Poison Ivy

Perking up more when he confirmed that he wasn’t against her getting a new dress, Ivy nodded “I’d like a new one, please” remembering manners for once she was privately thrilled with the fact that she’d been allowed to have a choice. For the longest time having a choice had been completely out of bounds, quite comfortable there settled on his lap the girl made no movement, she’d started to figure out that his hugs were as safe as they felt although she wasn’t convinced that they’d last. Things had started alright with Tori after all before everything had turned into a massive train wreck and the cynical voice that had been muffled during the hug still was convinced that this would end the same. He hadn’t moved to push her away or asked her to move so Ivy shifted her weight enough to lean into him and rest her head against him quietly, closing her eyes and letting herself for the time being believe the lie that she was wanted, that she was special and loved. Like this the Cynical voice was easier to ignore, the brief feeling of being safe and secure was enough for a quiet soft smile to quieten her features from how hard they’d been earlier.

Lunch right, Ivy nodded to herself “Okay” almost falling asleep when the fingers began brushing through her hair, it was the desire to go and get a new pretty dress to feel nice in that eventually stirred her. Getting up ivy could feel his gaze on her, letting her eyes flick down onto the ground almost waiting for things to go sour, however he informed her to have something to eat and then they’d get going. He headed for his study and after a moment of thought she turned and headed into the kitchen, opening the fridge and dithering for a moment she ended up making some sandwiches, when Niko walked into the kitchen to find his own lunch she wordlessly passed him a plate with a couple of sandwiches on it. Knowing very well that faeries didn’t do meat the sandwiches were vegetarian only, walking out into the living room to doodle on her hand having already finished her lunch. Walking just behind him like she’d been taught Ivy took in the various sights quite curiously not having been out and about much. A happy look appeared on her face as soon as they entered the shop, glancing at Niko knowing she had to take her cues off of him, she briefly bounced onto the balls of her feet excitedly before the cynical part of herself critiqued her and made her hide it all away again. She took her time going over the various dresses before finally turning up again at Nikos side with the one she liked the best, it was a similar style to her other dress, she had her own fashion sense it seemed that was quite specific, waiting quietly to see if he’d agree to get it for her or not the human pet appeared far more hopeful than she realised.

Taking in the sights quietly, holding onto the bag that had her dress neatly kept inside of it “Okay” was all she said, preferring to not talk much when others were around. Sticking close by she ignored the other faeries and pets that bustled around. It was so busy it’d been ages since she’d been around so many others at once, it made her remember about the city that she’d grown up in, although she and her family had lived out in suburbia the malls were always bustling, a familiar pang sharply pained her heart as she remembered her parents, her friends. She had no idea how long she’d been taken away from her family for, when she’d seen them last, worrying about them she started chewing on her bottom lip a little relieved when they were finally home and she moved into her room to hang up the dress and admire it quietly. Moving away she ended up curled up on the couch with her pen, drawing on the palm of her hand a complicated pattern.

Used to waking up early she was already getting dressed at the knock, admiring herself in the mirror in the bathroom she twirled around making sure her dress, her hair, make up and accessories were on point. Satisfied she headed down to the kitchen quite pleased with herself for looking so good, she’d put on a little weight so looked a little less gaunt than she had been and it’d given her back a little of her curves. Making herself marmalade on toast she sat up on the bench eating, very careful not to get anything on her dress, she had her pen kept in one hand quite firmly even while holding a plate and eating, once finished the human washed up the pair of knives and plates. It was easier to be kind and love herself when she was dressed in clothes that made her feel good, her make up as always was just enough to enhance what was already there. While she didn’t have as many nice trinkets as she had back home, the earrings and simple necklace would just have to do, following the faerie into the carriage she sat watching things pass out of the window whilst fiddling with her pen. Once there she put her lessons to use and became very quiet, polite if addressed mainly sticking very close to Niko, once he was seated, she remained standing for a few moments very interested in the type of business Niko worked in. It was similar but dissimilar to her fathers work she’d so eagerly helped him with when she’d been younger, there was one of the faeries that she didn’t like right away from the moment he looked at her. Making a mental note to keep an eye on him she glanced at Niko and when she had subtle permission sat down on the floor, it wasn’t that comfortable, but she had no choice. Appearing to loose interest she started doodling on her hand whilst listening sharply to what was going on, it was fascinating and she wanted to learn more, keeping an eye on the faerie that had given her a bad vibe out of the corner of her eye whilst appearing lost in what she was doing and very much not paying attention to what was going on.

Quite comfortably leaning against his legs whilst she drew, the young woman had seemed very engrossed in what she was doing, as soon as there was an indication that the meeting was over the pen was tucked away and she was standing behind his chair again studying the items on the table rather curious. The various numbers appealed to her, paying mind to remain close to him, Ivy was silently thinking things over, one hand continued to hold tightly onto the pen, it was precious and wasn’t to be lost. The question disturbed her from her thoughts and she gave the faerie a wary look, uncertain if this was a test or not, was this a trick? Would she get in trouble for bad-mouthing when she was speaking what she saw as the truth? Mulling it over for a couple of minutes she decided to test him and tell the truth, her hand grasping the pen tightened around it before she opened her mouth and spoke quietly but confidently “The country Faerie who ran a farm was very relaxed, his body language didn’t suggest any anxiety or like he was trying to hide something. Same with the blond faerie sitting to his left, there was a faerie a few seats over who was constantly fidgeting underneath the table, bouncing his legs and such, he was a bit slippery with his answers and a bit of a greaser, somebody to keep an eye on” going onto suggest that there were a few others at the table that showed several different levels of deceit and anxiety she eventually fell silent not looking up at the faerie and waiting to be told off. Slowly, slowly she was starting to figure out how to put herself back together, stronger, more clever than the self that had been broken by Katherine, parts of herself that had been hurt had become angry and that was giving her the strength to start rebuilding. Maybe not now, maybe not next week, but one day she would be whole again, for now she had to ride the low and hold on, “The numbers were interesting” numbers were useful and fun, she quite enjoyed them and in all honesty she was half hoping she’d be allowed to be more involved with them, she knew better than to ask, they were faerie things a pet must not interact with.

Absorbing his words, Ivy remained quiet thinking them over and adding them to her own conclusions that she’d made, it was rather gratifying that her observations had been right when it came to Hrolf, although she still couldn’t stand Tori unable to help the slightly disgusted look on her face when his name was mentioned. She’d originally started off pretending that she didn’t know Tori but the intense hatred for the blond faerie filled her being again, managing to still hear and pay attention to what he was saying over the loud noise of her internal thoughts, the fact that Niko had used the term ‘we’ settled her down again a little. Whatever was going on she wanted to be involved, she wanted to do something, to be able to think and use her brain, sure she loved being pretty and feeling pretty, but she adored having to think and puzzle things out just as much. Settled properly by the time they got home she followed him out of the carriage, the words of gratitude were a surprise, she hadn’t done much and the glance up at him betrayed her thoughts. The offer of going to a market as well confused her, dropping her gaze she nodded, wanting to go but unsure if there would be a price tag attached, even if she had no money it would be nice to be able to go have a look. Heading into her room as soon as she could to try and puzzle him out, she ended up sitting on her bed turning her pen over in her fingers, she was out of practice of being treated like a person and she couldn’t really figure out why he was treating her this way, the only real explanation she could come up with was that it wasn’t real. It was just a way to try and manipulate her, and that epiphany tore her already broken insides even more, it’d be so easy to just give into it, to close her eyes and let it happen, but the stubborn prideful part of her nature rebelled, if she did that she’d be sold on to some faerie and she’d wind up back at square one. She hated the way the two options went around her head in circles, again and again driving her insane, hated the fact that she was so sensitively aware of being manipulated, it’d be so much easier if she was thick like the ginger girl that Tori had replaced her with. She was so simple and had easily been manipulated by him, it was hardly surprising that he’d kicked her to the curb and chosen Tia, here it felt like she was being treated like a person, the dark faerie hadn’t retaliated when she’d refused to play ball and had been herself. He’d also been there when he’d found her in pieces, it was confusing because so many times she wasn’t particularly sure whether or not he was manipulating or was just being a decent person and not being able to tell the difference with him made her wary. Digging her fingers into her hair and pulling at it, just wanting her thoughts to shut up and stop pacing around in circles, to stop ruminating, when she managed to get some control of herself it was rather late, deciding to do some healthy self care she got up and made a hot chocolate perching on the couch with it staring at nothing while waiting for it to cool down.

Since her door hadn’t been knocked on, Ivy had taken the chance to stay in bed a little longer curled up under the covers going over things for the millionth time, stuck in the trap of her brain going around and around in pointless circles. The knock finally came so she sat up with some resignation “Yeah yeah I’m getting up already” figuring that’d be enough to satisfy him she was in the process of getting out of bed when he opened the door and studied her. Feeling somewhat defensive under his gaze she met his gaze with her usual stubbornness, green eyes glittering, however, the stubbornness dissipated when he explained that he was going to head to the markets and was wondering if she wanted to come with him. Taken back by the offer Ivy deliberated for a few moments “Okay” speaking quieter she moved and closed the door in his face before turning and pulling on the nicest things she had to wear and met him downstairs. It was a little way from the house but once they were there the human girl was quite glad she’d agreed to come along, there were so many things going on it was like the Sunday market from back home. Distracted it took a bit of effort on the faeries part to get her attention, looking up at him as he passed her a small cloth bag there was a fair amount of suspicion on her face, was he trying to trick her? Tempting her to run so he could catch her and punish the attempt? It was hard to know, after all he was a faerie and faeries couldn’t be trusted but he hadn’t been cruel to her so far but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to start now it hurt so she shut down that line of thinking before she started mentally walking in circles again. He seemed to be wanting a response, so she mumbled a response loathe to thank him for anything, her stubborn pride still unbroken.



He was soon gone and for the first time in forever, she felt somewhat free, from the weight of the small sack that fit neatly into her hand it was likely the currency that these creatures used. Tucking it into the pocket of the jacket she’d brought with her, she spent the morning wandering able to pretend for a few hours that she was back home and she was so very good at pretending. Tucking some of her hair back out of her face she spent a fair while investigating the places that were selling clothes, none of them really had the style of dress that she preferred so she opted to not buy anything if she didn’t love it what was the point? In the middle of the market square, there was a big tree with some seats around it, after buying herself a cheap packet of pens she wound up sitting there watching people go by the collar around her neck kept most at bay and those that did attempt to interact with her were soon persuaded to leave with an overly bright fake tone to her voice that was extremely off-putting. Back at the designated meeting place when the clock chimed two, Ivy was absently rocking back and forth on her feet once again her busy mind in overdrive. She was so tired of it, tired of her mind always going around in circles, it’d be so much better if she had been naive like that girl Tia, at least then she’d be happy and not have the constant complicated emotions that felt like they just got in the way. How could someone be broken and unbroken at once? How could she want to be loved but hate faeries so much, how could she want to be naive and at the same time proudly keep her mindset so she wasn’t just another manipulated pet? She was such a fool, pathetic this was all her own fault, she’d let herself be lead astray by Tori and now she was just doomed, no hope and no future. Her jaw began aching as it usually did when she was on the verge of making herself cry, gathering herself up quickly when she recognized Niko’s footsteps she gritted her teeth and steeled herself. Keeping the pens hidden in her jacket pocket she went to shove the money pouch into his hands not expecting in the slightest to be allowed to keep the money, there was no point trying to run away she just would have been caught and brought back to him and where the hell would she run to? Nobody cared about her, none would have taken her in, no it was smarter to play by the given rules for that day and return to the designated meeting place.

Not bothering to hide her suspicion at the lack of taking the money back, Ivy narrowed her eyes at him displaying her feelings quite openly, he was a faerie there was no way this was just a random act of kindness, no there would have been a reason behind it. She certainly wasn’t stupid and surmised that it was because he was trying to train her, what these faeries didn’t seem to get was that she wasn’t some dog to be trained that performed fancy tricks for its owners amusement. She wouldn’t be a fool, wouldn’t lower down her guard, no she had to keep herself safe, as safe as she could. Tucking the small wallet of coins into her pocket she followed him joining him in the carriage, sitting down neatly she had flicked her gaze to watching things through the window before out of the corner of her eye she spotted the faerie reaching over. She didn’t move, just watching until she realized he had something in his hand, accepting whatever it was she waited until she felt like she wasn’t being studied to investigate what the dark faerie had given her. Briefly delight flicked over her features before her wariness kicked in again, she felt so torn, part of her was delighted with them but that bitterness that wary voice in the back of her mind urged caution faeries never gave anything for free. The complicated feelings chased each other around her head like a storm, fiercer and fiercer as the wolves lifted their heads and started to tear at her again, reminding her how foolish, how pathetic, greedy, worthless, selfish she was, how stupid. Closing her eyes tightly and locking her jaw so tightly it ached she was silent the entire carriage ride home before the girl was able to break free enough from the emotions that held her paralyzed to speak her mind, he was a faerie he wouldn’t answer what she had to say straight but if she didn’t get these words out they were just going to keep poisoning her. “What do you intend to do with me? I know you’re trying to train me to mould me into something that’s more pleasing to you. That wont happen. I’m not like those other pets that are unaware”she was painfully aware and the tear it caused in her heart was too painful to bear “Is this to make me more compliant? Rewarding ‘good’ behaviour like I’m Pavlov’s dogs?” green eyes opened and glared at him suspiciously looking like she was on the verge of a meltdown which she was. Why couldn’t she just not be aware, so it didn’t hurt, so she could become some well-behaved pet that was happy and didn’t have all of this bullshit going on in her mind, yet her pride wouldn’t let her pick that route, her bitterness towards faeries wouldn’t let her either. Deep down she just wanted both sides in her mind to stop, to give her some peace, her gaze flicked down to her lap where her hands were clenched, shoulders shaking from the effort of not falling apart all over again. how had she let herself become this pathetic, she'd always thought she'd never been completely broken, but right now she felt like a broken mirror.

The black faerie had not said anything during her outburst, when he began speaking she glanced up from her lap to meet his eyes, watching him closely. She’d learned quite quickly how to tell when faeries weren’t being genuine enough that she trusted her gut when it said that he was telling the truth, or at the very least he meant what he said. It took a few moments for all of the words to sink in, he wasn’t going to sell her off to someone else? Well, that was somehow comforting, being sold from faerie to faerie was an idea her spirit, pride and stubbornness couldn’t stand, she wasn’t some item to be sold on. Him treating her like a person was something that was a little more difficult to believe, he was a faerie, they didn’t see humans as anything other than something to manipulate and use. Still the words quieted the two sides of her that were constantly at war with one another, so she looked away and stayed quiet for the rest of the ride home, once they were home she vanished up into her room and didn’t come out for a while, digesting everything. The next morning she was already up and was in the middle of eating breakfast before Niko was, feeling somewhat lighter than she had the day before, wearing one of the dresses that he had let her pick the fabric for and the earrings he had gotten her, she’d take him at his word and time would prove whether or not things would happen as he said. It freed her enough to be able to be herself without the intense emotions swirling around in her head, the wolves for now were muted.

Nodding simply at the question still coming to terms with what he’d said the day before, when he showed up later, she was lost in thought. Following him into his office she accepted the papers and looked over them quietly inspecting each one with suddenly interested and sharp eyes. “They’re even and appear to be accurate until you compare them with the papers from the same time last year. They’re exactly the same” she was fairly certain that she was right, looking up at the dark faerie she waited for his reply. Being given a job that was something she was actually interested had brought her out of her shell again and she seemed back to her usual self, the work that he did was interesting and she wanted to have more to do with it. It made her think and she had to use her brain instead of the mind-numbing housework chores that she hated, neatening the papers into a stack she set them to the side. “You think he’s being a cheating slimeball then?” the faerie in question was after all a faerie and faeries were not to be trusted, they were manipulative and slimy, with Niko being the only real exception.

Unable to help her slight smirk, Ivy countered “I think you mean, regular since they’re exactly the same” the comment about new traders trying their luck made her sniff “Its to be expected, they’re faeries after all” of course they were going to be slimeballs, that was what faeries were like. “I hope you’re not meaning me; he makes my skin crawl” she trusted her gut a lot more now than when she had been living with her parents back home. It was never wrong and she was getting some serious stalker vibes from the trader faerie, he might expect other faeries pets to be quiet and biddable but if he even laid one finger on her she wasn’t going to tolerate it. Even if she was registered as a bedwarmer, she had standards and bottom feeders like that did not meet those standards. Niko had claimed that he intended to treat her like the person she was, so here she was being herself, meeting his gaze evenly it was like all of the fractured pieces of herself were falling back into place where they were meant to be. That wasn’t to say that she wouldn’t have low moments, she wasn’t magically fixed by a few mere words after all, he had to follow them through, but it felt like she could cope with more now.

There was no negative response at her outspoken choice of words, however her features brightened slightly when he mentioned her keeping an eye on the reports coming in from the faerie. It was an important job and she enjoyed working with numbers and reports “Yes” there was no need to pretty up her response, her features gave away just how much it meant to have a job that meant something and wasn’t mind numbing housework. Still not that sure that he wasn’t just training her to be some sort of accountant pet, Ivy had dealt with faeries for too long to completely be won over by everything said the day before. She’d had to grow up fast, going from a pretty empty brained girl to one that could manipulate and lie with ease, she’d become more faerie like and she was aware of that, part of her was disgusted with herself for that but it’d been the only way to survive. Pushing her hair back over her shoulders and tucking some of it behind her ear, Ivy looked up at him and quirked a brow, wanting to get started already instead of standing about doing nothing.

Getting stuck into work, Ivy through everything she had into going through the stack of papers methodically, occasionally humming part of a song that happened to be winding its way through her head at that moment, a quiet noise she wasn’t aware she was even making. There was usually some kind of melody in her head from her favourite band. She hadn’t been able to listen to their music for quite some time, her mp3 player had been left behind when she’d been taken and sometimes she missed her music so much it felt like she was going crazy. Glancing up briefly when the faerie got up, Ivy dismissed it after a moment and went back to work, The lyrics often felt like they were describing her life, ignoring times passage she didn’t look up until she had finished her work. Leaning back with a sigh she rubbed her eyes that had started to ache from how intently she’d been scrutinizing the papers, lifting them to neaten them she looked about for the faerie that now owned her. “Done” speaking up she flanked over at Niko. She had gone through with a red pen and circled everything that she believed was not correct or wasn’t quite right “They are all exactly the same as the year before, with perhaps one or two points difference as if he’s trying to be clever and failing miserably” this trader was very bad at being a clever faerie in her opinion even though said opinion wasn’t exactly asked for.