Does he have it under control...?
Alastor's POV
"Alastor!"
Something shook me and I groaned. My arm went over my eyes and whatever was shaking me kept persisting.
"Al, get up!"
"Aria, darling, what time is it..." I mumbled, keeping my arm over my eyes. She threw herself across my stomach, knocking the air out of me.
Finally, I dropped my arm to find her laid across me dramatically. She was wearing cute winter pajamas, and it was then I noticed her room is chilled.
"It's 7 am!" She said, a huge smile on her face. I haven't seen her so perky in weeks.
The sight made me smile and she pulled herself off of me and then sat on her knees and grabbed my arm, tugging me.
"Get up! It fuckin snowed!" She said giddily and this made my eyes widen slightly.
It actually snowed? In Louisiana?
I glanced over at her window, the glass looked frosted and I could see outside the trees were dusted in the white powder.
"Well, I'll be damned..." I mumbled quietly and she snorted.
"You already are," she said and I realized then what I'd said and my eyelids lowered. Then her eyes wondered down to my chest and exposed torso and she pointed at me.
"As much as I love looking at you, you may want to put a shirt on. It's kinda cold," she said and I scoffed softly, but snapped and made a long sleeve black shirt appear on my body.
She slipped off the bed and ran over to the window, hopping onto the nook and sitting on her knees. She was looking outside, and I could practically feel the excitement rolling off of her.
That sight alone was enough to make my entire morning.
I pushed myself up and tossed the covers off of me. When my feet met the hardwood I flinched.
It really is cold.
Making my way over to Aria, I took a moment to observe her. I check on her vitals and appearance every morning.
Her heartbeat is normal...
My hands met her arms and I rubbed down gently, then squeezed her bicep slightly.
Blood pressure is normal...
She's alright.
I slid my hands back up to her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. She just kept looking out the window at the endless sea of white.
I have to admit...it is very pretty. The snow glittered in the early morning light, giving the world a sparkly appearance. I haven't seen snow in so long...
My ears perked up when I remembered something.
Waving my hand, Aria's pills appeared in my palm and I reached around to hand them to her. Then I manifested her a glass of water and she mindlessly took her medicine, barely taking her eyes away from the snow.
After a moment of us observing the world, she spoke.
"I wanna go outside..." she said and I tilted my head.
"Why...?"
She spun around, standing up on her knees and gathering a bit of my shirt in her hands. Her eyes were big and absolutely full of light. The smile on her face could put mine to shame and I softened at the sight.
"To play in it, duh!" She said excitedly, and I felt amused at her suggestion. Her childish antics are refreshing.
But my brows knit together as I thought about it. It's awfully cold...she doesn't have much meat on her...I don't want her getting sick...
"Aria...honey—"
She clutched my shirt tighter and plopped her head against my stomach, looking up at me with big puppy eyes.
"Pleaaaaaase?" She asked sweetly and my heart thumped hard against my chest.
My ears lowered and I looked off to the side, then sighed softly.
"Very well...but I'm dressing you," I said firmly and she was already off the nook before I even finished speaking.
She stood in front of me with her arms out and I snapped.
Her pajamas turned into the proper winter clothing. With that same snap I changed my own clothing as well.
At that she grabbed my hand and practically drug me downstairs. She took me to the back door and threw it open, then ran out into the snow after letting go of my hand.
I watched her run around happily with a smile on my face. Then suddenly she crouched and started doing something with her back to me.
I tilted my head, taking a few steps towards her.
Then she turned around quickly and she was armed with little balls of snow. The smile on her face was nothing short of pure evil.
I pointed at her, frozen in place.
"Darling, don't you d—"
-Paf-
She giggled, and I glanced down at the snow mark on my chest. My eyes went back to her, kneeling in the snow.
"You have invoked my wrath...prepare to feel the passion of my revenge, demoness," I growled at her with a sly smile.
She threw another snowball at me, and hit my leg.
That's it.
I took both of my hands, flexing my fingers slightly.
"What're you gonna do! You don't have any sn—"
I flicked my wrist and every snowball she'd accumulated rose into the air around her. Her mouth fell open and she looked up.
"Hey no fair! That's cheating!" She said with a smile and scrambled up onto her feet.
"You can call it whatever you want," I chuckled and shrugged, "but I call it winning."
With that I started pelting her. I made sure to hit her legs and stomach, avoiding her face.
She squealed and ran away, running towards the forest.
I watched her disappear into the trees and hummed.
Bad hiding place, dear.
I hunted these woods for years.
My arms went behind my back and I teleported into the woods. I found tiny footprints, but they were leading every direction.
Clever little fox.
My ear twitched when I heard snow crunch and my smile widened.
Not clever enough.
Quickly, I teleported where the noise sounded from, but my smile fell when it was only a small rabbit. I huffed and looked at the creature.
It stared back at me and I put my hands on my hips.
"If I were you, I'd scurry before you become my breakfast," I growled at it, and it's nose twitched.
"You mock me, woodland creature," I grumbled, and then looked around.
Where did she go?
Suddenly a large patch of snow fell from the tree I was standing by, landing on my shoulder. My eyes shifted down to it, and then slowly I looked above me.
Well...I found her.
"Surprise!" She screamed and then hopped off the low branch she had somehow managed to climb up onto.
I reacted quickly by putting my arms up to catch her, and she felt like nothing as she landed in my arms. She acted like she was holding a knife and "stabbed" me in the chest.
"Gotcha! You're dead now," she said triumphantly and I chuckled at that, beginning to walk back towards the house with her in my arms.
"Oh, yes, dear. You vanquished me," I humored her game, and she giggled.
"Damn right I did," she said before snuggling up to me. She shivered and I held her tighter. I used my powers to warm my body up, and she hummed, pressing her face against my chest.
"You're warm..." she mumbled, and I ran my fingers through her hair.
"For you, dear..." I hummed back, and she chuckled. She shivered again, and I furrowed my brows.
She should not be cold while I'm this warm...I looked down at her and her face was flushed slightly, but she was still smiling.
"You alright, honey?" I asked her softly and she nodded.
"Yea I'm fine...just a bit tired is all. Hit me outta nowhere...we should probably head back in," she said and I nodded in agreement.
Once we made it back into the house I went to put her down, but she held onto me tighter. So, I carried her to the kitchen and went about my business with her strapped to my front like a baby koala.
I started mixing together some hot chocolate for her, using my powers since my hands were currently full. This caught her attention and she perked up.
"Hot chocolate...?" She asked and I chuckled softly.
"Yes...your face is all flushed and you're shivering," I said and she smiled big. Finally she slid down my front and onto her feet. Her clothing was damp, so I twirled my finger and changed her outfit again. She's back in her pajamas now.
I know she likes to put the marshmallows in herself, so I left those out. She turned and started fixing her drink how she likes it, and I gathered her hair up gently, pulling it up away from her face and into a ponytail.
I tied it back, and then leaned down to kiss her neck.
Her skin feels like ice...
Quickly I heated my hands, placing them against her neck and then running them down her arms. My eyes lingered on the exposed skin of her neck.
Lower, near her shoulder, were fading hickeys and then at the curve of her neck was a very very faint scar.
The scar from my bite.
Is it bad that I wish it were a tad bit more noticeable...?
I pushed that thought away quickly, and focused back on heating her up. She was dropping little marshmallows into her drink, and then she opened a tiny candy cane and mixed it together with the end of it.
She's very picky about her drinks.
"I was thinking..." she started slowly, and I chuckled, still running my hands over her body to try and warm her up.
"Don't do that, you may hurt yourself," I teased and she turned around to face me with a pout.
"Anyway..." she said, annoyed, "I was thinking...let's have a little party. Not a lot of people...just Eliot and Jake."
I cringed slightly and she sighed.
"C'mon, I know you and Jake don't see eye to eye, but he's really nice. If you two talked for a night, I'm sure you'd get along at least a little bit," she said desperately and I looked off to the side. My ears lowered slightly and I sighed.
"As you wish, sweetheart...but if he so much as touches you, I will—"
"Yea yea, you'll turn him inside out and wear his lungs as a vest, I get it," she waved her hand dismissively and then smiled, looking up at me, "so is that a yes?" She asked with a glimmer in her eye.
My smile softened and I nodded.
"Yes, dear."