NB: This series of mini-stories is dedicated to pammazola for being generally awesome and for saving my stories. A secondary dedication goes out to a number of you who've requested another offering featuring Sebastian and Alexandra. At first I thought no one liked 'Fidelitas' and then I started getting messages that made me all giddy like a schoolgirl at a Justin Bieber concert. I'm so taken aback by all the support, and my only way of showing my appreciation was to write something for you guys. I hope this story serves as a small thank you for all your kindness and helpful critique.
So here's the deal: This series of very short vignettes is a meme of sorts. I'll choose a word beginning with each consecutive letter of the alphabet and write a few paragraphs about it. Please feel free to suggest words for the next chapter. I will incorporate the most suitable suggestion.
In terms of timing, please keep in mind that these stories can take place at any time in the 'Fidelitas' timeline. They will feature Sebastian and Alexandra primarily, but don't be surprised if you see Yuri or John from time to time. I'm expecting these to have more fluff than anything else I've written (and I'm a bit nervous about it, to be honest), so I'm really looking forward to your feedback.
One last thing: For the few of you that are reading 'Requiem', please know that this story will not interfere with my completing that one. I know I've been on hiatus, but I'll be working on 'Requiem' as my major project until it's finished.
Content Warning: Fluff incoming.
Sebastian knew something was amiss in his master's bedroom. He'd been leaning against the door listening to her tossing and turning for the better part of an hour. Alexandra was prone to nightmares; most people who'd seen their family butchered before their eyes were prone to nightmares. Even so, this particular nightmare was not the recurring one which played those real memories over and over again like some demonic déjà vu. This was something new. He closed his eyes, willing himself to see what she was seeing but all he caught was a mass of long, hairy legs moving towards him at a terrifying pace. He'd been concentrating intently, trying to catch more of the dream when he heard Alexandra wake with a start. The vision dissipated.
"This will never do." He opened the door and found her tangled in her bedding, a cold sweat making her pajamas stick to her body. He had to admit that a sweaty, sticky Alexandra was rather alluring.
"Sebastian." She was panting heavily as though she'd just been running a marathon. He quite liked the breathlessness with which she spoke his name.
"You had a nightmare."
"You heard me from outside the door?" She was about to comment on how creepy it was for him to stalk her in her own home when she realized that she could practically hear him smirking.
"Not precisely." He chuckled softly; this was going to be so very amusing. "You are aware that I can sometimes feel what you feel. Did it never occur to you that I am able to see what you see…or dream what you dream?"
"What?" Yes. He definitely had her attention. She was gaping at him in alarm now, but he knew that alarm would quickly give way to anger. He prepared himself to dodge whatever she might throw at him. Given that he could make out the downward turn of her lips by the angle of the shadow cast across them in such dim light, he was sure it would be a sharp object of some sort. "You can see my dreams? All of them?"
"It makes perfect sense if you think about it logically. You are less guarded emotionally when you sleep."
"You've seen my nightmares about Isaac and Nikki? My dreams of my childhood? My-" a flush found its way across her cheeks, and although he could not see it by moonlight alone, he knew without a doubt that it was there.
"Your fantasies about me? Oh yes. I've seen them. All of them." Twin rubies glowed in the low light as he moved closer.
"Goddamn you!" She threw a book at his head, knowing it would miss. He remained undeterred. Those cat-like eyes were all she could make out clearly and they were closing in on her. She was trapped in her own sheets—a struggling insect caught in his web. Alexandra didn't have to see him to know that he was looking at her with that look.
"It is too late for that, I'm afraid." He spoke in the kind of dangerous whisper that sent heat zipping down her spine, and when he caught her lips with his own, she forgot completely that she was supposed to be angry with him.
He'd turned a number of her fantasies into reality that night, and she was thankful for the additional memories. Indeed, the more pleasant memories she could add to her repertoire of experiences, the less likely her sleeping unconscious would hit upon a nightmare with which to torture her.
He got up from the bed to collect their discarded clothes and the book that she'd thrown at him. Sebastian was a bit obsessive compulsive in that regard so she let him tidy up without reminding him that he was not a butler. He looked at the book: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. That was when he abandoned all pretense of being a mysteriously sexy demon and started laughing outright.
"What?" 'Miffed' was the only word capable of describing Alexandra's affect at that moment.
"Forgive me master. I just realized that your nightmare was predicated upon a children's book."
"Oh, go to Hell, Sebastian. I fell asleep reading just as Ron was being chased by a horde of hungry acromantulas. I've been terrified of spiders ever since I was a little girl. It's an irrational phobia, yes, but I'll take dreams of giant, man-eating arachnids over nightmares about Isaac and Nikki anyday."
Sebastian had no idea who Ron was, and didn't really care, but he decided he'd better cut his mocking short before she decided to try any of her own magic tricks. "Acromantulas?"
"Yes, they're like house-sized tarantulas that talk."
He came back to bed and slid in beside her after depositing the book on the nightstand. "They sound terrifying." Alexandra heard the condescension in his voice even though he tried to mask it. She huffed angrily. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. He'd never grow tired of these sorts of surprises. She could witness worldly horrors with stoic reserve but wake in a cold sweat if she thought about spiders before she slept.
"You're mocking me." She seemed a bit more mollified now, probably more by his physical proximity than anything that he'd said. "You know, I often feel like there's something wrong with me."
"How so?"
"Well, it seems my sleeping brain reacts the same way to both my memories of real horrors and my irrational fears precipitated by my own imagination."
"I don't think that's something you ought to worry over, master."
"Stop calling me master. And how can you say what I should and should not worry over?"
"Because I am here to protect you from dangers both real and imaginary, until the very end." She relented and curled against him. There were things she wanted to say that she would not allow herself to articulate, but he felt her thoughts anyway. Thank you Sebastian. Thank you for everything. Alexandra fell asleep almost immediately. Sebastian knew she wouldn't have any more nightmares that night.
He slipped out of her bedroom after taking a final glance at her sleeping form and considered what she'd told him about her nightmare. Spiders. Interesting. As he made his way down the hallway, he came across a fat, hairy specimen of the species lurking in the shadows. It looked almost as if it were a sentry keeping watch. Sebastian nodded knowingly. "I don't know if this is one of your minions, Claude." He mercilessly squished it with the heel of his shoe. It made a satisfying crunch that elicited a most devilish smirk. "But if you dare to invade her dreams again, I will finish you permanently. She's mine." He wiped the bottom of his shoe with a handkerchief, finally flinging the crushed arachnid into the library fireplace.
Sebastian hated spiders too.
'A' is for 'acromantula'. Yes, seriously.
