"So... I take it not every night here is this exciting..." Chris remarked, as the rebuilding efforts continued.
"Not exactly..." Spark sighed, rubbing the back of her head while siblings Lark and Mark would enter the scene, seeming relieved to see their sister in one piece
"There you are!" Lark smiled a bit, "and ... you brought more humans... lovely"
"Hey, this huamn..." Spark sighed, "...THESE humans, they all helped us tonight whether you realize it or not ... this is Christophicles..."
Chris would let out an 'ahem'
"...Chris. This is the elemental wizard of legend who was prophecized to save the colony from great destruction and harm" Spark said, after her brief correction, stating the story with a certain noble showmanship.
"This is the great wizard?" Lark responded facetiously, tilting her head, "no offense, mister, but I always thought you'd be bigger in person"
"I am ... usually..." Chris shrugged, "not that I mind being this size ... I mean in my OWN world it would be ... very scary but at least here, everything is made for people your size ... shit, was that offensive? It sounded offensive now that I think about it but ..."
"Him and Mark will get along just fine..." Lark rolled her eyes, while simultaneously teasing the nervous Chris a bit.
"Hey, I'm Mark" Mark shrugged, adding to the conversation in what little way he knew how.
The group would stand there, still hashing things out while the DJ on stage slowly made their way back towards the microphone to announce that the music would start again shortly. This news brought great cheers from the crowd, and Spark too, that is, until she looked up briefly and could swear she caught a glimpse of an embattled Esmerelda from the highest window in the tower, staring down with disdain at Spark and the group of fairies, humans and one elf named Mara.
In the tower itself, Esmerelda retreated to a basement area just below her regular quarters. She'd head towards a dimly lit altar and place her hands on it, chanting a brief Fenstarian encantation before a small globe of light would manifest, showing the face of her correspondent, acting as a sort of mystical "zoom call"
On that other end was somebody who looked strangely not upset, nor pleased. This time it was Esmerelda who crossed her arms and bore an annoyed look.
"Okay ... so ... mistakes happen..." the gentleman on the other end would say, his voice a bit fuzzy since this wasn't exactly modern technology. Still, he was able to see the fairy communique via his own video screen on his end and could deduce her anger almost immediately.
"Mistakes?" Esmerelda snapped, "Your ... ROBOTS ... were to go nowhere near the colony! I have wounded civilians, damaged property and..."
"and I have the hurt feelings..." the man mockingly responded. "I am most sorry for whatever happened but you knew the cost of doing business with ... well, big business"
Esmerelda sighed in resignation, realizing the man had a point. Even if that man were none other than eccentric mad scientist extraordinaire, Dr. Maximillian E. Mumford
"I do wish you hadn't trashed my machines so careless though..." the forlorn Dr. Max added
"I didn't do anything" Esmerelda sighed, standing back a bit, although still showing a touch of resentment, "you can thank that ... that HUMAN and some of my fairies, also ... since when can humans shrink to fairy size? Is she an elf?"
"She is not the elf..." Max sighed, shaking his head, "She is a MENACE! Named Lexi ... something or other... last name doesn't matter but she is a menace all the same ... and if you have her in your care right now, I insist you lock her up and throw away the key so fast that ..."
"Hey hey hey ..." Esmerelda muttered, noticing the mad scientist's words went into a tailspin at the mere mention of Lexi what's her name, "...as much as that would bring me great joy, I can't exactly imprison the person that most of my colony see as the hero... at least ... not yet. Soon enough, Fensteria will realize that the humans are of great danger and should not be trusted ... um... no ffense"
"None taken" Max responded sincerely, "Still ... my apologies on the damage ... although you were the one who disabled the cloak..."
"I disabled the cloak so that you could get what you needed..." Esmerelda sighed, "which I thought was simple intel ... I didn't realize you were going to assault us!"
"You said it yourself..." Max smirked, "us humans can't be trusted... but do not worry, I will make good on my end of the bargain"
"and I can trust that?" Esmeralda queried, raising an eyebrow.
"I suppose you have a point..." Max shrugged indifferently. After all, he gad gotten what he wanted.
Back at the Central Plaza, the party resumed as most of the repairs had been made.
"Who knew fairy magic could be so efficient?" Chris asked, watching as fairies were able to repair things simply by floating them back into place and snap that which would be permanently damaged in most cases back to its prior state simply focusing some sparkles on it.
"Hey, thanks again for your help" Spark smiled, giving the same sized elemental wizard a hug which would in turn cause him to blush.
"Oh? Oh... no problem ... I'm just glad I was able to ... say, where's Lexi? I'd like to thank her for ... well, shrinking me which is an admittedly odd sentence to say out loud but if you knew my upbringing, you'd know that ..."
"Do all you humans talk in exclusively run on sentences?" Spark smirked as the music kicked up again. It was a slow song this time and many of the fairies let out an exhaled air of cheering. It would appear this slow start to things was needed after the harrowing encounter with Enormo's drones.
"Hey, I don't ALWAYS ..." Chris started
"Hey... ya wanna dance, Princess?" Spark winked, offering her hand while referencing their first meeting at the same time.
"Me? D-Dance? Oh I don't know I should probably get back to... yeah okay" Chris sighed, his own nerves relenting as Spark gently took his hand in hers. He'd slowly step out to the dance floor with her as they'd sway in a traditional romantic dance formation, although he was stumbling a bit while she floated a small amount off the ground
"Heh, are all humans so socially awkward?" Spark asked
"I'm not ... socially awkward... more like ... inept ... there's a difference" the flumoxed Chris responded while giving Spark a pleasant smile. If someone had told him when the night began that he'd be sharing a slow dance with a fairy ... a very beautiful one at that, he would've found them crazy.
In the center of the crowd were Lexi and Mara who also shared a slow dance, although it was a bit more casual as they swayed at a higher tempo, Mara seemingly fascinated with her brunette coworker
"Heh... some night, huh?" Lexi chuckled nervously, feeling similarly nervous around Mara as she had with Chrissy. Was this going to become a pattern now?
"Some night? Some YOU!" Mara exclaimed, leaning in closer and placing her head on Lexi's shoulder, "you were AMAZING out there! Why didn't you tell me you were some kind of badass shrinking superhero person?"
"W-Well kind of ... defeats the point of ... secret identity..." Lexi stammered, trying her hardest to commit to that principle despite its many flaws.
"Y-You ... don't wear a mask" Mara chuckled a bit at the comment. Lexi rolled her eyes, "Like you don't even have a costume that covers more of your body than most people our age ... like it's so ... obvious it's you, it's ..."
Lexi would interuppt her chattering dance mate the only way she could think of. It may have been forward but she lunged a bit and placed her lips on Mara's, remaining there for a good few seconds as the glistening light showered upon them. Mara's speech was reduced to simply mumbles and muffling before she finally gave in, simply moaning in delight, after which Lexi disengaged the kiss and smirked.
"That's ... a fee for you keeping my secret" Lexi smirked
"It'll cost you more than that" Mara winked coyly. Lexi, naturally turned bright red.
The plaza was slowly filling up with fairies who were enjoying the moment, simply chatting or slow dancing. Leah smiled a bit as she chatted with Lark but noticed out of the corner of her eye a young man who looked a bit upset, desite his best efforts to hide it.
That young man would be Mark, who simply shuffled up nervously towards the blonde haired fairy knight and tried to make words come out of his confused mouth. Before he could get far though, Dani was gone, seemingly too focused on whatever she was working on to even look his way. He was tempted to follow but just lagged behind instead, watching in helplessness and trying to make it seem as though his actions were intended as he just paced around for a moment. Leah frowned and broke off from Lark for a moment to go talk to him.
"Oh ... hi" Mark nodded, seeing her before she could get a word in, "you're uh ... Lexi's friend?"
Leah nodded and smiled, offering a hand, "I sure am... could be your friend too. You wanna dance?"
"Oh?" Mark gulped, not expecting this turn of events but he nodded a bit, making sure his eyes didn't stray and look in Dani's direction while he politely responded to Leah, "I would ... I would like to ... I'm not a very good dancer though"
"Neither am I" Leah shrugged, taking his hand and leading him onto the floor. Lark would smirk a bit as she watched the scene.
As Leah and Mark drifted onto the dance floor, gently jostling their way through the waves of other dancers, Leah would briefly make eye contact with Lexi as she danced with Mara. The best friends would exchange a brief joyful look before Lexi got an idea.
"Hey Mara... you mind if I ... take off a second? I will be right back" Lexi asked
"Sure luv ... just don't leave me hanging ... I know where you work" Mara teased
"You're a dork ..." Lexi smirked, "...but thanks for the dance"
"Thanks for the kiss" Mara winked, watching Lexi depart as she raised an eyebrow, "not a bad view from behind either"
"So, your siblings names are Spark and Lark..." Leah said, while holding Mark gently, the slow dance admittedly a bit stiff between the two who didn't know each other very well, plus Leah was right. She was not the best dancer and neither was Mark although that was more from a lack of practice, "...how did you get the name MARK? I mean, it's very nice but ... seems a bit..."
"Human?" Mark shrugged, "I've heard it all my life ... I have perhaps the most underwhelming fairy name of all time ... I'm not really sure why I have it ... it could be maybe my parents wanted me to aspire to be more ... human? I don't know"
"What's so great about being human anyway?" Leah shrugged, "I mean, I guess it's all I've ever known but all you've ever knwon is being a fairy, but I think you're all amazing... this is going to sound REALLY dorky but my best friend Lexi and I use to LOVE fairies ... in fact, this is something of a dream of mine..."
"R-Really?" Mark asked, seemingly stunned, "a bit flattering and ... honestly, I always felt the same about humans ... been fascinated with their culture and well, everything about them ... never thought I'd see one at this size, to be honest"
"Yeah well ... life is funny that way" Leah shrugged before pondering something, "yknow... did you ever think maybe your parents gave you that name so the names of their kids would all rhyme??"
For but a brief moment, it appeared as though Mark's entire life was defined. His mind blown. He'd give Leah a befuddled look and she'd laugh.
Lexi meanwhile would nervously stumble up the steel stairs towards the DJ booth, belonging to a rainbow dyed hair DJ named Twinklestar, or at least that was her DJ alias.
"Omigosh your hair is even cooler up close!" Lexi stuttered, eliciting an awkward grin from the fairy DJ
"Hey, you're that girl that saved us all, aren't ya?" Twinklestar giggled, as she tracked music for the contented fairy crowd, "did you have a request?"
Lexi nodded humbly
"I do ... although you probably don't have it ..." Lexi shrugged, "as you might imagine, I don't know a lot of fairy music ... it's really nice, don't get me wrong but ..."
"Hey." Twinklestar nodded, "You think I've been a DJ for 7 years without dabbling in some human top 40? now hit me"
Lexi would shrug and whisper her request in DJ Twinklestar's ear.
"Got it. Anyone you wanna send it out to?" the enthusiastic DJ would ask.
Within moments, the slow song would fade and the crowd would grow a bit silent
"Thanks for the dance, Mark" Leah smiled politely, giving the young man a kiss on the cheek before skipping away, having seen that Lexi was on stage with the DJ.
Mark would be too bewildered to speak, rubbing his cheek after the kiss.
"Alright Fenstaria!!" DJ Twinklestar announced, "Who's ready to party up in heeeeeere?!"
The entire fairy community, plus Mara, Leah and Chris would respond with thunderous applause and cheering.
"I'd like to introduce a very special guest to announce this next song...." Twinklestar added, handing the microphone over to Lexi while a beat dropped. It was a beat that most of Fenstaria was likely unfamiliar with, but at least one of the humans picked up on it quick. "...please welcome ShrinkGirl!"
"...really? She's still going with the alias?" Chris remarked, "she doesn't even wear a mask"
Spark just shrugged, despite agreeing with Chris.
The background beat would continue to loop as Lexi shyly took the microphone. Of course addressing a large crowd over a microphone wasn't completely foreign territory to Lexi as she had been a cheerleader for many years but this wasn't exactly a high school pep rally, plus she was about to get oddly personal.
"S-So Leah ..." Lexi smiled, her voice wavering as she pointed in Leah's direction in the crowd, "As you know, this is something we've wanted to do since we were kids and ... well ... you know you'll always be my best friend ... I really appreciate my Valentine's Day gift and well... this one's for you..."
Lexi would blush and walk off, handing the microphone back to Twinklestar and exiting to a round of thunderous applause as the song got started.
Leah would shove her way through the crowds to get to Lexi and give her a big hug in response.
"Thank you for everything you do, Leah" Lexi smiled, "I know we haven't been able to hang out super often lately but this has been such an awesome night and ... what are you doing?"
Lexi was of course referring to the fact that Leah had seized her best friends hand and was leading her towards the growing crowd of energized fairy dancers who were bopping along to the top 40 hit despite not knowing it. This song, while dated, had significant merit between Leah and Lexi going back to their childhood when it seemed like they'd always end up singing it to one another during one of their many cheesy sleepovers.
The duo would leap into the middle of a circle of fairies who encouraged their dancing, dorky as it may have been.
"Man you really can't dance..." Lexi would giggle, stepping back a bit, while Leah did what appeared to look like beat boxing mixed with dabbing.
"Oh shush... here comes the chorus..." Leah giggled, pointing to Lexi
Lexi knew what she had to do but was a bit embarrassed to be doing so in front of the crowd. Then again, the energy drew her in and before she knew it she found herself lunging away from Leah and acting like an overly invigorated popstar as she belted out the lyrics
" BECAUSE....When the sun shines, we'll shine together...!!"
"...Told you I'll be here forever!" Leah giggled, jumping in front of Lexi as this had been a dance routine the duo had long since practiced, although probably a good 12 years elapsed since their last such tango.
"Said I'll always be your friend..." Lexi smirked
The 2 girls would both join for the next part, finding themselves confounded by the lyrics
"Something something and we'll stick it out to the end!" they'd shout in unison, ending with a snorting giggle and missing some of the next words because of it.
Mara, Chris, Spark, Lark, and Mark would all join together to watch
"This is totally the most dorky thing I've ever seen" Chris scoffed
"Really?" Mara quipped, "you ever look in a mirror?"
The others would laugh while Spark ruffled his hair in teasing and he crossed his arms, the 5 of them resuming watching Lexi and Leah's impromptu performance.
"Now that it's raining more than ever..." Leah pointed towards Lexi while on one knee
"Know that we'll still have each other" Lexi smiled
"You can stand under my UMBRELLA...." they'd again join together
"You can stand under my ... Umbrella ... ella ... ella ... eh eh eh ... under my umbrella..."
The other fairies would slowly catch on to the pattern and join in the chanting and clapping.
"You know... I never did care for this song" Chris shrugged, as Mara elbowed him. "What? It's true"
-----
"That looks so badass!" Leah smirked, watching Lexi model the new "SG" belt buckle for her, as she wore it over a jean skirt, having fashioned a gold linked band to hold it to her waist as she'd strut about.
"It is very badass" Josh added, being involved in the private show as well, "and speaking of badass, who's ready to head back to the Jester's for more DnD?"
The 2 girls would look back as if crickets could be heard in the room with them.
"I don't know why I thought that would get more of a reaction..." Josh sighed and shrugged
"So, how was the Valentine's Day dance, anyway?" Leah asked
"It was ... okay" Josh shrugged
"Yeah?" Lexi asked, slowly unfastening the belt buckle and setting it in her purse, "meet any nice lady friends?"
Josh would shrug as he answered, "eh, I wanted to ask somebody but ... uh ... she wasn't available"
"Awwww, hey you'll get em next time" Leah smiled supportively as the gang headed out for D&D
Back at the colony , an apprehensive Spark sat uncomfortably in a chair while waiting for leader Esmerelda to enter the quarters. Not too long after the festival incident she had been summoned to the central tower. Within moments, Esmerelda would walk in and sit down, letting out a long exhale. Spark raised an eyebrow, already suspecting that bad news on the way.
"I warned you ..." Esmerelda sighed, shaking her head as she scowled at the young fairy woman
"Hmm?"
"I warned you that bringing humans into this colony could endanger us ... I told you that they couldn't be trusted" Esmerelda said
"Ummm...?" Spark stuttered, seeming more than a bit confused
"Those robots followed them here!" Esmerelda snapped, "your superhero friend or whatever is the cause of all this"
"Are you kidding me?!" Spark snapped
"Enough! I've had enough of your insolence and your immaturity" Esmerelda sighed, dismissively brushing off the fairy's protests, "This is your last warning ... stay away from the humans..."
"Psh, or else what?" Spark muttered under her breath, crossing her legs as she leaned back in her chair
"Excuse me?" Esmerelda challenged, leaning forward in her own seat.
"Nothing..." Spark sighed, just looking down and away as the matriarchal leader continued to scold her.
Something was definitely up here and Spark was determined to someday find out what it was
That would have to wait though, as a group of friends would finally sit down and play some much awaited DnD at the Crazy Jester. This time it would be Lexi's turn to be confused as she was somehow dragged into creating a character while sitting at a long table with Leah, Josh, Mara and Chris.
"Hey, why don't you just make a character based on your superhero persona?" Chris shrugged
"Shhhhh ... cmon" Lexi pouted, "...we can't just broadcast that to the world, yknow!"
Leah would roll her eyes and raise her hand as if to draw attention from the group
"Everybody at this table who knows Lexi is ShrinkGirl, raise your hand" Leah stated, and the group would all chuckle as they each raised their hand.
"Psh, whatevs..." Lexi sighed
Suddenly, a new player arrived at the table
"Oh heya Will" Josh smiled, pulling up an extra chair. "this is my friend Will I was telling you about, he makes super cool figurines of the characters"
"That I do!" Will said with a smile, taking out a small figure for his own figure, a character named Prince Mittens, "hope you don't mind me butting in"
"Not at all, dude, I invited you here after all" Josh chuckled, setting things up to play
Leah would lean in towards Lexi and talk low, "Hey maybe he can make you a ShrinkGirl figurine for your character..."
"Shut it, Leah..." Lexi sighed
"You know, you really should consider a mask..." Chris commented
Lexi would just lean back in her chair and roll her eyes. Everybody's a critic ...
Giantess World
