Wicked Delight

A Night Full of Firsts

Amoriel remembered the times her father used to crandle her and Wrap them in his own wings to calm her down after a nightmare. She always felt the safest when she was under those big snow-white wings.

She had no such comfort tonight.

She had been having nightmares a lot recently. She just kept going back to the dark pit and waking up with an achingly hard beating heart. She gasped in a sharp breath and hunched over in and hunched over in her bed, head between her knees as she clutched her chest as if she were holding in her heart.

Leo snorted himself awake, jostled by her sudden movements. "huh-mhm-mi amore-hngh-" he grumbled in his throaty voice that came with sleep and his arms found their way around her shaking body. "What happened?" his voice cracked tiredly and if it wasn't for the vomit-inducing pain she was feeling she probably would've felt bad for waking him. "Are you okay?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she lurched forward, gripping her chest still and hiding away behind her hair so he wouldn't see how awful she likely looked recovering from a nightmare.

Leo nervously peeked behind the curtain she had made with hair to check she was okay. She wasn't. he knew she didn't want him to see her like this, messy hair skin pale, hunched over herself. She was sure he was repulsed. He wasn't.

"oh, carina," he sat up beside her, all close and personal with her pain, and pulled her hair out of her face, rubbing her back. "was it Frank's cooking?" he asked sympathetically. Frank had made them dinner in an effort to cheer everyone's glum moods but his chicken alfredo was so bad it bordered on animal abuse. Hazel forced everyone to eat it all despite Jason's efforts to deposit it in a plant pot, even Nico who's diet had since consisted of a single pomegranate seed a day.

"Yeah." She answered finally. "Just a nightmare."

Leo steadied her as she slumped onto him tiredly. "Wanna talk about it?" he prompted, as he stroked her hair as she rested her head against his shoulder.

Leo's arms curled around her in response, both of them cradling each other in a sitting position. A few moments later she calmed down and smiled at him to calm him down because she knew that he was internally worrying about her. "It's just a nightmare. Don't worry, I'll get over it."

" I don't want you to get over it." Leo insisted immediately, he looked her in the eyes. "I want to fix it."

"I know, mi amore." She soothed. "And I love you for that." She genuinely meant it. She liked telling him she loved him because she enjoyed his reaction that was still as prevalent as it was the first time she told him.

His cheeks blushed warmly against his tanned skin and his crooked smile was a mix of shyness and smugness. Smug that he was loved, shy that it was sincere. "I love you too." He promised.

"Suck up..." Amoriel teased and grinned a little at his reaction which to stop stroking her back and attack her with his fingers, tickling her relentlessly.

"Is that how you wanna play, huh?" he asked rhetorically, laughing along with her as she giggled gleefully.

"Leo!" She cried. "Leo, stop!" she giggled crazily, thrashing about. Leo chuckled with his chest before he pushed her against the mattress, still tickling her. "Leo!" she gasped, still laughing, but Leo faltered slightly at the call of his name and he paused his dancing fingers, lingering on her waist as he leaned over her in the moonlight. "What...?" Amoriel asked, still catching her breath.

He swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing visibly, and cleared his throat. "Nothing," he insisted. He sat up and removed his hands from her. "It's nothing." Amoriel didn't believe him for a second. "We should probably get some sleep. Big day tomorrow." He decided suddenly and turned over, away from her, facing the other way.