Work Text:
"I'm not going to stay and watch you being courted by another man!"
She paused, dumbfounded, and gaped at him. Diaval stared her in the eyes, too furious to think about consequences.
"Another man? What... What does that mean?" she asked, utterly confused, but soon gathered her thoughts and made a face. "You are not even a man yourself!"
Diaval made a croaking sound and closed his eyes.
"Then who am I?" he asked quietly, and a small self-deprecating smile twisted his lips. "Tell me! Who am I after all these years?" He opened his hands and took a step towards her. "After all the charms you've put on me, all the things I've learnt that no one of my kind is meant to know. Who am I now that walking comes to me as natural as flying, if not more? And the things I feel..." he shook his head but stood his ground. "Who do they make me now?"
She stayed silent. Outraged. Shocked. Confused. He had never spoken to her in this way. She didn't know he had it in him - all this boldness, and anger, and pain. Certainly, they had had disagreements before and Diaval had never been shy about speaking up to her. She even could go as far as to admit that she had... appreciated his input and his advice had been often wise. But never had they spoken about the matters both held too close to their hearts. Their fears. Their hopes. The wounds which had never sealed completely (had he been wounded as well? did it hurt as much?). Their strange routine of living, breathing, simply existing side by side. She had taken him for granted for so many years she almost forgot that he was a separate person. Not hers. Not anymore nor ever. The thought left a sour taste in her mouth.
"You have no right to talk to me... in this way," she stumbled.
"Do I not?" He took another step forward forcing her to back away a little. "I've known you for more than twenty years, Maleficent!" She flinched at his using her given name. "I followed you everywhere, weathered all your moods, stayed by you no matter what, let you toy with my very nature. You used me in every way you wanted! Haven't I earned the right to some dignity, to an attempt at self-preservation?"
Her eyes flashed.
"What does it have to do with anything, incoherent bird?!"
Diaval sighed and his shoulders lowered as if all the fight had suddenly gone out of him.
"You have suffered so much." His voice sounded distant and resigned; she almost wouldn't have understood his words were he not standing close to her. "Of all the creatures I know, you are the most deserving of happiness. I wish you nothing less. Just...." He looked away. "Don't make me watch it."
Maleficent felt her heart pounding in her ribcage. She felt strangely flustered. His closeness made it hard to think about anything else but the heat his human body produced.
"You make no sense, Diaval. You want me happy and at the same time you do not."
"It's just that I thought..." his eyes met hers. "I thought you were. Happy."
She blinked.
"I... am?"
"Between Stephan's death and Aurora's wedding and your having acquired your own people... Have you not found a semblance of peace?"
She swallowed, lulled by his gentle tone.
"Peace? I wouldn't have recognised it even had I found it. Don't you know me at all?"
She raised her hand and put it slowly on his cheek. His skin was hot to the touch, almost burning, a violent red high on his cheekbones.
Diaval chuckled and leaned into her touch. His eyes closed again involuntarily.
"I know you so well it scares me. You - scare me."
"I was your Mistress. It's almost in the job description."
Her attempt at a joke fell flat. His eyes opened.
"You are not my anything anymore," he answered in a horse voice, covering her hand with his own. "That's what scares me."
She breathed out loudly and tried to step away - he didn't let her.
"Diaval!" Had she not been so baffled she would have felt outraged instead. "What's got into you? What do you think you are doing?"
He let her go at once.
"I am... utterly sorry, Mistress. I beg forgiveness."
Maleficent licked her lips, trying to get her breathing under control.
"I am not your Mistress, you've said it yourself... Is that what bothers you? Doesn't freedom suit you?" She felt out of her depth trying to comprehend him. And her own inner turmoil didn't help a bit.
"I was always free." He raised his chin and his black eyes shone proudly. "You saved my life and I made an oath to serve you to the end of my life. The oath was given freely. My own word was the only thing that kept me by your side. Not fear nor magic or whatever else."
"Wouldn't have guessed with all that complaining of yours," she deadpanned, but he cut her off.
"Then... Was I just a servant to you?" He looked at her with such earnestness that a laugh stilled on her lips. "Not in the beginning, but with the years passing by... Was I only a stupid bird at your beck and call?" His voice sounded strangled, pained. She couldn't answer but with a truth.
"You were my only friend."
The ease with which this confession had fallen from her lips shook her to the core. But what shook her even more were his next words:
"I love you."
And his lips pressed against hers in such an artless, guileless manner, with such gentle awkwardness that she couldn't find even a trace of fear inside.
The kiss was brief, more like a touch. And when Diaval had withdrawn, he still stayed close, letting them breathe the same air while they adjusted to this new, unexpected development.
"There was no other man," she said after a while, her voice quiet and unusually peaceful.
His eyes twinkled and she felt more than saw him smiling.
"They wouldn't know how to handle you anyway."
"Are you mocking me?" she whispered with an answering smile in her voice.
"Never." He shook his head, even though she had closed her eyes. She looked so serene - he wanted to keep this moment forever. Still, he needed to know for sure.
"What about that faerie?" he asked carefully, afraid to disturb their newfound peace. "Borra."
Maleficent tensed up and opened her eyes.
"What do you wish to know?"
Diaval swallowed.
"You don't have designs on him, do you?"
She sighed.
"I do, actually."
Diaval kept waiting, having learnt from his own experience not to draw hasty conclusions. And he was rewarded for his patience.
"He is loved and well respected among the fae. He knows more about their way of thinking and their hardships than I will ever know. He is an admirable warrior and has a just and noble personality..."
"A wonder how you've managed not to get absolutely smitten with such perfection," he mumbled sourly.
Maleficent glared at him but there was no real heat behind her glance.
"He would make both a great ally and a decent mate. Surely you can see it. Being a wise raven that you are."
Diaval didn't know whether to rejoice in this high esteem of his wisdom or to let old self doubts darken his mood again.
"Thought you had already made up your mind."
She only smiled. Now that she recognised his odd antics for the jealousy they really had been, she found them rather endearing.
"Wouldn't you want to find out?"
The End