~ Display of Beauty, Part II ~

"I don't know what you're talking about", the animal fairy replied.

She was trying her best to be casual about it, but only accomplished this to a moderate level in her nervous state.

"Oh yes of course you do. Don't play me for a fool", the scout in front of her replied vehemently.

"No, really, why would I-"

"More than enough scouts have reported to me during the past weeks that you were apparently watching me. From this exact spot. Or, if we went on a mission, you would follow us, follow me. So, tell me, what's this about?"

Oh.

She knew.

She knew that the brunette had been observing her because other scouts had seen her.

How stupid could Fawn have been to believe she was able to hide well enough to remain unseen by any scouts? She was near their headquarters and flew by them if she had to follow Nyx when she was out to investigate something, after all. The shorter fairy shrank even further, guiltily looking down.

It wasn't helping that Shade stood behind her, still holding her by the shoulders to make sure she wouldn't escape. How could she, at all? Once the head scout had something set in her mind and spotted the animal fairy, she wouldn't let it go; wouldn't let her go. No one was as meticulous with her as the leader of the scouts was. It was special in its own way.

Mind you; that didn't mean Fawn enjoyed this.

She had been caught red-handed – as peaceful as this was – and hadn't even been given the chance to try to talk herself out of it. The fairy in front of her had directly confronted her with proof. Typically Nyx.

Realizing that she was the one who was expected to speak next and none of the other two would break the silence, Fawn sighed. What could she say?

"I … I was observing you. Yeah." She still didn't dare to look up again. "But … the reason is really silly and kind of embarrassing." With this, she tried to wriggle her way out of having to tell Nyx the exact truth. Maybe the other fairy would show some mercy. She couldn't tell her what she was doing! … Could she?

In front of her, she saw Nyx waving her hand to the side slowly. The grip on her shoulders vanished and some tension left her body along with it. A tension that she hadn't even been aware of before. Did that mean the head scout wasn't afraid of her flying away anymore? Good, but Shade didn't leave, either. The ninja-like scout only took one step backward.

With her eyes cast down, the animal fairy missed Nyx's face softening slightly.

"Can it be more embarrassing than crying in front of me on the first night we properly talked to each other?" the long-haired fairy asked without any attack in it.

Cringing because of knowing Shade was hearing this, Fawn closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. "I'm not sure. Maybe … this is just a different kind of embarrassing?" Her left hand found the back of her neck and she rubbed it nervously. Her eyes met those of Nyx again. Seeing the harsh fierceness gone from the head scout's posture, she relaxed a little. But that didn't mean Nyx would drop the matter.

"Fawn", the black-haired fairy repeated with warning. "Just tell me what's going on."

It wasn't easy to forget that the other scout was still standing behind her. The topic itself was uncomfortable, but to talk about it while someone else was present made it even worse. As it seemed, though, Nyx wanted her to stay. Otherwise she probably would have sent her away. And Shade herself seemed to want to stay, since she didn't fly off.

That's what you get for your your strange curiosity, the short fairy thought miserably. Time to get this over with.

"I … well, you see", she gestured about with her hands, clearing her throat, "I wanted to check up on you."

That sounded reasonable, didn't it?

"Why would you want to check up on me?" Black eyebrows creased.

Good question.

"Becauuuse … you seemed a little off last time we met, and I wanted to make sure everything's all right!"

"From what I know, you started observing me even before the last time that we met." Her voice gave away her disbelief.

That's true ...

"Umm, yes, you're right, that's because actually … it were my friends who pointed out that something about you seemed off to them." Shifting restlessly, she gave Nyx an awkward smile. Fawn was a terrible liar when being cornered, and she knew it. That didn't mean she would give up or in so easily.

"Is that so? Why didn't you simply ask me if you thought such a thing?" Her back straightened back up.

"It seemed … wrong", the animal fairy admitted meekly. "So I wanted to see for myself."

"And what did you find out?" The voice was low and strict.

"I guess you're all right ...?" Fawn tried in an attempt of not having to delve into further details.

"And that took you weeks to conclude?" Nyx inquired, eyebrow lifting.

"I wanted to make sure!" the brunette defended herself.

"I'm pretty sure you'd have enough work to do instead of just watching me if you thought I'm fine, Fawn."

At this, the addressed didn't know what to reply.

"And I can't imagine you'd rather spend time observing fairies than being with animals if you had the chance", the scout kept probing.

It was a good point. Such a good point actually that Fawn didn't know how to weasel her way out of it if Nyx was aware of this.

Closing her eyes, the short fairy slowly, very slowly, sighed.

When she opened them, she decided to finally step out of this vertical sandwich that she was stuck in between two scouts. None of them stopped her.

She didn't understand why Shade was still there, especially if the lower-ranked scout had nothing to say now after having nothing to do anymore. But that was an aspect that she couldn't further care about.

Slightly angled away from Nyx yet not having her shoulder between them, Fawn got out, fidgeting, "My friends told me you were acting … different. I didn't know what they were talking about, so I decided to see for myself. Whenever I didn't have too much to do, I came here and waited until I saw you, then I just watched. Or, well, followed you when you flew out. And now I think I know what the reason behind your slight change is. You want to impress someone. Although I can't say who this is."

During this, she was staring straight ahead, not meeting anyone's eye. She didn't know why speaking this aloud made her so uneasy. In any case, Fawn only moved her eyes to take in the long-haired fairy for a second before flying off. The amount of discomfort was too much. Her feelings told her to leave, and she was still mostly following her heart – instead of her head.

Nyx, perplexed by this running off, only felt the start after the shorter fairy by her body, hand lifted and reaching for the leaving form. Catching herself, she looked at Shade. The other scout was fixing her with a curious gaze, posture erect, dawning realization glinting on her face.

The superior didn't know what to say.

"Tss!" She turned around and flew from the tree, following the three other fairies of her team to their current task.

The short time between leaving Shade and reaching Chase, Fury and Di allowed her to quell the agitation she felt.

"Guys, I think you're right."

Iridessa, Rosetta, Vidia, Tinker Bell and Silvermist were looking down at a troubled Fawn.

The animal fairy had instantly slumped down onto the ground as soon as she had arrived and said hello to everyone. After a sharp sigh, she had started the topic.

"What are you talking about?" Iridessa inquired.

After a moment of thinking, the brunette replied, "Nyx is trying to impress someone. I just can't tell who it is yet."

Upon hearing this, the others glanced at each other. Fawn was seeing them less and less since Nyx had appeared on the scene as her friend. It wasn't that they didn't grant her this, but the relationship seemed a little … odd in parts. Something about their friendship was off.

Not that Nyx would have been against her in any way, or that Fawn would utilize the new amicability of the scout to smuggle in further dangerous animals without having to face any consequences.

It was the fact that they had never seen the head scout change during the past years, only now that she was getting along with Fawn; and that Fawn herself wouldn't even catch on to it. It was the way Fawn was stressing over things regarding the tan fairy, and how she seemed to obsess over the current issue after the gang had told her about their thoughts regarding Nyx's change.

Something didn't fit the way it currently was in the friendship of Fawn and Nyx.

It was like two gears being slightly off and grinding against each other, a tinker would say.

They had their vague suspicions, but didn't say anything.

Seeing Fawn like this and hearing the tone in her voice stirred another idea for the possible reason of what could be going on. Because it shouldn't have bothered the animal fairy the way it looked like in case the scout had laid her eyes upon someone.

"What's so bad about that, Honeydew?" Rosetta finally asked.

"Well, I just want to know!" Fawn huffed.

Tinker Bell opined, "Shouldn't you be happy for her anyway?"

The animal fairy turned to her, a bit angry, mouth open to retort something, but found that she couldn't. Unsure, she waved her hands about. After a few moments, she said, "Yes. I should!" then crossed her arms in front of her chest with a growl.

Again, the others exchanged glances.

Only Silvermist dared to ask, "What is it then, Fawn?" She went down on her knees next to her friend, sitting on her heels and putting her hands in her lap.

"I'm not sure." The brunette was becoming defensive about it. "At first I found the idea funny that Nyx could be interested in someone that way, but the more I thought about it the stranger I felt."

No one spoke a word.

So Fawn went on, "I was observing her for some time and noticed the things you told me. I feel stupid for not having seen them in the first place myself, but at the same time, watching her like this somehow gave me a special feeling towards her. I usually only do this with animals, after all." She shrugged weakly, not knowing if this explained anything.

Tinker Bell had told the others about her conversation with the brunette after the beginning of the latter's observation. It was weird enough, the fairy obviously not realizing how creepy it was. But then again, Fawn did rather often things that seemed weird to the rest of the group. They loved her anyway. Sometimes, though, she needed a little poke in the right direction.

"She caught me at the end and made me say what I was doing. I threw it in her face and just flew off." The animal fairy threw her hands in the air, then crossed her forearms over her bent knees and put her head on them. "It was so embarrassing!"

Oh, so she hadn't even talked about the actual matter with the person concerned. That seemed … complicated.

Silvermist laid one hand on the animal fairy's upper arm, wanting to help her, starting, "Fawn, you should definitely talk to her about it. Or at least think on the reason for your feelings. I think you might lo-"

Vidia, silently watching and listening until now and having her own thoughts on the matter, spoke over her, "Yeah, you definitely like her."

Turning around, the water fairy looked at the fast flyer, a tad confused. The latter held her gaze, steady, and only faintly shook her head.

Fawn was apparently completely clueless of anything that could be going on.

The animal fairy was supposed to find it out herself.

Fawn still hadn't straightened her feelings. But she was good at ignoring things that she didn't understand. Or rather at simply living with them.

Since the day Nyx had found her on the plane, they hadn't seen each other. On Fawn's behalf, it was because she had had a lot of work to do thanks to it being spring. Training with the birds, cleaning the rabbits' houses, feeding the young weasels …

She didn't know how it was for Nyx, though. Whether the scout didn't have the time to come by and see her, or if she had some free time, but not enough to go looking for the animal fairy. Or whether the black-haired fairy even wanted to see her in the first place after finding her almost scrutinizing her.

The brunette sighed, leaning an arm against the bark of a tree in front of her and resting her head against it. She was just outside the clearing of the animal meadow.

Had she messed it up?

While Fawn enjoyed being around animals, her mood was subdued since the incident. Not even the chirping of the birds all around her could cheer her up.

First you're depressed after an animal that you came to love has to leave, and now you're getting down because of a fairy. What is wrong with you, Fawn?

She cursed herself mentally.

"Oh, hey Fawn, what's up?"

The addressed lifted her head and saw her animal-talent colleague, Buck. He was casually standing two steps to her side, one hand placed on his hip. A lop-sided smile graced his lips.

"Hey, not much. Just taking a short break", she tried with a smile of her own.

"You seemed rather down, are you sure you're not doing anything too heavy?" His eyebrow furrowed in what probably was worry.

"Yeah, sure, I just ran with the rabbits." That meant, they ran and she flew. Her hand gestured vaguely behind her where she knew the two rabbits would still be grazing somewhere.

He was kind of right, though; she felt heavy. Not too much and far from the amount it had been after Gruff's going back into hibernation, but still. There was a slight pressure on her heart, and she couldn't pinpoint what it was. It existed since shortly after discovering Nyx's intention with … whoever it was. Again, anger sizzled inside her like a tiny worm, and she pressed her teeth and lips together while staring lividly down at the ground.

The head scout had just begun being nice towards her; kind, even. She had been the one who had been able to build her up after Gruff was gone. Even though she didn't participate in it when they were together, she understood her physical ways – as a scout who was physically hard-working herself. They had been spending a lot of time – until Fawn had decided to study her current ways – getting to know each other after previously getting in each other's way rather often.

This time between them couldn't be over already; could it?

Because surely, if there was a special someone to Nyx, she would want to hang out with them instead. And seeing how full Nyx's schedule was ...

"Fawn, are you all right?" she heard Buck's inquiring voice.

Her head snapped up and she found his eyes again, all trace of a smile gone. "Yes. Yes, why wouldn't I?"

"You just drifted off and seemed so sad", he replied.

"Oh, that. It's nothing." She put her playfully overconfident smile on, turning so she could lean sideways against the tree with her arm braced against the bark, and waved her other hand dismissively.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" he tried once more, not being fooled.

"Yup, completely!" she boasted.

Watching her with a hesitant gaze, the animal sparrow man sighed and shook his head. "Well, if you change your mind about that, you know who to look for. Okay?"

"Okay", she answered immediately. It wasn't that she didn't like Buck or that she was wary of him; rather the opposite. They got along well whenever they talked to each other or worked together. He could almost be considered as her friend. Or was he already counting as such?

She didn't know. Where was the line between acquaintances and friends? Where was the line between getting along and liking someone enough to want to be friends? Where was the line between liking someone and … liking them?

Fawn cringed at the thought. Why was she getting into that now?

She was being a little dramatic. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated on Buck's continued presence.

"Okay", she firmly said once more, looking him in the eye during it. This time, though it wasn't wide, her smile was real.

It was reciprocated by the sparrow man. Nodding, he said, "Good", then left her alone.

With her eyes, she followed his path in the air for a moment before returning her thoughts on her internal debate.

Was this even a debate? Gosh, she needed to do something about the state that she was in. She-

She needed to talk with Nyx. She needed to see her.

The thought was fierce in her. It was the only solution to the turmoil inside her, as she realized.

She didn't know what exactly she would want to talk about with her. Maybe ask who it was, since when it was, how she was supposed to act now-

What?!

Woah, woah, woah. Why would this influence anything of the way Fawn behaved around the scout?

She took another deep breath to calm herself.

How could she voice her thoughts when she couldn't even make out what they were exactly? How could she tell Nyx of her feelings? Would Nyx even want to hear her out? Would she care about it after the stunt that the animal fairy had pulled?

She wanted Nyx to care. And these days, Nyx seemed to care about her. She didn't want to lose this ...

Closing her eyes, Fawn came back to her basic decision. She needed to talk to the other fairy. Maybe starting with the basic fact of her discovery itself.

Restless, she turned around to the two rabbits she had trained with, saying, "Hop off, you guys. It's home time for you!" before leaving the meadow herself.

The brunette was on her way to the scouts' headquarters. Determined to talk about the matter, she didn't let her slightly nervous feelings stop her from the task she had placed on herself.

It was mid-afternoon, with the sun pleasantly shining down on Pixie Hollow and warming the animal fairy where its rays met her skin. Birds were happily chirping in most trees that she passed, like they wanted to greet her. The air was enriched with the smell of all kinds of flowers, plants, and trees, creating a sweet composition.

Nothing of this registered in the mind of the fairy as she was heading towards the reds and browns and yellows of Autumn Forest. She was passing by the coloured leaves of ashes, maples and beeches, her mind lost in thought of the scout fairy she had set her sights on.

Why did this seem so dramatic to her? Why did she feel like this was such a big deal? She wasn't one to exaggerate things, and it wasn't like the world was going down or anything of the alike. It wasn't like her to make a drama out of anything. So why was she doing this now?

The height of her flight was on the level of bushes and she continued ahead, reaching a rather dense part of the forest. She was some meters in, not seeing the two huge Xs in the earth ahead of her and some piled up stones here and there. A twig in her way made her fly lower to avoid it, and she broke through the bush line into the small clearing where the marks sat.

Still concentrating on her issue, she also didn't notice the movement in the greenery around her. A quick swish here. A short swoosh there.

Only when she was out in the open and a quiet collective gasp and brief outcries resounded around her did she suddenly snap out of her bubble of thoughts and jerked her head around.

"Stop!" a shout rang loudly through the thicket.

Startled as she didn't know if she was being addressed, Fawn turned towards the sound, decreasing her speed to almost a stop.

Then she heard rustling to her side and annoyed as well as hectic mumbles before something shot out of the same bush and unfolded itself in the air as it quickly closed in on the surprised animal fairy. It was a net. Frozen in her position, the brunette could only stare at the oncoming object.

When it reached the peak of the parabolic trajectory, Fawn lifted her arms to shield her head, and turned her torso to face away from it, squeezing her eyes shut in apprehension of what would happen.

That way, she couldn't see the single figure emerging from the bush where the shout had come from, speeding towards her. She heard the sound of quickly and strongly flapping wings where her front had just been a few moments ago, then that of the ropes of a net crashing against something, lightly creaking against their strain. A grunt.

An arm looped around the side where her face was turned to at the same time as a body collided mildly with hers. The momentum of the net hitting them – whoever that other someone was – sent them the last three body lengths down to the ground. Fawn let out a cry, but was surprised that the fall was relatively easy as the other fairy had thrown themselves against the weight of the net before it caught in their wings, and held on to the animal fairy. The latter landed sitting on her behind, legs sideways away from her under the other one.

The net was only slightly brushing her wings when it simply followed gravity now that it wasn't flying anymore and hung down.

Fawn, still tense in the position she had taken up as the net had approached her, felt the other fairy still firmly clutching her with one arm, their breath blowing rapidly against her hair.

Finally curious to see what was happening, the animal fairy lowered her arms from her head, signalling the other one to let go of her, and turned to face them.

As she did so, she saw that the net left some space around her like a tent would. This was due to the spear that the scout fairy – as it turned out to be – held up and along with it the object since the weapon had blocked its trajectory. The net had caught completely on the back of her saviour and her spear, leaving the animal fairy unharmed.

Leaning back on her arms, Fawn admired the quick action, still looking around at the net. She didn't yet take in the fairy who had taken it for her because of her focus still being consumed by the offensive object previously attacking her. When her eyes had roamed over the fairy, the sight hadn't exactly rung a bell except for the obvious uniform of the elite team; something about her face looking distantly odd in the passing by.

The scout fairy began removing the net from them, grabbing the knotted ropes with her now free hand and dragging them to the side where her spear was. The rod she threw to the side along with the net with a heavy push of her arms and a grunt.

There was a slight pause until the scout, knees positioned next to Fawn's hips and body upright so she wouldn't touch her, spoke her name, shortly followed by the placement of her hand on her shoulder.

"Fawn."

The voice tore her gaze from the discarded net on the side to the fairy who had rescued her. She knew it well enough. She knew her.

Fawn's eyes travelled up from the sash with the two feathers around her hips that touched her own hips over the form-fitting brown bodysuit with the sign of the scouting-talent on her chest to the tan, round face with the russet eyes, crowned with black hair.

Watching her so closely, Fawn was able to discover Nyx in the features. But there was something that had prevented her from recognizing the head scout at first glance. And that now stopped her heart for a second before sending its beat heavily pounding against her ribcage – just as it had calmed down after the shock of the approaching net, Fawn regretfully noticed in the back of her mind.

For the usually flawless face of the taller fairy was streaked with anthracite face paint:

A strong line ran from one edge of her lower jaw across the bridge of her nose to the other edge of her jaw. Two more thick lines went down from each edge of her hairline to the inner point of the eyebrow on the respective side. Two lines framed the scout's eyes on two sides, each starting at the outsides of her eyebrows, going straight down and then curving inwards where they reached her cheekbones. One really fine line went from the middle of her hairline down and already stopped before it was in the middle of her forehead. The final line started at the bottom of her chin with the breadth of a thumb and narrowed until it reached the bottom lip of the scout, overlapping the slope of it.

It was particularly transfixing as Nyx's lips were slightly parted, strangely accentuating her mouth. But really, the paint wholly radiated off attractiveness to the animal fairy. Her eyes couldn't stop flitting over the details on the head scout's face.

Only at something like the fifth sight did she notice how Nyx was wearing her hair; and also just then realizing that it was adding to the incredibly good look. Her hair was partly bound together at the top like Fawn had seen Lord Milori do. Plaited in several places were like half a dozen neat, small braids. Faintly, the animal fairy could feel the long hair brushing the bare parts of her thighs, sending tickles through her legs and upwards.

Fawn was completely breath-taken and perplexed as she stared at the scout, only distantly realizing that her mouth was gaping open like that of a crocodile, most probably. It was so weird to see Nyx like this. Yet … She found it strangely beautiful, in an exotic way.

If she had known about Amazons, she would have likened Nyx to one; with the scout fairy being the epitome of strength and beauty in a female to her in this very moment.

Oh gosh, Fawn's mind slowly came back to her. She's gorgeous.

Something inside her clicked, but busy as her thoughts were she couldn't make out what it was.

"Fawn!"

A jolt of the physical kind went through the brunette's body, starting at her shoulders.

Slowly slipping back to her surroundings, the animal fairy realized that Nyx had shaken her shoulders, probably not for the first time during her mental absence. Her painted face wore a worried expression, creased eyebrows almost getting lost in the many other lines.

Just as almost getting lost as Fawn did again in the sight …

The worry in it was slightly derogating the picture, though. What was causing it? Fawn wondered. The reason had to be eradicated.

"Fawn!" Another shake.

Her eyes and mind actually focused on those of Nyx this time. "Hmm?" she made.

Very articulate, she chastised herself. But it was the only thing that she had been able to get out.

"Are you all right?" the scout asked her with the worry evident in her voice, too. Her body was further inclined towards the shorter fairy, every muscle now seeming tense. The erect posture wouldn't leave her, though.

Fawn stammered a "Yes", feeling her heart pounding strongly in her chest. She thought it to be the nerves from the whole situation.

Nyx grabbed her shoulders with a stronger grip, forcing first her one shoulder to the front, then the other one, both times looking behind her back to inspect her wings. After that, one hand went behind the animal fairy, lightly touching her spine just above the skirt of her dress, and following it up to the back of her neck. At the same time, the scout's other hand carefully but firmly probed the area of her stomach. When she was done with this, Nyx lifted Fawn's chin with a hand, turning it from left to right.

Finally managing a reaction – aside from the chill that went along her spine and spread in her belly –, the animal fairy jerked her head away, bringing some distance between them by leaning further down. "Hey!" she said. "Stop that! What's that supposed to do?"

The scout was studying her with furrowed eyebrows. "I was quickly checking you for any possible injuries since you seemed to be out of it for a good minute when you stared at me but didn't reply to me. Is your head really all right?"

"Well, it's a little spinning, but that-"

"In that case, I have to bring you to the infirmary", Nyx said with determination, immediately swinging one of her legs over Fawn's legs so she was kneeling next to the animal fairy.

Fawn was both relieved that she wasn't almost sitting on her hips anymore and at the same time a little bit disappointed at the loss of proximity.

The scout took the wrist of the arm facing her and laid the corresponding arm around the back of her own neck. An arm snaked around Fawn's middle. The black-haired fairy already got the two of them slowly up while the animal fairy was still trying to understand what was going on all of a sudden.

When they stood, Fawn finally turned a bit around – not able to leave Nyx's grasp – and placed her free hand on the head scout's chest, softly pushing against it. "Nyx!" She waited until the taller fairy looked into her eyes. "I'm all right. I'm just … a little confused, that's all. Okay, maybe a little bit more than just a little, but it's not from an injury."

The face paint was still strange to see, and she kept peering at it. Every time again did it strike her as pretty, so she quickly averted her gaze in fear of blushing in front of the scout.

The taller fairy held her gaze a little bit longer this time, inquiring. After a moment, she hesitantly said, "If you say so", and let go of the animal fairy.

The latter instantly missed the strength of the other body against hers. Looking for something else to look at, she let her eyes roam over the area around them.

She was genuinely surprised to see a whole lot of other scout fairies and sparrow men standing on the ground and on twigs of the bushes and hovering around them. They were quiet and didn't approach them, so she hadn't noticed them earlier. Seeing the number of them staring down on them made her uncomfortable with embarrassment, so she suddenly preferred to focus back on their leader in front of her. Had they witnessed the whole occurrence ...?

It hadn't escaped her that they, too, wore face paint, though not as much as Nyx. Some had slashes across their face, some had lines across their eyes or noses, some wore a stray line here or there. The colours were a palette of blacks, greys, greyish blues, browns and greens.

"What", Fawn asked, struggling to focus on the taller fairy's eyes – her eyes kept jumping to the spots where the paint was –, "is going on here?" She spread her arms to include the whole scene, then vaguely gestured towards Nyx's face.

The addressed instantly answered. "We are practising a bigger operation. We're going through different tasks of it one at a time in the current stage. The one you happened to run into was capture under the set requirement of precision at a long distance. Thanks to you, I could even include a rescue scene." Her lips twitched towards a smile. "I guess it suits our bad luck of crossing paths at the wrong time."

Oh great. Of course she had to stumble into the practice for a big operation where seemingly every scout fairy and sparrow man was present. But that still left one thing open to her. "And what's that about with the ...", she gestured again, "face paint?"

Surprised like she herself had forgotten, Nyx replied, "Oh, that. We decided to include that part. Some missions would require this to either camouflage us or to scare. And it doesn't hurt to get used to wearing it and especially to seeing it on everyone's face." At this, she grinned – an expression very rarely worn by the head scout. It looked even stranger because it contorted the lines on her face as the skin followed the muscles underneath it.

If so, you are doing a terrible job at the camouflaging. I can't keep my eyes off of you, the animal fairy thought quietly to herself. And it doesn't exactly scare me; on the contrary, it oddly draws me towards you, dear Nyx.

"You might want to rethink your design in that case", Fawn suggested somewhat distantly while her eyes took in every line on the tan face once more. She wanted to bury her hands in the jet black hair and close them, anticipating the catch of a braided tress between her fingers-

She swallowed, feeling the pull she had just thought about inside her again.

Deciding that she had no business here anymore and that it was better to leave before she did anything weird or stupid – not that interrupting a practice session for the whole scouting-talent wasn't embarrassing enough –, Fawn spoke, "I'm taking my leave then. Sorry that I disturbed your training."

She took one last glance sequentially at Nyx's attentive eyes, her little nose with the anthracite line across it, and at her naturally pouty lips, now accentuated by the perky paint on her bottom lip, directly leading the gaze to her mouth. The brunette lowered her eyes to the ground, then turned around and flew off with a strange feeling residing in her.

"I'm sure you didn't know", Nyx said more to herself behind her, placing one hand on her waist and cocking her head. Fawn couldn't see the faint smirk forming on her lips.

On her way away from the scene – really, she had no destination in mind at that moment, she just wanted, needed to get away – and even for the whole remaining day, Fawn couldn't forget the sight she had gotten; beautiful in a strong way.

Nyx had had something of a goddess to her in the twilight of the forest.

And Fawn had made a fool out of herself in front of every scout fairy and sparrow man by ogling her and losing her senses during it; not hearing her words nor feeling her shakes.

Great.

The animal fairy wondered for a moment what the scouts thought of her. First she had been the troublemaker, then she had literally given her life for Pixie Hollow, and now she was throwing questionable glances at their chief.

Just great.

A/N: So Nyx got her hair partly up because I thought it might be looking good on her. And because seriously, how does her hair stay in place like it does in her usual hair style? It doesn't look like she's using gel. As soon as she moves, it should be supposed to be all over the place. Can't have that happen in a serious operation, now can we? At least that's my excuse for giving her this hair style here.

As for Nyx's face-paint design, I wanted something concrete before writing this scene. I was just trying things out using Paint until I had something that I thought could still be seen as good-looking. Now tastes and opinions are different, but here's the design I came up with and hope I could get across in the description (if not, it doesn't really matter, I guess):

(Take out the one space:) ibb. co/pLrDJ53