Permanent

Chapter 4

Maleficent is not sure why she even has the slip of paper anymore - the sweat from her hands has blurred the blue ink, the creases that she's folded into it again and again have almost rendered it illegible, and it's not like she even needs it anymore. She has the damn number memorized.

The week has already wound its way back to a foggy, damp Sunday. leaving Maleficent without the distraction of work. Her sore back and arms are grateful for the relief from the strain of her usual hunched posture, but her mind is now going a mile a minute, and every thought is cycling around this stupid number.

Sighing, Maleficent lets her head fall back against the arm of the couch, her hand stroking the head of her doberman nestled between her legs and draped halfway up her stomach. Balthazar knows little of personal space and doesn't seem to mind that he is lying right across Maleficent's legs. She doesn't care, either. Over the years Maleficent has had a couple of different pets - mostly reptiles, creatures contained in a tank, but she couldn't stand seeing them imprisoned like that after too long. Besides, nothing beats curling up with a dog. Maleficent is not fond of the pompous attitude of cats.

Her free arm crosses over her eyes. Even a glass of wine had failed to help her, and whatever poorly directed movie she had put on is doing little to capture her attention. Nothing can. it's been five days since Aurora slid her number across the counter and fled The Moors in a flurry of flowers, leaving Maleficent stunned and staring open-mouthed after her. One tattoo after another kept her occupied and focused, but now there is no machine in her hands, no design to perfect. Foolish doesn't even begin to cover how she feels. Stupid. Overwhelmed.

Excited.

Maleficent has been courted before. She has played this game many times and has never been so worked up about it. She wonders if she would feel differently if Aurora was just Aurora, just a smitten girl who Maleficent could play with and discard like she had so many times in the past. She has not been interested in anything long term or serious in twenty years, had always preferred the easy, casual flings when the opportunities arose. . Of course, there had been a few who wanted more than that, more of her, but Maleficent never catered to them, never gave them more than the bare minimum. Eventually they would give up and if they didn't, then Maleficent would not hesitate to draw the line and end it herself. It was never enjoyable cutting off company in the blunt manner she is accustomed to, but she has always known just where her comfort zone ends.

She can't explain why this is different, how even before she knew whose blood Aurora comes from that it was different. She hasn't been on a proper date in years, hasn't wanted to, but now, with Aurora's number crumpled in her fist, she does. Her mind wanders, picturing Aurora getting ready for a date, all giddy and bright and not at all aware of Maleficent's turmoil. She wonders if Aurora would be on the phone with a friend, absolutely gushing and delightful and -

Good gods. Maleficent drags her face out from under her arm and looks down at Balthazar, his black eyes staring openly back at her.

"You haven't a care in the world, do you?" Maleficent runs her thumb across the dog's smooth brow. His tail thumps against the opposite arm rest in response. "Food and a walk is all you need to be happy."

His ears prick at the word 'walk' but Maleficent shakes her head and he relaxes again, huffing, as if she just did not understand the true woes of a well cared for dog.

Maleficent's hand unfurls and she stares at the crumpled paper, reading the number for the thousandth time, and she makes a decision.

The decision is this: fuck it.

Before she can lose steam, Maleficent pulls out her phone, swipes to the keypad, and dials the number. She stares directly at Balthazar as it rings once, twice, and her heart is building up so loudly in her ears she can barely hear the ringing anymore and then -

"Hello?"

Maleficent hesitates. Did she misdial? There is no way she misdialed. She could recite the number backwards. But this is certainly not Aurora she's speaking to, unless Aurora's voice dropped several octaves in five days.

"Hello?" The boy asks again, dragging out the 'o' into a lilt.

"Uh -" Maleficent stares incredulously at her dog. He blinks at her. "Is this - is Aurora there?"

"Oh! Yes, she is, she just stepped out to take out the garbage. She'll be right back -"

"Forget it," Maleficent interjects, her face and hands hot. "Nevermind."

"Hold on, she just walked in -"

Maleficent cuts him off by hanging up, dropping the phone against her stomach. Balthazar laps at her hand, just out of reach, but she pulls it back and covers her face again.

A boyfriend. The little waif was tricking her and the whole time she had a boyfriend.

For no reason in particular, she laughs. Laughs loud and long, muffling her mouth with one arm, the other gripping the phone tightly. Of course. All this time she had worked herself up for absolutely nothing because Aurora has a boyfriend. It's almost a relief, knowing all of this has been a farce. It makes every anxious thought illegitimate. She can throw all of this out the window and forget all about it, can let the awkward tension of the situation drive Aurora out of her shop, and she'll never have to see her again.

Her phone starts ringing. Balthazar lifts his head, tilts it, and stares at Maleficent with raised ears expectantly.

Maleficent ignores both the phone and him. She wrestles herself out from under the dog and stands, the vibrating phone in one hand, the other running through her hair. She feels better already and smirks at the phone screen as it switches the caller to voicemail. Standing in her kitchen she finds herself waiting and staring at her blackened screen only to give her head a sharp shake and head to the fridge for more wine.

It rings again. It seems louder this time, more urgent somehow. She stares at the now very familiar number and sighs.

Fine. She'll give her a piece of her mind, then, if she's asking for it.

Without pausing to say hello, Maleficent puts the phone to her ear and says, "When you were flirting with me at my shop, when were you planning on telling me you had a boyfriend?"

Through the receiver Maleficent can hear a sharp intake of breath. "Oh my god, Maleficent, no, Phillip is not my boyfriend."

She doesn't even blink. "Oh?"

"I swear to the high heavens he is not my boyfriend. Phillip is my roommate. He's my best friend. Here, Phillip, tell her."

There is a shuffle and then the boy's voice from before. "I solemnly swear that I am not her boyfriend."

All of Maleficent's anxiety comes rushing back to her tenfold, because now it is laced with embarrassment. "Oh." She bites her lip and leans against the refrigerator, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Well, I feel like an asshole. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Aurora says, half laughing. "I thought Diaval was your boyfriend."

Maleficent recoils. "Why on earth -"

"I don't know! Because you two seemed close, I guess. It wasn't until he started kind of flirting with me on Tuesday that I knew for sure. Anyway, I'm just glad you called. I was beginning to think I had really messed up by giving you my number."

Maleficent sits heavily in the stool at the island in her kitchen. "I can't say I wasn't surprised when you did."

"Seems like it was a good move though, right?"

She can't stop the smile pinching the corner of her mouth. With no one to hide it from, she doesn't try to. "I suppose so."

Aurora giggles into the phone. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"Watching a terrible movie with my dog."

"You have a dog! What's her name?"

"His. Balthazar."

"That's wonderful. Oh! I have an idea. Let's take a walk. You can bring Balthazar, and I can take some pictures of the fog. I need some nature shots for a project. He'd make a great model, I bet."

"I -" Maleficent tries to come up with a reason to say no. There is none. There is just fuck it. "Sure. Fine. Where do you want to meet?"

"On the corner of 14th and Wallace, do you know where that is?"

Maleficent does. It's right near the university and not far from her apartment. She wonders how she's gone her whole life living in Sun City and never seen the girl before a few weeks ago. "I do. I'll leave now."

"Great! I'll see you soon!"

To keep herself from thinking about it too much, Maleficent stands as soon as Aurora hangs up and goes immediately into the bathroom. She runs a brush through her long, dark hair, and selects a pair of horns from her collection displayed on a shelf nailed the wall. She has seven pairs, all custom made specifically for her, each shape and every detail meticulously designed by herself. Her favorite are the large, curled black ones, the pair she normally wears when she's working, but the ones she chooses today are smaller, about half the length of her hands, and come to a sharp point. They're bronze in color, with a little hint of gold flecked in. Parting her hair to reveal the screws, she carefully twists each horn in until they are situated properly, then lets her hair fall back to conceal the bases. She places her gold contacts in her eyes with expert efficiency, having done it a thousand times; she blinks a few times and stares at her reflection, setting her mouth in a firm line. She can't read her own expression. "Fuck it," she says out loud, clapping for the dog to meet her at the door, and hooking him to his leash.

She sets out like she's on a mission.

The fog makes it a little more chilly than it usually is this time of year. Maleficent doesn't mind, one hand stuffed into the pocket of her long black cloak while the other holds fast to Balthazar's leash. She prefers this weather, anyway, since the citizens of Sun City are babies when the weather is anything less than their expected sunny and hot and shut themselves in. It gives the street to herself and Balthazar until they reach the main road. She cuts through a back alley behind a Chinese restaurant that reeks of piss and rotting food. Maleficent keeps her eyes fixed strictly ahead and doesn't allow the dog to linger and smell his way around. A sense of urgency is pushing her to walk as quickly as possible and if to spite herself she drags Balthazar to a leisurely stroll.

Suddenly 'fuck it' doesn't seem like such a great plan of action. She shouldn't be going to see a client like this, least of all the daughter of a man she hates, especially one so young. Nineteen. Gods.

She wonders if Stefan had ever had such conflicting thoughts about her age back then; they had been friends for many years but it wasn't until she was sixteen that Stefan had first kissed her. He had been twenty at the time.

At least Aurora is legal.

She feels like a pinball, continuously bouncing from one feeling to the next. It's obvious she wants to pursue this, but it's also proving to be more stressful than Maleficent is sure is worth it. She refuses to think more than a day or two in the future, because one, it's a foolish thing a younger Maleficent would have done and two, all she sees is flames.

Breaking through the alley, Maleficent clicks her tongue and Balthazar sits beside her, looking up at her expectantly. She switches the leash to the opposite hand and reaches down to stroke his head with her palm. Sweet and oblivious, he is, wagging his tail at the attention. She sighs, staring down the street at the corner where she would meet Aurora.

Something dark coils at the front of her mind, dancing like a shadow, a devil on her shoulder. What sweet revenge would it be to break the heart of little Aurora, the daughter of the man she loathes? When Aurora came running to her precious father and he discovered just who was responsible for the crime, would it hurt him the same way he had hurt her?

Maleficent's face clouds over. No. Few people are capable of hurting someone the way Stefan had. That's why it's so inconceivable to her that Stefan could produce such a … contrasting offspring.

Maleficent could never touch on the degree of pain Stefan had put her through. And even if she thought she could, she wouldn't, because Aurora is too pure of a light to try and tarnish.

Shaking her shoulders, as if to physically rid herself of that demon, she sets off down the sidewalk with Balthazar in tow, and she is halfway down the block when she sees two figures emerge from the other side. Even from this distance one is unmistakably Aurora - bright yellow hair comes through despite the fog - but the other is a mystery until Maleficent draws closer. It's a boy, standing close to Aurora's side. Phillip, Maleficent deduces, studying him as she approaches. He's tall and broad with hair the color of wood. He laughs at something Aurora says, his whole face lighting up with the force of his smile.

Maleficent keeps her lips in a stern line as the sounds of her boots clicking against the sidewalk make her presence known. Aurora turns to face her in a whirl of blonde. It's the first time Maleficent has seen her in jeans. Swinging from her neck is a large camera, half tucked into her partly zipped pink jacket. She looks like she wants to rush Maleficent with a hug and is just barely holding herself back, the smile on her face bright enough to clear the mist.

Maleficent is smiling back at her, despite herself.

Phillip, however, has become as downcast as the weather, his expression turning to stone as Maleficent finally comes to a stop, Balthazar obediently sitting at her side. She casts Phillip a quick look before turning back to Aurora, who has reached out for her and placed a gentle hand on her forearm. The heat of her skin feels like sunlight.

"Maleficent, this is Phillip. Phillip, Maleficent." She grins between the two of them as they make eyes at each other and say nothing. "And this must be Balthazar!" The girl bends at the knees to address the dog with petting and coos and he responds in kind, wagging his tail and lapping at Aurora's hands.

Maleficent flexes her lips at Phillip, who has crossed his arms and is now staring at the sidewalk. She could guess at the reason and probably be right - there is likely more than one. The most important one, however, is almost amusing. In fact, Maleficent finds it hilarious.

Phillip fancies Aurora, and Aurora either has no idea or has decided to ignore it.

What fun, Maleficent thinks with a grin. Perhaps the devil on her shoulder had not disappeared after all.

"It was nice of you to walk her down here," Maleficent says, her grin broadening when Phillip's narrowed eyes meet her own. "But I think I'll take her under my wing, now."

She can almost see the protesting words in his eyes. He takes a deep breath, holds it, then lets it out in a rush, turning his attention back to Aurora as she stands. "Are you -"

"Phillip," Aurora says, a certain sternness to her tone that Maleficent has not heard before. She has a feeling this is a continuation of an earlier conversation. "I'm fine. I'll see you in a few hours." Her eyebrows raise pointedly and don't lower again until Phillip gives a reluctant nod and turns away. Aurora sighs, her signature smile only out of place for a moment. She looks back to Maleficent, sparklers in her eyes. "He's really is a great friend, I swear. He is just … protective."

"Is that all?" Maleficent stares at Phillip's retreating back. He glances back, then pushes forward.

"Your horns! You have different ones!"

Maleficent does not comment on the sudden change in subject, deciding to address the topic when and if it became appropriate. "I have seven, actually."

"Wow." Aurora's smile pushes the limits of her face. "That's amazing. I'd love to see them."

"Someday, perhaps." She grins. Standing next to Aurora now, just like every other time, makes all of Maleficent's earlier misgivings seem like ghosts. Distant, unbelievable. They can only haunt her if she lets them. She clings to the confidence that is so characteristic of her. She clings to 'fuck it'.

Holding her camera in one hand, Aurora gestures down the sidewalk with the other. She's so eager she's practically bouncing in place. "Are you ready for our nature walk?"

"If that's what the kids are calling dates these days." Maleficent smirks, gliding her nails down the skin of a slender wrist until her fingers hook in the spaces between Aurora's. She watches with delight as the girl's face turns up a hundred degrees.

Maleficent thinks too much, she decides, falling into step beside Aurora, Balthazar following happily along. If ever there was a devil on her shoulder, Aurora would certainly be the angel on the other side.