Now
It has taken me a while, but I seem to have established a bit of a life for myself here.
I have two jobs, one in a used book shop and one in a café downtown. I also have a little apartment that doesn't smell of piss or weed (my previous place had. I shudder to think what went on there before I moved in) and I've stayed under the radar as far as my own kind is concerned. I've been to a few fairy bars just to see what's been going on, but I was careful, so I wasn't caught and hog-tied. The only reason I'm still alive is because of my powers.
One of the perks of being a Mid Fairy is that I have amplified skills. All fairies can fly, glamour themselves to blend in with humans and communicate with animals, so I can do these to a greater extent than other fairies.
We all also have an individual skill, like being able to read minds, affect the weather, shoot fire our of our ass (my dad new a guy who was stuck with that particular power. Good thing his wife was a water elemental) or control an element. I can do anything I want, I can choose any skill and just develop it. Think of it as leveling up in a game. I'm better at using water than earth but that's just because I've practiced water more.
I guess you could say my talent is being able to learn. My parents were worried that I didn't have any skills because they didn't present themselves on my twelfth birthday as everyone's does, in the form of a small tattoo-like mark between my wings, but we found out that I had powers when I accidentally blew up a table when I stubbed my toe. What can I say, I have a short temper.
My dad then checked between my wings and sure enough, there was the word aeris. He said I had caused the gases in the air to force themselves into the wood and expand, ripping the wood to splinters and dispelling it around mothers lovely, previously clean living room.
From then on we assumed my power was air and my dad taught me all he knew, as air was his talent. Then, one day when I was in our greenhouse, I happened to make our tomatoes grow to the size of footballs because I thought maybe they would catch more light if they were bigger and poof, giant 'matoes. We sort of brushed it off since they knew I would be a bit different because of the whole Mid thing. We thought I got two powers, one for each race. I then developed the word terra - earth.
We finally realised I could have any power when I read my mum's mind to find out where she had hidden my favourite book and mentem read - mind read - showed up on my back. From then on I read spell tombs for ideas. Some of the things I've learned are how the command all the elementum - elements - how to influence people's thoughts and emotions (basically mind control) - mentis imperium - and my most powerful skill (a solid level ten out of ten) figura trabea - shape shifting. It's my most vital skill to blend in with humans and avoid detection because all fairies can see through each other's glamours. Some can glamour themselves from other fairies, but if you're strong enough, you can see through them all (as I can) so I decided shifting was safer. My back is covered in Latin, but I can't show my tattoos off because other fairies might see them.
"KEDUA!" my boss Pat shouted at me, drawing me out of my reverie.
"Yep?" I replied.
"Swap with Delia, she has the customer servicing skills of a dead pigeon. "
I smiled and said "Sure, will do." because I hate being on dish duty and working the till means I get first dibs on the tip jar. I also smiled because Delia kind of looks like a pigeon with her beady eyes and hooked nose.
"Hi, what can I get you?" I ask my customer, a girl around my age, maybe 18 or so.
"A Mocha, decaf" she says, not even bothering to look up from her phone.
"Sure thing." I say, rolling my eyes which I feel flash golden with annoyance. The one thing I can't hide is my eyes, which change colour depending on my emotion. I can't wear contact lenses because they just irritate the crap out of my eyes, and I can't glamour or shift them, so I tend to wear sunglasses when I can, or just close my eyes or turn away when I can't. That's the main problem with working with people, trying to a stay neutral brown and not let them flicker, especially when other fairies stop by for a coffee, because it's common knowledge that a Mid's eyes change colour. There were none in the cafe today though, so I didn't try too hard. I make the coffee and hand it to the ungrateful wretch.
"That's £3.20" I tell her. She pays and goes to sit down.
I hear the bell ring as the door opens and in walks.....
my worst nightmare.
Why the hell didn't I stay on dish duty?!
