#slap or kiss

[everythinggrishaversebxm1012]

Slap or Kiss

Summary - Sometimes you aren't sure if you should slap or kiss Nikolai. This is one of those times. 1.1k words

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“My mother was an oyster,” Nikolai says with a grin before winking at you. “And I’m the pearl.”

“Oh Saints, that was horrible Nikolai Lantsov,” you say with a laugh. This was one of those moments where you really weren’t sure if you should slap him or kiss him. This was always how it went, every evening. You and Nikolai finding yourselves tangled up in the sheets of his bed together, wrapped in each other’s embrace, away from the world and reality.

“I thought you enjoyed my good looks and my wit,” Nikolai responds with a chuckle before pushing himself up on one of his elbows to look at you, lips curving upwards into a grin. It was the kind of grin where you weren’t sure if you should slap him or kiss him.

“No. Quite the opposite,” you tease in response. You prop yourself up on your own elbow.

“The wit or the looks,” the King of Ravka inquires his grin widening. A few golden curls fall into his eyes.

You brush his hair away before responding with a grin of your own. “Both.”

Nikolai’s heart skips a beat at your touch. His free hand brushes over your hip, tracing small circles with his thumb, his gaze never leaving your face. “Now that’s just cruel. I’ve always believed that I’m––”

You cut him off immediately. “Don’t you dare call yourself boyishly handsome again,” you warn.

He looks almost offended. “Why not? What’s wrong with boyishly handsome?”

“You said it, that’s what’s wrong with it,” you respond, trying to suppress a smile still deciding if you should slap him or kiss him.

“Am I meant to believe that you don’t find me terribly handsome,” Nikolai challenges playfully, eyebrows raising slightly as you drop your head back onto the pillow.

You laugh in response, cheeks going slightly rosy. “On the contrary, I find you as beautiful as an unmoving rock with no shine or shimmer.”

He repeats his mock offended look before wrapping his arms around your waist, and half pressing himself on top of you. His chest against yours. “I’m a rock? I suppose that is the reason you cannot seem to get me off of you.”

You half-heartedly try to push him off of you but in truth you want to stay like that forever. Your legs remain tangled with his. “Whatever would Vasily think if he found us here,” you ask with a smile.

“I’m wounded. You lay here with me, yet all you can think about is my brother,” Nikolai asks before dramatically placing his hand over his heart, falling to the side of you.

You rolled your eyes in response before shaking your head. Yes, you certainly could get used to this. After a few moments of silence Nikolai pulls you back into his arms. Your forehead rests against his shoulder as he ghosts his fingers up and down your bare spine. You stay like for a while, a long while. At random times he presses kisses across your face––he middle of your forehead, your temple, cheeks, lips, chin, forehead again. “I meant to talk to you about something earlier today when we passed in the corridor.”

“About what,” you ask him, the Ravkan King’s fingers still gently running up and down your spine.

“Us,” he mutters.

“Mm?” You ask him before he gently presses his lips to yours.

One of his hands travels to your cheek, thumb gently brushing over it, back and forth methodically. The hand on your back pauses just below your shoulder blade. “I have a question. What if I asked you to marry me?”

“What?” You ask, sounding shocked. You did not expect that. You and Nikolai had been seeing each other secretly for almost a year. You preferred it that way. For one, you weren’t be closely inspected and watched by everyone in the court, and for two you were convinced the court and perhaps the people of Ravka would never except you as Nikolai’s choice. You certainly didn’t come from royalty. You were not a Grisha with fancy powers. You were  someone who he met by chance. Nikolai’s words pulled you from your own head.

“Will you marry me?” He whispers.

“You and I both know that wouldn’t be wise right now.” You give him a sympathetic look.

This time Nikolai looks actually shocked. Shocked because when would he choose what’s supposedly wise to Ravka’s court when’s he and the Ravkan people are too damn in love with you. “Who cares about what’s wise? I love you and as much as you might not believe it, the people love you too. From what they’ve seen of your work. All I know is that I love you and you are what would be good for the people. Forget about the damn court. I love you and I want you as my spouse. To hell with the fallout. So for Saints’ sake––for my sake, marry me,” he says. He’s clearly determined. His gaze is fixed on you. He doesn’t care about logic, or the flaws in the plan he just wants to be your husband, your lover and best friend from now through eternity.

“So the King of Ravka plans to keep his marriage secret, is that your plan? How would you manage that,” you ask him, skeptical of the entire situation.

Nikolai pulls you even closer to him if that is even possible. “What do you mean ‘secret’? I want everyone to know who and what you are to me. My best friend, my partner, my soulmate, my Queen. To hell with everyone who can’t accept us, but there will be no secrecy on my part. I will stand by the person I love, regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.”

“You and your damn mouth,” you say with a breathy laugh. “I will marry you one condition. We slowly wade in. We don’t tell anyone we are engaged, we get people used to the idea of us then we announce our engagement, and then we get married.”

“As long as I’m with you. Secretly together, engaged, married, whatever.” There is a momentary pause before Nikolai grins again, that same stupid one that makes you unsure if you should slap him or kiss. “I never heard a definitive yes from you, Darling. Will you marry me?”

You let out another breathy laugh before deciding that kissing him was the better option at the moment. Nikolai’s arms tighten around your middle, facing coming closer to you. Then his lips are on yours and you think Yes. The kiss was definitely the right choice.

[rollloist]

[pussyslave]

[traumszenario]

[starcurtain]

Please someone redraw this with Dr. Ratio and Aventurine because this is the exact vibe they have in my head post-Penacony.

[lotus-pear]

he’s begging kuni to let them eat pancakes for dinner

[nataliescatorccio]

#she's just like me fr

[causalityparadoxes]

Rtd said: oh you want me to fix canon?

And then took a literal novelty sized HAMMER to it

[chunkubis-xxx]

Did a little air inflation while my feeder was sleeping this morning, think he’ll like what he wakes up to?

[firstofficerkittycat]

the rituals WERE intricate but they were also fucking

[powerbottomblake]

dungeon meshi is soooo fucking great especially when it hits its stride and all characters have come into play bc it's just like

laios: I want to eat all the fucking monsters i want the monsters carnally

marcille: EATING MOSNTERS???? UNHOLY. UNCOUTH. DISGUSTING. anyway here's all the dark magic and necromancy i've got on the backburner to bring back my dragon-digested gf and also i plan to find a way for everyone to live forever at the cost of my very soul if need be

kabru, normally, in a normal tone he's rehearsed 42000 times in front of a mirror: I'M NORMAL. I'M SOOOO FUCKING NORMAL. I'M THE MOST NORMAL GUY AROUND AND I'M NOT CONSTANTLY PLOTTING ASSASSINATIONS FOR THE GREATER GOOD

senshi: I have all this trauma abt being the sole survivor of the fantasy equivalent of the franklin expedition but that's not important what really matters here is eat yer goddamn veggies or so help me

and the best part is that none of them are straight

[traumszenario]

[emry-stars-art]

Also it’s still St. Paddy’s where I am so the Irishman himself ☘️

[celestialrealms]

we can't keep letting him get away with this 🤬

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

succession should come back for a surprise christmas special