DWYN: The Fairy King of Mischief and Love - Chapters 5&6

[Ticklish&InLove]

Chapter 5: Lessons in Surrender​

Dwyn sat perched on the narrow wooden foot of the bed, watching Celeste, exhausted, be forced into dance after erotic dance, her laughter unending. He’d often left young maidens to unending fates like this in the past. Sometimes he cast spells to insure they would not thirst or hunger, but other times he had watched them cross over into ghosts he continued to play with in the afterlife. Some of these ghosts would become fae themselves, while the rest would cross over eventually. But he found he liked Celeste. He enjoyed that she would never completely give up, giving him plenty of reasons to punish her into submission in the years ahead…

Yes, she would be an entertaining consort indeed, and his fellow fae appeared to enjoy her immensely…

“Dwyn!”, her voice crying out to him brought his reverie to the present. He smiled. He liked that she called out to him for help even as she knew he was the reason she had found no mercy for the last several hours.

“Yes, mo ghrá, what do you desire?”, he raised an eyebrow, pretending not to be aware of her urgency.

“”Please, Dwyn!”, the poor girl was begging now.

He rose and slowly began to walk along the length of the narrow 2 inch wide wooden foot of the bed, “But we have so much to talk about my love.”, he began to dance along the narrow wood as easy as if he were on the floor., “Such as will you still be mine and mine alone when you travel the world for this new job?”

The mushroom fae’s expressions changed from devilish grins to concerned frowns even as they continued to torture the poor girl with arousal and relentless tickling.

“Take for example, my poor mushroom brothers,” Dwyn gestured to them as he walked over to her, “they have only just begun to be able to enjoy you as much as you enjoy them. How do you think they’d feel about losing you too soon?”

Celeste looked up and saw that the two mushroom fae really did look sad, “But I want to tickle her until she passes out and make love to her in our forest.”, one actually pouted.

Dwyn actually looked compassionately at the fae and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “”I know. I know, little brother, but she must consent.”

He then turned to Celeste, “You will never have mortal lovers as skilled, playful or energetic as a fae can be. Our play can seem like torture, but our torture is better than human pleasure, and since you have agreed to be mine, your pleasure is assured to be endless. Make me jealous though, and I can be vicious….”,he paused, grining,“although, you may well like it!”

When Celeste didn’t respond except to stare, he added, “It’s not like you can ever get away, you know, lassie. I am of the earth and can therefore find you anywhere. There is not a place that is made without the earth, so every brick, every piece of wood, every sand-made-into a pane of glass is my portal to wherever you are.”, when he saw fear begin to show in her eyes, he interrupted her thoughts by wiggling his fingers in front of her face, “There is no hiding from these hands, mo ghrá!”, sending her into giggles at the mere thought.

“It seems I have little choice, my King,” Celeste answered demurely, and shyly looked up from beneath her hair. Play the part, she kept thinking to herself. Then escape. Get on a plane tonight, and get a job far away…

Dwyn shook his head, “Oh Celeste, what am I going to do with you? You still think I don’t know what you are thinking? You still think you can escape me? Try escaping this,” he commanded desire to overwhelm her from the inside out, “Only just a moment ago you cried out for me. Now, shall I go be on my way?”, he cocked his head to one side and sent her his best smirk. Swooning, she reached out to him frantically, “No! don’t leave me, please!”

Dwyn laughed, standing up and levitating her onto the bed, then, dismissing the mushroom fae, who pouting went to find the mushroom forager, he embraced Celeste under the covers. “Sleep my sweet, and dream of me until the morning light.”

“B-but you said you’d release me!’

“Oh? Do you ache terribly, mo ghrá?”

Nodding frantically, she let out a breathless, “Yes!”

“Well then you will just have to ache more. In fact, you will have to be devastated with longing so great that you never want to leave my side again. Once you are there, we can travel wherever you want in the world, and I may provide you with satisfaction when it pleases me.”

Celeste realized in that moment that there was no escape. But perhaps there would be a thrill in evading Dwyn whenever possible. In fact, if she woke up before he did, she could sneak out…

Tickling fingers interrupted her reverie as she began giggling crazily under the covers trying in vain to protect her stomach and sides, “There will be no sneaking out of my gaze, no evading out of my grasp, no escaping of your heart from my hands…”, he rolled on top of her, and kissed her deeply, “Tá tú mianach!” , sending her into a deep sleep, where, yes, she dreamed of giving in utterly and completely to him. He smiled, seeing her dreams play out like a vision in his mind’s eye. It would not be long now. It would only be a matter of time till she was in full thrall…

Chapter 6: The Forest Lessons​

Celeste awoke strangely rested in body if not mind. She remembered everything from the last few days and briefly wondered that if she’d dreamed it all, if the job opportunity was a fantasy too, when finally opening her eyes, she recognized the room. Part of her was glad that meant the job opportunity wasn’t a dream. Part of her was terrified of the new world of fae entering her till now normal life. She touched her lips, remembering Dwyn’s kiss. Perhaps what scared her most now was that she wasn’t as scared as she had been of him, when she probably really ought to be terrified.

Well, she thought to herself, just put one foot in front of the other. She looked around and saw that she’d fallen asleep in her blue dress which was pretty wrinkled. She looked down at her feet and realized she didn’t have any shoes either. She recalled a gift store that had hiking apparel when they’d arrived. Glancing around, she saw that she appeared to be alone, so she called the front desk and asked for the items she needed to hike in the forest.

She was tying her new hiking boots on her feet when Dwyn’s hands clasped her shoulders, “I thought I said no more men’s clothing, mo ghrá.”

She turned and looked up at him defiantly, “Okay. So you have basically forced yourself into my life and now have all these rules I’m supposed to obey. But when you whisk me away from one place to another without letting me pack, you are just going to have to be reasonable when I do whatever is necessary to do what I have to do.”

He lifted her chin, “What you have to do is learn to obey me.”

Exasperated, Celeste pulled her chin away and began striding to the door, “I am not hiking in any woods I don’t know without shoes. I could be hurt by a splinter or stung or get a bite, and I frankly don’t want to be.”

He appeared, leaning beside the door, “And just who do you think tells the little forest workers who to sting, bite or prick, my dear?”

Speechless, Celeste stared at him for a moment, then began to answer, “Well, I still…”

He smiled patiently, “Celeste, what do you think a fae, is?”

She hadn’t even thought about that question before.
He didn’t wait for her response, “We are Nature’s voice. So if you hear us speak, it is with Nature’s intent.”

She nodded dismissively and opened the door, but hadn’t stepped outside yet before she felt his arms embrace her, “Very well, my love, but then this shall make today a very interesting lesson indeed.”

Determine to demonstrate her independence, Celeste said nothing, but walked out to the herb garden where the mushroom forager was waiting. Dwyn portrayed himself as human and walked beside her, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist, forcing hers to wrap around his.

The mushroom fae were tiny once more and sitting on the forager’s shoulder. They flew over to Celeste, each kissing a cheek, then circling her, one flew back to the forager’s shoulder while the other flew into her t-shirt, using its tiny wings to make her giggle.

Celeste wanted to grab it, to stop the tickling, but Dwyn just took hold of her free hand in his and held her other arm back with his body, ignoring with amusement her futile slaps against his back.

The old forager just shook his head and turning, started to walk to the forest muttering about the silly way of the fae.

When they got to the forest, he called out, “Muisiriún! Stop torturing the poor girl and help me to teach her!”

The little fairy flew to Celeste’s belly button and tickled her one last time, this time with his tiny hands, making her squeal, before emerging from her shirt, sending a flirtatious wink over its shoulder, then flying ahead to land on a soft patch of moss growing along the side of a tree.

“Well, at least the Muisiriún like you,” the forager nodded approvingly at her, “and that’s something that can’t be taught. The fae are a fickle bunch, so you best be learning how to please and appease the Muisiriún if you are going to find what you are looking for.”

He paused, then bowed his head a little at Dwyn, “Apologies, Dwyn.”

“No apologizing for the truth, my son.”, Dwyn smiled, then seeing the surprise on Celeste’s face, he explained, “I sent the first of the Muisiriún to teach his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Their family has honored us by remembering those lessons ever since.”

The forager smiled wistfully, “And you haven’t changed one bit.”, then leaning down her pointed to where the Muisiriún had landed, “What you are witnessing is a hunch in visual form, my dear girl. Most humans just follow their hunches, never knowing those forest hunches are the fae pointing you in the right direction.”

Dwyn leaned into her ear and whispered, “Or the wrong direction if we don’t like mortal’s intentions.”

The old forager’s hands dug into the soft moss and revealed a mushroom. A tiny mushroom fairy emerged from the top, as if it was an extension of the mushroom itself…

“That’s because it is the spirit of the plant, Celeste”, Dwyn answered her question before she even formed it in her mind.

The forager pulled out a tiny green glass bottle from his pocket, held it over the tiny fae and moved his hand in the four directions as he spoke. With each phrase, Dwyn translated in Celeste’s ear, urging her to speak it outloud,

“Faoi shuimhneas an tonn ag rith a thabhairt duit. “
“Deep peace of the running wave to you.”​

The little fae raised its hands to receive the water from the flask, turning it into a tiny sphere of pearl, and hugging it in its arms.

“Faoi shuimhneas an aeir ag sileadh a thabhairt duit.”
“Deep peace of the flowing air to you.”​

A breeze came and blew the spores from the mushroom into the air. The little fae grabbed several and placed them into the pearl, hugging it once more.

“Faoi shuimhneas an domhain ciúin a thabhairt duit.”
“Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.”​

The mushroom forager took an old wooden spoon and made a hole in the earth, to which the little fae flew to and placed the pearl.

“Faoi shuimhneas de na réaltaí ag taitneamh a thabhairt duit.”
“Deep peace of the shining stars to you.”​

The forager pulled a tiny piece of quartz crystal from his pocket and dropped it onto the pearl which swallowed it up and began to glisten in the sunlight.

“Faoi shuimhneas síochána gan teorainn a thabhairt duit.”
“Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.”​

The mushroom forager bowed his head while holding his hand over the little fae who began to push earth over the pearl. Then once, covered, it went to the original mushroom and hugged it’s stem tightly, tears on its little face. Then kissing it, stepped back onto where it had buried the pearl, and bowed, looking back up at the forager and answered in its own tiny voice,

“Faoi shuimhneas síochána gan teorainn a thabhairt duit.”​

The forager pulled the mushroom from the earth, while the fae’s tears streamed down its face into the dirt. Once they touched, though, a new mushroom began to rise, and the fae’s little face lit with joy as it began stoking and nestling into the mushroom’s cap, where laying down in the fetal position, it sank back down happily into the mushroom’s skin.

Celeste just stood there speechless, as was becoming habit to her now.

The forager smiled at her face, gesturing to the new life continuing to grow in front of their eyes, “See, lassie, we are all part of the cycle of the earth. The same thing happens when a logger plants a new tree for each one he cuts or when a gardener designates part of their garden for the wild flowers. The words aren’t important, but thank the earth and replace what you take, then you will always find what you seek.”

Celeste spent the morning entranced by the forager’s knowledge of the earth and fae, finding in his words a kind of ladder between the science she loved and the new world that had sucked her into it. By the afternoon, she was happily lost in the woods, but unafraid, as the forager seemed to know just where he was.

Yet, just as she was finding her stride, he stood suddenly and asked her, “Do you know where you are?”

She shook her head “no”, and was even more nonplussed when he answered, “Good.” He walked over to her and took her basket of mushrooms, “I’ll be taking those so the kitchen can begin preparing them for your feast tonight.”

She began to follow him, but he stopped her, “No, lassie, you have lessons yet to learn, my little girl. Our friends will get you back if you are meant to be.”, and with that he began walking away.

Terrified, Celeste started running after him, but no matter how fast she ran, and no matter that he seemed to not speed up any faster than a lazy pace, she could not keep up. Exhausted, she collapsed on the ground. She looked about her surroundings and saw that the afternoon sun was high, realized the forager had taken the sandwiches prepared by the hotel and the water too. Thinking of this fact, she noticed how parched her mouth was. This frightened her terribly, but she retreated into her scientist’s mind and decided to begin looking for what side of the trees the moss was growing.

But to her horror, moss was everywhere, circling the base of the trees 360 degrees. She fished out mental pin from her field kit that had made it on the trip since she’d had it at the lab when Dwyn whisked her away, but realized with a sinking heart that she had no silk to rub it against to turn it into a magnet. She needed to do that to turn a leaf into a compass, but now no tricks in the trade seemed available to her.

“You have a serious issue of trust, mo chailín amaideach.”

His voice, as always thrilled her and made her heart beat faster with trepidation, as she turned around, “You’re here!”

He sat on limb above her, while on his shoulder, sat the Muisiriún. He pointed to her clothes, “I bet you wish you were in a silk dress now, don’t you love?”

Angry, Celeste just glared at him. But one blink was all it took for him to disappear and reappear behind her, resting lazily across a fallen redwood log.

“I never left. I just wanted you to focus on what the forager na muisiriún had to teach you.”, he beckoned for her to approach him.

As she did, she realized the redwood log was so big, he was still looking down upon her when she was next to him. He reached down, handing her a large leaf full of sweet pure water, and played with her hair while she sipped greedily, whispering in a serious tone, “Now it’s my turn, mo ghrá.”

Then, just as she was relaxing into his touch, he whirled her around and thrust her forward so hard she fell onto her knees, “Teach her the forest lessons, Muisiriún.”

The two tiny mushroom fae walked up to her, their tiny faces each peering into one of her eyes. But by now Celeste had learned the fae could take on any size, and cautiously sat up at a snail’s pace.

“See, you are learning already, mo ghrá.”, Dwyn’s taunting voice seemed to echo behind her.

The two fae took on mischievous looks as they let out high pitched calls. Suddenly hundreds of tiny fae appeared, some made of stone, some of moss, some of lillipads, others looking like part insect, which Celeste only realized when they came close, were really tiny suits of arms. One black ant crawled up her leg, then stood up on it’s back legs, tilting it’s head from side to side. On any other day, Celeste would have brushed it off without thinking, but this time, she sat, paralyzed by the sight she was seeing.

“Good choice,” Dwyn yawned, “SeangÚn, reveal yourself.”

The tiny ant bowed then began to grow until a tall beautiful woman with jet black hair, who knelt smiling, her hand on Celeste’s knee, attired in black armor with Celtic designs throughout that synched flatteringly at her waist. Her eyes were both solid black, making Celeste gasp in fear…

“Enchant your eyes, my dark beauty, or you’ll frighten her”, Dwyn’s voice carried through the forest, like a breeze, making the leaves shake.

Chuckling, the woman closed her eyes and opened them, revealing human eyes with irises so dark it seemed pupil and iris were one.

“Is your army ready, SeangÚn?”

“Of course, my King.”, the woman, head bowed lifted her eyes just long enough to wink at Celeste playfully.

“Then show our young guest why wearing men’s shoes are not a good idea.”

“With pleasure, my King”, SeangÚn answered, waving her hands over Celeste’s hiking boots, making the laces untie and then retie into a series of Celtic knots. Then, shrinking to the same size as the mushroom fae, pulling back Celeste’s sock and crawling inside, followed by dozens of others just like her who proceed to crawl in, tickling Celeste’s feet with just barely there strokes.

Celeste began laughing hysterically, trying in vain to untie her hiking boots, but finding that each attempt only made the knots tighter. She began trying to just pull her feet out of the tied boots, like she had done hundreds of times with her regular boots on the job, but they wouldn’t come out.

Then just as she forced herself to her feet, the SeangÚn reached her sensitive arches, dancing across every ounce of helpless flesh and steadily heading to her toes, making her fall on her knees again, laughing hysterically, “Dwyn! Dwyn! Pleeaaahheeehheeehheeheeheese! Mercy!”

She was sitting up now, kicking wildly, and looking with pleading eyes up at Dwyn, who sat, on the redwood log, as if it were a throne. Wait! It was a throne!

Still laughing from the tiny fingers and legs dancing across her feet and in between her toes, Celeste rolled over to see that the forest had transformed, the fae were now all sizes, some tiny, some as tall as the trees, their skin made of bark and kneeling with others covered in feathers, wearing helmets covered in feathers just like cardinal caps, while still others were the size of men, lounging comfortably in perches too precarious for an Olympic gymnast to achieve, and still others perched on flowers, or even seemed to emerge from inside the plants themselves, each’s physique seeming to match the plant or animal from which they emerged. All were looking at her like she was the strange one. Yet others, much in the same charismatic style as Dwyn, offered her secret smiles suggesting that should she ever find herself here without him, she would not long be unaccompanied. All this, Celeste registered in quick glances as her body shook with laughter.

Dwyn rose from his red wood throne and proceeded to walk down slowly to her, as if on invisible steps, then sauntered over to where she was, his hand on a sword, eyes laughing even as he kept his face stern, “Now, I bet you are wishing you could remove those boots, don’t you, mo ghrá?”

“Nooooohohohhahahaheehee…”, Celeste protested, thinking, I didn’t fight all the stereotypes of what a woman should be to compromise it to a man now.

Dwyn, hearing her thoughts leaned down, cocked his head and began to tickle her with one hand, attacking her rib cage, armpits and stomach so fast his movements were a blur, sending her into full red faced, tear filled laughter, “But I am not a man, mo chailín beag amaideach.”

He then motioned for the other fae to gather closer, “Make her laughter fill the forest, make her tears feed your thirst, make her pleas turn into squeals. If I can discern one word, she isn’t being tickled ruthlessly enough.”

Celeste gasped at his command, but before she could protest, he lifted her head and kissed her deeply, stealing her breath for a whole other reason, “Just laugh and listen, mo chailín beag amaideach.”

He sat back and watched, amused as the bird fae began trailing feathers along her skin, the grass fae explored her neck and the spider fae wove webs tying her down while pausing every now and then to grab a tickle of their own. Even the tree fae became the size of men to squeeze her above her knees and trace leaves under her armpits…

It was just too much, the tickling sensations overwhelmed every sense, turning giggles into peals of laughter and making it impossible to beg…

“But you didn’t fight all the stereotypes of what a woman should be to compromise it to a man now, did you, my silly little girl?”, Dwyn asked her tauntingly.

At least they aren’t tickling me in my private parts, Celeste thought, hopefully he doesn’t know that…
Immediately, Dwyn lifted her head off the ground, and looked at her, “But I do know that, mo ghrá. They are leaving that delight for me alone, as you will learn to do. Do pléisiúir agus do gháire bhfuil mianach.”, then for added emphasis, he kissed her again and translated, “Your pleasure and your laughter are mine.”

He let her face go, allowing her head to be caught swiftly by fae who gently lowered it onto the moss and began tickling her cheeks, neck, ears and lips again, while others crawled under her shirt and up her pants tickling each square inch of skin just as fiercely as the SeangÚn were lavishing upon her feet.

Then suddenly, they stopped. Celeste sat up on her elbows, catching her breath and looked up to see a giant pine fae smiling down at her. Then taking a single huge stride, he shrunk down to a man’s size and winked.
“I’ve long yearned to play with you, Celeste. Do you know who I am?”

Celeste thought he sounded familiar, but when she tried to remember him, all she could think of was the single pine tree that grew on a cliff all by itself overlooking the coast. She loved that tree. Something about it moved her heart, and she had spent hours talking to it about everything, from the loss of her parents, to working through school to graduating to getting the job at Burk, and had even been headed there when Dwyn had introduced himself to her the first time…

“Yes, that was me,” the pine fae, bowed his head in greeting, “you may call me, Péine.” He walked closer to her and began drawing circles across her stomach, making her laugh all over again, and sending the SeangÚn to begin tickling again in response, “I still have this”, he pulled a heart shaped stone out of his pocket and held it out to her. Celeste’s mind reeled, remembering how she had bought the stone in a little shop off the Seattle Fish Market and stuffed it into an opening in the pine tree saying a year ago, “I think maybe you should be my lover, nature, I mean. I understand you a lot better than I understand my own species, so this is for you!” It had been a simple, childish act, but she had done it and then hugged the tree. She had even playfully tickled its roots and joked, “What kind of scientist will I be, do you think, tree?” It had been a magical moment as the tree’s limbs had blown around, shaking despite there being no breeze.

Péine chuckled, “You have no idea how hard it was for me to not laugh outloud that day and to remain still while you tickled my roots. I thought I was going to die, but just when I almost revealed myself to you, Dwyn appeared and gave me the order to remain silent. After you left, he asked me about you and I suggested you’d make a good bride.” Péine raised a solitary finger in front of her eyes and slowly turned it into a sprig of pine, “This won’t hurt, Celeste, I promise,” he pushed it into her bellybutton turning its needles, which were softer than any pine quills she had ever touched, around and around, sending her into shrieks and squeals of laughter….

Then, Péine grew more and more limbs, each becoming branches of the softest pine imaginable, and each tickling every inch of her body, half hugging her lovingly and half torturing her, but never with anything but playful love coming from his eyes.

Dwyn gave a command, and the SeangÚn stopped tickling her feet, their leader reappearing and waving her hand over them, making the boots and socks disappear. Smirking, she couldn’t help but stroke Celeste’s soft, now overly sensitized soles before backing away with a bow.

Péine grew more limbs then and began tickling Celeste’s feet in earnest, “Let’s see how ticklish your roots are, mo dheirfiúr!”, Celeste went ballistic trying to escape what now seemed like a vine of tickling surreally soft, pine needles attacking every crevice of her body. Together they rolled over the moss, her mouth thrown back with laughter while Péine’s face just grinned down playfully; continuing to do whatever would make her laugh the most.

Celeste’s clothing was being ripped apart throughout the playful one-way tickle fight, but not one needle or splinter from Péine pierced or even scratched her skin. Soon, she began to feel cold, as the fog rolled in. Péine recognized her discomfort and stopped, hugging her close, and nuzzling his face next to hers, “I love you, sister.”, he squeezed her tight, then looked over to Dwyn, “Your princess is cold, my lord. Please ask the fog fae to fall back from her a little.”

Dwyn nodded, then knelt next to Celeste, who was too breathless to do anything but allow Péine to cuddle her close. He offered her his hand, and waited patiently for her to take it, “You realize how loved you are by us, Celeste?”

Celeste couldn’t ignore the love streaming from the eyes of all the surrounding fae, including the two mushroom fae who, tiny once more, had taken to hugging her neck. Overwhelmed by it, she nodded and took Dwyn’s hand. He helped her stand, with Péine close behind her, and SeangÚn on one side with the mushroom fae now turning back to man-sized and standing on the other. They all looked at her as if she were something beautiful. Self-conscious, Celeste looked down and realized she was completely naked. Gasping, she tried to cover herself with her hands.

Dwyn pulled them away insistently, “Don’t hide yourself. You are beautiful, mo ghrá.”, he held onto her hands and stepped away, “Now that you have played with us, you must learn to trust us, to trust the forest.”, he looked up at the moon and then winked, “Besides, we have a dinner date, you and I.”

Celeste realized, heart sinking, that there was no way to get back to the hotel room and into clothes without attracting the attention of the people arriving for the Herb Farm dinner, let alone cross the next door vineyard. Perhaps she should just hide in the woods until it was completely dark, then…

“Nonsense!”, Dwyn looked at her as if she was the most ridiculous thing in the world, “You will walk through the forest naked, in the moonlight with us and in so doing learn to trust us, then you will join me in savoring the fruits we provide which till now you have only studied.”, he said the word “studied’ with a snort of distaste, “and in so doing, you will learn to allow yourself to trust us as we trust you whenever you pick off a random life to take to your laboratory and you will learn to allow yourself to be loved by us, as you have loved us.” The words were rattled off in the speed of an auctioneer.

With that, Dwyn turned, motioning her to follow. The fog, made up of millions of fae no bigger than a grain of sand giggled as he waved a hand through it, making them part around him, iridescent in the moonlight, and wait until Celeste, SeangÚn, Péine and the Muisiriún, who each protectively flanked a side of her, had crossed by.

Freezing, Celeste shivered, making Péine move closer to shelter her from the cold winds, while the Muisiriún grew giant shitake-like petals they removed from themselves and draped around her waist and shoulders. The SeangÚn motioned for her army to crawl over Celeste’s feet, making her giggle enough that the fae had to support her while the ant fae formed into tall black boots, that morphed solid in turn. Not to be outdone, Péine reached around her neck and draped a long branch of pine with needles that grew long and overlapping, close to her body, tickling her skin as they grew down to her waist, across her back and down her arms. When they reached the edge of the forest, Celeste looked completely and elegantly clothed, but each motion she made caused her new clothes to tickle her skin just enough that a smile was permanently affixed to her face.

Dwyn turned around, and looked immensely pleased with what he saw.

Not being able to help it, Celeste commented, straight faced, “But, I thought you had something against boots.”

The other fae all hid their faces, looking away to hide their laughter from Dwyn as he stood speechless for the first time. But a big smile grew across his face as he pulled her close, “Don’t hide your laughter, my little ones, mo banphrionsa has earned it!”, then looking into her eyes he gave her a devilish wink, “I didn’t say I have something against boots, I said I didn’t want you wearing men’s shoes. But tonight your clothes are fairy made, which means they will be alive and playing with you through the meal, my love.”

As he said those words, Celeste turned to see SeangÚn wiggle her fingers playfully at Celeste, then revealing five pairs of arms, making her quite ant like, each wiggling teasingly at the poor girl, she turned into a black vapor and disappeared into the boots. Celeste turned to the Muisiriún who each winked at her in turn, then shrank, turning into a deep brown vapor smelling of earth, and disappeared into her skirts. Lastly, Péine gave her a warm hug and whispered, “Just relax and let us play with you, sister. This is a dream come true for all of us, as it has been so long since a mortal was a companion to our kind. So few people truly find joy in the world today, and your heart called us to you, seeking that joy. So try and find some delight in it”, he tickled her sides, “Consider it our present to you!”, then just like the rest, his form became a vapor, disappearing into her shirt, but this time, the long soft pine needles masquerading as fabric, began to tickle her, the ones against her skin winding their way into her armpits stomach and undersides of her elbows.

Celeste, helpless, looked up at Dwyn who just kissed her and led her down through the vineyard, the gardens and into the Herb Farm’s restaurant.

Celeste spent the evening savoring each dish of mushrooms, each one tasting more heavenly delectable than the next, each glass of wine arriving with a fae sitting on its rim, rising in turn to kiss her on the nose, cheek or lips before she would take sip, each decadent morsel of food presented by the proud fae, bowing to Dwyn and looking eagerly for Celeste’s reaction. In between courses, the fae entertained themselves by tickling her at the most embarrassing moments when others at the communal table would try and make conversation, or when the server would ask a question. Worst was when the chefs, sommelier, and mushroom forager came out to speak to the diners… Péine especially seemed to delight in trailing scintillating ticklish strokes across her skin when she was supposed to be quiet and listen to the presentations.

Seeing her face turning red and her bottom lip quivering underneath her teeth as she strained to hold it in, Dwyn leaned into her ear, pulling her back to lean against him as he did and wrapping his arms around her, “Revenge is sweet isn’t it, mo ghrá?”, digging his own fingers into her sides so her mouth burst open, laughing at the exact wrong moment.

The old forager glared over at Dwyn and shook his head sternly, but then even he too seemed to find humor in Celeste’s predicament.

As the three hour evening drew to a close, Dwyn pulled Celeste to him, and nodding to the mushroom forager, he led her back to their room, whereupon the fae let go of her and turned back into their original forms, each with eyes wild and lit from inside, smiles of pure delight upon their lips.

Dwyn, gestured to SeangÚn, who now stood with just two arms, and asked, Celeste, “Does SeangÚn strike you as weak?”

Taken aback, Celeste stammered, “N-n-no.”

“Does she seem feminine to you?”

Celeste looked at the gorgeous creature and could only nod.

“Do you think I’m still asking you to compromise yourself?”

Celeste looked at Dwyn’s earnest eyes and couldn’t deny they seemed to promise more than any man had offered her before.

Dwyn smiled, “And I will always offer you more than any mere man can. All I ask is for you to dress in a way that pleases me.”

Dwyn nodded and the mushroom fae waved, making the fireplace come to life, while Péine pulled Celeste into a warm embrace so she was sitting between his legs, with his arms wrapped around her.

Dwyn sat down, taking her legs into his lap, while SeangÚn gently pulled her hair from between her back and Péine, and began to braid it.

“Celeste”, Dwyn began, “We need to talk about your moving away.”

Péine squeezed her even harder to him.
“Péine, Celeste won’t stop visiting you, even if she moves away…”, Dwyn began.

“But I only just got to love her back, and they live too short a lifetime already.”, the pine fairy complained, “and I want to get to play with her when she visits me, now that she can see, hear and feel me!”

Dwyn smiled compassionately at him, running his fingers down the soles of Celeste’s feet, “Don’t we all feel that way. But there may be a way for us all to be happy, yet, Péine.”

Celeste, giggling, tried to pull her feet away, but Dwyn leaned across her legs, holding them in place as he turned to face her, a look of utter passion on his face, “What did I tell you last night, mo ghrá? There will be no sneaking out of my gaze”, he grabbed her ankles with his left hand, “no evading out of my grasp”, he touched his fingers of his other hand to his lips then drew a heart across her chest, “no escaping of your heart from my hands…”, he brought his hand back to her feet and tickled ruthlessly, “Tá tú mianach!”

Laughing again, Celeste began to realize she couldn’t imagine life being as vibrant, as alive, without the fae consciously it, especially Dwyn. Oh, no, no, no,…she began to argue with her heart, I can’t fall in love with a fae, they are too mischievous, too irresistible, I’ll never be able to say no!

The fae around her all began to chuckle, the mushroom fae even doubling over and rolling on the ground. SeangÚn’s face lit up, making her look like a school girl, “You might as well give it up, mo dheirfiúr, as if a fae of Dwyn’s rank has selected you, you really have no choice but to give him your heart. It’s as good as gone. It’s only a matter of time before you recognize it. You are bound to him, you know.” With these last words, she gently touched Celeste’s arm, the skin underneath it lighting up and revealing the Celtic knot work Dwyn had drawn on her the day before. It was beautiful, like glowing lace weaving patterns all around her body, even into her most intimate places, and pouring out of them, like light made liquid, all coming together into a breathtaking knot that extended around her heart and from it directly into Dwyn’s hands.

“How many mortals get to see what their love looks like when lit up by a heart?”, Péine whispered into her ear, “I wanted that for you. That’s why I insisted Dwyn meet you, little sister!”

In awe, Celeste touched her own skin, her wrists, her hands. The world truly was a much more marvelous place than science had revealed to her!

Holding the palms of her hands out to Dwyn, she asked, “What do you suggest?”

Dwyn smiled that swoon inducing smile again, “I suggest Péine and SeangÚn become your guardians, as there will be times I must be away. I will find another pine fae to look after the tree whenever Péine is away. ” Both ant and pine fae silently glowed, and Péine hugged Celeste tighter, tickling her ribs as he did so.

The mushroom fae pouted, but Dwyn turned to them, “You two Muisiriún already have jobs as guardians, but you will be her teachers over the next month, and when your charge passes through the veil, you will join Celeste as she searches the world, learning about your kind. I will assign new Muisiriún to the next in the forager’s family line.” Delighted, the muisiriún began to dance.

Dwyn now leaned over and took Celeste from Péine’s reluctant arms, “Celeste, let’s take this adventure together.”, he held her close then looked over her shoulder at Péine, “I promise to cherish her heart. I can’t promise not to play with it, but I promise to keep it full of joy, brother!”

If Celeste had been able to see behind herself, she would have seen Dwyn and Péine clasp hands into one fist and SeangÚn place her hand on theirs.

Then, with a kiss on Celeste’s cheek from SeangÚn, and a long hug from Péine, they both disappeared. The two mushroom fae stopped their dancing, shrinking to tiny sizes once more and flew happily through the fireplace flames, turning the tongues of fire into hearts before flying up and out.

Alone, finally, Dwyn pulled Celeste into his arms, “Let me intoxicate you, mo ghrá”, he kissed her deeply, “Let me possess you…”, he trailed his lips down from hers down her neck, then lifting her, led her to the bed where they made love until the morning light.

Continued at: http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=78754