DragonQueen Oneshots
A meeting in the rain:
She isn't quite sure what to make of the way Maleficent was touching her, and more importantly, she isn't sure what to make of her own reaction to the touch. She more than once catches herself thinking about the way the sorceress' fingertips brushed against her skin, and then she silently scolds herself for being silly and not concentrating on what's important, her magic studies and her plan of getting her revenge.
But the touch had felt good. Almost liquefying. Yes, liquefying. Like her muscles had turned into jelly.
Today had been a rather quiet day. Regina had spent most of the day reading in the library. She had been blessedly alone, the king had taken Snow with him to a nearby town, on an "official" visit. Apparently, the young princess had been asked to consecrate some new statue. Regina didn't know of what exactly, perhaps a statue of Snow White herself? The girl had asked Regina repeatedly to join them, but Regina had declined, said she had a headache again. Today, the excuse had worked, but other times the king "insist" that she comes with them.
There is no fitting excuse to not be present tonight though. King Leopold is hosting a ball to mark the date. Today, is apparently the anniversary for the date he met queen Eva for the first time, and of course, that calls for celebration. And Regina is expected to be there. To honor her predecessor. Another ball where's she's expected to sit and smile and answer politely when spoken to, but otherwise pretend to be a doll. Another ball where no one talks to her, no one approaches her, no one asks her to dance. Another ball where she will be sitting, sipping her wine and watching Snow and the king dance.
At least she has the end of the evening to look forward to. Regina knows exactly how that's gonna end. With a nice, large glass of wine in her bedchambers. Maybe she'll even get drunk enough to actually get some sleep.
Regina slams the book shut. The story she told about having a headache wasn't a complete lie after all. The words in this book makes her head throb slightly. She understands some of it, but not enough for her spells to actually succeed. And Rumplestiltskin isn't of much help. He preaches instead of teaches, claims that her head is "elsewhere". An accusation Regina immediately denies and firmly dismisses as nonsense. Her head is not elsewhere. Her focus is exactly where it needs to be, so how dare he accuse her of the opposite? She is not the problem, he is. He's the one that insists on preaching about magic instead of actually teaching her something.
Maybe she needs a new teacher. A better teacher.
Regina decides to give up on the books today. Her head hurts, and she tends to get snappy whenever she has a headache. She can't be snappy when Snow returns. That would only rouse suspicion.
Spring is really setting in, and everything is blooming outside. Maybe a bit of fresh air wouldn't be such a bad idea. It would definitely clear her head. Regina stands from the wooden chair and carries the books back to her bedchambers. She's careful to hide the books away in the back of her closet. She can't be certain, but she has a hunch that Snow sometimes comes into her chamber and plays with her jewels and looks at her dresses. She is not too fond of that thought, and more than once she has asked Snow to stay away from her room when Regina isn't there, but clearly the girl doesn't get the message.
Regina brushes a hand over her blue dress and finds her cloak amongst all of her dresses inside the too-big closet. She decides to leave her hair as is it, hanging loosely down her back. There's no reason to put her hair up, she's just herself. There's no one around to tell her that it's an unsuitable hairstyle for a queen.
She doesn't have a particular destination in mind. She just nonchalantly walks around. Her mother would have called it "straying", and clicked her tongue, saying that she feared "it is an odd characteristic you have there, Regina. It's unsuitable for a lady to walk around alone".
But Mother isn't here anymore. And Regina doesn't feel very much like a lady. A woman forced to grow up too soon, yes, but not a lady, and definitely not a queen. She feels as if she's playing a part. Exactly like she's been doing her whole life. First as Cora's obedient daughter, and now as Snow White's devoted stepmother and king Leopold's obedient, soft spoken wife. Made for being by his side, hanging by his arm, and be pretty but silent.
Regina's face twists a little and she walks faster, nearly tripping over a hidden root in the grass. Sometimes, if she walks far enough, she can escape her own mind, but it doesn't appear to be the case today.
She doesn't slow down until she can't see the castle anymore. That's when her breathing finally slows down. It's like, if she can't see the castle, her life inside it doesn't exist either. A childish illusion, but nevertheless one that works.
Regina looks out over the faraway mountains, wonders for a moment how long it would take her to cross them. How long before anyone would notice that she was gone.
Suddenly she notices the drops of water falling on her skin, and she listens to the soft pitter patter of rain. Drip, drap, drip, drap. The sky is no longer clear blue, dark clouds pushes the sun away, and Regina smiles a little when she hears the first rumble of thunder. A lightening zigzags across the darkened sky, and she hears another crash of thunder. Then comes the rain. It's not just light spring rain anymore, it pours. Regina seeks cover underneath a large oak tree, but it doesn't help much. The rain quickly seeps through her cape, soaks her dress and drenches her hair, but Regina doesn't care one bit. She barely notices it, doesn't even feel cold. She's far too busy watching the lightening on the sky. Even as a child, she never feared thunder. Instead she made up stories about why it was thundering. Now the thunder, the flashing lightnings reminds her of magic. Magic bolting across the sky like an angry beast looking for vengeance on those who wronged him. Regina imagines that this, this terrible noise and howling in the trees is exactly what will greet Snow White one day. Snow is terrified of thunder. More than once, Regina has been woken up to the girl knocking on her door with a frightened expression on her face. For the most, Regina sweetly sits by the child's bedside, soothing away her fears until she's asleep, but secretly, Regina takes pleasure in the girl's terror. She enjoys it. Relishes in it. And sometimes, that frightens her. That she thrives on watching a young girl shaking in terror. One some days, Regina is shocked about her own thoughts.
But not right now. Right now, the thought of a terrified Snow White, being chased through the woods by a roaring monster, makes Regina laugh. Actually laugh. It's been a while since she laughed like this, so freely.
There's another loud crash of thunder, and the rain comes down even harder. Regina giggles as she steps out of her shelter. The rain on her skin feels strangely liberating. She for once feels alive, and she undoes the strings on her cape, pushes it off her shoulders and shrieks when hard drops of rain come into contact with her upper arms.
How liberating. How wonderful. It takes Regina a second to realize that she feels free as she stands here in the rain.
"Have you lost your mind, girl?!"
Regina doesn't yelp this time, but her voice still takes her by surprise. She reluctantly turns around and finds Maleficent walking towards her, dressed in a hooded cloak. If it hadn't been for her voice, Regina probably wouldn't have recognized her.
Maleficent removes the hood when she reaches Regina, and she clicks her tongue almost disappointedly. "What on earth are you doing out here?"
"Enjoying the rain," Regina says plainly and shrugs.
Maleficent clicks her tongue again, shakes her head and grabs Regina's arm rather suddenly, leading her back under the oak tree.
"You'll get pneumonia," the older woman scowls.
"I doubt it," Regina replies and shrugs again. She turns her attention back to the uneasy sky and tries to ignore the fact that the dragon sorceress is looking at her again.
"Are you out of your mind?" Maleficent asks plainly, but not unkindly.
"Sometimes I think that's the case," Regina says honestly and shrugs for the third time that day.
"You are far from home," Maleficent observes. "What ever caused you take a walk in this weather?"
"It wasn't raining when I left." Regina defends, and Maleficent chuckles quietly.
"So the weather took you by surprise?"
"Yes."
"You respond oddly to surprises."
"I don't know about that," Regina says and pushes her wet hair away from her face. "The first two times you surprised me, I think my reactions were fairly normal."
"I didn't startle you this time?"
"No."
"Good. I have no desire to frighten you."
"Why are you out here?" Regina asks. Maleficent has already asked her a dozen of questions, she will have to give some back. She was practically accusing Regina of being reckless.
"I'm not far from home," Maleficent says quietly and smiles a little.
"Oh." That's true. The Forbidden Fortress isn't very far from here. Regina laughs once she realizes her mistake.
"I heard you."
"Pardon?"
"I heard you laughing." Maleficent explains and her eyes sparkles.
Regina feels the heat shoot up in her cheeks and she chews nervously on her bottom lip. The thought of someone hearing her giggling like a mad person is terribly embarrassing, and the thought of Maleficent hearing her giggling like a mad person is even worse. And why is that? What's so special about her?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"What were laughing about?"
"W-what?"
"What was amusing you?"
"I don't know, I can't recall," Regina lies and avoids all eye contact with the other woman. Why is she so interested? Why is she asking her so many questions?
The thunder slowly subsides until its just a faint rumble in the distance, and the blue sky peeks out behind the dark clouds.
"I think the storm is over. I should go."
She has every intention of leaving, but Maleficent grabs her arm again and stops her rather effectively. Regina immediately flinches. She isn't used to this. And she doesn't understand why Maleficent keeps touching her at every opportunity.
"I can't let you wander all the way home like that," Maleficent says, wrinkles her nose as she gestures to Regina's wet cloak and dress.
"I'll change before anyone notice."
"I don't care whether someone will notice it or not," Maleficent half-snaps. ,,I'm thinking about your health. You'll end up getting a fever."
"I'll change first thing when I get back."
"You still have to walk all the way in those wet clothes," Maleficent states calmly.
She has a point there.
"My castle isn't far from here. Stay for a while, dry off, get warm. Then you can go home."
Regina nods. She did after all promise to visit Maleficent, and this is the perfect opportunity to keep her promise.
"Come." Maleficent says plainly, and Regina silently follows her.
Maleficent was right, her castle isn't very far from the forest, and it doesn't take them long to reach it. In contrast to Regina's two previous visits, the castle is surprisingly warm today. And not quite as messy as the last time either. And the fireplace is lit up by flickering flames.
"I decided it was time to clean up," Maleficent says, and reads Regina's mind completely.
Regina nods, and Maleficent waves her fingers once, and Regina immediately feels how her dress and cloak slowly starts drying.
"You could have done that in the forest."
Maleficent's smile widens. "You should sit in front of the fireplace."
Regina undoes the strings in her cloak, shrugs it off and sits down on the mountain of cushions in front of the fireplace.
"Do you drink?"
"Yes," Regina says plainly. She's going to drink tonight, that's for sure. She might as well start now.
Maleficent hands her what appears to be a glass of wine and Regina takes a small sip. "Thank you."
Maleficent raises her own glass in mock gratitude and takes a sip.
Regina brushes a finger through her now slightly-damp hair. The warmth from the fireplace feels nice. Very nice.
"Much?" Maleficent asks, and Regina doesn't understand what she's referring to.
"Pardon?"
"Do you drink much?"
"I drink when I need to."
"And when do you need to?"
"Tonight, most likely."
"Why tonight?"
"The king is hosting a ball in honor of his late wife- late first wife," Regina corrects herself.
"Why is he doing that?"
"To mark the anniversary for their first meeting."
Maleficent raises an eyebrow, and her mouth is nothing more than a thin line when she sits down next to Regina. The disgust is obvious in her face, but Regina doesn't comment on it. She's used to hearing the same stories about kind queen Eva over and over again.
"More wine?" Maleficent offers.
"Yes, thank you."
They sip their wine in silence for a while, and Regina wonders what the meaning is with all this. Was this what Maleficent had in mind when she asked Regina to come back? To sit and drink wine in front of the fireplace? Not that Regina minds, it just seems a bit odd.
Maleficent could have used that drying spell in the forest instead of insisting that Regina came here, so why didn't she?
Regina's train of confused thoughts is interrupted when Maleficent suddenly takes her hand between her own. Regina blinks. What is she doing?
"Your hands are still cold." Maleficent observes.
"They are always cold." Regina says and swallows something when Maleficent goes from holding her hand to actually caress it instead. She runs her fingertips up and down the back of Regina's hand, and Regina once again feels how her heart speeds up. Maleficent gently traces her fingers over Regina's wrist.
"I…"
"What?" Maleficent encourages gently.
"I… don't understand you." Regina says after a moment of consideration.
Maleficent flashes her a smile but doesn't react to Regina's statement.
"I don't understand why you're doing this," Regina mumbles and stares stubbornly into the fire as Maleficent keeps petting her wrist.
Maleficent chuckles. "You're very sweet."
Regina raises an eyebrow. Sweet, sweet? What's that supposed to mean? Normally, Regina would have taken it for a compliment, but there's something in the way Maleficent says it. It's almost a bit… mocking.
"You've never been touched like this, have you?" Maleficent asks almost nonchalantly.
Regina opens her mouth to dismiss that. She has been touched like this before.
Except she hasn't.
There was never really time whenever she and Daniel had their secret, stolen meetings, and the king, well… he projects his affection onto Snow, and only Snow.
"Why do you ask me that?" she says and answers Maleficent's question with another question.
"As I said, I find you interesting."
"I don't understand you," Regina says again.
Maleficent doesn't answer that. Instead she lets go of Regina's wrist, and Regina is finally able to breathe normally again.
"How are your magic lessons going?" the blonde sorceress inquires.
"Not well." Regina admits. "Rumplestiltskin seems more interested in preaching and taunting than teaching me something."
Maleficent chuckles lightly and says: "Come back in two days. I'll teach you."
"You would do that?" Regina asks disbelievingly and raises an eyebrow. "But you said you…"
"I had a change of heart," Maleficent waves her off. "And as I said, I enjoy your company. What's the harm in doing something sensible with the time you're spending here?"
"Okay." Regina says, but she honest to god has a hard time keeping up with Maleficent's change of mood.
"That's settled then. Two days." Maleficent says as Regina rises from the floor and puts on her cloak.
"Two days." Regina confirms.
"Don't forget."
"I won't."
To Be Continued…