✦ 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ✦

Thirty

Her nightmares were filled with replays of the night.

Of what she could have done differently.

Of what she should have done differently.

She should have tried harder.

Not been so fucking stupid.

She had been acting like a weak and feeble coward, unable to control her own personal powers.

Over and over...

Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic..

Her mind chanted the word.

The word perfectly described the display she put on yesterday. Her mind procured Nyx's reaction to her. He must have been so disappointed in her. The response in his eyes must have been pure displeasure at Mala's failure. Countless conclusions were drawn in her head full of uncertainty. Anxiety pulsed beneath her skin instead of fire, her powers long been put to sleep. At any second she could open her eyes, but she was scared of what she'd find.

A deep sleep for a limited amount of time had allowed for a lack of dreams but once her mind had resurfaced, and her thoughts had also bubbled to the surface. Unfiltered thoughts. Thoughts filled with guilt.

Agitation.

Despondency.

Regret.

Resentment.

Mala needed to wake up. Needed to distract herself from her volatile head. But her eyelids were like weights, unable to open. She was clouded with sleep, her body sluggish and unresponsive.

What Mala didn't seem to understand was why she couldn't feel her body. She didn't sense any of her limbs blistering or regenerating. She was still and solid. The end of the day before was blurry and she searched her memories for an explanation.

Nyx.

As always, Nyx was the center of most things, and when she finally managed to crack open her eyes she found that her body was completely healed. There was no evidence whatsoever that she had an entire meltdown yesterday. In fact, it was almost as if her skin glowed with health.

But how had Nyx cured her in such a way?

The answer was lost to Mala but she lifted her hands to rub at her tired and groggy eyes. The window showing the world outside was dimmed enough that she assumed it was sometime after noon.

Of course she was back in Nyx's room, which she also assumed was her new sleeping quarters while she was staying in the Night Court. The real owner of the chamber nevertheless was nowhere to be found. Which was not that surprising to her, considering that last time he had seen her was when she was nearing a corpse-like persona.

Mala had apparently been dressed in a small white nightgown, likely a maid who had picked it out for her. She wouldn't presume Nyx to be so much of a perverse type of fae to change her clothes. The probability that a servant had was a much higher percentage than it would have been the bat-like fae.

"Nyx!" she called out, breaking the heavy silence to see if he was in hearing distance from her.

Nyx suddenly materialized in front of the bed, shadows around his sturdy figure. His eyes were calculating, measuring Mala. The reaction time that she had witnessed from him astounded her. Through only a quick shout he had brought himself to her. Like an animal and a whistle to summon.

"Dearest?" he asked in a questioning way, though the phrase belonged to someone else, something a lover would say.

Nyx was no such thing.

"How did you...?" she lifted a hand and motioned to her healed body.

It hadn't been like that before.

He hummed in response, not deeming her a proper response before he made his way over to the side of the bed. Nyx took a seat by Mala, before he carefully placed his hand over hers. It took him a few moments to finally say something.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" his question was thoughtful and assessing.

"Besides my fiery outburst, not much," she snorted, though part of her voice was melancholy when she remembered what had happened.

Nyx caressed her hand with his supportively. A sudden wave of embarrassment washed over her and she extracted her hand from his quickly.

He had witnessed that.

That—fiasco.

What the fuck had she been thinking?

The humiliation she felt made her want to curl up in a ball and hide from all of the fae in the world. She covered her face in her hands and breathed in slowly, calming herself. She didn't want to have another meltdown again so soon. 'Gods' forbid. The room dimmed, the shadows lengthening, while Nyx's eyes darkened, as did his form. He certainly wasn't happy with what had occurred the night before. But then again, neither was she very happy about it either.

"My dear, you must know that—"

"It's fine Nyx, you don't have to come up with an excuse, I know how horrible it was. But my question is—"

"—I understand," he finished his statement whist interrupting her interruption of him.

Mala paused, mouth still opened and suspended.

"What?"

Nyx shifted from where he was sitting and his wings twitched with an unseen emotion. He huffed with chagrin as she slowly processed what he was trying to convey to her. Finally, he spoke.

"When you looked through my memories..." he paused and licked his lips contemplatively, "you didn't see everything."

Mala peeled her hands away from her face to fully face Nyx, beholding his pursed and pensive lips.

"Pray tell, what should I have see?" Mala drawled, not knowing what he was really quite going on about.

"It's be better if I showed you," his eyes met hers, "Do you mind?" he asked for consent.

She nodded her permission before closing her eyes, waiting for the onslaught of his mind and memories rejoining with her's once again. Her breath caught in her throat with the thrill of seeing Nyx in the past. Though quite curious, to be all the more inquisitive about a fae whom she knew almost everything about, yet nothing about what went on in his mind; what things ran through his head when he made decisions. She knew what he had done in his past, but his emotional state was entirely unknown to her. The mental conditions of all beings alike could change over time, so it wouldn't make sense to trust what she had seen from him as of prior. She hoped whatever he might show her could give her some more insight to how the gears in his head turned.

~tev <3