Nope, I hadn't given up on this fanfiction yet, I'm just being a bit busy as I'm currently moving to London ^^ Thanks to the patient ones that are still following this and sorry for keeping you waiting.
A few hours later, Diaval was fast asleep in his nest, inside of his mistress' cocoon. It has become a habit for her to expand the climbers of the ivy plant, just enough to encircled his nest with hers. She seemed to be having no problem at all with their constant proximity when he was in his original from. The raven had even noticed that she never tried to stay awake until he gave up to slumber, like she always did when they cuddled. What kind of harm could a raven do to a fairy, anyway? Besides, he knew it was instinct. A man had hurt her, so she couldn't trust men anymore. All the animals felt the same because humans used to hurt every being they encountered. Unfortunately for him, he sometimes looked like one. He knew from the beginning that it would take time for her to trust him entirely, and he would wait. Birds were very patient animals after all, especially when it was worth waiting. One day, she would see more than a man or a bird in him. One day…
Suddenly, Diaval was woken by a yelp. He recognized his mistress' voice, and panic rose in his chest. It wasn't like her to yelp. Something was wrong. He looked around and spotted her in her nest, fidgeting violently. The raven tilted his head curiously and flew to her side, wondering what was wrong, when he remembered what she had once told him about nightmares. It was a particularly unpleasant experience, and the only thing he could do to end it was to wake her up. An anguished shriek from her lying form made his heart skipped a beat. He perched near her head at once and cawed as loud as possible for a few minutes, but she didn't wake up. Instead, he heard her breathing heavily and mumbling unintelligible words. She seemed in pain, and as he recognized a name among her grumbles, a shiver ran down his spine. He had to save her from this.
The raven hoped inside of the nest and tried to pinch her hand with his beak a few times, squawking every now and then in concern, but it still didn't work. As a last resort, he hoped on the pillow beside her head and cawed frantically, flapping his wings so hard they were hitting her wincing face.
With a sudden scream, her upper body straightened up, and her arm violently kicked the raven in the chest, slapping him against the wooden edge of the nest. Her eyes were wide open the second later. Exhaling shakily, she scanned her surroundings to make sure she was safe, until her gaze stopped on her knocked out raven.
"D-Diaval?" she called, putting a trembling hand on his soft plumage.
She sighted in relief as she felt him croon under her touch. For a second, she envisioned the worst. That dream was particularly nasty, and the last thing she needed was to escape from it only to have lost her wings all over again. She stroked his feathers, hoping that would calm her down, and cupped her hands around her bird to bring him back next to her.
"Are you hurt?" she asked in a hoarse voice, brushing his feathery head with shaky fingers.
She gulped, attempting to regain her composure. Her heart was still pounding loudly in her chest. The fairy couldn't get her nightmare's awful images out of her head, not to mention the feeling of being helpless was still tormenting her.
The raven at her side slowly opened one eye to look at her and crooned softly. He was barely conscious, she realised. She had to make sure he was alright.
"Into a man," she said without thinking.
However, when the raven became human, the very same kind that haunted her dreams, her eyes grew wide with fear and she instinctively jerked away from him. It only lasted one second before her face became again as fierce as ever, but of course, Diaval had noticed.
"M-Mistress?" he mumbled awkwardly.
Their eyes locked, and the raven grew wary of what he was seeing in his mistress' gaze. There was still some hints of fear, hidden behind a challenging determination and wild power. She was looking at him as if she was waiting for any sign of weakness to strike, to defend herself.
Her behaviour shook the raven turned man to the core. She was afraid of him. The only person he really cared about was afraid of him. His eyes mirrored her fear, and it quickly turned into sadness, before he broke eye contact to lower his head. A lump was growing in his throat. The only thing he wanted to do right now was to run away and hide his cries. He couldn't bear the way she was looking at him.
While his heart was shattering, he closed his eyes and whispered in a broken voice, "Please, Mistress, change me back."
The fairy watched her servant with bitterness. She knew he was hurt, but right now, she couldn't do anything about it. He would have to endure this alone. It was just too hard to be near his human form any longer.
She raised her hand to transform him, and stopped in mid motion. Her hand seemed to be moving on her own, reaching up to his hair. She hardly believed how much her body seemed to be remembering that the best way to soothe her was to scratch his scalp.
Eventually, she shook her head lightly and wisps of golden magic changed him back to his original form. She wasn't brave enough to do anything other than that, tonight.
Head low, the raven was about to fly to his nest, when his mistress' voice stopped him.
"Don't," she commanded.
The black bird turned to face her and tilted his head to the side, as to ask her why. He watched his mistress lie down more comfortably on her side, before extending her arm toward him.
"Come," she whispered.
With a soft caw, he held on to her inviting finger with his talons, and let his mistress take him to her. She dropped him so close to her face his feathers were brushing her skin. Her arms slowly encircled him. It felt like being in a nest, but even better. He couldn't help but croon in pleasure as he felt her hand stroking his plumage. Everything was back to normal, he thought happily.
"It's not you, you know," she pointed out after a few minutes of petting him. "It's the humans."
The sleepy raven opened one eye and let out a very soft caw. He knew she didn't mean to hurt his feelings. What happened was just a survival reflex.
She remembered how she still couldn't stand the sound of their breathing, even weeks after Stefan's betrayal. That was why she kept changing Diaval into his original form right away after his reports. It took time, but the fairy was now over it, though, and felt at ease around her pet's human form. Most of the time, at least.
"I know you're not like them," she added, locking eyes with him.
She smiled when he rubbed his head against her jaw, and scratched his favourite spot. Such a sweet bird, she thought. She liked how the only thing he seemed to be wanting of her was her affection. There was a time she had been just like him… And it led her to becoming this wingless creature feared by all. Or maybe not all, she mused, as she felt Diaval nestling more comfortably in the crook of her neck. This ability of his to not be afraid of her was as annoying as it warmed her chest.
They both gave in to a dreamless slumber within minutes, feathers touching skin and beak on top of jaw.
When the morning came, Maleficent felt her servant moving. She looked up to his face, only to watch him lazily open his eyes.
"Good morning, pet," she offered when his gaze settled on her.
He lets out a guttural sound that could look like a crooning, tilted his head in a very bird manner and rubbed his sleepy face against hers.
Startled by his attitude, she froze at first, but it wasn't long before she relaxed under her servant's display of affection. Warmth was filling her chest as the edge of his nose was moving against hers, their crowns brushing every now and then. She knew she should have scolded him for acting without waiting for her impulse, but she wasn't sure he had yet realised he was in human form, and the temptation of taunting him was too great.
"Aren't you going to wish a good morning to your mistress?" she asked with an imperious voice as soon as he was done nuzzling her.
"Good Morn-AH!"
As soon as he realised he was in human form, Diaval tried to get away from his mistress, but her arms were firmly encircling his waist. Enable to move, he settled down carefully against her, watching her every movements to get sure she was ok with their closeness. The raven turned man gradually relaxed as his mistress seemed as comfortable as the last time they cuddled.
"M-Mistress? Why am I in human form?" he inquired awkwardly.
"I changed you, silly," she grunted, stating the obvious.
He locked eyes with her, hoping to find some kind of explanation in her emerald orbs. A few hours ago she couldn't bear his proximity, and now everything was back to normal? He was happy about it, but he wanted to understand. She must have somehow guessed his thoughts, because she explained herself after a short moment.
"I was cold," the fairy admitted softly.
Under her insisting glare, he snaked his arms around her in a more cosy position, and her head soon landed on his shoulder.
"What about now?" he whispered in her hair.
She took a peek at his cheeky face, and gave him a smirk.
"I'm good," she murmured.
He nudged her head with his and held her tighter in response. It felt so good to be welcomed in her arms. It was now that his body was once again pressed against hers that he realised how much he had missed this. He couldn't resist and nudged at her again, but this time, her head lazily slipped away from his.
"Diaval, what are you prodding me for? What has gotten into you this morning?" she asked, bemused.
"What do you mean?"
She shifted away to look at him, but didn't loosen their embrace.
"The first thing you did after waking up was to rub your head all over my face, and you just did it again. Explain yourself," she ordered, brows high.
Caught in the act, the raven lowered his head shamefully. She had every reason to be mad at him, because he didn't stick to her rules. He knew he wasn't supposed to initiate anything toward her, but he just couldn't help it. His raven's self seemed to make him act on his own.
"Oh, hmm. Actually, this is how ravens cuddle," he mumbled, avoiding her gaze.
She nodded knowingly. That was what she thought, but that didn't explain everything.
"Why did you do it?"
The raven turned man sighted in a distressed manner and raised his gaze to look at her.
"Truth is, when we're cuddling, I feel like the right way to do it is raven's way… It's stupid," he conceded, waving his hand.
She smiled, glad that again today, she didn't have to use her magic to get the truth out of him, no matter how disturbing it was for him to say it. The fairy watched him lowering his eyes again. He was expecting to be punished because he overstepped her terms, but she just couldn't be mad at him because of his animal instincts. Her hand slowly crept to his dark hair, hoping to sooth him.
"We could add this to the rules," she mused aloud while scratching his neck.
His eyes went wide as he looked at her hopefully. He couldn't speak for a few seconds, then managed to say in a whisper, "R-really?"
Pleased by his habit of never taking anything for granted with her, she stroked his cheek, before combing through his hair once again. She scanned his chocolate pupils as if to look for a reason to pull back with her offer, but the only things she saw there were genuine concern, innocence and warmth.
"Show it to me again. If I like it I may consider it," she murmured, before rolling on her side with him.
Their eyes locked, and his head came slowly closer to hers. She couldn't move out of apprehension. He closed his eyes when he was sure he wouldn't miss his target and she just watched him helplessly. It looked very much like he was going to kiss her, but she knew he would never. Did she? She was about to pull back when his crown met hers. They stayed still, leaning against another for a few seconds, and eventually, Mal closed her eyes in relief. It felt good. She could feel him nudging a little bit at her forehead in slow motions, and she quickly started to do the same. Their nose bridges were gently brushing with each motion. Mal relaxed against his touch and eventually, he pulled back. She relished in the sweet feeling of Goosebumps and warmth growing all over her body. The butterflies in her stomach made her smile uncontrollably.
"So? Did you like it?"
"Very very much," she said before meeting his crown again.
She didn't even have the will to hide what she was feeling. They kept nuzzling at each other slowly, gently, until they became sleepy.
Many thanks to DancingKitKat for the beta-reading ;)