Catching a Dewdrop (Closed for GypsyGirl84)

Jason was getting ready to perform his most powerful magic spell so far. Actually it wasn't all that powerful, but if it worked it was going to help him immensely in his pursuit of knowledge and magical wisdom. Of course that was if it worked. So far his other small magics seemed to have but he was not really sure. it was hard to check to see if a protection rune had worked unless you were attacked and so far as he knew, no one had attacked him.

Yet the rune he had placed on an ordinary pair of sunglasses enabling him to see the magical forces at play in the real world had worked. He had spotted a few polevoi playing near his house and he was determined to catch one and have it teach him more about magic.

It had been six months ago that he had found the book and diary in an old chest he had bought at a garage sale. He had bought the chest to store all his old computer games. At eighteen he still devoured any new fantasy role playing type games that came out. He had used them as an escape from reality since he had been a young kid. Being really short and overweight made him an easy target for bullies. His mother had put him into self defense classes and he took to them like a duck to water, but he never used what he learned on anyone so he was still always picked on.

Even when he had hit puberty and suddenly shot up, loosing all his puppy fat, and working out like mad had gotten a body a star athlete would be proud of, he still wore baggy clothes and walked stooped over. He was still targeted but eventually he was just left alone, his lack of response making it no fun for the bullies.

Now he was eighteen, 6'4 but looked 6 foot because he walked hunched over. Wore big baggy clothes that hid his muscular athletic body. Held a black belt in both Judo and Taikwando and was now studying magic.

He had not believed the diary at first when he had accidentally triggered the secret compartment while putting his games away. The bottom of the chest had opened and both the diary and the magic book had been lying there. He had read the diary of some guy called Dresden, explaining about the secret world of real magic in the world and the rules that went with it. He had been a kid just like him so he had thought it was just a story he had made up, but he had tried a few of the very simple spells just to be safe. These hadn't required any ingredients just belief and a special knife it hadn't taken him long to make.

He had carved runes all about his room and house, then he had made the glasses. That was the first time he had proof that the diary and the book might be real. tonight he was going to try and catch one of the polevoi and make it reveal it's true name to him. If he did that he would have a servant for life and he would get it to train him in the use of the medium level spells and to fetch him the ingredients he needed for the making of some of the potions in the book.

He had carefully crafted the trap according to the books instructions and now baited it with milk, bread and honey. He slunk back to his bed and grabbed a slice of his pizza before pretending to sleep. A half hour later and he was out like a light. Luckily there was a built in alarm if he did happen to catch anything.

Name: Cornflower
True Name: Wouldn't you like to know
Race: Dewdrop Fairy
Height: 14 cm
Weight: More than a thistle, less than a pinecone
(Proportional) measurements: 34D-25-36
Description: At night, it would be easy to mistake Cornflower for a reflection of a moonbeam, or perhaps the glitter of a star as it appeared between the clouds. Her face has that almost chiseled beauty that is a hint of the splendor of the fae nobility. Her skin is the dusky hue of the last hints of sunset, and her fit, nimble form has more pronounced curves than one might find in others of her kind. Her hair is a thick dark mane which often wraps itself around her as if by design. The soft ambient light that surrounds her, along with her gossamer gown, both hides and hints at her delightful form. Her butterfly-like wings are both translucent and filled with bright blues, deep violets, and a myriad of colors in between.

-----

Cornflower watched with disappointment as the rest flew off, to find human younglings in sport. Playing tricks on the young humans when they went about such ventures was great fun for their kind. Not for her, though.

She was destined to be one of the handmaidens of her Queen, which made her a bit more perceptive than her fellows, especially her brethren. Which also meant she was allowed to explore the mortal realm, but had to leave the tricks to others, particularly the tricks played on mortals having sport.

Cornflower sighed again. She was finally of an Age, but she wasn't allowed to have sport of her own, much less watch others have sport. It was patently unfair. Instead, she studied and learned and trained, and was told she'd know the moment.

Very unfair.

She flew around as the others left, trying to find something to interest her when she smelled it.

Honey! Bread! Milk!

She followed her senses to a little chair and table and glass, on which the edibles were waiting.

She flew around and examined it, and smiled to herself. There was a circle waiting to catch her, if she were foolish enough to step inside and take the bait. She closed her eyes, spun around, and opened them up again.

She followed a trail back to a bedroom and looked inside through a window. Just as she suspected. There was a young wizardling there, asleep, who looked as if he was just recently of an Age, as mortals measured such things. And he was holding a slice of pizza in his slumbering hands. Cornflower took a sniff and could tell it wasn't the good kind, but pizza was still pizza! Cornflower shook her head and took in the other things in the wizardling's sleep chamber. There were books and other things. Unlike most of her fellows, Cornflower didn't mind print. She could even read, but then again, she was destined for the Queen's court.

Cornflower suspected the wizardling was a novice with no master. How very sad. Well, she now knew the reason for some of the mistakes he had made with his offering and his circle. She could also have a little fun with him. Not a trick, because she was to be a Queen's handmaiden. But a lesson, so that the mortal would learn how best to respectfully deal with the fae. Yes, that was allowable.

Cornflower flew back to the offering and set off the trap, with herself safely outside the now closed circle. Then she hid herself in the limbs of a nearby tree and waited for the wizardling to come inspect his trap.

Jason heard the alarm go off in his head and instantly awoke. It took him a little bit to remember what was going on then he quickly shut down the alarm and with the pizza slice in his hand he rushed out to see the fruits of his labor.

He got to the setup but instead of a trapped Fae he spied nothing. There was not even a hint that his offerings had even been touched. Jason scratched his head in puzzlement and placed the pizza down in the circle and then examined it all over for hints he had done it wrong.

He stood there for ten minutes going over every line and symbol, but could see nothing wrong. Finally deciding that he was just not good enough without the book to guide him, he turned and made his way back inside to retrieve it. He was going to compare his work with the books illustrations again and see where he had gone wrong, because obviously he had or there would be a trapped Fae instead of a loud ringing in his ears.

Shaking his head he sighed. Then again it could be that he was just not cut out for this and his glasses had just been a fluke. With a more pronounced stoop than ever he walked in the back door and disappeared into his room.

As Jason headed back to his room, a musical, tiny but still quite audible voice piped, "Part of your problem is that stoop. Posture is quite important, you know."

Jason stopped dead in his tracks. He had heard that right. That had not been a figment of his imagination. He turned around and walked back outside and looked around. He didn't see anything but he could feel something watching him and he had learned to trust that feeling. Years of being chased and bullied had honed that ability to a fine art.

"He..Hel..Hello," he stammered out. "Who's there and what did you mean that my posture is part of my problem," he said straightening up a little.

"When dealing with the NeverNever," the voice answered, "Presentation is key. Attitude is key. The trap you set..." a golden blur moved from one limb to another, before jumping to another tree, high above Jason's head. "Even Lantern Jack wouldn't have fell for it. Even if you put pizza in the circle."

Cornflower paused for a moment, everything but her golden aura hidden from Jason's sight by the leaves of the tree she was flitting through. Pizza! She shook her head and continued.

"Elements are key! Tradition is key! Never ever use doll furniture. That's just insulting! Plus, beings like you and me just respond to things better when they're made by hand and not TEK-NUL-OH-GEE. Haven't you noticed that some of the things you mortals make just don't work like they should all the time, now that you've started trying to use magic?"

As Cornflower asked the last question, she stepped out on the edge of a limb, a couple of meters above Jason's head, making herself fully visible to him for the first time. She looked down on him with sympathy tinged with a hint of contempt before continuing her monologue. "What were you going to do, if your trap worked anyway?" she asked

Jason listened amazed at what the voice was telling him. None of this had been in the book or the diary and he absorbed it like a sponge. This was the sort of thing he had hoped to learn if he had caught a Fae and now he was getting it for free! He was in heaven. However he could still not see who was talking to him.

He had worked out it must be one of the wee folk but even though he strained his eyes he could not see the one who was talking. Then suddenly she was there, right above his head. Surrounded in a golden glow was one of the most beautiful beings Jason had ever seen. She was only about the size of his hand but she had the regal bearing that instantly demanded respect, but with a certain wild mischief in her eyes.

Jason was stunned into dumbness for a second before regaining his senses. "Oh hello there. I didn't expect to see anyone as beautiful as you tonight," he replied speaking the first thing that popped into his brain. Ahh had he really said that out loud. He blushed furiously and then ducked his head before looking back up at her. "Ah what I meant to say is that I wasn't going to hurt anyone. I just wanted to learn from the polevoi and gain more wisdom before I did anything stupid. I knew though that I had to trap it and learn it's real name first. Well that's what I read anyway. It was going to be a fair exchange though. For every deed done I was going to pay in kind with bread honey and milk and I was not going to keep it in a cage or anything. After all I would need time to study what I learn and what good is locking up a free spirit like a polevoi?"

Cornflower chuckled at the compliment, her laugh sounding like a symphony of bells and piccolos. "It is always a pleasant thing to find a mortal who has some semblance of chivalry."

Cornflower easily leapt to another branch, using her wings more for gliding than actual flying as she left a trail of light in her wake. "Mind you, getting a being's true name is not that easy, and you have your own fourth law to contend with. And though I love them dearly, my brethren are not born scholars. Good for spying and sending messages, but hardly the type to substitute for a good teacher. Which is what you need, is a good teacher," Cornflower added imperiously, as she took flight again.

She paused between branches, hovering in one position, and looked down at Jason. "You are aware of the Fourth Law, are you not? As well as the three preceding it, and the three afterwards?"

Jason looked up at her mesmerized by her beauty and the easy way in which she moved, but some small part of his brain was also paying close attention to what she was saying.

So he had been wrong to think that a Wee folk could teach him much about the magic world and casting spells. Well that was not good. Still if they could be used to run errands and spy perhaps that could still be put to use. Still she was right, he did need a good teacher.

But what was this about laws, the book and the diary had never mentioned anything about laws. "Umm no miss. I am afraid I don't know anything about any laws," he said shaking his head and looking downwards. "All I know I have learned from an old spell book and a Diary I found in an old chest and they did not mention any laws. The diary seems to have been written by a child my age so maybe they didn't know, but the magic book seems to have some pretty powerful spells in it. That is why I wanted to learn more. I am not stupid enough to try them without learning a lot more first. I have only tried the very basic ones. This trap is actually the most advanced spell I have done."

Cornflower studied Jason intently, a frown on her face. They weren't her laws, after all, but his laws. It was how mortals governed other mortals, just like Titania and Mab governed those in their rule.

However, for those who had the wit to remember, a favor done is a favor owed.

"You may call me Cornflower," she told Jason in a haughty voice, "And you can give me a name to call you now, or we will learn it soon enough, now that we know to watch you," she added in the same superior voice.

Jason smiled at her. "Pleased to meet you Miss Cornflower. My name is Jason Ma...," began Jason but he stopped himself. He had forgotten just how powerful a true name was and here he was almost giving his away.

"Sorry Cornflower, just call me Jason. I guess I have a lot to learn but I have no idea where to look for a teacher. I have no idea about these laws and from your tone I understand they are very important so I don't wish to upset anyone or do anything wrong. However I still want to practice magic. A whole new world has been opened up to me and I can not just stop now. I will do whatever it takes to learn to do this properly."

He looked at her and suddenly he got an idea. "Excuse me Miss Cornflower, but maybe we could come to some arrangement. You seem awfully wise and very intelligent. Would you like to help me with the basics I need to know, and in return I will pay you. I can offer you all the milk, bread and Honey you desire or if there is something else you wish, we can discuss terms."

Cornflower allowed the right corner of her lips to quirk upwards as Jason stopped himself from giving his full name.

"The first thing I will teach you is the nature of a True Name. Many of you mortals are unaware what your true name is. Yes, it is incorporated in those pieces of parchment that mark your birth, but its fullness is whispered from your mother's soul to your own. How many of you mortals share the same name?" Cornflower shook her head sadly. "But there is always a hint of a difference, a whisper of syllable pronounced just so, that marks the difference. So even if I knew the full name by which you go about in this mortal frame of yours, I would still not know your True Name."

"Now, as to the honey, bread and milk you set out, while it may be good enough for those who flit about here and there, I am destined to serve in the Summer Court," Cornflower declared as she drew herself haughtily up to her full height. "If you drew a circle correctly and properly hid it, you might...might...catch some with that sort of fare. But not the likes of me, of course. For that you will need milk that hasn't gone through those shiny machines, and bread that doesn't have those disgusting things in it to make it last longer. And the bees that make good honey, they are cared for with things other than engines to lift them around and elixirs made from TEK-NUL-OH-GEE to cure their ills. All of this is within your understanding I hope?" Cornflower asked. "And hold out your hand, palm up. All this hovering about while I instruct you is tiresome."

Jason immediately understood he was talking to a Fae of some importance and was glad that his trap had not worked. He would really have not wanted to make her angry. He quickly sat down and held out his hand palm upwards so she had somewhere to stand while they conversed.

"So I will have to do some soul searching to actually find my true name then. That is good to know that I can not give it away casually, but on the other hand if I don't know it can other people find it out before me and use it against me?"

He was a little worried at that but as long as he kept his activities very quiet and low key he doubted anyone would even learn about him before he had safeguarded his true name.

"As for all of the conditions, I will have no problems with them. I know plenty of local farmers and do odd jobs for them. I am sure they would be glad to pay me in produce for work done around their farms, and you can be sure that everything they produce is pure. No one around here uses pesticides or anything non organic, and the farms are so small everything is done by hand.As for the bread well I can bake you that myself," he blushed. "I am actually a very good cook. Just another reason for me to be picked on," he shrugged.

"Well, you could begin by sitting up straight, I'm sure that would only help in your comportment among your fellows," Cornflower said as she lit upon Jason's palm. Sitting cross legged on Jason's open hand, Cornflower's wings seemed to disappear, as she produced a miniature ivory comb. She spent a few minutes running it through her hair. Reddish brown highlights appeared and disappeared in her tresses as she did so.

She put up the comb, then looked up directly into Jason's eyes. "Jason, I am a Dewdrop Fairy, one of the least of the Fae," she began in a serious voice that was bereft of all humor or pretension. "Because I am being trained for service in the court, probably as a messenger and a set of eyes for one of the Daughters of Summer, I'm not one of the empty headed fellows that a wizardling like yourself can see pratting about. If you had somehow managed to capture me, unless you were very careful, I would have made your life a living hell." There was both fire and ice in the last words of that sentence.

"Now, as to your TrueName. It does not establish control over a being, but rather creates a connection, a channel. If you had a lover..." there was a hint of wistfulness in Cornflower's voice as she said that word..."whispering her True Name in the heat of passion would bring you even closer to her. Or so I'm told." Cornflower blushed, cleared her throat, and pushed through. "There are other...Things..." Cornflower visibly shuddered..."That uttering their True Names would let you summon them, but unless you were well prepared, and had both prowess and subtlety, they would rip your mortal soul from your shell and send it hurtling into realms best not contemplated."

"So do well to guard your True Name, as do all creatures, both here and in the NeverNever. But its knowledge by another does not necessarily spell your Doom."

Jason did straighten up at Cornflowers words, sitting up tall and proud for one of the few times in his life. The change was quite dramatic in his appearance but he did not seem to notice as he concentrated on the beautiful fairy in his palm.

At her words he was doubly grateful that his ineptitude had meant that he had failed to capture her. He had no doubt that she would have been capable of following through on her statement.In fact even now he was unsure if he was going to get out of this without some form of punishment.

Then he heard her talk about true names and he was rather glad about the truth of the matter. He had been a bit frightened about that. In all of the old shows he had watched and books he had read, you were supposed to guard it with your life. Yet it seemed like although it was very precious and not to be given out lightly it was not the end of all things he thought it was.

He heard her wistfulness and saw her blush when talking about having a lover and he blushed as well. A lover, yes well, like that would ever happen with him. That was as likely as him becoming a major sorcerer overnight.

everything that Cornflower was telling him was very important though and he did not feel right getting all this information for free. "Excuse me Miss Cornflower, but you have been most helpful to me. Before you tell me anything else, indeed if you were going to tell me anything else, I have to ask you a question. I feel that I should not be getting this information for free and I do not have the things I was offering in payment just yet," he told her blushing. "Is there anything else I could offer in payment? I do not mean to offend you or anything so please do not take it that way."

"Well," Cornflower said, with perhaps a hint of slyness in her voice, "I don't suppose you have any pizza around, do you? If so, I might be able to convince some friends to join us, and we can round out your education a bit more." She paused before adding, "It doesn't have to be the good kind, you know. My tastes are very refined, but my fellows don't have quite my level of sophistication, so I should be able to persuade them with a promise of pizza."

Cornflower had to maintain a very serious face when she talked about persuading others of her kind to join them. The chance for pizza would have them bowling her over, especially when it was understood that there would have to be no exchange of favors for the pizza.

Well, no exchange with the wizardling, she mentally amended. The rest of them had left her to her own devices, and she'd make them understand that she was still someone to be reckoned with!

Standing up in Jason's hand and brushing down her clothes, Cornflower asked, "So is that something you can accomplish?"

Jason greeted this news with a huge smile. All of this information and the promise of more and all he had to provide was Pizza. Oh there was definitely going to be no problems with that arrangement.

"I can see no problems with that Cornflower. In fact if you would care to accompany me inside for a minute or two you may even choose the pizza you wish. Actually if you are going to invite friends over will one pizza be enough," he asked her worriedly. "Do you think we should get a couple more just in case?"

He stood up carefully and headed towards the back door and then slowed down. "Oh I am sorry. You are a wild fairy and do not like technology. Will you be okay coming inside, or would you like me to bring the pamphlets out here?"

Cornflower was so overwhelmed at the prospect of actually choosing a type of pizza, that she almost ignored the remark about the "wild fairy." Almost.

"We have been ruled by the same queen, Jason, since your ancestors were drawing paintings on caves," Cornflower said with a condescending sniff. Not quite accurate on some details, Cornflower admitted to herself, but close enough to convey her point. "However, I will forgive your remark and put it down to the callousness of your youth and your general ignorance. Now, as to the type of pizza, my fellows are not particular, so I will leave it to your good judgment to choose for them. And one will suffice." Plus, though Cornflower would not admit, even to herself, she would have no idea what went into a pizza. Pizza was pizza after all. It took all her discipline not to fly in loops at the prospect of having a hot warm pizza being delivered just for her. "I will leave to you the obtaining of the pizza while I gather my fellows. We will return here in..." Cornflower studied the sky..."a weddersinnes of the throne of Mycanae. We'll watch for you to come outside. With the pizza." On the last word, Cornflower's wings reappeared and she shot up into the night sky, leaving a trail of light until she disappeared altogether.

Jason watched her disappear and then shook his head. Had that really happened, had he just talked to a Dewdrop fairy? Well whatever the case he would go and order the pizza anyway. If it had all been a dream then it wouldn't hurt to have a pizza on hand to eat while he sat in the garden feeling foolish.

He walked inside and got out the pamphlets. He reached for his regular place and then thought better of it. He only ordered from them because they were close and cheap. He had to admit their pizza's were not the best but he had been putting up with them because of the price. However this was not the time to scrimp. He got the pamphlet for the best pizza place in town and looked at their menu.

What would a group of fairy's want on a pizza? Would it be best to go vegetarian or would that just be racist and he should get meat on it. Finally he just decided to get one with everything on it, deciding that they could just pick off what they didn't like and he would know what to get next time by what was left over. He dialed up the place and ordered and was assured it would take 30 minutes.

Deciding to take Cornflowers advice he hoped in the shower and washed, then tidied himself up, put on some deodorant and for the first time in a long while, put on some clothes that actually fit. The change was amazing, he actually looked like a new person.

He had just finished when the doorbell rang and he rushed to answer it and paid the driver and began to make his way to the backyard before he stopped. In his haste he had not stopped to think. Just how long was a weddersinnes of the throne Mycanae anyway? Well he just hoped it was about half an hour as he walked into the backyard and put the pizza on the patio table and sat down on the chair and waited.


(loving the new Av gypsy)

"Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!" a chorus of tiny voices chanted in the darkness, though to a mortal who wasn't Listening, it would sound like the rustling of leaves.

In truth, Cornflower wanted to join in the chorus. The pizza was singing to her, even from this distance. Even bad pizza was good pizza, but Cornflower could tell that Jason had taken her words to heart, and this pizza was going to be really good.

Cornflower had her future standing to think of, though, as well as her standing among her fellows, so she continued appearing stoic.

"The youngling, at my command," she told her fellow Dewdrop Faeries in her best condescending voice, "has provided us with a feast." Cornflower refrained from actually saying the word "Pizza", for fear that she would start drooling herself, and rush the delicacy in question, decorum be damned.

"In return, we shall grant him a lesson in the proper relationship between his kind and ours," Cornflower continued, "and all the grand traditions that extend into the past."

One of the fairies asked, "You're not going to tell him all our secrets, are you?" The question was worriedly chorused.

"I am going to teach him the ancient dance between his kind and ours," Cornflower replied. "A respectful wizard is a boon to us all." There were nods to this all around.

"Now let me fly out there, and I will show you there is nothing to worry about." The other faeries paused for a moment, torn between the need to be cautious and PIZZA! For now, caution won.

Cornflower flew out to the patio table that the pizza was waiting on. She hovered over it, allowing her senses to be flooded with its pizzaness before turning to Jason. "Some of my kin would deign to join us, Jason. Would you have any objections for me to signal to them to join us?"

Jason was delighted that Cornflower had come back. He was sure she would but in the back of his mind had been that niggling little doubt that he had been dreaming the whole thing. Still with her hovering over the pizza box there was no doubting his sanity now.

He stood up and bowed to the Fairy in his best manner, deciding to treat her like a princess, for to him she was. After all had she not mentioned that she would be going to the court to live." Welcome back Milady Cornflower. I hope this pizza is to your liking," He said as he opened the lid he had kept on so the pizza would retain it's heat. As he did steam and the smell rose into the air.

"As for your friends I would be delighted to meet them as long as they realize that you are to take the first piece of Pizza. I will not have you denied this honor."

He sat back down and waited to see what would happen next. He hoped he had not overstepped his authority with that comment about Cornflower getting the first piece but he thought it was only right.

Cornflower literally preened at the way that Jason addressed her, and his insistence that she get the first piece almost made her give in to temptation.

Almost.

Cornflower mentally sighed, lamenting the fact that it wasn't always easy being as regal as she needed to be.

"That is very kind of you, Jason, and only proper, but I think for the purpose of your education, it would be best to let my fellows have their fill first." The lot would be easier to handle if they filled their stomachs first. True, they had all thrice promised, and there was a matter of her standing, but still...

Cornflower flew upwards by a meter and spun around once. Instantly, four trails of light came out from the darkness.

"Hold!" she shouted as four faerie folk descended on the pizza. "You will allow yourselves to be introduced, as this young wizard has provided this feast for the sole purpose of learning how to deal respectfully with our kind." There was a grumpy attitude among the four fairies who had come out of the darkness, but they obeyed, lining up as they hovered in the air.

The four fairies who had joined Jason and Cornflower were all males, pale-skinned, fair featured, blue eyes and with dragonfly wings. Each had a blonde bushy mane and was surrounded by a gold ambient light. All appeared to be slightly taller than Cornflower.

Cornflower pointed to the first in the row, a fairy wearing what looked like a miniature half pumpkin helmet and a green and brown jerkin. "This is Lantern Jack." The fairy in question lifted his helmet and gave a nod.

"This fellow is Holly Hat," Cornflower pointed to the fairy next in line, who was wearing a black acorn shell for a hat. He lifted it, spun around in midair, and then hovered in place. "Berry Vine." The indicated fairy had what looked liked miniature strawberries woven in his hair, making it curl, "And Curlicue." The last fairy would have looked bald, until the mortal viewing him realized that the fairy was wearing half a small egg shell for a helmet.

"Will you give the word to allow the feast to commence?" Cornflower asked Jason. The other four fairies looked at Jason hopefully.

Jason waited until all four had been introduced and was about to bow when he heard what Cornflower said. He still bowed to all four but instead of the speech he was going to give he kept it very simple.

"I thank you for coming to aid me and hope you enjoy the feast I have laid out for you. Please tell me if there is anything wrong with it and I will try to get it right the next time time if indeed you wish to come back." He smiled at them all. "Now please let the feast begin."

He sat back down on his chair knowing that he would not be getting any instructions until the small faeries had eaten their fill. He had seen the look in their eyes and knew that all they were thinking about at the moment was the pizza. Who knew that it was such a strong lure for the Wee folk. If that was the case he was doubly impressed by Cornflowers dignity and bearing. It was obvious that she would have the same cravings as her fellow faeries yet she was sill able to maintain her dignity and poise. She was the one he should most try to emulate he realized.

Cornflower watched wistfully as Lantern Jack, Holly Hat, Berry Vine and Curlicue literally dove into the center of the pizza. Literally. Each one would take the point of a pizza slice and make small delicate bites, all the while clearly being in culinary ecstasy. Those delicate bites quickly added up as each of the four fairies consumed an entire slice of pizza, a feat which was unbelievable both in the speed in which it was done and the fact that, despite eating a few times their own mass and weight, their stomachs only seemed slightly distended. Cornflower finally allowed herself to sample a sauce dipped slice of mushroom, eating it with small bites, but at a more leisurely pace than her four friends.

"You know what would go great with this?" Curlicue said, as he sat on the table, legs spread, hands folded contentedly on his stomach.

Before he could finish his own sentence, Cornflower did so for hm. "Work," she answered pointedly. The other four fairies groaned but stood up, if doing so grudgingly.

"First, we will teach the ancient art of making an offering to one of our kin which, after verbal debate, our kinsfolk will allow that perhaps a small favor can be performed. For this, Jason," Cornflower continued, looking up at the wizardling, "We will need milk. And if you have no objections, I do not think any of us would decline milk freely offered while Curlicue performs the demonstration." The last part of the sentence was stated with Cornflower staring straight at Curlicue, who only shrugged and nodded.

Jason nodded and moved to do as he was told. he knew that now was a time to do strictly what he was told without any arguments much like the four male faeries he guessed. He knew who was in charge here and it definitely wasn't him.

He looked in his fridge and was surprised to find that he still had some goats milk. He had taken a liking to it when he had worked on a goat farm for a few weekends fixing some fences. He still got a regular bottle but he normally drank it rather quickly. As far as he knew this was hand milked and non pasteurized. Perhaps this would be a better offering.

He poured the last part into a glass and got it three quarters full and brought it back. "I have remembered what you have said Cornflower and I have milk not touched by technology, however it is not cows milk but goats. Will that be acceptable as an offering?" he asked with a bit of trepidation in his voice.