Wood Witch and the Bounty Hunter

It was hard for Flora to keep a smile plastered on her face while Abel Merrick talked. Especially when the only thing she could think about was Ronan and how sweet it was that he seemed jealous of other men talking to her. On top of that, he looked very handsome and had complimented Flora as well.

“Flora? Did you hear me?”

“Huh?” Flora said, snapping back into reality. “Oh, sorry. Yes. That’s very impressive.”

“Thank you,” Abel beamed.

Flora had no idea what he was talking about, but she had expected it to be something about himself.

“You know, I think I do know who you are,” Abel said. “You were raised alongside Elise Morton, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” Flora said, perking up. “You know her?”

“I’m surprised she’s not here tonight,” Abel shrugged. “She’s here every year. She used to talk to me, until that Victor Graeme came and turned her all around.”

“Who’s Victor Graeme?” Flora questioned.

“Apparently the old wrinkly man who Elise found herself attracted to,” he grumbled.

“That wasn’t my question,” Flora said, struggling to keep her tone polite.

“Oh, he handles politics between magic and non magic users,” he said, almost bored. “Come to think of it, he’s not here this year either. They’re probably off somewhere together, being a gross, age-inappropriate couple.”

“Right, gross,” Flora said. “Would you excuse me? I have to use the washroom.”

Abel didn’t seem happy about it, but Flora rushed off to find Ronan. He was sort of sulking in a corner, but stood up a little too quickly when he saw her.

“I have what we need,” Flora told him. “Let’s get out of here.”

He seemed grateful to get out of there, and they were quick to sneak back to their inn room before anyone noticed they were acting strange. As soon as they were inside, Ronan yanked his collar open like it had been strangling him. Flora undid the clasp of the cape and gently draped it over a chair.

“Victor Graeme,” Flora told him. “He’s a politician focused on the the relationship between magic and non magic users. Apparently Elise has been pretty close with him these last few years, and neither one showed up to the banquet this year.”

“If he’s in politics, it would make sense that he’d feel a little abused,” Ronan agreed. “Maybe he’s tired of magic users being treated like tools, but instead of fighting for equality he decided to fall off the deep end.”

“And Elise is jumping down with him,” Flora said. “If we find him, we’ll find her too.”

“Right,” Ronan said, cracking a smile. “Nice work, Flora. You’re a good detective.”

The compliment made her beam with pride, and she shyly remembered that it wasn’t the only compliment he had given her that night. As he changed into his normal clothes, Flora removed the pins from her hair and let it fall down her back. She was watching herself in the mirror as she turned from a fairy princess to a wood witch again. She reached back to try and get the buttons on the dress, but it was a struggle to reach some of them.

“Um, Ronan?” she called shyly.

“Yeah?”

“Can you help me with the back of the gown?” she asked. “I don’t want to ruin it before giving it back to Linnea.”

He looked a bit awkward but walked over and helped her undo the back of the dress. She ducked behind the partition and changed into a lightweight nightdress, relieved to get the beautiful gown off. As she laid it on the chair, she ran her hands over the beadwork.

“I’ve always wished I could make pretty things like this,” Flora said.

“I’m sure she’d be happy to reach you,” Ronan shrugged. “When everything is over.”

“When everything is over,” Flora repeated.

She turned around and looked at Ronan sitting on the bed. He realized he’d been staring at her and quickly looked away. Flora sat down beside him, poking her head around so he would look at her again.

“You looked nice tonight,” she told him. “Very handsome. You should wear suits more often.”

“Doesn’t really fit my line of work,” he chuckled. “If anyone should be in that world, it’s you. For someone trying to blend in, you really were glowing.”

“I don’t know about that,” she blushed. “It doesn’t really fit my lifestyle either.”

“Abel Merrick thought it did.”

“Again with Abel,” she scoffed. “I think you might be the one in love with him.”

“No,” he said defensively. “I just saw that he liked you. And he seemed like maybe he was a good catch. Maybe you want to go after-“

Flora wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she interrupted him when she suddenly took his face in her hands and kissed him. When she pulled away, they were both bright red.

“Was… that an accident?” Ronan asked.

“An accident?” she frowned. “No… did I do it wrong?”

There was a beat of silence, but then Ronan wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into another kiss, deeper this time. It was a strange and new experience for Flora, but she felt butterflies in her stomach fluttering so fast she might have flown away. Just being held was a comforting feeling, and for hours into the night they just lay there with each other while he played with her hair.

She wasn’t sure when they fell asleep, but they were still tangled up in each other when they woke the next morning. Ronan looked at her like he was in disbelief that she still had her head resting on his chest, but gently put a hand on her head.

“Morning,” he said, still a little dazed.

“Morning.”

“We should, uh, get going,” he said. “We need to take the clothes back and figure out how we’re going to get to Victor and Elise.”

“Right,” Flora said shyly. “But is it okay if we just stay here for ten more minutes?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

She cuddled up closer to him and he put an arm around her. He kissed her forehead, but there was still a little bit of hesitation.

“Did I make you uncomfortable?” Flora asked.

“No,” he said quickly. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

“Ronan, I have never been more comfortable than I am now.”

This seemed to ease him up a bit, and he relaxed back into bed. They stayed there for a lot longer than ten minutes.