Less haste; more speed! *Open*

[Jackson Nickleby]

“Left a bit... more... more... stop!”
The large plexiglass sheet was slowly lowered into position, sliding precisely into the slotted steel frame that had been painstakingly prepared for it. “That's my baby....” Jackson murmured to himself as it clicked into place. The design was quite amazingly ingenious really; the weight of the glass itself snapped the locking supports irreversibly into place minimising the welding required and creating a barrier sturdy enough to stand up to just about anything the city could throw at it. Danviel truly was a genius as well as the sexiest ass to ever don a pair of black wranglers. A beaming smile came to Jackson's face as it always did when he thought of his amazing vampire.

It had been a long day but the Sanctuary wall was a serious priority, even more so after the recent terrible spate of events that had racked the city. The incident that had shut down the Little Britain project for days had been bad enough and if he were of a more delicate constitution it would have left Jackson traumatized with nightmares considering just how close both he and Danviel had come to a fatal 'accident' there; fortunately he was made of sterner stuff than that, or at least more stubborn stuff. Jackson had gotten right back on the horse so to speak and thrown himself into getting the Sanctuary wall project up to speed.

Of course it couldn't just rain, it had to pour. The explosion in District Five had been a huge blow to the city, destroying most of the agricultural district, but on a far more personal level to Jackson it had also claimed the life of his newly promoted structural engineer Teirnan. Whenever it seemed like he was getting on top of the staffing issues for skilled workers on the construction projects something always seemed to happen to screw it all up again. Well Jackson wasn't taking any chances with the Sanctuary; he was overseeing every aspect of it personally. This was one job that would be finished on time and to spec. no matter what.

He stepped back a moment wiping the sweat from his forehead and just admiring the workmanship and achievement of what they had constructed so far. The plexiglass wall was a beautiful thing in its own right and fit perfectly into its idyllic surroundings. Jackson loved to be outdoors rain or shine but the park was definitely an exceptionally nice place to work. It hadn't really surprised him that the fables had been giving the crew a wide berth as they worked though it would have been nice to have seen them. Jackson thought he had caught a glimpse of eyes watching him from the foliage but he wasn't certain it hadn't just been wishful thinking.

“Alright lets finish up here” he shouted to the tired crew. “I'm calling it a day so get those tools stowed safely and everyone get on out of here; cold beer or warm beds whatever your pleasure just don't be late tomorrow.” Jackson sat down to watch the new flurry of activity. He would do the final checks once everyone was gone. They couldn't have anything left on the wrong side of the fence or unsecured; he'd heard that some of the fables were children or like children and you didn't leave dangerous equipment around where children could find it.

Jackson sighed. He also needed to double check the temporary fencing that currently joined the old construction to the new; there had been endless trouble with teens, human and mutant, trying to break in and the gates now had to be chained as well as padlocked. Just why some people had to be so senselessly destructive was beyond Jackson, who's passion was his work in building new and better things. The site was by now almost deserted and again Jackson felt someone watching him. “Hello?” he called.

[Giovanni Ignazio]

He had been afraid when he approached the centaur. But not because he was their king, but because he had a task set upon him by the other fey children and he had never even been close to a human before. He was not allowed. His father had told him if he could get the permission from the centaur, he could deliver the gift to the human who was building the wall to keep them safe. The children had all be so very excited, how could the elder fey say no.

Giovanni had been standing near the lake, his eyes filled with tears because he had hurt the little mermaid so badly that she would not come out. Sometimes he wondered if she was even still there. The child had approached him and informed him of the plan. He was going to say no, but the child was so excited, he could not deny him his important task. The boy thought himself a grand adventurer on a heroic quest. He just needed a mighty steed to complete the assignment.

Giovanni had lifted the child to his back and traversed the forest carefully with the child clinging to his back with the leather scroll in his hand. It would be dark soon so the workmen would be going home for the day, but he knew the object of interest would stay longer as he did every day. Giovanni knew this because he had been watching the construction of the wall around his kingdom from the beginning.

When they arrived, he watched through the glass part of the new section of wall as the man gave orders for the tools to be cleaned up. He liked this man, he had a genuine concern for Giovanni's people. He walked just inside the trees as the man inspected the wall and checked the transition between the old and the new, which Giovanni did several times per day and the elves watched over diligently in shifts. He didn't really want to do this but the child wanted to complete his quest so badly.

He could not back out once the man called out. It would fill him with fear with all the evil creatures running around on that side of the wall. Normally, he would have turned and ran. But this time, he stepped through the bushes and made eye contact with the blonde Adonis. He stared at the man with a scrutinizing look. The child peered out from behind him with wide eyed wonder, his wings moving nervously. Giovanni tested his ability to communicate telepathically with the man, since many human just would not hear him. He sent the image of the child handing him the leather scroll.

Giovanni should have known the elves would be in the vicinity, the slight rustling was not a mistake, it was a message to him that they were there. He would do nothing to betray their presence but he had a feeling they wanted the man to know they were there. He turned his head toward the brush and nodded knowingly. He was answered by multiple bird calls and turned his attention back to Jackson.

[Jackson Nickleby]

Jackson turned toward the rustling sound and his eyes nearly popped out of his head in amazement at the awesome sight. How such a huge and magnificent creature could have snuck up so quietly out from the trees was utterly incredible and Jackson was rendered entirely speechless by the sight. A wondrous grin was spreading across his face as it began to sink in exactly what he was looking at. So this was the centaur; THE centaur. The king of the fables. Suddenly 'Hello' seemed a little inadequate.

The centaur loomed over Jackson, who had never considered himself a small man but he was barely taller than the centaur's withers and the Olympian torso that rose from them was as powerful as any athletic human. His dark eyes seemed to scrutinise every inch of Jackson before they locked with his own baby blues; Jackson could only stare in return with a look of innocent wonder. The thought meandered through his mind that he was going to love telling Danviel all about this tonight.

The flutter of iridescent wings drew Jackson's attention to the tiny figure perched on the centaur's back, peeking out from behind the centaur's muscular olive-skinned torso in a nervously excited fashion. The child's eyes were as wide with wonder as Jackson's own though he couldn't imagine what the child was finding quite so wonderful about the building site much as construction was his passion. Belatedly he realised that look was actually being directed at him.

“Evenin' your majesty.” Jackson tried again to sound a bit more official but he was struggling to do anything but grin like a bedazzled lunatic. “Hey, little fellah.” he raised his hand slowly to give the child a small wave. He was wondering what on earth to do or say next when a picture popped into his head. “Whoa!” he murmured softly in surprise at the suddenness and clarity of the image. That was certainly different. Did the child want to give him something?

He looked back and forth between the centaur and the fairy child uncertain as to where the image had originated; his eyes eventually settled on the child. “You got something there you want to give me?” he asked kindly. It wouldn't do to offend the fable king and Jackson was far too caught up in the fairytale to even consider refusing. He glanced around; the site was empty so it should be safe to open the gate for just a moment to let the child do what he wanted.

Jackson slipped the chain loose and unlocked the gate which was accompanied by a general rustling and a flurry of birdsong. Jackson wondered a moment just how many fables there were on the other side of the fence but it didn't cause him any fear, the wall was to protect the fables from city folk not the other way around; he just hoped that he wasn't going to scare them... Slipping through the gate he stopped just inside and dropped down on one knee looking back at the child. “I ain't gonna hurt ya.” he he said with a reassuring smile.

[Giovanni Ignazio]

Giovanni stepped forward as the man came inside the perimeter. The elves moved swiftly to surround the king and his precious cargo but remained inside the cover of the brush. They purposefully made noises the human would hear so he knew they were there. Giovanni reached a hand back for the child to give him the scroll.

“No, your majesty.” The child whined. “I have to give him this myself.” Giovanni shook his head and reached again. “PLEASE!” the child cried with an urgency that touched Giovanni’s heart. Giovanni looked at the human again and send him images of the elves with bows raise, ready to strike if the boy was harmed in any way. He nodded at the boy and dropped to one knee so he could reach him.

The boy, with shaking hands reached out with the scroll grasped firmly, ready to let go the moment the man touched it. He knew Giovanni would protect him, and so would the elves. He forced a smile at the man. “Th..th..thank you… for making us…safe.” The boy murmured and dropped the scroll, only to dart behind the massive body of his royal steed.

Giovanni stayed still as could be. One mighty blow with a hoof could render the human dead on impact and he knew that the human knew that. He trusted this one. He had always shown sincere compassion for his kind when Giovanni listened from the shadows of the foliage. This was the first time he let him see him, however.

He was certain the man could see his male prowess, considering his cock nearly hung down to his knee as any stallions did. It was a sign of power, of maleness, of leadership. The human would not dare make any false moves. Giovanni knew he would not so he gave a warning nod to the elves to back off a bit.

[Jackson Nickleby]

The Sanctuary could be a dangerous place and the fables who lived there were not fluffy little pets. The fresh images that flooded Jackson's mind re-enforced that point with visions of the armed and ready elves. Still Jackson was fearless to the point of stupidity and possessed of a naïve attitude that if you were just nice to people things would work out. He took the warning in his stride; he didn't intend to hurt the child, god forbid, so nothing bad was going to happen to him. Elves sure had pretty eyes though he mused on the image.

It was clear to him now where the pictures in his head were coming from; the child's plaintive request to the centaur had provoked the warning. The poor little kid was clearly terrified but putting on a brave face; scared and excited at the same time. Jackson thought it must be frightening to be a fable when nearly everyone you met from outside was someone who had broken into your home to cause trouble. He did feel sorry that the little fairy child was so afraid of him though.

When the centaur moved forward and dipped down to allow the child to shakily offer him the odd leather scroll Jackson beamed with delight. He reached his hand slowly towards the child so as not to startle him, holding it palm up to receive the precious gift and letting the child almost drop it into his hand. He was so touched by the child's stammered expression of thanks that he had to blink away a tear from his eyes. “It is my pleasure to make your home as safe as I possibly can.“ he responded with genuine feeling.

He glanced down briefly at the scroll in his hand wondering what it was before looking back to the centaur and the child. “You are a real brave little man coming all the way here.” He said hoping to make the child feel proud of himself. “But you don't need to be scared of me; you got all your friends here to look out for you and keep you safe.” Jackson wished he could encourage the child more not to be afraid of what lay on the outside of the wall he was helping to build but he found that he honestly couldn't. “My name's Jax.” he offered the child, thinking maybe a name would help put him more at ease. “Thank you very much for your fine gift.”

He was still intensely aware of his proximity to the mighty centaur and it was hard to keep his eyes from sliding back to him when the child hid behind him. Jackson had never seen a horse before let alone a centaur and his thoughts were somewhat befuddled as he found himself looking between its legs. Oh my god, is that really his...? He found himself hoping that the centaur couldn't read minds when thoughts scurried though his brain about how happy lady centaurs must be.

He slowly rose to his feet, feeling oddly way too intimidated by the centaur's massive swinging appendage to have it at eye-level, and took a respectful step back before his curiosity overcame him and he just had to examine his fairy gift, carefully looking to see how it might open. If fables were anything like everyone else then the look on someone’s face when they open their gift was half the fun of giving. The fairy child and the fable king had gone to a lot of trouble to give him this, he was sure that the child at least would want to see him open it.

[Marcel Chevalier]

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