Season's Change Winter's Plight Book 1

12 Again

A/N

Oh, our precious Stupid Human and our Dear Darling Dark Faye. This chapter was moved forward in the book. This is where we start to ask questions about her past experiences with humans and his feelings toward her.

Always,
Shelly Keller

12 Again

The stupid human was sleeping again. He was progressing very nicely. But he was still sleeping a lot of the time, leaving her to her own thoughts. Soon she would get him on his feet, so he could start to take care of himself. She kept him fed and cleaned, but she was certain that he would be better at cleaning himself. She found him very intriguing. Humans were so different from Faye and that human was very different from the one she had encountered. She wondered if that was because he was weak and feeble and completely dependent upon her. Would the tables turn when he was strong enough to care for himself? Was that even possible? He caused a lot of doubt in her. He had to be different. He certainly looked it. Humans had round eyes and round ears. Their fingers were fat and so were their toes. This human had dark hair all over his body even on the top of his feet. What was that for? To keep him warm? It certainly did not help to keep him clean. The hair that grew on his face was thicker, coarser and more tightly curled than the long dark hair on his head. His hair needed washing. He needed a proper washing. When he could move on his own, she would take him to the other pool in the cave and wash his hair for him. She wondered if other humans were as hairy as he was or if it was just him.

His entire body was thicker than any male Faye she had ever seen. His chest, legs, and arms were still muscled despite their lack of use. He was so different from the human she regretted having the displeasure of meeting. His skin was pale, but his hair was dark and thick. It grew in places that the other's did not. His whole build was different. He had narrow hips and broad shoulders. His muscles were still well defined over his torso and down into his legs despite his immobility. The other was just as pale but built like a dwarf only much taller and with less beard. His shoulders were huge, and hips were painfully broad. He was heavily muscled and very powerful. She had to push her curiosity and her anger aside as she watched him. She examined his hands and wondered how lonely she had to be to be having those type of thoughts about her charge or how it was possible for her to have them for a human in the first place. It did not feel right. His fingers and toes were long and much thicker than hers. His feet and hands were long and narrow, thicker than hers and hairy.

She sat quietly and watched the stupid human as he slept. He was sleeping less frequently, eating and drinking on his own as well as sitting up by himself and moving around a bit. That left more time for his language lessons, it was all that she could teach him at the moment. He needed to move to regain his strength. To begin training, he needed to walk. She would make him move his hands and arms following her motions to help him regain his strength. She helped him stretch and move as much as his body would allow.

She did not know how the denizen poison would affect him. His mind seemed to work. Maybe the poison was good for him. He was capable of learning her language and following orders. She did not think that humans were capable of such things. She did her part to keep his mind ever active and engaged when he was awake and she was near. She was very surprised at how fast the Stupid Human learned her language. She taught him as she would a child. She used both the spoken language and the complex hand language her people used to communicate with when speaking was ill-advised. There were times when she did not use her voice to speak to him all. He learned faster than any child she had ever taught; she had taught households. They were having full conversations entirely in her language, within a couple of fortnights of him being awake consistently.

Was he different or were humans capable of more than any Faye would give them credit for? He had to be an exception. He treated her well, of course, he was helpless and not capable of hurting her. He answered her questions and offered her his name like he did not know what it meant for him to do so. His mind was quick, very quick. Was his body as quick as his mind? She would have to make sure that he could defend himself, hunt, knew what berries to eat and which to not, and where it was safe to take his water from. If she did not ensure that he could survive on his own would she have truly saved him as she was commanded to by her Goddess? Would she? She knew the answer. At first, she balked at the idea of caring for him, a human when all the humans she had ever know were vile, wicked and cruel men that the world would be better off for not having them in it. Then she found him curious very unlike the first human she encountered on her journey. Humans were interesting. Well, that one was. The other was so cold and cruel. She remembered her treatment at his hands and shivered with anger, fear and remembered pain. She looked over at her Stupid Human. What was it he wanted her to call him by again? Avi?

Careful not to wake him, she tried it on her tongue. She found she liked the way it felt. It was almost musical. She watched his face, peaceful in gentle slumber, and wondered what his name meant.

☆ ☆ ☆

He lay still and tried his best to keep calm. She was near him, very near. Not only could he feel the faint energy she radiated, but he could smell her almost imperceptible scent. It was light and barely there. She had to be extremely close to him for him to be able to smell her. He couldn't place her scent but if he had to hazard a guess it was somewhere between moonlight and rain, a gentle combination of those two things and fresh snow and clean air. She was a fascinating being. He found her beautifully arrogant and smug, yet not unyielding. She was exotically beautiful, then again, almost all humans found the Faye to be just so. But she was a Dark. They were supposed to be evil. He had never seen a Faye in the flesh. They were depicted in the books he read as a child, but he never thought he'd ever meet one, let alone a Dark. So many went to their deaths after meeting a Dark. But this Dark, with her silver and gold almond-shaped eyes, long silver hair, long narrow nose, and perfectly pouty lips, had not yet taken his life. In fact, she saved it time and time again every time she returned to him. She was beautiful. He wanted to open his eyes and stare at her face, study it, memorize it in case he would never see her again once he was healed. He knew how close she was. He could feel her breath upon his skin. He guessed even evil could be beautiful. Danger surely was. But was she truly evil?

Their talks grew intense and deep. As time went on, she spoke to him of her homeland, deep underground, but hadn't gotten to how she wound up there on the surface caring for him.

It was blissfully amusing and horrifying the number of things she didn't know. Intriguing, the number of words missing from her language. They all seemed to revolve around love, loyalty, and trust. What kind of a world did she come from? A world where a name was not freely given, hands were not shaken or held and hugs did not exist except in a battle arena as a tactical maneuver. His heart broke for her, the sadness she had to have known, only she did not know to be sad, hurt, or even angry at the injustice she lived through.

She listened and learned while she taught him and helped him. He taught her everything he knew, shared with her the history of his people, and what he knew of the land. She hung on every word, asked about the ones she didn't know and devoured all the knowledge he gave her. No one had ever given him as much attention as she did. Not his sister, his mother, his father or even his brother. No one. It made him feel good, happy, proud. She talked to him watched his eyes move and listened to hear him. No one had ever given him that. He found himself deeply grateful for her grace and attention. He battled daily with conflicting emotions and thoughts. All the while, that magnificent and intricately complex creature nurtured, cared for and taught him of another world, opening his eyes and expanding his horizons. How could he ever repay that debt?

He found himself feeling appreciative and happy she had saved him, not just because he was alive, mostly because of her, just her. He lay there with his hands resting on his chest, trying to put it all into perspective. She must think he is a pet, a toy. What would she do with him once she didn't want him anymore? Would she discard him, kill him, or just leave? Every night she left, and he ached for her presence. Every morning she returned, and he was equally overjoyed.

She shifted closer to him and gently brushed his hair back from his forehead, then quietly said his name with her melodic sweet voice, and quickly moved away from him pulling her hand back like she had reached into a fire. At that particular moment, he didn't care that he could very well be in serious danger, she said his name.