Incredible Shrinking Nothing
“Ciaran, what’s wrong?” Quinn reaches out to him, but he smacks her hand away. He raises his hand to hit her and Hayes catches him midair.
“Ciaran, what the hell?” Hayes yells, throwing Ciaran to the ground.
Ciaran glares up at Hayes, murder in his eyes. “I told you to not touch her.”
Hayes stammers, “I didn’t.” Hayes gives Ciaran a quizzical expression.
“I saw you two. You were wrapped in each other’s arms. Exhausted from whatever depraved acts you probably were enjoying before I got here.” Ciaran jumps to his feet.
“Depraved acts?” Quinn curtly repeats. Her mouth scrunches with the audacity of Ciaran’s accusations.
“We just fell asleep, nothing else.” Hayes tries to bring calm to the situation.
“You were holding each other.” Ciaran lets out a heavy sigh suddenly realizing the ludicrousness of his accusations.
“Hayes was comforting me. Nothing more.” Quinn softens her glare. “By the way, how did you know that?” Quinn inquires.
“Alroy has cameras in here.” Ciaran waves his arm around the room.
“And did you see Hayes and I having sex?” Quinn rests her fists on her hips and scolds Ciaran.
“No.” Ciaran sheepishly shakes his head.
“So, you were just jumping to conclusions?” Quinn continues her chastising.
“I guess.” He drops his eyes in defeat.
“I think you owe Hayes and I an apology.” Quinn straightens her stance.
“That’s okay, boss. No need. It was just a misunderstanding.” Hayes waves of Quinn’s words trying to spare Ciaran any embarrassment.
“Hayes, Ciaran is wrong and he needs to make things right?” A twinkle lightens Quinn’s eyes.
Ciaran closes the gap between him and Quinn. He peers into her eyes and quietly says, “And how can I make things right, Miss Duffy?”
Quinn exhales, “Use your imagination, Mr. Magee.”
Ciaran pulls Quinn towards him and kisses her deeply. When they release, he whispers, “I’m sorry. I just could not handle…” Quinn interrupts his apology with another kiss, this one more passionate than the first.
Hayes clears his throat and Ciaran and Quinn break apart, faces red with embarrassment. “Now that is settled, we should concentrate on getting out of here.”
“Ciaran,” Quinn turns to him, “You still owe Hayes an apology.”
Ciaran advances towards Hayes making kissing noises with his mouth. Hayes backs away, throwing his hands in front of his face. “I’m all good, boss. Apology accepted.”
“See everything is forgiven.” Ciaran laughs and winks at Quinn.
“So how are we going to get out of here, especially with Alroy watching us.” Quinn remarks. “Oh,” Quinn gives Ciaran a judgmental glare, “When were you going to tell me you are a leprechaun.”
“I-I was waiting for the right moment.” Ciaran throws Hayes a threatening look.
“You and your right moments.” Quinn shakes her head. “Well, is there any of your leprechaun magic that can get us out of here?”
Ciaran drops onto the bed, “I am afraid not.”
The three of them pace around the room. Ciaran looks up at the two windows with the same curiosity Quinn had when she first was imprisoned. Quinn shakes her head at him, indicating the thought had already crossed her mind.
“The windows are too small to get out of,” Quinn remarks as Ciaran continues to stare upwards.
“Maybe too small for you,” Ciaran glances at Hayes. “Do you think you could throw me up there?”
“Ciaran, how do you expect Hayes to be able to hurl you that high?” Quinn furrows her brow and narrows her eyes at Hayes. “Do fairies have some kind of super-strength they don’t tell about in the stories?”
Hayes laughs and begins to retort, when Quinn interrupts. “Also, if I cannot fit through the window, Ciaran how the hell can you?” Quinn crosses her arms over her chest and taps her foot on the floor.
“I wasn’t planning on remaining this size,” Ciaran winks at Quinn.
A light stream of airy laughter emanates from Hayes. Although half-fairy, he did not retain the shrinking or growing power most Fae possess. Ciaran, on the other hand, still could shrink and grow at will. He could not manipulate the elements like Hayes, so it was a give and take. Hayes forces himself to suppress his giggling and looks at Ciaran. “Once you shrink, you want me to throw you to the window ledge?” He asks. “What if the ground below is far or jagged rocks? What happens after you jump off? Especially if you are still small?”
Ciaran sighs and stares again at the windows. “I will cross that bridge once I am up there.” He places a hand on Hayes’ shoulder. “Do you think you can throw me?”
“I will give it a try,” Hayes responds.
Ciaran closes his eyes, and a glow emits from his body. When he opens his eyes again, he looks around the room. He expects to see things from the view of a mouse, everything towering over him. However, his view remains the same as before. He looks at Quinn and Hayes staring at him. He closes his eyes and tries again. This time the glow sweeps over the room and when it returns to him, he opens his eyes. His pupils are pure black. But again, his perspective is that of a full grown man. Alroy must have taken shrinking into consideration with his spell.
“The best laid plans, huh.” Ciaran laughs as he slumps down on the bed. His face looks tired from the expelling of power. His body is tired.
“It was worth a shot,” Hayes settles down beside him.
Quinn joins the two men on the bed. She wraps her arms around Ciaran’s neck and kisses him on the cheek. “Your plan was better than anything we have come up with so far.”
“Yeah, but it didn’t work.” Ciaran bows his head, feeling defeated.
“But we learned something, and that counts.” Hayes lies back on the bed. “You should get some rest. You are going to need your power and strength if we ever get out of here.”
Ciaran lies back and closes his eyes. He wraps his arms around Quinn and drags her down to his chest. “You are probably right. WHEN we get out of here, we are all going to need everything we can muster.”