They're not married, but they celebrate an anniversary of sorts, kind of like Sophie and Nate did. Parker's not an anniversary kind of person, but she's good at recognizing patterns. Eliot is an anniversary kind of person. Hardison thinks that whatever works for them works. So Eliot doesn't call it an anniversary or anything, but every year, on the "til my dying day" day, he insists that they all have a meal together, no distractions. Parker and Hardison don't question it because Eliot so rarely insists on anything that they do together.
It's maybe three years in that Parker figures it out. They don't talk about it much, because once they understand, they get it. Every year together, an anniversary meal. They manage to make it work every single year, whether or not they're on a job, whether or not Hardison is away or not. No exceptions. They're very committed.
7. UnbreakableΒ Kiss - The type of kiss that really shouldnβt be happening, itβs a mistake, but you just canβt find yourself able to pull away.
this is set in the canonverse btw!
The wheels of the moving train hum from below, imbuing a sense of serenity into the atmosphere of the sleeper car. With the doors closed the privacy is palpable, opening a plethora of possibilities that neither can ignore.
Armin feels a sense of thrill as Annie kisses him. A thought is fresh in his head, the idea that outside the doors any sign of affection between them could be mocked, a notion that perhaps some actions should not be happening. It makes him kiss her back harder, his arms wrapping around her waist as she straddles his lap. Her hands find his hair, her slender fingers running through the strands and grazing the short-cropped texture on his nape.
Maybe there's a sense that they should stop, that they should break apart and act more inline with the ambassadors the world sees them as. Outside the little walls of the sleeper car they're to be travelling the world, attending meetings in some bid to achieve peace between nations, yet here they are mashing their faces together like a bunch of horny teenagers.
The most logical thing to do would be to stop, yet neither Armin nor Annie can find themselves pulling away.
So they remain on the bottom bunk. She nibbles on his bottom lip and opens her mouth just enough to let out a sigh, their noses brushing in the process. Soon her hands move to his torso, touching the tie that hangs from his neck. Despite their haste, Annie manages to loosen and slip it off.
Armin lets out a chuckle when she lets the garment fall to the floor, but before he can let it turn into a laugh Annie's lips are on his again.
And he lets her.
As they kiss Annie's fingers work the top buttons of his shirt, undoing them at an agonizingly slow rate. Soon she's pulling the white fabric aside just enough for her fingers to brush across his chest.
But before Armin can even begin working at Annie's blouse, the door of the sleeper car slides opens.
Like an inconveniently divine force, Pieck pokes her head into the space with her usual relaxed expression, the kind that always seems to contrast whatever situation she finds herself in.
"Hey, Annie, have you seen-"
Pieck immediately gets an eyeful of the shorter blonde currently straddling the less-shorter blond on the lower bunk. The lighting of the train hallway is scant, but Armin can see the subtle look of surprise on his colleague's face.
Suddenly, Pieck grins and let's out a scoff. "Ha! Knew it!"
And just as quickly she closes the door and graciously grants Armin and Annie their privacy once more.
π: What seemingly meaningless action of theirs is most beloved by someone close to them? Do they know how much they love it?
You know the tongue thing? That π thing? Yeah, everyone loves it. Everyone. And most would not admit to it under pain of death.
Roy thinks it is stupidly attractive. Keeley always found it so cheeky and funny. Georgie knows it means he's absolutely not sorry for what he's done or is about to do. Simon is always relieved by it, letting the silliness calm the knot of worry he always has about him. Ted took it as a sign of belief. Sam sees it as confidence incarnate.
I'm a real sucker for "everyone knows we're dating/in love but us" like the two characters being totally committed to each other but SOMEHOW? They think they're just friends. Just really good friends.
It was a Thing in Stucky fandom and now I get a whole new spin on it in Buddie fandom and honestly, fam, I am Fed
Like that's my shit, please give me ten thousand fics featuring exactly this.
Also the accidental term of endearment trope?? Or secret endearment in a different language? Confessing your love in a language the other one doesn't understand???
Like anything stupidly sappy, basically, I'm a slut for it.
I appreciate a good cliche as long as it's done well.
β How you been ? You settled down ? β
β I was raised out in the cold . . . β
β Scared to live . . . scared to die. β
β If I get too close . . . and I'm not how you hoped . . . β
β Forgive my northern attitude ; I was raised on little light. β
πππππ ππππππ
β Kept on driving straight and left our future to the right . . . β
β I'm stuck between my anger and the blame that I can't face. β
β Doc told me to travel , but there's Covid on the planes. β
β It's half my fault , but I just like to play the victim. β
β I miss the way you laugh . . . β
β You once called me forever ; now you still can't call me back. β
β I saw your mom ; she forgot that I existed. β
β I hope this pain's just passing through. β
πππ ππ ππππ
β Okay. I feel good about this. β
β I'm saying too much , but you know how it gets out here. β
β No winter coat could keep out all the cold of your atmosphere. β
β We'd shake the frame of your car. β
β I know your name , but not who you are. β
β It's all okay. There ain't a drop of bad blood. β
β It's all my love . . . You got all my love . . . β
β You burrowed in under my skin ; what I'd give to have you out from me. β
β At the end of it all I just hope that your scars heal. β
β Babe , I swear I was scared to death . . . β
β I smiled stupid the whole way home. β
β There was heaven in your eyes . . . I was not baptized. β
β Everything's alright when [ he / she ] calls me back. β
β Look at me ; and don't you lie. β
β I could be your sacrifice. β
β I do not exist to die , but live to die while saving you. β
β Why am I so obsessive ? Hanging on to every sentence . . . β
β This town's the same as you left it. β
β Your page was blank but I read it. β
β I don't get much sleep most nights . . . β
β I was too afraid of livin' life in your footsteps. β
ππππ ππππ
β I'm in the business of losing your interest. β
β I turn a profit each time that we speak. β
β There's a coffin buried under the garden. β
β My house was designed to kinda look like it's crying. β
β I was taking the wrong meds ; feels good to be sad. β
β My mouth was designed for my foot to fit in it. β
β I know that it ain't much . . . I know that it ain't cool. β
β Some day I'm gonna be somebody people want. β
βEverytime something goes well, I momentarily forget how much I despise you.β
(hahahaha ouch, but you've handed me the keys to explore something, so bear with me as i cbf to look up the cutscene again right this minute, and i'm doing my best to remember this conversation, having just watched it the other day.)
It wasn't until she heard G'raha's pained cry that Kit slowed her steps up the Crystal Tower stairs. She spun about, chest heaving with the breaths of their exertions. Elidibus was likely at the top of the tower, so why were they stopping now?
"I'm afraid you'll have to go on without me," he said from his position on the ground. "Find Elidibus, and end this."
Kit looked at him there on the floor, limbs akimbo beneath himself as he rubbed at the crystal slowly encroaching upon his body. He was not a tall man, and she was a much taller Viera woman, but in that moment he somehow looked smaller than she'd ever noticed. Like the pain wracking him was diminishing him before her eyes.
Pain. Everything that hurt her now--the ways she threw herself into danger again and again believing his lie that she would be fine, the very dire circumstances that held her friends' lives in the balance as their bodies deteriorated on the Source, and the fact that she was once again being forced to kill a very damaged man--could be traced back to him. Even as he aided her now in what she knew must be done, she resented him for it. Resented that he once again put her in a position to be the only solution to his problem. She watched him as her teeth ground together until she was certain she'd make dust of them. Perhaps it was not his fault she'd been forced to kill Emet-Selch. Perhaps he'd not intended to endanger everyone she cared for. Perhaps, even, he had believed she would survive all he asked of her, and that everything would resolve as he claimed. But even now, a great threat hanging over them once again, she felt cornered.
She must have watched him too long, as he asked, "What is it, my friend?"
She couldn't stop herself. "Why me? Was there ever a time you even considered another option?"
He blinked up at her, having the audacity to look surprised. "How can you ask me such a thing?" His eyes focused intently on her, his expression so earnest that she knew beyond a doubt that he believed every word which was about to come out of his mouth. How he never wavered from his faith that she could and would be the salvation he sought for this world. How he devoted all he was to his people. That always was this path clear to him. Never did he believe it would fail. Never did he believe there was any other way forward.
"Elidibus said much the same thing," she told him, her words soft and gentle for all their ferocity.
His mouth dropped open, and for a few of her quickened heartbeats, he seemed at a loss for a response. "How curious," was all he managed.
"Curious, indeed." She looked to the sky, the vortex of the firestorm raining destruction down upon them. She did not like it, and something in her heart knew she would one day regret this act too, but she understood there was no other way out than to kill Elidibus. "I have to go." She frowned down at him. "Will you be alright here?"
"I am not quite so helpless as that," he assured her. "I have a few tricks, but I will not play my trump card save in your presence. I will see you succeed, and then I will see to it that you and your friends are returned to the Source."
She believed he meant that, and all of her anger aside, she could not help but love him, at least a little, for all he was willing to sacrifice to keep that promise. After all, if she could see the acts of Emet-Selch and Elidibus as acts of love, then she must be able to see his as such, too.
Still, it could not erase everything he'd done. βI believe you, and everytime something goes well, I momentarily forget how much I despise you.β
If he said anything else in response, she did not hear it. She was already running to hurtle herself into bringing about yet one more death she knew she would live to mourn.
