gt oneshots

tired

"Will you stop pestering me?" Abel snapped, swatting at the small fairy that fluttered over his head, occasionally dipping below his line of sight and grabbing at his fingers or the gold bangles on his wrists.
     "Maybe if you'd put that damn book down for a second and take a breather," Safaa replied, her voice bright and chipper as she dodged his hand. It flew past her and sent the fae's long candy-colored hair whipping backward, as if moved by a gust of wind.
     The sorcerer's dark eyes continued to scan the yellowed pages and he shifted slightly in his chair. It creaked beneath his weight. Abel absently pushed his black bangs back and kept reading, a pale finger moving across the page at break-neck speed.
     After a moment of silence, the sorcerer spoke up.
     "I'm almost finished, Safaa. Go find someone else to annoy."
     "I would, but I prefer annoying you to anyone else."
     Abel looked up, his sharp eyes finding the small fae hovering above his head. Safaa scanned his dark face with a grin, responding to the sorcerer's scowl with a cheery wave. After letting out an irritated huff, Abel averted his gaze and went back to work.
     The tiny fae studied his face for a moment as he returned to his book, watching the way his thin lips parted as he scanned the pages. A furrow formed between his dark brows as he read and he pushed his hair back again, despite it falling right back into place.
     There was something satisfying about putting a scowl on the sorcerer's face, since his look was too often so bored and expressionless.
     Safaa liked to mess with him, just to remind him that he was human.
      And maybe to remind herself as well. Abel wasn't always the easiest to talk to. His temper was short. Sometimes talking to him felt like tangling with a cobra; he'd strike at random.
     When he wasn't snapping, he was dead silent. You couldn't get a word out of him, no matter how much you pushed and pestered. He was stubborn as a mule.
     Safaa had sort of mastered the art of getting Abel to speak. If she aggravated him and then acted sullen after he pushed her away, he'd eventually initiate some poor attempt at a conversation. Was it guilt? Could he possibly enjoy her company, despite his constant look of disinterest? Or was it just out of sheer boredom?
     The small fae turned to watch his face again. Apart from the occasional furrow that formed between his brows, he remained expressionless.
     Maybe he was always bored.
     Safaa didn't know why she'd ever allowed herself to feel anything even resembling affection for the dull boy.
     Maybe she was just lonely. Or maybe she liked being the only one capable of drawing any kind of emotion from his sad eyes. Maybe she liked him more than she was letting on.
     Either way, she knew it meant nothing. Not to her, and especially not to Abel. What would he say if he knew?
     Probably nothing. He'd just brush her off and stick his nose back in a book.
     The tiny fae entertained herself for a small while by fiddling with a glass trinket on the sorcerer's desk; he was too deep in his reading to tell her to stop.
     It was a ceramic crane, almost as tall as her with dark beady eyes and narrow yellow feet. It stood with one of its pencil-thin legs bent, wings extended as if it were going to take flight.
     She felt something tug on the back of her dress and turned around, looking up into a familiar pair of dark eyes.
     "How many times do I have to tell you not to touch my stuff?"
     "So are you finally finished?"
     Abel rolled his eyes and adjusted the heavy cloak that rested on his shoulders, pulling his hand back. Safaa mirrored his aggravated look and smoothed out her soft pink dress, picking at the frills to avoid the sorcerer's eyes for a moment.
     She could practically feel his gaze on her. It made her feel small.
     Well, smaller than she already was, she supposed.
     She fluttered her wings some and lifted off the desk, moving to hover in his line of sight. His bitter coffee eyes followed her movement, then narrowed in on her face once she was closer.
     "You have nice eyes," she said, leaning in even closer. She was only inches away from his face now and she could see her own reflection in his pupils.
     She thought about kissing him. She wanted to know how he'd react.
     "Don't play with me, Saf," he muttered, pinching her gently around the middle. He pulled her back.
     The tiny fae felt his fingers brush her wings and they fluttered slightly, a reflex. Warmth rose in her cheeks when she felt his soft breath on her face as it ruffled her hair some.
     "I'm not playing with you," she said, feeling his fingers release. She rose a little higher to meet him at eye-level again, but kept her distance, laughing as she continued. "But we can play if you want to."
     "This is why you interrupted me?"
     A pause. "Yes. Pretty much."
     She watched a smile cross his pale face. It was barely visible, but it was there. It tugged at his lips. Abel was smiling.
     The small fae smiled back, pushing her long hair behind her ears as she peered up at him.
     The rest of the night played out the way it usually did. Abel talked to her for a while and made her feel butterflies in her stomach. Some sort of emotion flashed behind his dark eyes before it dissolved again.
     When he got like this, Safaa was convinced that he liked her. Just a tiny bit.
But then the invisible barrier between them would rebuild itself and the boy would fall silent again, leaving Safaa feeling silly for thinking he enjoyed her company and disappointed that his smile had disappeared once more.
     It wasn't unusual for Abel to fall asleep at his desk.
     He dozed off that night with his chin resting on his folded arms atop the desk, a book tucked under his nose.
     Safaa carefully made her way across the desk and approached his face, watching his eyelids flutter. His breathing had evened out and he was finally asleep.
     The little fae clambered up and settled down against the crook of his elbow. She wasn't planning to sit there long, perhaps just long enough to catch a glimpse of what he was reading and feel the warmth radiating off of him.
     But before she knew it, she'd already fallen asleep and left her worries behind her.
     Safaa dozed off in the crook of Abel's arm as the lanterns burned low, the stillness of it all paired with the giant boy's  familiar warmth enough to lull her into a deep sleep.