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Fairy has a lot of friends. She has Her Own Human, of course, and no one else is as special as Him. But she also has the Angry Loud One with sparks and the sound of thunder, and then there are the two who often are together, the Gentle One and the Loud One who often quarrels with Her Human.
Then there’s the Frightened One and the Frightening One. Fairy doesn’t go near them even though she’d like to be friends with them. But she’s a smart girl and knows when her presence causes more harm than good.
(There was the one whom she doesn’t even want to think about anymore. The one who seemed nice but was actually evil and who harmed Her Human. If he wasn’t dead already, Fairy would make sure he’d soon be. Not that she would’ve done anything herself! Of course not! She’s a spiritual dog; she doesn’t harm people. But…she could’ve led him somewhere. Purely by accident.)
Today, Fairy and Her Human are visiting one of her human’s friends, the Soft-Spoken One, who gives excellent scritches and who’s always so nice to everyone. His father is a sour old man who doesn’t like Fairy at all, but she doesn’t care because it’s not like they’re visiting him anyway.
”Jin Ling!” Her Human’s friend exclaims, genuinely happy to see them. Fairy is sure that if he had a tail, it would be wagging right now. ”How was your flight?”
”It was okay. Mostly boring,” Her Human says. ”Are the Lans here already?”
Her Human’s friend shakes his head. ”No. They sent a message that they’ll be late, something about a minor crisis during some juniors’ first night hunt. Hopefully they’ll be here tomorrow.”
”Ah. Well, less time to listen to Jingyi’s stupid voice,” Her Human says. Fairy knows he’s lying; He smells wistful and a little sad, so she nudges at His palm and whines softly.
”And Fairy!” Her Human’s friend says, crouching down and holding out his hand without crowding her. Always so polite, this one! Fairy likes her. ”Have you been a good girl?”
Fairy huffs and butts him hard enough to topple him to the ground. Has she been a good girl—of course she has! She’s always a good girl. Luckily, Her Human’s friend understands his mistake and offers excellent scritches as an apology.
”I have treats for you,” Her Human’s friend whispers. ”But don’t tell Jin Ling.”
”I can hear you just fine,” Her Human says dryly.
”Nope, we won’t tell Jin Ling anything,” Her Human’s friend singsongs and rummages for a small parcel from his sleeve. ”I got these earlier just for you, Fairy! They should be cooled down now.”
The parcel yields a handful of round things that smell nutty and delicious. Fairy sits down, expectant and waits politely even though Her Human’s friend takes forever peeling away the hard shell. Humans have small and weak teeth which is why they have to use their forepaws for things Fairy would just use her teeth, and sometimes it takes unreasonably long.
”Gently,” Her Human’s friend says and offers Fairy the first treat.
It’s crunchy and warm and very, very good, and Fairy wants the rest of the treats immediately.
”What are those?” Her Human asks.
”Chestnuts,” Her Human’s friend says, feeding Fairy a second one. ”They’re okay for dogs. I checked.”
Fairy pokes at his hand. Humans are so slow with everything. It would be annoying if she hadn’t trained Her Human and Her Human’s friends to respond to her with commendable speed.
She chomps down another treat and wags her tail.
It was, indeed, a very good day to visit Her Human’s friend.