Kelcie PoV

I finished eating the dessert that Azalea had bought me, wiping my mouth and hands with a damp cloth the cart owner had provided. Considering how sticky I felt, that was a good touch. I winced as Azalea ate her third, wondering where she fit it, while Ryel begged me with her eyes. 

“Oh, alright. Here, you can have another one,” I said, handing a single gold coin to the girl. Or young woman? I wasn’t fully sure, I did remember reading that among the Orc clans, you are considered an adult once you obtain your class, but I couldn’t help feeling like she was still a kid. Not that she was actually all that much younger than I was. After all, I was only nineteen, looking after a thirteen year old. Though, I assumed she’d be fourteen now, since that’s the age that half orcs get their class. Two years younger than humans. 

Ryel smiled happily at me, making me blush and feel like squirming on the inside. It felt nice that she appreciated me so much, especially considering the family I grew up with. 

“Thanks, Kelcie!”

I smiled. “You’re welcome, sweetie.”

As I watched Ryel skip back to the food cart, I noticed that Azalea had finished eating; she was just hovering in midair, swaying from side to side. Normally she wouldn’t move much when she was hovering, so I picked up on it immediately. 

“Are you okay?” I asked, suddenly worried she was sick from eating so much at once. Each dessert was almost as big as her after all. 

Azalea turned to look at me, wobbling in the air as she did, her eyes red. “Am I… hick… okay? Beautiful girl, I am just peachy!” 

I blushed as she called me beautiful, a fluttery feeling in my belly. Looking down at my feet in embarrassment, I reached up and brushed some of my pink hair behind my ear. I suddenly felt a little hand on my face, and gazing back up, I found Azalea staring at me with an odd expression on her face. 

As Azalea stared at me, she blinked slowly. I had to bite my bottom lip to stop from laughing, as her eyes didn’t blink at the same time, one moving quicker than the other. It was incredibly adorable. Suddenly, with another cute little hiccup, she dropped her hand off my face and glanced at my glistening bottom lip, biting her own as her cheeks turned a rosy red. 

“Oooh, I know. Let’s play zoomies!”

I took a deep breath in – I had forgotten to breathe for a second – as I tilted my head to the side in confusion. “Zoomies?”

Azalea nodded excitedly, then winced, frowning, holding her head for a moment, before smiling at me again. “Or better yet, spinnies. Have you played that game?”

I had been just about to ask her if she was okay, holding her head like that, when she’d changed her mind. “Err, spinnies?”

“Yes! Spinnies, do you know it?”

I shook my head, confused by her behaviour. “I can’t say that I do,” I hesitantly replied, unsure where she was going with this. 

Azalea’s face brightened, her eyes shimmering with excitement. “It’s very simple. You wear a dress or a skirt, hick… kudos on wearing a dress or a skirt, by the way,” she beamed at me, looking at the dress that my transformation provided me. I was only in the partial change, not wearing my full armour or having a weapon out. 

“Let me guess… I wear a dress, or a skirt and I spin?” I asked, rolling my eyes at the fairies' antics. 

“So you do know it!” 

I cupped my face with a hand, undecided whether to sigh or laugh at Azalea. “The name gives it away.”

The little fairy shrugged. “Not always. Jenga is a game, and you can’t tell by its name. Here, watch, I’ll demonstrate.”  Azalea twirled around in midair, causing her skirt to flair out. “There, see? Whoa!”

Azalea suddenly flailed, seeming to somehow lose balance as she hovered. My heart raced as I rushed to her side, catching her as she fell. 

The silly fairy was giggling as she lay in my arms. “That was fun, let’s do that again!”

I sighed as I looked at Azalea who was still giggling and making odd noises. “How about we just relax. You could’ve hurt yourself.”

Azalea looked up at me, her eyes suddenly twice their normal size. “I knew you’d catch me… hick. I like, like you, beautiful girl. Ooo, is that a dog girl? Oh gosh, she’s so adorable!” I didn’t get the chance to think about her comment though as she suddenly squealed, flying out of my arms towards a family nearby,  the Lupus’ wolf-like ears flattening on her head as Azalea obviously annoyed her. I could see three young pups hiding behind their mother as Azalea flew around them. I needed to go and rescue the family. 

I jogged over to the young mother as Azalea zipped back and forth between the four Lupus. The pups didn’t know what to think of Azalea, one of them growling while another swiped at her playfully. The young Lupus mother looked just like a human, except she had rust red coloured wolf ears and tail, the latter of which was puffed up in agitation at Azalea bothering her. 

“I’m so sorry about my friend,” I said, as I made a grab for Azalea, narrowly missing her as she giggled at me. I grasped for Azalea again, which just made her laugh harder as I yelled at her, with the fairy staying out of my reach, “Come on, Azalea, can’t you see that you’re bothering these nice people?” 

Suddenly a net flew over my shoulder and wrapped itself around Azalea, and with a yelp, the fairy lost the ability to fly and started falling. Once again I caught her, Azalea letting out a loud oof as she hit my arms. 

Azalea struggled for a moment inside the net, before she relaxed and looked up at me. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this, someone will think I’m falling for you.”

Her comment on the face of it didn’t make much sense to me, but I still blushed at her as she peeked at me through the gaps in the net. 

“Score! I got ya, Azalea. Ha!” A sudden shout from my right startled me, causing me to break away from staring into Azalea’s beautiful lavender eyes. 

Ryel strode up, giggling and smirking at Azalea, caught in the net. It was Ryel’s, although it looked far more sophisticated and well made than the last time I’d seen it. She must’ve used a skill from her new class to improve it. With a flick of her wrist, the net seemed to split apart, falling off and freeing Azalea. 

“Well… that was rude!” the little fairy huffed, pouting, though apparently she wasn’t even going to bother to get up from my arms. 

Ryel giggled at Azalea. “No, you were rude, bothering those nice people when they hadn’t asked for it.”

I turned to look at the Lupus family, who had been standing there watching the three of us, wide eyed. “I’m sorry about my friend,” I apologised again to the mother, “I'm not entirely certain what’s wrong with her. She’s not normally this annoying.”

“She is annoying, though,” Ryel said brightly, trying not to laugh too loud. 

“Not helping,” I muttered. 

Azalea suddenly stood up on wobbly legs, her little fists on her hips as she glared at Ryel. “Hey! I’m not annoying, I’m loveable!”

At Ryel’s cackling laughter, Azalea burst into tears and threw herself into my arms, hugging me tightly. 

Ryel stopped laughing as she gave Azalea a guilty look. “Azalea… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” 

At Azalea’s increased sobbing I just held her tighter to myself, and glanced at Ryel. “Don’t worry, just go and sort out your registration as an adventurer. I’ll be here or nearby if you need me, okay?” I smiled warmly at her to let her know I wasn’t upset with her. “You can do it, I know you can.”

Reluctantly nodding, Ryel turned around and walked off to the association’s building. I hoped she wouldn’t have any issues. Sighing, I looked down at the little fairy crying in my arms, and my heart melted. 

“Shhh… it’s alright. She didn’t mean it like that. Ryel was just being a brat,” I said, patting Azalea’s hair and back gently, making sure to avoid her wings. They looked rather delicate and I didn’t want to hurt her anymore than she was already hurting. 

Azalea tried to say something but I couldn’t work it out through her sobs. “I’m sorry, sweetie, what was that?”

Azalea gulped as she looked up at me. “D-do you find me a-a-annoying too?”

“What? No! Of course not,” I replied, shocked that she’d even think that. “I love that you don’t hold back. You make me smile just being around you,” I smiled at her, brushing some of her blue hair out of her face as she stared at me. Eventually, deciding that I was telling the truth, she smiled too. 

“Okay. I-I couldn’t handle it if you hated me,” Azalea said, sliding down and settling herself into my arms. 

She fell silent and I thought that she must have fallen asleep until she suddenly spoke up. “Hey, Kelcie?” She mumbled drowsily, not looking at me. 

“Yes?” I hummed. 

There was another quiet pause between us, before Azalea spoke again. “Do you think this Adam person is my dad? Should we be afraid of whatever it is that he has planned for me?”

I looked around and sighed as I thought about it for a moment, not wanting to just blurt out the first thing I thought, and hurt her feelings. “It’s possible, especially if he is a god, he could probably…” I trailed off as I heard soft snoring. Looking down, I saw that Azalea had curled up into a little ball, pushing herself into my chest and had fallen asleep. I could already see a little bit of drool. It was almost as gross as it was adorable. 

Carrying Azalea around was no problem. She didn’t weigh much, and even if she had, I’d still carry her. I felt oddly warm and content, having the little fairy in my arms like this. Unbidden, thoughts of her lips and what they would feel like to kiss came to mind. Shaking my head to clear those thoughts, I followed after Ryel. Azalea let out a quiet snort, bringing my thoughts back to her again, and what it would feel like laying against her, sleeping next to her. 

Get it together, or you really will be the freak your family always said you were. I sighed as I stepped into the building. Why was I having these thoughts all of a sudden? You’ve had these thoughts before, don’t lie to yourself. 

A shout from the other side of the building interrupted my musings. “Kelcie!” Ryel shouted, running up to me, grinning happily. “I’m an adventurer now! I had no problems, thankfully!”

I smiled at her enthusiasm and energy. “That’s great, honey!” I shifted Azalea in my arms, who murmured quietly as I moved her, and ruffled the young girl's dark hair. 

Ryel squirmed under my hand, her eyes widening as she saw me holding Azalea. “Is she…?” she asked quietly. 

“Yep. Passed out completely, poor girl.” I glanced at Azalea affectionately. “Well, let’s go and find the others and get the rest of your equipment,” I whispered, heading back outside again. 

– – –

Azalea ended up sleeping for another hour, waking all cranky and, according to her, with a hangover to rival the movies, whatever that meant. I felt that warmth in my chest every time I thought about holding her, or hugging or kissing her, and it was incredibly distracting. Thankfully no one seemed to pick up on just how distracted Azalea was making me every time she was near. Which was quite often, as she seemed to favour riding on my shoulders above everyone else’s as we went about collecting the items we needed. Ryel got a leather cloak that Azalea announced was “badass”, Ryel preening under the attention she got from the four of us. 

The days before leaving passed quickly with Azalea’s presence proving to be a very confusing, but not unwelcome, distraction. Her affectionate side towards me had seemingly tripled after she’d gotten drunk. I could barely breathe with her around, and yet I missed her on the rare occasions when we weren’t together. It was excruciating. 

Whenever I thought about her, my heart raced and I broke out in a sweat. I felt simultaneously exhilarated and terrified whenever she touched me. But I didn’t hate it - - I couldn’t. As the morning of the expedition dawned, I knew that something was going to change between Azalea and I. As I lay there, listening to Azalea’s snoring while she slept on my chest, I hoped that the change would be for the better between us, even if I didn’t know what that ‘better’ looked like.