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On a cool and quiet Sunday at the Coven, Cordelia chooses to spend most of it in her room with a new book. No classes are held on Sunday, so all of the girls decide to do their own thing, enjoying their day off from the school.
Therefore, it’s a bit of a surprise when she is halfway through her book when there is a soft knock at her door. “Come in!” says Cordelia, breaking her attention away from her book. The heavy door opens and Zoe enters in, still clad in her PJs and slippers. She smiles shyly at the headmistress though her features quickly twist into a grimace afterwards.
The headmistress discerns this, worry painting her face as she places her book down next to her. “Hello Zoe, is there something wrong?”
The girl closes the door behind her, watching Cordelia carefully. “Is this a good time?” she asks first.
“Of course, I always have time for my girls,” the headmistress answers, smiling lightly at Zoe.
The girl returns the smile, but then it morphs into a frown as she sighs softly, gingerly touching her forehead. “I have a headache again,” she murmurs, trying her best to ignore the heavy throbbing she feels above her eyes.
The headmistress nods at this and beckons the young girl to come over to the couch she was sitting on. Zoe obeys and sits down next to Cordelia, eyes glued to the floor.
“How bad is this one?” inquires the headmistress, gently tucking a loose piece of hair behind the girl’s ear.
“Ummmm, it’s not as bad as the others,” she informs, toeing the ground with her foot, “But, it’s still pretty bad.” She grimaces again as another round of throbbing begins and she squeezes her eyes shut.
Cordelia frowns deeply as she observes the girl touch her head again. “Do you want me to make you something for it? We’ll go down to the greenhouse; Misty is down there anyway, I’m su—” She stops her thought when she sees Zoe shake her head and opening her eyes.
“No, no, it’s okay, can… I just stay with you?” she asks, looking up finally at Cordelia, “Would you mind?”
The girl’s bright doe eyes are no match for the headmistress; she easily falls for them and agrees to allow Zoe to stay with her. The young witch smiles weakly at her victory and then leans back into the couch, slowly rubbing her temples. A soft groan escapes her lips and she shuts her eyes again as if doing so would impede the pain.
Cordelia’s heart breaks a touch as she sees one of her council members in pain; Zoe has always had issues with these throbbing headaches and recently they’ve been coming on more frequently for some reason.
“Why don’t you go lie down, Zoe?” offers Cordelia, motioning to the bed behind her, “A nap would help you—” Again, she discontinues her statement as she sees Zoe shake her head again, opening her eyes.
“No, sitting here is fine,” she says, although her face tells otherwise.
The headmistress huffs softly, damning that the girl has a stubborn streak that rivals Misty’s and Queenie’s, but she won’t press the issue.
It’s quiet for a few minutes between them and Cordelia is about to pick her book up again when Zoe asks, in a small voice, “Are you mad about what I said?” Her eyes are stuck on the floor as she inquires this, not even moving an inch to look at Cordelia’s reaction.
The headmistress blinks at this, confused. “No, sweetheart, why would I be mad?”
The girl ponders this then gives a small shrug. Time quietly throbs between them, but this time Cordelia watches Zoe carefully. The girl closes her eyes again and starts bouncing her leg anxiously as she begins rubbing her hands repetitively on her thighs.
Suddenly, Zoe inquires in that same small voice, “Could I lay down, Cordelia?”
The headmistress nods. “Of course, Zoe. Feel free to lay in my bed, it’s fine.”
Zoe declines. “I don’t…want to lie there, I…” The girl bites her lip, not daring to open her eyes and pauses her rubbing, “I don’t want to. I feel…anxious, I don’t want to be alone.”
Cordelia places her hand on top of Zoe’s, rubbing the back of it gently with her thumb. However, she feels the girl stiffen for a moment under her touch and her leg stops bouncing. The headmistress frowns at the odd response to her touch, but she fixes her face back and removes her hand.
“Well, how about I lie with you Zoe? I don’t mind,” she offers, her tone warm, “Unless you don’t want me to.” Zoe opens her eyes slowly then stares at the headmistress curiously.
“You…won’t?” she asks, as if she doesn’t believe her.
“Of course, sweetheart,” the headmistress says, smiling, “I want you to be comfortable.”
The girl looks away, pondering it for a few seconds. “Could I…lie on your lap, instead?”
The request is quiet and unsure—as soon as she asked that her eyes dart from the wall to the floor again. The shyness reminds Cordelia of when Misty asked her if she could sleep in the same bed with the headmistress after having two weeks of non-stop nightmares.
“Would that work the best for you, Zoe?” she inquires softly and the girl nods slowly. The headmistress moves her book to the coffee table and then slide down on to the other edge of the couch to give the young witch room to spread out. Zoe watches for a second and then kicks off her slippers. She gently lays her head down on Cordelia’s lap, facing towards the wall as opposed to towards the woman. The girl folds her arms tight to her chest and tucks her legs close to make herself as small as possible.
It seems like Zoe was afraid that something might happen if she spreads her body out more, like she might get hit. The headmistress isn’t sure why the girl’s body language is like this, especially since Zoe trusts Cordelia immensely.
“Does your head still hurt?” she asks, looking down at the young witch.
The girl hums positively in response. “Yeah, it hasn’t gone down yet,” she murmurs and then sighs deeply.
As an attempt to make the girl more relaxed, Cordelia begins to play with Zoe’s hair. At first, she tenderly picks through the strains, but then she begins to twirl her hair between her fingers. She observes the girl’s reaction to it, making sure she hasn’t made her uncomfortable as she did by touching her earlier.
She’s a bit surprised to see that Zoe’s body has relaxed under her touch this time; she’s not as tense and uptight as before. The headmistress smiles as she feels the girl’s head burying a bit deeper into her lap.
Cordelia continues to play with the young witch’s hair and notices that Zoe begins to spread out more, taking up more of the space on the sofa. The girl’s long legs stretch out and she unfolds her arms, letting her one arm dangle over the side of the couch and the other being tucked under her head.
After about a half hour of playing with young witch’s hair, Cordelia calls softly, “Zoe?”
The girl hums, “Yes?”
“How are you feeling?” she inquires, fingers still twirled in the young witch’s locks.
“Good,” she says, her voice almost a purr.
She smiles and then removes her hand from the girl’s hair. “Do you want me to make you something?”
Zoe stirs and shakes her head. “No, what you’re doing feels the best…” Her voice is a bit drowsy as she says that and then she re-positions herself on Cordelia’s lap. “Can you keep going?”
Cordelia smiles at the girl, returning to playing with her hair. However, she decides to try something different after a few minutes.
The headmistress gently scrapes her nails down Zoe’s scalp in a downward motion; the girl shudders and gasps softly.
Again, Cordelia pulls her hand away. “I’m sorry, Zoe, did I hurt you?”
The girl shakes her head quickly. “No, that felt really good, I like it.”
The headmistress continues this, alternating between scratching and rubbing on Zoe’s scalp and hair.
Zoe’s throbbing headache slowly begins to subside as she feels a tingly feeling in her head spread from the back of her skull to her forehead. The girl flips over, turning her head and body towards Cordelia. She snuggles deeper in the headmistress’ lap, resting one arm on her hip and the other still tucked under her head. Her breathing starts to even out and before she knows it, she falls asleep, feeling content and safe in the presence of Cordelia.
It doesn’t take long for the headmistress to realize the young witch on her lap had quietly dozed off. When she looks down, her heart warms to see Zoe snuggled close to her, her breath coming out in short, even bursts. She feels pleased that the girl felt comfortable enough to fall asleep on her lap.
And like the girl, Cordelia feels happy to be in Zoe’s presence. Their relationship has been steadily growing since the Seven Wonders; Zoe often comes to her to demonstrate how her magic is developing as well as freely talking to her about personal things. The girl, who had once waved off Cordelia’s ability as a witch and headmistress, now looks up to the supreme with great respect and admiration.
Once Cordelia is sure Zoe won’t be waking up soon, she uses a bit of telekinesis to pick up her book from the table and then returns where she left off. However, she kept one of her hands tousled in the girl’s hair and doesn’t dare to move it.
She gets through a decent amount of the book when she feels Zoe stir awake. The girl is bleary eyed as she turns to lie on her back, rubbing her face and her eyes.
“Delia?” she calls automatically, voice thick with sleep.
The headmistress places her book down and beams at the girl. “Yes, sweetheart?”
“Mmmf, I fell asleep?” she questions, squinting against the overhead light.
“Yes, love, you did. Only for an hour though,” she informs, then looks at her watch, “It’s time for dinner, now.”
Zoe groans, but sits up with the help of Cordelia. The girl blinks a few times and then tries to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
Despite the girl being 22 and with each passing day is becoming an utterly powerful witch, Cordelia finds this action absolutely adorable. The headmistress’ heart grows heavy as she sees Zoe yawn deeply as she rubs her cheek to get rid of the cascading lines from lying on top of Cordelia’s shorts.
“Sleep well?” Cordelia asks and the young witch nods.
“Uh huh, I slept really good,” she says and then pauses, thinking something over. She looks away as she mumbles, shyly, “You’re very comfortable.”
The headmistress grins at this. “That’s good to know my lap is cozy,” she teases lightly, pushing hair back behind the girl’s ear.
Zoe blushes a bit, playing with her fingers. “My head doesn’t hurt either,” she shares and then hesitates, as if she wants to say something else. Instead, she changes the subject, inquiring what was for dinner.
As Zoe asks this, it dawns on the headmistress that she hadn’t told Kyle or the rest of the Coven to prepare dinner.
“Damn, I forgot to tell someone to make dinner,” she mumbles and Zoe looks at her.
She shrinks back into the couch as she asks, “Was it...my fault? Because I fell asleep on you?”
“No, Zoe,” she says gently, “It’s not your fault. I should have told someone earlier, even before you walked in. I just got too busy into my book.”
Zoe stares at her carefully, as if she’s going to take break those words and change the blame to her. Eventually, she breaks her gaze and nods, accepting the answer as a solid one.
Cordelia smiles at her and lightly touches the girl’s shoulder. “How about we take all the girls and Kyle out for dinner tonight? We could go to the diner we all like.”
The girl ponders this and nods again, returning the smile. “That sounds good, Cordelia,” she agrees as she stands up, “Are we going to get dessert too?”
The headmistress smiles and nods, as she watches the girl slide her slippers back on, fixing her tank top and shorts. Her disposition seems much better than how it was when she came into the room earlier.
Zoe grins, her dimples showing. “I’ll get changed and tell everyone else then.”
“Thank you, Zoe,” says Cordelia, also standing up to go get changed, “I appreciate that.” The girl nods and begins to walk out of Cordelia’s room, but stops when she gets to the door. She turns on her heel and looks at the headmistress.
“Zoe, is everything okay?”
Her lips press into a thin line and her eyes don’t look at Cordelia, but instead at the wall. Nonetheless, her words are sincere, even if they are directed to a picture frame. “I…thank you,” she says, “For, umm, everything.” Her eyes flicker from the wall to Cordelia, making brief eye contact with the headmistress until she moves them again to the ground. “I’ll, uh, see you soon.”
As soon as her statement left her lips, she quickly exits out of the room, shutting the door behind her. The headmistress blinks a few times at Zoe’s statement, absorbing it.
Then Cordelia smiles to herself, a warm feeling growing in her heart as she realizes it must have taken the girl a while to summon courage to tell her that.
“You’re welcome, Zoe,” she whispers, feeling content.