He’d lost all interest in scolding her.
Bain walked into the kitchen later that night wondering if there were any leftover cupcakes. Those things were amazing. He came to a stop when he saw Arianna standing next to the kitchen counter. She was dressed in a nightie with those same duck slippers.
Those utterly ridiculous but adorable slippers. He spotted something hanging from her hand. Was that a stuffed puppy?
“Arianna?” He walked around her when she didn’t move. Instinct screamed at him that something was wrong.
He studied her. Her nightgown had a picture of a teddy bear with angel wings and a halo. He could still see the red mark on her face. From the pillow? Had she been sleeping and woken up? For some reason, he found that kind of cute. He ran his gaze over her face. There was something slightly off. She wasn’t looking at him. Not properly.
Her gaze was unfocussed. As though she wasn’t quite here.
What was going on?
“Arianna? Can you hear me?”
No reply.
Was she sleepwalking? What did you do with someone who sleepwalked? You didn’t wake them up, right? She slowly raised her hand and shocked him by sticking her thumb in her mouth. The stuffed dog hung from her hand by its ear. The toy was white with a black patch over one eye. It looked about as worn as her nightie.
Holy. Shit.
He swallowed heavily. Was she a Little? Or was she simply sleepwalking and didn’t know what she was doing?
His mind raced. How was he going to get her back to her bed?
“Arianna?” he asked quietly. “Do you want to go back to bed?” He kept his voice low. Soothing. Hoping he didn’t startle her. Then again, she hadn’t shown any fear when he’d appeared.
She shook her head, her thumb still in her mouth. Did people who sleepwalked remember what they had done when they woke up? He had no idea.
Maybe she was hungry.
“I was going to make a sandwich. Want one?”
Another shake of her head. Okay, then. Maybe she would just make her own way back to bed? He moved to grab some bread and she turned to the freezer. She opened the door and pulled out a tub of caramel ice cream.
His eyebrow rose.
“Ice cream? At this time of night?”
She frowned.
Okay, man, pull back on the scolding tone. Remember, you’re trying not to wake her.
Still, eating ice cream at midnight didn’t seem very healthy. Was this something she did often? What if she choked while she was getting a midnight snack?
Calm. Easy. You’re not in charge of her health.
But he was in charge of her physical safety. Choking could be a concern. She was out of it, and she might well be in Little space if the toy and the thumb sucking were any indication.
Did she regress while sleepwalking? Or was he reading way too much into this?
Either way, she’s hardly likely to choke on ice cream, you idiot.
True.
He laid out the bread on a plate, turning to watch her as she stretched up high to grab a bowl. She was so short, she had to stand on tiptoes and even then, she couldn’t reach it. He watched as she opened a bottom cupboard next to her legs. What was she. . .oh hell no!
She was going to use the bottom cupboards as a kind of stepping stool. Fuck!