[C] Unlikely Places

Ti stumbled through the forest ungracefully, his eyes fixed on the ground.

Recently he'd found himself venturing out here a lot. The boy had spent a lot of time alone over the past few months with Rai reoccupied by Liq so often.

With his difficulty in making friends, he really hadn't found anyone to spend time with when Rai wasn't there.

So he began exploring instead. First inside the mansion, then outside. Going around the grounds then venturing in the forest.

The last time he had come here he had found a river running through the forest. It was a beautiful place.

And that's where he was heading now. Every now and then he would stop walking to pick up a small flat stone. Skipping stones helped him relax a little.

Not too much later, the boy found himself sat on the bank of the river with a pile of stones by his hip and another stone in his hand.

He stroked the stone gently with his thumb before tossing it into the river. It splashed as it hit the water then sank to the riverbed.

The river was home to many creatures and the forest around it seemed to be more lively, the birds chirped sweeter melodies, the plants seemed greener and the light that filtered through the canopy above was warmer.

Many animals drank from the river and it served as vital part of the ecosystem.

A duck, undeterred by the boy's presence plodded along the river bank, taking a drink before floating along the waters surface.

Swimming near the rivers edge it got too close to the grove of plants and vines at the bank, getting itself tangled as it quacked and panicked, flapping around in the water as it tried to get free.

The boy's head snapped up when he heard the panicked noises the duck was making.

He stood up slowly and carefully approached the panicking duck, hoping that he didn't spook the poor thing any more than it already was.

"Shh," he muttered softly, kneeling in front of the duck and reaching forwards to try and hold it still and pull the plant matter it had got stuck in away from it.

Ti got nothing more than being attacked by the duck for his efforts, but he carried on trying to free it until he was successful.

The duck bolted as soon as he was free from Ti's grasp.

The boy sighed as he looked down at himself. His shirt and jeans were soaked now and his hands had all sorts of nasties from the duck and the plant stuff on them.

He pouted and tried to wash his hands in the water, coming up fairly clean. Then he pulled his shirt and binder off, laying them out on the bank to dry. No one would be around to see him like this.

More than just fish lived beneath the surface of the water here, a creature far more aware of it's surroundings had been watching, intending to aid the duck but what beaten to it by the young shifter.

A delicate figure rose from the water, his long ears tapering to points above his head, his skin was pale, holding a slight tone of blue, reflecting the water in which it dwelled.

He moved effortlessly through the water, moving toward the river bank, hoisting his upper body onto the rock so he could better view the one who was near his domain.

"You saved the duck."

It stated, not exactly a question, more and observation.

Ti's mouth gaped open and his body stilled in shock when a figure rose out of the water.

His mouth flapped soundlessly for a few long moments before he seemed to come to himself and reach out desperately for something to cover himself with.

His cheeks blazed red as he held his wet shirt against himself.

He didn't think anyone would be here to see him like this.

The nymph just lay there looking up at the shifter, unaffected by it's half naked state, it was obvious that he himself was naked and had in fact, never worn clothes.

He tilted his head a little as he watched the creature cover itself, a strange concept for something like a nymph.

"The animal itself did not seem grateful, though I am."

He added, this was the first time in a long while that he had talked to someone.

Having not picked up on the Nymph's first comment about the duck, Ti was left puzzled for a moment over the second comment.

He managed to utter a dumb 'huh?' before realising what the Nymph was talking about.

"Oh, the duck," he realised out loud.

"I didn't want it to hurt itself."

"It would have drowned in my waters had you not rescued it."

He explained, he could tell, no matter how far away it was, if something was to die in the water it had claimed.

"Why are you covering yourself?"

He asked, seemingly amused as a small grin spread across his lips, his head tilting as he watched the boy.

"Then it is good thing I rescued." While his accent has improved greatly now he was living with people fluent in the language, he still stumbled over some saying at times.

The boy's pale cheeks heated up again and he fiddled with the shirt that he was using to cover himself with.

"I don't want anyone to see them."

He was ashamed of his breasts. The only time he ever let anyone see that he even had them was when he was doing shows. That rarely happened.

"You're ashamed of them, or scared that people will see you differently?"

He asked, genuinely curious, people were quite interesting and this one was agreeable enough.

"Wearing clothes is so strange."

He pulled himself up onto the rock, his lower body only just under the surface of the water as he sprawled out, his feet idly splashing.

"Both."

Ti's eyes dropped to his binder before he reached out for it, pulling it closer and dropping his shirt.

In moments he had the binder over his head awkwardly and was adjusting himself in it so he could be comfortable.

"I like clothes."

He laid out his wet shirt again so it could carry on drying.

"Some of them are so pretty."

"Such a strange creature you are."

He replied with a soft chuckle as he rolled over, his backside on clear display over the surface of the water.

He had no shame and it was easy to see why, his body was flawless and beautiful, just like most Fae creatures.

Ti's eyes flickered over the man's body before turning away politely.

He couldn't help eyeing up someone who was providing such a show, but he felt embarrassed for doing it.

"I'm Ti."

His blue eyes turned up to meet the Nymph's eyes. "Tibor but everyone calls me Ti."

The Nymph's eyes sparkled with mischief as he looked up at the boy, his own eyes were like the water, a deep mixture of blues and greens.

"My name is Naiad."

He replied with a smile as he sat up on the rock, intrigued by the shy yet kind creature.

"It's not often that anyone comes this far out."

There were too many fairies here and people usually stayed away.

"Naiad," he repeated, hoping that he didn't butcher the name.

He did.

"But it's pretty out here." It was truly beautiful here. Granted he had stumbled out this far by accident, really. But he was glad he found it and he knew that he would definitely be coming back.

The boy unlaced his converse and pulled his socks off, dipping his feet into the cool water slowly.

The sound of his name on someone else's lips made him smile softly, resting his head on his hands as the boy spoke.

"It is, that is because there are a lot of Fae creatures living here, we tend to turn nature back to how it should be."

Unpolluted, thriving and beautiful.

"You should be careful coming out this far, some of the Elders in your coven don't linger here too long, it's not safe."

"What's not safe about it?"

This place was absolutely beautiful. From what he could see, the only things you needed to worry about was wild animals. Hardly a worry for supernaturals.

The boy's wide blue eyes gazed around at the surroundings, as if looking would show him exactly what was to be feared here.

The Nymph gave a chuckle as he looked at the boy, shaking his head at Ti's innocence.

"You do not know much about the Fae, do you?"

That much was obvious otherwise he would no be brave enough to put his foot in the water when a creature like him was near.

His eyes found Naiad again and he shook his head.

"No. I don't think I know anyone that does know about them." Not that that would have mattered. Ti believed in learning from his own experiences. If he was told a Nymph was dangerous, he would have gone out to find one to see if it was dangerous.

His feet splashed gently in the water. He was completely relaxed around Naiad.

Naiad smiled as the boy splashed around in his water.

"Usually I kill anyone who comes too close to my river, the reason you're alive is because you proved yourself a friend of nature by saving that duck.

If you hadn't I would not have hesitated."

He simply missed out on a meal today, still, sooner or later a human would come wandering by, he doubted even the owner of the coven knew how close some of them had gotten, though none ever made it past the river.

Ti blinked owlishly at the Nymph as his feet splashing in the water slowed to a stop.

He would have been killed?

"I've been here earlier."

He'd been here a few times before. If anyone that ventured too close got killed, why hadn't he been killed before?

"Oh?"

He asked, slightly surprised by that fact, through his lips curled into a softer smile.

"I guess it's because you carry no ill intent."

This boy was too gentle, he hadn't sensed him because he was usually drawn to the dark desires inside a person.

Ti smiled back at the man.

He was glad that he would be spared. The boy didn't want to die yet. There was still so much he could do with his life.

His feet slowly began to pick again.

Under the water a few fish passed by; one brushed against Ti's kicking foot.

The boy gave a yelp of shock as he pulled his feet out of the water. What was that?

Naiad laughed as the boy yelped, fancy being afraid of a fish.

"They're waiting for you to feet them."

He mentioned, the only one who deep his feet here was the Nymph and in moments like these he would feed the fish, they had become accustomed to it.

It appeared that they had also become a little demanding.

Ti was more shocked at something brushing against him so suddenly than being scared of the fish. He didn't even know it was a fish.

"I don't have anything to feed them with."

What could he feed them with?

The boy glanced around to see if there was anything a fish would eat in the immediate area.