DragonQueen Oneshots
Blooming:
Regina barely gets a chance to process that. One moment Maleficent is there, and the next one, Regina is alone in her bedchambers again.
So Maleficent is… interested in her. The feeling is mutual. How strange. Regina slowly brings a finger up to her lips. The feeling of Maleficent's lips against her own still lingers. The first kiss Regina's been given in years, and from someone so unexpected.
She should be feeling guilty. Regina knows she should. She's straying. She's committing adultery. And with a woman. She is doing everything the king despises.
Maybe that's why it feels so good.
It gives her a certain thrill. Knowing that the king would be appalled if he knew what just happened in his own castle.
Regina chuckles to herself, a dark little sound in the back of her throat that almost scares her. She definitely had too much wine tonight. Her head is spinning, both from the kiss and the alcohol.
Regina lies back down. It doesn't even take a minute before the effect of the alcohol sets in, and she falls asleep.
The next day, the whole thing seems completely unreal, and Regina has to take a moment to convince herself that it actually happened.
She struggles to maintain her calm façade during breakfast. Not that she needs to. Nobody looks at her. Except for Snow's over exited "good morning, stepmother!" and the king's calm "good morning, my dear", they don't really pay attention to her. Snow chatters on about how the entire castle is going to see her ride her horse after breakfast, and Regina feigns interest and assures the girl that "of course I'll be there and watch you ride, my dear". Snow seems delighted, and the king does too. Regina often wonders if he even knows how unhappy she is. Does he even see her? Has it ever occurred to him to talk to her, to get to know her?
No. Regina knows he isn't interested in that. He's still clinging on to the memory of queen Eva. There was one time, where he had a bit too much wine at dinner, their paths crossed, and his face had lit up in a smile because he thought Regina was Eva. He had called out to her, had cried "Eva!" because he was certain his late queen had come back to him. It had made Regina feel sick to her stomach, but she hadn't shown it. Had simply send for one of the guards and told him that the king needed to be escorted back to his chambers.
Regina watches him as he talks to Snow, and she silently wonders, if things had been different, if she had been capable of caring for him. If she had been able to care for Snow White.
Caring for Snow White? Stupid nonsense. She could never care for that little brat. Snow White cost her everything.
Her grip around her fork tightens, magic crackles from her fingertips, and she has to remind herself where she is and who she's with. She can't slip up now. Everything would be ruined if she did that.
After breakfast, everyone, guards, nursemaids and other members of the staff heads over to the stables. A noble, white steed is waiting for Snow White, and the king smiles proudly as the girl mounts the horse. Everyone, Regina included is cheering as the girl steers the horse around in circles, demonstrating her horseback riding skills.
Regina smiles like everybody else present, and she thinks to herself that Snow makes a very poor figure on the animal. Her back is not nearly straight enough, and the way she's using her legs to steer the horse is incorrect. But Regina doesn't tell her that. The young princess doesn't take too kindly to criticism, and the comment would certainly earn a raised eyebrow from the king. He doesn't take too kindly to anyone who dares to criticize the princess, either.
So Regina smiles while she falsely assures the princess that she's doing a wonderful job. Smile and pretend. That's her role. Smile and pretend.
Snow's little demonstration seems to go on and on and on, and after withstanding the torture for an appropriate amount of time, Regina makes an excuse about feeling warm in the sun. She declines her maids offer about fetching her some water and says that she would much rather prefer to get it herself. No one will notice if she doesn't come back. The king's eyes are already resting upon Snow White again.
Regina quietly slinks away from the exited mass and returns to the solitary of the castle.
She does indeed drink a large, cool glass of water, but the idea of going back and take part in Snow White's joy is simply unbearable, so Regina takes advantage of the unguarded front gate and slips away. They're all back at the stables, cheering for Snow White. No one will notice her absence.
The walk is good for her. She feels less… angry. And she takes the opportunity to memorize some of the spells she's currently trying to learn. She has another lesson with Rumplestiltskin tomorrow, and he will taunt her if he finds out she hasn't been studying.
She mumbles to herself, trying her best to remember the various spells as she walks. Regina opens her palm, breathes slowly, deeply, concentrates and closes her eyes like Maleficent instructed her, and a few seconds later, a flame appears in her hand. Regina chuckles to herself. That was easier than the last time she attempted to do this.
The weather is almost unbearably warm, and Regina once again end up seeking shelter underneath that big oak tree. She undoes the light shawl she brought with her and wipes her brow. She didn't choose the best day to take a walk. She should have stayed inside the castle instead.
Hopefully, Snow White's steed will go mad because of the heat and throw the girl off. And this time, Regina won't be around to safe her. Justice finally served.
She sits down underneath the oak tree and leans her head back for a moment. It's so blissfully quiet out here. She can't hear anything, especially not Snow White's laughter.
But she can feel something. Even though her eyes are closed, she can feel the sun disappearing. A cloud? Regina opens her eyes and gazes up at the sky. Hopefully it wont rain again. She still hasn't mastered that drying spell.
But it's not a cloud. It's a shadow. A large shadow. A moving shadow, that is. The shadow is flying, that's what it's doing.
It only takes Regina ten seconds to realize that this isn't no ordinary shadow. No, this is a dragon.
That ought to fill her with panic, right? The sight of a dragon circling above you, should make anyone panic, right?
But Regina finds herself to be strangely calm as she listens to the "whoosh, whoosh" sounds from the dragon's wings, and watches how it slowly zeroes in on her.
The ground shakes and the trees trembles as the enormous dragon lands. Maleficent looks to her left, then to her right and blinks her glowing green eyes once. Then she folds her wings and approaches Regina.
Regina raises an eyebrow as the dragon comes closer. She isn't afraid, not anymore, but what Maleficent is doing right now is risky. Anyone could walk past and see the dragon, and a dragon in the king's forest would undoubtedly cause some panic.
"What are you doing here?" she asks, like the last time, but not unkindly this time.
Of course Maleficent doesn't provide her with much of an answer, Regina hadn't expected that, but she does feel rather surprised when Maleficent bows her enormous head and nudges Regina's hand with her snout.
"What?" Regina asks.
Maleficent nudges her hand again, and Regina takes that as an invitation. She slowly reaches up and puts her hand on Maleficent's enormous snout.
Maleficent flashes her something that could have been a smile if she was in her human form.
Regina chuckles at the strange expression on the dragon's face. Dragons are supposed to cause fear and terror.
The dragon disappears in a cloud of smoke, and then Maleficent, in her human form, emerges from the swirl of magic, dressed in a deep purple dress and with her hair swept to the side in some kind of half up-do.
"Hello again." she says silkily and shakes her hair as to shake off the last remains of her dragon form.
"Hello." Regina acknowledges.
"May I sit?"
"Be my guest," Regina says and moves a bit so there's room for Maleficent under the tree.
Maleficent gathers her skirts with one hand and gracefully sits down next to Regina. She's looking at Regina again, but this time, Regina doesn't find it to be unnerving.
"Are you here alone?" Maleficent asks calmly.
Regina shrugs. "Yes."
"Where's your faithful little puppy of a stepdaughter?"
Regina glares at Maleficent. "She's currently showing off her riding skills to the entire castle."
"And you snuck off."
"I doubt no one notices my absence," Regina says plainly.
Maleficent reaches out and takes her hand, entwines their fingers like it's the most natural thing in the world.
And maybe it is. Regina turns her head slightly and smiles. Holding Maleficent's hand feels surprisingly normal. She gives the other woman's hand a soft squeeze.
"Well, look who is coming around," Maleficent quips, brings Regina's hand up to her lips and gives it a light kiss.
Regina chuckles at that. Maybe she is coming around. Whatever that means.
Maleficent dusts her fingertips along Regina's jawline, brushes her cheek lightly. "Beautiful."
Regina raises an eyebrow. That is new, too. The king has called her beautiful, Snow White has called her beautiful. But Regina had never believed them.
This statement… This statement she actually believes. The way Maleficent says it, sounds exactly like the way Daniel said it.
And Regina's cheeks heat up at unexpected the compliment. "T-thank you."
Maleficent chuckles warmly. "You are most welcome, darling."
Darling. That is certainly new, too.
"Why are you so good to me?" Regina asks, well, she knows why, Maleficent's last visit revealed as much, but she hadn't expected the Mistress of all Evil to be this. To be so kind. So gentle.
"Would you rather have me be cruel to you?" Maleficent drawls and gives her cheek a light pet.
"Perhaps I would understand that better," Regina quips dryly.
Maleficent laughs, a genuine sound and not just a chuckle. Then she leans in and brushes her lips against Regina's. Gently, exactly like the last time.
But this time, Regina doesn't hesitate to return the kiss, and instead of keeping her hands where they are, she slowly reaches up and rests them on Maleficent's cheeks. Her skin is soft, exactly like Regina had imagined, and it delights her to know that she was right in her assumption.
Maleficent doesn't seem to mind Regina's hesitant touch. The blonde firmly puts her hands over Regina's, to keep them in place. To make sure, Regina doesn't move her hands away.
But Regina has no desire to remove her hands from Maleficent. And at the same time, she wishes she could touch her elsewhere. Wrap her arms around Maleficent's waist and pull her closer or bury her hands in the sorceress' blonde tresses.
Suddenly, she feels the tip of Maleficent's tongue ghost over her lower lip, and Regina doesn't even think before she parts her lips, allowing the other woman's tongue access.
Maleficent moves her hands from Regina's and cups her face more firmly to pull her closer.
Regina is shocked when she makes an entirely unladylike sound in the back of her throat. Her body is acting in ways she had no idea it could, and she's a bit embarrassed about the sounds spilling from her lips.
Maleficent presses one last, lingering kiss to her lips and then the dragon sorceress pulls back. Her eyes have blackened and there's a new gleam in them. "Oh, why haven't I found you sooner?"
And for that Regina has no answer. But she does know that she's feeling even warmer than before. Warm and flustered and slightly breathless. What is this woman doing to her?
"When will I see you again, little one?" Maleficent asks and brushes a lock of hair behind Regina's ear.
"The next time the king is away." Regina says. And oh, how she means it.
To Be Continued…