#i see a heart shap... they are full of lov

[lycianlynx]

sun’s shine

princessmacedon​:

What a pretty smile, she thinks to herself, eyes crinkling at the corners – how it sparkles! How he lights up when he goes from turtling into his cape to coming out of his shell, a brilliant glint of moondapple in sun’s shine. She can’t help herself; she swings their hands a little bit more, watching as realization sets in again with a grin splashed across her face as haphazardly as stars sprawl across the sky. 

“Hee hee!” And then his face scrunches up, gratitude written in the ink of confusion, as if she had done anything at all! “Of course you got in, Chad!” Teeth bared in mirth and laughter, she lets the tip of her tongue dart out playfully, a knowing sort of teasing. “But why should you thank me? I was just spending time with my friend, heeheehee.” Mischief shimmers and shifts, hearth-like warmth and heart-deep confidence twinkling in her eyes. “You’re the one who did all the hard work, Chad. You’re here because you’re the coolest!” Effusiveness colors her voice in a light and joyful touch, a just-so balance of loving hyperbole and earnestness. “Hee hee, so don’t forget that, okay?”

Their fingers wiggle, and she laughs again, replying with a little squeeze. “Well, if you’re free,” Maria hums, letting the words ring a little longer than necessary - what is a surprise without the proper suspense, of course! - until she releases it with a soft and silent puff of happiness, “Then that’s perfect, because that means you can eat the fruit tarts while they’re still warm!” Relinquishing one of his hands, she turns a quarter step, ready to lead them to their feast. “You like them, don’t you? I made a few different kinds! Strawberry, blackberry, peach, lemon… oh, but they’re not all big though, hee hee.” Eyes squeeze into mirthful slivers, and she holds up her free hand, fingers almost pinched together. “The strawberry ones are really small, and really cute!”

“Sure won’t, you won’t let me,” they reply to her request to remember, and... They did work hard. Right? If she says so, then... “...I, I guess I’m the... the coolest...?”

Even writ in confusion, the gratitude is bone-deep and real; The piece is always worth more than the sum of its materials, after all, and it’s still true, even as she brushes his thanks off, as if she’d really done nothing at all — But that’s fine. His face flushes, his head ducking down slightly as he laughs into the collar of his cloak after saying it. He can’t help it. What else is he supposed to do? How else is he supposed to feel but embarrassed, relieved, unspeakably glad? Teenage coolness tries to brush that same compliment off his shoulders like it’s easy, but his heart grasps it, shakes it in his face, alongside...

Friend. Chad rolls the word in their palms like clay, gently smoothing out the soft surface as it takes shape, warmed by the contact. Friend. Even if Maria really can’t fathom how much she’d helped them, they’ll keep paying her back, because that’s what they do. It’s what they’ve always done, and Chad’s not about to stop anytime soon. They store her childishly stuck out tongue into their memory like a scrap of notepaper alongside their piling happy debts.

And, wait, tarts...!? How many?!? They lift their head back up with a wurgh as she begins to lead them, light brown eyes widening again.

“N-no way!” They yelp, “That’s — that’s way too much!” Even though the temptation of a silly little fruit treat already dances before his eyes, the phantom of scent nearly making his mouth water, reaching up with his newly free hand to make sure he isn’t actually drooling. He believes her, every word, when Maria tells him how cute the strawberry ones are.

Probably not too much of a shame to eat! Hopefully. Chad pauses their protest, not their stride, swallows, trying not to seem too excited. “I do, I like them a lot,” they reply, almost stumbling over the words in a way their legs weren’t. are you sure, they nearly ask, i couldn’t possibly, the next one follows, but they don’t want to...

They’re not sure what, but they can’t look at that face and just say no? They open their mouth again, apology replaced with veiled invitation (no less embarrassing, though, really), and their voice, mortifyingly, cracks.

“I won’t be able to eat so many alone, even if they’re tiny, yeah?!”