Was it the way I looked to him? No, that can’t be it.

It was the way he looked to _me_. Yes, that seems right.

The name’s Piper; Piper Ann Dame, and I’m in love with a deerfox. That’s right. A damn, scruffy deerfox.

He’s clothed in a fiery coat of orange, amber eyes accompanied by black paws that could be gentle and soft. His antlers stretch out from his skull, like twisting trees of thick oak. At the moment, we’re both sitting under neath one of the trees I compared his antlers too. The strong thing shields us from the afternoon light, which reminds me of his eyes in the bright sun of the morning.

Now, no, he’s not just an ordinary fox—he’s what you would call a faerie—so he does have a human form. I’m not one of those creeps fucking animals after being insane for years, but I don’t want anyone to know about us. You see, faeries have this…reputation in High Mountain. Stealing babies and such.

But what people don’t know is that there are different types of faeries that do different things. My Deerfox, for one, is a shifter, but I didn’t learn this from him—he doesn’t talk, can’t talk from what I see from that scar on his neck—I learned it from my faerie obsessed father. More on that later.

As a virgin female in my society, I am treated like trash. That’s why I choose for Deerfox to visit me in the woods rather than the exposing city. He never speaks, he just touches me instead. Which I am _all_ here for.

His brown head is burrowed into the crook of my neck, his nose blowing warm air that flows down my collarbone into the open part of my tunic. I shiver in delight from it. I grab his one of his hands, my other going to stroke his antlers, and pull him closer so he can touch my waist. His head turns and he stares at me in wide eyes, curious at what I’m trying to do. His leg thumps at my stroking after a moment though, and his eyes roll back.

I let go of his hand with a sigh and just focus of petting him. He does love his pets.

Ah, woe is me. Of course the handsome fae is _also_ a virgin. And an idiot. He’s a goddamn idiot sometimes.

Just look what happened last week while we were gathering berries so I could make a pie.

[+•+•+]

It was a sunny day, not really special, just very, very humid, and Deerfox and I wandered to in search of berries. He seemed confused of what a “fickleberry pie” was, but seemed happy enough to go with it because _I_ seemed happy.

He was following me like a dog—though, aren’t foxes related to dogs in a way?—while I inspected the bushes to find the right berries to pick. All the while, I had gloves on. Remember that crucial part: GLOVES.

Earlier, I had warned Deerfox about sticking his bare hands into a fickleberry bush because they are very dangerous, poisonous, and prickly.

(Now I forgot that Deerfox wasn’t human in that moment, but he’s still an idiot.)

So this dumbass, after watching me pick berries with my (GLOVED) hands, goes ahead and sticks his hands deep into the bush. WHY DEEP INTO THE BUSH?!

We were still for a moment. I frozen in shock, and he as well. Then his hands started to bleed black and I started freaking out and rushing over to him. Deerfox just blinked slowly looking between me and his hand as I rummaged through my bag for bandages, as though he didn’t believe what was happening was real.

I called him a few unladylike names then, grabbing his arm, gloves still on so I didn’t have the poison on me, so I could bandage his hand. But then Deerfox head butted me away—which hurt quite a bit—and licked his head clean. Blood, poison and all.

There was another quiet moment, and I started screaming again. It took Deerfox about two hours to remind me that he wasn’t human by shifting, and a few slaps from me for my mind to calm down.

See, he’s an idiot. An idiot who I love very much.

[+•+•+]

Back to the present, his head is in my lap now and he’s playing with a ladybug he found on a blade of grass. He’s still in his human form, which is awkward for positioning, but we make it happen, and his legs are in the air and swinging.

Ugh…why am I still allowing this? I should be doing something better! Like learning how to sow, or cook something else other than pie! I sigh, than laugh sadly. Deerfox stops his kicking and looks up to me, tilting his head before coming up and licking my cheek. I know he didn’t mean it suggestively, but it still makes my heart race. I pat his head and kiss his cheek. Deerfox gives me a smile, then he goes back to how he was, thrusting his antlers towards my palms. My hands find their way almost automatically.

My heart has been eaten by a fae—an idiotic fae. And I don’t think he has any intention of giving it back.

Not that I want him to.

[+•+•+]

_Author’s Note:_

_I might make a part two. I like these characters more than I realize. _😅_ Thanks for reading and have a wonderful fae—oh! I mean day! _❤️