"Are you flirting with me?" "Oh, you finally noticed?" For Jurdan. Make it fluffy please, you broke my heart with that other fic just now. I need the fluff!
Colours
Read it on AO3!
Word Count: 1,006
Jude licked powdered sugar off her fingers, the remnants of funnel cake littering the plate. She distinctly remembered Vivi promising that they’d have a fun time watching fireworks before she ran off with Heather.
Jude wanted out of the house. Vivi wanted Jude out of the house. And yet, here she stood at the fairgrounds, paper plate in one hand, the other’s fingers in her mouth — Vivi was nowhere to be seen.
She twisted on her heel, facing the trash can behind her, feeling her shoulders droop slightly as she trudged to the trash can, tossing the plate away. Jude turned, feeling someone tap on her shoulder.
Her nose crinkled, and she pretended it was the smell of the garbage can behind her. Cardan stood before her, dressed simply compared to his usual outfits. And, for a minute, Jude almost mistook him for a normal person.
“What do you want?” She spit, her voice like venom in her throat, her tongue burning. Cardan raised a single brow, a hint of amusement playing at the corner of his mouth.
He brought a thumb to her lip, gently swiping stray powder away, surprising her by his sudden tenderness. Jude fought the urge to part her lips, the heat of his thumb lingering. “Missed a spot,” he muttered, watching what he was doing instead of watching her. Missing the way she looked at him, the small enchantment in her eyes that would disappear the moment he returned her gaze.
For a minute, she contemplated thanking him. “What do you want now, my firstborn?” Jude crossed her arms.
Cardan smiled, and Jude wondered what she’d said wrong.
“Sure, when do we start?”
Jude’s mouth dropped slightly, her shock escaping her. Her arms twisted from across her chest to wrapping around her sides, twisting at the fabrics of her shirt. Her gaze flickered across his face, settling on his lips for just a moment too long. The corners of Cardan’s mouth perked up.
“Are you flirting with me?” She asked, not entirely surely sure she wanted to know.
The wild lights from the fairgrounds lit up his face, the glorious array of otherworldly colours casting rainbows on his skin. Buzzers sounded, vendors shouted to sell their wares. Kids ran by screaming, couples holding too-big stuffed animals that spilled over their arms.
A heavy boom erupted in the sky, it’s sound shuddering through Jude’s body. “Oh, you finally noticed?” Cardan said, taking a step closer to Jude as she rolled her eyes, turning from him to watch the fireworks, a childlike-wonder spread across her face.
Cardan watched her, his features not unlike the pure joy she wore. Her hands fell from the hems of her shirts, the hand farthest from him folding into her pants pocket. Cardan looped one of his fingers with hers, giving her room to pull away. She didn’t.
Instead, Jude laced their fingers together, surprising herself with how easily the motion came to her.
“You didn’t seem all that surprised to see me,” Jude said, not looking at him. Another heavy boom wracked it’s way through her body, causing her to shudder. Cardan squeezed her hand.
He smiled slightly, looking at his feet. “Vivi texted me. Told me you were here.” Jude was decidedly going to kill Vivi.
She felt her face scrunch up again, felt the heat rise in her cheeks. Somewhere, a child screamed into the night, their sharp laughter following. A balloon popped nearby from one of the games, it’s sound mocking the heavy explosions.
The fireworks lit up more than the sky, Jude’s cheeks were a wild scheme of reds. She felt featherlight in their stead, much more colourful than she’d been in a long time.
Fireworks exploded, illuminating their faces, leaving golden trails of stardust in their wake. It was as if someone had taken the stars and forged them into a crown, placing it atop Jude’s head; Cardan couldn’t have looked at her any other way.
Many shades of reds and blues erupted in the sky, glorious varieties of purples casting both light and shadow unto its onlookers.
“So, how long did you stand there watching me lick powdered sugar off my fingers?”
Cardan chuckled softly, the sound almost completely muted by the detonations in the sky, his heart pounding in time. “Longer than I’d like to admit.” He said, bringing a hand up to his heating cheeks. “But I can say that I’d have done a much better job.” Jude elbowed him in the stomach, earning another chuckle. As loud as the fireworks may have been, it startled her with how clearly she could hear his laughter, as if it were only meant for her.
She turned to face him fully, then, their fingers loosely intertwined between each other. “What a shame,” she said, leaning in closely. Her breath whispered promises against his skin, ones she knew she may never be able to admit aloud. “That you’ll never know.”
Cardan pecked her nose, and before she could process it, she’d scrunched her face again. Cardan’s expression mimicked a child, the light in his eyes putting the fireworks to shame. He looked at the crinkle on her nose, the scrunch between her brows. A small mourning in his eyes ignited when her face relaxed again.
Jude looped her arms around Cardan’s neck, tilting her head upwards, as if that’d stop him from doing it again. She leaned onto the points of her toes, resting her weight against Cardan’s chest. She carded her fingers through his hair softly, letting herself feel everything she’d tucked away inside herself. Jude thought her chest might detonate, taking Cardan with her, too.
He kissed her properly that time, beneath the golden glimmer of fireworks and the heavy boom that rattled her chest. Cardan held her tighter, his fingers playing with the ends of her hair, hand snaking it’s way up the back of her neck. The heavy pulses above them racing against the thumping of their hearts.
Maybe she’d be able to make those promises after all.
masterlist
i’m sorry this took so long, i wasn’t quite sure how i wanted this one to work out
Shadow, to Reki and Langa: You guys are idiots, did you know that?
Reki: In our defense, we actually did know that. But you knew that too and yet you left us unsupervised so what happened was technically kinda your fault.
Langa: Reki no-
Shadow: The fuck did you say to me you little shit?
My brother, Andrew, and I are setting up this fundraiser on behalf of our 85 year ol… Victoria Eng needs your support for Help My Grandma, Stabbing Victim
Please donate and share to help Chui Fong Eng’s recovery!
I am absolutely disgusted by the acts of hate and violence that are so rampant in our country. We need to keep educating ourselves on how deep racism roots itself in our society and put in the work to dismantle it.
My heart goes out to Chui Fong Eng and her family. And I hope that whoever is responsible for this will actually face punishment.
Friendly Reminder: Cardan is a bookworm.
And he’s a mortal fable fanboy. Jude finding Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in Cardan’s room was one of my favorite unsolved conundrums about him in the first book. Jude questioned its unusual appearance in his room, but got too distracted to look more into it. But there is definitely something about mortals that interests him. He makes another reference to a mortal fable, the Ant and the Grasshopper, in The Wicked King. I’m curious if he used these stories as a means to escape his reality in Faerie. He’s made it clear on several occasions that he’d prefer to be secluded from the court, whether by distance or drink.
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I’ve used this as a sketch break between projects for the longest time, but finally polished it up last night. I’ve had many ask why I don’t draw Cardan’s tail, and that’s because it’s hinted quite often that he’s either ashamed or embarrassed by it. It’s the subject of gossip and Jude’s curiosity, so I keep it hidden when he’s in a public setting (which most of my drawings / crafts of him are - excluding baby Cardan). So here. Have a tail. 🧡
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