🍭 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙘 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨!
🎀 (to braid/brush your muse’s hair) + 🌸 (to place a flower crown on your muse’s head, to braid lil flowers in his hair instead!)
— by @archaictold
suffice to say, xerxes is absolutely ecstatic about the idea of a picnic once zhilan brings it up throughout their morning routine.
not quite a breakfast picnic, with the two of them lounging around in bed for far longer than at least one of them intended, the sun is closer to its highest point than it would usually be for one's first meal of the day. this did nothing to lessen the clear excitement, fluttering in xerxes' chest, so different from the tingle of a cough or the grasp of a choke. there's no need for any particular cooking skills, at least not for the type of picnics he's familiar with.
they'd had some leftover cake from the day before, sitting in the fridge, so there was no baking to be done. merely zhilan, standing in one corner of the kitchen, preparing small sandwiches. and xerxes in the other, brewing the best of teas for the best of occasions, something to wake the both of them up and accompany the scones that are perfect for the afternoon plan.
he does a cartwheel on their way to one of the larger trees of the estate's gardens, and his own giggle resonates with zhilan's when he lands on his back, fall cushioned by the meadow beneath, as well as a few flowers here and there. there's the warmth of the sun on his face, and then the cool shadow of his heart looming over him, when the scholar studies him, making sure he hadn't gotten hurt.
or perhaps, getting this particular idea at the sight of xerxes, head framed by flowers, a few squished here and there.
' you know, ' he mumbles around a piece of strawberry around half an hour later, ' lady sharon used to do this for me a lot. '
his back is now leaning against zhilan's chest, who is in turn using the bark of the tree to rest against. deft fingers are weaving through the thin strands of xerxes' hair, messy as it is, both combing through it and braiding what he believes to be daisies and buttercups into it. zhilan's hands are very warm against his scalp.
reminiscent of two things: the last time they had a similar picnic, under the eternal tree, when zhilan had noted his longer hair, agreed to cut it for him. and the other time ...
" she did? " zhilan's voice is all gentle intrigue, though he's clearly more concentrated on the task at hand, no mistake lacing itself into the movement of his hands. " lady shelly's ... daughter? i saw her here, when we were in the mist ... i imagine she's grown. "
xerxes chortles, wills himself to still when zhilan tickles the back of his neck with his index finger. ' i suppose. not as much as she'd like to, i think. don't tell her that, though. '
zhilan weaves the stem of a buttercup into his hair, white against green. " how do you mean? "
' she has a contract, ' xerxes' voice grows a bit distant when he leans forward to stab a sandwich with his fork, which he nibbles at more delicately, taking his time. ' much like myself. she stopped aging at around ... thirteen years, though i've been serving her for quite a bit longer than that. '
" you serve her? " zhilan's breath slides against the crook of his neck as he leans in to apparently take a peek at xerxes' expression. for what it's worth, it's relatively calm, still pleasantly relaxed with the familiar birdsong and sunshine, the same scent of roses he'd been missing so very badly. " i thought ... "
' i serve her under lady shelly's orders. ' a sentence that comes easily, practiced as it is, though it hasn't left his mouth for a while. with zhilan leaning forward, xerxes leans backwards, interrupting the braiding process but making up for it with a nuzzle to the cheek.
' if anything were to happen to her, milady would be quite upset. '
he feels how zhilan's eyes crinkle around an earnest smile. xerxes pouts in response almost immediately. zhilan chuckles.
" i see. that's very kind of you, xerxes. "
' oh, shush, you— finish your braiding, will you? '
2 notes
·
View notes
I feel like Keith and Lance are both ND but in different ways. Keith is the kind of guy who would really like physical contact and words of affirmation as love languages. He's pretty good at telling Lance how he feels about him later in the series. He'd probably appreciate the lack of ambiguity and take things at face value/put trust in I love yous.
Meanwhile Lance grew up in a big family so they might not have had as much money. Receiving gifts was a really big deal for him growing up. I can imagine Keith giving Lance a cool blue shell he found at an alien market and being all confused, thinking Lance doesn't like it when he goes still. Like he wants to take it back and is disappointed that Lance doesn't like it. But he does, he's just a bit overwhelmed by the gesture. Trying to show why he thought getting some silly shell was a good idea, Keith meekly tells him to look at this pretty part of it, turning it over in Lance's hands, pointing out an opalescent part that's all different kinds of blues. Says it reminds him of Lance's eyes.
Lance says something like "How would you know what colour my eyes are" because eye contact is not Keith's forte, but there's no bite behind it, and Keith doesn't get the joke anyway, just looks nervous. Keith just says they're pretty, as if he couldn't not have noticed. Lance puts it down on his side table gently. Keith says "You don't like it?" Lance gives him a super tender kiss. They kiss for a while holding each other, and Keith hugs him, sighing with contentment into lance's shoulder. Says "Holding you feels like home" then Lance dies on the spot
155 notes
·
View notes