I wave at my #reflection in the bauble. ‘Stop messing, Pixie.’ Gabe hisses. ‘We need to chase out the imps & clear up the troll poo before the humans wake up!’ ‘We could pretend it’s the reindeers.’ ‘Don’t you dare, Pixie. Get shovelling!’ #vss365

'Pixie, I ran errands for FOUR hours. But somehow you've not touched the dishwasher.' 'Keep your halo on, Gabe. I didn't know I was being #timed. I had scrolling, faery-chat & a nap to fit in. Anyway, I'm peckish - where's that last brownie?' Chomp. 'Gabe! Nooooo.' #vss365

'The #relevant behaviour, Pixie, is to be supportive of my harp playing endeavours. You're meant to smile & clap, or commiserate if the recital doesn't go as planned. You're not meant to join in the booing, & definitely not hand out rotten tomatoes for throwing!' Giggle. #vss365

'Right a bit, Gabe. More...more. Hold the knife steady.' 'Pixie, is that ruler even straight?' 'Absolutely, Gabe. Trust me. Right a bit more.' 'Hmph. I doubt equal is #achievable with you measuring.' Giggle. 'Perhaps my half of the brownie is SLIGHTLY bigger than yours.' #vss365

‘Your pet human’s temperature is not #measurable - it’s off the scale. What did you do to her, Pixie?’ ‘Me, Gabe? Nothing for once. Do you think a pickled slug would cheer her up?’ 🤮😭 #vss365

'You look tired, Gabe. Skip the kitchen & go straight to bed -I'll bring you tea.' 'That's very #specific, Pixie. What catastrophe awaits me in there?' 'Oh, nothing.' 'Is this a double bluff? You're plotting a prank.' Giggle 'I knew it! Unless it's a triple bluff... Ugh, I give up. Bedtime.' #vss365

'Ready with the slime, Gobby?' 'Check, Pixie.' 'Dragon fire, Dolly?' 'Roar.' 'Fish eyes, Babs?' 'Check.' 'Ok, here comes, Gabe. And.... #action.' Splatter... kabloop... flare... schlorp... Aaaaah... Giggle. #vss365

Sob. 'There must be other #options, Gabe. A loophole, a hack, a cosmic miracle. Please, please - anything but THAT.' 'I'm sorry, Pixie, you're just going to have to face up to reality... be the bigger faery... bite the bullet.' 'NEVER! I will not share the last brownie.' #vss365

'I don't know why the Angel Council is so nervous of me, Gabe.' 'You're a pixie who contain an angels power, wound up with a charm that can shift things out of #reality!' 'Hmmm... I guess I am awesome!' #vss365 Want to know how all that happened? Check out The Shadow Deception.

'Stop fidgeting, Pixie. Planning your future is an important part of your rehabilitation. So tell me, what is your #goal in life?' 'Well, Gabe, I want to pull-' 'No! To pull off the perfect prank isn't an acceptable answer.' 'Fine... then my goal is to not get caught.' #vss365

'What's your #issue with me, Gabe?' 'Well, Pixie, let's think - your dragon pals torch my house. Tea with Medusa - I get petrified. Clingfilm on the toilet seat. Harp strings turned to noodles. A charm making my wings pink. Always stealing the last brownie!' 'Okay, okay!' #vss365

'Don't just say no, Gabe. It's genius. A new mode of #transport - portals to the brownie shop, The Angel Arms, the harp repairer. We could add some at home. Midnight pee? Just aim into the bedroom portal - zip - straight into the toilet.' 'Pixie... I'm not dignifying that with a discussion.' #vss365

'I keep telling you humans, there's no such thing as magic. Me? I use pixie #science. And if you ever compare me to an angel, I'll be using it on you!' #vss365 katemachon.com/books/

'Think of a #number between 1 & 10, Gabe.' 'Why, Pixie?' 'Don't ruin it. Just choose.' 'No. I don't trust you.' 'What? Talk about paranoid. It's a harmless number.' 'Last time "harmless" made me forget an entire week.' 'Talk about holding a grudge.' 'I hold experience.' #vss365

'I'm outraged, Gabe. It says in this human book that pixies are a #myth.' 'It's probably best they don't know the truth, Pixie.' 'Well, pffffft, to them. I'm a legend.' 'Hmmm... sometimes I wish you were a myth... Pixie! That gesture was uncalled for - even for a legend.' #vss365

'Pixie! Surely you have to #measure ingredients accurately for a potion to work without side-effects.' 'Relax, Gabe. Measurement kills all the fun.' 'Last time you said that, I sneezed rainbows for a week.' Giggle. 'Exactly.' #vss365

'Why do you fill in your diary every single day, Gabe?' 'Great #literature is often only recognised after the author has passed, Pixie. So I keep it for posterity.' 'But, Gabe, all you ever do is complain about me & note the length of your-' 'Pixie!' #vss365

'While you are living in my house, & I am your probation officer, my word is #law, Pixie!' Right... so, Gabe, when you said you were absolutely not going to eat another brownie, & then you did... you were breaking the law?' Splutter. 'That's not what I meant & you know it!' #vss365

The first time Pixie and Gabe rainbow travel, things do not go as planned. But Pixie sees the funny side. Gabe... not so much. #vss365 #language books2read.com/u/bODv1N

'All I'm saying, Gabe, is I don't think he's trustworthy.' 'Have #history with him, do you, Pixie?' 'Maybe. He might be the reason my slime-glitter-glue trap didn't go off all over you.' 'What?! Sounds trustworthy to me.' 'Hmph. Of course you'd side with the fun police!' #vss365

Gabe pries open the book, releasing me from its papery jaws. 'I warned you about the Angel Archive, Pixie.' 'I got lost! The #geography keeps shifting. One minute - wall. Next - a shelf with teeth. You know, it's meant to be hungry FOR knowledge, not hungry knowledge!' #vss365

'Pixie! What is that smell?' 'You're in for a treat, Gabe. I'm making my dad's #famous beetle bug stew. Hmmm... the earthy tang of worms, the nutty pop of wood lice, the crunch of a stag beetle - Gabe? Gabe! What's wrong? Where are you going?' #vss365

'Awwww, poor Gabe got a boo-boo?' 'It's not funny, Pixie! I'm black & blue.' 'Well, let that be an #education, Gabe - never poke a sleeping rock troll.' 'It was in my bed!' 'Hey, I was being kind giving him yours. Mine's too small.' #vss365

'That's just not fair, Gabe. You can't dismiss my ideas. The rules you insisted on say you have to consider all my requests - & that includes pets!' 'Pixie, a pet is a #domestic animal, not a fire-breathing unicorn with anger issues & a taste for eating my socks.' #vss365

'What sort of #creature is that, Pixie?' 'No idea, Gabe. Found it in the woods. As a compassionate person & scientist, I brought it home & gave it a cookie. Oh, I think it likes you. It's sniffing & smiling. Wait, are those fangs? Don't move. Or maybe - actually - RUN!' #vss365

Pixie always leaves glittery footprints on my keyboard when she's been up to monkey #business. Today she reduced her first big story to just 99¢/99p. So if you love her & Gabe's tweet-sized adventures, maybe you'd like 228 pages of them. #vss365 books2read.com/u/bODv1N

'Why so grumpy, Gabe? It's #Halloween, the best day of the year.' 'I've had complaints, Pixie.' 'Really? But everyone loves playing trick and treat.' 'And there lies the issue, Pixie. It's trick OR treat.' 'Not the way I play it.' #vss365

'My dear, Pixie, you are such a #ray of sunshine. I don't know why my Gabriam complains about you.' 'Thanks, Mama G. Gabe can be a bit of a grump.' 'You don't have to tell me. When he was a little angel, still in nappies, he used to-' 'Mother! Stop telling stories about me.' #vss365

'Ooooh! I see a white hair, Gabe.' 'What? Hardly, Pixie. I am only 2 millennia old! I've got ages before I'll sport #argent, flowing locks.' 'Hmmm... that would look distinguished, but I'm not sure the argent will outlast that bald spot.' #vss365

'We all have to make sacrifices for science, Gabe.' 'You mean I do, Pixie.' 'Immaterial, Gabe. My #experiment is a success. We now know, despite similar natures, that rock trolls & golems shouldn't be mixed.' 'And MY house is the evidence?!' 'Well... what's left of it.' #vss365

'Of course, Mother. Another pillow? Tea & biscuits? Anything, Mother.' 'Gabe, stop being such a #creep. She'll never leave. Here - whoopee cushion in the pillow, popping pustule powder in the tea, & a beetle bug biscuits.' 'Pixie! She's my mother... fine give them here.' #vss365

'Why am I getting the blame, Gabe? I wasn't even near you when your feathers caught fire. What's next - my fault the sun came up?' ' #Heliacal damage is one thing, Pixie. You hiding a dragon in the chimney quite another.' 'I did warn you not to clean the fire.' #vss365

'It's Spooktober, Gabe. Let's watch a scary movie.' 'Oh no, Pixie, last time we did that you were in such #terror that you slept in my bed for a week, wouldn't go to the bathroom alone, & tried to exorcise my mother.' 'She looked possessed!' '...easy mistake to make.' #vss365

'Gabe, this is Monty. I invited him for tea.' 'Hmmm... what is he, Pixie?' 'If I'm reading the waving right, he's a #Martian with a ray gun & plans for world domination. But he doesn't like the tea, so the invasion's off... hopefully.' 'Let's make more tea - just in case.' #vss365

'You can't shock me anymore, Pixie. I've seen every prank you've ever pulled.' 'Ah, but it's the #unseen ones you really have to worry about, Gabe.' '...what did you do?' 'Nothing... yet.' #vss365

'Why are you always so grumpy in the morning, Gabe.' 'Because, Pixie, I live with a hyperactive ball of chaotic #energy who can't sit still for 5 seconds, thinks pranking is a full-time job, & once replaced my shampoo with glitter glue. I have to sleep with one eye open.' #vss365

'Pixie! I said no trolls with colds in the house. The place is slimed.' 'I didn't invite any, Gabe. Honest. It's... alien goo. They crashed their #saucer. I helped them blast off again.' 'Uh-huh. Of course. Funny how aliens leave size 12 troll-prints. In the goo.' #vss365

Every #atom of my body vibrates in horror. Gabe's wings twitch - he feels it too. I open my mouth but his glare silences me. His mother lifts the packet... pours it into the mixture. I bite my lip to stop a scream. He shudders. How could she? Nuts. In the brownies! #vss365

'The brownies are all gone, Pixie. How did you eat them already?' 'I have a very high metabolism, Gabe. Do you know how many calories it takes just to #hover long enough to grab the tub from your secret hiding spot?' He shakes the container. 'I'm guessing... this many.' #vss365

'Couldn't we get a Roomba to do the vacuuming, Gabe?' 'Stop trying to get out of your chores, Pixie.' 'If we got an #android it could do your chores too.' 'And what would you be doing, Pixie?' 'Supervision. Tell Alexa to tell the android to tell the Roomba to hurry up.' #vss365

'Gosh, it's hot & #arid today, Gabe. You'd better lather up with suntan lotion if you're staying out. Here you go.' 'Thanks, Pixie. That's unusually helpful. Though this stuff doesn't spread very well. And it's... STICKY!' Giggle. 'Did I mix up the lotion with the glue?' #vss365

The #unearthly scream cuts the air, rattling the windows & scaring birds from their roosts. Pixie gives Gabe a toothy grin. 'Sounds like the pet human finally made a book sale this month.' #vss365 Go on... buy a copy. Join Pix & Gabe on their big adventures! books2read.com/u/bODv1N

'Ah, Boris, how you've grown. To think, under my care you've thrived from a little speck to this magnificence. You probably consider us friends, but I'm afraid the time has come. A bit of honey &... munch.' 'Pixie... that was a #beetle.' 'I know, Gabe. Yummy.' #vss365

'Yum, Gabe. I love these super #deluxe chocolate brownies that you bought from the shop. So much better than those dry, crumbly things you cook.' 'Those "things" you polished off in 1 sitting without complaint, Pixie?'' 'Well... only so you'd go to the shop for the deluxe ones.' #vss365

'You're right, Gabe, it is hilarious, but you're not laughing. In fact, I sense a distinct #undertone of spice.' 'I can't imagine, Pixie, why I wouldn't be amused with the moustache & glasses you drew on me while I slept. Using...' 'Ahhhh. Permanent marker. My bad, Gabe.' #vss365

'Pixie! My mother found a #piranha in the bath & says she's not staying unless you remove it.' '...' 'Ahhh...' '...' 'Good one, Pixie.' #vss365

I snug my #raincoat closer, sou'wester low, toes snug in galoshes. Gabe wrings out his wings. 'Bit underdressed, Gabe?' 'I don't expect a fountain in my sitting room, Pixie!' 'Ah, that was the water sprite I invited for tea. She took "make yourself at home" literally.' #vss365

'Look, Pixie, a review of my harp recital in the local paper. "Gabriam plays with #verve & enthusiasm..." Good start. "He plucks with zeal..." They liked it! "A pity it sounds like a strangled goose. Bring earplugs. Reviewer... Pixie." Oh, you are in so much trouble!' #vss365

'Wow, Gabe. I never thought you would be a #libertine. Although... I suppose there have been signs. I should have guessed. But now I have the proof. You're a free thinker.' 'Stop being ridiculous, Pixie.' 'Me? You're the one putting cream before jam on their scone.' #vss365

Glowing embers spiral upward, like guilty fireflies painting the night sky. 'Isn't it pretty, Gabe?' 'Pretty? PRETTY! That's my house, Pixie.' 'Well, technically, your former house. And there's no need to be so grumpy. I said I'm sorry. Look, I'll write oops in the #ash.' #vss365