God, that has been a looooong week end xDD I couldn't even write, but fortunately, I still have some chapters to publish ^^ In this one, you'll understand why the title. Enjoy!
The fairy tried to not fall asleep this time again, but she dozed off less than an hour after her servant.
When she woke up, he was still fast asleep, and the growing light of the room indicated to her that the sun was just beginning to rise. She rolled from his chest to her side, and watched him more closely. His arms hadn't moved during the night, and were still around her. His face was peaceful and his eyes seemed to move under his eyelids. He must be dreaming, she thought with amusement. Her hand was still on his chest, and she started to stroke him in slow motions with her thumb. She was trying to figure out a way for this to happen again. It should involve strict regulations. She spent about an hour thinking this through and making up the perfect rules.
After that, she let her mind wander and noticed her hand had worked its way to his hair. Instinctively, she thought about removing it, but she ended up combing his dark locks absent-mindedly with her fingers, scratching his scalp every now and then.
A few minutes later, Diaval woke up with a moan and leaned into her touch.
"So you do like preening in the morning," he teased with a sleepy voice.
She brought back her hand to his chest and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Or you could just say 'good morning', like a normal person," she taunted sharply.
"Good morning, Mistress," he conceded with a soft smile.
She smiled back and snuggled more comfortably against him.
"Good morning, my pet."
He raised his hand to arrange his messy hair, but felt something unusual.
"Hey, what did you do to my hair?" he inquired, holding a strand of intertwined hair.
She took a peek at the lock he was holding and simply answered, "I braided them."
His brows furrowed. He had never seen anything like that before.
"Why? Is that magic? Can you undo it?"
The fairy sighed at his cluelessness, but replied anyway, "I got bored. No and yes."
She reached for his hair, brushed his hand away and untied the braid.
"There. Do you want me to teach you?" she asked with impish eyes.
"Sure!" he exclaimed happily.
He liked it when she took the time to teach him things. It felt like she was taking care of him, and that was something he truly missed during their first months together. Not that she never took care of him or anything, but not as much as she was doing now.
"Ok, then. Sit down and help me out," she commanded.
They sat against the wall, legs and shoulders touching slightly, and Diaval used the pillow to support his mistress' back without causing her pain. He spotted at once the black feather that was lying under the pillow all this time and put it next to him. The sight of black feathers had always reassured him when he was in human form, and from what he saw yesterday, that was the same for his mistress.
Suddenly, he noticed something weird and pulled his ankle out of the blanket.
"Wait. What happened to my ribbon?"
"It vanished. I can't create physical objects for too long," she explained.
Another thing he didn't know about her. Her magic seemed very complicated. He wondered if one day he could fully understand it.
"Alright, we'll practice with my hair. It will be easier for you," she said, bringing him back to reality.
She chose two locks of her hair and handed him one.
"First, you have to separate it in three equal strands. Hold them like this," she showed him. "That's good. Now, don't move and watch me."
She started slow to show him the movements and increased the rhythm. Diaval couldn't help but marvel at the agility of her fingers.
"There's no way my fingers can do that," he whispered to himself.
"Nonsense. It is very easy. Even a dog could do it," she teased, undoing the braid.
The raven turned man chuckled at that and watched her closely, mimicking her movements each time she stopped for him to catch up. It didn't take him long to understand how it worked, and he ended up performing a lovely little braid on his mistress, which began close to her earlobe. He even managed to entangle into it the black feather he was keeping.
"It's rather nice," she concluded, brushing over the little braid.
Her fingers lingered on the feather and it appeased her instantly. She was dearly missing the touch, even the smell, of feathers. That was why she patted Diaval so often when he was in his original form.
"I'm glad you like it, Mistress. Thank you for teaching me that."
She nodded at him once. Now, she had to find a manner to approach the awkward subject she wanted to discuss with him. She was totally averted to go through that, but if she wanted to keep using this disconcerting ability of his to comfort her, it was the only way.
"Diaval, I've done some thinking in regards of what you asked me yesterday," the fairy informed him with an even voice.
That was good, she thought. Starting by giving him the impression she only considered the question because he asked for it.
She ignored his puzzled eyes and proceeded: "As a matter of fact, I'm willing to let this happen again, but only under my terms. Does it seems acceptable to you?"
The raven turned man looked at her open-mouthed for a few seconds. The wonderful emotions he had felt every time they slept in each other's arms... It was going to happen again! He had no clue how often she planned on letting him sleep with her, but frankly, he didn't care. He was ready to wait for as long as she would decide to feel that again.
Remembering she was waiting for an answer, he managed to close his mouth, only to blurt out: "Y-Yes, of course, Mistress. What are your terms?"
"It will only happen when I decide it. You won't ask for it, nor initiate anything of the sort. You will wait for my impulse before making any moves towards me."
He nodded. It seemed perfectly logical to him. Until now, he never considered doing otherwise, and that wasn't about to change.
"It will only happen on the bed. I don't want you to mention what happened or may happen on the bed as soon as we leave it, to me or anyone else. Also, what happens on the bed won't change your behaviour toward me when we're not on the bed."
He nodded again, assuming she was referring both to this bed and the nest she owned back at home. This rule wouldn't be so difficult to follow either.
"It will only happen to comfort me. It will never evolve into something more than that, so you must banish from your mind any thoughts you may have about it meaning more. It will never happen. Never," she stated with a fierce voice.
He nodded again, even though he wasn't certain what she meant by "meaning more".
However, something was bothering him with that last condition, and he had to ask before agreeing to her terms. He didn't want to push his luck nor be seen as ungrateful, but it was now or never, and she seemed to be in a good mood.
"What about me? What if I need comfort sometimes?"
She eyed him. "I didn't think of that."
She quickly realised that was true: he too would need comfort sometimes. After all, everything started because she wanted to comfort him. The question was, will she be so kind as to care about him?
"I will take your needs into consideration as well," she finally said. "But that doesn't change the fact that you won't ask for it. Are we clear?" She inquired, brows rising.
Her servant nodded again. He wasn't sure if she would be able to know when he would need comfort, but wasn't stupid enough to point it out directly.
"I trust you to notice when I'll need comfort, then."
"And I trust you to not hide your feeling nor amplify them to make me feel pity." She had a menacing tone in her voice.
She sincerely hoped he wouldn't get too stupid by trying to take advantage of the situation, or she would have to stop the whole cuddling-for-comfort thing. Something she didn't want to, to be honest. She liked the perspective of having a way to make the pain go away, even for a short amount of time.
"Alright. We have an agreement," he cut off her thoughts with a slight smile.
Their eyes locked and her lips curled up a little, "It appears we have."
Maleficent refrained from sighing in relief. That was done. She was glad he agreed to do this for her without too many demands, otherwise she was pretty sure she would have backed off. She really wasn't comfortable with the situation, and she wasn't sure were she was dragging them with those stolen moments together, but she didn't care. It made the pain go away. It felt good. That was something she wouldn't even have dreamed of feeling again after Stefan stole her wings, and she was ready to do what it took to feel this again.
Unconsciously, her body relaxed and leaned onto his, and before she could realize what she was doing and retract; he had leaned back on her. That was fair, she thought. He only responded to her impulse, just like she instructed him to do. The fairy placed her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. It definitely felt good.
Many thanks to RavenDiablo and DancingKitKat for beta-reading me ;)