[castle darkness; nick]

[signed_sabrina]

Sabrina supposes there's a comfort in knowing that at least fashion seems fairly consistent from Dark Lord to Dark Lord. In the end, Lucifer had preferred all that gold in what Aunt Zelda had declared a gauche representation of being the Morning Star.

But she remembers the black lace she'd worn on the night of her almost-baptism, and that's similar to this new dress.

There's certainly drama in this one, at least.

She's doing her best to look imperiously bored as she plays with some bizarre little puzzles that would mean putting a cube together, having chased the latest round of goblin servant-guards away. That doesn't mean, however, that her ears aren't trained for a certain discovered secret passage, and movement within.

Comments

[awickedtime]

He does what he can. Between them, him and Salem cause a little chaos. He takes a perverse glee in burning the goblins alive. He sees as much of Rosie and Charlie as he can. He keeps them as safe as he dares. Whispered incantations make him invisible if nobody looks straight at him.

He emerges from the shadows.

"Hey, babe."

[signed_sabrina]

She rises, the mask and the act falling away, and she strides toward him in a flurry of black lace and ribbon. So far, there have been no problems, but she hadn't given the play-acting bit enough thought. Goblins are foolish and easily frightened, that's a relief, but she can't be entirely sure that her time with Rosie and Charlie has gone unnoticed.

Seeing Nick here, though, is a different sort of relief, and she moves into his arms, letting herself drag in deep breaths, as if coming up from underwater.

"Nick," she whispers, just to have something on her tongue besides worry or cruelty.

[awickedtime]

His arms are tight around her, holding him tight against his body for a moment. He presses his nose into her hair, breathing in the smell of her, which is still the same, which seems marvelous, somehow. Verging on the miraculous, whatever that might be for them.

"Right here," he says.

[signed_sabrina]

Sabrina would have said she's had enough miracles, but she thinks that if she's able to pull any of this off, they can use the m-word.

This is perhaps even more dangerous, this embrace while she pretends to be considering an engagement with the monster that controls the castle, that marks her as not nearly so amenable. She doesn't do anything less, she'd crawl under his clothes and as close as she could.

The corner of her mouth pulls up. "I've been conducting all my secret meetings in the bed, so...."

[awickedtime]

"Oh, really?" says Nick, and he risks his first smile in what feels like days. "I take it you've managed to see both of them?" He brushes her hair back from her face. "How did they seem to you?"

[signed_sabrina]

"Really," says Sabrina, and seems to be trying to steer him that way too. Safer and easier to hide him there, after all. "Rosie was a surprise. They brought her up to sing to me, trying to win some favor. Which gave me the idea to get Charlie brought up as-- someone to play with. I was able to get them some rest, warm them up."

She blinks hard, because she can't afford to cry now.

[awickedtime]

Nick lets her steer him where she wants him, bed or wherever else. Despite all his layers, he's cold from all of the time in the dungeons, so some time under a blanket with the girl he loves sounds restorative.

"I've been looking after them both as much as I can," he says. "Trying to keep them going. And I went to see Marcus."

[signed_sabrina]

"I know you have," she says, allowing herself a moment of quiet awe for Nick, who has slipped so naturally into her life here, who fights without question for the people she loves, who does the right thing. "You know," she says, her eyes a bit wet as she pulls him into bed, climbing in after him, "you really are the best warlock boyfriend. You are proof that the Path of Night doesn't make someone a bad person. And I think I'm glad your name is in that Book if it keeps these things from seeing your light and trying to take you too."

She kisses him firmly.

"How's Marcus?"

[awickedtime]

Nick doesn't answer for a moment because, honestly, he doesn't know how much light he has in him at all, these days, whether his name is in the book of the beast or not. He gets onto the bed, curls up with her.

"Worried for you, but riding it out."

[signed_sabrina]

As in many thing, Sabrina is sure enough for the both of them.

She nestles into Nick, her safest place in this time, and tries to find a little patch of skin to press her face against. The very fact that Marcus remains worried for her, but trusts her to do this is exactly why she loves him.

"Good. The dreams-- this Darkness-- monster? I'm not sure what to call him, and I'm not about to call him any sort of Lord, the dreams are stronger. I think I'll see him soon. I shouldn't sleep with any of you in here."

[awickedtime]

Nick tips his head, makes room for her to burrow into the hollow of his throat. He threads his finger into her hair, cradling the back of her head for a moment.

"I'll make sure you don't drift off," he promises. "Just be here with me for a moment."

[signed_sabrina]

It would be lovely, to let herself sleep like this, but she's at least grateful that whatever deep measure of her own will that keeps her on course won't even let her try. "I'm here," she whispers. "I'm with you, and you're with me, and even if we're part of the darkness, I've got your hand."

[awickedtime]

"And I am never letting go of you, Spellman," he says, with all of the weight of a promise. "I will never, ever let go of you, babe."

[signed_sabrina]

"I know," she whispers, and she does. She absolutely knows it.

She smiles against his throat. "I gotta say, this sneaking around in the shadows and in and out of dungeons thing you've going going on is really working for me, too."

[awickedtime]

"Yeah?" says Nick, doing his best to keep his tone light, playing with the ends of her hair. "You always did like me up to no good, babe. You're a very poor influence, you know..."

[signed_sabrina]

"Mm, I'm terrible," she agrees, pressing her face up just enough to kiss the spot under his ear. "But I like you a lot of ways. Up to no good is just particularly... stirring. Up to no good because I asked you, even better."

[awickedtime]

"You know I'd do anything for you," he says, tipping his head to give her more room to move her mouth against her skin. "Especially if it makes causing a little trouble."

[signed_sabrina]

"We're going to get to cause a whole bunch of it soon enough," she says, letting her lips trail down his neck again, soothing herself. "You know, Dark Lords retain the same sense of drama wherever you go. He'll give us an opening, even if I have to agree to some things first."

[awickedtime]

"Just promise me you won't let it go too far, Sabrina," says Nick, though he doesn't pull away from the touch of her mouth. He'll be there if it goes too far, and they both know it. They both know the lengths he'll go to to keep her safe.

[signed_sabrina]

"No plans to marry any Dark Lords, I promise," she agrees. "Or anything else. And you'll be there to pull me back if I start to get all-- white-eyed." She's quiet for a while then, just breathing in the warmth of his skin. "I don't suppose any of this is what you expected it to be like, if we were able to be together again."

[awickedtime]

"I'll be right there," he says. "And my magic's still not...great, but I can boost you, if you need it. I can help." He smiles, bending his head to drop a kiss against her hair. "Are you asking me if I was expecting a quiet life, Spellman? Because I definitely wasn't."

[signed_sabrina]

His words work a little bit like a spell, and she's laughing into his chest, infinitely more relaxed. "I guess that's a good thing, because you're sure not getting one with me," she says. "Though you never know, I may change my mind and become docile and subservient to my men any day, just as I'm supposed to."

She can't manage a straight face while saying it, though.

[awickedtime]

"Bullshit," breathes Nick, and he feels more relaxed than he has for days, close with her like this. For a moment he almost feels like they might all be safe. "That's never going to happen, Spellman. We wouldn't know what to do with you if you did."

[signed_sabrina]

"You'd know I wasn't me, or that something was wrong, for sure," she answers, nipping at his jaw. "And then you'd fix it. I have so much faith in you, Nicholas Scratch."

She smiles into his neck. "If I were into possibly being spied on by goblins, this whole rogue warlock in the shadows thing would definitely be leading us in a direction other than rest."

[awickedtime]

Nick still isn't entirely sure that that faith is deserved, but he knows he'd die trying to prove it to her. He smiles, cradling the back of her head.

"Oh, really?"

[signed_sabrina]

“My boyfriend, a rogue of shadows,” she hums. “Definitely a good look on you. The stuff of fantasies.” It’d be all too easy to fall asleep if they weren’t talking, but just being able to talk to him is restful enough.

[awickedtime]

"I do my best," he says, shifting so that she can settle across his chest and rest for a moment, if she wants to. "Anything to keep you entertained."

[signed_sabrina]

“You have never been anything less than fascinating,” she answers, sliding down to rest her cheek against his chest, feeling a bit like a romance novel heroine. “What’s the plan, after we take care of this?”

[awickedtime]

He threads his fingers through her hair, cradling the back of her head for a moment, keeping her close.

"How far into the future are we looking, Spellman?"

[signed_sabrina]

"A couple months, at least," she answers, and then ducks her face down. "Sorry. Maybe this is a ridiculous... time to talk about it. I mean, this is a ridiculous situation."

[awickedtime]

"No," says Nick. "Wanting to talk about something normal isn't ridiculous." He thinks. "The three of us, I guess. Figuring it out. My apartment has two bedrooms."

[signed_sabrina]

"I have to turn eighteen here, in order to not be living with a guardian," she answers, allowing herself to enjoy the pillow of his chest. "But I've never had a problem when I want to spend a night with Charlie, and I don't think there will be with you. What will you do while I'm at school, which is a place where I certainly have not terrorized any staff?"

[awickedtime]

"I wasn't suggesting you move in. Not yet, anyway," he says. He's got this idea of some day, far in the future, of a little house in the woods with enough room for all of them. "While you're at school? I was talking to Rosie the other day about college courses. I think I might do a degree. Acting, maybe."

[signed_sabrina]

Sabrina huffs out a laugh. "I'm giving you a timeline there. Not that I would need to move in the moment I turned eighteen, either." She listens, finding that talking about what their lives will really be like feels as good as sleep. "Acting," she says, considering. "I do have it on good authority your last starring role was very well received." She peeks up at him. "You'll be wonderful."

[awickedtime]

"Well, you know you'd always be welcome," he says, pressing a kiss against her forehead. "I always really enjoyed being up on stage, so..." He shrugs. "Feels the right thing to do."

It feels good to focus on something beyond what they're fighting through right now.

[signed_sabrina]

"I can't wait to see what you'd do with decent material," Sabrina says, and it does feel almost like the rest of it is falling away. "Charlie's into acting too. Am I into actors? I didn't really think I had a type. Well, not like that."

"I haven't thought about my future in a long time," she adds. "I'm-- a little disappointed there's no place to study magic here."

[awickedtime]

"Rather than Blackwood's wet dream, you mean?" says Nick, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth at the thought of it. It had been ridiculous, no matter how good it had felt to be up on stage with Sabrina like that. "Well. I'm ahead of you, on that. We can study together, if you want."

[signed_sabrina]

"I mean, I remember the play ending with a bang," Sabrina says, her smile pressing into his chest. "And I'd like that. Magnus is teaching me too, but it's not the same magic, so it's more-- theory, I suppose." She's quiet. "For all that I've fought for my freedom, I suppose I don't know what to do with it."

[awickedtime]

"Whatever you want," says Nick, smiling. "Both of us can do whatever we want now. And that's...more than I ever thought was going to happen, Sabrina. It's more than I ever thought I'd have."

[signed_sabrina]

"We're going to keep it that way," she answers, a fierce little nod against his chest. "It's coming any day. It has to come very soon. We have to keep them safe. Not just Charlie and Rosie. Everyone." Slowly, her body grows a bit heavier, as if she's near sleep, but she keeps her eyes open.

[awickedtime]

Nick nods, combing his fingers through her hair, his other arm curled around her to hold them close.

"We'll get them out," he says, promises. "All of them. I'll be right there with you, Spellman."