Episode 167: Yielded (Nell)

Nell was on top of the world. He knew it was greedy, but he had spent almost his entire life with a husband and a wife. Having Enny and Comet back, having them in love with one another too, was surprising and invigorating.

Nell could take on the world.

He rejoined the festival, a slight sprink in his step he knew made him look like a fool. He didn’t care. The noise was blaring, his mind was buzzing, the ground was vibrating with movement, animals moved to and fro, his kids were here.

His soul had two songs: one for Enny and one for Konrad.

Being in such a mood, he let himself wander toward Xander, who seemed to need to speak to him or someone of some import.

As he approached them he saw they had a girl with them, whose mind was a screaming contortion of knots and emotions. She couldn’t have been more than that old but she was twice as riddled with twists than Annatto, which said a lot. She was in love – with the computer guy Scipio. She was a prisoner, but she had decided she wanted to live in the Dells. It was a political mess, and Nell was going to have to be responsible for her.

He approached them with a too big smile.  “You brought a girl?”

“Thank you for noting,” Gwen said. Gwen was Xander’s wife. She was too well behaved for Xander to ever understand how they ended up together. She must have tricked him, but he could feel the waves of affection he held toward her and her flowing musty red hair.

It was too bad Xander wasn’t into pixies. They had red hair by default. He liked Gwen though.

“She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” Xander said.

Truth be told, Nell had forgotten what they were talking about.

Xander kissed Gwen on the cheek. Ah, yes, the girl comment. Gwen was far from a girl.

“I meant Eulalee,” Nell said, after he plucked the name from her mind. She had brown hair, long and flowing down across her shoulders in a wavy tangle and pearly blue eyes.

“She plans to move in with Scipio,” Nell added.

“Who the fuck is Scipio?” Xander spat.

Eulalee grinned.

“Our computer guy,” Nell replied, unsure if he was making things worse or better.

Xander flashed an image of Zero, amidst his anger. “Does he seem to be on board with this plan?”

Nell was almost certain the entire plan was Eulalee’s, and Scipio had yet to comprehend what he had gotten himself into by looking delicious and so holdable. Those were Eulalee’s thoughts, not his own, though Scipio was a fine specimen of a person. He hiked which kept his body toned.

As for if he knew, “He seems uncertain.”

Eulalee glared at him like he had betrayed her. Uncertain was generous, Nell thought. Xander didn’t know the guy, uncertain also left an air of she fell in love in an instant.

He wondered how someone fell in love in an instant. It had taken a whole bottle of alcohol to fall in love with Konrad.

Xander looked at Gwen.

“Okay,” Xander said. “You need us to get her out of here?”

“I don’t think so. I was more so asking what you thought of letting her move here… is she a problem? You know Konrad loves adopting problems.”

And Aadya loved being circumvented when she was stressed. The crazy person who was going to move there with or without approval would get her way and Aadya would have no part of the blame.

Nell was doing her a favor.

“She’s bigger than Konrad,” Xander stated.

She looked quite small, but Nell knew better than to correct Xander about his word choices. He was the guy that called his house a palace, despite visiting the Dells enough to know he lived in a shack in comparison.

His ego though, and the way he carried himself, all build up a persona capable of such proclamations. Here, he had a problem he thought was too big for Konrad but he walked her around like his show piece.

Then again, maybe he didn’t know better. “You measured?” Nell said, unable to resist.

Gwen covered her mouth while she laughed. Nell’s wings fluttered in pleasure.

“If you want her, you can keep her if she’s willing,” Xander said, baffled by the entire conversation Nell suspected. “I doubt you can keep her if she isn’t.”

Nell tried not to probe that one, but it seemed like something had happened to him. Curiosity ate away and he pushed his mind a little.

Eulalee met his mind and said hi. That was startling.

Nell stopped digging and looked at Xander. “What am I getting into?”

Xander’s mind recounted images Nell tried not to focus on. “She’s a little askew from healthy.”

The last memory crossed Nell’s mind: Xander telling her to be good, and her resolve melting. It seemed like a code to her, like a keyword. Xander seemed important to her.

“I’ll see what she thinks… did you get snow cones yet?”

“We did,” Gwen said. “They’re delicious.”

“Your recipe is perfect, thank you,” Xander added.

Xander must have had the Summer Hurricane, Nell’s favorite alcoholic treat of the season. The snow cone was a pale blue color and tasted like summer rain and heat and thunder.

“You need a machine,” he informed Xander. “I’ll get you one for Christmas. We’re celebrating.”

Christmas, his new favorite time of year. The time when he could sing Konrad the song that his nickname, Comet, had come from. The time of year when he could tease Talise for telling Niels she was from Botswana years ago. A time when he could show Rylena and Konrad how much he loved them. His children too, not that they needed reminders. His constant stalking and rule creation was sure to convey that message.

“What the fuck is Christmas?” Xander asked, destroying the melody of Nell’s illusion.

“It’s one of the biggest holidays of Talise’s homeland, Botswana. We exchange gifts and Konrad’s dressing up and flying a sleigh, to deliver presents.”

It wasn’t about the gifts or Konrad or teasing Talise, what this was about was making the Dells more of a home to Niels, and showing him that they could grow. No one was going to mention it, but it was a huge sentiment to how much he was accepted in the family and long overdue.

“I’ll be sure to get you something too. Maybe a cotton candy machine?” Xander suggested.

Oh, he needed one of those. He needed one bad. He didn’t want to wait for Christmas.

“Can you infuse alcohol in it?” He asked. “Nevermind, I want one.”

He would find a way.

“We’ll make sure Konrad gets it,” Gwen promised.

They hadn’t even asked when Christmas was. He was going to get a cotton candy machine soon.

Life was good.

He wrapped his arm around Eulalee and promised she could come there soon.

She didn’t look that excited about waiting, but she was behaving. Part of Nell wanted to see how well she could listen to the command, how far she would take it. Nothing diabolical, but a few hours of processing her move wouldn’t hurt her.

“I’ll see you soon,” he said to Eulalee. “Enjoy the festival,” he said the the group.

He was off, to process the move and see his Konrad and enjoy the festival. Life was good. He had the world in his hands. He was getting a cotton candy machine.

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