It's so bright. It's all Elizabeth is able to describe. The walls are platinum white and the light that reflects off them certainly do not help. It's like she's being blinded.
In front of her is a large wooden desk. Familiar; all she can say as she looks at the leather chair, the back of it turned to her. She straightens out any wrinkles that may appear on the skirt of her knee length dress.
Suddenly, the chair turns, her father sitting in it, his face appearing... blank.
"Ah, there's my beautiful daughter," Bartra greets as a smile appears on his face. Elizabeth smiles and gives a small curtsy.
"Good evening, Father." She walks closer to her father's desk, and her father abruptly stands up. Confused, she watches him through her ocean eyes. He doesn't move, but he places his hands behind his back.
"Still haven't chosen to work here, hm?" Her father asks, his tone cold. Her brows slightly burrow.
"N-No, father. I-I don't want to - in fact, I have plans to open a p-"
"I do not care what you aspire to do, Elizabeth," Bartra cuts her off, his voice only carrying a much colder and rougher tone. "You are to work along side me, and that will be final. Why can't you be more like your sisters? They listen to me, unlike you, dear Elizabeth. Such a disappointment."
Elizabeth's breathing becomes a but harsh, her hand trying to reach out to him. "B-But, papa please-"
The entire room goes ablaze.
Fire pricks at her skin and she feels like she's being cooked alive. Panic begins to fill her entire being as she frantically tries to move closer to her father. Elizabeth tries to inhale, but smoke fills her lungs. She coughs like she's smoked for half her life. "Papa, papa please!" She begs through her coughing, her aqua hues squinting to find her father.
"Papa? Father?" She gasps, turning around in distraught circles trying to find her father. But he's nowhere in sight. Where did he go?
It's so hard to breathe. It's too difficult. Elizabeth shuts her eyes, hoping the fire would somehow magically disappear and her father would be safe. She feels herself collapse onto the floor, the fire nearly engulfing her entire body, the heat of it searing her flesh. "Papa!" She yells.
And her eyes open.
But instead of seeing her father's office burning in flames, she's in her room at Meliodas's bar. She's heavily panting and she can't stop shaking. Sweat drips from her forehead to her temple and her eyes frantically dart across the room looking for something, anything that could calm her down. Her breathing only feels like it's getting that much quicker.
Her shaking feels worse, and tears prick at the corners of her eyes. Elizabeth gasps for air as she brings her hands closer to her chest, but the shaking doesn't stop.
She hears her door open, but she can't bring herself to look in the direction of it. "Elizabeth?" She hears a familiar male voice say her name, but the silverette continues to shake and hyperventilate. He comes closer and sits right in front of her. His blonde hair seems somehow more messy than usual, his emerald eyes seem sleepy, and his hands immediately grasp hers.
"Hey, hey, Elizabeth it's okay," his voice comforting as he pulls her into an embrace. He rubs circles on her back, "Focus on my breathing, okay? It'll be okay. I promise," he swears, and she closes her eyes, the tears spilling onto her cheeks and into the soft cotton of his shirt. She feels the rise and fall of his chest against hers, and she tries to mimic his breathing pattern.
"How does a movie sound, Elizabeth? I'll let you pick the movie." His hand continues to rub slow circles on her back, but she clutches him like her life depends on it. Her breathing improves, but the silver haired woman still shakes terribly. His other hand finds her hair and he idly runs his fingers through it. Elizabeth silently sobs into his shirt, desperately clawing at the material on his back.
Meliodas never lets go.
Even as Elizabeth sobs and cries into his shirt, even as she clutches the back of his shirt more harshly than she needs to; he doesn't stop embracing her. "Did you have a bad dream?" He softly asks.
The silverette gives a shallow nod against his shoulder. "It-It was terrible," Elizabeth says through watery hiccups. "I-I was in my father's office. H-He said I-I was a disappointment and then the whole room was set on fire."
She cries a bit harder, even though she's only recalling something her father said in a dream. "It's okay, you're an amazing person Elizabeth. It's okay, it was just a dream," Meliodas continues to comfort her. "It wasn't real."
It felt so real before the fire.
Though it took longer than she felt it did, her breathing got better and the shaking mostly stopped. Meliodas momentarily pulls back from her and his soft green hues look tenderly into hers. Elizabeth's aqua orbs stare back into his, one of his hands coming up to cup her cheek. He slowly wipes her tears away with the soft circling of his thumb.
"Princess Bride," Elizabeth whispers as she lightly leans into his touch. The blonde hums in confusion as he cocks his head to the side, his hand still collecting her tears. "You said you'd let me pick the movie," she whispers, her voice feeling slightly sore. "I want to watch The Princess Bride."
Meliodas softly smiles at her. His emerald eyes never leave her ocean ones. "Anything you want, Princess," he softly chuckles. He stands up, his warmth leaving her. He turns around, their gazes locking once more. "Can you walk fine?" He asks. "You're still shaking."
Elizabeth gives a small sniff. She lifts her hands, and she realizes he isn't wrong. But the shaking isn't as severe as it was, so she should be fine. Right? Yes, of course she would. She's stronger than she thinks she is. "I'll be fine, Meliodas," Elizabeth insists as she starts moving to stand by the blonde who doesn't remove his eyes from her.
A smile schools her features, and he smiles back. He takes her hand in his, and he pulls her along with him as they leave her bedroom. She softly closes her door with a low click before she turns and nearly stumbles and falls, but Meliodas catches her.
It's almost as if her life flashes before her eyes as she lets out a surprised noise; and suddenly an arm is under her legs and another around her waist. On immediate instinct, she wraps her arms around his shoulders.
Meliodas flashes her a lopsided grin as he carries her into the bar.
"Why are you carrying me?" The silver haired woman asks as the blonde carries her into the darkness of the room. The short nightie she wears certainly doesn't help her - especially when his fingers tickle the skin near the top of the back of her thigh.
He gives a low hum, "Can't have ya falling and hurting yourself, Princess."
The blonde sets her down on the couch, her blue eyes never leaving his figure even as he turns around. "I would've been fine," Elizabeth continues.
He moves behind the bar and takes out a box. "Maybe," his tone smooth, "but after you nearly fell in the hallway, I couldn't take any more chances." Meliodas rummages through the box, taking out a case - likely the movie she requested to watch - and he starts coming back to her.
"Do you feel better?" The blonde asks. Elizabeth gives a slow nod when his eyes are on her for a brief moment before he turns to the TV above the bar. She can't see what he's doing because of how dark it is, but she can only assume that Meliodas is setting up the TV so they can watch the movie.
After a few minutes, the movie comes on and Meliodas is already making his way towards her again. The blonde man sits next to her, their gazes locking. His vibrant emerald orbs boring into her cool and soft ocean ones. Suddenly, he pulls her into his lap, and it almost doesn't register in her head that she's straddling him.
Her face feels hot - and not from the tears from earlier - and he looks at her with a mischievous smirk. She freezes up and her first instinct is to hide her face in the crook of his neck.
When she inhales, all she senses is the way he smells. He smells like the greenest and freshest forest imaginable, his scent holding something sweet to it, too. Elizabeth only grows all that more flushed and red. Elizabeth hears him softly chuckle, the vibrations of it lightly rumbling in her veins.
The silverette pulls back from him, those green hues looking at her like she's the only woman in the entire world. She feels her lips slightly part as the blonde gives feather-light touches on her hips. Elizabeth faintly shivers, her eyes snapping closed, but she just knows he has an overweening grin on his face. The silver haired woman feels him lean closer to her, and he presses his soft lips to her neck.
A gaily gasp leaves her lips as she leans into his touches and slightly sags against him. Elizabeth can feel him smirk against the sensitive skin of her neck, but she can't bring herself to care. Especially when he starts alternating between licking and nipping at her skin. She gives a noiseless moan when she feels a small hickey forming on her neck from Meliodas's constant kissing and sucking.
Soon, he pulls away from her and she whines at the loss of contact. The woman's eyes find his, and once again his expression is unreadable. She goes to get off his lap, but as her legs return to the couch, he pulls her into his arms and a small yelp leaves her lips.
She rests her head on his chest, a steady heartbeat in her ear. Her lips twitch into a smile, and the blonde runs his fingers through her hair.
"How do you have such an old movie?" Elizabeth delicately asks in effort to distract herself from whatever she's feeling in this very moment.
"Ban likes collecting old movies," he answers. "And he's a hoarder," he continues with a chuckle.
It's a few minutes into the movie and somehow, someway, Elizabeth is now laying on top of Meliodas while he has his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die," Meliodas says in the Spanish accent along with the movie. Elizabeth softly giggles as she nuzzles her face closer to his chest. Her eyelids grow heavy, so she closes them with a faint sigh.
{-}
She opens her eyes with a groan.
It's so dark and cold. The silverette tries to move her arms and legs, but finds herself unable to. Panic begins to fill her being as she looks down. The nightie she wore when she was in the bar is still fully intact on her body but...
Where in the fuck is she?
Elizabeth can't see a thing, and she's freezing cold. Wiggling her hands, she feels a rough material scratch her wrists. Had she been kidnapped? Is this why she's tied up to a chair in God knows where? Does Meliodas know where she is?
Her fingers attempt to stretch to untie herself, but to no avail. She tries to kick her legs to see if the restraints there would be loose, but her mind only races that much more when she finds that she's wrong.
"Somebody! Somebody help me, please!" A sharp cry rips from her throat as she cries for help. Faint tears she hasn't even felt until now slowly drips down her pale cheeks.
"You were always such, a crybaby, Elizabeth," a voice says, their tone deep; nothing but cold and harsh, yet it feels vaguely familiar to her. Suddenly, bright lights turn on and it causes Elizabeth to snap her eyes shut. Nothing but fear enters and fills her veins, and she trembles in the chair when she senses the man come closer to her.
She tries to say something, but nothing comes out. Words are failing her. Elizabeth's eyes refuse to open, and she only trembles all the more. Her body feels so heavy. Faint flicking is heard in the opposite end of the room, and Elizabeth leans her head up. She opens her eyes, finally, and immediately her head starts spinning. The bright light gives her the worst headache she's ever had in her life.
It's almost as if the light is draining her of her energy - and sure as fuck feels like it. Her vision narrows, spots dot her vision, and she feels so weak all of a sudden. She tries to lift her fingers, but can't. The silver haired woman hears the man chuckle, and it only makes her uncomfortable. Who the fuck is this?
Elizabeth averts her gaze from the light to the man. He wears a mask so she can't make out his facial features, but he appears to be tall. His eyes are icy and cold; more blue than her own, but in a way that makes him look menacing. Her eyes dart around the man until her gaze lands on a needle in his right hand. Elizabeth can't seem to calm herself down.
Her breathing is quickening by the second, the cold air in the room feeling cold enough to give her frostbite.
Fear has never made her feel so vulnerable.
The man grips her arm, gives her the most sickening and wicked smile she's ever seen, and pricks her with the sharp needle. In turn, she screams in agonizing pain as she closes her eyes. Suddenly, the pain stops. So she opens her aqua eyes.
But she's no longer in the cold and dark room.
Elizabeth is on the couch, breathing heavily. It only registers now when her eyes find Meliodas, his green orbs holding nothing but worry and concern as he hovers over her. She wraps arms around his shoulders and pulls him down so she can hug him. A sigh of relief leaves her lips. Elizabeth can tell Meliodas was hesitant to hug her back because she felt him tense up against her, but he ended up wrapping his arms around her as best he could.
"Are you okay? Did you have another nightmare?" He asks, his voice muffled by her long silver hair. She nods against him and she clutches him closer.
"I'm okay," she whispers. "I'm okay."
"What happened?" Meliodas prods, his thumb tracing circles on her back. Elizabeth nuzzles her face into his soft blonde, messy hair.
"I-I was in a really dark room. It was so, so cold. Then a man came in and turned on the lights, and it felt like I was dying. He said I was crybaby when I cried asking for someone to help me. And then he-he injected me with something in a sharp needle and it really hurt. And then I woke up."
Meliodas doesn't speak, likely taking the time to let Elizabeth calm down from the nightmare, but she takes the moment of silence to feel him against her.
"You screamed," the blonde silently says. She strokes his soft hair, feeling his chest rise each time he takes a breath. "And I woke up. You were also breathing really heavy," he continued.
"How haven't I woken anyone else up?" Elizabeth hears herself ask. Meliodas merely shrugs against her, his thumb still rubbing circles on her back.
"Heavy sleepers, I guess. Especially King," a chuckle follows, "it's always a pain in the ass to get him to wake up. That is, unless I tell him Diane's waiting for him to get his ass up." Elizabeth smiles at the thought of King waking up just so he can see Diane.
"Does she?"
Meliodas exhales through his nose; a short laugh. "Of course she does. If there's anything she loves about the Sins, it's King."
"That's sweet," Elizabeth softly comments, a small grin present on her face. Meliodas moves from her and he's hovering over her once again. Their gazes lock, and she can't move any of the muscles in her body. Her arms are looped around his neck, and the look he gives her makes her go warm all over. When does he ever not fail to make her feel so hot in every spot in her body?
His viridescent orbs carelessly bore into her wide azures, and she can feel how hot her cheeks are. He smirks at her before he leans down and kisses her forehead tenderly, causing her to softly gasp.
How can his lips be so soft, yet so warm?
When he pulls away, Meliodas gives her a nurturing look before he removes himself from her grasp and stands up from the couch. Elizabeth's eyes follow his movement before her eyes dart to the window behind the couch. She had expected it to still be dark out, but the sun appears to be rising.
"What time is it?" She asks as she sits up, straightening her nightie so she isn't giving Meliodas a whole... show.
The silverette hears him hum. "Probably around five in the morning. You didn't get that much sleep, huh," he comments. Ocean eyes roam the room until they find the blonde man once more. His back is turned, and she's half glad. She's probably still red all over.
"I kept you up," a silent whisper leaves her lips. Elizabeth stands up, meaning to go back to her room, but a hand on her wrist stops her.
Her eyes locate his once more, only this time, his face is completely serious. "Elizabeth," he whispers, placing a hand on her hip and bringing her close. Elizabeth's eyes close as she places her hands on his shoulders. "I'm the leader of one of the most feared groups out there. Do you really think a few hours of sleep is going to ruin me?"
Shit, he has a point. But... Still, this feeling of guilt fills her. And it's her fault. If she had just been better, Meliodas wouldn't have had to get up in the middle of the night to comfort her. He wouldn't have had to made sure she was okay because of her lack of strength.
A burden. It's all she is. A fucking burden that can't even help herself. Why is she so weak? Why can't she ever just help herself? It's always other people worrying about her, making sure she's fine, making sure she isn't about to break into thousands of pieces.
"Elizabeth," he says, breaking her out of her negative thoughts, his tone dead serious.
She lowers her head on to his shoulder, tears filling her eyes and threatening to spill onto her cheeks. "It's my fault," the silverette whispers, clutching his shoulders harder, his nails likely digging into his flesh.
"No, it's not," the blonde denies, holding her close. "You had some bad dreams and you were scared. It's not your fault - not even close," he continues. Tears stain her dusted cheeks and he pulls back from her. Her eyes open only to see him looking back at her with a tender look in his green hues. He leans closer to her, his lips making contact with her cheek.
He kisses her tears away like it would make her doubts disappear. Is it working?
In short; yes.
Meliodas gives one last lingering kiss to her right cheek before he pulls her into a warm hug. His hand rubs up and down her back until she relaxes into the hug. A sigh leaves her. "Don't ever think that it's your fault," Meliodas gingerly says. "You can't control what you dream about. And if you ever end up dreaming about something terrible again, I'll always be there to make sure it doesn't bother you anymore. Okay, Elizabeth?"
All she can give is a short nod against his shoulder. Why is he so caring towards her? What did she do to have so much of his attention?
Elizabeth feels so undeserving of it.
{-}
Meliodas suggested they leave to grab some coffee. Elizabeth accepted, an opted to take a quick shower and getting dressed.
Standing in the middle of her room and staring at her vanity mirror, Elizabeth looks at herself up and down. She wears a plain white t-shirt, skin tight light-wash jeans, and a simple pair of flats. This outfit is good enough to go out to get coffee, right?
She quickly brushes her hair, since Meliodas is likely waiting for her in the bar. With one last brush through her bangs so they don't look messy, the silverette puts her brush down and grabs her phone before she puts it in her back pocket. When she leaves her room, she bumps into something.
Or someone.
They groan, and immediately, Elizabeth sounds her apologies. Golden eyes find her calm oceans, and Elizabeth instantly knows who she just bumped into. King, his auburn hair a mess, his navy pajamas slightly rustled (probably from tossing and turning in bed), but his eyes seem so tired. He says it's fine, but she can hear a tone of irritation in his voice.
"What are you dressed up for?" King asks as he rubs his eyes. Elizabeth looks down at herself, somehow completely forgetting she was going out to get coffee with the leader of the Sins.
"Oh," she exhales. "I'm going to get coffee with Meliodas," the silver haired woman answers.
The auburn haired man sleepily smiles at her. "You're going on date with a boss?" He teases and a blush creeps onto her cheeks.
She shakes her head, "No, King! He just offered to get me coffee since I couldn't sleep last night."
He hums, "Okay. Well, better go get your coffee, Ellie."
And just like that, she's left alone in the hallway. No matter, because her feet are already moving her to the bar. She opens the door that leads into the bar, and immediately, she sees Meliodas sitting on the couch, scrolling on his phone. He looks up, and their gazes meet. The blonde smiles at her before he stands up and strides over to her.
"You still don't have a jacket?" Meliodas asks her. She shakes her head, and he abruptly leaves the room. Elizabeth stands in the same spot in confusion. What was he doing?
He returns not even a minute later with a hoodie, and he hands it to her. Elizabeth looks at him with a raised brow. The blonde chuckles when she takes the hoodie from him. "It's chilly out," he answers her silent questions. She puts on the hoodie, and surprisingly, it fits her pretty well.
Meliodas takes her hand in his, intertwines their fingers, and just like that, they leave.
He wasn't wrong when he said it was chilly. Her nose feels like someone's pressing a cold ice cube to it. The blonde holds her close as they walk along the sidewalk. Surprisingly, the streets were a bit emptier than she expected. Granted, it is early in the morning, but if King is awake, surely it isn't as early as Elizabeth thinks it is.
Not once does Meliodas let go of her hand, and his hand is really warm. It's calloused and rough, yet soft all at once. How does he manage to always stay warm?
"How come you're the only one that woke up?" Elizabeth finds herself asking.
Her vision is focused on what's in front of them, but she feels the blond shrug. "I'm not that much of a heavy sleeper. At least, not as much as King or Ban," his simple answer comes. Elizabeth softly hums at the response.
"What about Diane?" They turn the corner, a coffee shop not that much greater a distance from them.
"She has - let's say really good dreams, that uh, keep her occupied," Meliodas says. A sly smile reaches Elizabeth's lips as she realizes what Meliodas means.
"But how would you know?" Her next question escapes her lips.
A chuckle, "Well, sometimes it's traumatizing, but Diane groaning King's name while she's asleep isn't exactly something you can just sleep through." Elizabeth's smile only widens as they walk into the café.
"It can't be that bad," she comments.
He guides her to a table, and helps her sit. When their gazes meet, her lips slightly part.
"Hmm," he softly hums. "Okay, think about it this way. If you heard - I don't know - let's say me, groan your name in a sexual manner in the middle of the night and it causes you to stay up, would you not find it weird?"
Elizabeth's tongue darts from her mouth to lick her suddenly dry lips, and she sees his eyes dart from her eyes to her lips and back. An odd question, really, but... It wouldn't be that bad since Diane and King like each other. There isn't anything wrong with it; Diane just has dreams about someone she deeply cares about.
But if Meliodas were the one dreaming about such things about her... She doesn't know what to think. Would she really mind it? Hell, half of the thoughts she has of him are dirty, she's not far from doing the same thing he just asked.
"I wouldn't mind," she says breathlessly. He looks at her with wide eyes, his pupils blown, leaving almost none of those rich emerald green in his irises. It only registers now what she just said, and well, there's no taking it back. What was said has already been said. The silver haired woman watches his lips turn into a lopsided grin, gives her hand on last squeeze before he lets go and walks over to the cashier.
She quietly groans and shuts her eyes as she hugs herself. As she inhales, her ocean orbs snap open. She smells like him.
Elizabeth feels herself grow warm all over (you would think she'd get used to it at this point), and without a doubt, she's likely just as red as a tomato. Why is she acting like this? And how can he provoke such reactions from her?
But, in general, how does she even feel about him? He shows her so much kindness like he did earlier. And those sweet, soft and warm kisses he gives her make her swoon like she never has in her life. It's only been a little over a week, and she's so confused. What exactly is she feeling? She can't possibly be head over heels - there's no way.
Moreover, though, she craves more. Elizabeth isn't exactly sure what it is she craves, but she just wants more.
Almost as if on cue, Meliodas comes back with two cups of coffee in his hands. Her eyes roam his features, and she sees nothing but a warm smile that makes her smile in return. The blonde hands her a cup, and she takes it, the tips of their fingers barely brushing.
She attempts to hide the blush she feels on her cheeks with the coffee cup as she takes a sip from it. Meliodas sits opposite of her, his eyes never leaving hers even as he starts drinking his coffee.
It's silent as they drink. It's more silence than Elizabeth can handle, but she decides not to break the silence. When they finish, the blonde smiles at her as he stands up and holds his hand out to her for her to take. Her lips part as Elizabeth's eyes dart from his hand to his face, but she takes his hand.
He helps her up and they walk out of the building.
"Are you prepared for today?" Meliodas asks, breaking the silence. She glances his direction as they walk, but averts her gaze to the sidewalk in front of them.
"What's happening today?" She quietly responds. A mere chuckle leaves him.
"We're catching the judge's obedient workers in the act. But, you know, without them knowing," he answers. The silver haired woman turns her head to look at him and realizes that he'd already been looking at her. His molten green orbs bore into her ceruleans, and Elizabeth can feel herself blush. There isn't one moment of any day that Elizabeth doesn't blush when she looks at this man.
She exhales before she goes back to looking in front of them. "Oh. Yeah."
Meliodas squeezes her hand, almost reassuringly. "It'll be fine. We've also got King and Ban doing the recording, so I'm sure it'll go smoothly." Huh, so that's why King was the only one she saw in the hallway. Elizabeth thought it was odd; seeing only King and no one else. For it being so early in the morning, she'd expected to see Diane - and obviously Meliodas was already awake, for the entire night, making sure Elizabeth was fine throughout such late and early hours - but it makes sense, she supposes. It wouldn't exactly be practical if they had something important to do and someone they needed was in deep sleep in the comfort of their bed.
Though, Elizabeth can't blame him. Sleeping is great when you need it.
Meliodas puts a hand on her hip and pushes her closer to him when people start flooding the streets. Elizabeth gasps as Meliodas pulls her even closer when said people begins to get closer to them.
They keep walking until they reach the bar once again. Even as they enter the building, the blonde doesn't release her from his protective hold. But once he does let go, she instantly misses the feel of his touch on her hips. When Elizabeth looks at him, he has nothing but a warm smile on his face. "Just take some time to relax, 'kay? We'll be leaving in a bit," the blonde tells her.
Then, he leans in and kisses her cheek, and she grows warm from the contact. Before she even knows it, he's gone and the silverette is left alone in the middle of the bar.
She places a hand on her cheek where Meliodas had kissed her, and her soft lips tug into a small smile.
Elizabeth hears a door behind her open - likely the door that leads into the hallways with the Sins' and her own bedrooms - and her hand quickly drops as she turns around. She sees Diane with a knowing smile on her face, but Elizabeth pretends she doesn't see it.
"What were you and Boss doing?" The brunette asks, a teasing tone in her sweet voice.
Elizabeth flushes, "Nothing, Diane!" The brunette's smile only widens as she hums and walks closer to the silverette.
"I heard you're getting busy soon, Elizabeth," she simply states.
Elizabeth nods. "Y-Yeah, Meliodas wants me to take pictures of this uh, trade, I suppose. Did he not want you to help out?"
Diane shakes her head as she sits down on a stool by the bar and leans her back against it. "Nah, I just thought it was already enough with you, Boss, King and Ban. Plus, I decided to stay back. Who else is gonna clean while everyone is out getting evidence?"
Elizabeth sits next to her, her blue eyes meeting Diane's amethyst.
Diane really is sweet and thoughtful.