Lucy poked her head into Ashton's carrier the very next morning. "Hey, Ash," she said brightly. "Wanna eat breakfast with me?"

Ashton sat up slowly and glanced out towards Niles' bed. Niles usually didn't get up for another hour or so, and Ashton had never tried to leave the carrier when the human wasn't awake.

"Oh, don't worry about him," Lucy said dismissively. "Niles hates mornings. But I figured you're probably a morning person like me, and you're stuck waiting around for Niles to get up."

Ashton just stared at her, and she raised an eyebrow. "Well? Are you coming?"

Ashton tensed his shoulders and looked back at Niles' bed. What would the human do if Ashton wasn't where he was supposed to be when Niles woke up?

"Oh, Niles won't care," Lucy interrupted his thoughts. "If anything, he'll be ecstatic that you got breakfast on your own. Niles doesn't really do breakfast, either."

Ashton shook his head and slumped back down under his blankets. No. He wouldn't risk it. Better to not listen to this strange pixie than get in trouble with the human.

"Meh, suit yourself," Lucy said. Ashton heard her flap her wings, and then she was gone, disappearing into the kitchen.

Niles was up a little over an hour later. Ashton heard him turn on the shower, like he always did, and he pulled his blankets tighter around himself, knowing that the Niles human would set the carrier on the desk and check on him once he was done.

After moving and greeting Ashton, Niles left the bedroom door open on his way to the kitchen, where Ashton heard him talking to Lucy. Was the little pixie still eating breakfast? He closed his eyes, planning to try to get a little more rest, when he was startled to hear the pixie mention him.

"Niles," she was saying. "I don't think your new woodlands patient knows that he's allowed to leave his carrier."

Ashton sat up quickly, his heart pounding. He strained his ears, listening anxiously for Niles' response.

"Hmm?" Niles sounded distracted. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I invited him to eat breakfast with me this morning, and he looked absolutely terrified."

"Are you sure he wasn't just scared of you?" Niles asked skeptically. "You can be a bit of a bully."

"Come on!" Lucy exclaimed, exasperated. "I'm being serious! He kept looking over at you, like he was worried about getting caught doing something wrong. I think he doesn't want to leave the carrier without your permission."

Ashton scooted into the corner of the carrier, feeling sick. What on earth was she going on about? Was she trying to get him in trouble? But he hadn't even done anything bad. He had stayed put, like he was supposed to... right?

"But he leaves the carrier to go into the garden," Niles explained. "He doesn't wait for my permission for that."

"Yeah, well, you've probably already explained to him that he can roam around the garden, right?" Lucy asked.

Niles was quiet at that. Ashton clutched the blankets tighter to his chest, heart pounding as he waited breathlessly.

"Oh, yeah," Niles said, sounding thoughtful. "I guess you're right."

"Hmph. Of course, I'm right," came Lucy's annoyed voice. "I'm always right. You should tell him that he can leave the carrier whenever he wants. Then I can have a breakfast buddy."

Ashton heard Niles laugh. He had been laughing more since the pixie arrived yesterday. It was a warm, pleasant sound, but Ashton was still getting used to it.

His laugh died off, and he sounded thoughtful again. "Was Ashton already awake when you got up this morning?"

"Well, duh. He's a woodlands. They're always up at dawn."

Niles groaned. "Dang, so he's just been up and waiting for me this whole time? I thought I was doing pretty good getting up early enough for him."

There was a clatter of dishes, and Ashton strained to hear Lucy's reply. "Actually, I'm surprised to see you up this early. Have you been waking up before noon this whole time he's been with you?"

"Yeah, I've been trying to be up no later than 7:30. He needs to be kept on a consistent schedule, you know? I'm hoping that if he knows what to expect from our day, he'll feel safer."

"Well, color me impressed," Lucy goaded. "You're a changed man. Why don't you get up early to take care of me like this?"

"Because you are an absolute nightmare to take care of," Niles answered calmly. "And you're never satisfied even when I wait on you hand and foot."

Lucy let out a gasp. "And here I was, about to tell you that I almost kind of missed you this past month."

"Obviously not enough to leave your woodlands girlfriend," Niles quipped.

There was a clattering sound, and then Niles' voice came again, more agitated this time. "Ow, hey, Lucy!" he exclaimed. "Stop hitting me! How are you even strong enough to pick up a whole freaking spoon? It's twice as big as you!"

"I'm telling Mom that you're bullying me," Lucy warned, and Niles laughed again. "Isn't it the other way around?" he questioned, and it was Lucy's turn to laugh. "Like she'll ever believe you over me," she taunted.

"Fine, fine, you are an absolute delight, and I am beyond lucky to have you in my life. Now, stop hitting me so I can finish making breakfast for Ashton."

And then they were both silent, Ashton only hearing the usual sounds from the kitchen. He pulled his blanket over his head and waited, confused and shivering.

When Niles brought him breakfast, the wild pixie was with him. She landed on the desk and waited for the human while Ashton watched her delicate little frame bounce impatiently. She was just as jittery as any garden pixie he had met. They were wired that way— fiery little balls of energy. They had to be, since they lived so close to humans.

The Niles human stooped down to look inside the carrier at Ashton. Ashton sat there in the corner, speechless and worrying about the conversation between Niles and Lucy earlier. He had no idea what was happening or what to expect. 

"Hey, Ash," Niles waved at him before straightening back up. He set Ashton's breakfast right outside the carrier, like he always did.

"Ash, I'm sorry that I didn't make this clearer to you earlier, but you can leave your carrier whenever you want, buddy," he heard Niles say. "Just stay in the green marked parts of the house if you're not with me or Lucy. Those are the faerie safe zones. I don't want you to get lost or stuck or hurt wandering around. And don't try to get down from furniture on your own until your cast is off. Ok?"

Lucy grinned at Ashton and gave him a thumbs up, which Ashton remembered was a favorable symbol used by humans. Niles held his hand out to the pixie, and she clambered up into it.

"We'll let you eat breakfast," Niles continued. "Then we'll work on your back and go check out the garden."

"Niles and I are replanting the daisies!" He heard Lucy chirp from out of sight. "They're my favorite!"

And then they were gone.

***

It took Ashton a few more days to muster up the courage to leave the carrier at Lucy's beckoning, but it helped that she was there to encourage him. Once he did follow her out, she was more than happy to show him around the house from a faerie's perspective. 

It turned out that there were a lot of safe spaces and faerie sized objects in Niles' home that Ashton had never noticed before. If he wasn't in his carrier, he was either on Niles' desk or in the garden, so he had no idea that Niles' house was so livable for faeries like him and Lucy.

Lucy started getting Ashton every morning instead of Niles. It made sense since the two of them were awake at the same time anyway. Niles gave Ashton a wheelchair for long distances, so Ashton could follow Lucy to the kitchen while Niles slept for an extra thirty minutes. Lucy would then bustle around with her faerie-sized kitchen appliances, pretending to cook, but Ashton knew that she was just reheating whatever food Niles had prepared for the both of them the night before.

Lucy liked to sit up on the human-sized table for breakfast, and the Niles human set up a box and pulley system so that Ashton could sit with her. For his part, Niles seemed to be grateful for the extra sleep, and Ashton felt a strange guilt for not having noticed just how hard Niles had been working to take care of him.

As the days passed, Ashton studied the relationship between the garden pixie and the Niles human with equal parts curiosity and disgust. Curiosity because he had never seen a faerie so comfortable and familiar with a human before. Disgust because, well, for the exact same reason. The pixie was constantly touching Niles— either resting on his shoulder or fiddling with his fingers or leaning against his leg. Sometimes she would try to annoy him by tangling herself in his hair or taking naps in his shirt pocket. Ashton knew that pixies were especially touchy-feely with close friends, but how could she stand the feeling of a human touching her?

For his part, the Niles human seemed happier with the Lucy pixie around. He smiled and talked a lot more, and he didn't hesitate to reach out to Lucy to scoop her up or touch her the way he did with Ashton.

Watching their two personalities clash was also fascinating to Ashton. The two of them couldn't have been more different. While Niles was as calm as the pond where Ashton grew up, thorough and deliberate, Lucy was a complete spitfire. She zoomed through the house, clattering around and filling it with her loud, somewhat shrill voice. She was headstrong and bright and didn't seem daunted by humans in the slightest. 

In fact, she explained to Ashton that she had gone to school for a human law degree and was on a special council with human politicians called the ELCoF. They met together several times a year to draft laws regarding the treatment and welfare of fae.

She was gone for work several times a year, traveling to different conferences or meetings. When she wasn't traveling, she apparently helped Niles at the clinic as a resource for faeries who had been hurt by humans— whether accidentally or intentionally. She said she collected their stories to present to the ELCoF so they could make laws that accurately responded to faerie needs. Ashton was quite awed by her boldness and wondered where she got her audacity from.

Despite their differences, Niles and Lucy clearly liked and trusted each other very much. They shared inside jokes, asked each other for advice, and ranted about work. Well, Lucy ranted. Niles listened patiently. And they both seemed to really care about Ashton. 

Watching Niles with Lucy painted the human in a different light, and it made Ashton think that maybe Niles wasn't so bad. After all, he was always kind, always gentle, always considerate. It was a weird realization, that a human could be kind, and Ashton had no idea what to do with it.

________________________________________________________________

A/N: Lucy and Niles are absolute best friends. They are each other's ride or die. You'll find out more about their history in the next chapter!

Thanks for reading and see you in the next part!