“Have you had them always, or is it a new addition?” Okay, so maybe that was a dumb question. Joel couldn’t imagine a person suddenly growing wings, but he was new at this, and that should give him some leeway, shouldn’t it? His interlocutor seemed to have a different opinion as he smirked into his coffee before straightening his face and answering.
“Had them since the day I was born, or maybe even before that.” He went silent and watched Joel expectantly.
“You’re not going to make it easy on me, are you?”
“Nope.” The man grinned, his light blue eyes sparkling with mirth. Joel took a deep intake of breath before releasing it slowly.
“Okay, let’s do it this way, then,” he murmured to himself then asked aloud, “What are you? ‘Cause it’s easy to say you’re not a normal human, or are you?” Joel thought it might be a case of genetic engineering or something. He did not expect the answer he got.
“I’m a pixie.”
“A what?” Joel had to have misheard him, right? The guy did not just claim to be a little flying fairy, did he?
“Okay, I can see where your thoughts are going, so stop it, already. I’m not some damned Tinkerbell, so don’t even think about calling me a fairy. I am a pixie, yes, but your folklore had it wrong when it came to our size, okay? Basically, I’m just a different kind of fey. ‘Fey’ is a proper, politically correct name, not ‘fairy’ or anything like that,” Timiny finished and went back to his tea.
“Yes, right. So you’re fey, a pixie fey.” A million thoughts were rolling through Joel’s head.
“Yep, but it’s just ‘pixie.’ You don’t need to add ‘fey’ to it. Just pixie.”
“Okay, sure, so you’re Timiny the Pixie, and you’re my cousin’s flatmate.”
“Mhm.” Tim nodded in acknowledgement and let Joel mull it over.
“Did I get drugged?”
“Fair question.” It seemed like the man understood that the only logical explanation Joel could come up with was being under the influence of some hallucinogen. “But no, you’re not drugged. Still, you react much better to this whole thing than Dominic apparently did.”
“What?” Joel didn’t even know where to start with that statement.
“Okay.” The other man sighed deeply and looked up as if gathering his thoughts. “Why don’t I start from the beginning, hmm?”
“That would be very decent of you, thank you.”
“Decent, huh? I’m many things, Joel Simmonds, but decent definitely isn’t one of them.” He paused, took a sip of his tea, and then started his explanation. “Fey are paranormal creatures who live in their own parallel plane of existence. We can call it ‘fey world,’ if it makes it easier for you. Pixies are very rare among our race and even rarer still are twins. My brother and I were born as both. We pixies aren’t very strong and so we are often looked down upon. There are also other things that make finding a life-partner, a life-mate as we call them, very hard. After many years of struggle, my brother finally managed to convince me that we might have more luck finding someone here, in the human world. So five years ago, we came here and established a new life for the two of us.”
Tim paused again and stared in space for a while, as if overcome with bad memories. “Unfortunately, several months ago I got into trouble. To be exact, I got kidnapped by a human and paranormal trafficking gang. My brother tried to find me, but couldn’t do it on his own. After a while, he decided to get professional help. He went to the one paranormal PI that he could find, but the guy was way too busy with his current cases. He sent him to your uncle’s agency. That’s how Jiminy learned about Dominic.”
“Jiminy?” Joel couldn’t stop himself from interrupting.
“Yeah, my parents have a twisted sense of humour. Anyway, Jim is what you could call an airhead. He acts first, thinks second. So when he decided he needed proof that he can trust your cousin, he thought it was a good idea to spy on Dominic in his apartment.” Tim chuckled, thinking of his brother’s adventure. “As you can imagine, it went downhill, quickly. Pixies aren’t very strong magically, and we need help with more difficult spells. Our wings can work as a conductor for our magic, and so Jim decided to uncover his wings and use them to cast an invisibility glamour. It did not go well. Suffice it to say that, in a strange twist of fate, Dominic discovered that he is not fully human.”
“What!?” Joel couldn’t stop himself. The exclamation escaped his mouth against his will. “What do you mean my cousin is not human? Don’t you think I’d have noticed something different about him? We were inseparable during childhood and our teenage years!”
“Yeah…” The man didn’t look moved by Joel’s distress. He had a straight, serious expression on his face. “About that… See, there is something else our wings can do, besides conducting magic. They produce a hormone called pixie dust. It is a very potent drug, enhancing paranormals’ abilities. Dominic touched Jim’s wings, once he discovered and captured him, and it woke up the wolf within him. That’s how he discovered he’s actually part wolf shifter.” Joel heard him but couldn’t believe it. It must have been obvious on his face as Timiny sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Okay, obviously you don’t believe it. Dominic didn’t either, at least until he could feel it, and then other people, paranormals, confirmed it. But back to my story… With some help from our friend Tyler, Jim and Dominic rescued me from the people who kept me prisoner. After that, since we didn’t think it safe to go back to our old apartment, Dominic offered us a place to stay, until we can find another apartment, hopefully somewhere close.”
“Shit!” Joel had no words to comment on it. He was at a complete loss. If he hadn’t witnessed the whole flying-in-the-air thing, he would dismiss the story as absurd and a fantasy. As it was, he couldn’t help but believe the man.
“There’s one more thing,” the other man—pixie—said.
“What is it?” Joel wasn’t sure if he could deal with more. He had trouble stomaching what he’d learned already.
“I think Dominic and Jim might be mated.” Tim was absolutely serious as he said it.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that they will probably bond in an unbreakable way.”
“Like a relationship?”
“Yeah, like marriage, but much stronger. Fey mate with magic, and shifters with biological bonds. Both become so strongly bonded that it’s almost impossible to ever break it.”
“Fuck!” What else was there to say? “That’s unreal.”
“Yeah, you know what they say, “Credo quia absurdum. ‘It is certain, because it is impossible.’”
“Did you just quote Tertullian to me?” Joel’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“You know who Tertullian is. I’m impressed.” Tim showed off his white teeth in a wide grin. “Gotta love an intelligent, well-read man.”
“Um, thanks.” Joel could feel a blush creeping over his cheeks. “But just so you know, I’m straight. Just broke up with my girlfriend of many years.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Tim frowned. “I know how hard it is when a relationship fails.”
“Oh?” There was a story there, Joel could feel it.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to bore you with it.” He suddenly changed the subject. “So what brought you to Dominic’s apartment?”
“I hoped to use his spare bedroom. My ex-girlfriend kicked me out of the flat we were sharing, so now I’ve got nowhere to stay.”
“Whoa, man, that’s harsh!”
“Yeah, tell me about it!” Joel sighed and shook his head. “And now, since you are in Dominic’s spare bedroom, I’ll need to go to my parents’ house. Not that I don’t love them to bits, but a thirtysomething living with his parents…” He trailed off.
“Yeah, I get it. Try a hundred-and-twenty-something living with his parents,” Tim said and Joel choked on a sip of his tea. Tim jumped up and went around the table to pound on the man’s back. Finally, when he managed to catch his breath, Jo
el croaked out, “Thanks, man.”
“Don’t mention it. It was my fault, anyway. I shouldn’t have just sprung it on you like that. Pixies have a different lifespan than humans. For us, a hundred and twenty-five is like twenty-five for humans.”
“Wow, okay, good to know. You look fine for an old git.”
“Ah-ha-ha.” Tim made a face, but it was easy to see that he was amused. He went back to his side of the table once again. “You know, Dom and my brother went to visit our mutual friends, and will probably stay there for a while. If you don’t mind sharing the flat with me, I don’t think there’s anything stopping you from staying here,” Tim said, shrugging.
“Are you sure? You won’t mind me being here?”
“Nah.” Timiny waved his hand in the air dismissively. “You’re Dominic’s cousin and you need a place to stay. I’m sure we can be civil to each other for a day or two.”
“Yeah, I guess we can.” Joel smiled and sighed with relief. After today, he didn’t think there was anything that could surprise him anymore.
Chapter Two
Tim came out of the shower just in time to hear his phone stop ringing. He sighed and finished drying himself. He wasn’t looking forward to this conversation. He was used to his brother being constantly in trouble and having to rescue him. This reversal of their normal roles was disconcerting, to say the least. First, Jim had to rescue him from kidnappers, and now Tim had to tell his brother about the fiasco of Dominic’s cousin discovering their secret. Yeah, he definitely wasn’t looking forward to it. Tim picked up his mobile and steeled himself for the news he had to give his twin.
“Hello?” Jim answered after the first signal. Even though his brother was trying to hide it, Tim could hear worry in his voice.
“Hello, brother mine.” Tim made sure his voice sounded totally relaxed. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”
“Hi, Timmy.” Jim made an effort to sound cheery. “Just wanted to keep you in the loop. You wouldn’t believe what happened when we came here.”
Timiny laughed, trying to put his twin at ease. “Well? Don’t keep me in the dark, spill,” he said in an amused voice. It worked, because Jim’s excitement turned real.
“We met Jason’s father. He just popped out of the woodwork! And he’s a god! Can you believe it? Good that he happened to be here right now, too. It seems Ty can’t really teach Dominic, as their animals are too dominant for each other, and he could do more harm than good, so Eric is teaching Dom now. Eric is the father. He said he’s older than the oldest fey alive! Can you believe it? I’ve never heard about any god who could be that old, have you?”
“Well…” Timiny’s voice turned thoughtful. “There were few that could have been that old, but from what I heard, they all faded.”
“They did what?” Jimmy was never good with remembering their lessons. All the info they were forced to cram into their heads simply flew out of Jim’s as soon as the lesson was over. Tim smiled, thinking that his brother would never change. It could be annoying, but Timiny usually thought his twin’s inability to remember things was adorable.
“Faded, Cricket, they faded. It is when a god no longer wishes to exist. He fades and lets his energy join with nature or spread among other gods, usually his offspring, to make them stronger. I thought all of the original ones, as well as the first and second generation, faded a long time ago. They had still been around when our forefathers came to the human realm for the first time. Those first fey had to make nice with them and find a place for themselves where the gods did not have a reach. That’s why our kin mostly settled among primitive tribes, instead of joining with some higher-evolved civilization, which would have been much more convenient. They didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. It didn’t hurt that those first generations of gods had been way more powerful than the most powerful fey had ever been.
“The power of gods diminished with time, and the next generations weren’t that much more powerful than fey. They were mostly matched in magical powers, but still, our kin preferred to play nice, and stayed to their side of the world. It was all political correctness and courtesy. It all stopped when fey withdrew to their own plane of existence after wars, and gods retreated into hiding.” Tim cleared his throat after his lecture and changed the subject. “Anyway, I didn’t think any of the Powerful Ones, as our ancestors called those of the first generations, were still alive. I thought they faded long before the industrial revolution, most of them during the Middle Ages.”
“Well,” answered Jiminy in a relaxed voice, “it looks like not all of them, or at least that’s what Eric claims. I don’t know if we should trust him, but you did witness Jason’s power. If he truly is Eric’s son, then that power must have come from somewhere. The most probable answer is that it came from Jay’s father. I don’t know how powerful other gods are, but I’d say that changing reality is a mightily strong power, don’t you think?”
“Now that you mention it…” Timiny hummed thoughtfully, trying to catch a thought that was niggling at the back of his mind. Unfortunately, Joel chose that moment to knock on the door of his bedroom and poke his head inside.
“Hey, I’m going to do some grocery shopping. You want anything?” Tim covered the receiver of his phone and shook his head mouthing “no, thanks.” He went back to his phone call just to hear his brother’s hesitation when the man asked.
“Timmy… Is there…is there anyone with you? Are you all right?” Tim could feel panic rising within his brother through their twin bond.
“Yeah, about that…” Tim sighed and then laughed a bit nervously.
“What is it, Tim? Who’s with you?” Jim was clearly on the verge of losing it.
“Calm down, Cricket. I’m all right. Everything is fine, but I’ve got a bit of news as well.” He paused again and thought of the best way to tell his brother. “See,” he finally said, exhaling loudly, “it seems that Dominic forgot to mention to his family members that we were now sharing his apartment. Remember how he told us that the spare bedroom was used very rarely? Well, it looks like the person who used to crash at Dom’s didn’t get the memo that it was off the table now.”
“What are you saying?” Jim interrupted when Timiny’s voice trailed off.
“What I’m saying is that Dominic’s cousin, Joel, came here yesterday after you left. His human cousin, let me add. And he saw my wings in all of their glory. I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I forewent the shirt. I had my headphones in and I didn’t hear the door unlocking, so when he entered the kitchen, I was in the middle of singing out loud and dancing. And you know my dance moves…” Once again his voice trailed off and he heard Jim groan.
“You move your whole body to the rhythm. Whole body, including wings. And you sometimes even fly up…”
“Yep.” Tim’s voice was equal parts embarrassed and amused. He could laugh at the situation now. He hadn’t felt like laughing when it was happening.
“Please don’t tell me he saw you!” Jim begged without much conviction.
“Okay, I won’t.” He grinned into the phone. His twin knew him better than that.
“Shit, Timmy! At least tell me you didn’t do your famous pirouette.” Timiny’s pirouette involved actual flying. All his family members used to laugh and give a standing ovation every time he did it as a child.
“Okay, I didn’t do my famous pirouette,” Tim obediently admitted.
“Really?” There was a small spark of hope in Jim’s voice.
“Nope,” Tim said with a popping sound. He couldn’t help himself. For some reason, Jim’s concern about that pirouette seemed hilarious to Timiny right then. They had survived coming to the human world on their own, survived Tim being kidnapped and kept prisoner, and now Cricket worried about some human finding out about their pixie nature.
It wasn’t like he couldn’t spell Joel to forget about it, if he so wished. Humans were easily susceptible to magic. Didn’t mean Tim had to do it. Joel was Dominic’s cousin after all,
and Tim had a feeling that soon enough they were going to be family by mating. There was too much chemistry between Jim and Dom for them to ignore it. Tim focused back on the conversation and finished his story. “I only opened my eyes after I heard clapping during the break between songs.”
“Shit!” Jim paused for a long while, then asked, “So, how did he react?”
Tim couldn’t help but to tease his brother. “He was impressed with my dancing skills. My singing voice, not so much.”
“You know it’s not what I’m asking, Timmy. He’s human, for heaven’s sake. They never react well.”
“Then it looks like Joel is an exception.” Timiny surprised himself by standing up for Joel. The human’s reaction was pretty exceptional. No panic, no denial, just levelheadedness and curiosity. Tim was really impressed with him. “He took it all in pretty well, all things considered.” He informed his twin.
“All?” There was a question in Jiminy’s voice.
“Um, yeah.” Tim heard his voice turn defensive. “I couldn’t keep anything from him, not after I started telling him the truth.”
“What?” Jim shouted. “What do you mean? Everything? Not everything-everything, I hope? Just the basic everything?”
“If you mean, did I tell him about Dominic being a wolf, then yes, I did. He had a right to know, after he learned all about pixies and how Dominic helped to free me.”
“Shit!” Jim exclaimed and then Tim heard the sound of a door opening and someone speaking.
“No!” he heard Jim saying quickly. “I was just talking to Tim,” Timiny’s twin informed whomever entered the room. Then he spoke to Tim again. “I need to go. We’ll finish this conversation later.” He didn’t wait for Tim’s answer, and the next thing the pixie heard was a long signal.
“Huh.” Timiny smirked looking at his mobile. “I was right. My little brother is in luuuv.” He snickered some more while getting dressed. Then he went to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast.
* * * *
Tim could feel it coming. The shivers, awful oversensitivity of his skin and wings, jumpiness… He’d managed to contain himself for the previous couple of days, but today there was no denying it. He needed to get rid of the dust so badly…but he couldn’t. A pixie was unable to stimulate his or her own wings. Only another person could do it. It was just like with tickling. It is impossible to tickle oneself. It just wouldn’t work.
Credo Quia Absurdum Page 2