Pursing her lips, Elina shook her friend so hard her head lolled.

"Dandelion! Its morning!" she said full volume, no longer worrying about waking anyone around them.

That did it. Dandelion shot awake, topaz eyes bloodshot. Her sudden motion sent Bibble tumbling to the ground. His snores didn't even stutter.

"What? Morning?" She looked around, her horror mounting "Oh no! My moms gonna KILL ME!" She wailed, jumping into the air from her seated position.

"Maybe if we hurry we can make it back and pretend you went for a morning fly?" Elina suggested.

Dandelion slapped her hands over her eyes "Ugh! No way she'll believe that"

"Well we need to go. Come on!" Elina scooped up the puffball and hustled down towards City Hall and the path to the Magic Meadow.

They made it to the city limits and then beyond the chrysanthemum stalks to the verdant grass on the meadows edge.

When they split so that Dandelion could head towards home and Elina could take the narrow path towards the peony beds, she finally had the quiet to ask herself an important question.

Why was she running? Why didn't she wake him up?

Harmonia, when two fairies were perfectly linked was something that young fairies swooned over. They dreamed about finding their perfect match. So why had she run?

Unlike Dandelion, who had had offers of partnership left and right since childhood. No boy had ever approached Elina. Even when she had worked up the courage to ask one of the meadow fairies to accompany her to one of the festivals, she'd been laughed at. Rejection wasn't just a possibility for her, it was a certainty. And like any other pain, it had her flinching away. She wasn't stupid enough to wait around for this fairy to reject her too.

Peony hummed a greeting, letting her largest petal open to allow Elina entry. The wingless fairy relaxed to be in her familiar room, surrounded by her flower's song. Bibble buzzed upward and tapped the sides of her face, trilling a question. She realized he was asking why she was crying. Quite without her noticing, tears were streaking down her face. She grabbed the puffball and held him to her chest.

"I guess I'm just sad Bibble. That's all"

She sat down on her bed and let herself cry. Because even now her stupid heart was screaming at her to run back to Fairytown and find him. To at least ask him his name.