Jen and Pan

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Just as my eyes realised I wasn't being attacked by a radioactive bee or something, I also registered a chiming sound. Coming it would seem, from the small girl in the light. Or rather, the small faeling, by my guess.

She looked almost like a normal young girl, brown hair and the beginning of a curvy figure, except she was also tiny and glowing (though not as brightly anymore), with a pair of iridescent purple and orange wings on her back. Also she was laughing at me, rather adorably as well, with her hands at her cheeks and chiming peals of laughter, the sound I had first heard, coming from her tiny form.

"Well hello there, darling." I greeted enthusiastically. "Aren't you the prettiest thing. But you know, it isn't nice to play pranks on the new kid." I wagged my finger at her a bit, teasingly chastising.

She stopped laughing and put her hands behind her back, looking down shyly, but I could see she was smirking. She slowly flew forward till she was closer, and then suddenly darted toward my still pointed index finger. There was a sudden sharp pain to the tip, and then she flew off laughing.

"Hey! No biting either!" I yelled after her, laughing despite the trick. She had gotten me good too, little drops of blood were dripping from the crescent shaped wounds and landing in the grass.

She looked at me over her shoulder, and then shook her backside at me mockingly, the tinkling of a bell accompanying the movement, before flying to the edge of the meadow.

"Oh, so that's how it is? Alright, bring it on then darling!" And then I ran after her.

.....

PAN

After flying from the meadow where I had left Jensen, I took a moment to collect myself. What are you doing Pan? I wondered at myself.

I always grew very attached to my Lost Boys. We were a family, a clan, a tribe, all we had was each other, and that was how we liked it. My boys, they were my brothers in arms, the younger ones something akin to my sons. But I already felt something different than that for Jensen. Jen.

He would be a great Lost Boy, once he really knew himself. I could see it. The smile on his face when he first flew, he was perfectly suited to the crazed magic of the island. The gleam in his eyes when he casually talked about killing his monster of a father, he would thrive on the violence that we encountered living in such a dangerous place. And he was so smart, looking at things from his own perspective, if only he could stop overthinking things. He would be an amazing addition to the Lost Boys.

But to me, he was already more. It had been a long time since I had felt any sort of attraction to someone past a physical level. Back when the pirates still roamed Never Land. That codfish of a captain at least had good taste in deck hands... but that was something I wanted to leave in my past.

The other Lost Boys, the ones old enough to have such urges, they found their own outlets. They sometimes were able to find a willing Native, or at times each other. There was only a handful that had actually partnered permanently though, the rest was just circumstantial. I didn't mind either way, but I myself hadn't engaged in those activities in a long time. Maybe that was my issue.

Either way, it was my job to help Jensen to adjust to life here, and it would be a disservice to him to harbour any other agendas. Even if his ass was fantastic and his eyes were gorgeous. With that thought in my head, I flew to the camp, entering the tree house through an opening towards the top.

As expected, half the boys were sleepily waiting up for me, and the other half was passed out. I didn't leave Never Land very often, but usually when I did it left the boys restless, especially if I cut coming back too close to sunrise.

One of my older boys, Ezra, was lounging casually in his hammock, which was strung at the highest point of the tree's interior. It was above any of the actual platforms in the tree, accessible only using handholds carved into the trunk. How he managed to get up there every night, no matter how tired or at times inebriated, I would never know.

He nodded at me, looking more alert than the others. "How was the mainland Peter?" He asked, sounding rather uninterested. He had been with me longer than most, and had long since lost interest in the other world.

"More interesting than usual. Gather the boys, we need to talk."

Carmichael poked his head out of his sling-like nest, an odd arrangement of a piece of fabric strung up at each corner, a bit like a hammock, but not quite since it was deep enough in the middle it swallowed whoever was in it. "OOohhh sounds like drama!" He cackled. He dove out of his nest and grabbed hold of one of the ropes to the floor, swinging wildly around with little control, his smaller form and bright orange hair making me think of a monkey on a vine. As he slid down, he hollered, "Wakey wakey boys! The boss has biiig news from the biiig city!"

Several groans answered him, and a few pillows flew past his head as he dropped to the floor.

I shook my head. My boys really were an odd bunch. I landed in the common area at the lowest level, and sat down on of the many cushions littering the space, taking out my dagger and idly playing with it as I waited for the boys to all wake up and gather.

They slowly came together, most only half dressed, yawning but eager to see what I had to say. When it looked like everyone had gathered, excluding some of the little ones, without looking up from my dagger I started.

"I know I have been going out more than usual, and especially considering recent events that has been concerning. But now I can explain why I have been gone so often, and what I was doing." After a taking a bracing breath, I continued. "I was looking into bringing a new Lost Boy to Never Land, and last night I brought him here."

There was immediate dead silence, followed by an uproar. I sighed. This wouldn't be easy. At least Tink wasn't here... I let it go for a second, allowing them a bit of a vent, and then loudly ordered "Enough!" And the silence immediately returned.

"I understand you will have concerns. That this isn't really a good time for a new boy, and that our last recruits... didn't work out." There was a wave of snorts and grumbles, silenced when I finally looked up and gave the group a steely look. "But hear me now. I decided to bring Jensen here. I chose him, and I trust him. He is not Harris or Thom, and you will not treat him with distrust or disrespect. He is the same as any of you, because he is one of you now. A Lost Boy." My voice raised as I yelled the usual line. "And who are the Lost Boys?"

They all immediately answered by calling out "We are the Lost Boys!"

"And what does that mean?!" I called

"We are more trouble than they have ever seen!"

"And what does it mean to live in Never Land?!"

"Never grow old, never die, because we all know how to fly!"

"And who is Peter Pan?!"

"He's the greatest boy, who will never be a man!"

"Cause he aint got no balls!" Someone, Edison I would wager, calls from the back. Whoops of laughter echo from the group and I hide my smile behind a hurt expression.

"Aww come on boys, won't anyone defend your poor leader?"

A pillow hits me in the face.

"Well in that case then." I pick up the pillow and launch it, and from there it devolves into chaos.