Chapter Text
"Agatha..."
Rio's breath was hot and smelled like pomegranates. Agatha wanted to taste it, wanted to breath her in, and never let her go...
"That boy is not yours."
...And just like that, she remembered just why she detested the aftertaste of such an annoying, messy fruit.
She walked away. Her body still felt warm from Rio's comforting touch.
She shuddered it away, willing the chill of the Witches Road to take even the memory of it from her mind and body.
Rio returned a while after Agatha had left her behind. To do what, she didn't care. She just wanted to forget what had almost happened - she'd almost said fuck it and felt Rio's lips on hers again and held her again and felt loved again - what had almost happened should never almost happen again.
In the ten minutes that Rio had been gone, they had sat through Lilia's tale about the 'wicked' witch of the east, "who was really just a sweet old gal, well, she had a penchant for turning men into toads, but can you blame her?", Alice's recall of stories about her mother's time on tour, and Jen's occasional battle of wits with Agatha.
Rio sat down right next to her as she was about to throw another snipe at Jen - the words faltered on her tongue when she felt Rio's hip nudge hers.
She smiled and pulled her knees up, leaning over her arms. "What are we talkin' about?"
"I was trying to tell Teen about Listerine being a good antidote for gooseberry based poisons," Jen explained, gritting her teeth in frustration, "When Agatha here started going on about our breaths!"
Rio swiveled her head to look at her, teeth bared in a smirk. "You're one to talk. Your breath always smells like hotdogs."
"And you've always smelled like - " Agatha bit her tongue. She was about to say it. " - rotten eggs."
Rio put her knife to her chin, rolling her eyes, and took an exaggerated, demonic sniff of the air. The rest of the coven watched her in confusion - and, admittedly, a little fear. The sniff reverberated in their little circle - and Agatha tried to inch away from her as subtly as possible.
"Nope, no eggs," Rio finally stopped sniffing, and pointedly looked at Alice. "But I did smell something peculiar. Do you have Jolly Ranchers?"
Everyone turned to Alice.
"Uh..." Alice searched her pockets, finally producing one watermelon Jolly Rancher. "I guess I do."
"Gimme."
Rio reached her hand out in a grabby motion, and Alice complied and tossed it into the palm of her hand. Rio positively lit up as she unwrapped the candy and popped it in her mouth. Agatha hid her smile in her hand.
Not cute. She's just toying with us. That was not cute.
Rio looked at her, the outline of the candy jutting out in her jaw, and raised a brow. "Sorry, did you want that?"
Agatha grit her teeth. "No."
Rio shrugged. "Your loss."
God fucking damn it. I hate you.
The coven swapped stories for a while more before calling it a night.
Lilia was the first to turn in. She settled against a log, closed her eyes, and was out just like that. Teen marveled at how easily she was able to fall asleep, but within minutes, he followed suit.
Jen picked up the neatest leaves she could find and formed a makeshift eye mask. She grumbled about the quality of sleep she was missing out on for a good bit before falling silent - save for her soft snores. Alice and Rio were the last to make their spots and close their eyes.
Agatha had feigned falling asleep when Teen tried to talk to her, but really, she had just been waiting for everyone to be quiet and asleep, so she could make off.
Not too far - she wouldn't dare stray from the Witches Road - but just far enough that she couldn't hear anyone's (Alice's) snoring. If she couldn't hear them, then they wouldn't be able to hear her.
They wouldn't notice, would they? She wasn't far enough for them to suspect her of abandoning the coven. Even if they did notice, it wasn't like they'd care. Maybe Teen would ask annoying questions, but she could make up something about needing beauty sleep away from the coven's 'aura'.
No one would notice, anyways, she thought, as she found a soft patch of grass to lay her head on.
"Agatha."
Of fucking course she noticed.
She didn't turn over. If she ignored her long enough, maybe she'd go away.
That plan failed, as Rio fell right next to her, right in front of her eyeline.
"You're not asleep." Rio played with the knife in her hands, twirling it against the tip of her index finger as she gazed up at the night sky. "Why aren't you sleeping?"
Agatha huffed, facing away from her. "I'm keeping an eye on you. Can't do that if I'm asleep, can I?"
She felt the knifepoint against her cheek. Rio propped herself up on her elbow and leaned over Agatha's body, using her knife to slowly guide her head back to face her.
"If I was going to hurt you, my lady," Rio grinned and leaned down, dragging her knife down to Agatha's neck - her breath caught in her throat, while Rio's voice dropped to a whisper. "I guarantee... we'd both have much more fun if you were awake."
The knife dug into her skin, and Agatha caught Rio's wrist before she could drag it further down - "Get away."
Rio tilted her head, still grinning, and used the hand not trapped by Agatha to brush away her stray hairs.
Despite the everything else about her... Rio's hands were warm. At least, when it came to Agatha.
It took everything in her not to lean into the touch - and Rio could tell. She nudged Agatha further into her hand, cupping her cheek.
"Are you sure you want me to get away?"
The knife was gone, now. Hidden somewhere in her pocket. Both of Rio's hands were now focused solely on Agatha - one cradling her cheek, the other tucked between their bodies - over their hearts.
Agatha let out a little sigh - Rio was like a weighted blanket and a safety net.
It wouldn't hurt, right...? Just for one night?
To be held again?
"You're having nightmares," Rio whispered, a glint of amusement in her eyes, "Aren't you?"
Fuck you.
Agatha bit the inside of her cheek and shoved Rio off of her. "Stay. Away."
Rio laughed as she took a tumble. "You're sure?"
"Come near me again, I'll bite your nose off," Agatha warned, but Rio smirked in a way that said she'd enjoy that.
"Fine," Rio sat up and dusted herself off - for one meager, frightening, fleeting moment, Agatha worried that she'd leave - and then she laid back down, a few feet away from Agatha. "But go to sleep. I don't want you to die because you made a groggy mistake. That's no fitting end for the wickedly talented Agatha Harkness."
She had a few choice curse words to throw at her, but Rio had already closed her eyes and turned away.
Agatha wanted to reach out and strangle her.
Instead, she turned away from her, faced where the rest of the coven was, and tried to ignore how much colder and rougher the ground was than before.
"Evil little child..."
"Mama, look! I cast a spell -"
"Oh! Get that away from me, you wicked thing!"
Agatha woke up on the rough ground, her heart racing in a panic. The rest of her limbs felt heavy, and her eyes felt stuck together. A teasing tone said something to her, but she was far too tired to care.
Her fingers were grasped around something warm and firm - when it squeezed her fingers in turn, she realized it was a hand.
"Before you get all mad, you're the one that reached for me."
Agatha didn't reply. In her haze of sleep, her head gravitated towards the same thing her hand was holding, until it found its home on something much softer than the patch of grass and dirt she'd laid on before.
"Shh," a sweet voice said to her, a warm touch in her hair, "I've got you, my wickedness..."
Agatha shuffled closer, relishing in the touch. A waft of pomegranates entered her senses. She breathed it in as deep as she could, tried press herself against the body, urging strong arms to tighten around her.
They did, one snaking around her waist to pull her in closer, the other around her neck to tangle fingers in her hair. She felt cold lips press against her forehead, moving in a murmur - something she couldn't quite hear.
"Mm?"
Rio chuckled, and Agatha felt her entire body reverberate with the sound coming from deep inside her chest - "You can sleep, now."
Agatha took another deep breath in, tucking her nose into the crook of Rio's neck.
"Pomegranates," she breathed out, before she finally surrendered into her exhaustion, and sleep washed over like a gentle wave.
"You don't want me. I'm a wicked little thing."
"That... sounds... utterly delightful, my lady."
When her eyes opened again, the warmth was gone.
She could hear her coven - and Rio - arguing.
Damn it, Agatha cursed her mother and the bitch spawns that she left alive - it was time to start moving again.