Chapter Text
The Cabin wasn’t too far from the city, in fact, from the cabin you had a nice view of the small town and it’s inhabitants. It really made you wonder why you got this place so cheap. You had to go cheap after all, student loan debts were on your shoulders and you still weren’t sure what kind of job you wanted.
You looked around the place. It was a little messy from lack of use, but nothing too hard to tidy up. A lot of dust and cobwebs, some old furniture left behind, but still usable. You looked out the filthy window and smiled at the whimsical pine tree that stood near the edge of the hill your property was on.
You call the tree whimsical because of the swing and play house that was built on it. You found it funny that those two things seemed to be in the best shape compared to the rest of the property. You were sure that sitting on the swing was the best view of the city, and that would make for some lovely relaxing time.
Now’s not relaxing time though. Now is moving in time. Which is stressful and annoying, but its what needed to happen if you wanted relaxing time. Thankfully, in your college life, you didn’t own much, so there wasn’t a lot to place. You’ll need to go food shopping as well with what little you had left in your bank account.
You sighed and got on it. Every now and again you’d pass the window and catch something in the corner of your eye, but there was never anything there when you’d look full on at the tree. You assumed it was just the wind swaying the swing, making it move and catch your eye.
When Nighttime came, you settled down with your bowl of Ramen (College life, yay.) on the old couch and relaxed on your phone. Coverage wasn’t the best, but not the worst either.
You heard a tapping on the window that made you flinch. There wasn’t a tree directly outside your window, so nothing should have been able to knocked into it by the wind.
You looked at the still foggy window and set your ramen down, walking to the glass slowly. Maybe it was a racoon?
You definitely saw motion, near the tree with a swing. You squinted at it and realized there was the shadow of a man, swinging carelessly. You blinked, not understanding what you were looking at. You’ve seen plenty of drunk college students play on playgrounds and just generally act ridiculous, but this was different. There was no sounds coming from this swinger, no laughter, cheers, or other signs of drunk giddiness.
You considered just calling the police, thinking it was just someone who had used the swing before you bought it and didn’t know someone was now living there, but before you could move to get your phone, the swing went up into the shadow of the tree, and no one came down.
Your blood ran cold. The sight shocked you. You wondered if whoever it was had jumped and you looked for where they could have landed, but you didn’t see anything. You stepped away, swallowing quietly as cold sweat dripped down your neck.
Your mind went to the shotgun your parents sent you with. They insisted if you were going to live on the edge of town, that you needed protection from wild animals. Though they had cayote’s and badgers in mind, you were now more afraid of a more man-shaped creature.
You suddenly hear scraping sounds on your roof, making you jump. No. No way. Was he on the roof now?! Why?! HOW?!
You quickly rushed and locked your front door, the sounds telling your mind that you weren’t just imagining whatever it was outside like you suspected before. That’s when, through the window on the door, you saw something else on the swing.
It was also man-shaped, but seemed to wear brighter colors, making it’s shape stand out more. This one acted the same as the first, silent, careless enjoying the thrill of a swing. But while he enjoyed himself, your heart began to pound in your ears as the scraping sound on the roof continued.
“It could be Bats, o-or an owl…” You told yourself. Hearing your voice crack however, wasn’t very assuring. You stepped away from the window and grabbed your phone, attempting to take a picture of the thing on your swing with this terrible lighting.
Looked like every picture of any cryptid ever. Blurry shadows. Great.
While you pouted at your phone, you heart scraping at the window. You slowly looked up to see what looked like a horrifying mask, and a blue tipped hand scraping at the glass.
You screamed and ran to the basement of the house. It was the only place that didn’t have windows, and only one door. You figured it was a good idea at the time, and that you could wait until morning, and that thing would surely leave.
Until then, you locked and barricaded the door, not wanting to take any chances if that thing got inside.
While in the basement, silence prevailed. No scraping of thumping, no sounds coming from outside.
You wound up sleeping on some old bags of sprouting potatoes, though you were shocked you could sleep at all after seeing that horrific face peering in at you like a zoo patron looking at an enclosed animal.
You crept back up the stairs. Still no sounds came other than the creaking of the wood under your feet. You looked around the kitchen. Nothing was out of place, same with the living room. Your bowl of ramen now cold, stale, and bloated.
You took a deep breath and looked outside. You fully expected it to look how it did yesterday, not but a swing and playhouse on a tree.
Your stomach dropped. The brightly colored figure, was still there, swinging happily. But now, you could see better.
He wore pant that look like he made them from a circus tent, as in red and gold striped, and baggy like Harem pants. It look like he had flowers growing on his body, with bushels of yellow roses around his neck and waist. It also looked like he was wearing a black long sleave shirt under them. Triangles surrounded his face, with two mismatched from the others on top of his head. Those two looked like horns. Yellow roses grew around the triangles and horns around his head.
The one with the horrifying mask was nowhere to be seen, until you saw movement from the inside of playhouse in the tree. There he was, but he seemed to refuse to come out.
You swallowed and slowly opened your door, carefully watching their reactions. Or lack thereof, because neither faltered in their movement or looked your way. You left your door open in case you needed a quick get away and slowly walked closer.
Now you could hear talking between the two, but it was like no language you’ve ever heard, it honestly sounded like ambient woodland noises. The darker creature emerged from the playhouse and sat on the low branches before looking at you, his mask grinning with a split sharp toothed smile.
He was adorned with blue and red flowers and a veil-like hat, crowned with the same flowers. Blue horns pointed at you like antenna. What looked like black shirts on their chests, you began to realize was their actual skin, the abyssal shade fading into blue farther down his arms. His fingers were pointed into claws and the first two knuckles were white. The yellow one had similar hands but with orange. The blue one also wore billowy pants, but blue with yellow stars decorating them.
His pitch black eyes looked at you with red, pupil-less irises.
They both wore crescent decorated masks with grinning mouths carved into them, and paint around their eye holes. They both looked at you, their expressions unreadable, but neither moved from their spot. The yellow dressed one kept swinging, but slowed slightly.
“Hello…” You started and they looked at you curiously. The blue one stared with an intensity, and a mischievous glint in his(?) eye.
You started to introduce yourself but stopped when noticing something around the base of the tree. A circle of blue and orange mushrooms rimmed the ground around the tree, making your words catch in your throat. No way.
You looked at the beings again and they now both looked at you intensely, the yellow ones grasp on the ropes of the swing tightened while the blue on leaned closer to you.
“You’re fae, aren’t you?” You said and both of their postures suddenly dropped in disappointment
“Aw Man!!” The Yellow one suddenly burst out, his mask remaining the same, but the sudden sound made you flinch.
“It usually works…” The blue one grumbled.
“Let me guess, humans often tell you their names while trying to befriend you?” You glared.
“Awkward silence makes for a great introductions.” The blue one snickered mischievously before slipping back into the playhouse, feet first and with startling agility.
You looked at the Sun faced one who kept swinging, not seeming super bothered by the loss of your name.
“So…you live in this tree or something?” You asked.
“You could say that…” He chimed and hopped off the swing, landing in the grass. “The swing is good fun! Want to try?”
“You just tried to steal my name, I’m going to pass.” You said before hearing another growl from the playhouse. “So that was another trick.” You huffed. “Will touching the tree or anything attached to it make me vanish or something?”
The sunny creature did a light shrug, the veil dripping from his shoulders fluttering in the wind. He skipped in the grass and flopped onto the ground. You glanced back at the one in the playhouse, who gave you wicked vibes, so you backed away.
“So is this why I go this place so cheap? Because of you two?” You asked them, hands on your hips. “Along with whatever the heck you were doing last night??”
“I wanted to meet you.” The playhouse gremlin grumbled. “Most people come to see what’s on their roof. When you wouldn’t come out, I tried to look inside. Your stupid windows are dirty.”
“Wait, so was that scraping you just trying to clean them enough to see me??” You asked in disbelief. “You looked like a horror movie creature trying to eat me!”
He shrugged and closed the child sized door. You could hear his giggling inside, like he just watched you trip and fall on your face.
You huffed and turned from him to find yourself now facing the yellow one again. He stood tall, ridiculously tall, making you step back to look all the way up at him.
“New friend, would you like to play?” He asked eagerly.
“What??” You blinked. “Play? I only play with people I can trust.” You folded your arms.
“We’re not so scary~” He said, fluttering his orange tipped fingers at you with jazz hands. “I’ll let you pick the game.”
You narrowed your eyes at him. You didn’t trust it one bit. “Yeah no, I’ve got dirty windows to clean.” You said and walked past him. His posture slumped with disappointment, making you feel a little bad, but you weren’t about to let it get to you after they tried to steal your name.
You went into the house to get the materials to start cleaning up the windows. If it will prevent those things from scraping at the glass, then you’ll do it. Not to mention, it’ll help you keep an eye on them as well.
You started scrubbing the old glass, and from behind you, in the reflection, you could see the Yellow being watching you carefully.
“Can I help you?” You huffed in annoyance.
“Just watching. You’re the most interesting thing to come to this place for a while” He chimed cheerfully.
You looked back at him and noticed the blue one hasn’t touched the ground at all. He still sat in the tree, hopping onto the swing but didn’t even kick off from the ground to start.
“What’s with him?” You frowned.
“He sunburns easy~!” The yellow fae said happily.
You started at his mask for a minute. “You look like a sun.”
He stood straight and put his hands up to his mask, as if presenting it to you. “Do I now? Thank you for noticing! I do so love the sun~”
“Then I’ll call you Sunny, since I’m sure you won’t tell me your real name.” You told him and went back to washing the windows. He seemed to freeze in place, like, he wasn’t expecting you to actually give him a name.
“You’re…giving me a name??” He asked curiously.
“Yeah, I gotta call you something other than yellow fae or some thing on my swing, right?”
His mask spun in a circle, making you flinch from shock. “Does that mean you intend to stay?”
You looked over him, trying to assess what he meant with that. You couldn’t tell if he was happy with that notion or if he was going to talk you into leaving.
“Well, yeah? I got this place for cheaper than my student loans, so of course I’m not going to pass it up. Also I already unpacked, so I’m not about to do all that crap again.” You said and went back to cleaning the widows, moving to the next one.
Suddenly he was right in front of you, making you stop fast to not run into him.
“Oh my dear new friend! We are going to have so…SO much fun together!” He said breathlessly, putting his mask up close to your face. You had to step back from his close proximity.
“Rrrrrrright.” You frowned.
He danced around you for the rest of the day, but didn’t touch you once. It made you wonder if his attempts to have you run into him like a cat zipping between your legs while walking was because he couldn’t touch you first. Like you touching him first was permission for him to touch you. You had no intention of letting that happen either, lest he drag you to the fairy circle and steal your soul or whatever else it is he wanted from you.
“Personal space man!” You yelled at him.
He paused and let you step away from him. You glanced at the tree again, where the darker fae remained. “What’s with him? He didn’t seem so shy last night, why won’t he come over here.”
Sunny made a mime thinking pose and before giving a cartoonish shrug.
You narrowed your eyes and went to the house. You still haven’t had anything to eat for too long. “stay out of the house, you are not welcome.” You informed him, making him fake rub his eyes like he was crying.
“I only let in people I trust. Earn my trust, then we’ll talk.” You told him.
After getting some somewhat decent food, your brain started to think clearer. You came to a realization and stepped outside to face those things again triumphantly. You first had to take a minute to appreciate how cute they were, as both were now on the swing, Sun Sitting on the darker one’s lap as they swung. You approached them but kept a decent distance just in case.
“Hey, I think I figured it out.” You grinned.
“Oh have you now?” Sun giggled and hopped off of Moon’s lap.
“Ah-huh.” You smirked as he got closer. “You can’t leave the fairy circle unless it’s day time.” You grinned. Sun flinched and his eyes narrowed in annoyance. “And your friend there can’t leave unless it’s night, right?”
“You’re no fun at all, you know that.” Sun folded his arms and huffed.
“Being a liar isn’t fun either, is it?” You folded your arms at him. You then look at the darker fae who looked like he wanted to jump at you and tear your arms off. “And I’m going to call you Moon.”
He didn’t move for a second before cocking his head to the side at you. “You’re giving me a name too?”
“Well I’m not giving you mine.” You smirked, making them both pout. You began to look at their outfits closer, they had colorful veils dripping from their forms that made them look more ethereal. “What’s with the veil things? Couldn’t find real clothes?”
“They signify that we are but lovely virgins, awaiting to be wed by a bold young homeowner.” Sun said and did a lovely twirl before blinking at you flirtily.
You stopped in your tracks and stared at their frozen faces. Your face dropped to a glare. “Another lie.” You accused.
“You have no proof its not~”
“Sure I do. You said it.”
He clenched his chest dramatically. “Ah! That hurts a poor old soul such as I!”
“Oh? How old? Actually, don’t say anything unless you’re going to tell the truth.”
His silence made you throw your arms up in the air and walk away from them. You were done listening to liars. You went back into the house and started opening windows to start dusting and sweeping. The amount of dust could choke a skeleton.
Sunny danced around the yard carelessly, laughing when he could hear you cough on the dust and come outside to catch your breath. Under the sink you found an old hummingbird feeder. It has long been empty, but it was still good.
You smiled at the thought of getting to see some sweet hummingbirds and you quick made the sugar water for it. Now it was filled and ready, but you then realized you only had one place to hang it.
You walked outside and passed Sunny, who was laying in the grass, seeming to hope you’d accidentally trip on his or something. Thankfully he stuck out like a sore thumb with his bright colors. You walked directly passed him and right up to Moon, who still sat on the tree.
“What do you want?” Moon hissed.
You look between the tree and Moon thoughtfully. Everything on the tree was technically theirs, since it was in the fairy circle, their property. Which was why Moon could be on the swing or playhouse and still technically in the circle. You looked at the humming bird feeding in your hands before coming to a decision.
You held it out to Moon. “A gift for you.”
This made him stop dead in his tracks. He stared at you with absolute shock. “M…me? A gift??” He asked.
“Well, this is your tree, right? So If I give this to you, you may decide if you want it up so we both may enjoy the company of hummingbirds.” You reasoned.
He seemed to take in the information before glancing back at Sunny. You didn’t look for Sunny’s reaction and just waited for Moon to decide. Finally, he reached for it, being very careful to not touch your hands. That at least felt confirming that they couldn’t touch you first.
“Thank you…” He said softly, and walked up the branches to hang it in a nice spot where you both could see it.
You smiled at the cooperation between the two of you. You then turned and ran directly into Sunny, your face hitting his chest.
Crap.
Sunny grabbed you and for a minute your heart raced with what he could be planning, but he just suddenly hugged you tightly. “Oh what a sweet thing you are!!” He chimed happily. “I think you deserve a reward! We will now answer one question truthfully a day!” He told you.
You squinted at him suspiciously. “How do I know that’s the truth?”
“I feel we owe it to you! You’ve given us three kind gifts!” Sunny said happily.
For a minute your mind wondered what the other two gifts they were talking about, but then you realized the names you gave them must have counted.
You thought for a minute. “One question from each of you a day?” You bargained.
Sun tapped his mask thoughtfully before looking at Moon, who was watching the feeder before looking back and nodding.
“Deal.” Sun grinned. You could hear it in his voice despite his mask remaining the same.
“Okay so first question-“
“We never said which question we’d answer truthfully~” Sunny seemed to smirk.
You gawked a second. “Then what if I only ask one question a day and you don’t answer that truthfully? You’d be going against your word!”
“You’re simply too clever.” Sunny giggled. “We’ll answer the first questions of our time of day. You can only ask Moon at night that means.”
“Fine, so-“
“Yes we are.” Sunny suddenly answered, making you stop.
“What?”
“First question you asked us today was ‘are you fae’?” He said smugly. You swear the grin on his mask grew.
“That doesn’t count! That was before our deal!”
“Deal was first question of the day will be answered truthfully. And I have.”
You threw your hands up in the air. “Ugh you two are impossible!!” You said in exasperation and stormed back to your cabin.
You heard them giggling at you from behind. You decided to go get your shopping done now and take a break from these tricksters.