Meliodas sighs once more, the day seemed to keep going all wrong and wasn't getting any better like he hoped. He had fought and almost killed one of the holy knights who he also revered as a good friend, let slip his deepest secrets to keep Dreyfus from doing anything stupid causing the princess to flee from him, and to wrap it all up she had fallen in the forest and hit her head pretty badly. Though she wasn't bleeding, she had a pretty good sized whelp on the top of her head that hurt whenever she touched it. To make matters worse for him, when they returned to the tavern she would no longer make eye contact with him when they were alone anymore, or when they weren't for that matter. She feared him and he hated himself for making it so. If only he had told her sooner, maybe she wouldn't have ran from him, and maybe she would have been spared from the nasty bruise forming on her head. She stayed in bed most of the day, nursing herself back to health. Meliodas forced her to stay in the bedroom, fearing she might have a concussion and not wanting her to move around too much and possibly make matters worse. He also advised her not to go to sleep or she may not wake up and though she wasn't too happy about trusting anything he said anymore, she obliged regardless. Occasionally he would come to check on her and ask her if she needed anything. Walking into the room once again to ask if she was ready to head back to Liones, Meliodas sets a glass of water next to the princess and leans over the bed to get a good look at her. She flinches at first, but turns to face him finally and let him look into her eyes to check on her state of health, making sure her pupils are properly dilating and that she really is ok. He still cared deeply for her and the thought of her being in any real danger wasn't anything he was ready to confront since he just opened himself up to her. He was determined to make this relationship last and keeping her safe was all he was concerned with anymore, even if she wasn't very happy with him. That wasn't something that was going to stop him from showing her how much she meant to him.
"Sir Meliodas?" Elizabeth finally speaks almost startling Meliodas who isn't prepared to have a conversation with her just yet. He kept thinking maybe she was too upset with him to talk about it and never really considered that she might not have been able to find anything to say. She kept trying to muster up her courage to confront him about what had happened earlier and finally found it when she realized that Meliodas hadn't left her side since he returned with her in the bar. She sits there on the bed as he examines her face, looking for any signs of danger or concern and lifts his gaze to meet hers, showing her she has his attention now.
"Hmm?" He mumbles as he continues checking her face for any other cuts or bruises he might have missed. Elizabeth could swear she saw his tongue hanging out from the side of his mouth for a second and tries not to giggle as she remembers the shocking things that he said earlier.
'I can't believe he is the same person.' Elizabeth thinks to herself before speaking again.
"Well, I wondered, why….why you haven't told me about being a demon and why we haven't left for Liones yet." Elizabeth avoids his gaze, not wanting to let her insecure feeling take ahold and cause her to start crying.
"Well that's actually why I came up here just now. Do you feel ready to go back yet? Also I told you before Elizabeth, I feel so comfortable with you sometimes that I feel no need to tell you things that no longer matter. When I'm with you, all that is important is here and now. It may not make a whole lot of sense, but I didn't tell you, because to me it isn't important. It's a part of me I'd rather not remember….so I don't. Being a demon hasn't been a positive influence in my life, so instead I focus on just being myself. Even if that means being an immature pervert sometimes." He chuckles as he grabs a pajama covered breast that was currently staring him in the face, to tempting to ignore. Elizabeth gasps and covers her blood filled face with her hands.
"Sir Meliodas, I understand, but I want to know more about you, all of you….and honestly it just feels like you didn't trust me enough to tell me, that's all." Elizabeth sighs before laying down onto the bed beneath her.
"Well you did run when you found out didn't you?" His lips pucker when he speaks and his heart feels like it's stuck in a vice. He didn't like to think of her running away from him. All he wanted was for her to stay by his side, no matter what he had to do to make it happen. Elizabeth frowns, feeling ashamed of herself. There was nothing she could say that would convince him she wasn't still afraid, because honestly she didn't feel she could even convince herself.
"I'm sorry that was my reaction, I just felt betrayed. I was hurt and scared. You can understand that can't you?" Elizabeth put her hand on his shoulder urging him to look at her. He stands to his feet and skootches her over on the bed to lie down next to her. Side by side now, their eyes meet and he can see the heavy bags that were developing underneath them.
"It's been a long day, if you promise not to runaway can I trust you to take a nap while I pack up the sins to leave? I don't think you have a concussion, so it's alright if you want to go to sleep, ok?" He brushes her hair off of her cheek as he speaks into her face.
"I promise, I won't run again, but please don't keep secrets from me anymore Sir Meliodas, ok? How else am I going to trust you if you won't trust me?" She stared back at him with a longingness. At first he didn't respond. Instead he leaned his face forward and met her lips with his in a tender kiss. They laid there together, kissing for what seemed to be a lifetime until he finally broke away from her embrace and kissed her injured head.
"I'll be back soon to check on you soon, ok?" He whispered to her, but she was already sound asleep. He grabs one of their night stands to raise himself off the bed and accidentally knocks her mask, that had been placed there the night before, to the floor. He looks down at the garment that had fallen before his feet with sad filled eyes and picks it up. Taking the time to actually inspect it he runs his fingers along the curves and edges. He never focused much on it before because not only did it not interest him, but he couldn't stand the thought of hiding anything as beautiful as Elizabeth's flawless face. However, looking at it now he finally notices just how much it must mean to her.
'Maybe it was a birthday gift? Looks rather expensive.' He thinks to himself as he continues to trace the edge of the mask. It was silver, like her hair, but it had more of a metallic shimmer to it. It gives him the creeps for a bit when he notices it is similar to the masks the doctors used during the plague, but it was decorated so beautifully that the thought went away just as soon as it came. There were different sized rubies and sapphires, some of which lined the holes of the eyes, while others lined the mask itself. He flipped it over to look at the inside and saw it was a black velvet, made to hug the inside of her face.
'A custom fit? That's a bit of money too. It must have been a gift, but then again she is a princess. Of course Baltra wouldn't give his daughters anything but the finest. It's why I respect him as a father, but as a man…..he is a bit of a coward.' The last thought made Meliodas grin as he places her façade back down on the table next to him and makes his way over to the door of their room. Opening it he leaves her alone in the bed, deep in her sleep, and closes it behind him as he turns to walk down the stairs.
'Now I have to go explain all this crap to the sins? Man what a waste of time. Sometimes I feel it's my loud ass mouth is the curse.' He chuckles at his humor. 'At least my wittiness isn't a curse, though I'm sure some may not agree.'
As he enters the domain of the bar, he can hear the sins all bickering back and forth. Normally if the bar had been busy it would have bothered him, because it was their job to serve the costumers and make them happy with light conversation instead of their senseless arguments, but today the bar was unusually quiet.
'Probably from that lovely interruption from Dreyfus.' Meliodas pouts to himself. "Shit like fights always ruins productivity." He groans out loud now and his crew turns to face their captain.
"It's probably from all the blood everywhere….you really made a mess out of Dreyfus earlier." Diane chirps with happiness, excited to see Meliodas again, though just as anxious due to his earlier confession about being a demon. Meliodas senses her discomfort and shoots her a mischievous toothy grin. One that makes her heart skips faster with fear and she quickly ducks behind Merlin who sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.
"You all are so ridiculous. The captain is obviously just as upset as you are about all of this, so stop pussy footing already and apologize for your ignorance. Being a demon doesn't automatically mean he is going to devour us or something. Didn't they say the same about you once Diane? That Giants, what was it? O yes! Giants eat children who wander into their forests in the dark of the night?" Merlin shoots Diane her own toothy grin and her words make Diane's heart sink into her stomach. She feels like she could puke with anger and her head drops low, starring at the ground. She thought about how she couldn't feel any guiltier than this and hated herself for being so childish and naïve.
"I….I'm sorry Meliodas." Diane whispers which causes Meliodas to walk toward the shrunken giant girl, placing his hand on her shoulder. He hadn't heard her use his name in a long time and hearing it now assures him she was being sincere.
"It's ok Diane." He smiles as he lifts her head with his hand, forcing her to look at him. "I just hope you know that you are all my comrades, and my friends are what's important to me. Do you know what you do with important things?" His eyebrows cocked like the typically did whenever he asked a question and she wipes away her tears that were forming as she shakes her head no.
"You keep them safe of course!" He grins now and his grin seems to be infectious as Diane begins to smile back. The other sins stood silent, still suspicious of some sort of dishonesty to his words.
"Ok cap'n but why do you get to keep secrets huh? What about the rest of us? Why don't you tell us why you never mentioned it before?" Ban snaps, not as skilled in the art of hiding his feelings.
"I too would like to know why the captain has never told us about being a demon." Gowther spoke now too, spooking everyone a bit as they had totally forgotten him. It was hard not to when he was always so quiet. Only speaking when he felt it necessary.
'What a freak.' Diane thought alone, hoping no one could read her thoughts.
"Look guys, honestly I didn't find it important. Like I told Elizabeth, it's not something I'm very excited about myself, so instead of focusing on it, I just try not to. I'm more concerned with what is happening now and you should be too. Don't you want to release Liones from it oppression? Or would you rather waste time on contemplating my existence?" Meliodas murmurs as he blows strands of hair that hang in his face.
"Only you could be so nonchalant about over throwing the kingdom and being a demon captain. But you are right. We need to get to Liones Now that everyone is finally here, there is no reason to hang around here anymore." King sighs. Meliodas beams up at King. If anyone could convince the others Meliodas is a nice guy it was him and hearing his fairy follower back him up was all Meliodas could hope for. He grabs the floating fairy and gives him a noogie that left his head smoking with friction.
"Ow Ow Ow!" King rubs his sore head with his tiny hands as his eyes water profusely from the pain.
"Well guys? How about it? Are we ready to go help Liones?" Meliodas cheers his followers on and puts an arm around a cowering Escanor. Escanor looks like he was about to piss himself, but Meliodas has total faith in him which makes Escanor feel a bit ashamed of himself for doubting such an amazing man and in the blink of an eye his whole demeanor changes. Escanor can feel the faith Meliodas has in him and he too feels that same confidence now.
"Yes! Let's go to Liones! Let's help those poor people free themselves from their oppressive king!" Escanor cheers back and throws his arm around Meliodas in return.
"Cool! Let's waste no time then! Sins gets your asses in gear, get ready and let's get moving!" As Meliodas gives his command the bar starts to shake once more and makes it's towards the kingdom of Liones once again.
