Hey Vicky!! Can I request Julian x MC x Asra where MC is shy? And they get caught staring at the two of them bc they can't believe they got so lucky? and the two of them intentionally fluster them by kissing their hands and arms? Thank youuu
Not exactly a flustering, but I had this idea and I needed to write it. It’s… Sweet. Cavity-inducing. It might be good that I have a dentist appointment next week after writing this tbh.
Aspen was grinding herbs when they caught sight of them. Asra was hardly an uncommon sight around the shop and the small space above it, as was Julian now that the rift between he and Asra had been mended. Aspen was glad for their part in healing that hurt. Both of them looked happier for it, and it was one of those soft, happy smiles Aspen caught sight of on the faces of both their lovers. Those moments were quiet, gentle, and Aspen cherished each one they were privy to, knowing too well the fallibility of memory.
The sense that they were missing something, some memory teetering just out of reach, always held them back when the moment presented itself to involve Aspen in one of those rose-colored scenes. It wasn’t a bitter herb, just one that needed tempering, and every time Asra tucked a stray auburn lock behind Julian’s ear and every time Julian’s hand came tenderly to rest near Asra’s waist was a step Aspen felt was toward helping that herb sweeten.
They turned their focus away from their companions, back to the mortar and pestle and herbs, and were startled when hands came to wrap around their own and still their progress. Stealthily for a man his size, Julian had come behind them. “What are you working on?” he asked.
“A headache remedy for Nadia. Her memories still haven’t fully returned, and some things she remembers still give her headaches to recall,” Aspen answered. While Julian laced his fingers through Aspen’s, Asra took the mortar and pestle.
“You work enough, Penny. Nadia can wait,” he said. There was mischief in his smile, mischief Aspen was too familiar with. Julian raised one of their hands to his lips, kissed their fingers. Aspen felt color rise to their cheeks. “We see you looking, you know,” Asra continued.
“You’re always welcome to join in,” Julian added. Aspen shook their head and tried to withdraw their hands from Julian’s grasp. Just as they managed to free one hand, Asra caught it. Julian held fast to the other.
“I can’t,” Aspen whispered.
“If you think you need permission, of all things,” Julian said, winding his now empty right hand around Aspen’s waist and holding them against his chest, “you have it. Expressly.”
“Aspen,” Asra murmured. “You can. You have. It’s just when Ilya and I get together that you close yourself off.”
Aspen shook their head again, prompting a concerned whispered of “Penny…” from Julian. “You don’t understand,” they said thickly. “You two have history, but you make it seem so simple. There’s things I… I’m missing… parts, pieces.” It was more than the memories that yet eluded them, but they didn’t know how to articulate it. Something seemed to fall into place when they saw Asra and Julian together, something they could sense but not recreate for themself.
Aspen looked at their feet, and tried to ignore the way Asra’s shaking hands tightened on their right hand. Why did they have to ruin everything? If they would only keep their big mouth shu…
“Parts missing? Well that’s no good,” Julian said with ardor, “we’ll have to take inventory. See if we’ve just misplaced them. Penny, my dear,” they made the mistake of facing him, of seeing the twinkle of mischief that had fled Asra’s eyes in his one good one and in that insufferably kissable smirk, “I may be a hack but I know all the parts of a person.”
Aspen’s ears burned. Julian took their hand in both of his and kissed each finger individually, counting them. When he reached five, he kissed their palm. “A whole hand on this side, it would seem.”
“Oh!” Aspen started. Asra had caught on to Julian’s game. He kissed the fingers of their right hand, peeked at them through pale lashes when he brought their palm to his lips and pressed an open mouthed kiss to it. Aspen felt the blush that had reached their ears start creeping down their neck.
“A whole hand here too, doctor,” he said. They continued that way. Julian named every bone and muscle in their left arm, kissed each one as he named it. On Aspen’s right, Asra confirmed the presence of the same features with warm lips against their skin. Between them, Aspen blushed fiercely as their lovers kissed their way up their arms, giving scientific assurances that Aspen was whole.
They had closed their eyes by the time Julian named their clavicle, the trapezius muscle. Asra had stopped speaking in favor of kissing, caressing, pressed close to Aspen’s side to breathe in their anise and cardamom scent. Julian cupped their face in leather clad hands, turned their head gently to face him. It took a moment, a still perfect moment, for Aspen to open their eyes and look at him. With Asra still nuzzling their neck, the softness in Julian’s eye was overwhelming. Julian kissed them, chaste and gentle, the same tenderness that he gave when looking at Asra… At them.
“Whatever you remember or don’t, Penny,” he said, “I fell in love with you.” His eye flicked to Asra. “With both of you. You are the parts I can’t be whole without.” Julian chuckled. “And keep in mind, that is coming from a man with one eye.”
“Whatever you need, Aspen,” Asra assured them. “We’re going to fill those gaps for you. One way or another.” Aspen didn’t have a response. There were no words for these two people who had come to mean so much more than the memories that eluded them. With silver lining their eyes, Aspen pulled both Julian and Asra to them.
And something, some quiet, unassuming thing, fell into it’s place.
