Flip gently pushed the small child's fingers out of her mouth. She had agreed to watch over her friend Jilomena's children while she was out shopping. The young lad hadn't believed that Sprites had sharp teeth. They seemed blunt enough when she smiled.
"I said, are you done?" she clarified. "Can't have my mouth open all day if you're not even going to put chocolate in it."
"Well! How do you change them? They look sharp sometimes and not sharp other times." Ty pouted.
"The front ones change places when they need to, depending on what I'm eating, naturally. Retractable, just like my wings can slide back into me if I'm not using them. I'm not a biologist, so couldn't say why. The ones along the sides are always fangs. All the better to bite off little fingers when they're stuck in places they ought not to be." Flip punctuated the false threat with a wide, sharp grin. "Why's it matter, ne?"
Ty leaned in, an important whisper on his lips.
"I have a question." he breathed.
"Me too. Why do you smell like an armpit? We're hosing you down before your Mom gets home." Flip replied. "What's your question?"
"I do NOT smell like an armpit!" Ty huffed, then discreetly sniffed himself and made a face of disgust. "Well. Okay, might a LITTLE smell like an armpit. But only just! Anyway..." he dropped his voice low. "How do you... You know..." he gave Flip a pleading look, as if he didn't want to say a dirty word, but she could only stare at him blankly. "Kiss?"
"Whahahahat??? How do I kiss???" Flip cackled, bright and dual toned.
"Shhhh shh! Yes! How'd you do it? I've seen Mum and Dad kiss, and it looks like they're biting each other's faces. If you do it, won't the other person bleed?" Ty looked around, hoping his brothers hadn't heard him asking such a grown up thing. "Do you drink their blood? Stop laughing, it's serious!"
"Kissing isn't biting. I mean, some kisses are bitey. But I have the flat teeth for that. Are you worried that I'll fall madly in love with you when you grow up and I'll bite off your face? Fraid you're a few centuries too young for me, nugget." Flip shook her head. "As for your parents, I wouldn't be surprised if your Dad was biting your Mom trying to steal a sandwich out of her mouth. Now into the bath with you."
"You can't make me take a bath if I don't want to." Ty challenged.
"That's a good point and well made, but I could vanish your clothes and call your brothers in here to see your naked butt." Flip replied dangerously. "Your nose will thank you."
"Aah! I'm going, I'm going! Sheesh!" the boy fussed, darting out of the room.
"One down, 87 kids to go. It would be so much easier to throw them all in a soapy lake at once and be done with it." the Fairy shook her head.
