Picnics were totally things that just friends did. There didn’t have to be like a romance aspect to it or anything. She and Atta were just going to sit on this blanket with some food out in the sun and watch the lake. Nothing crazy. They weren’t like going to a restaurant or getting dressed up (although Wendy wasn’t going to look like a slob or anything because you wanted to look good for your friends.)
She had walked back home and showered off the sawdust and bits and pieces of wood chips and then put on something simple. Her flannel hoodie and some ripped jeans and boots, and strapping her larger sized camping sort of packpack to her back that had blankets and things in it before heading over towards Chippamunka. She figured she’d grab a to go order of some spinach puffs, just so she could bring something they both enjoyed along with some other little things.
Spinach puffs in hand she set out to the lake and looked around first, for the perfect spot, and then for Atta. She calculated for the direction of the wind, made sure the ground wasn’t wet or too close to the lake so they’d get sprayed from wind, and that they were away from the frisbee throwers who had some dogs running around.
Satisfied she set her backpack down and then glanced up once more to scout for Atta, luckily, she could spot that girl a mile away. Sun shining through the trees of the forest on her like some kind of crazy etheral being coming out of those woods. Well, she kind of was wasn’t she? She was a fairy princess after all.
“Atta!” She gave a wave to her and it was only then that she saw a male fairy emerge from the trees. He was close behind her, catching up to her with an easy sort of grin on his face as he exchanged a few words with her. Atta called him Sled right? Wendy thought she remembered something about him. In any case, the older man gave her a smile and a gentle nudge before ducking back towards the trees and out of sight.
Atta [deleted]: I realize this is a strange text to receive especially because I’ve really done a frosty job staying in touch since I started my training... no skljak
Atta [deleted]: This probably seems like it’s coming out of nowhere, but I wanted to text you...well I’m not positive about proper Swynlake dream etiquette, I’ve not gone through...
Atta: I realize this text might be thoroughly unnecessary and strange, but I find it necessary, at least, to express my... deepest gratitude for what you did for Dot in that strange dream. I know it was just a dream, but it really shook her up and I... well, I learn in my training there’s a certain power in dreams so I...I know that in that high pressure situation that you didn’t have to protect her, but you did. So thank you for that. Even if it was a dream.
So, Wendy wasn’t exactly sure if she could really entirely put a label on what was going on between her and Atta. They’d gone on dates so she guessed they were at some kind of dating stage but to call Atta her girlfriend was kind of a whole other thing and then they’d have to have that whole like monogamy talk thing and Wendy had no idea what stance fairy culture took on that either.
So really, Wendy was just trying to enjoy her time with a girl she really liked and got to make out with which is all anyone can really ask for.
In any case, the winter fairies had frozen over the lake and so Wendy thought it would be cool to really see Atta’s winter talents. It was always really dope to see someone in their element. She expected that Atta could skate basically as well as she could walk and Wendy wasn’t exactly too bad herself at it.
Her brothers had been into hockey back in Oregon and Wendy had found herself many times practicing with them on the ice and racing them for the puck. She never really competitively played hockey herself, but it was a fun time whenever she found a pick up game.
With her skates slung over her shoulder, she waved bye to Oaken and set off for the park to spot the fairy that she couldn’t seem to get off her mind. Seriously, the thing about taking someone to your place of work on a date and like having your first kiss there was that, well, you constantly thought about that first kiss that happened a couple feet away from you (and the ones after).
It was kind of embarrassing really how her face lit up at a little text message with cute emojis all in it from a cute fairy who was figuring out technology one insta post and selfie at a time.
Clad in her signature trapper hat with flaps on it, long red hair squished down under it as it fell over her shoulders, she laced up her skates on the bench and tucked her shoes into her bag before laying it near the lake. She slid onto the ice and found her balance (she was a little out of practice but she was pretty good once she found her footing and rhythm again), looking at her phone to see if Atta had texted her that she was here yet.
Summary: Atta tells Wendy the truth and they break up :(
@flippin--corduroy
ATTA:
She’d been avoiding Wendy.
She did not want to avoid Wendy, but at first she’d not known what to do. There was much to organize now that Atta would resume her talent, and the Hollow was full of buzz at the reveal that there was not only a royal, but that the royal was...well...her… the list-making tinker from the Orkney Hollow. She needed space and time to deal with all of that first. This was what Atta told herself. Once things calmed, then she’d contact Wendy and explain…
But when things did calm, she realized that an explanation would come with an ending. That was the only choice. That had always been the only choice. Royals could love, of course they could love. There was nothing in the rules, really, that said they couldn’t. But they didn’t. Because it wouldn’t be best for the Hollow.
And loving a human mundus? They certainly never did that.
And so Atta needed to stop being cruel, and sending unclear texts and making up excuses about her classes and her duties. So, finally, she asked Wendy to meet her somewhere, and they returned to Chippamunka, where they’d had their first date.
Atta’s first ever date.
She regretted coming here the moment she sat down and she stared at the menu in front of her. An awkward silence festered between both her and Wendy in those initial minutes. The words were lodged in Atta’s throat. She didn’t want to say them. She still wanted a way around all this, but she knew there wasn’t, and this-- like so many things-- was her responsibility.
She stirred a little sugar into her water and finally cleared her throat. “I ah...first of all, I just… wanted to apologize for things in recent weeks. And for scaring you on the ice.”
WENDY
Wendy knew something had been up. Atta had been dodging plans and texts for the better part of the last few weeks. She was always busy with something in the Hollow or with her sister or with school. Honestly, Wendy felt like the needy one in all this and it wasn’t a great feeling when you were used to being the girl who was aloof and chill and noncommittal.
What worried her more was that when Atta had next resurfaced again, she asked her to Chippamunka. It was their first date spot. The night where Wendy really got to know and understand the fairy she’d been crushing on and flirting with. It was the night of their first kiss and the night she gave her the case for the log that had begun their friendship. It was all just so heavy and Wendy wasn’t one to get into heavy.
So she gave Atta a smile and they had a little bit of a small talk but that awkward silence came. The moment where Wendy could ask what’s up with Atta but didn’t because well, she didn’t want to make it seem like she’d made more of this relationship than what Atta had intended. Maybe she was just more attached. Maybe they were just on the wrong pages of this story.
Wendy played with the condensation on her soda glass, fingers drawing little patterns in the beads of water, leaning back in her chair a bit and glancing between the glass and Atta.
Then Atta started and although Wendy had expected it to go this way, she still felt her heart sink lower. It wasn’t a good beginning and it sounded really formal, like she and Atta were in a meeting or something and not two friends (or two something-mores).
“It’s alright. I mean, it’s not every day you save a girl from an icy fall.” Wendy tried to joke but it landed flat. “I’m just glad you’re okay, and you know, now that I’ve seen you, there’s physical evidence to prove it.”
She gave a shrug of one shoulder and a slight smile before breathing out, maybe she should just come to the conclusion first before Atta had time to say it, rip the bandaid off, “As for the last couple weeks, maybe I just read signals wrong and put more into this than I should have. I didn’t mean to badger you with texts or anything.”
ATTA:
Her eyes widened. Oh no, no, no, that wasn’t what she wanted Wendy to think at all! The guilt turned into a cascading waterfall, drenching Atta underneath it. She reached forward without thinking, taking Wendy’s beautiful strong hands and squeezing one of them, as if she were much smaller. She’d always loved Wendy’s hands, since the second she saw them. They made beautiful things.
“No! No, you didn’t-- nothing you did was wrong,” blurted Atta. “I was the confusing one. I...didn’t mean to be. Everything I said was true. Well--”
Atta had practiced this speech. She had turned this whole conversation into a task to be checked off, or perhaps similar to a duty to perform. However, now that she was sitting right here, she couldn’t find her way to the words. Everything felt just...wrong.
She drew her hand back and her eyes got a bit shiny. She glanced away quickly, breathed in softly, and then out again.
If she were to be honest, then she’d have to confess to Wendy now that she had lied from the start. Wendy would probably be angry with her, as she should be. Maybe that would be for the best. It would be a sudden, painful break.
“No, it wasn’t. It--” she stumbled, took another breath and then finally looked back at Wendy again. “I haven’t been honest from the start, actually. You see, I...I’m not a tinker, like I told you or everyone else. In my old Hollow, before it was destroyed, I…”
It was still hard to say it. Every single time, she wanted to break down and cry as if she was confessing to murdering her own Hollow. (For some reason these two things felt the same.)
“I am what’s called a royal-talent. A princess. I...was going to become queen when our King stepped down. But then...the oil spill and…” she trailed off and looked down, fiddling with a braided bracelet on her wrist.
WENDY
The redhead’s brows furrowed as Atta started backtracking and trying to explain herself into a circle. Atta took her hands and she felt warm again, like awkwardness had melted away to a warm feeling and she wasn’t here getting broken up with. Because that’s what was happening right? That’s what this was leading up to. Atta’s hands were small and soft, but strong. Her thumbs ran along the backs of them as they held hands for a moment before Atta pulled back.
And when Atta pulled back and hesitated, it was that she’d lied about something. Was she seeing someone else? Wendy had heard polyamory was kind of a thing in fairy culture was that it? She bit her lip, wondering what she’d lied about. She thought they’d told each other everything. That’s what this was. It was honest, right? They could just be themselves.
Well, apparently Atta hadn’t necessarily been herself with how this conversation had turned.
As Wendy let Atta talk her mind raced as to what she could’ve found so terrible as to hide from Wendy. The redhead never thought anything Atta had ever been was bad. Atta could’ve honestly done no wrong in the woodworkers eyes, but then again, maybe she’d been seeing all this with rose colored glasses. Blinded by her infatuation or something like that.
Her heart hammered in her chest when Atta confessed she was lying from the very beginning. She just wanted to know.
And then it came out. A royal talent. She was supposed to become queen. She was… a princess? Wendy had literally been dating a fairy princess?
She was silent a moment as her eyes widened, trying to process this new information before a small grin appeared on her face, “So… I’ve been kissing a princess this whole time?” She snorted slightly, “Atta… I’m not gonna judge you because you’re a fairy princess or something. I mean yeah that’s like a big part of your life but that doesn’t change things for me.”
And once that came out of her mouth her smile faded because it finally dawned on her, her voice grew quiet and a bit meek. “But… it does for you, doesn’t it?” It wasn’t really a question. “I… well, I mean I don’t want to be like offensive to fairy culture if this is wrong but are you about to tell me that you need to marry a fairy prince?” She looked down at the table a bit, drawing little doodles with her finger tips on the table top.
This was like getting the shit end of the stick in a romantic comedy wasn’t it? When a royal hides their identity and you find out you’ve been dating them all along. If Wendy were the character in that movie, she’d say she could learn. They’d stand up to the king or queen and say, this is the person I’m going to marry. But this wasn’t a movie and Wendy wasn’t ready for marriage, hell she didn’t even know if they’d been dating. And try as she might… Wendy would never be a fairy.
ATTA:
Atta was once again a coward. She sat there and let Wendy stumble her way through the news. She watched, like watching a dam collapse in on itself, as Wendy realized what Atta was really saying. It was easier that way, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to have to explain that she could not kiss Wendy anymore. That they would not have any more coffee dates on campus, nor go ice skating on the lake.
In fact, Atta did not know what her life was going to look like in the coming moons. She was still discussing her training with Clarion, considering she had come so far in her old Hollow before its destruction. She and Clarion were in completely new territory, unsure how long it would take for Atta to make a proper connection with the pixie tree, to absorb the amount of memories she would need to. Perhaps they would flood in. Or perhaps it would be a mere trickle, and she’d spend the next twenty years starting her training all over.
Either way… she knew what the duties would be. There was no place for Wendy there.
Her heart sank. The tears in her eyes shined, making her blue eyes even bluer. But she was a royal-talent and she had to start acting like it again. And in this respect at least, it was easy. It was much, much too easy to hold all those tears back.
But when she took a breath, it was a heavy breath, and she felt exhausted already like she’d been flying for days without rest.
She smiled very sadly. “No, I don’t...have to marry a fairy prince. We don’t have those. In fact, the way our Hollows work...there is only one royal-talent at a time. Two, I suppose, if there is an apprentice. But when it’s my time to protect the Hollow and become Queen, Queen Clarion will lose her connection with the tree. She will step down and live the rest of her days out peacefully, and I will rule for as long as it takes for another royal-talent to be born. So you see, I… I won’t… it isn’t appropriate for me to see anyone.”
Before Wendy, Atta had not even given it much thought at all, for she had wanted to do her best, and she had more than enough love for her Hollow and her family.
“Which is why I’m so grateful I was able to experience a little bit of that with you. I...know it was unfair of me, and selfish, but I really didn’t intend...I didn’t think I would make a new connection with the Enchantra’s tree because it wasn’t mine, I really didn’t. When it happened, I was shocked and scared and...I didn’t know what to do. I handled it poorly, and I’m so sorry if I’ve hurt you because of that.”
WENDY
The minute Atta’s eyes shone those tears, Wendy wanted to reach across the table and wipe them from her eyes. She wanted to do anything. Honestly, just anything, other than have this conversation and be told that they were too different. That they came from different cultures and had different responsibilities. Because in the last few months, Wendy had only known that they had become more and more the same. They shared the same interests. Laughed at the same things. Wendy’s smile reflected Atta’s. And even now, Wendy’s eyes and heart fought hard not to join Atta in the hopelessness and just glisten with tears.
“Queen Atta.” Wendy said simply with a sad sort of smile, “Fits.” She said simply, her fingers playing with her napkin as her eyes broke from the other girl’s. “You always sort of were one to me you know. A fairy princess, basically. You just… It was hard to not see that there was something inherently special about you.”
Wendy glanced up at Atta again, this time her eyes definitely betrayed her, “I mean this is all like a lot and from what I’m understanding you couldn’t have known, not after what had happened so I don’t--Atta just please don’t think I’m mad at you for this.” She bit down on her lip trying to figure out her words, “Did I think the whole waiting game of it all was kind of you know, handled not so great the last couple weeks? Well, yeah. But, I’m not mad. I guess I just sort of know where I stand with you which is I guess what I wanted in the first place.” That was a lie if she dug deep enough, what she wanted in the first place was Atta.
“I wish I knew what to say, you know?” She gave a slight laugh, looking up at the ceiling as if that would somehow give her an answer and stop her eyes from watering. “I just never really expected circumstance to be the reason we ended.” The redhead ran her fingers along the table, leaning forward a bit and adjusting herself in her seat, she took in a breath trying to focus on something other than the clenching feeling in her chest and the emotions that washed over her, “Um, do you still think we can hang out or are you going to be kind of in the Hollow more?”
ATTA:
Atta hadn’t expected this either. Her time with Wendy had really been a faerytale, to use the language of the humans. It was an escape from her life, from her grief, from her sadness, and from herself. She’d learned so much. She’d become so much. And it was all thanks to Wendy, really-- she owed her so much. Without Wendy, Atta wasn’t sure if Swynlake would have felt close to something like...home.
But what could have been a terrifying, strange place, full of new challenges, had transformed into an adventure. Because she had Wendy there to help her.
The tears pricked her eyes again, but she knew they were not the type of tears that would fall. The weight in her chest was too heavy for something like tears. It was the type of weight that carved out a huge canyon between the two of them, and that boundary was something that Atta knew she shouldn’t cross. She wanted to. But--Atta could play out what that relationship would look like and she knew it was a ship beached from the beginning. After all, she wouldn’t have time to spend much time out of the Hollow. Atta would stop aging quite soon. Wendy wouldn’t. Wendy couldn’t live in the Hollow, even if, like Atta had said so many times, she would make an excellent tinker…
And even if she could remove some of those obstacles, Atta would never be able to share the most important things with Wendy. The traditions, the stories, the day-to-day struggles…
That wasn’t a relationship. Wendy deserved more than that.
All Atta could offer was friendship instead. And so she smiled and nodded. “I will be in the Hollow a lot more but-- I mean, I talked to Queen Clarion and she actually thinks it’s a good idea I continue on in my Pride U studies. So we can definitely be friends. I--I would love to be friends, if that isn’t asking too much,” she finished quietly. “I understand though if...you don’t want to.”
WENDY
Well that was good right? Atta was going to keep up her Pride U stuff so they could still hang out. That was totally fine. They could hang out and not like cuddle or kiss or make out or flirt or you know, act coupley right? That was totally doable. Sure. Lesbians always were better at remaining friends with their ex’s right? If Atta was even an ex. She kind of felt like an ex but they had never been dating officially.
Wendy gave a slight smile at that, “I think we can be friends, Atta.” And that was the truth. She thought they could. She didn’t know for sure that it would work but she thought, sure, why not, they could do it. They had common interests and it would be totally fine.
They’d had a really good run. She might’ve really fallen for the fairy if they’d continued so its probably better off that they didn’t. She could just go back to flirting with women in Pixie’s and hooking up without thinking about Atta and faltering. She was uninhibited now. She knew where they stood, she should be happy right?
Then why did this feel like she almost knocked herself out with a low hanging tree limb she hadn’t seen before? (Yeah that had happened more than once being out in the forest at her height). Whatever, it would have never worked and now it won’t. Good to know.
ATTA:
Atta smiled back, but it didn’t really reach her eyes. Though Wendy was taking everything gracefully, all Atta could feel was… sad.
In that moment, staring at Wendy, it was like looking at a life she could never have. That was her punishment. If she had been honest from the very first day she stepped into the Enchantra Hollow, she would never have pursued Wendy in the first place. She would have resumed her training. If she and Wendy met, she would have introduced herself as Princess of the Hollow, and remained at a distance always. There would have never been dates to Chippamunka, kisses in dusty workshoppes that smell like the forest, or laughter on ice skating rinks.
And there would never have been a need for good-bye.
But then… if Atta played all that out, she supposed the two of them might not have even become friends. Just...acquaintances. Perhaps business partners, considering Oaken’s deal with Queen Clarion. And that alternative was even more sad, even if it would have spared Atta’s heart and Wendy’s time. Everything happened for a reason; wasn’t that what fairies believed? And didn’t fairies also know that nothing was permanent? Friends came for a season and were gone the next, but that didn’t make the time any less special.
Atta just wished things were different. One day, she supposed, that feeling would fade like the colour on spring leaves.
“Thank you Wendy. For everything. I… am so glad we met, really, truly. I’m sure we’ll be friends for a long time.”
Wendy had never been out to chop a tree by herself in Enchantra before. Oaken had taken her on a few outings to make sure she knew the lay of the land and how the maps were organized but she’d never chopped a tree with her own two hands in these woods. She’d done it plenty of times back home under her father’s supervision (and sometimes not). They needed this wood for a special order that had come in just as they’d gotten approval to chop the tree. Oaken was out doing a consultation and entrusted Wendy to retrieve the materials.
She parked Oaken’s truck near the boarder in its designated parking zone and rolled in her metal cart of supplies and how she’d transport the logs behind her into the depths of the forest looking for the tree that had been approved. To make sure that it was the right tree, Oaken had an agreement with the garden-talent fairies to mark across the tree with red paint made of berries. Usually the trees were training exercise trees given to garden-talent apprentices and something would often go wrong.
She followed the map and turned past the large rock landmark before coming to a whole slew of newly grown beech trees. She set her wheelbarrow down next to the carefully marked off tree. Beech had calming properties. Ones of warmth. Ones that fostered friendship and family. And so they were going to make a very special hand crafted gift from one friend to another with this beech wood. But first, she had to chop this tree down. Luckily for her, she was already tall and this tree was only about 12 ft tall. Typically beech trees grew to 40ft at maturity but this one had been a bit of a practice gone wrong. It honestly made the harvesting a lot more manageable for them.
Wendy circled around the tree, looking at the angles at which the tree would fall to make sure she was on the right side when the tree fell. She wiped her hands off on her flannel before took up her axe (because she felt that chainsaws were cheating unless it was a monster of a tree and who got a good workout from a chainsaw?) and began chopping her notches in diagonally in the trunk of the tree, her body twisting and following through as she swung the axe through like a baseball player cracking their bat against a fastball, making just the angle she’d need to fell this tree.
It had been a bit of a while since she’d run into Atta while chopping down trees. The fairy remained in her mind though, kind of hard not to when someone loved lumber as much as you. She had a favorite tree after all.
Wendy kind of regretted not getting her number to be honest but also did fairies even have numbers? But she could wait it out for sure, she had her work to concentrate on plus the move with Dipper had kept her busy too. She was stoked that they were living together now. Just two best buds and frequent visiting other bud/sister who dropped by and left pink in her wake in their apartment. Seriously, they had random pink shit all over the apartment because Mabel would like gift them a lamp or a poster or something glittery. Usually they kind of migrated to the bathroom like that “live, laugh, love” glitter plaque above their toilet.
In any case, Wendy was ready for whenever she was going to show up. She’d also thought of like the perfect thing to show her too. She hoped she liked it honestly. Wendy was seated next to a piece of wood she was marking off in pencil to use the jigsaw on. Summers had been hot in the workshop, carrying tools and lumber, so Wendy usually was just in her workpants and tanktop, flannel tied up around her waist by the end of the day as she worked.
The workshop was in the far back of the store near the offices and facing towards the Mainstreet park in the back of the building. It was fairly large, every tool a carpenter would want really, drills, saws, hammers, axes, you name it, with a tarped off area behind it where the kept logs they’d just gotten from felled trees to keep them from the elements.
She heard the bell of the door and whoever was manning the front desk, it was hard to tell with the flurry of secondary school kids looking for summer jobs who was actually hired and up there right now, talking to the person who came through. It wasn’t until the person stepped through the entrance that Wendy looked up from the piece of lumber and instantly grinned, “Atta! Hey, glad you made it.”
There was no choice in the matter, and so Atta was trying to do everything she could to prepare herself. One way to do that was to establish more of a presence in town, and so she’d volunteered to help out with the Pridegram and Flower Crown event. It was a lovely event-- taking place in the afternoon, a breezy and sunny day, right there in Swynlake’s main park. Children came with their parents; students came with their classmates. Atta went around, teaching the different knots one could do so the stem would not tear, and it was exactly this sort of little thing that made Atta feel useful. Like, just maybe, she might be an alright queen after all.
She’d just started making a daisy chain idly, when she saw a familiar redhead approaching.
Atta’s eyes brightened. “Windy!” she exclaimed. And she wanted to say a lot of different things here. That she had missed Wendy. That she felt guilty for once again getting so busy. How was she anyway? Had she heard Atta would be here or was it just a coincidence-- it was probably a coincidence, silly for Atta to think otherwise--
Instead of all that, Atta just breathed out one thing. “Hi.”
Tinkering with the Heart || Attendy [Trope Extravaganza]
Wendy was escorted into the Hollow by a particularly happy and cheerful kind of sparrowman who really just made each and every attempt at conversation. He’d introduced himself as Sled, which was kind of cool for a name. Basically evoked a bunch of strength and stuff, like he could carry things or something.
In any case, Wendy was a new transplant into Enchantra. She’d come from an American Hollow out in Oregon and really, it was kind of wild to see how different places were. Wendy was a tinker talent, but really specialized in anything involving carvings and wood. That’s where she was headed right now, to meet the head tinker talent, Atta.
And boy did this Sled have a high opinion of her. “Well, ya know, I’m just glad she felt she could take an exchange fairy on, you know.” She smiled politely at Sled who smiled back way more genuinely.
They flew down into the Workshoppe and landed, Sled calling out, “Miss Atta! I’ve got the exchange fairy.” He grinned over to a particular fairy, hunched over a table, fiddling with something and when she looked up she thought her heart beat as fast and as loudly as hummingbird wings. She was gorgeous. Wendy gulped slightly and just gave a small smile and a wave in her general direction, “Uh, nice to meet you.”
