Chapter Text
When you got your first look-around of her bedroom, you’d almost thought it was a study at first. If it wasn’t for the bed, the room would qualify as an office. Her desk was stacked with notebooks and loose papers. Dried plants were hung from the ceiling with little notes attached to tell their specifications. It was designed to be a place to work, not to rest.
“I thought you said you tried everything?” You comment, looking around, referencing back to her statement on having exhausted all her other options when it came to fixing her insomnia.
“I have.” She responds, feeling a bit defensive as you imply otherwise.
You don’t push the matter further, keeping the suggestion of separating work and rest to yourself. Right now, it wasn’t what she needed. She didn’t need discussion, she needed to sleep and that’s what you were here for.
“Can I borrow a shirt, I didn’t bring one with me.” You ask instead, redirecting the conversation to the topic at hand.
The question gets you a raised eyebrow from Miranda as she had assumed you would have brought some for yourself as you knew you’d be staying the night. “You didn’t bring sleep wear?”
The look she gave you gets a little chuckle from you as you elaborate. “I didn’t expect the change of plans, Lady Dimitrescu usually just lends me something.”
“From her closet?” Miranda responds sceptically as the idea of you wearing a shirt from Alcina was a laughable mental image considering the countess’ size. Meanwhile she does make her way to a wardrobe stood to the side.
“Oh no, the sisters’ closets. It actually takes a while, they never agree on which shirt I should wear this time. It’s like they’re dressing up a doll but can’t decide on a unanimous theme yet every time they land on the exact same looking shirt.”
You laugh softly as you explain and the memories return to your mind. You liked the sisters, despite their more unhinged and chaotic nature. It probably helped that, unlike the maids, you didn’t need to fear for your life around them. After all, you were there at Lady Dimitrescu’s request and therefore not to be touched or hurt by them.
“That does sound like something they would do, and interesting bunch.” She responds as she extends a hand to you, holding a black T-shirt. You shouldn’t be surprised that she owned a normal T-shirt, but silently you were, considering her usually rather extravagant choice of clothing. Even now that she was wearing something more akin to lounge robes, she managed to make them look fancy, though perhaps that was simply because she was the one wearing them.
She was attractive, there was no denying that. The woman could probably be handed a trash bag and still make it look good which in and of itself was impressive. The fact that she maintained perfect skin while working such long hours in a literal laboratory also seemed like some kind of witchcraft to you. Perhaps it was, but you doubted it.
You thank her for the shirt as you take it from her hands, already starting to change without bothering to seek some privacy. You were gonna spend the night in her bed and atop of the fact that you were both women, there was hardly something you had that she wouldn’t have seen before. You quite frankly, did not care.
She was a bit surprised about your choice to start changing in front of her but didn’t object, instead silently letting her eyes wander over your form. It was quite a while since she last had company over, let alone have them change in front of her very eyes, so she didn’t quite know where to look. Judging by the fact that you didn’t seem to mind her gaze on your body, she doesn’t look away.
You looked soft, nice to hold, and she starts to understand why Alcina liked to have you come over. However, she quickly shoos her own thoughts away, still convincing herself this wouldn’t work. It couldn’t. Instead, she finally looks away and takes off her own lounge robe, already wearing her own sleep wear underneath. A night dress, a fancy one at that, not surprising by her standards.
You were done changing in the meantime, now dressed in only panties and her shirt. In comparison to her you looked like a peasant, not that it would matter in the darkness of night. As you turn towards the bed, to her, you find her eyes to be wandering again, resting on your expose legs a bit too long to be accidental. She seemed almost lost in thought for a moment, yet the look she was giving you wasn’t judgmental in the slightest and therefore you didn’t mind.
It was only once you started to move towards the bed that she snapped out of it and realised she’d been staring. She doesn’t mention it, not wanting to admit it to you nor herself. In order to pretend she hadn’t, she swiftly shuts the curtains and grabs the lantern which had been lighting up the room. As she approaches the bed she makes the decision to turn off the lantern prematurely, casting the room in darkness.
You’d comment on it if you didn’t understand that it was more for her own comfort. This was clearly unfamiliar to her, you didn’t blame her if she didn’t wish to deal with your eyes on her.
You sit yourself down on the bed, your weight creating a dip In the soft mattress. It was good quality, much better than what you were used to in your own home.
The dark makes it a bit harder to bind the covers, but eventually you manage to grab onto them and pull them over your legs at the same time that you feel the dip of Miranda’s weight on the mattress, letting you know she joined you.
The bed was a bit larger than a usual 1-person bed so you both had some space to work with without immediately falling off the sides which was rather convenient as she was still seemingly rather hesitant to actually initiate physical contact. You chose to lay down, propping yourself up on your side, facing her as you spoke.
“Can you promise me something?”
“Like what?” Her voice sounded not too far away from you now as she moved to lay down. She had never felt so unsure of what to do in her own bed.
“You tell me if you’re uncomfortable.” At this point it was painfully obvious that she wasn’t used to this and the last thing you wanted to do was make her uncomfortable in her own home. You were here because she was unable to sleep and her only option that she hadn’t tried was cuddles. If she ended up being uncomfortable that would defeat the whole point of trying to have her get some rest, in which case you might as well not cuddle at all.
Your request was a considerate one, and therefore one she actually much appreciated. It reminded her that this was for her benefit at the end of the day, she didn’t need to do this if it ended up not working out, she just needed to try it.
“Very well, I will.”
Her agreement was a reassurance on your end, to know that she wouldn’t push herself and that you wouldn’t unknowingly forfeit any of her boundaries. With that safety net now secured, you decide to finally initiate, though moving carefully to give her time to adjust.
Your right hand comes to lay on her waist as you shuffle closer to her in the bed, positioning yourself in such a way that would practically make you a human teddy bear, placing your head about shoulder height for her. The initial contact makes her tense up a little bit at first but she quickly relaxes. She doesn’t tell you to stop and so you continue, allowing you hand to slide across the fabric of her night dress to come to fully embrace her waist as you turn your head and rest it against her shoulder.
You’re about to ask her if this was okay when you feel her hands coming to rest on you in return. Her right arm, which you admittedly were pretty much laying on with your neck, comes up o your head, touching you so lightly that you could almost brush it off as accidental if it weren’t for the fact that you know better.
Her left hand mirrors your own as it comes to lay on your waist but due to your shirt riding up a little with your horizontal positioning it’s not fabric she finds, instead touching your bare skin directly. She curses internally, nearly pulling back for a moment to correct it before you stop her.
“It’s alright, I don’t mind.” You assure her it’s okay. “I’m not as fragile as you seem to think, I’ll let you know if it’s too much.” You decide to extend the same grace to her that she gave you. Giving her the reassurance that you’d tell her if you were uncomfortable as well though in reality you were far from it. Sure, this wasn’t where you had expected yourself to end up this evening but you weren’t going to complain. Despite her hesitancy she was actually rather nice to rest against, warm, like your own personal heating pad.
Miranda’s mind on the other hand is not as peaceful and united as your own. Part of her want to get comfortable and is actively trying to at least see if this whole ordeal would work while her more usual self is actively saying it wouldn’t, it’s a waste of time and she’s making a fool of herself. Yet despite her inner conflict, her hold on you tightens a little in response to your words.
You can’t help but smile a little as you take it as a sign that she seems to be getting more comfortable. Personally, you were already getting quite snug, your other hand having come up to wrap around her back. It was getting a little tingly but those are the sacrifices we must make for cuddles. It was something you’d deal with in the morning when it’d undoubtedly become be numb.
While actively avoiding any sudden movements you slowly bring one knee forward to tangle your leg with one of hers as it was a strange feeling to keep your legs straight down like a plank. While initially met with a bit of resistance by her as she was unsure what you were trying to do, she soon decided to copy you, leaning the two of you to be properly entangled now which was much more comfortable than keeping your legs straight.
She could tell you were comfortable against her and it actually made her heart beat a little faster. Most of the people she interacted with feared her, they’d respect her, worship her, but they’d never truly be comfortable with her. They knew how dangerous she was. Yet here you were, snug against her despite undoubtedly fully aware that she could skin you within a second. It was a strange feeling.
But a nice one.
Without realising it she’d wrapped herself around you a bit more, holding you close to her in a way that suggested more than just friendly cuddles. She was starting to like this, really like this, it was evident in her body language even if her mind was still in denial.
The only sounds in the room were those of your breathing and the occasional rustling of the sheets if one of you moved slightly. Most of the wildlife outside had already gone to sleep, leaving only a simple hum of the wind moving past the house. The near silence is only broken as you talk, your voice much quieter now, soft.
“Goodnight Miranda.” You ditch the usual title, she could punish you for it later if it offended her, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Despite not having the problem of insomnia impact your own well-being, you did truly hope this would help her, even if only with an extra hour or two, it was clear she needed it, you could tell how tired she was from her response and the way she was now practically clinging onto you.
“Goodnight.” Her voice sounds close to your ear as she had rested her head atop of yours, truly engulfing your form now, at least with her upper body. She sounded as if she could fall asleep anytime now and after only a few more minutes of comfortable silence she does despite her mind’s attempts to keep her awake. You follow suit not long after, a small smile grazing your lips.