Aurora lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She lay there, thinking about last night, and sensing the sticky heaviness it had left behind. She had nothing important to do today. No woodchopping, vegetable picking, or mending of her clothes. Nothing. Except for checking the chickens . She thought. But that had become so ritual by now, she often forgot to even think of it as a chore. She knew she should wash her dress, and probably bathe as well, since she could actually smell herself through her skirts. But still, she didn't move.
She knew that if she moved, she would feel her tender soreness all the more, and then she would think of how she had caused it, and then think of what had caused her to cause it, and she could just not bear to dwell on it again. If she did, she felt she would either cry in frustration or touch herself. Or maybe both. At the same time.
Rolling her eyes at ridiculous she was being, Aurora sighed and moved to get up. It wasn't as if she had never touched herself before, she thought as she swung her feet over the side of her bed, It was just that, it had never felt like that before-so real and ...intense. But it didn't matter! She reminded herself.
She hoisted herself up from the cot with a heaviness in her heart. Although the aching below her waist had been stopped, the one inside her chest only seemed to have expanded after last night. Aurora had no idea what it meant; how could she have these strong of feelings after such a short amount of time? After practically no interaction at all. Then she thought of the woman's eyes again and quickly decided she had better keep moving if she wanted to get anything done today. And just generally not wind up lying on the floor , huddled up into hormonal, emotional wreck.
Setting her mind for the tasks ahead of her, Aurora picked up her basket ,slipped a shawl over her dress and placed her feet into some shoes, deciding to get the chicken feeding over with before she drew her bath. She stepped outside and walked towards the hen house. She was done with the feeding and egg collecting in a matter of minutes, her few precious hens having produced the expected one egg each overnight. Heading back inside, she shed her apron and set the eggs in a kettle full of water over the fire to boil. They would probably take a while since the fire was practically dying, but Aurora didn't mind. She picked up her bathing supplies and a spare dress and prepared herself for a chilly dip in the stream about a ten minute walk from her home. Just as she was about to walk out the door, she decided to bring along a little snack in case she got hungry or decided to stay a while. She walked to her vegetable basket and picked out a of couple good carrots, laughing quietly at the recollection the wild woman with a carrot leaf dangling from her mouth. Still smiling ,she walked back toward the door and stepped out over the threshold. Looking out towards the forest, she stopped in her 's face flushed in a mix of shock, joy, and simple disbelief-directly in front of her,standing on the border of her lawn and the forest, stood the she-beast. Her hair was long and clean and wet and she looked as if she had just comeback from a dip in the stream herself. As per usual, she was practically bare, except for the adolescent horns sticking up from underneath hair damp hair. Beside the horns, The girl was accessorized , somewhat unusually, by a sling of fish tied in twine slung over one shoulder and some kind of ball of fur cradled in her arms.
After a moment examining closer, Aurora realized what exactly what it was the other woman was holding.
"Is that.." confused, she tried to make sense of the animals presence, "...a rabbit?" she asked herself aloud.
The dark haired woman beamed.
" Rabbit!" She confirmed loudly from across the expanse, holding out her gift proudly.
Aurora blanched. The furry creature was fully alive, and by the looks of things, quite comfortable, it's small nose twitching and small eyes looking at everything yet nothing in particular. Taken aback and unsure if she was processing everything correctly, Aurora asked hesitantly "For me?"
The wild woman just kept smiling, staring directly at Aurora, holding the rabbit out in a show of good will, and began walking across the yard.
"Okay," Aurora thought, "Alright." This was just like last time. Except , the woman was smiling , not slack jawed in fear, and she was walking towards her, rather than scrambling to get away from her. "That's a good start." Aurora nodded silently to herself.
The other woman was now only a small distance from the cabin. The tall, lanky woman could probably close the distance in a few long bounds of her long legs. But she didn't. The wild woman stood smiling, holding out the rabbit and taking the string of fish from her shoulder and holding it out towards Aurora as well. Aurora just continued eyeing her guest, trying to figure out if she was really as safe as she seemed, and, if she was actually real in the first place.
The other woman's smile was beginning to falter, and Aurora could sense her apprehension. Quickly, Aurora dug out a couple of carrots from her satchel and held it wasnt sure if this woman was safe, but at any rate, she didn't want her to leave. Not yet, at least.
The other woman , seeing what was in her hand , smiled even wider."Carrots!" She exclaimed triumphantly, a mimicry of Aurora's earlier performance.
Aurora laughed, relieved. " Yes, carrots," she said, relieved, smiling at the woman. The two stared and grinned at each other for another moment, and Aurora, racking her mind for what she was supposed to do, recalled her half baked plan and clumsily reached back behind herself to open the door. "Please, come in," She said to the other woman, fumbling to open the door and walk inside while still facing towards the near silent woman.
The wild woman cradled her rabbit and staring inquisitively at Aurora. Was the light haired girl running into the safety of her strange cave? Did she want her to follow? Hesitantly, she drew her goods closer to her body, preparing herself for rejection.
"Come in," Aurora's restated insistently,observing the seemingly incoherence of the other woman ,and a little desperately making an ushering motion with her hand. The guest momentarily stopped her retreat, a hopeful look on her face . "I-" Aurora stopped and disappeared into the house for a moment leaving the door open. She came back a second later with basket in tow, treasure on display , "I have more food." She said to the other woman, grinning. "We could…" Aurora wondered if she was even being understood at all, "We could share everything." The wild woman looked at the basket in Aurora's hand and gauged Aurora's expression. After a moment she took a few hesitant steps forward. Aurora stepped outside again, holding the basket out, and pushing the door open wider behind her. Seeing that the smaller girl was not shielding herself or running away, the damp woman smiled and gingerly made her way over to the blonde. At the door, Maleficent turned to Aurora, and looking at her with a large smile on her face stated meaningfully , " Pretty bird." Seemingly proud that she knew the phrase.
Aurora laughed. This woman was mad. But enchanting.
Realizing how close they were standing to each other, Aurora involuntarily began to blush. She could feel the warmth radiating off of this strange yet mystifying woman. It was an almost unnatural heat, especially given the fact that the girl was wearing practically nothing and her body was streaked by rivulets of water running down from her hair.
"Are...are you cold?" Aurora asked looking up into the woman's eyes, though she practically knew the answer already.
The radiating woman didn't respond.
She simply stared happily into Aurora's eyes for a few tortuous moments, then turned her head sharply towards the cottage and walked over the threshold of Aurora's home, rabbit and fish still in hand. Aurora watched in wonder as the strange woman took stock of her new surroundings, apparently impressed by all the nodding she was doing.
So, no blanket needed.
Time for soup then, Aurora thought.
Letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, Aurora calmed herself and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She took another deep ,calming breath to steady her nerves.
Over the placid flames of the fire, the water in an old kettle finally began to boil.
AN: I'm convinced that Maleficent would be a total goober and not want to kill a poor little bunny, at least not when she's going to present it as a peace offering to a particularly gentle gardener. Full disclosure though, she probably eats them all the time. Rabbits, that is. I was considering making her a vegetarian, but considering she's basically raised as a predator and surviving on her own in a forest, it's just not realistic. :P She does love her carrots though. Till next time, faithful viewers!