Celebrimbor Helyanwë (suntdracones) wrote in st_margarets, @ 2014-03-12 21:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: annabelle keely, character: ashton hartley, location: kitsune dorm, location: the woods |
Log: Wings
WHO: Annabelle Keeley and Ashton Hartley
WHEN: A little while after this
WHERE: The Woods/Kitsune dorms
Annabelle had been surprised when Andrei had sped off into the distance, talking about needing to go swimming. His whole demeanour had changed, there had been something about him that was a little… different after he’d bitten her, and she’d wanted that to happen, right? She wasn’t sure. She felt a little light-headed, a little off colour as it were. She didn’t feel like she was about to pass out or anything, but the two little puncture marks on the curve of her neck were still bleeding a little bit; fairy blood didn’t clot the same as human blood, no platelets. It was one of the reasons fae had to be extremely careful not to get injured as it took a long time for them to heal. She wet her lower lip and her wings fluttered unhappily. Now that she was alone, the woods admonished her for not listening to her, the wind rustled through them and carried their chiding sensations and feelings and it brushed past her, carrying her scent - and the almost mossy scent of her blood - away from where she was standing.
Nature protected the fae, as it was, and directed the wind towards someone who might be able to make sure she got home safely.
She just sat on a nearby tree stump, feeling a little dazed and confused now that she had been left to think about what had just happened. And her neck hurt where his fangs had pierced her skin. The fog had gone from her mind now, the feelings he had amped up and manipulated disappearing, leaving Anna bleeding with little for her troubles.
Owch. Suddenly, she felt very foolish. And alone. Very alone because even the woods had gone silent on her.
---
Obsidian talons latched onto the large outcropping that jetted out to just above the treeline as the dragon came out of his soundless glide to land. A low unhappy growl was in his throat as he prowled down the length of the jutted rock and folded his leathery black wings against his sides, ducking a horned head under a branch until Celebrimbor was walking through the woods. He was not as agile here, needing to find a large break in the trees to fit through, but he didn’t have far to go until he’d found the scent that had caught his attention on the breeze.
Blood. Annabelle. The two combined making his possessive and protective urges to guard what was his rise up in his chest.
Circling like a serpent around the trunk of a tree, Ashton’s tail coiled as he craned his neck to peer around the stump where the fae had sat down. “You are injured,” his deep voice resonated with the ground where his chest had been lowered to put himself at eye level with her, claws sinking into the moist earth.
Hissing, the dragon came around, silver eyes flashing unhappily as he scanned the area, smelling someone else, that vampire, and he leaned his nose in close to inspect Anna closely, the hard tip of his nose nudging her.
---
Anna tilted her head a little when Ashton appeared in front of her, moving a little with the nudge of his nose before she reached out and rested her hand on his snout, thumb gently brushing over the scales there, unafraid of the dragon in either form, finding his size somewhat comforting now she knew he wouldn’t eat her. She had her other hand pressed against her neck and at the comment about her injury, she shook her head a little, withdrawing her hand to reveal the two small puncture marks.
“Not so much injured,” she murmured, glancing at her hand and then pulling a face. Her blood was a dark green colour, like moss that grew on trees. Her shoulders were hunched up and she leaned forward then, resting her forehead against her dragon friend (her dragon friend, that was), taking reassurance and comfort in each warm puff of his breath. “I’m okay- it was-” She was about to say it was an accident, but she wasn’t really all that good at lying. “It’s my own fault.”
---
"Not so much?" Ashton demanded, about to become rather outraged when he laid metallic eyes on the puncture wounds. But before he could rear up and make more of a fuss, she laid her forehead against him and stalled the motion. His eyes half closed as he let out a long stream of warm air from deep inside his lungs, nostrils flaring a bit, glowing from the fire that was stoked with the passing of oxygen over brimstone.
"That inbred halfwit bit you. How could it be your fault?" Uncoiling from the tree trunk, Ashton's tail came to curl instead around the stump where Anna was perched, circling it protectively and even lifting his wings as if to shield her, making a half circle with them. "I will destroy him."
---
Anna’s arm curled around him as best she could, hugging him as he curled around her. She even lifted her feet so that his tail could curl around the base, resting them gently down again. She felt sheltered and protected, warm for the first time since the bite. He hadn’t even taken that much as far as she could tell, and whatever effect it had had on him had seemed quite potent. She wondered, in that moment, if this would potentially cause a problem, if it would not only be her dust that was in demand.
“I could have said no- but he-” she frowned a little, “I don’t even know how he got me to say yes-”
She wet her lower lip and then frowned at the growled threat. She leaned back a little, turned her upper body and wiped her hand against her trousers before both reached out to touch his snout, making sure she had his attention. “You will do no such thing,” she said, “You can’t hurt him. The headmistress would kill you, for a start, and- and he’s not worth it.”
She pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Please, Ashton, just- I’m sorry that you ended up out here.” She gave him a small smile and then grimaced. “I think that’s going to bruise,” she muttered, hand returning to press against her neck. It wasn’t bleeding as much as it had been, but there was still a faint trickle.
“I mean it.”
---
Two silver eyes, reflective and showing her in a warped kind of mirror way, focused on her when she touched him so pointedly and told him to stand down.
Ashton didn't like this response and his grumblings were proof of that. He didn't outright say he would go against her wishes, but his half lidded eyes narrowed further with images of what he would do to Andrei, even if it was in his dreams. Ms. menides wouldn't be pleased that a vampire was biting other students, either. From what Ashton knew of the Headmistress, even a dragon had reason to fear her wrath, which meant the idiot vampire, made more dangerous by his lack of intelligence, would not fare any better.
"Fine. Then I will report him!" he huffed, not willing to simply let it go. If the vengeance couldn't be his, immediately, and end in the burned ashen corpse of the vampire spreading over the forest, then he'd let the Headmistress deal with him. Further rantings was stilled when she kissed his nose.
Keen eyes opened wider, but he relented with another puff of heated air from his nostrils. "You are correct. He is not worth it. But you are bleeding and it distresses me. Come. I will carry you back to the school myself where you can seek healing."
---
Anna sighed and pressed another kiss against his snout, standing up carefully so as to avoid stepping on his tail. She trailed her fingers along his snout and then wrapped her arms around his neck in a brief hug, silently requesting that he lower his head so she could shrink down. She still couldn’t fly high enough on her own steam to sit atop his head without climbing on it. She didn’t think he would want to carry her at full size. “I don’t need healing, I can just sleep it off. It’ll be okay in the morning. It might have stopped by the time we get back anyway.
“Maybe you could just take me back to my dorms? Back to Kitsune?”
Reporting him? She felt a little guilty at the prospect, after all, he had- she could have said no, couldn’t she? She did have a choice, she could have said no or stopped him, she could have just not engaged him in conversation when the woods had told her to leave him be, and now that she was thinking more rationally, she knew he had sort of played into everything she’d felt that she was lacking in. He’d charmed his way past her common sense.
“Just- let’s just get back and we can talk about this some more in the house?” she suggested, “I don’t want to do anything rash.”
---
Almost as though he knew it as a signal, Ashton obediently lowered his head carefully so that she could find a place to perch. He waited patiently, though his eyes were stormy and brooding and he still mumbled and grumbled in his chest at the whole idea of Andrei just walking away from her, having bit her and left her to bleed, hurt and alone. It just went to show that the vampire was a predator and needed to be treated like one. Shown his place. Ashton would, reluctantly, respect Anna's wishes, but he would not let the vampire get away with hurting his fairy. She was his fairy.
"Very well. Back to Kitsune." He agreed with a regal nod of his crested head. He'd transform to his human self when they were closer and ensure she made it to her room, where he would stand vigil, as he had done with Trent, until she awoke and was better. No one would bother her under his watchful guard.
"If I only chew on his leg, that is not rash," he reasoned, and there was a faint hint of humor to his tone against the flagrant honest consideration at his own words.
---
When Ashton lowered his head, Annabell hopped back up onto the trunk and, with a slow intake of breath, shrunk down to her minature size, carefully walking up over his nose until she was sat atop his head, fingers gently touching his scales, slow and soothing movements that were designed to try and smoothen down his metaphorically ruffled scales. She settled where she was, wings fluttering to help her keep her balance.
She giggled as he mentioned chewing on Andrei’s leg. “I don’t think vampires’ll taste all that nice,” she pointed out, voice light and melodical now that she was in her true form. She curled her fingers against his scales, wings fluttering again just to help her keep her balance. “I still think it was my own fault.”
She shifted carefully, lying on her stomach, stretched out over the top of his head, absurdly comfortable and confident that he wouldn’t let her fall considering how tiny she was in comparison. She’d kept his secret, and she knew he’d kept hers and that in itself made her feel special. As did him offering to give her a lift. They needed to go flying properly, one of these days. She’d heard there were other fairies at the school, who were far more… outgoing and out there with their nature and with what they were. She’d also heard they could fly.
That filled her with jealousy. They could fly if they wanted. She had a dragon. She won.
“But seriously, I bet vampires taste like rotting meat.”
---
As Anna settled, Ashton's tail came unwound from the stump and his wings pulled back, testing the space for enough room to take off in and decided he had enough. He'd gotten much better at gauging that kind of thing since encountering a forest for the first time in his young draconic life. Trees confounded him still, sometimes, but he was learning.
"You can not convince me that you requested that the vampire creature bite you. I will not believe it," as he spoke, Ashton turned his body, long neck curving first, followed by the rest as he turned in place and looked skyward. "I've encountered him before. He is..." well, he didn't exactly know what, but he felt like Andrei knew what he was without actually knowing, like he knew the right things to say to get him riled up to attack him. It had almost worked all too well.
"Hold on," was all the warning Ashton gave. It was only a little unsettling to have a fairy mounted on his head, holding onto his scales with her tiny hands. But he didn't mind too much. She was no burden and she was his. It was his job to get her to safety. Ashton took care of the things that were his.
Celebrimbor crouched on the ground and braced himself, angled with his tail and wings both poised before, with a strong and powerful kick of his rear legs, he leaped into the air and gave a long sweep of his wings, skimming the treeline and almost catching on them as he fought gravity to become airborne.
Then they were clear of the forest and rising higher, wind loud against his wings as he manipulated it to his will to carry himself and Anna to loftier heights into the night sky. He ensured, carefully, that he did not disturb her perch atop his head.
---
Annabelle let out a quiet whoop of joy as they began flying, even if the initial movement caused her to hold on a little tighter. Not that it would have had any impact or difference in feeling to Ashton as fairy fingers were small and their grips weak. She pressed herself low against his head as he went higher to shield herself from any wind that may have threatened to blow her off his head, though she knew he was being conscious of her considering she’d seen him fly - and land - before and those times she had she would have definitely fallen off him. She didn’t think Matt would be there to catch her this time should she fall.
The world looked so different from up here, it was almost more than the little fairy’s mind could take. Even flying, she would never get higher than the trees for fairies lived in the woods and never really ventured above the tree tops, so this was a view she would only ever get if she were being taken up there by someone, such as this instance.
It was only a shame that her neck hurt a little bit which sort of dampened the experience for her and distracted her from really appreciating the view and the experience. She was tired now and just wanted to go home and curl up in bed. Or maybe in Trent’s sock, but Ashton would take her back to her room, so she’d have to curl up in her bed and go and bother Trent another night.
“I didn’t ask for him to bite me, no,” she confirmed, shouting to be heard above the wind. Her voice was always softer when she was in her natural form anyway. “I guess you’re right about that.”
---
Ashton steadied out in the air and caught a current that carried them towards the school with little effort on the dragon's part. Soundlessly, and nearly invisible with the night time backdrop above them, Ashton and Anna flew along and Ashton could hear her when she spoke, his eyes scanning the forest floor.
"Of course I'm right," he responded with a rumble. "And I wouldn't eat his leg. I would only chew on it. Make him scream. Even if it tasted like rot." Snorting his disgust, Ashton rose higher and tipped to angle his flight in a wide arching circle to gradually zero in on their approach to the academy.
---
Anna wrinkled her nose and glanced to her left, crawling along the top of his head to curl her arms around one of his horns, wrapping herself around it so that her arms and legs were holding on, chest pressed against the horn to keep herself in place. She just rested her face against it and let out a breath.
“That’s not very nice, Ashton,” she pointed out, “I wouldn’t want you to feel sick. I bet you would.” She patted his horn though she didn’t know if he could feel it or not. “No chewing either.” She pursed her lips and then huffed out a breath, “It was just the once, I promise I won’t let him do it again, okay? But you have to let this one go.”
She snuggled against where she was, tightening her arms and legs a little and closing her eyes, the whooshing of the wind and the height they were at was making her feel a little cold as the hoodie she had on was only thin and wasn’t the best protection. As they tipped a little bit, Anna’s arms tightened a little as best she could as she couldn’t reach all the way around the horn she was (mostly) wrapped around.
---
Ashton's circling glide brought them into a tighter spin, his legs and arms pressed tightly against his body and, as he dropped, came out to extend and catch the ground for landing in a clearing not far from the grounds. He was always careful, when landing close to the school, that no one was nearby to spot him. Ashton disliked the attention the black dragon had gotten from the battle with the ice wights and all the snooping around that students had done afterwards. It made him uncomfortable, and extra precautions were called for.
Taking strides across the ground on all four legs, Ashton let out a sigh, "Very well. But I don't have to like him." As he spoke, he was changing shape, shifting from the large black dragon into the boy that attended St. Margaret's and the horn she held onto so tightly turned into spiked hair instead as he entered the woods and came out the other side onto the lawn of the school.
"Are you still bleeding?" He asked, casting his eyes up, but unable to see her nestled in his hair as she was. He could still smell blood, fae blood, but it could be what was left on her clothes.
---
The shift was far smoother than Anna was expecting, considering how big Ashton was when he was a dragon and how… not big he was when he was a human. She was pleased, though, that she didn’t have to move, settled in his hair as she was. She curled up where she was until a strand of his hair tickled her nose. She sneezed in a puff of fairy dust and tugged on a couple of strands to get his attention, requesting that he reach up and pick her up rather than her having to climb down the side of his head.
“No, you don’t have to like him,” she conceeded, because no one had to like everyone and she wasn’t about to dictate who Ashton should like. He was her dragpon. She didn’t want him to like a whole lot of people. “And no- I don’t think so?” she reached up to touch her neck, and it wasn’t, thankfully. It had finally clotted which was something, she supposed?
She tugged on his hair again - just gently. “Pick me up?”
---
Ashton paused his steps when she sneezed and he angled his head curiously before remembering he might upset her balance, correcting his posture. When she tugged again, he lifted both hands, carefully trying to scoop her from his hair, but afraid he might crush her on accident, simply held one palm out like a platform for her to step onto. "Good. Then I will take you to Kitsune." He had been planning to before, of course, as he had given his word. But now that she wasn't bleeding, Ashton felt more comfortable with the idea.
He'd never held a fairy before, not even his Anna. Not in his dragon or his human form, and it was a bit surreal. He wasn't sure how delicate they were, how breakable, and he remembered her wings and how fragile they seemed from before, and decided to play it safe. No sense making her injuries worse.
"I met another of your kind," Ashton informed her. "Adrian. He's in House Ladon."
---
Fairies were very breakable, especially in such small form. Anna stepped onto his hand and crossed her legs, sitting down as that was her preferred form of transportation when a human was holding her and she looked up at Ashton, clearly pleased that he had picked her up. Her fingers were cold against his palm as she braced her herself, and the tips of her wings may have tickled as they rested against his skin.
“You did?” she asked, “I heard there are other fairies here at the school. What’s he like?” she was curious, and as such moved from sitting cross legged to being on all fours, looking up at Ashton with big eyes.
---
Ashton's eyes narrowed and focused on her, studying the fae in the darkness as she rested on his palm in close range. Blinking, he let out a breath, satisfied for himself that she wasn't bleeding, then resumed walking.
"He was... different. Flying around the gardens in broad daylight like a fool. But he showed me that he can bring his wings in somehow, to hide them. You can do this?"
Ducking under a branch, Ashton cupped his hand over the other, shielding her as he broke through some brush and made it to the row of dorms buildings.
---
Anna frowned, being subjected to total darkness as Ashton’s hand cupped over the other to protect her from the bushes. She appreciated it, but as soon as he had broken through the bush she was pushing at his other palm to reveal her so that she could talk to him again. She was kneeling where she was. “I can’t fly, which you know well enough,” she said a little sulkily, like it upset her to be reminded that she couldn’t do something that all fairies were supposed to.
“And yeah, I can hide my wings. That’s why they’re so screwed up,” she glanced over her shoulder, the wings in question fluttered a little and she winced.
The top arches were damaged, uneven and crooked, straightening out seemed to not be happening for them and it was a shame because her wings would be more beautiful if they were not so damaged. “I can draw them back into their buds- look-” she took in a deep breath and shrugged off her hoodie, it sat on Ashton’s palm in a miniature grey puddle, leaving Anna in the tank top she had on before. A tiny splash of green blood was clear on her collarbone.
Her palms rested against his skin and she shivered, fingers flexing against his skin as her wings sort of folded in on themselves, disappearing into the raw-looking buds that sat between her shoulder blades. It hurt, and that much was obvious.
“See? I can do that too.” But did it hurt the other fairy the same way it had hurt her? If not, why not? Had he grown up around fairies?
---
"I see, yes. Don't do that," Ashton admonished, seeing that it clearly hurt her. Brows furrowed, he lifted his hand to eye level, his thumb coming up to gently nudge her leg. "It hurts you. It did not hurt Adrian." Confused, finding it strange that it should hurt Anna, but not the male fairy, he frowned and wondered what was different, what power the male had that his fairy did not. Something tricky?
But then he remembered that night on the beach, their first meeting, when she told him she had been forced to hide the fact that she was a fairy for fear of being discovered and he had already seen her stunted wings, that it was what prevented her from even flying, and Ashton tightened his jaw with anger.
"He matters not. He didn't even know what he was until recently," snorting dismissively, Ashton pushed the door open to the Kitsune dorm and made long strides inside. "I killed his garden, anyway. He matters not." Because, Ashton reasoned, his fairy was better, would be better, than any other fairy out there. He would ensure it.
"Tomorrow, when you are healed, we will go flying. We will strengthen your wings until they will carry you."
---
Annabelle still looked a little sad. He didn’t even know he was a fairy until recently and he could still fly? And his wings didn’t hurt like hers? How was that fair? Her normally silver glow took on a slightly pinker shade as she stewed on that, distracted only by the news that Ashton had burned that particular fairy’s garden, a place associated with his house so he was bound to feel an attachment to it.
She glanced at Ashton as he nudged her with his thumb and she pressed both of her hands against it gently, squeezing once, nodding her agreement that she wouldn’t do it again, but the action hurt and it always took time for the throbbing to subside. She hunched her shoulders up a little.
Stupid fairy. She had the whole woods as hers, she’d been quick to do that when she’d arrived, introduced herself to the trees and environment to ensure that it knew who she was and why she was there and for it to know her and protect her as one of its children.
She snorted. “Serves him right. Ladon’s garden’s stupid anyway. I’m glad you burned it. Stupid other fairy.” She smiled a little, the pink having faded as she pulled her jacket close to her, slipping into the hoodie again and curling the fabric against herself. “That sounds good to me,” Anna said with a warm smile, scrambling to her feet. “It might take time, though, my wings are kind of crap.”
---
"The gardens were unimpressive," Ashton agreed, but glanced at her with a sidelong look, "However, it did not burn. I took its life." Nodding his head matter of factly, Ashton continued. "We will take all the time necessary for you to fly." There was no race or contest, after all. His fairy was already the only one who mattered.
The change in her glow brought a tilt of the dragon's head, and he was about to ask her if it was from the bite that changed her color when one of the members of Kitsune came down the hall. Ashton growled, covering her in his hand and glaring at the other student until they shuffled out of sight with a backwards cautious glance at the Icelandic boy. Once the coast was clear, Ashton pulled his hand back again and resumed walking.
"Where is your room?" He frowned, finding that the fact he didn't know this already was a little troublesome. He had always just known he could find her in the woods, but reason stated that Anna would also have a dorm room assignment.
---
“You- you took its life?” Anna asked, not entirely sure she wanted to know what that meant. Did he just take the essence of the plants and life there? Did it suffer? She frowned a little, “You didn’t just destroy it with your dragon’s fi- uh, your fire?” She wet her lower lip. That was a little scary. She knew he’d never hurt her, he was her dragon after all, but that was a power that caused her to feel concern for her trees. “You’d never hurt my woods like that, right?”
Once she was uncovered again - and she made a mental note to thank him for that because other fairies might be happy to tell everyone what they were, but for Anna it was still a closely guarded secret - she turned her head, facing the direction in which they were travelling to get her bearings.
“My dorm’s up the stairs on the left, second door on the right. It’s green.” She wondered why Ashton didn’t know that, but then he’d never come to her dorm before, and she didn’t spend a whole lot of time there anyway, only to sleep and sometimes not even to do that as she did have a couple of other people that she visited when she wanted to sleep and sometimes she didn’t always mean to fall asleep there.
Matt had been in her room earlier on that day, just checking in on her, they had some kind of plan, right? But that was neither here nor there. Later.
“I’d like to learn to fly properly. I’d appreciate any help you could give.”
---
"No, it did not burn. I was not in my true form, and this other fairy doesn't know me." And by knowing him, he did mean knowing. Knowing like Anna knew. "Your woods?" Curious, Ashton followed her instructions to the door she described, walking on long steady strides towards it. "If I needed to, perhaps. But..." hesitating, Ashton looked to the side, as though debating what he might say, or if he should say it at all. Glancing at Anna again, however, seemed to set him somewhat at ease, because she was his fairy, and who would she tell?
"I don't know how to control it very well. I discovered it once, by accident. This, my element. My parents knew. But they--" He stopped talking suddenly, jaw snapping shut, and arrived at her door.
Lifting his hand so that she was at eye level with him, Ashton looked at her, studying her tiny profile before letting out a slow breath. "Well, they are gone. I learned to fly on my own, without them, and I will teach you, too."
---
Glad that the hand had been lifted, Anna moved towards the very edge, so that she was sitting there with her legs dangling off the edge of his hand. She leaned forward, tiny hands resting against his nose and she pressed another kiss, this time to his human nose instead of his dragon one. She nearly lost her balance and fell forward, flailing a little and catching herself with her hands braced against the tip of his nose. “And when I can fly, maybe we can fly together, though you’d have to wait for me. I think you’ll fly a lot further, a lot faster. I already know that you can fly higher.”
She got to her feet, leaning forward again, resting her forehead against the tip of his nose and then rubbing the tip of hers against his in the tiniest eskimo kiss ever. “You’ve got a new family now, you know,” she said softly, wanting to reassure him in some way that even if his parents were gone, he wasn’t alone. “And I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” She smiled, her glow pulsating slightly, “Thank you for trusting me.”
---
Ashton kept his eyes on her, though with her this close, it was difficult to do so. He blinked when she kissed his nose, the tiny hands causing it to tickle and he almost twitched, but then she was nearly falling and Ashton lifted his other hand just in case, to catch her, but she was able to catch her own balance and it was all he could do to remain steady and not make her fall.
What a very strange and precarious position to be in, he thought, so seemingly high up and without the comfort of knowing that, should you fall, you could fly. It was a strange alien thought for the dragon, and he focused on Anna again when he felt her rub her nose against his. Her words made his shoulders relax some, because he knew them to be true. "Yes. A new family. And soon you will be flying with me, even if I have to slow down." he said it with a small toss of his eyes, but there was affection in the words, as affectionate as Ashton knew to be, and he opened her door.
"I trust you. You trust me. It's shared." And it didn't seem strange to him that he was trusting a fairy, as much as his parents might have been appalled, had they been around to know of it and teach him of the fairies and their evil vile ways.
---
Righting herself properly, Anna turned her head, “This one’s my room,” she said, pointing at the door. “As long as you knock first, you can come in any time you want to.” She turned on his hand and bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting for him to open the door. “When we go flying, you can show me all the things you’ve found in the air. And maybe I can show you some of the secrets of the woods.”
She was excited at the prospect of sharing experiences and trust and all kinds of things that came with it. “Oh- my room’s a little messy. Matt was over earlier and then I had to get changed in a hurry and I couldn’t find this hoodie for the life of me.” She grinned, as if the earlier events had been brushed aside. Fairies didn’t have a lot of time for a lot of things in one go, and her talk with Ashton had all but brushed the encounter with Andrei from her mind.
It would likely come back later, when she saw the puncture wounds on her neck and she’d go back to feeling embarrassed, but until then she was busy being delighted with her dragon. Even if her neck did hurt a bit, and she was rather tired.
---
The scent of the werewolf hit Ashton's nose as they stepped inside before Anna's warning that Matt had been in there was spoken. His brows furrowed and his green eyes, edging with silver now as his predatory and guardianship instincts took over, darted around the space as though Matt might still be inside. It was perhaps fortunate that he was not.
As Anna spoke about a hoodie, about showing secrets in the woods, Ashton growled low in his throat and moved her closer to his chest as he turned to close the door, senses on edge. "Who is Matt?" he demanded. "Why was he in here? What does he want from you?"
---
“Matt’s my friend,” Anna said, stumbling a little as she’d been on her feet when Ashton drew her closer to his chest. Her hands rested against the fabric of his top, looking straight up at him in confusion. She turned around, walked along his palm and on his wrist, waiting for him to look down at her. She’d seen the shift in his eyes briefly and was wondering why he was standing as if he were protecting her from someone, from Matt, maybe?
She frowned, confused. “He’s not in here, Ashton, it’s okay.” She tugged on the bottom of his sleeve with both hands to draw his attention back to her. “Ashton! Matt’s my friend, he was just here earlier to hang out for a bit. That’s… that’s okay, right? Hey- you okay?”
---
It took some doing, especially the tugging from Anna's small hands on his shirt sleeve, to get Ashton to stop searching the room for intruders and focus on her again. "Your... friend? He's a werewolf." Ashton said the word with a wrinkle of his nose, a distaste on his tongue like they were despicable. Truth be told, Ashton hadn't had the opportunity since coming to really meet and get to know a were much, besides Celia. And that had not ended well in the library.
"I don't like them," he added petulantly.
Crossing to her dresser, Ashton came close enough for her to safely step over from his arm, taking a final visual scan of the room before he was satisfied that the were was not there. "Is your injury still causing you pain?"
---
Anna bit back on a laugh when Ashton petulantly told her that he didn’t like werewolves. She assumed that it was just one of those dragon things, like how she’d found that werewolves tended to not like vampires. “How come? Or do you just… not like them?” she asked, glad that his attention was back on her because she didn’t want to have to go climbing his sleeve. That was always a lot of hard work and she was always afraid of falling.
When they stopped at her dresser, Anna stepped over onto it, crossing to the mirror to press her little hands against it, tilting her head to the side to inspect the bite marks that had been left behind, the puncture wounds that had finally stopped bleeding, though they looked a little bruised, dark green bruises starting to form around each of the wounds.
She sighed and crossed over from the edge of the dresser, jumping the small (though to a fairy it was rather large) gap between the dresser and the bed. She landed in the pillows and as she did, slowly began to grow in size until she was human sized again, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“A little bit,” she admitted, tilting her head so Ashton could see. “How does it look?”
---
"They are..." Ashton sought the proper words to describe his feelings on the weres who were given privledges he was denied for reasons he didn't understand, let alone agree with. "Animals." Frowning, Ashton watched Anna hop over to the bed and he kept his stance beside it, stepping a little closer, even, and resting his hand on the covers. "But it doesn't matter. I'll be flying on the full moon night soon, as I should."
As Anna began to grow in size, Ashton's eyes focused on her with fascination. He wasn't often that he got to see his fairy change size, and tonight he'd seen her do it twice. Ashton wondered how odd it must look, to others, to watch him go from dragon to human, and back again. Just like Anna seemed to grow effortlessly, Ashton's transformations were near flawless shifts. He still sometimes ran into difficulties, but he was learning.
As she sat on the edge of the bed, he came closer and leaned in to see the marks, lifting a hand to touch the skin on the outside as a low growl began again in his chest. "Let me kill him, Annabelle. Let me hurt him like he has hurt you." Lifting silver eyes to hers, Ashton's brows furrowed darkly.
---
Anna refrained from commenting when Ashton called the weres animals. She supposed they were in some way, but then so was he, right? But she kind of understood that a dragon definitely would think differently. She didn’t like that she had to be extremely careful on the full moon nights outside because the weres were allowed to roam, but then she supposed she wasn’t restricted in any other way. She reached out and curled her fingers around Ashton’s wrist. “At least you’ll be flying unrestricted soon, right? That’s what you need to remember. And they won’t stop you from doing that, they’re on the ground, your domain’s the air, right?” She, however, would have to stay inside.
She tilted her head a little when he approached, the touch of his fingertips against the edge of the green bruising causing a slight hissed inward breath. At his quiet plea, Anna reached out again, catching his wrist with her fingers, then letting her touch reach up until her hand was curled around the back of his neck gently, touch cool against his skin.
“He isn’t worth it- and he- I just won’t be left alone with him- I won’t allow myself to be alone with him again, okay? Won’t give him the chance to- do whatever it was he did that had me agreeing to being bitten.” She shook her head, “Hey- look at me- I’m alright. You’ve got me home safe.”
---
Seeing that she would not give him what he wanted, permission to go find the vamp that very moment and rip him in half, Ashton studied her closely, her touch going a long way to calming him with its cool caress on his neck, and he finally let out a breath, tense shoulders relaxing, and nodded. "Fine. He will live. But only because you want him to. Not that he deserves it. And I will be with you the next time he comes around. Myself or Trent." Nodding firmly, knowing he could trust Trent with Anna, and Anna with Trent, Ashton pulled his hand away from her injury and stood his full height.
"I'm staying in here for the rest of the night. You will rest safely in case he tries to prowl around for more of your blood." Nose twitching, inhaling to smell her and the blood that marked her shoulder, as well as where she had wiped it off her hands onto her clothes, Ashton let the breath out in a sigh.
---
Anna pressed her lips together as Ashton consented and gracefully got to her feet, standing up on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, hands resting on his shoulders for balance for the few seconds she was there before she was drawing away. “I don’t know what he did,” she said, “But- I didn’t- I mean I felt-” having drawn away, Anna pulled her tank top over her head, leaving her standing in her bra and jeans. Between her shoulderblades, it was possible again to see her wing-buds, small lumps on her back that were a little inflamed looking though almost inconspicuous otherwise.
She would have protested that Ashton didn’t need to stay, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have been able to talk him out of it, so she just nodded her consent. She had a couple of comfortable armchairs in her room anyway. “You can stay, that’d be cool. Are you going to sleep or are you staying awake?” she asked, half turning to look at him whilst she was rummaging in her drawer for a shirt to sleep in.
---
When Ashton saw her rising to her feet, bringing hands to his shoulders, he thought she may be needing to whisper something to him, so he leaned down slightly, meeting her part way, and was taken back by the kiss she left at the corner of his mouth instead. Ashton knew what a kiss was. He lived among human teenagers who did it often enough, after all. Anna's kiss was puzzling to the dragon, but he didn't mind. It was nice, even. He wondered about it as she removed her shirt in preparation to sleep.
"What did you feel?" He asked when she stopped. She had been leading somewhere with her words, he realized, but it seemed the fairy was having difficulty getting it out. "What exactly did he do to get close enough to..." Ashton looked down at his fists and forced them to relax at his sides. Anger wouldn't be useful now, but that was still the reaction he had to any thought regarding Andrei coming near his fairy to hurt her.
While not oblivious to modesty, Ashton still didn't turn away in an effort to give Anna more privacy. It was just normal feeling. What wasn't normal was the buds where he knew her wings were housed. It must be painful, he thought. If he'd had to hide his own wings that way, he would not be happy about it at all. There would be trouble. But she did it every day. "I will remain awake. How will I protect you if I'm sleeping? And Annabelle, why don't you let your wings out now? It's just you and I in here. No one will see. I'll make sure of that."
---
Anna turned her head, looking surprised when Ashton asked her about what she’d felt. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly with a lift of her shoulders, “I- I mean- I felt- I can’t explain it.” She held an oversized shirt in her hand, shoulders drooped a little. “I mean, I- I felt-” she rubbed her hand over her face. “He did something but I don’t know what. He changed how I was feeling- does that even make sense? And then I didn’t want to disappoint him. I wanted to- I wanted to please him because- Fuck, that sounds so fucking stupid.” She glowed a little pink in anger at herself.
God, why was she so stupid? She shouldn’t have been out there on her own anyway, not feeling the way she had been. What was wrong with her?
She raked her fingers through her hair, rapidly cycling through a string of negative emotions before his next comments caught her attention. Oh. Ashton. He was still here and God, had he just seen her-
Fuck. Fuck her life, seriously. Fuck. Her. Life.
“Uh- well I don’t know, you could be a light sleeper?” she tried, “Awake at the slightest sound.”
She bit her lower lip, “It’s not- I- I’ve never slept with them out before.” Not when she was full sized anyway, it was a little awkward to be underneath the covers with her wings out. Sleeping in Trent’s sock was different, it was huge and roomy and not heavy, not like bedsheets. But the idea of having her wings out all night… that was something that appealed to her.
“I- I could… I guess…” She crossed over the room again back towards the dresser, pulling a pair of scissors out of the top drawer and cutting two slits in the back of the t-shirt, a little longer than necessary but she didn’t know whereabouts on her back they would sit if she was going to be stretching her wings. She wouldn’t sleep in her bra (at least, not with Ashton in the room anyway).
Pulling the t-shirt on over her head, Anna finished the process of undressing by pulling her bra out of the left sleeve of her t-shirt and sliding out of her jeans, kicking them under the edge of the bed, her idea of tidying.
She reached out, taking hold of Ashton’s hand and curling her fingers around his as she flexed her shoulders, feeling her wing buds opening and her wings, stunted and damaged as they were, began to unfold from her back. Her fingers tightened a little, the only other outward sign of the pain it caused her aside from the way her eyes closed.
---
Ashton didn't understand a lot about the fairy and the things that went on, but he was learning that the change in color of the glow meant different things about how she was feeling, and this wasn't one - at least not this bright - that he'd seen before. But aside from the pink, he was surprised by her wording. She had wanted to please the vampire? Somehow, Ashton realized, Andrei had manipulated Annabelle into saying yes to being bitten, which meant if the dragon were to go to the Headmistress and demand action be taken, Andrei could walk away clean.
He thought back to his own first encounter with the vampire and remembered the quick rise of anger, the way Andrei had known exactly what to say to piss him off even more. He'd wanted to attack him, not only because Andrei had made threatening primal posturings and knew exactly how to egg him on, but because there was something else. Something unnatural.
On the verge of putting it together, he met Anna's gaze when she looked at him and saw near panic in her expression almost as though she'd forgotten he was standing there. He froze in place, thinking maybe he'd startled her somehow, but then she continued, and even agreed to his suggestion about the wings. Remaining still except for a slight curious tilt in his head as he watched her dress in the large shirt - large for her - and remove the other garment from beneath, followed by the pants, Ashton was all but mesmerized.
"You could," he nodded. "And you should. You and your wings were meant to be free."
As she took his hand, Ashton looked down at the touch, then at her, slowly responding by curling his own fingers with hers, especially as he saw her close her eyes and the tension make her shoulders lift a bit. He knew it hurt her and Ashton's response to something of his being in danger, pain even, was to growl and step closer, protectively, even though the thing that was hurting Anna was her own wings. There was someone to blame. The humans who would hunt her if they knew what she was, for starters.
He watched as the wings unfurled from beneath her shirt and through the slits she'd made in the back. Enlarged to human size like she was, it made the wings in proportion to that and it was the first time Ashton had seen them at this angle with himself in human form.
"They... they're beautiful." He'd stopped growling and his voice was softer.
---
Annabelle’s wings straightened slowly as best they could, large and almost see-through, they shimmered in rainbow colours when the light from her room hit them just right. They were reminiscent of the wings of a dragonfly, with all the grace and delicacy, the membrane looked as fragile and delicate as it was. The arch that should have supported the top wing was crooked, and the tips were bent inward slightly. They fluttered once, and then again, and then dropped, the weight of them heavy - deceptively so - on the muscles of her shoulders.
When Ashton’s fingers curled around hers and that soft growl emanated from his chest, Anna felt a flush of warmth, of comfort, knowing that even though what was hurting her was her, Ashton was there to try and protect her from it as best he could.
She didn’t move for a second, just letting her body adjust to having the wings out and let out a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding, tension in her shoulders drooping as the transformation, as it were, ended. At the soft murmur that her wings were beautiful, Annabelle glowed again a little and opened one eye to look up at Ashton. He’d stepped a little closer so it was easy for her to lean forward, rest her forehead against his chest briefly in silent thanks for not judging her before she was looking up at him, cheeks coloured slightly pink.
“T-thanks,” she murmured, ducking her head a second later as if she were embarrassed. Truth be told, she was flattered by the compliment and never quite knew what to say in return. “I- th- they could look nicer. I mean- I don’t ever know if they’ll heal…” She caught her lower lip between her teeth.
---
Ashton was certainly a sturdy presence to lean against, and he didn't flinch away from her brow resting against his chest. His fairy was one who was familiar with touch, and it was becoming a normal thing for the dragon to accept.
"They will heal," Ashton said with certainty. He reached up and gripped her shoulders with his warm hands, meeting and holding her gaze. "They will. And you will fly with me." He didn't know how fairy wings worked, but he refused to accept that she would never fly because of humans. Only some humans could be trusted, he was learning. And those ones were willing to help those like him and like Anna. Other creatures who were trying to exist in a human dominated world. Coexist.
"Come. Sleep." Turning her gently, Ashton walked his fairy to the bed to make sure she would lay down. She needed to rest and to heal and he would ensure she did. He even checked her wound one more time, making sure it wasn't bleeding again. The sight of the teeth marks and how they marred her otherwise perfect skin made him angry all over again.
---
Anna did as she was bid and lay down on the bed, curled on her side, wings folded neatly against her spine. She couldn’t lie on her back when her wings were out so would be stuck lying on her side. She tucked an arm underneath her head, large eyes looking up at Ashton as he checked the wound on her neck. She caught his fingers before they actually touched her skin and pressed a kiss to the back of them before letting go.
“You sure you don’t wanna sleep?” she asked, but she knew the answer would be that he was. She made sure at least that she was facing him, curled up on her side so that when she opened her eyes in the morning, she would be able to see him and check that he was okay.
Lying down as she was, a sudden wave of tiredness overcame her and she shivered a little, drawing the covers up around her waist, tucking them underneath her arm, mindful of her wings. It was an adjustment, trying to sleep with her wings out, but she was going to give it a try.
She smiled a little up at him, open and gentle, full of affection. “Thanks, Ashton,” she murmured, snuggling into the pillow and sheets. “You’re a good guy, you know.”
---
Ashton nodded. He was sure he didn't want to sleep. He spent most of the nights up and awake, as it was, anyway - flying patrol, protecting his gold and keeping watch over the grounds of the school in the process. It was how he had been there to witness when that teacher was killed, and how he had become a victim of the Wendigo by saving that boy. The night time was the only time he could be himself, in his true form, and it pleased him to see Anna with her wings out, as she naturally should.
He selected a seat in her room where he could see both her and the door, folding his long limbs in it so he'd be ready to spring, but comfortable for a long vigil. When he looked back at the fairy girl, she was regarding him with an expression that caught him off guard, and he released the stoic and generally angry look to his own face and offered a real and sincere smile. "You are my treasure to protect." He stated as fact.
---
Anna’s smile brightened a little more, and that faint glow that accompanied her natural form was warmer than usual, even though sleep was clearly beginning to tug at her. There was something about that smile that made Anna feel happier than normal, that made her feel special in some sense and that was a feeling she very much liked. “Of course I am,” she murmured, closing her eyes after a final look at Ashton to make sure he was comfortable. “Just like you’re my dragon to care for.”
It didn’t take much longer for the tension to drain out of her form and for the fairy to drift off to sleep, wings fluttering slightly every now and then as she slowly slipped into dreams, relaxed more than she normally was for the comforting, protective presence in her room.