by L. J. Hamlin
"I don't hate any part of my body, but I don't feel as beautiful as the people in your art," Alice admits.
"You're radiant, and you'll see that when I finish your painting. But first, sketches with you here, and then I'll work on the rest alone," Lily says.
"How do you want me?" Alice asks, only blushing a little at her words and how they sound.
Lily takes her hand and leads Lily to the pillows and encourages her to lie down. Lily apologises every time she moves Alice's limbs without asking first, but Alice doesn't mind, and she lets herself be moved like a doll, the silk draped over her and the gown removed.
Alice tries to relax on the pillows as Lily moves away a little and takes a seat on a cushion, sketch book in front of her.
"Am I allowed to talk?" Alice asks.
"Yes, of course. I'll only need you to stop for a few moments when I draw your face," Lily says brightly.
"Okay. Do I look okay?" Alice asks.
"You look like a dream," Lily says, and mouth curving in a soft, warm smile.
They talk as Lily draws. She asks questions, like how Alice came to live here, about her work and family, and tells Alice about her own, about art school and coming to move into this town because of the more open nature of the supernatural here. She likes getting to be herself without humans staring.
They talk for hours. Lily lets Alice move into different positions and to stop for a drink and work out any aches. When she gets a crick in her neck, Lily puts down her sketch pad and comes over to massage Alice's neck, and Alice has to hold in a moan because Lily's hands are the best thing she's ever felt on her skin.
They keep going a little longer after that, and then Alice goes and gets dressed, and they move into the kitchen. Alice makes them herbal tea, and Lily offers to help with cooking dinner and won't take no for an answer, so they start chopping vegetables and preparing everything.
"So was being drawn as traumatising as you thought it'd be?" Lily asks.
"No. It was actually nice and peaceful, and I liked talking with you. Would you like a glass of wine?" Alice asks, getting a bottle out of the fridge, remembering at the art show that Lily had liked white wine.
"I don't like to drink and drive, but I suppose if you didn't mind, I could stay on your couch for the night?" Lily says with an almost impish smile as she steps into Alice's space.
"I wouldn't mind. I enjoy your company," Alice admits. They're standing so close, it'd be easy to touch Lily, but Alice isn't sure that's what Lily wants. She's asked to stay, but she suggested the couch, not Alice's bed.
"You're frowning. What has you so worried?" Lily asks, and she places one of her hands on Alice's waist, bringing them closer together, hips almost touching.
"I'm not very good at this. I have a crush on you, Lily. I was attracted to you the minute I saw you, and then you come here and tell stories about fostering kittens for the local vets and liking to walk in the woods, swim in lakes, and it's like you're perfect."
"Those sound like reasons to be happy. You like me for more than my looks. I like you, too." Lily draws a pattern of a flower with her finger on Alice's arm, and it shows up in a trail of glitter than soon disappears, a little taste of fairy magic.
"I'm happy now I know you like me, too," Alice admits.
Lily leans up and in and presses a quick kiss on Alice's lips before pirouetting away like a dancer and going to check the rice. Alice stands still for a moment, her lips tingling, and then she goes back to cooking before the vegetarian curry burns.
"So, um, wine?" Alice asks again.
"Yes, please." Lily nods, and Alice checks the heat of the flame under the curry before she goes and gets the wine glasses and fills them, setting one close to Lily and taking a drink from her own.
"I know I told you I like you, but it's still cool if you take the couch. No pressure to join me in bed," Alice says, blushing, but it needs to be said. This is their first date, and she doesn't want Lily to feel like she has to do anything. Some people are intimidated by Alice because she's a yeti shifter, because that means she's exceptionally strong, and they often assume she'll use it against them. But Lily is a fairy, with her own abilities, so she probably isn't scared of Alice, which is a relief.
"Alice, you haven't put any pressure on me the whole time I've been here. You're shy and sweet, and I really like you. Let's just eat dinner, talk and see what happens," Lily suggests, and Alice tries to calm her racing heart. She wants more than a fling here, if possible.
"Okay." They serve up the curry and rice and take it to Alice's small table. They eat and drink wine, talking more about their lives, and time passes. They wash up together, and it feels domestic. Then they move to the couch to watch a movie.
Lily is the one who takes the next step and kisses Alice. She all but crawls into Alice's lap, straddling her on the couch as they kiss. Alice is careful with her hands because she doesn't want to damage Lily's wings. She finds a solution both of them seem to like by putting her hands on Lily's round ass.
Lily takes the lead without being aggressive, and Alice likes it. So often girls expect her to lead just because she can sling a grown man over her shoulder like he was a pillowcase. But Lily doesn't seem to have any expectations, and it's nice not having to be the strong and dominant one for a change.
After a little while, Lily reaches for the hem of her dress, bunched around her thighs, and pulls it up and over her body and tosses it aside. She's left in nothing but her panties, and Alice guesses it's hard to wear a bra when you have wings coming out of your back. But that thought flies out of her head when she takes a proper look at Lily. Her beautiful skin seems to almost glimmer with inner magic, and her amazing pink hair tumbles down her body and over her small, pert breasts.
"You're so beautiful," Alice gasps between kisses.
"So are you. Can I see more of you?" Lily asks, bright blue eyes filled with heat. She lets out a joyful squeal when Alice flips them around so that Lily is laying on her back on the couch with Alice on top of her. Then she starts wiggling out of her clothes with Lily's help.
They make out, slow and deep, exploring each other's bodies. Neither of them seems in a rush to take anything further than this, and it's nice. Alice thinks maybe it's a good idea not to rush head first into deeper intimacy. Alice's already head over heels. She needs to slow down the rush of feelings, but making out in her panties with a gorgeous woman is something she's not saying no to.
They don't stop for a long time, and when they do, Alice turns off the movie. She lends Lily pyjama bottoms and offers to cut a top open for Lily's wings, but she declines and stays topless as they get into bed together. They don't do more than cuddle and kiss, and it feels amazing. Alice falls asleep with her heart full.
*~*~*
Alice is on a run in the woods, and she realizes by where the sun is in the sky that she'll be late for her second date with Lily if she doesn't hurry up. Luckily, her yeti form can run much faster than a human, which is one of the many reasons that humans don't see them often and only get blurry pictures.
She reaches her home just as Lily gets out of her car with a big canvas, and Alice approaches, trying not to be too quiet and startle her.
"Hello," Alice says in her deeper yeti voice.
"Hi, I'm not late, am I? Can we go inside? I'm a little cold," Lily says, and she looks at Alice like she isn't over six foot tall and covered in shaggy chestnut fur.
"Of course." Alice lets them both inside and leaves Lily to go to her bedroom and change forms and put on fresh clothes. Propped against her dresser mirror is the note and doodle Lily had left her the morning after their first date. It's a little cartoon of a yeti holding hands with a fairy, and the fairy is kissing the yeti's cheek with a big heart over it.
Alice goes back to her living room. Lily's uncovering the canvas, and Alice stops in her tracks. The painting is of her, but she's never seen herself look like this before, so relaxed and at peace. She looks one with the purple flowers around her.<
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"Do you like it?" Lily asks.
"Like it? Is it conceited if I love it?" Alice asks.
Lily dashes over to her and hugs her close and buries her face in Alice's neck.
"I'm so glad you like it. I wanted to show you what I saw when I first looked at you in the art gallery," Lily says, kissing her neck.
"You think I look like that?" Alice can hardly believe it.
"Of course, and I knew you didn't see it. I needed you to see it because I'm lousy with words, and I knew I wouldn't be able to tell you right," Lily says softly.
Alice kisses her soundly, lifting Lily off her feet a little, liking her strength for once as it allows her to do this effortlessly.
"Would I offend you if I carried you to my bedroom?" Alice asks.
"No, I think I'd like it."
Alice scoops Lily up bridal style, and Lily giggles and wraps her arms around Alice's neck, her wings brushing Alice's legs. Alice walks them easily to her bedroom and carefully puts Lily on the bed. No one has ever been as sweet to her as Lily has been in their short time so far, and Alice would very much like to keep Lily in her life.
"I thought you wanted to go out to dinner?" Lily teases, pulling Alice down to the bed by the front of her shirt.
"We can make it a late dinner," Alice suggests, kissing Lily's neck, making her moans lightly.
"Make it breakfast, " Lily decides.
Alice grins, wrapping herself around Lily. "I knew you were a smart woman."
"Am I a keeper?" Lily asks, sounding like she's half joking, half serious.
"I'll keep you as long as you want to stay," Alice answers seriously.
"I'm not going anywhere," Lily says and then kisses Alice. Alice only just hears the words over the beating of her heart, but it's not just her heart; it's Lily's and hers in time.
Ode to the Forest Fae
Deep in the heart of an ancient forest, in a large moss-covered oak, Rosepetal has been slumbering for more years than she can count – after a hundred, each year seems to blur into the others. Rosepetal is a forest fae elder, so she is allowed to sleep in the human world instead of the underworld, the mystical realm of the fae below the rich soil.
No one has disturbed Rosepetal for a long time. Until recently, anyway. Someone has entered Rosepetal's forest, their energy slipping into her sleeping mind.
Then the singing had started. The beautiful, haunting voice made Rosepetal want to dance for the first time in centuries. The world seemed beautiful again when the girl sang.
And today, like many before it, Rosepetal hears that sweet voice coming close to the tree that has been her home for so many years, and her heart swells. She lets the branches of the trees dance around her. She sinks her feet into the soil and sends out her energy, causing flowers to bloom and carpet the forest floor.
The girl stops singing with a gasp, and Rosepetal peers out from her hiding spot in the tree. The girl is kneeling on the ground, her bare knees pressing into the earth. She's small in height, curvy like the goddesses of life, with hair shaved close to her head on one side and black locks flowing on the other side, over her shoulder. Her green eyes are wide; her tanned, olive-toned hands are hovering close to one of the large purple blooms.
"W-w-where did you come from?" the girl asks the flower, a stutter noticeable in her voice that had not been there when she sang.
Rosepetal feels nervous, which is ridiculous. She walked this earth before this girl was even born. She's a forest fae, a mystical being of great power. She shouldn't be afraid of showing herself to a human.
Setting her chin, Rosepetal gathers her courage and materialises in her physical form outside of the tree. "I grew them for you," Rosepetal says in answer to the human's question.
The girl startles, almost falling forward. Then she lurches backward, falling on her behind and crawling back a few steps.
"W-who are you? I-I thought I was alone. A-are you, what are you?" The girl looks confused.
It's been a long time since Rosepetal saw herself, but she still remembers what she looks like. Her skin is pale and faintly green, autumn leaves growing out of hair the same shade all the way down her back. She's tall. Her eyes are a bright purple like the flower she had grown.
"I'm Rosepetal. I'm a forest fae, and this is my forest. What's your name?" Rosepetal asks, brushing imaginary dirt off her long brown dress. She feels like a young seedling, fragile and easily crushed.
"L-L-Lisa Road. I, ah, I didn't know it was your forest. I-I can leave." The poor girl, Lisa, looks terrified.
"Lisa," Rosepetal says, testing the name out, liking the way it feels passing her lips. "You don't need to leave; can't you see the forest dancing? It's welcoming you. I'm welcoming you." The trees are still swaying with the beat of Rosepetal's heart, the music she still hears, that she longs to hear again. She hopes she hasn't scared Lisa away. Rosepetal has come to look forward to her visits.
"What is a forest fae?" Lisa asks without a stutter. Rosepetal sees her flicking a rubber band on her wrist and wonders if that helps her.
"Your people have called us many things, from gods to fairies. The fae are what came before humans. Once we shared the world with you, but humans came to fear and hate magic, so we retreated to our own land beneath the earth. I'm not a monster. I'm one with all growing things," Rosepetal replies.
"Y-y-you made the flowers grow?" Lisa asks.
"Yes. You gifted my forest with your beautiful voice, so I wanted to give you something beautiful back. Are you a singer by trade?"
"No. M-m-my dad says singing is a waste of time, that I'll never be anybody. I want, I want to go to drama school, t-t-to learn to be in musicals," Lisa explains and then looks surprised at her own words, like she wasn't used to sharing that piece of information.
"Do not worry, little one. Nothing you say in my forest will ever leave it. You're safe here with me, for as long as you want to stay. I don't agree with your father. He's a fool. Your voice is a gift that must be shared," Rosepetal says firmly.
"L-l-little one?" Lisa says, touching her waist and stomach, which are not as thin as a willow, but not as thick as an ancient oak.
"You are young."
"I'm twenty-o-one." Lisa frowns.
"When I was that age, the trees around us were not even seeds. I was on this earth long before then. I've seen much, but I've never heard a voice like yours. Will you sing for me again?" Rosepetal asks.
"You want me to sing?" Lisa blurts out, so shocked it seems she doesn't have time to stutter.
"I'm willing to bargain. Is there something I can do for you if you sing for me?" Rosepetal asks, daring to step closer to Lisa, who's still on the forest floor by the row of purple tulips.
"A-anything I want?" Lisa asks.
"If it is within my power, yes." Rosepetal nods.
"I want a kiss," Lisa says softly.
"From a human? Do you have one in mind?" Rosepetal asks, trying to ignore the ache in her heart. She's not in love with this girl. She's in love with the pain and loneliness in her voice, her words.
"N-n-no. I meant from you," Lisa says.
Rosepetal's heart soars, and tiny little pink flowers sprout at her feet, between her toes. "You want me to kiss you?"
"Yes. You're so beautiful, and I think, when I've come here before, I felt like someone was l-listening to me, but n-not in a bad or scary way. I-I felt understood when I came here, connected to the forest," Lisa says, getting slowly to her feet, so they're standing close now.
"I didn't know you felt it, too. My heart has beat for nothing but this forest for so long, until your voice. I feel like I know you as well as I know the flowers and the trees." Rosepetal puts her hand over her heart, feeling it beat, feeling it call out to the girl in front of her, so much younger than her, but an adult in human years. Being of the fae, Rosepetal believes in magic of all kinds, including soulmates. She's never had one before, not even before she came to sleep in this forest, and she'd thought love was not for her till
she started hearing Lisa singing songs of woe at times, joy at others.
Lisa looks excited and worried all at once. "So I'm not being foolish? I always believed humans couldn't be the only ones in this world. I believed in fairies, but to meet a real fae, for her to be as lovely as you, I feel like I'm g-going c-crazy."
Rosepetal closes the distance between them to nearly nothing, so close she can feel Lisa's body heat, reaching out to her and warming her cool skin. She's always cool in the autumn. She reaches out and cups Lisa's cheek in her hand. "Does my touch feel real? Trust your senses, Lisa. You can see me. You can feel me, yes?" Rosepetal has questioned her own mind before. In the long years sleeping in the forest there had been times when her dreams seemed real, but it wasn't until she heard Lisa sing that she'd actually woken up. The first time she had questioned her sanity, thinking the voice couldn't be real; she doesn't want Lisa to feel that way.
"Y-Y-You feel real, and that scent, is that you?" Lisa asks, inhaling deeply, a smile on her lips. "Flower and plants, pine needles and petrichor?"
"It's me. You like it?" Rosepetal can control how strong her scent is, but she hates focusing on making it go away.
"I love it. I-I wish I could have it as a perfume," Lisa says, and she sways forward slightly as she talks, as if drawn to Rosepetal, leaning into her touch. Rosepetal strokes her soft, warm cheek, savouring the thrum of life beneath it. She can also feel the throb of pleasure in Lisa's body, and knows it's in response to her closeness.
"Would you like that kiss now?" Rosepetal asks.
"P-please," Lisa says, breathing in deeply, her breathing slightly shaky.
Rosepetal closes the gap between them and presses a kiss to Lisa's slightly trembling lips. She no longer hears the birds or the breeze. She doesn't smell the forest. She smells Lisa, a soft, slightly spicy scent. The ground beneath her feet feels like it's moving, spinning in time to her heartbeat, which seems to move faster with every moment, making Rosepetal dizzy. She wraps her arms around Lisa, and they tumble to the ground, landing on a bed of Rosepetal's namesake.