Coye Vol 3 Ch 20 (End of Volume) (Patreon)

By the time Coye and Shayla shut themselves up in their room and locked the door behind them, the Pixie was in a foul mood and had no one but herself to blame. It was her own fault for putting such high hopes toward Dorothy being upset at Coye, so when that failed to happen and their conversation ended on just short of romantic terms, Shayla fell into a minor depression.

Coye immediately took off his hat, throwing it onto the nightstand as he collapsed against the bed. He looked up a moment later, only to notice that his companion flew over and sat on top of the hat, settling down with a scowl and folded arms.

Although she didn't say it, she was begging for attention.

"Something the matter?" Coye asked, giving his confidant the soapbox she desired.

"No, nothing… It's just that I finally thought I would get to see you blow your chance with that no-good frumpy girl once and for all…" Shayla admitted. "Instead, you happened to work past it and went back to business as usual! Ugh!"

During a moment of selective hearing, Coye focused on the part where Shayla said he didn't blow his chance. "So, you're saying that I actually do have a chance with-"

"No!" The Pixie barked, her wings twitching in annoyance.

"Oh. Alright...” then, he asked her in a wounded voice, "You're really dead set against me ever trying to get closer to her, aren't you?"

Shayla felt something stir in her little heart. It was that damned 'guilt' thing again, and she averted her gaze so she wouldn't have to deal with it.

"Oh, don't look at me like that… we've already been over how she uses you," Shayla defended herself, knowing full well that it sounded flimsy.

The boy was silent, thinking to himself of everything he knew about Dorothy and ruminating on Shayla’s accusations.

"You know, I was pretty hurt by everything you pointed out to me at first. I didn't know that Miss Whittle was taking advantage of me, but… the more I think about it, the less I believe you’re right. I think she's just doing her job, and it's a crappy job that she doesn't even like." Coye shrugged, preparing himself to say the part with the greatest risk of upsetting Shayla. "I don't think I'm mad at her anymore."

As expected, his diminutive partner began to simmer in her discontent. She made a soft grumbling noise but otherwise remained silent. Coye figured this was because she didn't have a counter-argument.

On some level, Shayla knew that he was right. Dorothy wasn't a manipulative schemer as she was an opportunist who had no choice but to viciously exploit any resources she could to remain afloat. She was pushy with her sales pitch, but she wasn’t a scammer... no more so than any other employee of the Association of Adventurers, at least.

"What's the actual reason you don't like her, Shayla?" Coye tilted his head and asked.

She looked up at the boy, a little surprised he could tell there was more to it than just her trying to look out for him. At this point, she could either lie and double down on her position, or she could tell the truth. A true Pixie would've lied without hesitation, and Shayla's temptation to do just that proved almost overpowering… but Coye shared everything with her despite how guarded she still kept most of her thoughts. Would it really kill her to be a tad more honest?

Shayla bit down on her lip, pinched the bridge of her nose, and shrugged her shoulders in resignation.

"She pisses me off because… you liked her before you met me, which makes me feel… less special…" she admitted.

Shayla expected a round of comforting reassurance, or maybe for Coye to come over and pick her up in a hug. Something like that, at least. But she didn't expect him to blink vacantly and simply say, "That's petty."

"So? I'M petty!" She snapped, causing Coye to laugh at her adorable outburst. "I've told you before that Fairies are moody, petty, vindictive bitches! Pixies most of all, dammit, and you're just gonna have to deal with that!"

"As long as you aren't actually causing trouble or hurting anyone, then I like you fine just the way you are," Coye said as he scooted closer to his nightstand and laid beside her. "You're crazy if you think that you aren't the most special person to me."

Shayla raised an eyebrow. "But you said you didn't have a favorite…"

"I don't, but you were the one who started all of this off. Everything comes back to you, Shayla. You're the most influential person in my life, and I haven't even been with you for two weeks! Dorothy looked after me for two years, but you? You changed everything. There's a big difference."

"So…” Shayla narrowed her eyes at him, trying to parse his meaning. “You're saying that I'm more special than everyone else, but at the same time, I'm not?"

Coye was silent for a moment before his spirits dampened. "Man, maybe I really am just a scumbag…" he thought aloud.

Unable to help herself, the Pixie began to giggle, then chuckle, and finally burst into full blown side splitting laughter. "Yeah, you totally are!" She said between gasps for air. "Gods, you're too much sometimes…"

Even though the laughter meant that Coye probably should've felt relieved, he didn't. "I'm sorry if what I feel isn't enough for you…" he said, hanging his head.

It was.

She didn't want to monopolize him, even if she wished this period where it was only the two of them would have lasted longer. What Shayla wanted was to be more special than everyone else- a petty desire for a petty girl. If she already had that, then she saw little reason to complain.

That said, she wasn't about to just let him get off with being a scumbag. Not with a little bit of teasing.

"I don't know, baby…" Shayla floated off the nightstand and flew down to his chest. There, she laid down, propped herself up on her elbows, and looked up at him with a smug smile. "You just might break my heart one of these days, so maybe I should skip all the bullshit and just spirit you off to the Fairy Realm? I've never been to Tir Na Nog, but it might just be the best permanent vacation you've ever had!"

"Tempting, but I'm going to have to pass…" he said, prompting laughter from both of them.

Coye finally allowed himself to smile, knowing that whatever tension between them was now eased. He reached down with his hand and placed it next to his partner, then began stroking the tip of her head with his thumb.

This relaxing sensation surprised Shayla and made her blush, but the sheer comfort overwhelmed her, alleviating more of the momentary stress she’d gone through in order to open up with Coye. The girl sighed and closed her eyes, relaxing and growing more comfortable by the moment.

The boy and his Pixie decompressed for a few minutes in silent bliss. He'd had a long day of adventure, a long night of sex, and a busy morning and afternoo. After all of that, there was nowhere else he'd rather be than in bed with Shayla.

Eventually, it was Shayla herself who broke the silence with a most surprising statement.

"I can't promise much, but I'll try to be a bit nicer when it comes to your precious Dorothy from now on..." she uttered.

“Thank you,” Coye said. “That means a lot to me.”

“Uh-huh,” Shayla nodded, even though she sounded less than enthused.

"Maybe if you came out of the hat and introduced yourself, you could get to know Miss... um, Dorothy, and then you wouldn’t have so many problems with her?" Coye suggested.

Shayla sat up and looked him in the eyes, somewhat disturbed. "Where the heck did that come from?"

"I don't know. It's been on my mind… I don't like having to hide you from everyone else, and I know it's stressful for you… so I was just wondering if you’ve put any thought into revealing yourself? You'd get along great with Byng, and Suzette would-" Coye stopped as he realized from her face and body language that Shayla was not digging the suggestion.

Not at all.

"Am I tempted to throw caution to the wind and get to know your girlfriends and everyone else in your life? Absolutely. Am I going to? Fuck no.” Shayla sighed, hanging her head low. “A precedent would be set even if we kept it to just them. We'd get used to making exceptions, become more careless about it… and then…"

Her heart stopped as she recalled a tiny, outstretched hand receding further and further away. Shayla shook her head, forcing herself to finish her thought and not remain hung up on the past.

"I’m just saying that it would be asking for trouble, that’s all.”

Coye was keen to understand more about where her hesitation regarding this topic came from, so he asked, "This is all because you're afraid of getting kidnapped when I'm not looking, or something?"

"Or something, yes…" Shayla replied blankly.

Coye closed his eyes, deep in thought. He scratched his chin as his brain worked itself up into a feverish pitch, looking for solutions. One came to him, so he expressed it.

"Well, what if we had an artificer make us something like… I don't know… a pair of matching bracelets with a magic, hard-to-break metal chain connecting them? Then you would never be separated from me.”

This suggestion was so stupidly terrible that it partially alleviated Shayla's trauma then and there, forcing her to start laughing from deep within her belly. "Baby, there are so many fucking things wrong with that idea that I don't even know where to start."

"Oh…"

"First off, Fairies and metal don't mix. Just touching it is usually enough to drain us of all our magic. Secondly, do you really wanna be seen around here as the freak who goes around everywhere with his pet Pixie on a leash?”

“Ah-” Coye indeed remembered the bit about metal from stories he’d heard, but it hadn’t come up in his life with Shayla thus far so it didn’t occur to him.

“And besides, do you really think I would be happy living like that? Talk about degrading…" The sassy girl shook her head from side to side as she sat up and crossed her arms.

Suddenly filled with shame, the boy frowned and scratched his head. "It was just an idea…"

Shayla patted him on the chest with her little hand and smiled. "That's ok. I know you're just trying to think of some way to make this work, but the reality is it's just safer for me if you're the only person that knows I exist. Maybe someday I'll feel comfortable enough to leave the nest a bit, but… this is just something I don't want you to pressure me on. Drop it for now, alright, baby?"

"Ok," he muttered, although many questions still surged through his mind. He couldn't let the matter go without asking, "Do you at least have any idea what it would take to get you to change your mind?"

Shayla cupped her chin and gave it some thought. "Maybe I'll reconsider once you're the strongest adventurer in town or when I'm strong enough to dethrone the Fairy Queen herself?" She laughed and poked him in the chest with a smile. "Either way, we got a long road ahead- a road that I suggest we start traveling by way of a nap right about now! What do you say?"

Coye was suddenly in the mood for some training after hearing Shayla's half-hearted joke. Even if she didn't mean it, he felt that she was implying he wasn't strong enough to protect her. As a man, he couldn't let that slide, but… that could wait for another day.

Right now, it was naptime with his beloved Pixie partner. He closed his eyes and smiled as he felt her cuddle up to his chest, but a well-earned rest was further away than he expected. Instead, a stupid question came to mind. One that refused to go away.

"Hey, Shayla?"

"Sup, baby?"

"Nothing, it's just that… I was wondering… I know things are official with Suzette and Byng now, but… um… how do I ask this… well, Byng says she's my woman, and I just wanted to know if you're my woman, too?"

Shayla looked up at the boy and blinked repeatedly, her face growing a deeper shade of crimson between every blink. Even though she was embarrassed as hell, the question was shockingly tone deaf but raised her mood all the same.

"Are you for real right now?" Shayla burst out laughing.

"W-What?"

"Nothing, baby… don't mind me. I'm just as astounded as ever over your inability to read the room…" she smirked.

"It was just a question…" Coye grumbled.

"Didn't I tell you not to worry about crap like that? I'm your partner. That means I'm above labels."

"Shayla… I don't know how to tell you this, but 'partner' is a label, and I'm tired of pretending it's not."

"If you say so, baby…" she rolled her eyes. "Now shut up and take a nap!"

"Not until I get my answer!" Coye put his foot down.

"Fine, fine…" Shayla let out a long sigh. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes. More than anything."

"Hm… well…"

"Well, what?"

"I wonder…?" Shayla giggled and refused to elaborate, the playful smile on her face saying all he needed to draw his own conclusion.