Mias and Elle - Chapter 20

"Send me away?" Elle felt tears begin to well up quickly and blinked rapidly to try and force them away – she should have been angry, not sad. How dare he make her feel this way then just cast her aside to some stranger? She tried, but even when she tried to stoke the fire, the sadness was far outweighing the rage that she was struggling so hard to feel in its place.

Mias set the tiny bundle in his hands down on to a large stack of papers and stared down at her with a creased brow. It was not long before he could no longer bear to look into the small, glassy eyes that gazed back at him so hurt and full of expectation. With a heavy – and almost clumsy – step, he turned his back to her and faced the small window several feet away.

"Mias?"

There was a soft crackle in her voice as she fought back tears, a sound that made Mias visibly cringe. He wanted to change her back and squeeze her tightly in his arms until she loved him and the rest of the world would just dissipate about them. It was what he wanted, but not what needed to be done. There was no doubt in his mind that until a later time Elle would not be able to change back on her own, and he regretted the foolish action entirely, now that he knew that he could not change her back. It was not that it was impossible – though he would never let Elle know that, lest he no longer desired his manhood – but rather, that he only had just enough strength to summon the help that they needed to get her to safety. And said help was another thought that grated at his ego – which is why it took him so long to even try to bring it up.

"You…" He cleared his throat with a harsh, unpleasant sound as he tried to ground himself. "You will stay with the stags." The immense amount of displeasure at his own decision was evident in his tone of voice and body language.

There was a moment where Elle just gawked with her jaw as wide open as it could possibly go without being forced, or dislocating in some ghastly way. Mias wanted her to stay with Abernos and his brother? She was not quite sure if she had heard him correctly, but dared not ask him to repeat it. He could barely stand to hear that she had been spending time with the stag over the last few days while Mias had been hiding away with "things to do", and other nonsensical excuses. He would make faces and grumble to himself about vermin being on his property, and other such childish acts of silent jealousy. There was absolutely nothing to be jealous of – whether she cared that he was or not – because there was nothing more than a friendly acquaintanceship between herself and Abernos. He was darling, to be sure, and she had fun talking with him and dancing about as if she were ten years younger and happy again, but there were certain things that were still too hard for her to look passed before she could even think about thinking about him romantically. There was something that she did not even want to – or have much time to -  worry about any time soon.

For several minutes, Mias and Elle could only stare at each other, neither knowing what they should say to the other. It was the next most awkward moment between them since Elle had walked in on Mias completely naked - a memory that still made her blush to the core. Elle scolded herself before the blush could return; her thoughts were very scattered considering there were far more pressing matters that needed her attention. Snap out of it, Elle!

"I wish you could explain-" The look in Mias' eyes made the words catch in her throat and her train of thought start off again on the fast track to derailment. Back on track after a few cleansing breaths, her tone changed considerably. "How soon…?"

Mias slumped into his seat with so little grace that Elle was sure that he had had done it purely intentionally to express his grief. There was no way that he would act so ungainly naturally. It was becoming more and more obvious that he was incredibly uncomfortable with everything that was transpiring. It was disheartening for Elle to see Mias so… un-Mias. She also could not help but notice that he was taking his sweet time in coming up with a reply to her question.

"Mias."

Picking up a small book to leaf through before replying, Mias grunted. "Soon."

Elle watched as his eyes skimmed over each page with such agility that it made her nauseous just watching them. And the way that he viciously slapped through the pages made her cringe in sympathy for the poor, abused book. Beyond the nausea and muscles beginning to ache from scrunching in distaste, there was confusion as to why he was going through a book instead of sending some kind of messenger to Abernos or a carriage to pick her up. "So, am I walking?"

Mias lowered the book so she could see the entire expression on his face, and though it was mostly a sardonic look, she was still incredibly happy to see a grin instead of a frown on his lips. "Your impatience is insufferable."

"You'll miss it." Though it was intended as a lighthearted joke, it weighed heavily on both of them and they exchanged uncomfortable glances before Mias continued his search. Elle felt the muscles in her face loosen until she was frowning as she watched him now slowly flip through the pages with the very same look on his face.

"There," Mias set the book down and went about rummaging through the scattered masses of wooden boxes. He cursed a few times when the contents of a larger box spilled about the floor and Elle could not help but giggle. "Just as I thought."

"What are you looking for?"

"Lily."

Elle cleared her throat and pointed to a small table with the window full of dried flowers of several varieties. It seemed so obvious to her, and she had never even been in the room until recently. She laughed a little as he stumbled, trying not to crush whatever it was that had been spread across the floor. He grabbed a lily from the vase and opened the nearby window as far as it would go. He was moving so quickly that she could only watch in amazement as he zipped about the room in a way not dissimilar to Superman during a natural disaster. It was rather exciting watching him dash about, never knowing what it was that he would do next, so she just sat back and waited for him to come to a halt. Eventually he did slow down, then sat back down in the seat with his hands cupped together holding some kind of arrangement of miscellaneous things.

"What in the world are you doing?" Elle smiled up at Mias, rump planted comfortably on the surface of the desk and her tail held by both paws against her little mouse lap. He definitely was right when he was –constantly- stating that she was impatient, but she had worthy reasons for wanting to know what was going on inside of his head.

"Fetching… the stag."

"You sound absolutely thrilled, Mias." She just grinned when he shot her a dirty look, and then gestured toward his hands. "So, how is a handful of dead plants going to fetch Abernos?" She made a point to emphasise that "the stag" had a name.

Ignoring the prominence that she put in to wanting the stag to be addressed by his given name – an asinine prospect, in his opinion – and gave Elle one of his mysterious grins that always managed to make her twist and turn in anticipation. "You will see." Elle rolled her eyes, but he still smiled at her.

"Well?"

"What?"

"Get on with it! I thought this was urgent!"

Mias rolled his eyes right back at her, "I believe I would like to take this time to note that I will not miss that impatience of yours." This time they both managed a genuine – albeit miniscule – laugh.

"You wouldn't have to miss anything if I could just stay here." Elle cringed at herself; she sounded like a teenager whining about being sent away to some lame summer camp without any friends. The more the process was stretched out, the more she found herself feeling hurt and angered by Mias, and angry with herself for not being able to let go of how much she might miss him. She did not want to leave, not when everything was finally starting to become comfortable; this only made her angrier. "Just get on with it…"

Mias looked at Elle as she lowered her eyes to stare at her paws and twist at her tail, and it wrenched at his insides. He watched her with his brow clenched tightly and lips pressed firmly into a straight, thin line; it was hard not knowing what to say, yet he was continuously finding himself in said predicament with Elle.

"Elle, love…" He waited for her to look him in the eye, "It won't be for long. I promise."

Smiling, she got up and placed her paws on Mias' cupped hands, trying to blink away the stray tears in her eyes. "I know. I trust you."

Once again, Mias over overwhelmed with the urge to kiss Elle, as impossible as it would be – which was only more infuriating. He would have to get this over with so he could deal with the problem as soon as possible and get the real Elle back in his arms – or better! He mentally kicked himself one more time before focusing his magical strength.

Normally it would have taken much more effort and energy than he may have been able to afford, but the urgency of keeping Elle safe gave him that little extra push. An incandescent mass of green flame enveloped his hands; he could feel the energy being zapped from his body and out into the warm magic that flickered brightly out in front of him. Whispering in an ancient, delicate language through a small space between a thumb and forefinger, Mias let the magic do its work as Elle watched on with widened eyes. He smiled at her as her pupils seems to dilated as much as was physically possible when the green flames subsided and its glow was replaced with a bright white light that was almost a soft shade of pink shining out from inside his cupped hands.

Elle was practically gyrating she was shaking so violently with giddy anticipation as she watched Mias slowly open his hands to reveal what it was that his magic had done. Though she had absolutely no idea what to expect, she experienced an incredibly high amount of shock at what the source of the light in Mias' hand really was. Surrounded by a now soft white-pink light were the voluptuous curves of a female form composed entirely of light and only the height of a pen when she stretched out to full height from the fetal position in the palm of Mias' hand. Thin, pointed wings unfurled from her back with a sparkle of displaced light.

"Wha-"

"Faerie." Mias lowered the miniature creature down on to the table on the opposite side of his body from Elle. There was no reason, other than he could not risk offending her by putting her down on a mess when he needed he so desperately. Faeries are incredibly particular.

"She's beautiful…!" Elle's voice, overcome with awe, was barely over a whisper. She leaned herself against the arm that Mias had set down on the table and just stared at the faerie creatures elegant, languid movements.

Mias leaned in and made his voice a soft whisper, "And she knows it. Never inflate the ego of a faerie; very headstrong creatures – insufferable."

Elle tried not to laugh. He certainly was becoming very fond of that word, and besides that he practically described himself. Mias Decivus: ego the size of a zeppelin, only full of hot air instead of helium.

Setting down his hand palm up, Mias let the faerie climb back up into his hand so he could bring her closer to his face without demeaning himself by bending down to her level (a perfect example of said arrogance). "Bring me the stag." He rolled his eyes when Elle cleared her throat, "Abernos."

The delicate, radiant creature bowed gracefully at the command before flapping her wings until they appeared invisible like a hummingbird and her slender legs and feet lifted away from Mias' hand. Elle watched her in envy; wings and a gorgeous, human (like) body. As the faerie lifted away from them and sped off across the room and out of the window in a steam of light, the room returned to its previous air of awkward anticipation.

Nearly half an hour passed by in silence, neither making a sound or much movement at all. Elle rested against Mias, looking up at his face as best she could without looking like she was staring or straining her neck. He looked back at her with the same unspoken affection, or at least the best that he could manage. They were having their first moment together and neither of them could notice through the heavy cloud of resentment (though not necessarily toward each other) and sadness.

"Now what?" Elle asked, letting her face slump lazily against Mias' arm.

"Wait," He fidgeted with some papers with his free arm.

"How long?"

"Elle…!"

Elle's ears flatted against her head, "I'm sorry. I just don't want to leave."

"I know." Elle glared at him slightly for what sounded like a very conceded remark, but he gave her a sad smile and pet her gently on the head. "I hate to have to send you away. Especially with-" He paused when she shot him another unpleasant look for ruining the moment. "I- You still belong to me. Don't forget that…"

Elle rolled her eyes. Was that as good as it was ever going to get? She wanted to scold him, go about their usual argument that she was not an object and did not belong to anyone but herself, but she was interrupted by the large bells chiming their signal that someone was at the door.

"That was fast," Mias glanced over his shoulder at the door. "Time to go, Elle."

Again, Elle wanted to protest, but she was interrupted – yet again -  by Mias' hands encasing her. "Mias, thi-"

When Mias unclasped his hands, Elle frowned when she saw that he had magically "poofed" them – as she so eloquently enjoyed calling it – right to the front doors. Her heart sank in to her stomach and felt as though it would melt in the acid and he lost to her digestive track forever when Mias opened the door.

"Hi, Abernos…"

Abernos stuttered, "What did you do, Mias?!"

Mias handed Elle over to Abernos, who took her so carefully that Elle had to help speed up the process by climbing into his shaking hands for fear the goodbye would be stretched out even longer than it had been. "It's fine, Abernos. He had… good reason."

"Just keep her safe, stag." Mias' hands glowed in green fire, "Or I will have your head mounted on my wall."

Abernos gave a bow of his head, "Without question. That's what friends do." He smiled down at Elle in defiance of Mias.

Mias ignored him and bent down to bring his face close to Elle's. "I will see you soon."

Elle reached out and grabbed the tip of Mias' nose with her little paws and kissed it. "Promise?"

He nodded, "Goodbye, Elle."

Without pause, he quickly stormed inside and slammed the door behind him – avoiding any emotional conflict. Elle looked back behind them as Abernos made his way back to his home in the forest, her eyes swimming with tears and a terrible chill racking up and down her spine.

"Bye…"