[ FIVE SMILES ] (if you don't do baby!Aurora with a happy baby smile @Fen im gonna riot)
♢ — 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 ‘𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒’ 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒
[ FIVE SMILES ] send for five times one muse makes the other smile and the one time they share a smile.
One. A smile just for Fen.
She had heard of the birth as soon as it had happened, but it takes her months to visit. A miracle bestowed to the Winter Chancellor and his lover, a miracle she wants to witness. They wait until the sun rises and they sweep with their usual intentions of mischief. The baby is a delight, a tiny little thing and so very perfect. She watches everything with wide brown eyes.
Carefully they pull a face at the child, eyes crossed and tongue sticking out.
The newborn’s laugh is enough to brighten the sky and lighten the load on her shoulders.
Two. A smile for the leaves.
They are in the Winter Court, waiting to meet with Fannar, when she sees a little girl trying— and failing— to climb into a bear. Aurora is two, perhaps three, and so full of life. Fen’s steps are silent as she approaches the child and kneels before her. Her little face is scrunched up and she is about to cry, and they can’t allow that. They raise a finger as if to shush the girl, but she doesn’t. She twirls her finger and a whirlwind of fall leaves surround them, dancing through the air in intricate shapes and Aurora grins.
Three. A smile of tenderness.
She adores her fellow Chancellors, she does, but sometimes they can drone on. It’s a tedious matter, the one they are discussing, and were not for her years, she would be falling asleep. Little Aurora is. It’s adorable, really, the desperate way she tries to keep awake, fighting against the drone of her father’s words as her eyes droop. A valiant attempt is made to keep her eyes open, and they watch in amusement as Aurora pinches her inner arm to fight sleep.
It’s when Aurora finally falls prey to the sweet call of sleep, that Fen smiles.
Four. A smile of mischief.
The cute girl is gone, replaced by a too stern Chancellor. Boring. It’s just the two of them this time and Aurora is doing as her father did, droning on about this minutia and that little detail. They have been eyeing the window for a couple of minutes, when the idea strikes. Sitting on the windowsill, she gives Aurora one more chance to change the topic. When she doesn’t, she clears her throat to gain her attention and falls back from the window.
Aurora’s shout of outrage has her cackling before she hits the ground.
Fen nudges the truth out of Aurora’s lips, the admissions she cannot do without prompting. She is aware of where Aurora’s thoughts have led her, knows how earth shattering the realization is. They don’t push her to admit what she isn't ready to declare, they have time. Instead, she hems and haws, words dancing around the truth, but stark enough for Aurora to realize she is not alone in her thinking. She is more truthful than ever, not afraid of the truth when faced with her Winter counterpart.
Aurora smiles in relief, knowing that she isn’t alone in her doubts.
+1. The smile of a conspirator.
The words fly through the air: flattery, adulation and compliance to whatever the Queen demands. It’s horrid, but Fen keeps her placid facade and Aurora, her stern visage. It isn’t until someone says something neither agrees with, that their eyes meet and Fen rolls her eyes subtly.
She watches as Aurora’s lips twitch up, and feels as her own lips follow. They both struggle to contain the twitch until it’s appropriate, and when it is, they let their masks drop for a second.
They share a secretive smile, knowing that they are not alone in their disregard.
