Puck babysat my ass last night. When I questioned why not Snake, he dropped that I wasn’t able to hear Snake clearly when I’m in this state of mind. I’ll admit, that bothered me. Greatly.
“So… why you?”
“Because if you go any further into Fucktitude Land, I’m to deliver you personally to Queen Mab. She’s curious what Weaver Unthinking can do.”
“Oh. … Well then… I’m going to sit here and watch the leaves change color, then.” The trees were changing color. Each leaf doing its own thing with hue and saturation. No two leaves the same pattern or color. Very distracting. Very mesmerizing. Very peaceful.
“Aww!” Puck pulls me close to him and grins. My, such sharp teeth he has! “And I really wanted to see just how dangerous you are, my pretty, pretty human.”
“Puck. Dammit. You’re baiting. No. My madness can be fun, but there are repercussions!”
“But you’ll find out what that Blue Key unlocks!” He holds up the mentioned key, tied to my wrist with an impossibly thin white ribbon. A gift from the last time I was in Queen Mab’s presence. A key no one can take from me. I have no idea what it is for.
I twist out of his grip and sit at the trunk of one of the fey trees. “When can I leave?”
He concedes defeat and sits next to me. “Dawn of your world.” He yawns and stretches out, laying his head in my lap with impunity. “When are you going to stop being afraid of yourself? You’re a lot of fun when you’re not giving a fuck.”
“Define ‘fun’, and fun for who? A lot of people would love to watch me burn. Again.” I nudged him with my knee, forcing him to sit up.
He sat with his back to the tree. “But that is fun! Every time you are reduced to ashes, you remake yourself. Each time you remake yourself, you’re a little different than you were before. It’s like watching evolution, but greatly sped up!”
I wrap my arms around the fey prince before he could come up with some other way to annoy me. “It’s not fun for me. You will never change, Puck. You’ll always be the same. Turn you to stone for a few centuries, you emerge as if you had only blinked. Humans are far too fragile to endure such remakings. One day, I’ll snap!” I snapped my fingers then resumed my grip. “And I’ll never come back.” I was suddenly very sleepy, here in this grove of shifting color. And Puck was very comfortable to lean against.
Too late, I realized his hand was resting on my head. Damn fae dropped a slumber spell on me. As he slowly laid me down so I rested face up in his lap, I heard him mumble, “But that’s what we’re waiting for, Old Friend. You’re far too much to remain human for long.” Before I could challenge his confusing words, I fell into deeper sleep.