𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 | 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝.

Chapter VI

A quiet roll of thunder was what woke her from a hazy slumber.

The smell of fresh evening rain drifted through the darkened room as Chaeyoung inhaled a sleepy breath. She felt warm and achingly relaxed, her muscles contracting in protest as Chaeyoung shifted to settle back into a dreamless sleep.

Her fingers slipped across the cool expanse of sheets as she stretched and rolled over... right into a face full of feathers.

Pulling back with fuzzy disgruntlement, Chaeyoung lifted her head and tried to blink the groggy sleep from her eyes as she worked to get her bearings.

She grunted against the street light filtering through a partially opened window along the far side of the room, the patter of raindrops against glass confirming the culprit of her wakefulness. Frowning through her disorientation, Chaeyoung let her eyes wander from the window up to the high vaulted ceiling above, the expanse of it looming over the mini cathedral-type mystery of a room.

"What in the fu..." she trailed off, eyes dragging back down the darkened walls. A mirror hung on the wall above a table overflowing with beauty products, Chaeyoung taking a moment to focus on the reflection of herself, her mussed hair and droopy eyes shining back as she laid propped up next to--

Oh.

Right.

Chaeyoung let her head swivel around to take in the sleeping figure beside her. She lowered herself back down to her pillow as Jennie snoozed on, each rhythmic breath punctuated by the rise and fall of slightly twitching wings. A smile tugged at Chaeyoung's lips at the serene look of her, shoulders hunched beneath the crown of feathers as a delicate fist sat tucked under Jennie's chin.

Beginning to feel a bit awkward at her own staring, she twisted to stare up at the ceiling again and released a slow breath. A few silent moments passed as the sound of rain continued to drum out its pleasantly relaxing beat.

Chaeyoung found herself becoming restless beneath the foreign scent of expensive sheets and detergent, the longer she laid there. A prickly energy started in her toes and crept upward, tightening as the feeling of it took hold inside her chest. She couldn't name it, but she squirmed with it, an uneasy sort of doubt pulling her further and further away from sleep.

This isn't the plan, Chaeyoung reminded herself as she glanced once again to her side.

Not that she ever had a plan when it came to Jennie, at least not one that didn't implode within the first few moments of being near her. But if she had actually had even a semblance of one... this certainly shouldn't be it.

Fingers drumming a final time on her stomach, Chaeyoung gave a definitive nod and moved to roll toward the edge of the bed.

Only to immediately collapse back down again with an "oof" as a blanket of midnight feathers slid over her and tugged her back in.

"Where d'you think you're goin'?"

Chaeyoung released a breath of a laugh when she looked toward the sleep-saturated voice.

"... Can't a girl use the bathroom?" she eventually whispered teasingly after a moment of mental scrambling, reaching beneath the canopy of Jennie's wing to poke a finger into her side.

Jennie didn't move immediately, instead laying there in slumbering silence, eyes closed and breathing deep throughout the tiny exchange. Then a sharper inhale gave way to a relenting sigh as the cage of feathers lifted from around Chaeyoung's waist and moved back to rest again along Jennie's side.