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An icy wind blew straight through Zelda’s bones, and she could swear she can feel tiny droplets starting to leak from the sky. It truly was a miserable day. Mercifully she could make out the hotel at the end of the street. Slightly slowing her pace Zelda looked over her shoulder in search of Lilith. The brunette was trailing a couple of steps behind Zelda, looking totally defeated. With a sigh, Zelda stopped walking completely and waited for Lilith to catch up to her. Once they were walking side by side she switched her suitcase to her other hand so that she could link arms with her Queen. It reminded her of their date only a week prior. The date and the KISS that they hadn't discussed since it happened.
“Hey, cheer up. We’ll have more luck tomorrow.” They were at the annual Witch- History conference, which as fate would have it was hosted on the outskirts of Greendale this year.
“No, you were right. It’s a waste of time. Nobody cares about the curch of Lilith. I should have listened to you.”
Zelda had told her that it was perhaps too soon to try and convert other witches to their ways, barely six months after her ascend as Queen. But Lilith, stubborn as ever was convinced that it would be a good opportunity. She has such excitement in her eyes and the way she said ‘please Zelda' made Zelda unable to refuse her. “Well, we can try talking to some other witches tomorrow” she replied trying not to rub it in. “Remember it is a 2-day event. Let's get some rest and regroup tomorrow.”
“I say we just go home,” Lilith said defeatedly pouting her lips. Not one witch or warlock wanted to hear anything about Lilith or the new Manifesto Zelda had been working on. Instead, they were met with strange looks and at one point they were flat out ignored. In all honesty, Zelda didn't blame them. Lucifer had been their Lord for all eternity, and change is scary. For all they knew they would be punished for straying from the lie they'd been fed or even thinking of worshipping a new Deity.
“Nonsense, let's just get us some rooms. Tomorrow will go better I promise.”
Upon reaching the reception in the busy foyer of the Hotel Zelda asked for two rooms. “I’m sorry ma'am but I'm afraid we're fully booked.” The man behind the desk responded, visibly flustered with the number of people in the hotel.
“Are you serious?” Zelda groaned. Could this day get any worse?
“I-I really do apologize for the inconvenience. We don’t usually have so many guests.” he replied shrinking under Zelda’s stare. “We do have one single room available but it’s not very spacious.”
“Just take it” Lillith breathed into Zelda's ear, her nose slightly tickling the shell of her ear. “We can just magic an extra bed.”
Zelda complied and paid for the room before she and Lilith made her way to the elevator to get to their floor. “This is us,” she said slipping the card into the handle and opening the door for Lilith. Without hesitation Lilith walked into the room and plopped down onto the bed and started rubbing her ankles “I'm exhausted” she said wincing as she rubbed a particularly painful spot.
“Lilith,” Zelda said softly from her spot from the door where she stood in shock, “I don’t think we’ll be able to fit another bed in here.”
Lilith stood up and took in her surroundings. The bed was situated in the middle of the room with one bedside table on the side closest to the window. In the one corner, the was a small chest of drawers, and next to that was a door that Lilith suspected led to an ensuite. Next to the now-closed door where Zelda stood was a desk and chair. The room was actually pretty modern and would do just fine for a businessman jetting of to Greendale for some important meeting. For two people, not so much. Zelda was right, there was no space for another bed. “He wasn’t joking when he said it wasn't very spacious.” Lilith smiled nervously.
“It's not funny,” Zelda said exasperated placing her suitcases next to the bed. “What are we going to do!?”
“You take the bed, I’ll just grab a pillow and a blanket and sleep on the floor.”
“No way Lilith, you just said you were exhausted, you need a good night’s rest. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Technically they could both fit on the bed, Lilith thought. It was a ¾ and with a bit a snuggling she was sure they could both get comfortable, but Zelda seemed so abhorred by the fact that there was only one bed that Lilith decided not to say that aloud.
“Honestly Zelda just take the bed It’s no big deal,” Lilith said sounding more irritated then she meant to. If Zelda didn’t wat to share a bed with her, so be it. She obviously wasn't interested in her. What was she thinking, taking her on a date, kissing her even! Maybe she moved to fast and now she scared Zelda away. She was desperate to talk about their date this past week, but Zelda never brought it up. Lilith could feel her eyes starting to prickle and her face going warm. She really wasn’t in the mood to cry in front of Zelda so she went into the ensuite to have a shower, leaving the redhead totally confused.
Zelda decided it was best to leave Lilith alone to blow off some steam, so she went back to the ground floor in search of some food. Zelda tried not to take Lilith's attitude personally. It had been a wasted day, but she couldn’t help but feel like she did something wrong. Perhaps Lilith regretted taking her to dinner last week. Had Zelda misread the signs? She said a date and they even kissed, albeit a small kiss. A kiss on the lips surely couldn’t be regarded as platonic, could it? Zelda was still mulling this over by the time she returned to their tiny hotel room with some takeout. Closing the door behind her Zelda stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Lilith. The demoness was standing in nothing but a fluffy white towel, rummaging in her suitcase. The towel was dangerously low on her chest and Zelda could see the where the swell of her breasts started as well as the tiny freckles that dotted the olive skin.
Swallowing audibly Zelda averted her eyes and set the food down on the desk. “I got us some dinner,” she announced the obvious.
“Thanks,” Lilith said stuffily.
“Lilith are you okay?” Zelda asked concerned as she walked closer to Lilith. Had she been crying?
“Yup. This place is really dusty, giving me allergies. I'm tired so I'm just going to eat and go to bed.” Grabbing what she was looking for in her suitcase Lilith fled into the bathroom again to get dressed.
Allergies my ass, Zelda thought. That was her favorite line to use if she was crying too.
When they were done eating Zelda announced she was going to shower to which Lilith just nodded. When Zelda returned to the room Lilith was on the floor next to the window with a blanket and pillow that she magically summoned. Zelda crawled into bed, turned the bedside lamp off and whispered goodnight to a seemingly sleeping Lilith.
Lilith awoke with a numb feeling in her shoulder and arm. It took her a moment to remember where she was. The room was dark so she assumed it was still the middle of the night. She tried to find a more comfortable position on the floor, when she suddenly heard a soft whimpering from above.
“No please! Let go..”
Without thinking twice Lilith bolted up from the floor to find Zelda trashing in the sheats. Her forehead gleamed with sweat and in some places her hair stuck to her face. She grabbed the redhead gently by the shoulders, trying to still her movement and wake her up at the same time but to no avail.
“Please! I beg of you!” She was sobbing now and Lilith started to panic.
“Zelda!” she tried again, shacking her with some more force.
Zelda’s eyes shot open in shock as she pushed herself upright in the bed. Her eyes were wild and her chest was heaving.
“It’s okay, it was just a nightmare. Your safe now,” Lilith said moving back to give Zelda some space.
“I’m sorry for waking you.” Zelda trembled, refusing to meet Lilith’s eyes.
“It’s fine,” Lilith started moving back to her makeshift bed on the floor when Zelda grabbed her softly by the hand.
Lilith looked at her expectantly. “Would you stay with me? In the bed, please?”
Zelda scooted over to make space for Lilith. “Do you want to talk about it?” Lilith asked softly once she was settled in, keeping a safe distance between her and Zelda.
Zelda contemplated for a moment “It’s just a nightmare,” finally responded, sounding like she was trying to convince herself. “I was under the Calagari spell and Faustus was- he was...” her voice broke and her shoulders started to shake slightly.
“Come here,” Lilith said, forgetting all thought of keeping a safe distance from Zelda as she pulled her close. Nestling her face in the crook of Lilith's neck Zelda tried to control her breathing.
“It’s okay, you're safe,” Lilith repeated as she rubbed soothing circles on Zelda’s back. The moment Ambrose and Prudence found Faustus she was going to rip his throat out.
“I am sorry,” Zelda announced, her breath tickling the base of Lilith’s troat. “It’s been months since I’ve had a nightmare, but sometimes they come back to haunt me.”
“No need to apologize.” Lilith murmured against her temple. She knew this was a delicate moment, but she couldn’t help but notice how wonderful her High Priestess smelled. Vanilla mixed with tobacco and something else Lilith couldn't put her finger on.
They were quiet for a while and Zelda seemed to have composed herself. Pulling back slightly to meet Lilith's eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Anytime.” Lilith whispered back placing a soft kiss on Zelda’s forehead “You'll always be safe with me.”