Trigger Warning: A Non-consensual Kiss 

Aiden carefully crossed the threshold taking in his surroundings. It was all very pink. If he hadn’t been able to see that Ruby was not a six-year-old girl, he would have assumed that was exactly the owner of this room. Ruby was definitely not six she was a teenager of a similar age to him her hair done in blonde ringlets that tumbled artfully from her head. She was not unlike the description of Briar rose from his childhood fairy tale book but in cat pyjamas instead of a princess dress.  

“Sleeping Beauty.” He said aloud to himself. 

“Exactly. Come on then kid.” Eve grabbed his shoulder dragging him inside. “It’s time again for you to tell me what you know about Sleeping curses.” 

“Well I guess I know a bit of classical stuff about them. “ 

“Come on show off get to it. I haven’t got all day to listen.” 

“Well the classic sleeping curse is a curse transferred through either ingestion or by entering the blood stream. This is why a spinning wheel was used in the classic fairy tale though the wheel wasn’t the real culprit it was the oil used on the wood of the wheel that contained the real ingredients of the curse. It also tends not to last a thousand years but can last the lifetime of the practitioner who enacted the curse which with Fae especially can be a good few hundred years.” 

“So what should we be doing, kid?” 

“Looking for the source. It’s likely still in the room.” 

Eve gave him a small nod before flicking on her vision and beginning to search the room. 

“Maybe you should have a look at our client first, you’ll need to use your sight to get a proper fix. Lots more practice for you kid.” 

“Er okay Eve.”  

Looking down on Ruby’s sleeping form he couldn’t help but think of the cure that was usually used for a sleeping curse. A true love kiss. Of course, he didn’t love her, she was nice looking but he wasn’t quite crazy enough to go full love at first sight over her. But he also knew that unless an incredibly adept magic user created the curse then it wouldn’t be able to tell the intent of the kisser just the action. He could sort this out, he could kiss the girl and save the day. His eyes glittered as he pictured himself in comic book form, the adoring look that would form in her eyes, she would be smitten from his heroic self-sacrifice. Absolutely nothing could go wrong with this plan. 

 “Don’t worry Eve I think I’ve worked out how to solve this without finding the source.” He called through to her only receiving a grumpy muttering that he duly ignored. 

He bent as carefully as he could over Ruby trying not to place his hand on the frilly bed covers or anywhere near her body, a task that made it look like he was working on a new yoga pose. He could feel himself shaking as he gently placed a kiss on Ruby’s lips his own eyes open he hovered there for a minute after the kiss expecting that her eyes would suddenly open too. 

“Oh.”  

He was disappointed that his plan had not succeeded, he bit at his lip tasting the garish pink lipstick that had been all over her plump lips. Was he that bad a kisser that she would rather stay asleep? His mind wandered into more questions as his limbs started to feel heavy and the floor decided to greet his face.