And the final fic for the night

[hafl]

Title: Playing House
Original Work: Malory Towers
Pairing: Mary-Lou/Daphne
Rating: PG

Why wasn’t Daphne born a princess? Mary-Lou pondered this question quite often in her free moments, since a palace was much more suitable to Daphne than the dingy London apartment they were renting together. Even the shabbiness of their surroundings did nothing to diminish Daphne’s radiance.

It was not only beauty that made Daphne so brilliant. Daphne knew that Mary-Lou adored and loved her so much that if she could, Mary-Lou would have pampered her as much as possible, not allowing Daphne to demean her beauty by working even the slightest bit. She knew, but she didn’t take advantage of that, instead going to slave away in the office every day, to support Mary-Lou in her nurse training.

Seeing Daphne sacrifice her youth and beauty like that was breaking Mary-Lou’s heart, but whenever she tried to bring it up, Daphne changed the subject. However, Mary-Lou was determined to at least make Daphne’s life at home easier. No matter how tired she was she tried to do all the housework by herself, allowing Daphne to have all the comfort she deserved.

The only opportunities to do so were limited to the few times she managed to arrive home before Daphne. Even then, the door would soon creak and Daphne would come inside, cheerfully greeting Mary-Lou, who immediately herself smiling and a weight lifting from her heart. Daphne then took the dishes, the duster or whatever away from Mary-Lou, telling her to get some rest. Mary-Lou was in Daphne’s power so completely, that even seeing Daphne’s tired face, she only managed the most cursory protests. She always meekly went away, flipping through a book or magazine until Daphne finished, feeling guilty.

However, Daphne soon joined her and they spent their evening together, chatting and reading, or listening to the radio, both feeling too tired to do anything more substantial. When the dark came, they put away whatever they were doing and went to the bedroom. And there, the goodnight kiss showed Mary-Lou that Daphne also adored her.