Yeah…I know I should work on "Hello Gabriel" and I will, promise. It´s just…this challenge…I was unable to resist…my apologies…

But you have to admit that Shawn/Carlton is a classic. Especially when you add fairy!Lassie.

Enjoy guys. Take something fluffy from me while I write the dark stuff back in my cave of perverse doom…

The world hated him. That was his final conclusion.

It couldn´t have been his careless attempt to get the cinnamon roll, this heavenly smelling gift from whatever deity deemed him worthy enough to dive right into this feast of three layers of sugary crisp and spicy cinnamon.

And no, it wasn´t his fault that he climbed out of his hiding place without a second and even third look – simple security measures because you could never be too careful – to his environment.

Otherwise he would´ve seen the checked shirt of this flamboyant, brunette male human who was currently holding him at his face level to excitedly cloud the thick glass with his breath.

But that was just an assumption. And as he told himself before: It was the world hating him and how could that be his fault.

Carlton hated his body.

Not that there was something wrong with it. He still was plenty good looking with his salt-and-pepper hair, the muscular build and those blue eyes – not to mention his stunning humor – but it was no comparison to the good old days.

Back when he was one of the strongest, fastest and best skilled of them he had been sort of a leader for the younglings, teaching them the do´s and don'ts's of their Father. He had always remained loyal, had been the first to volunteer for dangerous missions and had been helping his brothers and sisters where he could…

And now, after the rebellion, he was stuck here on earth trapped in this 6 inch "tall" body, deprived of his pride, dignity, powers, family and most of all freedom.

So if he felt like an animal trapped in a giant cage in an unknown place because he was being stared down by three pairs of overly curious eyes then yes, prepare to be bitten when touching.

"This is actually a wild, living fairy…Shawn! How did you get it?" the bald, black man asked rubbing his hand tentatively the teeth marks shining purple on his finger.

"I baked."

"You…baked?"

"Took me thirty hours but yes, Gus, I created a lovely, fluffy bun sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon and a little bit of magic and snap, all fairies get the hots for me. Easy as pie, man."

Carlton snorted disbelievingly. Just because he had been blinded by the almost holiness of the pastry didn´t mean his other brothers and sisters, the few left, were as stupid as him.

"He´s…not how I imagined a fairy…I always thought they were delicate, smaller and his wings…he almost looks like a mini-angel."

It was humiliating and despite his hardest tries he couldn't suppress the flush of anger on his pale cheeks. And the common "awwwww" that followed didn´t do anything to lessen it.

He had enough of it! The staring, the talking about him as if he wasn´t able to understand them because his brain was as big as an ant´s and their sheer presence was maddening and too new. It all pressed down on him, suffocating like that one time when he was stuck in a plastic bag while searching for sweets.

All in all, those humans seriously ruffled his feathers…quite literally…

So he snatched a blueberry out of the bowl next to him, glared at those idiots one last time and escaped into the protective walls of his probably home-made wooden house.

It was hours later when he made another attempt to examine his new, strange surroundings. The lights were out and the moon didn´t do his proper job at lightening, so it was difficult to detect anything.

There were two desks – full of paperwork he assumed, though he thought he recognized a dinosaur action figure on one of them – a plant here and there and a kitchen at the far corner. It smelled like dust and, strangely enough, pineapple.

Cautiously Carlton took a few steps into the open and immediately crouched back inside when he heard a loud growl right in front of him. There weren´t any animals around, were there? If so, the human who caught him would´ve had a hell of a lot to pay in the morning. Given he survived the upcoming brawl.

But no, at closer inspection the fae saw that the sound had been coming from said man snoring lightly head brazed on his folded arms and turned enough so he could watch the whole cage if wanted.

The black haired creature exhaled loudly. Sometimes he damned his guarded nature but history had shown it would save his life. So he settled with something his curiosity and subconscious could agree on.

Two inches and a thin wall of wire were separating them, the closest he´d ever gotten to a human of his own free will. And to be honest he didn´t regret it. His captor looked young, maybe in his end-twenties, he had a smooth, gentle face and sun-kissed skin, so Carlton concluded he was a very outdoorsy type of man, and green eyes mixed with a bit of brown…

The fairy froze where he stood, blue wings going rigid and pressing against his back to appear smaller.

Perhaps it was just a quick rousing, a natural reaction that sometimes occurred while sleeping. Hopefully he looked up again and was proven wrong immediately. Glowing, green orbs locked right on him, gaze unwavering.

They stared each other down for a couple of minutes before a small, sincere smile stole itself on luscious lips.

"I´m sorry for today. That wasn´t one of my best ideas. Should´ve known Jules and Gus would fawn all over someone like you…" his captor whispered with a voice that betrayed his wakeful eyes.

Carlton just nodded. He wouldn´t hold it against the human. After all, it was in their nature to prance around and show off why they were much more superior to all the others.

"Not the talkative kind of guy, are we?"

He just raised his eyebrow in a mock expression.

"Yeah, I guess I too wouldn´t talk to the person who caught and treated me like an attraction. Again, I´m sorry…" the human mumbled, sleep slowly overtaking him again.

"My name is Shawn Spencer, by the way…"

As soon as Carlton nodded the brunette was gone, probably back into a land where he lived happily ever after.

He took a few careful steps towards the sleeping man and ran his right hand through the mess the human called hair as a gesture of peace and acceptance.

The strands between his fingers felt like silk…

After days of heated debating – talking and gesturing on Shawn´s side and glaring and huffing on Carlton´s – they sort of reached an agreement. He was allowed to leave his "pretty prison" but wouldn´t purposely try to leave, meaning forcing his way out of closed doors and windows. Fortunately the brunette male had forgotten to include his own possible clumsiness in the deal. So the creature was keen on finding any way into freedom, even if it was an uncommon one.

Two days later his big chance was there.

Carlton smelled the fresh air even before it hit him square in the face and damn it, that was the best feeling ever right now. He felt his wings flap in excitement when another ocean breeze caressed his face.

The gap was small – one, maybe two inches – and he was anxious to open the window further in case it made too much noise. It would be difficult to squeeze through, even if he pressed his wings as tightly as possible to his back.

But there was sunshine outside, fresh air, the sound of cars, people talking, a dog barking and leaves rustling gently with the breeze.

Oh how he missed it…

The sudden smell of freshly baked blueberry pie and pineapple brought his senses back into the room and his willpower began to crumble.

His life with the strange human, now humming a tune he didn´t know while sprinkling icing sugar on the pie, was actually quite comfortable.

He had no worries about finding a safe shelter for the night. His plate was always full with the most delicious fruits and pastries he could imagine. And though he still refused to speak, Shawn filled his part with annoying, loud and somehow endearing notes.

And if he was honest to himself, he rarely was when emotions began to play a role, he felt loved and cared for. And after millennia of silence and loneliness it was nice knowing someone would always be there for you…

Smiling when he heard the sharp intake of breath from the human the fairy turned his head around slowly.

The man was shocked to say the least. His body was stiff as a board, breath coming in faltering gasps and his eyes…there was shattering, soul-deep sadness swirling in them and it made the fae shudder involuntarily.

"You´re…you´re leaving…?" he rasped, voice desperate and dry like a thirsty man needing water.

The smile on his thin lips broadened and he patted the empty space on the window sill amicably.

When the plate was safely stored away Shawn scrambled to his side. It was adorable.

They sat there for a few silent minutes, the warm afternoon sun warming their backs gently.

"Carlton…" he whispered quietly and was surprised by the deep, gravelly sound of his own voice. It seriously had been too long since he last saw the need to speak.

"My name is Carlton."

They talked a lot the following weeks, still with no equal amount of speaking time but at least he got to answer everything by himself.

And the more time they spend in each other´s company the more Carlton realized how attached he had grown to the human. On the one hand it was nice to see he still could feel something for another living being after all this time of solitude on the other he was somehow frightened by the overwhelming strength of those emotions.

Every time their eyes crossed he would feel hot and cold shivers running down his spine making his wings flutter in excitement. Luckily his human was either too oblivious to notice or he was tactful enough not to mention it.

"So, what´s with the wings? Why feathers and no magically glittering, glass-like butterfly wings? Not that I don´t appreciate yours, they´re quite beautiful in fact. But to think every fairy tale book was lying to me…that is kind of hard to accept…" Shawn rambled while sliding the wet washcloth over his face, sinking deeper into the hot bathtub.

Carlton was glad the brunette wore swimming trunks to cover his privacy and protect his pretense of disinterest. It didn´t do the job as properly as he wanted to because a half-naked Shawn Spencer was still an arousing sight.

He readjusted his wings to hide their excited flapping his control slowly slipping of his, now heavy from moist and hot air, appendages.

"We were angels once…" he began, voice laced with a seductive undertone which really shouldn´t have been there.

"…back in the old days when everything was happiness and sunshine."

"I imagine you were jumping gracefully from cloud to cloud playing catch with the lady angels…given there are lady angels…"

Carlton chuckled lightly, his deep voice reverberating from the green tiles.

"Something like that, yes."

He heard the splashing of water and looked in his human´s direction. Shawn had turned around, washcloth put aside, head comfortably resting on his arms and serious, compassionate eyes fixed on his form.

"What happened?"

He felt his wings drop to his side like a dead weight when long suppressed memories flooded back to him.

"I was…on earth when it happened. Documenting whether the new animal species we´d created were adjusting well. There had been rebellions in Heaven, led by one of our brothers. Nothing too serious before but noticeable enough to not be taken lightly…until then…"

"It was different, wasn´t it?"

"It was war. Rebellious traitors against the last loyal ones of us. I tried to return when I felt the rousing but I was pushed back…in the end the rebels lost and were cast down to a place you now call hell. The angels who fought them got rewarded and me and my brethren on earth…well…you´re seeing it, don´t you?"

He didn´t dare to look up. If it was because of the hollow feeling in chest or the fear of what he might see in those lively eyes Carlton wasn´t sure.

"Wow, that´s harsh. For once, I don´t know what to say…"

"Everything but apologies for something I had a lot of centuries to come to terms with. And it´s not like I lost connection completely. I can still feel them and every decade I eventually get a visit…" he mumbled, voice losing its life at the end.

There was silence between them now almost as thick and heavy as the air surrounding them. The fairy stared at his naked feet awkwardly and wriggled his toes to distract himself.

He heard the plug being pulled and the loud sloshing of water but instead of watching his alluring human dress himself in a fluffy bathrobe too large for his body he closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Perhaps it was destiny…" Shawn´s voice whispered gently in front of him. The warm breath ghosting over his seemingly chilled skin coaxed him to open his heavy lids again.

A warm, delicate smile greeted him. Like the man wanted to make him feel better but was too anxious to say anything else in case he went the complete wrong way.

It was adorable and Carlton felt his emotions bubbling up again. Maybe Shawn was right. Perhaps this whole ordeal was written in his father´s grand scheme and he just had been too stupid to see.

The hardships he faced…the useless search for his other lost brothers and sisters, his plans of returning to Heaven, the survival fights with animals of various heights and dangers, the nights he spend lying under a starless sky hunger almost killing him…

Now he felt secure, sated and most of all loved.

And it was everything he had craved those centuries all along.

"Yes…" he said with a voice full of pure contentment and stroked his hands through wet hair.

"Maybe you´re right…for once…"

The pleased expression he saw on Shawn´s face when he placed a light kiss on the human´s nose made the fae want to believe it all the more.

And the rest, well…the rest is a fairy tale.

~Fin~