A Surprising Spring

Chapter Seven

every time i have a vote or a comment i have a little fit, so thank you if you did! and if you didn't, thanks for reading! love you aaaalllllllllllllll (aw, defo not weird)

anyway, hope you enjoy!

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"What does that even mean?" Zekiel muttered as he tugged his tunic over his head.

The walls of his room had no answer for him.

"Be honest with myself?" he continued, rubbing his fingers through his already dry hair. "About what? I'm not telling myself any lies."

His reflection in front of him seemed to raise one eyebrow questioningly, so he waved his hand and the mirror disappeared into nothing, the plain white wall reappearing.

Tugging his boots on, he carried on mumbling angrily. "What does Bastien know, anyway?"

The Messenger was getting no answers from the silent room, so he span out of the door, leaving his cape hanging on a hook on the wall, and strode off down the corridor.

~~~

Zekiel recognised the light brown ponytail and almost luminous pink jumper from his time spent staring at clips of Katy Muller's life.

"Great," he groaned, walking a few metres behind her as she carried on clueless of the magical being following her. His goodwill towards Nicholas's mate had completely disappeared, replaced by a niggling annoyance and a sympathy with the Sprite. Not that Zekiel would ever admit that he was wrong, of course. He was still sure that Nicholas would - eventually - find happiness with... Katy. It was just that after their little disagreement, he could see what having a mate appear out of the blue could seem like to a Sprite.

There, he thought, Bastien would be proud of me. I'm being all emotional.

They walked along the path, one behind the other, until they neared the clearing where Nicholas spent most of his time. Well, all of it, Zekiel mused. The Sprite never really seemed to move about much. Maybe he was just lazy.

Katy slowed down, and started to look about her, as if nervous, so Zekiel slipped into invisibility. He was tempted to go old-fashioned cloak-and-dagger style and slip between the trees, but the consequences if she saw him decked out as he was were too great to allow him his bit of fun.

She chewed on her lower lip, not in a cute way, but quite savagely. The Messenger began to get worried that she was going to draw blood.

"N-Nick?" she called out, her voice frail in the late afternoon air. Zekiel had to hold in an uncharacteristic snort at how ridiculous she sounded. When there was no reply, she called out again. "Nick? Are you about?"

The Messenger could hear Nicholas moving about nearby, and knew that he would have easily heard Katy's call.

Katy cleared her throat and visibly pulled herself together. "Nick? I just came to say hello!" Her tone was almost sickeningly bright, and Zekiel heard Nicholas's irritated groan. How persistent can you get? Zekiel wondered.

He was answered when the girl strode forward into the clearing, calling out Nicholas's name with an idiotic grin on her face. It was like she'd been bewitched. Or maybe she really was as crazy as the Sprite had said she was. A lunatic in a pink jumper - that was new, he thought.

"Katy! Hello, I didn't hear you there." The Sprite had a forced grin on his face and a slightly pained look in his eyes.He has got nice eyes, Zekiel caught himself thinking. Shocked, he shook his head as if trying to get rid of the thought. They were just eyes. Once his heart rate had returned to normal, he tuned back into the conversation.

"You're here again," she was actually giggling, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Do you really love it that much here?"

Nicholas nodded. "Something like that. It's getting quite late." He waved up at the sky, as if willing it to darken. The lengthening days were against him, and the sun, although not bright, was still a long way from the horizon. "Shouldn't you be heading back home?"

"Oh but Nicky! I only just got here, and I'm not a baby, I can walk about in the evenings."

Zekiel had to resist the temptation to gag. Nicky, he thought, shaking his head. It was original, at least.

The Sprite's smile had all but become fused to his face as he spoke through gritted teeth. "A girl like you shouldn't wander about when it's dark."

Katy stepped forward, looking up at him under her eyelashes. "A girl like me?" It took the Messenger, watching from a few metres away, a moment to realise that she didn't have a brick in her eye - the wild beating of her eyelids was her attempt at flirting.

It evidently wasn't working. "Yes," Nicholas said shortly, folding his arms across his chest. "The woods can be pretty nasty, not to mention cold."

"You don't seem cold..." Katy reached out a hand as if to brush the bare skin of his arms - he'd changed into a T-shirt - but he leapt back just in time.

"Katy," Nicholas sighed, looking away. "Maybe it's best if you go."

Finally she seemed to get the message. "Oh, are you sure? I thought..."

Slowly, the Sprite shook his head. "Sorry I just-" he broke off, staring off into the trees.

"You just what?"

"I.. err..." Come on, Zekiel silently willed him.

Katy shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, we don't have to be, like, a couple." She laughed, and it sounded a little brittle and empty in the cooling air. "We could just... hang out for a while."

Unconsciously, Zekiel stepped forward, something inside of him hating the message lying under her words.

Nicholas obviously heard it too, and stepped backwards. "Sorry, Katy, I'm actually meeting someone."

She frowned. "Oh really?"

He nodded.

Holding out her hands, she looked around slowly. "Where are they, then?"

Nicholas raised an eyebrow, feeling her disbelief as she crossed her arms across her chest. "They're on their way."

She shook her head. "I don't believe you. I'm not sure whether you're playing some kind of flirty game with me, or just trying to get me to go away, but it's not very nice and I don't like it. If I want to stay, I'll stay."

"That's fine with me." Nicholas grinned as he moved over to his tree stump and sat down, cross-legged. "But be warned - you might feel a little bit awkward later." He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively and Zekiel felt something in his gut twist.

"You know, you can lie like this if you want to. But in the end, you'll realise we have a connection." Katy smiled serenely, leaning against the tree behind her. "I'll just have to wait a while."

The Sprite shrugged, a cheeky glint in his eye. "Sure thing. This land's as much yours as mine. I'm just warning you, you might feel a little bit uncomfortable when my date turns up..."

"I still don't believe you're meeting anyone."

"Oh really?" Nicholas cocked one eyebrow.

She nodded her head, her ponytail bobbing about. "I'll sit here all night, and I bet you no one will come for your little rendezvous."

Zekiel stepped forward, shedding his invisibility with a flick of his wrist. "I'd really rather you didn't," he said to Katy as he crossed the clearing to where Nicholas was sat. "I haven't seen Nick here for quite some time, and I'm feeling rather hungry."

The last thing the Messenger saw was Katy's shocked face before he tilted Nicholas's face upwards and pressed his lips to the Sprite's with a smile.

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waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

(sorry for the tons of Katy dialogue. at least, it felt like tons writing it, maybe cause she's mental. vote comment do yo thang!)