Joris
He was worried about Charlie. His little brother was tired all the time. And now he seemed concerned. He had told Joris about the will-o’-the-wisp, and also about the siren. Nanno. Charlie talked a lot about him. Joris would prefer Charlie to use the night to sleep, but apparently, his brother had fallen in love with this siren.
That made Joris smile. After all, it was Charlie who had asked Joris what he wanted with a siren. A siren with a tailfin.
Molly and Lucas were also skeptical, but they couldn't convince Charlie to stop meeting the siren. Just as they couldn't stop Joris from wanting to see the sylph again.
Joris was collecting firewood. Lucas had assigned him to do it. Joris, therefore, walked carefully through the forest and made sure that the river always remained in sight. He didn't want to get lost again. He heard Charlie and Molly fooling around together. They were laughing and singing an old lullaby. And they didn't hit a single note. Lucas complained about it.
"Your friends can't sing very well", said a soft, echoing voice. Joris looked around in shock, but he didn't see anyone at first.
"Where are you?", he asked. He knew the voice. "Ehlin? Is that you?"
Before him appeared the sylph. Floating and beautiful. Charlie had told him that sylphs were neither a woman nor a man. And if Joris took a closer look at this beautiful person, then that was also recognizable. Ehlin's body was neither male nor female, but most of their clothes were hidden.
The sylph was slender and had noble, fine facial features. Beautiful.
"Hello Ehlin", he greeted them with a smile.
"Hello Joris", Ehlin said quietly. "I promised your brother to meet you. He said I please you."
"Um." Joris blushed. "Did he say that?" CHARLIE!!
"Yes."
"Oh." He didn't know whether to thank his brother or slap him in the face. However, he leaned toward the second possibility.
"Isn't it true?" Ehlin tilted their head. "That would be unfortunate."
"Would it be? Oh!... Now then. You... I like you?"
The sylph giggled. "Is this a question you want me to answer?"
"No?" Embarrassed, he combed through his dark hair. "And... Do you like me too? Um... No, forget it. All right."
"Yes. Very." Ehlin smiled and floated very close to him so that their noses almost touched. "You're not the first person I talk to. I've helped someone out of the forest before. A girl who got lost while playing in the fairy forest. She must now be an old woman. If she’s still alive. She was cute too. But I'd like to keep you."
"Cute? Keep?" Joris stared into Ehlin's eyes, which were so close to his. He wanted to kiss the sylph. Could he... kiss them? Ehlin was almost transparent... Ghostly.
Ehlin took a little more distance again. "What are you thinking about?", they asked. Joris thought that Ehlin sounded more like a 'he' since Ehlin's voice was slightly deeper than the voice of many women. Almost masculine and yet indefinable.
"What am I thinking about? Well. May I touch you?", he asked. "Is that possible? You look like you're not here. Like a ghost."
"Ghost? Yes, that may be true." Ehlin laughed softly. "I am an air spirit. Here. Please!" They held out their hand to Joris. Shyly, he grabbed their hand and smiled. Ehlin's skin felt warm and at the same time as if it consisted only of a gentle wind. And yet, their skin was soft.
"I promised your brother that I would ask for a certain will-o’-the wisp", Ehlin said, looking at Jori's hand on his.
"Yes, he's worried about one. Did you find out something?" Joris stroked the back of Ehlin's hands with his thumb. The sylph shuddered with a smile.
"Yes. Fairies are currently holding a will-o’-the-wisp captive. Please, let your brother know. But he shouldn't go to the fairies alone."
"What? Do you know where they are?" Joris never wanted to let go of Ehlin. It was difficult for him to concentrate on the subject.
"I heard they were holding the little light deep in the waterfall. Please, tell Charlie." Without warning, Ehlin disappeared. Joris looked at his now empty hand and grinned wistfully. So, Ehlin liked him?
Nanno
Charlie. From now on, this was Nanno's favorite name. Charlie's eyes, his nose, the beautiful hair... Nanno was in love. He lay in his bed looking forward to meeting the person later. He had finished his work for the day. He wanted to rest until they would and then sneak out of the city at night.
Most sirens would not approve of him meeting with a human. Just like Elsa. Hopefully, she hadn't told anyone. They were friends!
But unfortunately, he had no luck.
"Nanno! Is it true?" William ran angrily into Nanno's apartment, and into his bedroom. Surprised, Nanno sat up.
"Did something happen?", he asked his best friend.
"I talked to Elsa!", hissed William, crossing his arms. "And?"
Oh no!
"Guess what she told me!" William huffed, he was so angry. And he didn't wait for Nanno's response. "Is it true? Do you meet with a human? Did you alarm them about our presence? Because of you, I couldn't taste one! You knew how much I was looking forward to it! And it gets worse! Elsa is very worried about you!"
"Worse?", asked Nanno quietly. Should he flee? William was scary when he was angry. Then his eyes sparkled menacingly.
His best friend threw his hands in the air and marched up and down the small room. "Elsa suspects you're in love with a human. Nanno! You don't fall in love with your food! Not with a human being. What if he wants to make a pet out of you? They enslave others! Surely, you've heard of that? Half the city is talking about it!"
Now Nanno wanted to roll his eyes. "I'm glad you didn't eat Charlie. And I'm glad I didn't try. He's good. And he certainly doesn't want to make a pet out of me. Keep it to yourself, yes? Please."
William shook his head. "You've lost your mind!" Then he stormed away.
Nanno sighed. Oh no... That will cause trouble.
