Work Text
Carlotta patted the pillow and turned her stern gaze to her daughter."Come on Mila, time for bed if you're going to help me at the stall tomorrow with the new cartload of apples! Even Little Fairies need their rest!"Rubbing her bleary eyes with one hand while she stretched the other high over her head, a yawn large enough for a mammoth to comfortably walk through upon her face, Mila dragged her feet slowly towards the bed."But mama —" Another yawn interrupted her reply. "— everybody knows fairies don't exist. And if they don't exist, how can they go to bed?"Carlotta sagged inside, closing her eyes. Last week it was 'whether the Dragonborn came from an egg or not?'. The week before that 'did vampires get tired of just blood?'. Sometimes being a single parent and a full-time merchant were a hard balance for the stoic Imperial woman, but she was determined not to let mere exhaustion get in the way of her relationship with her Little Fairy. She drew in a breath and muttered "Mara give me strength!", before turning to Mila with a smile."How about a wisp then?""But wisps are, well... they're wisps, aren't they! They're not fairies!""Don't fairies live in trees? Or around forests?""No mama, those are spriggans! All pointy and twig-like. I suppose they're sort of fairies, a little. But spriggans are mean! I'm not mean, at least I try not to be but sometimes Braith just pushes me too far and I —""An atronach then, not the nasty ones with cold or sparks. No, the graceful ones made of fire.""But mama, that's a daedra! I am not a daedra!" Mila's brows furrowed at her mother and she stopped, wide awake now and hands balled into fists and firmly pressed to her hips."Well my little not-fairy-not-wisp-not-spriggan-not-daedra, it's still time for bed!""Alright..." Mila sighed, deflating to half her size and slouching to the bed, slipping under a heavy woollen blanket Carlotta held up for her."That's my good girl. Tomorrow while you help me at the stall I'll tell you some of the fairy stories my mother told me as a little girl, when we lived in Anvil. She was chased by a Nixad when she was little. Or so she said."Another yawn gripped Mila's features as she snuggled into her pillow further. "I guess being a fairy is alright..." she mumbled. "The atronach is pretty though..."Carlotta rose slowly and with care, a watchful gaze and a smile towards her daughter. She lifted the candlestick from the bedside dresser and puffed out its flame, pinching the wick to stem a stream of smoke before setting it back down. As she reached the door she turned back to gaze at the still silhouette on the bed."As are you my Little Fairy. As are you."