Have you read Neon Fae Part Two - Light?
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A stifled chuckle pulled him from a dreamless sleep. Light filtered pink through his closed eyelids. It felt like someone had sat a small leathery bag on his forehead. Why would someone do that? The stifled chuckle reached his ears again. Shit, he knew that laugh. His eyes flew open. He was immediately confronted by one of the most horrific sights he’d ever seen and promptly closed his eyes again.
“Quit tea bagging me you disgusting fuck,” Ki groaned, rolling to get away.
Blaze laughed. “Get up dick bag, got a big day ahead of us!” he said, jumping off the bed and pulling his pants up.
“Piss off,” Ki muttered, pulling the blanket over his head.
There was a rush of cold air as the blanket was ripped off him. Something hard was being tapped against his skull.
“Wake and bake and bacon time,” Blaze laughed.
Ki cracked an eye open to see Blaze tapping the side of his head with an absolutely filthy bong. He couldn’t stop the huff of a laugh passing through his lips.
“Com’on,” Blaze said in a tempting voice, summoning a flame at the tip of his index finger.
“Fine,” Ki said, pushing himself up and grabbing the bong off Blaze.
A wide smile spread across Blaze’s face as he lit the packed bowl. The water bubbled as smoke filled the glass tube, swirling in the morning light streaming through the window. He lifted his thumb off the rush and the smoke disappeared. It hit the back of his throat. Fuck. He erupted into a coughing fit. Blaze erupted into laughter next to him.
“Bit too eager,” Blaze smiled, slapping Ki on the back.
Eyes streaming, Ki scowled at Blaze.
Laughing Blaze stood up and headed for the door. “Get your shirt on and come get some breakfast, Kiran’s making bacon pancakes,” he said before disappearing into the hall.
Ki sat on the edge of his bed, leaning his forearms on his knees to catch his breath. Bloody Blaze. He blinked, his eyes heavy. Smiling to himself he pushed himself up before he got couch locked, or in this case, bed locked. He dressed slowly in a shirt and pants. Barefoot he padded out to the hall. At the same moment, Vetra was leaving Blaze’s room, hair tousled with a dressing gown wrapped around her. He raised his eyebrows but stayed silent as they headed to the living room together. She rolled her blood shot eyes and a vein of lightning shot from the ceiling.
“Ow! I didn’t say anything!” he moaned, rubbing his left butt cheek and hurrying into the living room ahead of her.
The smell of bacon hit him. Diverting his feet to the kitchen he found Kiran busy at the stove. “What’d we do without you?” Ki smiled.
“Starve to death probably,” Kiran said as he flipped a pancake in the air. “Take those two plates. One’s yours, one’s Vetra’s. I’ll be there in a sec.”
Ki scooped up the two plates of neatly stacked pancakes with bacon balanced on top. The others were all around the table, all with blood shot eyes, silently devouring their pancakes with unnecessary vigour. Vetra was pouring coffee from the pot, exchanging the plate of pancakes in Ki’s hand for a mug of coffee. Grabbing a seat next to Blaze, he placed his coffee on his designated blue coaster before pouring copious amounts of maple syrup on his pancakes and dug in. As he chewed, he sighed in appreciation at the perfectly fluffy pancakes.
Half a minute later Kiran joined them, taking a seat next to Laurel. As he bought a forkful of bacon and pancake to his mouth Blaze jumped up. “Wait! You gotta bake before you bacon!” he said, hurrying around the table with a freshly packed bong.
Kiran lowered his fork, chuckling. He brought the bong to his mouth. Blaze had a flame ready at the tip of his finger, but before he could bring it to the bowl another vein of lightning shot down from the ceiling. Blaze yelped, jumping back in shock. Kiran’s eyes crinkled in a smile as he pulled, bubbling mixing with the laughter of the rest of the group. Smoke swirled in the glass tube before Kiran sucked it in. He sat back in his chair, handing the bong to Blaze. Tilting his head back he let a column of smoke fill the air above him.
“Nice trick,” he said to Vetra, the last of the smoke curling out of his mouth.
“I heard Blaze hassling you about breakfast, thought he could do with some pay back,” she smiled, sipping her coffee.
“Hey, I was just making sure everyone started the day right,” Blaze said, as he refilled the bong.
“Want me to get that for you?” Vetra asked in an unnaturally sweet voice.
Blaze scowled at her before hitting the bong again.
Ki’s eyes flicked from Blaze back to the table. He found Laurel giving him a curious look over her coffee. “Where’d you end up last night?” she asked.
“He ran off with a girl,” Blaze coughed when Ki didn’t answer.
Everyone’s eyes flicked to Blaze then back to Ki.
“So, who’s the lucky lady this time? Or should we call this one Miss Glow since she’ll only be around until the end of the Glow Festival?” Forrest asked, a grin spreading across his face.
Ki scowled at Forrest, feeling the heat rise up his neck. Sure, he was notorious for hooking up with a different female at each festival, but his life didn’t exactly lend itself to a long-term relationship like the others. Not that they knew that. They also wouldn’t be finding out that Luna was different from the others. She understood him. He suddenly realised he’d been staring blankly at Forrest and quickly shoved another forkful of pancakes in his mouth.
“Did you forget her name?” Ember laughed.
Ki thought back to the friends on the beach calling her Rae. He was definitely going to ask her about that tonight. And hopefully he’d manage to bring her back to the house this time. He decided to shovel another forkful of pancake into his mouth instead of answering.
“Are you going to see her again?” Laurel asked as she applied wing prints around her eyes in a small hand mirror.
He swallowed. “She wants to meet at the Lake Stage tonight.”
“That’s cute as shit, but we’ve got more pressing matters, like the beerpong tournament. Com’on asshats,” Blaze said, jumping up and shooting sparks at everyone.
***
A mixture of anticipation and the need to let loose in the mosh pit had Ki bobbing his head and tapping his hand on his thigh as he and Blaze led the others to the Lake Stage. Well maybe the pingers had something to do with it too. He smiled to himself as the trees parted to reveal a huge glowing turquoise lake. A 360° stage floated in the centre, lights cutting through the air and base vibrating the water. A huge crowd circled the lake, lights twirling over their heads. Shit, how the hell was Luna going to find him?
“Just enjoy it ‘til she finds you,” Blaze said, reading his mind.
Before he could reply Blaze grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the crowd, the others hurrying to keep up. The seven of them formed a circle, dancing and singing to each other. His cheeks were sore from smiling as they danced together. If only every weekend could be like this.
He spun as someone grabbed his arm. His eyes met a pale purple pair. “Luna!” he shouted, grabbing her in a bear hug. A moment later he realised what he was doing and quickly set her down. “Shit sorry, got a bit, uh, caught up in it,” he smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
Her face split into a beautiful smile. She popped up onto her toes and pressed her body against his to bring her mouth to his ear. He closed his eyes and breathed in her lavender scent. “Com’on, let’s go to the front.”
“What about my friends?” he asked, bending his head to be closer to her ear.
She glanced over his shoulder. “There isn’t a spot big enough for all of them. We’ll be able to find them at the end.”
He glanced over his shoulder at his friends. Laurel and Kiran were singing the lyrics to each other, Ember was on Forrest’s shoulders eyes fixed on the stage, Vetra was making out with a female with a rainbow top, and Blaze was being handed a joint by the male in light up glasses and a harness next to him. They seemed happy enough where they were. Blaze must have felt Ki’s eyes on him and glanced over as he brought the half smoked joint to his lips. Blaze’s eyes quickly flicked to Luna, widening. Guess he was as surprised as Ki at how quickly she found him.
Blaze’s eyes flicked back to Ki as he pointed to himself and Luna, then pointed to the front of the crowd. Blaze nodded quickly before bringing his gaze back to Luna. Ki looked at Luna. Her face was set in a hard expression as she stared back at Blaze. What the hell was going on? After a beat Blaze shrugged and turned back to face the stage. Luna grabbed Ki’s hand and dragged him through the crowd.
Once again, she miraculously found a spot for them right at the water’s edge. Ki stood transfixed, watching the ripples travel from the stage to the shore in time with the beat. Luna went wild next to him as the band announced their next song. “This one’s my favourite!” she shouted before she started bellowing the lyrics, moving with the beat.
Ki smiled as he watched her completely lose herself in the song. Her purple and blue hair swung around her, eyes fixed on the stage, pupils dilated. Her hands were raised above her head, reaching up as if to grab the stars out of the sky. She had a huge smile on her face as she sang. He felt her happiness wash over him. He turned to the stage, losing himself to the music with her.
Time slipped by in the music. They danced together as she pressed her body against his, moving as one. His hands roved over her perfect curves. He ran his lips up her neck. Before he knew it the band was playing their last song. “Let’s sit for a bit, I’m not ready to go yet,” Luna said. She headed off along the pebble shore to a clear spot. She sat cross legged, grabbing a stick and trailing it through the bright blue water. Her top glittered in the light.
“I’m glad you found me tonight,” Ki said, taking a seat next to her, resting his arms on his bent knees.
“You didn’t think I’d find you?” she asked, not taking her eyes off the water.
Ki paused, not sure if he should say what he was thinking.
“You didn’t think I’d look for you,” she said, the corner of her mouth kicking up in a slight smile when he didn’t answer.
Ki ran his hand through his hair. “Uh, maybe.”
She brought her eyes up to meet his. “Why wouldn’t I look for you?”
He looked away, staring out at the lake. “I dunno. I’m just some dude,” he shrugged.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw her tilt her head, her mouth scrunching, like she was trying to decide if she should say something. “You’re not just some dude. You’re a good male,” she said eventually. “Plus, you understand me in a way no one else does.”
He looked at her. “What do you-“
“Ki!” He spun around, to see Laurel bounding toward them, waving a light up fan. The others, except Vetra, trailed behind her. “How sick was that set! Did you get to the front?”
“Thanks to Luna,” Ki smiled as he stood up. He held out a hand for Luna. She hesitated but took it and stood. “Laurel, this is Luna. Luna, Laurel.”
“So you’re the one making Ki drool when he daydreams?” Forrest said with a smirk, appearing beside Laurel. “I’m Forrest,” he added, sticking his hand out.
Ki scowled at Forrest as Luna shook Forrest’s hand whilst failing to stifle a laugh. Ki turned to introduce Luna to the others when Ember suddenly erupted in to flames.
“What the hell are you doing here!” Ember shouted at Luna.
Ki moved between the two females. “Shit Ember, what the hell’s going on!”
“You’re fraternising with Violet Kingdom scum!” Ember spat, her voice twisted with disgust.
Ki turned to Luna, who was staring at Ember in shock. Her eyes darted back to Ki for a second before she bolted.
“Luna, wait!” Ki shouted reaching after her. The only reply was the fading crunch of pebbles.
***
Read Neon Fae Part Four - Gloom out now!