The Grumpy Thistle Fairy

by Hart, Delmire

“Like a mate,” Mizuno said by way of explanation. “A human word for those who love each other deeply and join their bodies together to show their feelings.”

  “But we aren’t—” Felix tried to say but Ellis was having none of it.

  “You are mine,” he said, voice harsh as he tightened his grip on his little human. “You will be my mate.” He knew of mates and mating. While fairies were born from magic and flowers, he had many forest friends who mated and had young. Many of the forest creatures mated for life and Ellis would have Felix the same way. Forever and always. His little human to love and protect.

  Felix turned his head to face him, eyes wide in astonishment. “You can’t just decide that all on your own!”

  “You are mine, little human. I will look after you in all ways possible. You will be my mate.”

  Mizuno chuckled. “I told you. You are tied together by fate now. He is your responsibility Felix, you must teach him how to be human. That includes love and relationships.”

  The young human remained quiet as he seemed to think about what had been said. Ellis took the opportunity to pull him closer still, his back tight up against his chest. It was a nice feeling, this closeness to his human. He didn’t want to let go. Not ever.

  Unfortunately, they had to leave at some point. Ellis carried the clothes under one arm and walked with the other arm wrapped possessively about Felix’s waist. It made walking a little difficult, but it was well worth it. Black Foot sat on his shoulder on the way back and told him about what he knew of the human who had dared to hurt his mate. The crow had seen this human many times, it was the same one who had stumbled his way to their cottage some days back. He and Summit promised to take care of the man later tonight. Both their eyes glowing with the same fierce protectiveness he felt.

  He gave them consent to tear him to pieces and devour his innards. As much as he would have liked to have done it himself, he was concerned by the withdrawnness of Felix. He would leave that task to his friends so he could stay and comfort his human. He also needed to learn more about his own form before he tried to do anything too difficult as well. The last thing Ellis wanted was to injure himself and be unable to care for Felix due to his own ignorance.

  As soon as they were back at their home, Felix set to making food. Ellis’s stomach made an odd noise, and he felt strange with it. The noise was so loud that the young man stopped to look at him before breaking into small giggles, eyes lighting up in amusement. Hunger, he discovered. Humans had to eat, he had seen Felix do such a thing many times, but he had no idea that his cooking smelt so good from a human nose.

  That afternoon he learnt many things.

  How to eat, how Felix’s cooking tasted. That it was possible to burn his tongue if he wasn’t careful. That Felix’s singing voice was just as terrible to human ears as it was to fairy ears. He learnt that he was strong enough to do things that Felix could not. He learnt how to chop firewood as he fielded his forest friends’ problems. He learnt that the appendage between his thighs made Felix squirm just by seeing it. That Ellis’s hands on his thighs earned a stuttered breath and small moan. He learnt that humans were rather messy beings that had to excrete unneeded waste.

  But late that night, he learnt the most precious lesson of all. He was given Felix’s bed and the silly human made as if to sleep on the floor. There was no way Ellis was letting that happen. He reached over to pull his mate down to share the tiny bed. He wrapped his large arms tight around Felix, forcing him to practically lie on top of him with his nose buried into his chest. Both were naked, something that had embarrassed the other no end initially but it was far more comfortable to Ellis than wearing clothing. Slowly, agonisingly slowly, the young man relaxed enough to fall asleep after shuffling around and fidgeting.

  Ellis leant what it was like to fall asleep holding another. Feeling the warmth and closeness from having one so close. It didn’t matter that he lay almost on top on him. It didn’t matter that he drooled on him during the night. His thistle flower had kept him warm during the night then later his rabbit pelt bed. But they had nothing on the comfort offered by another human’s warm skin pressed against your own.

  Chapter Nine

  Ellis dozed for some time upon waking, the warm comfort offered by Felix’s form too good to be cut short.

  However, another interesting problem soon arose. The odd appendage between his legs, the one that he had learned yesterday was multipurpose, stood straight and straining against the confines of the sheet.

  Ellis moved and his breath hitched as the sheets grazed the length of it. This was what happened when his little human pleasured himself. The appendage would stand straight up and he would stroke it with one hand while the other trailed lower. He reached his hand down to run his fingers carefully across the length and his breath caught at the feeling of pleasure it induced.

  No wonder his little mate liked touching himself in such a way.

  He moved slightly and saw that Felix’s was hard as well. With a grin, Ellis reached out and stroked his fingers down Felix’s hard length. Relishing in the feel of hot, silken skin, he took it carefully in hand and began to stroke.

  His mate moaned and bucked his hips slightly, forcing his appendage to move in his hands. Felix’s eyes fluttered open as a small moan bubbled up from his throat. Ellis moved so they lay on their sides facing each other, hand still carefully working along the hardness.

  “What are you—?” Felix cut off with a gasp as he ran his finger gently under the odd shape near the top. Interesting, his little mate seemed to like that.

  “You do this yourself when this is hard, do you not?” Ellis said hoarsely, tightening his grip to show what he referred to. “I woke up and we were both like this. It is much easier to help you with your pleasure now that I am much larger.”

  “It’s always like this in the morning, ah! But I can do it myself!” The young man tried to push Ellis off, but he took that hand and brought it down to his own throbbing hardness. He was certain that Felix’s hand on him would feel even better than his own did earlier.

  “Then we shall do this every morning.” Ellis couldn’t find his breath to say more as Felix’s fingers connected with his skin and oh yes, he was right. It felt even better having the other’s hands on him. A small groan rumbled from his own throat and he was as surprised as the other at the sound. It was not a sound he had ever made before. Bright green eyes locked onto his and he found he couldn’t look away, even as the action sent thrills rolling down his spine.

  Emotions flickered across his human’s face as they slowly gave each other pleasure, exploring with touch alone to see what the other liked. Curiosity was the emotion prevalent on the other’s face, although it quickly got overtaken by that clouded look of desire. There was more to it than this, he knew. He knew how the animals did it, although they did not seem to take pleasure from the act. Sitting up, he pulled Felix into his lap and leant back against the wall.

  “There is more to this act, isn’t there?” he said, voice deep and husky with desire. The pleasure thrummed through his veins, heightening the sensation of skin on skin. There was something else he needed, wanted. The old lady had mentioned bodies joining as one. This wasn’t it, not quite. Although Felix’s hands on his skin did feel particularly wonderful. The small human squirmed as Ellis grabbed one of his hands and wrapped his small fingers around their lengths together.

  Oh, what an excellent idea. Slick skin pressing against slick skin. His mate must have thought so too as he moaned as he brought his hand up and down teasingly slowly. Ellis reached around to pull Felix flush against his chest, the small hand still working away between them. The flushed skin was warm under his fingers and he took a moment to just run his hands across Felix’s naked form. He seemed to like it as he squirmed, Felix’s length twitching against his own.

  Ellis brought his large hands down lower and began to knead and squeezed at his mate’s fleshy cheeks. That earned him a much louder moan and interestingly enough
, his mate seemed to relax more, legs opening even wider and he arched his back. It was an action that Ellis recognised from his times observing Felix in the throes of ecstasy. He liked it. A lot. One hand slipped down between hot flesh to rasp carefully over his fluttering hole. His human’s eyes snapped open, and he froze, staring wide eyed at Ellis.

  “You like it here, don’t you?” His voice caused rippling shudders to wrack through the other’s frame and Ellis wanted to cause that reaction again and again. A shy nod met his question then green eyes flittered over to the bedside table. He knew what he was indicating. He had seen Felix slick his fingers up with a slippery substance many times before plunging his fingers into his pretty hole.

  One of the nice things about his new human body was the ability to reach things without moving. He easily grabbed the small tube and spread the oily substance over his fingers. Bright red and eyes glazed over in pleasure, Felix messily spread some across their pulsing lengths. Ellis groaned at the easy glide. They rubbed together and it pushed Ellis higher and higher but he forcefully held back. He didn’t understand, didn’t know what he needed. But he needed something, and he wasn’t going to let go until he had it. He was certain that Felix must be the same.

  Through the fog of pleasure, he moved his now dripping hand back to his mate’s little hole and pressed a finger inside. Felix had always started with one when Ellis had watched. They both groaned as one when his finger breached the tight heat. It was impossibly hot and it took great effort to will his body back from the lurking precipice. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he let that overtake him. No doubt it was whatever happened to Felix when he suddenly spurted the sticky white substance with a loud groan before his body melted back into his bed when he pleasured himself.

  “Another,” Felix said in a wrecked voice and he sat up, arms looping around Ellis’s neck as he pressed his face in close. His mate seemed lost in the heady pleasure and Ellis adored the blown black of his eyes. He had caused such pleasure. It was him that had given this to his human. Ellis’s chest swelled with pride even as he pressed second finger inside. His mate groaned, wriggling in delight before he moved forward to press his lips against Ellis’s.

  The action caught the fae by surprise but he soon realised that the action was one of the things he had been missing without knowing what it was. It pressed their bodies in close and the soft glide of his lips sent electricity down his spin. He gave a guttural groan when he learned that tongues only made it better. It was a slick, messy action that mirrored the state of their bodies. Sweat covered their skin as the pleasure seemed to melt them from the inside. Barely aware of what he was doing, Ellis wiggled his fingers to produce fairy dust deep inside of Felix. The young human moaned and his breathing increasing rapidly, movements becoming more erratic as the effects took hold.

  He arched back, tearing their lips apart, as Ellis forced a third finger inside his small body. The muscles clenched around his fingers and suddenly he had a very good idea of what he wanted to replace his fingers with. Running on instinct, he pressed his lips to Felix’s skin, wanting to feel his flesh against him as much as possible. His mate leaned back more, pushing his head down his chest slightly and Ellis took the silent suggestion, opening his mouth to suckle on the hard pink buds. It earned him an even louder moan and small hands fisting in his hair.

  Ellis liked seeing this side of Felix: wild and abandoned and honest. There was no shying away, no embarrassment. He asked with his body instead of words but it was still honest. He was open and vulnerable and gave himself over to Ellis completely in a way that was never possible before. He frowned when Felix pushed his head and hands away but it turned into a moan when a small hand wrapped around his length.

  He watched through lidded eyes as Felix lined himself up before slowly sliding down Ellis’s length. He hissed, fingers wrapping around slender hips, as he tried to hold on through the waves of mounting pleasure. Hot need whirled through him as they became joined. The heat and tightness of the muscles that encased him was all encompassing, and he sought out his mate’s lips again, needing to hold him closer.

  The pleasure was almost blinding when the young human moved, bouncing up and down his length. “Felix,” Ellis rasped out his human’s name for the first time and earned himself a low moan and an increased pace. Yet somehow it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. Ellis realised with a start that he must be affected by his own fairy dust as his vision swam and words lost all meaning except for his human’s name. There was nothing left but Felix’s body against his own.

  But it needed to be more.

  With a grunt, he swung them both around so that Ellis lay stretched out across Felix’s body, his bulk forcing the other into the mattress. Pale legs wrapped around his waist, urging him deeper inside the wet heat and he found he could move and control their pleasure. He watched his human’s face, learning and memorising exactly how to move as they reached their peak over and over again. He learnt that there was a special place inside of Felix, one he had never been able to reach on his own, that would send him writhing in mindless ecstasy. He learnt that Felix’s body clenched down on his own when he came. Ellis learnt that his name sounded best when moaned breathily from his mate.

  He learnt that his human looked best with puffy, red lips and finger marks on his hips. He learnt that pleasure could be had again and again, sending them higher and higher each time. He learnt that he could make Felix scream his overwrought pleasure out loud and it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

  He learnt the difference between rough, wild fucking and the slow gentleness of making love.

  He learnt that there were soft gentle kisses, small thank you kisses, passionate ‘I love you’ kisses, and ‘I’m going to fuck you against the wall’ kisses.

  He learnt that Felix could not bear him young and no amount of fairy dust would change that. He also learnt it was still fun trying.

  He learnt what family was and that it didn’t mean you had to be blood related.

  Sometimes he missed his wings. Sometimes he missed his small size. Things like healing the tarantulas were now difficult with the spindly legs and Ellis’s thick fingers. Fairy dust helped but not when Felix screamed, a shrill thing that made him jump and miss his mark completely. He still didn’t understand why the human didn’t like certain forest denizens, especially when they always paid their trade and often for his benefit. Little sparrows made nests in the thatch roof and Summit stretched out by the hearth in winter. Bats hung in the eaves and snakes deterred the rabbits who tried to nibble Felix’s vegetables.

  It was a family made complete when Black Foot called to him to help a small scruffy girl child that had fallen from a fruit tree.

  Every day, Ellis learnt something new about being human.

  He gave Felix the gift of his wings and his life. In return, he had been given a gift greater than imagining.

  The grumpy thistle fairy was no more, now he was a human surrounded by family and love.

  Extra

  Ellis sat outside, small birds on his shoulders arguing while he carefully bandaged a shivering rabbit’s paws. He only listened to the birds half-heartedly as it was the same argument over berry bushes that happened every season. He started when he heard a thump and a cry of pain. A familiar black bird took to the air from one of the fruit trees on the edge of the property. The crow cawed as he flew over to them. Felix was busy preparing food for dinner, so with a sigh Ellis stood, carefully laying the rabbit down, and admonishing it not to move. The sparrows took off, knowing by now that his shoulder was Black Foot’s spot. The large crow landed and informed him that a small girl had been trying to pick fruit from a tree but had fallen.

  He gave a request to Summit before strolling down the path to see if the silly human child was fine. From what the crow said, she was small and dirty, clearly in no shape to be climbing trees. What he found was a girl far too thin, bones showing starkly against grey skin littered with bruises. Her dark hair was matte
d, face smudged with dirt, and her bare feet bloody. She cowered away from him as he neared but he moved slowly like he would for a frightened rabbit. Crouching down beside her, he looked over her small frame with a critical eye. Other than obvious underfeeding, there wasn’t much damage.

  Slowly he reached out a hand, ignoring her flinch, and carefully sprinkled some glittering fairy dust over her form. Ellis watched in satisfaction as she healed before his eyes, her skin even taking on a healthier pallor. The little girl stared at him with wide eyes but he ignored her in favour of Summit’s approach. Her eyes flew wider still as she caught site of the hulking wolf carrying a wicker basket carefully between his teeth.

  “Thank you, old friend,” Ellis said as he accepted the basket. He pushed it into the stunned child’s hands. “Bring that back full of blackberries.” He turned to Summit and nodded toward the berry bushes. “If you would.” The wolf nodded, aware that his duty was to watch over the small child until she left.

  Ellis turned on his heel and walked back to his sunny spot to continue treating the small rabbit. It would stay with them while it fattened up as it healed. (Some animals were best to let heal naturally.) That and Felix loved doting over the small furry creatures. No doubt he would take great pleasure in playing mother to this one. He was sorting out a dispute between an owl and a crow when the small girl reappeared.

  She walked cautiously beside Summit, glancing at the hulking wolf occasionally as they approached. She stopped and looked on in fascination as Ellis finished his discussion with the birds. Finally sorted, he shooed them both away before acknowledging that she was there. He stood, Black Foot still perched on his shoulder and the small trembling rabbit in his arms before leading her wordlessly to the front door. He pushed her in front of him with one hand until they stood fully inside the house.

  Felix had been happily singing off key again but cut off at the sight of them.