Page 16 of Convincing His Little Bee (K!nktober #2)

FIFTEEN

By the time Elle ran out to tell them dinner would be ready in thirty minutes, Cin was exhausted, sweaty, and covered in mud.

Having decided to ask the guards to attack Cin as a way to kickstart his magic, they had spent a while with different combinations of creatures.

Over and over, he’d been ambushed. He’d fallen in the mud, cowered, and hid.

Not once did his magic give a single spark in reaction.

Oak had instructed him to think about how it physically felt when he changed, how his magic tingled. Eventually, they had switched to more of a meditation style practice with just Oak and Cin working together.

“One more time then let’s get you to a shower.” Oak encouraged Cin, extending his hand to pull the fae from the ground.

“I don’t know, Oak. I think it’s hopeless. My magic hates me.” Cin complained, stomping like a toddler to vent his frustrations.

“Hey, don’t be mean to my friend.” Oak placed his hands on Cin’s shoulders, bending down to look directly in his eyes. “You can do this. I believe in you.”

“At least one of us does.” Cin mumbled.

“This time, stop focusing so hard on the physical sensations. Think about why you’re doing this. Why do you want your magic to help you change size?”

“Shouldn’t my magic…know why I need it? Shouldn’t it work so I could fulfill my purpose as a pollinator fae? I work in a fuckhole office because I’m not allowed to pollinate!” Tears welled in his eyes but his hands were too covered in mud to wipe them away.

“But you’re not meant to live as a pollinator fae.” Oak said matter-of-factly.

“…What?” Cin stopped his internal grumblings to look up at the human.

He smiled, shrugging. Smug, like he’d figured out the secret to life. “Pollinator fae live and work in your realm, right?”

“The Flowering Fields.” Cin nodded, naming his home.

“That name is adorable and you have to take me someday.” Oak shook his head, “Don’t let me get distracted! Listen, do you know of any pollinator fae to ever work in the fields that didn’t live in The Flowering Fields?”

“I mean…” Cin paused, trying to think back on his history lessons.

There were fae in his realm who weren’t pollinators and there were ancient pollinators who ventured out and studied plants or traded with other realms. All those who worked as pollinators though…

they lived in the Flowering Fields. “I can’t think of anyone, no. ”

“Right. And you, my lovely little fae, are the mate of a very powerful drakonid Alpha who lives in The Crimson Reaches. You are not destined to be a pollinator fae, so your magic doesn’t care about making you change for the flowers.”

“But I...love the flowers.” It was the truth.

Cin could spend many hours lying among flowers and not get bored.

They spoke to him, whispered about their lives.

They listened when he cried, and fed him when he was hungry.

The flowers were always there for him like no one else had ever been. Until Tor.

“That’s okay. Once you get control, you can pollinate if you want. Or hang out with the flowers. I bet the fae you work with don’t like flowers as much as you?” Oak pulled Cin close, letting him rest his dirty form against the human’s cleaner one.

Cin sighed, wrapping his small arms around the human, resting his cheek on his chest. “Everyone loves the flowers when they’re little.

No one I know…spends time with them outside of work.

They’re alive, ya know? Not only in a ‘it’s a plant’ way.

They have souls, spirits…all of their own.

Every single flower and plant is unique.

They want to be loved just as much as any creature. ”

“Maybe you can introduce me to some of your favorites.” Oak said softly, running his hand along Cin’s back.

“I don’t know the ones here, yet.” Cin pulled back, “Did you know Tor made the garden with the pond for me? Fate told him I would come and he spent fifty years making it.”

“Fuck that’s romantic!” Oak pulled him back into a tight hug.

“See? You were meant to be here. Not in The Flowering Fields with the fae who don’t understand you, or flowers, like you do.

Your magic was waiting for the right time.

Focus on who you’re doing this for,” Oak’s voice got quiet and Cin let his eyes fall closed, warm in the human’s embrace.

Tor. Nock. His mate. His other half. The powerful drakonid who had saved him from horrors he didn’t want to imagine.

Tor who had accepted his body and gender without thought, who had touched every inch of him with love and reverence.

Tor who wanted to bond with him so they would be fully intertwined for all of time, in this world and beyond.

His stomach burned hot and bright as thoughts of his mate swirled around his head.

Cin pictured the man in his full drakonid form and then in his everyday form.

He wondered what his half shifted form looked like.

Does he have wings? A tail? Cin didn’t know beyond the fact that Tor would be larger, taller, bulkier.

More . Meaning Cin would need to be able to handle more.

“Oh!” Oak exclaimed, his arms loosening around Cin’s frame.

Blinking slowly, Cin opened his eyes. And looked down.

Down at Oak, a whole head or more shorter than before.

When Cin had closed his eyes, he had stood against the human, his head able to tuck under the man’s chin.

Now, their positions had reversed. The fae’s wings shifted in panic, causing Cin to hover off the ground, making his new friend even further away.

“Cin! You’re amazing! And I’m a fucking genius.” Oak jumped up and down, clapping his hands, laughing loudly.

“I’m…Oak!” Cin willed his wings to calm down so he could stand on the firm ground. He peered at his hands. They looked the same but…not. It didn’t fully hit him until the human held his own hand up, pressing it into the middle of Cin’s hand. It was smaller . Cin was taller than Oak.

“Fuck a duck! I’m taller! I did it!” He giggled with glee, reaching out to hug his friend. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Oak squeezed him back, smile wide. “Fuck a duck. Where do you come up with these things?”

Cin giggled, “I watch a lot of Earth shows and movies. My parents still throw fits about it.” He pulled back from his new friend, looking around at the training grounds, the gathered creatures throwing smiles and shouts of joy at his successful change.

“I wasn't rebellious growing up, but my words are something I could control when I couldn’t control my magic or my…” Cin trailed off.

He wasn't ready to discuss his gender with his new friend just yet, no matter how accepting Oak was. “Plus when I call a fae who’s bullying me a ‘knobjockey’ or a ‘twatface’, they get so outraged it’s hilarious. ”

The new pair of friends descended into laughter. Oak vowing he couldn’t wait to borrow some of Cin’s words to brat out with his mate in the future.

It took a few more minutes of intense focus for Cin to return to his base size. The pair decided to eat in the garden rather than take the time to shower and join the masses in the dining room. Tor said they would be back by dinner, but he ate dinner with no mate to be found.

“We would know if they weren’t okay,” Oak reassured him, his plate filled mostly with fruits, veggies, and a meat Cin didn’t recognize.

“We would?” Cin shoved more cheese in his mouth, lowering his legs into the pond to wash away some of the mud. He hoped Jalko, wherever the creature hid, didn’t mind.

“Maybe you can't since your bond isn’t complete? I feel Xaph.” Oak tapped on his chest. “He’s still far away. He feels…” The human tilted his head, squeezing his eyes closed as he concentrated on his mate. “Determined, a bit angry. Not hurt or worried.”

“Thank you. Tor said they would be back by dinner, though.” Cin sighed, ripping up some bread to throw to the strange looking creatures landing in his wildflower field.

They looked like demonic versions of birds.

Some had wisps of fire coming off their wings, others had shadows instead of wings, even others sparkled with magic.

While the two new friends talked and ate their dinner, Cin practiced his size changing, just one part at a time.

He made his finger bigger and tickled the human with it.

He made the ear on his left so small he could barely hear Oak when he spoke.

The fae made one foot as large as a boulder and lifted it out of the pond to wiggle his massive toes.

“Your magic sure turned around fast.” Oak piled their plates together so they could carry them back in, dusk rapidly setting.

“It feels…happy. Settled in a way it never has before. I really owe you, Oak.” Cin let out a burst of yellow and green magic, turning all of his parts back to normal.

“I will take payments in friend dates as well as any and all details you want to share about drakonid sex.” Oak wiggled his eyebrows with a giggle.

“Are you ever not horny?” Cin giggled back, leaning into his friend as they made their way up the stairs in the front hall. They passed a grumpy Elle being dragged off to bed by her father, waving goodnight to the girl.

“When Xaph and I were on the run, there were a few minutes here and there I wasn’t horned up. But I was locked up in either a car or a small cabin with Xaph so it didn’t last long.” Oak admitted.

“I need to know this story during our next friend date.” Cin fluttered up the stairs next to the human.

“Deal.” They headed toward the Alpha’s wing, Oak pausing at the first bedroom in the long hallway. “This is our room when we’re here.”

“You don’t live here?” Cin asked.

“No.” Oak leaned against his door, arms crossed over his black shirt. “My big demon is too introverted to live here full time. We have a cabin several miles away. Tor and the others visit at least once a week, you’re invited obvs. Xaph protests but secretly loves it.”

“The others?” Cin had been introduced to a few other people today. The guards he practiced with. Elle’s parents. But no one seemed as close as Tor and Xaph. No one that an introvert like the demon would allow into his home.

“Oh, you probably haven’t met them yet. Nyhlia is Xaph’s sister and the pack healer.

She’s super sweet, very extroverted. Isn’t afraid to hit Xaph around the head when he’s being an idiot.

” Oak fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, shifting on his feet.

Cin had noticed the human had an aversion to being still for even a moment, making the fae feel less self conscious as he constantly fluttered his wings.

“And Spark is a magic user. He’s second in command after Xaph. ”

“Tor mentioned him. He’s the one that can make portals?” Spark could open a portal to The Flowering Fields for Cin if he ever wanted to go back.

“Yes, that’s him! He’s…” Oak trailed off for a moment before continuing.

“Closed off. At least from what I’ve seen of him.

He’s been friends with Tor and Xaph for a long time; they say he hasn’t always been this way.

” Oak shrugged. “Anyways. I desperately need a shower, I’m starting to itch big time. ”

“We are a bit covered in mud. Me more than you.” Cin commented. Oak was right, they both needed to get clean. “Will you…come tell me if you feel anything… off from Xaph?”

“The second anything feels wrong, I’ll come to you.” Oak reached out, pulling the fae into a tight hug. Cin loved how Oak showed affection and care with physical touch. “Don’t worry though. Xaph feels fairly calm, I think everything is going fine.”

Reassured by his words, Cin said goodnight before flying his way down the hall to Tor’s space. Taking a very thorough shower, Cin left the bathroom to find a still empty bedroom. Where is my mate? Is Parker okay?

With nothing else to do but wait, Cin grabbed a book from Tor’s collection.

Crawling into the big empty bed alone felt weird, but the blankets were soft and warm against his naked skin.

Plus, out of everywhere in the home, the bed smelled the most like his drakonid.

Cin buried his face in the man’s pillow, inhaling the scent of fire and home .