Can I Keep You?

Chapter 11

So... warm...

Meliodas felt like his body was wrapped in light, and that light invaded every inch of him. It was warm and soothing, unlike anything he had felt in so long. It was soft too. Where had he been that he managed to find somewhere so nice to rest? He couldn't remember...

His hand twitched as he grasped at the cloud he slumbered on. So soft and warm, yet firm beneath his fingers. Silky soft. This had to be heaven, right? There was no way a place so wonderful as this existed on good old terra firma. He squeezed his plump cloud again, and a pleasurable whimper resounded in his ear that was pressed to the cloud.

Meliodas' eyes shot open.

This was no cloud, but damn, there was no closer to heaven than he would ever be, as he was right then. Meliodas was laying partially on his stomach, draped across a slumbering silverette, who was laying on her back; her left arm draped over him to rest softly on his shoulder. His face had been resting on her bare mid-drift, as her shirt had managed to pull up, and his left hand was outstretched to lay comfortably on Elizabeth's - only partially hidden - breast. No wonder the cloud in his dream was firm...

He peered up at her face, stained with tear streaks. She had been crying again... but, why? Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the slightest glance of a bandage on his cheek. That's when it all came back to him.

They had been walking down the road to find a tailor and Elizabeth had stopped. She was scared but didn't know why. Then he was bleeding. He hadn't felt someone cut him... and then everyone had disappeared from the street. That's when he felt it. The darkness that surrounded the man he had been hunting. Atlas was there and he wasn't alone. There were a total of three others with him. He had run with Elizabeth before the shadows had started chasing them... but everything after that, ran into a colorful haze.

Soft footsteps alerted Meliodas to oncoming guests, one in heels and another with hooves, and he closed his eyes again, feigning sleep just as the bedroom door opened.

"Seems they managed well enough," Merlin chuckled to herself and Meliodas could almost see the fume erupting from Hawk's ears as he took in Meliodas' placement, "That bastard!" he whisper-squealed but did not come charging. Merlin must have stopped him.

Meliodas listened as Merlin's footsteps grew nearer, then after a moment, there was a soft movement to Elizabeth's shoulder, "Elizabeth..." she called softly, attempting to rouse the silverette. She mumbled in her sleep, but must have opened her eyes because Merlin spoke again, with more than her name, "Morning, Elizabeth. How is he?" there was that amusement in Merlin's voice, again. She was obviously getting a huge kick out of the situation. He REALLY needed to tell her she was terrible at this whole bedside manner thing.

"Oh, uh..." Elizabeth shifted, probably looking for him at her side but 'eeped' softly when she realized where he actually was now. She must have been blushing because he felt her skin heat up. Before the heat had gone away, he felt her brush his bangs from his face and place a gentle hand on his forehead.

"His fever is gone!" she gasped happily, "I'm so glad!"

Fever? So he had had a fever at some point in the time between the attack and him waking up. Strange. He wasn't usually one to get sick. He certainly didn't feel sick now.

"Pleased to hear it. Why don't you go get cleaned up, then?" Merlin pressed suddenly. Catching both Elizabeth and him off guard. She mumbled some start to what would have been an argument, but Merlin must have done something to quiet her, "Elizabeth, the captain will not die in the time it would take you to freshen up and change. You're still wearing the bloody clothes from yesterday. Imagine what he'll think if he wakes up and finds you like that."