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"Pepito." Cellbit called, cupping his hands around his mouth, hoping to help amplify the sound of his voice.
Pepito had wanted to go into the woods to 'explore' and 'research' just like Pa Celbi and who was Cellbit to deny his son that simple joy? It wasn't like Cellbit could offer the boy much back at their home. Cellbit was far too untrusting of The Federation to let them know of Pepito's existence to get extra assistance with food and childcare so it all fell on his shoulders.
Supporting himself and a child wouldn't have been as hard if it wasn't for the fact that his options for cases to investigate were slim, mainly because of his known hatred of The Federation. He barely had enough to keep up with the basics let alone to buy Pepito toys beyond the stuffed popcorn that Cellbit had bought at a discount, a few weeks after he had found Pepito. Now, because of the fact that his son was practically trapped inside their home for his own protection and the fact that Cellbit wanted to give his son the opportunity to get some fresh air; Cellbit was looking for his son.
"Pepito?" Cellbit called again.
Cellbit didn't think Pepito could have gotten far. He hoped his son hadn't gotten far. The kid was five years old at most but also had a habit of accidentally wandering away from him while thinking or looking at something; he reminded Cellbit a lot of himself as a kid. The only problem with the fact that Pepito would wander off is that despite the woods being large Cellbit was not certain that a Federation employee would not appear and possibly wander across Pepito. Sure, he had taught the boy to hide from the bearlike creatures but that knowledge hadn't even saved Cellbit himself from getting dragged into the Federation headquarters more than once.
"Pepito?" Cellbit called again as he walked into a large clearing.
"Pa Cellbi!" Pepito's voice called back, drawing Cellbit’s attention towards him.
Cellbit froze as he looked at Pepito. The boy might not have been in the grasp of a Federation worker but the arms he was in were almost just as terrifying. At first glance the man holding Pepito looked normal, handsome but normal, but then it became obvious that the man's arms that were holding Pepito were resting too low on his torso and then it became obvious that there was a second set in the proper location on a human; one of which was carting through Pepito's hair. Pepito seemed unfazed by the two sets of arms on the man and seemed almost excited to have met someone new. If they managed to get out of this alive Cellbit needed to find a safe way to get Pepito to meet more people without alerting The Federation of Pepito's existence.
Cellbit personally had never dealt with a fae before but he knew the stories of those who had dealt with the fae. Cellbit had been hired to investigate far too many of the mangled bodies of those who had decided to mess with the fae. He didn't want to become another one of the mangled corpses for someone else to investigate, if anyone would even investigate his death before deciding he was just someone who got what was coming for him.
"You know it's rude not to say hello, Gatinho." The fae stated, his smile seeming too sharp.
"Desculpe, that was not my intention. I was just looking for my son." Cellbit states, trying to seem as collected and non-threatening as he could.
"Oh?" The fae asks, before smiling mischievously. "If you want you could make a deal for you to successfully find your child."
"That would be a nice offer if it wasn't for the fact I have already found him."
"But you said you were looking for him, no?" The fae asks, tilting his head causing the sunlight to hit him in a way that almost distracts Cellbit from his mission. "¿Dónde está tu hijo?"
"He is in your arms and if you could set him down and let him go and we will leave you alone."
"Pero, what if I don't want to be alone?" The fae asks, raising his eyebrow.
Cellbit holds back a sigh and words his next sentence very carefully. "If you return my son to me, we can stay for an hour and keep you company."
The fae hums in consideration before replying. "No."
"No?"
"No." The fae replies, shrugging his upper arms; and Cellbit tries not to get distracted by how the man’s muscles flexed as he shrugged.
"Why."
"He is cute but I guess it is not fair to tell you that you can't see him ever again. How does two hours of visitation a day sound?"
"He's my son."
"And now, he is also my son."
"Pepito doesn't want to leave Pa Cellbi." Pepito wimpers, seeming like he is about to cry.
Cellbit wants to reach out and comfort his son but stepping into the fae's ring was trapping himself in a spider's web. Cellbit tries not to snap and yell at the fae to let his son go as Pepito turns as much as he can in the fae's arms and reaches out for Cellbit.
“Pa Cellbi.” Pepito whines,getting even closer to crying, the fae rubs his back with his extra arms but it doesn’t soothe Pepito.
The fae frowns when Pepito isn't soothed by the gesture and bites his lip obviously thinking what to do next to soothe the boy. Cellbit can't help but focus on the teeth pressed into the man's lip and how the sharp teeth add to how attractive he is. Cellbit almost doesn't realize when the fae hands his son a flower. Cellbit wishes he could have seen how it worked instead of being distracted. Cellbit still feels a bit relieved as Pepito calms down a little as he is confused by the flower.
Cellbit sighed. “What do I have to do to get my son back?”
“Maybe we can make a deal.” The fae says with a grin that sends chills up Cellbit's spine.
“What do you want?”
The fae looks Cellbit up and down and winks.
“What do you want?” Cellbit asks again, this time a bit more desperate.
“You to join me.”
“Before I decide, can I please hold my son?”
“Our son.” The fae says as he kneels down and carefully sets Pepito on the ground.
Pepito doesn’t hesitate and takes off running for Cellbit. Cellbit kneels down and scoops Pepito up in his arms and soothingly rubs his son’s back. Pepito buries his face in Cellbit’s shirt. The fae examines Cellbit; Cellbit feels like the man is watching to make sure he doesn’t run but the way his eyes glance over Cellbit it looks more like the other is checking him out.
“What does joining you entail?” Cellbit asks, feeling defeated, as he stands back up.
“You come with me to the fae realm and become a fae.”
“You seem like you get nothing from this deal.” Cellbit accused.
“Do I really get nothing, Gatinho?” The fae said, looking Cellbit up and down again before winking.
Cellbit studied the other man. “What happens if I join you?”
The man smirks and Cellbit almost feels like he is making the wrong decision.
“Bueno, al principio nada. You step into my ring and I safely take you to the fae realm.”
“After that?”
The fae shrugs. “It depends.”
“It depends?”
“You will eventually become a fae yourself but other than that the choice is up to you.” The fae explains, frowning quickly before forcing himself to smile.
“So, you won’t protect me once we get to the fae realm?”
“We can arrange a deal for that, Gatinho.” The fae replied with a smirk.
“What do you get out of the deals?” Cellbit asks hesitantly as he shifts Pepito in his arms.
“You get to enter the fae realm and be with your son but he will also be my son.”
“And for the protection?” Cellbit asks, tightening his grip a bit on his son.
The fae smirks and Cellbit once again debates if he was making a mistake. He could blame the mistake on the need to protect his son, but the fae had proven he wasn’t a threat other than possibly running off with his son. Cellbit knew he had stayed because he was intrigued by the mystery of the fae and by how handsome the fae looked.
“Un beso.” The fae says with a wink.
“Que? Um beijo?” Cellbit responds, feeling his cheeks heat up.
“Sí, ¿hay algún problema, Gatinho?” The fae asks, showing off his teeth in a seemingly playful way.
“Um beijo?” Cellbit asks again.
“Sí, it doesn’t have to be on the lips unless you want it to.” The fae replied, smirking again as he looked Cellbit up and down making it very obvious that he was admiring how Cellbit looked.
Cellbit blinks in confusion before he kneels down. “Pepito, I’m going to need to set you down for a moment.”
Pepito leans away from Cellbit’s chest with wide eyes.
“Just a moment.” Cellbit promises.
Pepito hesitantly removes himself from Cellbit’s arms. Pepito seems to immediately get distracted by some flowers in front of them as Cellbit stands up. Cellbit takes a deep breath as he approaches the faerie ring. Cellbit stops on his side of the ring, a few steps away from the fae, not wanting to risk angering the fae by stepping into his ring uninvited.
“Are you going to kiss me from all the way over there, Gatinho? ¿Es muy difícil, no?” The fae teases with a smirk.
“It is impolite to enter your ring without permission, né?” Cellbit asks, still not moving to enter the ring.
“For most people? Yes, but you can do whatever you want, Gatinho.”
Cellbit stares at the ring of mushrooms that surround the fae and then looks back at the fae and studies his face to try and figure out if the fae was trying to trick him in some way. The fae instead is pouting and Cellbit ends up more confused. The fae sighs and rolls his eyes.
“I can’t lie to you, you can enter my ring without-” The fae pauses for a moment, seeming to look for a word he wants to use. “without me-” the fae huffs in frustration.
“I am supposed to trust you to protect me and my son and you can’t promise I am safe to enter your ring.” Cellbit says before he can reel in his frustration with the situation.
The fae closes his eyes and takes a breath and Cellbit can feel a wind go through the entire forest. Cellbit eyes widen and he glances back to where Pepito is sitting and makes sure that he is standing between Pepito and the fae incase the fae decides to do something in response to Cellbit’s rudeness.
“Gatinho,” the fae says, looking into Cellbit’s eyes. “I promise that I will not willingly and knowingly let harm happen to you that I do not think you will enjoy. Your actions can not and will not change this.”
Cellbit feels his cheeks start to heat up and the fae obviously notices too and winks before he starts to grin.
“Cala boca.” Cellbit says before he takes a deep break and steps over the mushrooms.
The fae moves to obviously take a step forward but then stops and looks at Celbit. Cellbit takes another step forward until he is standing face to face with the fae.
“Hola, Gatinho.” The fae whispers, as he examines Cellbit’s face.
“Só um beijo?” Cellbit asks.
“Unless, you want more, Gatinho.” The fae says with a smirk.
Cellbit smirks as he places his hand on the fae’s shoulder before he leans in and kisses the fae’s cheek. When he pulls back he notices the frown on the fae’s lips that he quickly tries to cover up with a smile.
“Bu-” The fae starts to say before Cellbit moves his hand from the fae’s shoulder to his cheek and moves to properly kiss him.
When Cellbit pulls away the fae’s arm is resting on his shoulder. Cellbit looks at the fae.
“¿Más besos, Gatinho?” The fae asks, raising an eyebrow.
Cellbit opens his mouth to say something as he feels a tug on his pants. Cellbit moves his hand from the Fae’s cheek as he looks down. Cellbit is not surprised to find Pepito standing at his leg but he is surprised that the boy is holding onto both his pants and the fae’s pants.
“You kissed. Are you married now?” Pepito asked, looking at both of them with wide eyes.
The fae laughed and Cellbit could hear a faint bell sound intertwined with the normal more human-like laughter. Cellbit doesn’t know how to answer but the fae lets go of Cellbit’s arm and kneels down so he is closer to Pepito. When the fae opens his lower arms Pepito throws himself into it and lets himself be lifted by the fae. The other man stands up with Pepito in his lower arms and once he is standing ruffles the boy’s hair.
“Not yet.” The fae said, glancing at Cellbit.
“Why not?” Pepito asks with a pout.
“Bueno, we only just met.” The fae says.
“But you kissed? I saw it.” Pepito said, looking towards Cellbit.
The fae leaned his head down so he could whisper in Pepito’s ear. Cellbit couldn’t hear what the fae was saying but Pepito’s eyes widen in what seems to be understanding.
“You need to get Pa Cellbi to love you.” Pepito says, letting his mouth hang open after he finishes speaking.
The fae blushes, looking sheepish for a moment as if he had not expected Pepito to say anything. After a moment the man raises his eyebrow as if he is asking Cellbit if he is interested.
“Well, someone doesn’t even know my name.” Cellbit responds, crossing his arms.
Pepito looks between the two with a gasp.
“Bueno, soy Roier.” Roier says, causing Pepito to gasp as Cellbit feels warmth surround him. “Do I get your name, Gatinho?”
“Cellbit.” Cellbit replies, as he uncrosses his arms despite the slight chill he feels.
“Cellbit.” The man repeats slowly as if he is savoring Cellbit’s name, before he turns his attention to Pepito. “What is your name?”
Pepito immediately turns to Cellbit, searching for approval. It was almost a shame that the training that Cellbit had taught Pepito was no longer going to be relevant when they became fae. Cellbit nodded at his son.
“I’m Pepito.”
“Bueno, Pepito, are you ready to go home?”
“Home?” Pepito asked, looking at Cellbit.
“Roier is taking us to a new home.” Cellbit said, pushing a few strands of Pepito’s hair out of his face.
“More new friends for Pepito?” Pepito asked.
Cellbit looked at Roier begging him with his eyes to answer.
“I think there are a few people who would love to meet you.” Roier says, causing Pepito to grin as Roier uses his upper hands to pull Cellbit closer. “Now, it’s time to go home.”