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Felix was exhausted.
That wasn't an unusual part of his life, though.
What was unusual was the forest around him. Millennium old trees with thick branches that could bear the weight of a thousand little squirrels, whose soundless movements kept him on the tips of his toes. Leaves of bushes that could heal you if you use them right or kill you if you were blessed with ignorance.
That wasn't the most dangerous thing about this forest, though.
Fae were.
If he had a choice, he would never ever cross the Fae forest. However, he didn't have a choice; fate wasn't on his side. He had to get to Whiteport in two days, otherwise the rare plant he collected would spoil and his master would be furious. Being an apprentice of a sorcerer, he wasn't completely helpless against magic folk, but the journey so far was quite unnerving nonetheless.
He was a skilled swordsman, too. What a shame that dagger - even made out of steel, deadly painful for everything that has magic in its veins - wouldn't help if he didn't get close enough to the creature. Felix highly doubted that was going to be the case, did he happen to be a nuisance for a fae.
He felt their presence with the back of his head, where his tanned skin was constantly shivering. Almost impossible to catch, if not with a corner of one's eye, a silhouette of a human-like being. Fae often disguised themself as humanoids but their white as snow strands and violet irises never ceased to show their magical lineage.
Felix swallowed, walking impossibly quiet. He barely let himself breathe.
A branch snapped under his foot.
A mistake of a child.
He froze, trying to gauge any movement, when he noticed the figure - a fae, undoubtedly - on one of the thickest branches of an old tree that was framing the path like an archway. The fae was sitting there with so much nonchalance; silver-white hair pulled in a half-bun, loose strands around the blue-ish face, eyes cold and sharp and lavender.
"Human." They looked like a man, but as far as Felix knew fae were rather genderless creatures. Sex dimorphism wasn't prominent in their species, not the body he was seeing now was their true form.
Tone calm, with a glimpse of mocking.
"Fae." He decided to reply rather than stay mute. What was the point if he had already been spotted?
The fae was swinging their legs in a delicate, elegant way. They bent forward and winced a little bit, as if trying to count every single freckle that adorned the human's face. "Don't be afraid, mortal." They said. "My intentions are harmless toward you. Mere curiosity."
"I didn't wish to intrude. Much less to disturb you. I'm terribly sorry if I've done anything to cause you anger, I was trying to respect nature while trespassing in your forest." Felix explained himself. He had barely slept that night, too aware about the consequences of any excess movements.
"Your attempts were not unnoticed." With the grace of a wild cat they jumped off the branch and landed perfectly on the path, just a few meters from Felix. "My name is Hyunjin. As you happen to know, I'm from the fae. That's how you call us, don't you?"
He took a deep breath. The fae, Hyunjin , didn't seem hostile, but he couldn't help it. "Felix. Yes. Fae, or the magic folk."
"Do you call yourself mundane folk?" Hyunjin questioningly raised one of their brows, as white as his hair. Felix shook his head. "Then don't call us that."
“I’m s-sorry if I bothered you or broke a rule of the forest. It was never my intention, believe me! I just– I need to go. If I can somehow make up for my mistake, please tell me how.” He tried to keep his composure despite all the sweat on his palms.
"You like men, don't you?" He asked out of the blue, completely ignoring the question.
Felix hoped he hadn't blushed.
The world they were living in was rather hostile towards the strangers, towards the people unlike the other. Fae were one of the examples. And loving men being a man is another one. He had understood his queerness early in his teen years, when he had fallen (only to get his heart broken into pieces) for a boy around his age, a baker's son. The sorcerer, who happened to be the only one who cared about Felix enough to provide him with a roof above his head and food on his plate, had been furious. Felix got scolded and grounded and he had never spoken on this matter ever again.
Even thinking about his oddity was quite painful sometimes.
Was there a reason to lie to a fae? To the fae? Probably. No one knew what could be in those beautiful heads of theirs. "Yes."
Yet it felt so good to acknowledge that out loud at least once.
"That's what I thought when I chose a male body, you can address me as a man if that makes you more comfortable." He continued. "How impatient you are." Hyunjin giggled softly, fixing a strand of silver hair behind his ear.
"I don't mean to be offensive but you have quite a reputation." Felix managed.
That seemed to only make Hyunjin elated. "None given, none taken. I'm more human than probably the rest of us, so I understand your struggle. You see, you happened to be here during spring."
"I'm sorry, I'm not catching on." Felix noticed a light blue-ish blush on Hyunjin's cheeks.
"Spring. Do you know what happens in nature during spring, city boy?" The smirk on his face grew wider.
Felix's guess was: "Everything resurrects after a winter?"
"We prefer to think about it as a new birth. A plain white canvas to paint on in the following year, until the last sprinkle of autumn destroys the beauty of the year. Only to be reborn."
Felix still didn't quite understand the implication of the fae's words. "And what do I, a mere human, have to do with that?"
"You're a male, right?"
Felix nodded.
"If my knowledge of humankind is good enough, I believe you're able to breed."
" What ?" Felix said, scandalized.
"As all the living creatures that remain tied to nature, I'm in heat. I want you to breed me."