zhampagne | ic inbox

[David's reaching for the almond milk for his morning coffee when something on his fridge catches his eye. Slowly, the door closes and he takes in the little doodle stuck to the front. The corner of his mouth lifts in a little smirk as he looks at it before turning over and reading the back.

Wade gets a text a few minutes later.]

Got your note. Very cute.
When did you sneak that little treasure into my apartment?

[ Wade's been waiting for this text for what feels like an AGE. He's delighted when he realizes David's made this discovery! ]

Oh, probably after I saw another handfasting

[ And, you know, 'thought of you'. ]

I should have just bought you flowers but I realized there's a serious lack of doodles in your interior design

Another what now?

[He's heard the word before, but he's still caffeinating and it's just easier to make Wade tell him rather than try to look it up himself.]

The doodle is good. I'm not opposed to flowers either tho.

Hey btw when is your birthday?

It's a ceremony where two or three people basically bind to each other?
Not in a BDSM kind of way
Think marriage, only it's Noctium so it's like... way less puritanical.

November 22nd
I like this game, what's your favorite flower?

Oh

[There is an excruciating pause during which David stares at his phone and tries not to black out. That is....extremely specific and he can't feel his toes? Help.]

Calla lilies.

[ Ooooooooh, that's a long pause. Long enough for Wade to realize maybe he should not have brought that up. Or maybe his timing was really off and David had to, like, go number 2. ]

Okay, I did not realize there was more than one kind of lily, so that's a thing. I guess it grows back every year so that's cool. Kinda like that cool guy who never overstays his welcome but keeps coming back.

Hey, know what's also cool? Handfasting is like the 'try before you buy' so if a year later people are still feeling it, they can get married.

...I'm making this weird, aren't I?

There are like zillions of species, yes.

[David can't decide if Wade's explanation is making him feel better or worse; he slumps against his kitchen counter, recklessly slurping down some hot coffee to try and kickstart his brain.]

Um
No, you're fine
It's fine
Just wasn't expecting marriage talk at 8:43 AM.

Oh shit
Nope, this is fine, I'm not popping any questions
Stand down, we're not at red alert or even yellow alert...

Deep breaths, baby.

[ He knows sometimes David can get a little panicked over things. He freezes up. Wade never wants to be the reason he does, but sometimes all he can do is be there for him and try to help thaw him out. ]

I love you.

[Slowly, very slowly, David feels his blood pressure drop and the anxiety loosen its hold on his spine.]

Okay.
Okay sorry
Just really threw me for a loop, that's all.

I love you too.

Okay.
Okay.

...I'm sorry, I sometimes just
get carried away and I don't really think about how they might impact you
I really want to hold you
And if you're not okay with that, it's okay
I can wait.

But like the movie Speed, I can only wait like... 116 minutes tops

It's alright. It's like...exposure therapy.

[And David is a walking human trainwreck of trust issues and abandonment issues and commitment issues, so he needs all the therapy he can get.]

I'd like that.
Actually, want to meet me for brunch?
I woke up craving hollandaise sauce and champagne-forward mimosas.

We can do brunch!
Where and when
Let's face it — if I pick you up at your apartment, we're probably not making it back out in time for brunch

[ Then again, Wade might be underestimating how driven David is when it comes to food. ]

No, you're absolutely right.
I'll drop a pin.

[He sends over the coordinates of a spot in Sumarlok he'd initially gone to with his friend Matt, a few months prior. The interior is decorated in lush gem-Art Deco, and David waits at a booth table with a pitcher of mimosas already on the table, dressed in a white graphic tee with a jaguar's face printed over the chest in pale grey, his gem just peeking over the collar where his sunglasses tug it slightly downward.

When he spots Wade at the door, David lifts a hand to wave him over, and it's a relief to see him in person after their harrowing, life-threatening conversation from earlier.]

[ Wade's look of the day can be easily summed up as lumbersexual. Not full lumberjack, but just enough metro to even it out. The mask comes off halfway to the booth, revealing a wide smile. His arm comes around from his back to reveal a small bouquet of calla lilies, in varying shades of purple. You know, because David's an Amethyst Gembonded. ]

Got something for you. [ It's amazing what you can get when you have enough currents to cough up. ] That shirt hits differently ever since you transformed into a sphinx.

[ It's nice. It also makes Wade feel unspeakably horny, but then again... David has that effect on him anyway, on top of all of those messy, lovey-dovey feels. Right now, he's enjoying the view from here — that peekaboo down his shirt, the graphic tee serving up sexy throwbacks, David's smile. ]

Happy accident? Or intentional?

[David has a brief Moment when Wade walks in looking like his ex-flame Jake, but it's definitely not a bad look on him, and his grin is interrupted by open-mouthed surprise when he's presented with a bouquet of purple Calla lilies.]

For little old me? [He takes the flowers and inclines his cheek, angling for a kiss, before taking a whiff of the blooms' delicate scent.] Thank you, they're beautiful.

[At the mention of his shirt, David glances downward, and his smile turns a little try.]

It was definitely an inspired purchase. But to be clear, I'd wear this even if I didn't sometimes transform into a massive cat centaur.

Yeah? I was thinking it'd look better on my floor.

[ Which is another way of saying David looks hot. The flowers are his romantic apology for putting David through his own personal hell with all that handfasting talk. Wade leans in and gives David a kiss on his proffered cheek, but he ends up holding it there for way too long, coupled with a long and exaggerated hum. Mwah. ]

Is it weird that I always feel a little drunk around you?

[ He slides into the seat across from David, reaching over the table to take his hand. He double-takes at the pitcher, as if he didn't notice it on the way over. ]

Oh! That's why!

Edited 2022-03-30 15:42 (UTC)

We—well, yeah, obviously. [Momentarily caught off-guard, David recovers quickly enough, his hand playfully shoving Wade's face away from him as he smacks a big, unnecessarily-long smooch on his stubbly cheek. Truthfully, he's glad for just...the reassurance of it, the extra attention he knows Wade is paying him to make up for the whole handfasting thing. He grips Wade's hand a little tighter before he lets go, just to let him know he appreciates it.]

No, not weird at all. The feeling's mutual.

[As if on cue, he pushes a glass of mimosa towards Wade with his index finger.]

Mmhmm. Catch up, sweetie, come on.

[ Wade lifts his glass as thanks and then, like a classic bitch he's not, starts to down the whole drink. Because baby told him to. It is good, though, at least that's what he communicates through a few hums of approval. ]

On an empty stomach, too. Hope this means you plan on taking advantage of me later.

[ Swirling the very last sip at the bottom of his glass, he slides it aside, near the pitcher and drums his fingers on the table. ]

What are we drinking to, anyway? [ Wade, ever reckless with his mouth, blurts out: ] I'm pretty sure our 6-month anniversary is next month.

[ You bet your ass he's been tracking it. ]

[He wasn't quite intending for Wade to chug the whole glass, but he doesn't stop him, either, burying his nose in his flowers again with his eyes on his boyfriend across the table. He sets the bouquet carefully aside, laid across his jacket, and then arches a brow at Wade.]

Well now I'm going to. [He reaches across the table, his be-ringed fingers catching Wade's drumming on the top. David opens his mouth to make up some witty toast off the top of his head, but Wade blurting out the next part stops him in his tracks. Not in a bad way; his mouth slowly opens, the math he's doing written across his face.]

...Holy shit. You're right. That's...wow. [Easy to lose track of time, he guesses, when you're in a place with an entirely different calendar.]

Well, congratulations, babe. You're officially my longest relationship on record.

[ Wade covers the hand David uses to smother his drumming and leans a little more in David's direction. ]

Longest? Wow.

[ And with him, of all people. Wade picks up David's hand and holds it between his. It still amazes him that he's somehow fallen in so deep, but the more he thinks about his time here, he can't imagine where he'd be if he hadn't met David. And naturally, saying that part out loud is hard. Clowning around is easy: ]

So glad that love potion worked! [ He gives a strained sigh, feeling a confused sensation of pressure squeezing in his chest and that delicious, melted chocolate feeling David inspires. ] Remind me to send that love guru quack a fruit basket.

What do you wanna do next month?

Uh, yes.

[His gaze rolls toward the ceiling, because it's fucking embarrassing to be a man in your thirties and have never dated anyone longer than a few months. Not that he thinks Wade is judging him, but....he's always kind of low-key worried people are judging him. It's instinct at this point.

Wade mentions a love potion, though, and David shoots him a skeptical look.]

I should have known you drugged me. [His fingers squeeze a little tighter, and he shrugs his shoulders.] I don't know, I didn't know I had anything to plan for. Any ideas?

How else was I supposed to land such a catch? Hook line and sinker, babe.

[ And like that, Wade feels the tension break. ]

A few. [ Some ideas bouncing around, but Wade is suddenly gripped with indecision, so he defaults to the wild and bizarre, which can seem odd to anyone from the outside looking in seeing as he's very intimately interlacing their fingers while he suggests in smoothly: ]

What are your thoughts on naked tandem jumping?

Mmm, pretty sure you did just fine on your own.

[David flips through the menu idly with his free hand, though his gaze is divided evenly between the brunch specials and Wade’s face. A knot forms in his brow.]

I don’t see that happening for me. But I was thinking...I’ve heard they have singing whales? That fly? Singing sky whales.

[It sounds absurd, but it also sounds fun. And romantic. Like a magic carpet ride, but instead of a carpet it’s a whale, and instead of Aladdin it’s his mutant assassin boyfriend.]

We could...check them out. If you want.

[ Wade's shoulders shake as he responds to that furrowed brow with a laugh, brief and amused. He finally lets go of his boyfriend's hand, but it's to open the menu and glance through it. He decides this sounds better than anything he can immediately come up with. ]

Singing sky whales, there's an idea — sounds cozy.

[ Wade instantly recalls the way the bonfires licked orange light against David's profile while he was costumed as Elton and he as Freddy Krueger. How his thighs felt as his hands melded over his kneecaps, his feelings alive with potential.

The day trip sounds... very romantic. ]

Is there nudity involved? [ Wade, please. ]

Very cozy. By the way, the hashbrowns here? To die for.

[Beneath the table, David's sneaker-clad foot reaches for Wade's. Just another little point of contact while their hands are otherwise occupied.]

Think that would constitute animal cruelty, sweetie. But...we could do drugs first. That would be kind of fun.

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