“Father, really I’m fine,” Tira protested. Owen, also known as Puck, yes the mischievous little elf from the Shakespeare’s fable is real and he does have a daughter, shook his head. He straightened his expensive suit and smoothed back his blond hair, then made sure his glasses were firmly set on his nose. “Today you need to stay in bed. You’ve been up for the past two nights AND days working on these things,” he made a vague gesture to the wrapped gift boxes next to Tira’s bedroom door, “and I refuse to have you go running around exhausting yourself to the point where you will pass out.” He looked at her pointedly, as if saying more shouldn’t be necessary. Tira sighed and let her shoulders droop in defeat, “I let myself use up all my energy and magic ONCE and I never hear the end of it.” She shuffled back into her room, dressed in pale lavender shorts and tank p.j.’s with a silver robe hanging on her shoulders and giant fuzzy silver slippers engulfing her feet. It actually looked as if she was just an average teen. Then again Puck disguised himself rather well too, he didn’t look like a sensible businessman when in his ‘normal’ form and the same went for his daughter.

She looked like a teen most of the time, but her most basic and original form was that of a gargoyle. She had wings, tail, pointed ears and fangs. Her coloring was also MUCH different, her skin normally a light gray color, the insides of her wings and hair were a rich purple color that matched the base color of her eyes. Her eyes were oval and slanted the purple color rimmed in a gray that was almost black and then freckles of silver sparked from around the pupil. Ever since she had come back into his life, after centuries of being frozen in sleep and time far beyond his reach, she had constantly reminded him of her mother. Her mother, Maria, was the one person who he had ever truly cared for. Tira had inherited her mother’s eyes and even when she was human she still had those otherworldly eyes. When she shot a glare at him over her shoulder, he would have sworn it was his beloved Maria who stood before him. The similarity between Tira’s face and his own ‘normal’ one was what betrayed the illusion and reminded him that Maria wasn’t there and would never be again.

Tira never changed her face, besides the coloring when she went into her gargoyle form, and the only way she changed to look more human was by rounding her ears to look human instead of pointed fey. Puck had to remind himself that Maria had died thousands of years ago and would remain dead. Except for the little part that still lived inside Tira’s and his own heart, she was no more. She had been the first and last of the Irish clan of gargoyles before Oberon, technically Tira’s grandfather and Puck’s sire, was tricked by his wife Titianna to destroy them all while they slept as stone during the day. Puck could never forgive them and was utterly grateful to the gargoyles, his daughter, and the Xanatos’s for all they had done to keep Puck and young Alex Xanatos from being taken by Oberon and Titianna. It was officially his job to teach Alex magic, but he also felt he needed to be a father for Tira. Even if she had already grown up, she hadn’t had an easy life on the street of New York. A homeless woman of druid blood had broken the spell about eighteen years ago, adopting the confused four-year-old without question. Thus, the reason for his guilt and need to repent.

Turning his thoughts back to the present he found Tira was looking at him with a worried expression, a hand on both sides of his face. When did she move? Puck thought. “Dad, can you hear me?” She asked. He pulled out of her hold and nodded, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. “Yes, I was just wondering in my thoughts.” With a soft white glow Owen changed forms and Puck stood before her in all his original splendor, looking a little tired but no worse for wear. She hugged him and didn’t let go. “Maybe YOU are the one who needs to sleep a little. Did I remind you of mom again?” Puck’s eyes widened, and he pulled away to hold her by the shoulders at arms length, “What?” Tira rolled her eyes, “I know I remind you of mom. I accidentally messed up a potion a couple days ago and it made me a temporary telepath, so I heard you think of mom when you saw some of my facial expressions.” Puck chuckled and patted her head, “That’s my girl.” When Tira just glared at him, he merely shrugged and picked up the gift boxes. “I’ll take these and give them to the Clan when they wake up, but YOU need to stay in bed.” Tira sighed, “Fine. On all accounts, fine.” Puck turned away, “Your eyes are like hers whenever you give a deep felt expression,” and used a teleporting spell to the balcony where the gargoyles slept during the day, before she could reply or make him tell her of Maria. He couldn’t face that issue yet.

With another flash he was back to his Owen disguise and waiting a safe distance away from the gargoyle statues as the sun started below the horizon. Cracks spread across the surface of the stone and with a roar each broke free from their shells, the younger ones yawning and stretching, showering the area just before Owen with bits of stone shards. “Good evening, I have gifts for each of you from Tira. She wished to give them to you herself, but is on the point of exhaustion and has been bound to bed.”

Each package was color coordinated to the gargoyle it was meant for, but only one had a fancy bow on it. He handed the lavender and sliver package with the bow to Angela, then the blue to Broadway, green to Lex, Violet to Goliath, dusty gold to Hudson, and finally the red to Brooklyn. He made sure to give Brooklyn his last, so that he was facing the young male gargoyle when he said, “I must request of you all to not call on her this evening, but to enjoy her gifts none the less.” Brooklyn suppressed a glare and looked curiously at the box before opening it. “The boxes have spells on them to make them deeper than they truly are,” Owen said, “So there should be a few in there.” “A few what?” Goliath asked. “Clothes! ” Angela cried out happily as she pulled out a soft sea green dress from her box. “This is wonderful! I knew she had been working on designing outfits for us, to help make humans more acceptable of us, but I had no idea she had gone so far!” They quickly opened their boxes and peered inside. Owen held the last object he had behind his back, waiting for the dog-like gargoyle to come sniffing before presenting the gift he had for it. Bronx ran around happily as the clothes were examined, but when he found they had nothing for him came wandering to the source of it all as Owen had hoped. Owen held out a collar with a shinny nametag imbedded with a dark blue gemstone in the O of the gargoyle’s name that was engraved on it. Bronx slipped his head inside it and allowed Owen to fasten it around his neck before giving the stiff man a good lick up one side of his face and then running off to show the others of his gift.

“There are multiple rooms with mirrors you all can change in,” Owen whipped the spit from his face with a handkerchief he fished from his pocket. Angela immediately grabbed all the garments she had pulled out of her box and dashed inside in search of a room to try all her new found cloths on. Broadway and Lex weren’t too far behind her, while Goliath and Hudson exchanged comments about their clothing and the topic of the human’s acceptance.

When Owen was otherwise preoccupied with wiping Bronx’s spit off, Brooklyn took the opportunity to jump off the balcony to glide to a nearby window ledge before thoroughly examining what lay inside his box. A leather jacket, zippers that let his wings out in the back, as well as little zippers on the pockets and the front, it had a large collar and soft lining. There were modified jeans as well as a modified shirt with one of his favorite band names on the front. He guessed there were probably going to be a few of both those items and proceeded to try the jacket on. It fit perfectly. The encounter he had with Tira a couple nights ago had been on his mind, specially since he hadn’t really seen or talked to her since then. He had begun to think that maybe she had changed her mind on what they had talked about, but all the clothes proved his doubts wrong.

About two nights ago Tira had found him in the library, alone, and had him stand still so she could take his measurements. Things had gone well enough at first, even when she had taken his leg measurements, but when she tried to take the measurement of the base of his tail he had bulked and jumped away.

“Tira You can’t just do that!” Brooklyn had said indignantly, as Tira put her hands on her hips. “Why not?” He had opened his mouth to answer and found he didn’t really have one to give her, besides the fact that it was a little too close for comfort then closed his mouth and shook his head. Tira gave a little snarl of frustration. “Angela didn’t care if I took her tail measurement. Why are you boys being so difficult?” She jumped forward and past him, trying to wrap the measuring tape around his tail before he could pull away. But with a flap of his wings, for an extra boost of speed, Brooklyn was able to dodge her attempt. If looks could kill, he would have keeled over right there. He was guessing that such a mood was mostly likely the work of Hudson, who was the only one who could get under her skin and make her so upset. No one really knew why, but those two would start at it and either they would both leave the argument grumpy or with her running away in tears. The second had only happened on a few occasions and both times she had run immediately to him. He was glad that she would turn to him for comfort but still didn’t like that she had gotten to the point where she needed it. Brooklyn didn’t know what to make of such behavior exactly, but had decided to not read into it and merely hold her and comfort her as best as he could. Each time she had fallen asleep in his arms, so he had the chance to hold her without drawing her attention to his own feelings with the likely result of driving her away. Sadly he would always forget to watch for the sun and end up sitting there with her until it was too late and would only have time to look up before the sun rose and turned him to stone. He didn’t know what to do or say afterwards because she had always been gone by the time he woke, so again he just didn’t ‘go there’.

“Lex and Goliath took their own measurements and when Broadway wouldn’t let me within five feet of him with a tape measure I got Angela to do it for me. And of course I ended up using magic to get Hudson’s measurements,” She had the humility to look pained and guilty at that, making him smile. “Well I won’t let you take my tail measurement, so just base it on Broadway’s or Goliath’s okay?” She smiled back at him, completely open and warm, then said “No.” Then the dance began. She darted and floated around the room after him as he dodged her attempts and sped away from her, putting things between them to help ward her off. After a little of this they were both laughing, having fun. Of course he forgot what they were doing and let down his guard, but she was ready to swoop in just as soon as he did. At the last minute he was able to grab her, but was at such an awkward position that he toppled over and they rolled a couple times before stopping with him lying on top of her. She was still laughing softly, but he had stopped smiling with suddenly being so close to her.

When Tira realized he wasn’t laughing and was actually looking a little upset she took his face in her hands and made him make eye contact with her. “What’s wrong? I didn’t get your tale.” Then her eyes got wide and she looked to both sides of them, “Are you hurt? Did something get you when we rolled?” He didn’t know how to feel then. She was concerned for him and they were both so close, her legs wrapped up in his and her chest pressed against his, it was just an overload of senses for him. Then the doubtful thoughts began surfacing and he started to lift himself up when she grabbed him around the neck, stopping his ascension. “What’s wrong Brooklyn?” Her eyes were so worried he didn’t know what to say, he definitely couldn’t tell her what was wrong. One thing, nothing was really WRONG. He just had feelings for her that he couldn’t pursue or express. That was bad, but being so close to her physically and not be able to say or do anything was pure torture.

“I just…I’m fine. Why do you think something’s wrong? Is my face that scary?” He didn’t mean to add that last bit and mentally kicked himself for it. She looked a little hurt, but more or less still worried. “You seemed like you were upset by something,” she started to scoot out from under him. “And you KNOW I don’t think your scary Brooklyn.” He started to get up as well, but just as he had gotten to a sitting position she stopped him and got up right in his face. Her expression was curious and…something else that he knew but couldn’t place. Something familiar. “In fact,” she said, “I find you are the complete opposite of scary.” He felt the hope bloom in his heart and stomped on it as hard as he could. “You mean cute and fluffy like a little rabbit? I find that a little hard to bel ” he didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. She kissed him, right then and there. Soft and quick, but definitely a kiss with meaning behind it. Not that I know, Brooklyn thought in a slight daze, beak’s always thrown girls off. “I don’t find you scary, or bunny cute. You’re actually rather appealing to me.”

With a mischievous grin she stood up and straightened her clothes. He stood up as well, if a little dazed, trying to focus his thoughts into something coherent. Just as he was about to say something, he felt a little squeeze at the base of his tale and whipped around to see a tape measure floating behind him. Anger flared up in him and he turned to demand if the kiss had been just a distraction to get his measurements, but when he had completely turned around she was right in front of him. She took his face in her hands and kissed him again. This time she lingered a little longer, but was just as soft. He actually had time to put a hand on hers and another on her hip before she pulled away enough to say, “I figured since you were completely dumb founded by my actions I’d take advantage. Not the other way around okay?” He nodded and placed the hand that was on hers on the back of her head, pulling her back to him and resumed kissing her. Something in her relaxed when he did this. For some reason he felt the same thing happen to him. It was as if they had liked each other and had found that their hopes for the other to feel the same had lifted a weight from their shoulders.

However, after a little more intense kissing she pulled away and took a few steps back. “What?” He asked. It was all that his mind would allow, his senses were completely overwhelmed and his head made him feel like he was floating in cotton. She smiled ruefully and shook her head. “I want you to think about this for a while. Don’t come looking for me, or anything, for a while. You need to make sure this is what you want.” Brooklyn frowned and processed what she said, his mind clearing a little. “What? Wait. No. Tira…” She jumped forward and placed her hands over his beak to stop him from talking, not really closing his mouth by force but with the mere presence of her hands. “Stop. Don’t try and figure it out all at once. You need to remember that I’m not a gargoyle. Can you deal with that and what that consists of? Can you tell your Clan without any kind of negative feeling?” She gave a small smile, “Think on it. You’ll know when to come see me.”

What he didn’t know, and still didn’t, was that she was a gargoyle as well. She just needed the assurances that he loved her for her. If she showed him that she was a female gargoyle, he’d be hot all over the idea. If she continued playing the half human and half elf girl, he might not be so inclined to the same idea. Again, she may have been thinking this but he had no idea.

Placing the leather jacket back into the box he sat and looked at it for a little bit before sighing and putting the lid back on. “I’m not sure if this is what you meant Tira, but I know what I feel and what I want to do. So hopefully I’m right.” Brooklyn opened the window behind him and walked down the hall it opened into.

Slipping into the first room he found empty and with a lock on the door, he changed into the first set of clothing from the box. He put his usual clothing, or what Tira calls ‘a bare bit of a loincloth’, into the box and left the room, immediately heading for Tira’s room with the box tucked under his arm. He was just down the hall from her door when Owen turned the corner on the right of him and stopped right in front of Brooklyn. “May I inquire as to where you might be headed?” Owen asked, narrowing his eyes at the young gargoyle, obviously noting the style of the clothing. “He’s probably coming to see me,” a voice said from behind Owen. They turned to see Tira standing in a lavender tank and shorts with the same fluffy silver slippers and a silver robe, holding what looked like a mug of hot cocoa and marshmallows. She cocked an eyebrow at them and took a sip from her mug, obviously waiting for them to say something.

“You’re supposed to be in bed,” Owen said with a slight accusing tone to his voice. She shrugged a shoulder. “I didn’t make any promises,” at the outraged expression on Owen’s face she quickly added, “but I AM resting dad. I just felt like something warm and sweet.” She lifted the cup, evidence to her statement and sweet tooth. “Plus, if I sleep tonight, then I won’t sleep later in the day and be up for tomorrow night.” Owen sighed and left the two alone as he rounded the corner further down the hall. Tira grinned at Brooklyn, but despite the usual warmth and glow that came from such a smile he did notice the dark bruise like marks under her eyes. She was totally exhausted and even shuffled a little when she started down the hall. “Maybe you SHOULD sleep. You could always sleep tonight AND tomorrow,” Brooklyn suggested. She shook her head and gave him a halfhearted glare. “I only need tomorrow. And I wanted to see the fruits of my labor.” They both smiled and just as she started to go past him he swooped her up into his arms, careful of her mug, and started towards her room. She didn’t really protest besides a startled noise when he picked her up, but that might have been for her mug of cocoa.

After a couple steps she rested her head on his chest and relaxed, closing her eyes. “Thanks,” she said softly. He didn’t answer, but just kept walking to her room. When he saw all the material and sewing things strewn across her room he gave an inward sigh. She HAD spent the past couple days making outfits for them. For me, he thought happily and a bit guiltily.

Brooklyn picked his way across the mess to her bed and set her down, gazing at the dark circles under her eyes. Those little marks struck a cord in his heart and before he realized it, he was sitting on the bed next to her, brushing the hair from her face and kissing her forehead softly. She peeked up at him with one eye. “I almost forgot about that, what with the sleep haze. I’m sorry,” she said softly, the last almost a whisper. “Why are you sorry?” He asked, matching her quiet tone. She looked past him with a glare and started to lift her hand but stopped about an inch from her side and looked at him pleadingly. “Can you shut the door Brooklyn? I know my father is out there eavesdropping and my barrier spells only work when the door is closed.” Brooklyn nodded and went back to the door. He peeked out and saw Owen standing at the end of the hall, his arms crossed and a glare set on the door. Before Owen could say anything Brooklyn shut the door and locked it, just for good measure. Owen sighed and walked towards the elevator. “You’d better not break her heart, gargoyle. Or you’ll have to answer to Puck, and I’m not near as good humored as I usually am when it comes to protecting my daughter,” Owen mumbled as he pressed the number of the floor he wanted. Brooklyn looked back at he bed and saw that Tira had set the cup down on the little table next to the bed. She looked like she was asleep. Should I just leave? He thought and looked back at the closed door.

“Don’t even think about leaving, mister. I told you we’d talk when you’d had time to think. It’s been plenty of time and I’m perfectly capable of carrying on a conversation.” He looked back at her and saw that her eyes were open and her mouth curved slightly in a half smile. She patted the spot he had been sitting in before, “Come on, tell me what conclusions you’ve come to.”

He stepped back over the mess, almost tripping this time. Probably because I’m nervous about talking to her, He thought. I shouldn’t be, since she feels the same way. He sat down next to her, but refrained from touching her this time. After a few seconds of silence she laughed, “Are you going to tell me or what?” He could see the worry and fear of what his answer may be and it gave him his voice. “I would, but with you talking I don’t have time to pick which way I want to say it.” She raised an eyebrow in silent question. He smiled, “Since I can’t seem to get enough time to TELL you, how bout I show you instead?” Brooklyn bent down over her and kissed her softly, keeping himself raised by his left arm and used his right hand to gently cradle her cheek, stroking it softly with his thumb. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a hand against his shoulder, trying to pull him closer.

Before she could, he sat up, pulling away from her to takeoff the jacket. He put the jacket on the headboard and stood up to walk around to the other side of the bed and lay down next to her, pulling her up against him. She cuddled against his chest, carefully tossing her slippers off over the side of the bed. She reached up with one hand and touched the back of his neck. Her hand gently rubbed exactly where tension built up from holding his head and beak up. “Why are your muscles all knotted up here?” She asked. “When did you figure out they were knotted?” He countered. She gave a small laughed and he felt warmth spread from her hand into his neck and the muscles eased, “When I wrapped my arms around your neck two days ago.”

“You shouldn’t use magic when you’re this tired,” He rubbed her back and knew she was waiting for an answer, he just didn’t know how to tell her without making it sound like he was complaining. “It gets a little knotted during the night because of the weight of my-,” He couldn’t bring himself to finish and sighed in defeat, pulling her even closer to him. She smells like she’s been sitting in a garden full of blooming flowers, he thought happily. “Your beak, that’s what I heard Broadway call it so I hope that’s right, weighs your head down a bit and keeping it up makes a strain on the muscles in your neck.” He nodded, smiling at her comment on Broadway. “Yes, we call it a beak. What else would you call it? And yeah, that’s why I have a little muscle knot there. Did you use a spell to stop it and keep it from starting again?” He reached back and rubbed his neck. Tira scooted back a little so she could see his face, “Yeah, I did. Is it not working?” He kissed her nose, “No. It’s working.”

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully and cuddled back up against his chest. “I guess this means you don’t have a problem with me being part human and that you don’t have a problem telling the rest of the Clan?” “Nope. I don’t have a problem with any of it. I’ve been wanting to tell you how I’ve felt for a very long time.” She wiggled a little, slipping a leg in between his and another over the leg that covered hers, entangling them. He decided to make it a little more interesting and slipped his tale into the crisscross of legs, as if to tie them together. She laughed, but it sounded almost like a giggle. He didn’t think he had ever heard her giggle before, so wasn’t completely sure. She reached around and hugged his chest to her, while tucking the other arm somewhere under the pillows. He reached under the pillows and found her hand, then he folded his free wing around them, holding her in every way he could in such a position.

They stayed cuddled against each other for a long while. There were a couple soft knocks once or twice, but she asked them to come back another time that she was resting rather well at the moment. He wondered what they would make of that statement, but the thought was fleeting as he was once again engulfed by the feel and smell of her, the very sensation of having her so close intoxicating to him.

It was a while after that, that he realized how far such a situation could be taken and wondered about that. Would and could they ever reach such steps? “Brooklyn, do you know how humans mate?” If he had been drinking something it would have squirted out his nose right at that moment. His mind reeled at how insanely close it matched his thoughts. “Yeah. It’s not very different from how gargoyles do, if that is what you were wondering.” He felt her nod against his chest, and silently wondered if she had read his mind magickally, or something. “I wasn’t sure. What’s different?” He couldn’t stop the blush from coloring his cheeks or the reaction his body was starting without his permission. Fortunately his tail blocked her from that certain area of his body. “Not much, but with wings and claws you have to be careful.” He leaned back to see her smiling, then smiled himself. “Why do you ask?”

She squirmed a little, “Well, you know. I was curious because, well to be blunt I wanted to know because we’re in bed together and it just crossed my mind that things could go in THAT direction.” At least she’s not reading my mind, he thought, and we’re on the same page so now I just have to find out… “Do you WANT to go in that direction Tira?” She became very still and he was pretty sure she wasn’t breathing, he couldn’t hear the soft inhale and exhale of her breath and the press of her chest had stopped. Then he felt a little puff of air and felt her chest press against his as she exhaled in a sigh. “Maybe, yeah. No. Yes…maybe,” she stammered. He laughed, “That last one your definite answer?” “For right now. I’m not sure if we SHOULD, you know? What about when the sun comes up? That’s going to suck. You’ll be a darned statue just after.”

He tossed those ideas around a bit in his head. He hadn’t thought about how she might feel about him not being able to talk with her after sunrise. She would DEFINITELY want him awake. “How much of your magic will you have after the day?” He asked. “I’ll be as good as new as long as I sleep solid for a while.” “Good. Go to sleep now and stay asleep until late tomorrow and we’ll see if you can cast one of those daytime spells for me to stick around after sunrise. Okay?” She sat up suddenly, startling him enough that he tried to pull himself out of her way all at once, causing him to fall off the bed.

“Oops,” he heard her say and saw her peek over the edge of he bed. “Sorry babe.” He tilted his head to the side. “What did you call me?” Her eyes got wide. “I’m sorry! I didn’t even think, I just said it.” She blushed and ducked back onto the bed, out of his line of vision. He sat up and tried to see her face, but she had it thoroughly buried in pillow. “I don’t mind. In fact I thought it was cute the way you said it.” He took a bit of her hair in his hand and gave it a soft tug. She swatted halfheartedly at his hand and sat up enough to look at him. She had tears on the edge of her eyes. “I’m sorry Brooklyn. I’m just exhausted. This is all overwhelming with me at such a tired state.” “Stop apologizing,” he stood and sat so that his back was against the headboard wrapping his wings around his shoulders like a cloak, then pulled her into his lap and arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head in the dip of his neck, and let him wrap a blanket around her. “The sun’s coming up soon. Do you want me to stay in here?” He asked. “It’s coming up?” Her head jerked up and she looked out her window. “We spent the whole night just laying around?” Then she did the oddest thing, she jumped up from his hold and stood in the middle of the mess and yelled, “DAD!” What was really surprising is that with a whirl of wind Puck, in all his original splendor, was standing before her. “What? Did he do something? I’ll turn him in a bug and squish him!” Puck stated, glaring at the gargoyle. Tira flicked her father’s nose. “Hello! No! I love him and he loves me. Okay?” Puck looked from her to the Brooklyn and back again. Brooklyn hadn’t thought anything else would surprise him but that little declaration sure did. She loved him. LOVED. And yes, he always knew that he loved her, but SHE knew that and returned his feelings. He couldn’t stop the dopey grin from spreading across his face with the feeling of utter bliss that had engulfed him. “All right,” Puck said warily. “And why did you call me? It wasn’t a picnic to barge through those barriers you’ve got here, so make it good.” Tira glared at her father until he shrugged and started to float with his legs crossed, his way of dismissing things.

She put her hands on her hips. “I want you to do that spell you cast on Demona on Brooklyn. Just for a couple days.” Tira turned back to Brooklyn. “Is that okay?” Brooklyn nodded. “Yes. If that’s what you want. It’ll still let me be a gargoyle, so I’m okay with it.” She grinned, “And it’s not permanent, so if you don’t want to continue after a couple of days you won’t have to.” He nodded and she turned back to her father. “So?” She asked. Puck looked thoroughly dumb founded. “You’re serious Atrianna? You want this?” She groaned at the mention of her full name, but nodded. “That’s what WE want,” Brooklyn chimed in, standing and walking over to stand next to Tira while Puck had tried to wrap his mind around it all. She glanced at him and he took her hand, smiling. “Oh all right, but it won’t be the same spell. I’ll do this one with a time limit like you want.”

Puck’s eyes started to glow, wind without a source blew around Tira’s room. “Young beast at night your truth with fly but during the day you’ll live a lie, a human you’ll be while the sun’s out but when the moon rises your time will be out, back to the life you were born but for now I give you a gift of a second form, no more stone will you have to break and now be faced with this decision to make.”

With that Brooklyn started to glow a little and Tira looked out the window to see the sun was rising. Brooklyn, still glowing, slumped against Tira with a groan. He shook a little while his wings and tail were transforming but was able to stand on his own after that, sort of. He was a little wobbly without his tail and Tira had to keep a hold of his arm. In fact Tira was almost dragged down with Brooklyn and Puck had to put them both on the bed with magic.

“Will you two be okay? I’m sorry I mustn’t have worded it right, you might feel a little sea sick every time you change.” That’s what I was hoping for, Puck thought. Then maybe you’d stop wanting to change and leave my daughter alone. Tira glared at her father. “I read that thought Dad,” she said angrily. “There’s enough of a magick surge that I get a little tipsy with it afterwards. Makes me able to read the sources’ mind and whatnot,” she explained to Brooklyn. Puck arched an eyebrow, “You’re such an insolent daughter.” Then he grinned and zipped over to kiss her on the head, “That’s what makes you so wonderful though. I’m off kids! You’d both better sleep today! You can have fun and games tonight and tomorrow.” He floated towards the door, casting a quick clean up spell on the things strewn across her room. “Sweet dreams,” and then he threw some dust at the pair and disappeared through the door.

“Crud,” Tira muttered as she crawled further up on the bed and under the covers. Brooklyn was touching his nose and lips when he turned to her. “What?” She moaned and gave him an apologetic smile, “That was sleep sand he threw at us. You’d better get in bed. We’ll be out solid all morning and probably most of the afternoon.” Brooklyn stopped inspecting his face and did notice the sudden sleepy feeling. “Fine with me,” he said with a grin, “as long as I get to share a bed with you I’m happy.” He crawled under the covers of the bed and pulled her back up against him, spooning her, and wrapped his arms around her. She held on to his arms and rested her head back against him. “Dream sweet, love,” he whispered to her. She made a little murmur sound and they both fell asleep.