Chapter 47 "You're good at making me feel better"
At the sight of his fairie's tear-stained face, he felt his heart break into pieces. He had not even been sure he had a heart until he met her. Or knew how annoying it could be. Like now, he could barely stop himself from running to her and pulling her into his arms and to keep her away from everything bad in this world(except himself of course). But he stayed put, watching her. His fingers were twitching in his pockets, begging to wipe away the tears from her cheeks. She seemed to have the same wish as him because she made sure to stay behind as her sobbing friends walked back towards their flat. The fairies had barely turned the corner when he felt her face bury itself against his shoulder and her arms clasp themselves around his waist. He swore her sobs got even louder, and her shoulders shook even harder. He made sure to squeeze her against him, and ignore the weird wet sensation against the bare skin of his neck.
He had no idea what he was supposed to do to bring her confort; he had never seen her in such a state; It was terrifying. He hesitantly started caressing the back of her back in circles. He did not feel like it was doing much but he had no idea what else to do. They stayed in this position for what felt like ages, before he finally heard mumbled words between her sobs.
"She…she…sacrificed….herself…Tecna….she's…" Even if the girl in his arms could not say more, he got the general idea she was trying to convey. Grief. She was in shock. She was mourning one of her closest friends. Tecna the technology fairy who had sacrificed herself for the mission. It took a bit more time for her to finally be able to calm herself down enough for them to move to somewhere a bit more private than the school's courtyard. Luckily for them, they had been standing in a covered corner of it. Normally, it was not visible by people looking out from the school's windows. He hoped at least. But honestly these kinds of thoughts were quickly brushed aside. He had other priorities right now, like comforting a grieving fairy.
An arm around her shoulder, he guided her down the east hall towards his office. But instead of stopping near his desk, he decided to lead her towards his apartment. She probably would need to lay down at some point. She looked a few seconds away from collapsing. He helped her sit on his biggest softest couch. As she was comfortably positioned against three of the largest throw pillows he could find in the room, he ran quickly in his bedroom to grab a blanket. He had never been more glad Alfea furnished professors' apartments with good quality bedding. He never really cared for fluffy things before, but now he was happy they would provide at least a smidgen of comfort to his flower fairy.
She was already calling his name before he had even left the bedroom. She had her face buried in a pillow. And he could hear little sniffles and hiccups from the doorway. He hurriedly threw the thick blanket around her shaking shoulders and quietly sat next to her on the sofa. It did not take long for her to replace the pillow with his chest. She wrapped her arms around his chest and buried her face in his white shirt. He gently moved them around from their awkward position. He laid down on his back and pulled her on top of him. She never moved her face from its place near his heart, but at least she wasn't sitting in that weird half turned sitting position anymore. He caressed slowly up and down her back. Sometimes stopping to stroke a few fingers through the hair on her nape. He continued this experimental gesture of affection until her sobs weakened and she finally looked up from her hiding spot. She looked so tired. Her eyes were still shining with another supply of new tears, and he could see her lips wobbling trying to keep another sob from coming out.
Without even hesitating, he pulled her up a bit so that she was lying on top of him in a way that would allow their faces to be closer. He cupped both of her cheeks in his palms and methodically wiped every single tear track away. When he was done he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. And then another one on her forehead. The third and fourth one were deposited on each one of her cheek apples. He swore he saw a hint of a smile after he dropped the fifth kiss on the tip of her nose.
Her grip around him tightened as she pulled herself closer against him.
"You're good at making me feel better…" She whispered tiredly. He could still hear the sadness and sorrow in her voice. Therefore he decided, listen to her words and continue doing what he was doing. Slowly and gently he left a small kiss on every part of her face he could reach. He whispered back between the small affectionate kisses.
"I have " kiss. "No idea" kiss. "What I'm doing.." kiss.
She chuckled lightly at his words.
"You're doing great" . The last one was on the top of her forehead. And then everything fell back to silence. They both hugged each other and tried to get comfort and warmth from the other's presence. It did not take long for her breath to deepen and for him to feel her fully relax on top of him. He was glad she had finally fallen asleep. She had without a doubt in his mind been on the brink of exhaustion. He wished he could stare at her pretty sleeping expression for longer but his neck was already starting to hurt from holding his head up. Instead he wrapped the blanket more securely on top of both of them, closed his eyes, and focused his attention mainly on the sound of her breathing. He had never in his life fallen asleep so easily.
When Flora first opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of a strong pale jaw and neck. It did not take long for her to understand that she was now laying between Dimitri and couch pillows. She felt safe and comfortable in this small space and surrounded by the warmth of the young man's body against hers. She would have happily gone back to sleep, if she suddenly did not remember this afternoon's terrible event, the reason why she was even sleeping on Dimitri's couch in the first place.
She sat up brusquely in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the old clock that hung on Dimitri's small open kitchen's wall. The needles were telling her that it was almost ten pm. They had been sleeping for almost three hours. How could this happen? Her eyes were probably red and she had a small headache from the amount of crying she had done. She looked down to see the peaceful expression of the sleeping man next to her. He looked sweet and innocent. Completely different from the convicted criminal he actually was. She wondered if she should wake him up or let him silently. She had no idea how she would be able to get off the sofa without waking him up. While she was calculating the best way to slip away, her phone's ringtone suddenly filled the silent room. The young man sat up in surprise and confusion, while she hurriedly tried to grab the device stuck in her back pocket. She did not even take a look at the caller's id before putting the phone to her ear and pressing the answer button.
"Flora! Where are you? We have not heard a word from you since we came back?" It was Stella's voice and she sounded angry. "How can you just disappear like that without telling any of us…" But before the blond girls could continue her rant, Flora heard the sound of shuffling on the other line . Soon Stella's irritated voice was replaced by the calming and melodic one of Musa.
"Flora, we have plans, we're sneaking out of Alfea in an hour or two, you need to come meet us at the flat." Flora raised an eyebrow in surprise, as did Dimitri since he was close enough to hear the music fairie's words.
"Why are we sneaking out? Faragonda would kill us if she found out." She tried to remind her reckless friends of the school rules. But the next words quickly made her go silent.
"We're going to save Tecna. Timmy received a message from her and a location. She's alive, Flora! We can't leave her on Omega. We need to go get her now!"
"Yes; of course you're right, I'll be there in five, okay?" As soon as she heard Musa agree, she ended the call and attempted to get up. But Dimitri had already grabbed her forearm and pulled her back on the couch.
"One minute." Was he going to stop her? She knew he could not possibly come with them, it would alert Faragonda. Was he finally angry at her leaving without him on a risky mission? But before she could continue fretting, he placed something in her palm.
"Take this with you." She looked down and gasped at the sight of a beautiful crimson amulet. The metal around seemed to be a dark matt gray, but the stone in the middle shined a beautiful mix of crimson and purple. The two colors moved around each other like the inside of the stone was made of two colorful liquids. However, what really surprised her was the very familiar power it emanated .
"I worked on it for a few days. Knowing you and your friends, I knew you would end up leaving on another dangerous mission like the reckless fairies you are. So I decided to try and create something that would allow me to help you on your journey. I infused this crystal with a bit of my magic. It will allow us to communicate and allow me to use my power in your location even just for a short time. I wanted to protect you as much as I could. " He watched her gently slide the amulet around her neck. It fell perfectly a bit underneath her collarbone. She absolutely loved it; It felt warm against her skin, and its small magic aura made her feel like he was right next to her. She did not hesitate to jump on him, kiss him passionately.
"Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me." She whispered .
Unfortunately, they eventually had to separate as she could not let her friends wait any longer. She kissed him one last time trying to convey all her feelings in that small contact.
She ran as fast as she could across the school and up the main stairs. She did not bother knocking before entering the room. However she was met with quite a strange sight. The pixies were all dressed in weird get ups consisting of some of Stella's long summer gowns and some weird wigs. She has no idea where the girls had found those. Chatta was coming through her long fake wavy red hair and Amora was blasting a hair dryer through her long straight blond one. After noticing the weird placement of lamps and the closed window, she assumed this was Stella's weird plan to make the living room look occupied. Speaking of Stella, the girl was throwing a few glares her way. She had her arms crossed and a winter coat attached around her waist. Right, they were going to Omega. She needed to get warmer clothes ASAP. She quickly went into her room and got the winter clothes she had used last year during their ski trip. She had no idea if it would be warm enough for this kind of mission. But it was better than nothing.
As she joined the others in the hallway, she finally noticed that her fire fairy friend was missing.
"Where is Bloom?" She whispered to her friends while they slowly made their way out of the school.
Musa was the one to answer her.
"Faragonda a few hours ago sent her on a super dangerous mission on the dragon planet. She explained it was the fastest way for Bloom to awaken her Enchantix powers."
But Stella had to add her two cents and make her feel even more guilty for missing her friend's departure.
"You would have known if you had actually stayed with everyone, instead of running off who knows where."
Flora suddenly felt so much guilt. How could she let her friend leave on such a risky mission, without even wishing her good luck. She was such a terrible friend. And with a weird silent tension in the group, they finally reached the line separating the school's premises and the forest. She tried to calm her heart down by holding the small warm amulet in between her fingers before following behind her friends into the woods.
