Chapter Text
Dave yawned as he walked down the sidewalk, two grocery bags in either hand.
Pausing a moment, he headed towards the park and saw that the rose bushes in the boxes bordering the sidewalk were starting to bloom.
Pretty, Dave thought, slowing down a bit and glancing around for a minute; there were a couple families in the park having picnics, none of them paying Dave any mind.
I’m almost home anyway, he thought. I’ll be safe.
As he passed one of the rosebushes he heard a faint squeak and stopped, glancing around.
The squeak came again and he looked at one of the rose bushes to his left; crouching, he could see the leaves rustling.
Frowning, Dave set his grocery bags down and carefully parted the leaves, gasping when he saw a red-winged fairy struggling among the thorns.
”Hang on!” Dave said. “I’ll get you out, okay?”
The fairy went still, staring up at him with wide green eyes.
”It’s okay,” Dave repeated softly. “I promise I’ll get you out and let you go.”
The fairy hissed and bared its teeth, struggling against the branches.
”Easy, easy…” Dave murmured, drawing back a bit. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help you get out of there.”
The fairy went quiet and closed its eyes.
”Okay…try not to move…”
Dave reached for a branch, then shook his head.
”I need to get something that’ll help me get rid of the branches,” Dave said. “I won’t take long, but will you be okay?”
The fairy stared at him for a moment, then nodded.
Dave took off running towards the apartment and managed to get there in a few minutes; he rushed inside and rifled through drawers, finally coming up with a pair of shears.
”What’s going on?” Sam asked.
”Can’t talk now,” Dave said.
”Dave, wait!” Sam exclaimed. “Just let me get my shoes on!”
“Sorry!”
Dave ran back outside and returned to the park, spotting the rosebush with his groceries still nearby.
”I’m back,” he said, kneeling and parting the leaves. “Here we go…”
Dave slowly edged his arm into the rosebush, trying to gauge which branches he could cut without causing more harm to the fairy; finally, he began cutting branches and carefully removing them.
The fairy shut its eyes tightly.
”I’m so sorry,” Dave mumbled, biting his lip as he snipped another branch. ”One more should do it. Keep still for just a little longer.”
Dave cut and removed one last branch and tossed it away, then reached a hand slowly towards the fairy.
”Okay, I’m gonna pick you up, but I’ll be careful. Ready?”
The fairy tensed, but nodded; Dave gently wrapped his hand around it, doing his best to pull it out without catching it against any thorns.
”There you go,” Dave sighed in relief, quickly looking the fairy over as she lay curled up in his palm. “You poor little thing, you’re all scratched up. You’re gonna be alright, though, I promise. I’ll help you, okay?”
The fairy leapt from Dave’s hand and flew off like a shot despite its injuries.
”Hang on!” Dave exclaimed, but the fairy was already gone. “Hope she’ll be okay…she was really hurt…”
Dave stared in the direction she’d vanished, then gathered up his groceries with a sigh.
”Fairies can take care of themselves…Henry did before we found him, but...”
Dave trudged back towards home with the groceries, halting when he saw Sam running towards him.
“Dave!” they exclaimed. “You okay?”
”Yeah, don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Sam stared at Dave’s arms; Dave looked down to see he had cuts from the rose bush.
”Oh, uh…it’s…it’s not that bad.”
Sam shook their head and gave a little sigh.
”C’mon. You can tell me what happened at home.”
“You found another one?” Sam asked, eyebrows lifting in surprise.
”Yeah, and I wish it had let me patch it up,” Dave muttered as Sam bandaged his arms.
”I think you did all you could,” Sam said. “Plus, it flew away on its own, right?”
”Yeah, but I’m still worried,” Dave sighed heavily.
”Maybe we’ll see it again sometime,” Sam said, patting Dave’s shoulder.
Henry flew over and landed on the kitchen counter, looking at the two curiously.
”You can heal yourself, right Henry?” Dave asked.
Henry tipped his head and nodded.
”That’s good…” Dave said with a little pulse of relief. “Maybe that other fairy can too.”
Henry suddenly walked towards Dave, his antennae twitching.
“Hey, Hen,” Dave said. “I’m okay. It wasn’t too bad.”
Henry sniffed Dave’s hand and abruptly drew back with a hiss.
”Whoa! What’s wrong?” Dave exclaimed.
Henry sniffed Dave’s hand again and bared his teeth, antennae flattening as he growled.
”This is kinda how cats act when you come home smelling like another cat,” Sam said, bandaging the last of Dave’s cuts and putting the first-aid kit away.
“Do you not like other fairies?” Dave asked, frowning. “Are you territorial, maybe?”
Henry hissed again, then flew up and landed on Sam’s shoulder.
”I guess if most animals don’t always get along, it makes sense fairies might not either,” Dave said, reaching for Henry, who shrank back and showed his teeth again.
“Alright,” Sam said. “Henry, it’s okay. We’ll just take a break.”
Henry scowled, narrowing his eyes.
”Hopefully I won’t smell like that other fairy for long,” Dave said.
Henry growled quietly and pointed towards the sink.
”I just fixed Dave up,” Sam sighed. “Let him heal. He’ll smell like the apartment again soon.”
Sam grinned and scratched Henry under the chin, which made the fairy close his eyes and stop growling.
”Yeah, see?” Sam laughed. “It’ll be fine, you little grump.”
Henry let out a huff but didn’t open his eyes.
”I’m glad you helped her,” Sam said, crossing their arms. “But next time…well, if there is a next time, could you wait just a few minutes so I can come too?”
Dave winced a bit and looked away sheepishly.
”Yeah, um…sorry.”
Sam sighed.
”The mayor’s still out there with those two Toppats…” they muttered. “He’s probably joined them by now like the captain said.”
Dave scoffed, anger burning in the pit of his stomach.
”I don’t know if it’d make a difference if I was with you,” Sam continued, brow furrowed, “but it’s not a good idea for you to…”
Now Dave crossed his arms.
”Alright. But Galeforce told us to use the buddy system for a reason,” Sam finished. “They said they’d come check on us in a few weeks.”
Henry pulled something from his tiny shoulder bag and Dave stared in surprise, then groaned.
”We should’ve just handed that over,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “It’s not loaded, right?”
Henry rolled his eyes but nodded.
“When did you even grab that again?” Dave asked. “I thought you left it behind.”
Henry put the tiny firearm away and shrugged.
“I know why some Toppat would come to find me,” Dave said, folding his arms tighter. “But what about Henry? They saw him.”
”Henry’s usually with one or both of us,” Sam said. “We’ll keep an eye on him. Plus I think Henry still has some bullets, don’t you?”
Henry grinned and nodded.
”I’d love to know how—if at all—they explained what happened without sounding stupid,” Dave said, smirking. “How could you explain getting defeated by a fairy wielding a literal mini-gun?”
“I want to know too,” Sam laughed, eyes narrowed in amusement. “We’ll have to use our imagination I guess.”
“Yeah. Heh.”
Dave went to the medicine cabinet and pulled out some painkillers, quickly taking two with some water.
”I’m gonna get some rest,” he said. “Feeling kinda tired.”
”That’s good,” Sam said. “Need the ice pack?”
”Not right now,” Dave said, glancing at the front door.
”I’ll lock up,” Sam told him. “Don’t worry. Come get me if you need something.”
”Thanks, Sam,” Dave sighed, giving a grateful smile.
”Have a good rest,” Sam said. “Let me know if you need to take tonight off.”
”I’ll be fine,” Dave said with a nod. “But I’ll let you know. Thanks.”