The following day was sunny and pleasant, as it usually was in Fairyland. The queen had complete control over the weather, and she kept her domain in a state of perpetual spring, not too hot nor too cold, with rain and shine in the proper amounts. On special occasions, we would get snow, but only when the people wanted to have something different for a change. After breakfast, Livia suggested that she and I go and visit Kalen, her pixie friend, and report back to him the success of his potion. I didn’t have any objections to that, and I would like nothing more than taking a walk through the beautiful forest with her.

Our village of Asfolan was built in the midst of the great forest, next to a sizeable river, with marble paths connecting all the houses. We set off down one of these, which led through the dense trees and giant-sized flowers in the direction of a little hill. On the way we met many fellow fairies, both on the ground and, every now and then, in the air. Though all adult fairies possessed wings, they were seldom seen flying; apparently, flying isn’t a very relaxing activity, and is only employed when one wishes to get somewhere in a hurry, or for sightseeing.

Pixies, or male fairies, in contrast to their female companions, did not grow wings, and therefore could not fly. They also had very limited magical abilities compared to those of fairy women. But the biggest difference between them, in my opinion, was their size. The average height for a pixie was only three feet, assuming that fairies like Livia and I were about six feet tall. Having grown up in a world where men were both physically and socially superior to women, I was therefore quite shocked when I first saw that the situation over here was quite the opposite.

Actually, though, pixies were not treated as inferior beings, even though they quite easily could have been. They weren’t turned into slaves or anything like that, but could live amongst the female fairies as equals, and pursue any profession they chose - as long as it did not involve flying or using magic, I supposed. Far from wanting to rule the affairs of the people themselves, pixies were quite content with their lives; those of them who were attracted to the opposite gender didn’t care that their lovers were twice their height and much more powerful than them. Everyone got along peacefully – well, almost everyone, almost all the time – and I sometimes wondered what would happen if these circumstances were to suddenly happen in the world of humans.

We arrived at Kalen’s house at about ten o’clock. It was quite a bit smaller than our house, but then he lived by himself, having left his parents’ house last year. Livia walked up to the door and knocked sharply. There was no answer, not even after she’d tried to more times, as well as called out. She tried the door handle, and the door swung open.

“Well, let’s go inside,” she suggested. “He’s probably sleeping late, or else he’s in the bath; I wouldn’t be surprised if it were both.”

“Livia! Are you that unflattering to all of your friends?”

“What? I was only making a suggestion. I guess we’d better go in and find out, then.”

Inside, the house looked much the same as most fairy homes, only with the furniture and fittings scaled down to half-size, something I still had trouble getting when visiting pixie homes. After looking in each of the rooms and calling out Kalen’s name, Livia and I sat down on the one regular-sized couch in the room..

“I suppose he must have gone out,” I implied. “Shall we wait for him, or…”         

“Hey!” cried a voice, which seemed to come from the floor. “Hello! Down here! Please!”

“What on earth?” I said, looking down at Livia’s right foot. On the carpet next to it was a tiny, moving figure, less than three inches tall. It was waving its arms and calling out to us. Livia reached down and scooped the little person up in her hand. She brought it closer to our faces, and we both gasped in astonishment.

It was Kalen – minuscule, naked and completely disorientated, but we recognized him. Livia brought him right up beneath her face, and I leant in to get a close-up view. This apparently made the shrunken pixie even more uncomfortable, and he curled himself up, his tanned skin turning a dark shade of red. Livia suddenly burst into a giggle. She pressed her fingertip against Kalen’s chest and effortlessly pinned him flat against her hand.

“Let me guess,” she said. “You couldn’t wait for us to report back to you the next day, so you decided to test your new potion yourself, am I right?”

“Y-yes,” Kalen half-stammered, struggling to get loose from under her finger. “I…well, I took one of the potions…but I forgot the antidote…it’s still on top of the table.”

I saw a familiar red globule lying in a bowl on the table, and reached for it. But Livia grabbed my arm and restrained me.

“Not so fast there, girlfriend!” she said, smiling impishly. “The littlest pixie and I are just beginning to enjoy ourselves.” She let her captive go, and he sat up and curled into a little ball again, looking completely mortified.

“I think we should take him home with us, don’t you?” she continued. “He’d make a marvellous addition to our…nightly activities, wouldn’t he? I already have a little corner in mind for him.” She lifted the top of her dress and, despite Kalen’s feeble protests, tipped her hand and let him slide down underneath her garments. Then she sat back and smiled, looking tremendously pleased with herself.

“Oh, Livia!” I sighed. “I love you, but you can be a bit mean sometimes. Can’t you see that he feels embarrassed enough already? Let him out, will you? Then we can bring him back to his rightful size.”

“Hmmmm, maybe…nope, sorry, can’t be done. If you want him, then you’ll have to fetch him yourself.”

I gave another loud sigh, and shifted myself so that I was leaning over her. Then I slid my hand in beneath her gown, while she smiled at me oh-so-temptingly. Wriggling my hand deeper into her cleavage, I finally found a small lump of flesh that didn’t belong there. This I pulled out, and finally Kalen was back in the open air again, lying feebly in my palm and breathing heavily. When he saw me, he quickly curled up again, but not before I’d taken a good look at his endearing little nude form.

I decided that this ‘punishment’ had gone on long enough, and carefully gave him the antidote, before setting him down on the floor, next to that loose pile that was his clothing. While he grew back to his normal size and dressed himself, I looked away, not wanting to discomfit him any further, though I doubt Livia did the same. Soon, however, Kalen was back to being himself again. Livia picked him up and sat him down in her lap, as if he were a small child.

“Well, er, thank you,” he mumbled. “I guess I’ll have to be more careful with these potions from now on.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Livia smiled. “Besides, it did give me a great opportunity to have a little, ahem, fun with you.” Kalen’s face blushed again when she mentioned this.

“Sorry about all that,” she apologized, after I gave her a shove with my elbow. “But after what happened last night…well, let’s just say that the mere sight of a tiny person…excites me. Even if it is a tiny boy!” She giggled, and gave him a smooch on the top of his head.

“So, the potion…it worked?” the little pixie asked, hastily looking in my direction, before turning his attention back to Livia again.

“It did. Much better than you can possibly imagine.” She sighed and gave me a knowing look. “In fact, we were hoping, I mean, wondering, whether you still have a few of those little green marbles lying around. You see, Lucy and I, we had…”

“We had a great time last night!” I interjected. “Really smashing! But…there’s something else…uh, Livia, would you mind giving Kalen and me a little…privacy? There’s something we have to talk about.”

“Really? You do? And what might that be, hmm? Please tell.”

“I’ll tell you after we’re done, I promise. Please, Livia? I just want to ask him something, that’s all.” I gave her a pleading look, and she agreed. The look in her eyes told me that she knew exactly what this was all about, and that she understood perfectly. She set Kalen down on the couch, got up, and went outside, giving me a wink just before exiting the door.

Now Kalen and I were alone, and his shy attitude towards me, which he’d tried his best to hide earlier, grew worse. Something about me was clearly bothering him, and I itched to know what it was. So, without wasting time on fancy, roundabout ways of speaking, I got straight to the point. I wrapped my arm around his back, pulled him towards me (he resisted, but not very much), and asked:

“Kalen, are you in love with me?”

His shocked reaction was instantaneous. For a moment he tried to escape, but I held him firmly by my side, not intending to let him go until I got a clear answer. He began to breathe heavily, running his hands through his lemon-yellow hair, and trying his best to avoid eye-contact with me.

“I’m waiting,” I said, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. “It’s all right, Kalen, you can tell me. I just want the truth, that’s all, and I won’t be cross with you or anything like that. Come on now, you can trust me.”

“J-just the truth,” he said, barely audible. “Th-that’s all?”

“Like I said,” I smiled. He hesitated for a few seconds more, then, unexpectedly, stood up on the couch. Our eyes were now at the same level. Without a word, he leant forward, brought his lips in line with mine, and gave me the cutest, tiniest little kiss.

When he drew back he was almost sweating with anxiety. I sat in stunned silence for a moment, then turned towards him with a big grin. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a tight hug, and a kiss on the forehead.

“I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed, while I pressed his miniature body against mine. “I just had to…to get that out! I don’t want to take you away from Livia, not at all…you girls belong together…anyone can see that! But, well, since the first time I saw you…I’ve just…I’ve just been crazy about you, Lucy!”

“Really? Oh, Kalen, I…I don’t know what to say…what to do...I can’t just…just stop loving Livia, if you know what I mean.”

“That’s good to hear,” said a voice behind my back. I sprang to my feet, dropping Kalen on the couch, and saw Livia standing in the doorway. She looked at me calmly, not without a slight hint of accusation in her eyes.

“Livia!” I exclaimed. “I told you, I wanted to talk to Kalen alone!”

“I know, darling, but your voices just sort of carried, if you get my meaning. And besides, anything that has to do with our relationship shouldn’t be a secret. Not between us, anyway.”

“But nothing happened!” I protested.

“That’s right!” Kalen added. “Lucy didn’t do anything, I did! It’s me you should be angry with, not her!”

“Angry? Whoever said I was angry?”

“Well, you were just standing there, and…”

“No, no, no, no, no!” Livia said, laughing. She came inside and took my hands in hers. “I can see that I’ve given off entirely the wrong impression. Let’s clear this up once and for all. Lucy,” she looked me straight in the eye. “Dearest Lucy, after two years, you should know by now that my love for you is deep and true. You are the most precious thing in my universe, and nothing – nothing – will ever change that. If you wish to pursue happiness and love elsewhere, with someone else, then I would stand completely behind your choice.”

“But I don’t want someone else!” I cried. “I want you! Just you!”

“Then, my angel, you may have me.”

She and I kissed, and even though we’ve done so a million times before, it somehow still felt new and fresh. When we finished, I couldn’t help but look at Kalen, expecting him to be completely crushed by what he’d just seen. However, he seemed strangely at ease, for the first time in the day, and even gave me a genuine smile.

“I told you, Lucy. You two really do belong together. Forget about me – I was just being silly, falling for someone I hardly even know. What do I know about true love, anyway? I have an eternity to look forward to; who knows what might happen?”

“Oh,” I said, not knowing if he was being sincere, or just pretending in order to please me. “Well…thank you, Kalen. I’m…well, I’m glad you understand.”

“Hey, I got a kiss, didn’t I? So I think that me coming clean was worth it.”

“Oh, you two,” Livia sighed. “Come on, let’s go and visit the Rainbow Gardens. I hear they’re particularly stunning this time of they year. What do you say?”

“Isn’t that a little far?” I asked.

“Not if we use a little magic! You just need to know the right people. I’m sure Riala would take us; in fact, she and Cyrina might want to join us, too.”

“All right! How about you, Kalen? Would you like to join us?”

“As long as I’m not interfering…”

“Oh, rubbish! You’re more than welcome to join in!” I took him under the arms and picked him up easily, then followed Livia to the door.

“Hey, I can walk, can’t I?” the pixie protested.

“I know, but carrying you is so much more satisfying. If human boys had been this size, my childhood would have been a whole lot more enjoyable.”

As we set off towards Riala’s house, my thoughts returned to last night. Despite being one of the most meaningful nights of my life, I was glad to see that my and Livia’s feelings towards each other had remained strong. And I was even happier to finally be free of all the doubt and insecurity I had about getting intimate with her. From now on, I promised myself, I would take every opportunity I get to be that close to her again. And, judging by the meaningful look on her face, so would she.