“You realize this is completely foolish!”

“Why? It will totally hide your ears. We’ll just put sunglasses on you and no one will see your eyes!”

“Scott, I-”

“No. You promised you’d go with me!”

“I know, but I-”

“No buts! I really want you to go, Please, please please please please.” He whined out like a 2 year old.

The fae simply let himself laugh and shook his head. He pulled the hoodie off of his head and Scott pouted. A flash of blue and his ears had rounded off and his eyes were a static deep chocolate brown. His skin darkened slightly, mimicking the texture of Scott’s.

The blonde’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me!? Why didn’t you tell me you could do that!!!”

“You wouldn’t let me speak. I tried.” He grinned at him.

Scott lifted him into his arms spinning him around. “You really are the hottest boyfriend ever.” He smiled down at the boy against him “I love you.” He kissed the tip of his nose and Mitch giggled.

“Come, lets get going. I want to see more of the hobbits.”

Scott shook his head. “We’re going to dinner first. TGIFridays is going to blow your mind.”

Mitch raised an eyebrow but kissed the side of Scott’s neck quickly. “Do I look normal now?”

“You will never, EVER be normal, babe, but that’s why I love you.”

__________

The trip through the veil was like nothing he’d ever felt before. It was almost like what he imagined being in space was like, weightless and suffocating at the same time. Oryn held tight to his hand and once they were through they broke off into a run just as she'd instructed and they headed straight into the trees without stopping.

It was hard to keep up. The nimble female seemed to forget that he was human, and quite a clumsy one at that.  He wanted to look around, to take in the wonder of the landscape as it zoomed past, the colors that were just so vivid. He caught a few glimpses of creatures he’d never seen before and some he tried to put together with descriptions Mitch had given him long ago. After what seemed like forever (at least to his lungs and his burning muscles, but in reality was only about 7 minutes) they reached the base of the largest tree he could ever imagine. It’s base stretched around reminding him a bit of a skyscraper, and he felt a bit like a mouse next to it. Oryn reached out a hand, whispering a few words as she let her palm rest on the rough surface, and quite suddenly his feet were off the ground. He nearly let out a scream but a hand covered his mouth before he could. He was glad he wasn’t afraid of heights, because the journey to the top felt endless. He kept expecting to feel lightheaded, but had to remind himself that this world was much different than his own.  He let out a sigh of relief as he was gently placed back on his feet on a little makeshift ‘deck’, the limb that had carried him up moving back to its place amongst the others.

Oryn didn’t say a word, just walked inside of her home, a large hollow that the tree had fashioned just for her.  He went to follow her but barely made it two steps inside before he was stopped by a small, rather round creature with little stubby legs, a stump for a tail and two very small horns poking out from the top of its head. It blinked at him with large, round brown eyes and hopped twice toward him, hissing as it’s blue body began to darken, shifting over to an angry red & tiny blue flames extended from it's nose as it huffed at him, clearly not happy to see the stranger.

“Lia! He is a friend, go lay down.”  Oryn scooped up the small thing and carried it over to a large round cushion where another, this one green, was wiggling around on it’s back as if trying to scratch an itch it couldn’t quite get to. “Sit here with Lily.” She set it down gently.

He wanted to reach out and pet the adorable green … thing, but the blue/red/slightly purple one was still watching him with an angry expression. It opened its mouth and it made a deep gravelly squeak.

“Be nice.” Oryn smiled and scratched the little thing between its horns until it slowly faded back to a pretty light blue, giving Scott one last indignant snort.

“What are they?” He finally asked as they moved through to another ‘room’, the only thing separating the space was thick curtains of leaves and flowers. It was beautiful and somehow cozy.

“They are pudgeys, a variety of baby dragon.” She went over and lifted a blanket off of what he assume was meant to be a chair or seat, and underneath were two more of the roundish little things, these a bit bigger, each about the size of a basketball. The purple one barely opened its eyes and simply shifted to roll over to its other side, tiny legs sticking up in the air as it opened its mouth wide in a sleepy yawn. He couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the sight. The pink one made a cute little noise as it slowly blinked up at him, just beginning to wake.  

“Can I?” He looked at Oryn and she nodded with a smile. He was hesitant, and wondered... had the creature had eyebrows would it be raising them currently as it watched his slowly approaching hand. He gasped slightly as it suddenly hopped up excitedly and nudged its head under his palm. He smiled and rubbed it gently.

“That is Eve and Ea is sleeping. They are born of pure magic and always in pairs.”

“That’s kind of cool.” He laughed as the pink pudgey rolled around a bit trying to get him to scratch all over. The little noises it made were just too adorable.

“When they are older they will grow wings and be able to fly. They will guard our borders and help keep us safe.”  

He immediately thought of Mitch’s mother and her untimely death. His face clouded over as he remembered just why he was there in the first place. “Is he here?”

The smile slid from her lips, her eyes transitioning immediately from a bright green to a pale pink. “This way.”

He felt the heaviness settle right back on his chest as he entered another 'room' and saw the swirling blanket of gold and blue that covered the motionless figure.  He stopped a few feet away as a larger black pudgey sat at Mitch’s head, growling at the newcomer. His crystal blue eyes were zeroed in and Scott almost feared this one.

“Sora, this is Scott. This is Mitchell’s love. He is here to help.”

The angry creature huffed much as the one earlier had, except this one had sparks of gold that shot from its nose as it grunted in displeasure.

“Sora and Sarah…”  she pointed to a pitiful looking yellow pudgey on the opposite side of the bed whose chin lay resting on Mitch’s arm, sad blue eyes never leaving his face. “They were born of Mitchell’s residual magic. They are connected to him and they can feel all of his suffering and every bit of his longing.”

He got to his knees next to the bed. He wanted so much to take that small hand in his, but he was afraid he would hurt him even more if he did.

“You can touch him, the sheath of magic will not harm you.”

He felt Sora nudge at the hand he'd let rest on the bed next to Mitch’s fingers. As he looked at the creature he knew that it felt his connection with Mitch. It looked so sad, worried, just as he was. He gave it a small smile before taking Mitch’s hand as gently as he possibly could. He put his other hand over it, and could contain his tears no more. He let his head fall onto the ‘mattress’ as he let out his worries and fears and frustrations. He was overcome and his shoulders shook with the power of his cries. The once black pudgey, now a muted indigo, waddled over and rubbed its little head against his before plopping his chin down on top of their joined hands, a quiet whine emitting from its throat.

Oryn’s eyes were such a pale pink they were mostly white.

“Will you, I mean can you go get Avi? I don’t want to leave him.”

“I do not know that that is wise…”

“Please. I don’t want to let him out of my sight.”  He looked up at her, and the sadness she saw there nearly stole her breath.

She nodded. “Do not leave or do anything to attract attention. I will retrieve your Avi and be back as swiftly as I can.”

He just nodded, not even bothering to look at her. He didn’t even hear her leave, but it didn’t matter. He kept his eyes on his beloved’s face as the words to Standing By began to pour out of him.

Oryn paused at the threshold as she heard Scott’s singing, the words bringing tears to slide down her own cheeks. She hopped from limb to limb, taking off into a run as she headed back for the veil hoping it would all be better soon.