Chapter 27 - false intruder

"There's a fair tomorrow." Declan said casually.

It was after dinner, the sun had long gone down, the soft sounds of the forest barely audible as the tv chattered away filling the quiet space.

Faun finally lifted his head from his phone. "What's a fair?" He started to ask, then… "Don't worry, I'll just check…"

Declan snatched his from him phone with a peeved expression, it felt like everything he got for Faun only served to take up even more of his time.

"I can tell you." He grumbled, sneakily slipping Faun's phone out of sight.

Faun was too curious to pay any mind to his actions, looking up at Declan expectantly.

"It's just a bunch of people that move from town to town, performing tricks and putting on a show."

Faun still looked at a loss, unable to draw up a mental picture of what Declan was talking about. "Can… Can we go?" He asked hesitantly.

"If you want to." Declan shrugged.

As much as he liked the idea of showing Faun new things, he didn't mind it either if they just spent the entire day in the house, bickering about what to eat and watching tv.

"Of course." Faun agreed without hesitation, his eyes sparkling.

Declan thought about it and predicted that there was a high chance that they would run into Isla at the fair, it was better too if he told Faun about the picnic early enough.

But if he didn't want the picnic, Declan had no qualms cancelling.

"That reminds me, the lady that was here the other day, we might run into her at the fair." He said calmly.

Faun was visibly distressed by this. "Is that okay though? She saw my ears and tail."

"She 'thinks' she saw your ears and tail." Declan was quick to correct, reaching out a hand to hold Faun's tail that was swishing around rapidly in his unrest,

Faun hardly batted an eyelid at that, Declan was starting to form a habit of constantly touching his tail and Faun was much too distracted to refuse.

"Isla won't cause trouble." He tried to reassure Faun, a vein ticking on his jaw at the furrowed expression on Faun's brow.

He reached out to smoothen it and also sneak a ruffle in on his hair but Faun reflexively smacked his hand away, his worry still visible in his eyes.

There was no visible change in Declan's expression but he considered cancelling and not telling Faun about it at all.

But he would rather they were friendly with each other at least, for the benefit of everyone.

"She even invited herself over on Saturday for a picnic, most likely to apologise." He continued steadily.

The emotion in Faun's eyes flickered and he looked up hopefully at Declan. "Really?"

"Yes."

Faun's excitement for the fair was far greater than his concern over Isla, and adding to the fact that Declan was personally reassuring him, it didn't take very long for him to give in.

"Okay." He dragged in a deep breath to say, his eyes twinkling with determination.

"I should go to bed early, seeing as we have such a big day tomorrow." Faun shot to his feet in the next moment, his tail slipping out of Declan's hold.

Declan was disgruntled at this action. "It's just 9 pm, you can't even sleep for very long, just where are you hurrying to?" He blurted out.

Faun just clutched his tail to himself and quickly put some distance between them.

Fortunately, his ears were furry or they would have been a bright shade of red. Even still, his ears still twitched as if he were in distress.

"Wrong." Faun tossed at him, feeling miffed. "I'm adjusting better now… wait, w-where are you going?" He stuttered slightly when Declan got up as well, an odd look in his eyes.

Declan frowned slightly, "To sleep as well of course, we have a busy day tomorrow." He handed Faun's words back to him.

Faun could feel his cheeks heat up slightly. "O-Of course." He muttered, turning away swiftly to his room.

Declan slowed down to watch Faun hurry to his room, doing the same as well after a while. He made sure to lock up and switch the tv off, heading to his dim and quiet room.

He wasn't feeling the least bit sleepy but there was no use remaining in the living room either.

He knew he wouldn't be sleeping for a while though, he wasn't even sleepy yet.

Declan still turned in early for there was little else to do and staring up at his ceiling in silence was depressing so it was no surprise that he woke up immediately when someone entered his room.

He could already guess who it could be, and he wondered just how long Faun had been awake for him to give in and come and loiter around Declan's room.

He pretended to still be asleep though, drawing in a breath of violets as Faun moved even closer.

Declan waited until he was at the head of his bed before reaching out a hand to grab his wrist in the dark, tugging him on the bed.

Poor Faun hadn't been expecting this outcome and screamed his head off when he felt the pressure on his wrist and his feet leave the ground.

He landed on the bed with a muffled huff, the soft bouncy bed thankfully breaking his fall.

But he was dazed for a couple precious seconds, trying to gather his wits around him and decipher what just happened.

"Oh, it's just you." Declan murmured sleepily, almost nonchalantly. "I thought it was an intruder."

Faun was too bewildered to scoff. What kind of crazy person pulled people that they feared to be intruders into their beds?

Declan rolled over to lean over Faun, his weight propped on an arm to get a better look even though the room was dimly lit. "Why are you sneaking around my room in the night?'"

Faun soft gasp slipped past before he could stop it. He had not planned to get caught.