Chocolate Troubles - Bragi x Reader
My gods, I feel like this request was made by me. I freaking loved it! I did re-write half of this like 3 times because I was having fun and things were getting out of hand. <3
But! It’s done now. Not perfect, but I absolutely loved writing it. Thank you for the request, anon!
Also, I’m adding this to the Smarmy Nonsense series.
~~~~~
Rough—this single word barely begins to describe how this morning started. In fact, this entire week could be called a tragedy in regards to my boyfriend. Bragi’s unfortunate week started with sleeping in and missing a test. The rest of the week did not get any better. Starting the week on the wrong foot meant that the young man was always a step behind and frustrated to wit’s end. Events outside of school were just as exasperating. I asked him to watch my shop for an hour while I ran an errand, only to return to an asshole customer, a boyfriend one step away from murder, and books scattered around the shop—I got that sorted out but it definitely didn’t help. Today followed suit with a tear in his favorite jacket and a misplaced paper. I managed to find the missing paper and attempted to deliver it along with lunch, only to come home without seeing him at all because he was busy trying to catch up. At least Hermod promised to pass on the paper and food for me before I came home, so it wasn’t a total waste.
Despite all the hell and annoyances this week had brought him, Bragi hadn’t turned on me. Even I made a slip up in ruining dinner one night, but his frustrations were never aimed at me. He’s been angry and fuming and miserable all week but still he’s trying his best. I hate it. Nobody likes seeing the people they love upset and I don’t really know how to help him. I can’t do his homework or train for him nor can I stop the freak accidents that he’s been attracting this week. I wish there was something I could do.
As I sit behind my shop counter, stitching the sleeve back on his jacket, I spot a misplaced book. I’d only had a few customers today which makes this all the more annoying. Deciding to take a short break from stabbing my own fingers, I put the fabric down and pick up the book to return it to its rightful place.
As I place it back on the shelf, I look at the cover of fancy, decorated sweets. I admit I have a pretty monstrous sweet tooth and my curiosity encourages me to peek at a few pages inside. Many of them look delicious yet complicated but I can’t bring myself to stop looking at the page of homemade chocolates.
“I bet Bragi would like these,” I hum to myself.
Those words infest my thoughts while I go back tending the quiet shop and mending the jacket. They are eventually the only thing I can think about, inevitably convincing me to close early and go grocery shopping. The more I think about it, the more excited I become; even after I’m home, as I start cooking dinner, I cannot stop grinning.
With dinner keeping warm in the oven, I start the dessert. It is not as easy as this book makes it sound and all I’m doing is mixing heated ingredients in a bowl! The first two…three…four batches don’t turn out right at all; one of them tasted like cocoa dusted rocks and I set the third mixture on fire…twice. This last one, though, seems to be going great so far and thank the gods because I have no more ingredients left without a second trip to the market.
The unmistakable sound of keys in the door pulls my attention. The doorknob rattles and jiggles until the door slams open, revealing an exhausted Bragi.
“Welcome home!” I chirp, placing the only decent tray of chocolates in the fridge.
“Hey,” he murmurs.
I follow him towards the living area of the room. “You’re back late. How was class?”
He drops his bag on the floor and heaves an exaggerated sigh. “It was shit. I was gonna give up and come back after class but the others wouldn’t let me go until I was finally all caught up.”
“Good. And you get to sleep in tomorrow.”
“Thank gods. And thank you for finding my paper. And bringing lunch.”
“No problem,” I say. “I also fixed your jacket.”
Poor weary boy slings his arms around my waist. “Thank you.”
His lips meet my cheek, however, when he leans back, his brows are scrunched together as he licks his lips.
“The hell? What’s on your face?”
I shove a fist across my face, finding the mixture that managed to escape me during the second batch. Then his eyes dart to the kitchen.
“What the hell happened here? Looks like a band of Heartless had a party.”
I take a look back, finally noticing the disaster my kitchen lay in. I thought I managed to contain the mess despite the many mishaps but, clearly, I was wrong. “Oh…uh…I was making dinner and dessert but I guess it kinda got away from me.”
“Did it at least turn out alright?”
“Dinner’s fine; we can eat after you get cleaned up. I can’t exactly vouch for dessert though.”
“Alright. Gimme five minutes.”
Bragi leaves to get cleaned and I try to take on ground zero in my kitchen while plating food. I’m almost done with dinner by the time he returns.
“So what’s for dessert,” he asks, amber eyes scanning the mess across the table.
“Hopefully chocolates.” I wipe my hands on a cloth and turn my attention to him. “But some of them didn’t-Wait! Don’t!”
It’s too late. Bragi, while surveying the trays of botched batches had decided to try one. By the time I noticed, it’s already too late. I hear the crunch, the curiosity morphs into shock and then horror. His entire body convulses and his expression screws in disgust.
“What are you doing?! Spit it out!” I shout. And he does…on the floor. “Bragi! Why would you spit it out on the floor?!”
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!” he exclaims after a bout of spitting in the sink.
“That’s the rock batch! Why would you put something in your mouth when you don’t know what it is?! Are you stupid?!”
“You said you made chocolates!”
“Yes, but these are the ones I messed up!”
“No shit!”
“Pick up your spit rock and get out of my kitchen!” I demand.
He grumbles as he scoops up the inedible candy. “With pleasure.”
Catastrophe ends with dinner, which I’m far more confident in than even the acceptable sweets chilling in the fridge. While we eat, I still notice the weariness in his eyes and the listlessness in his voice. I’m a bit worried that his unfortunate encounter made things worse and it makes me nervous to even think about giving him dessert. Bragi, though, uses all opportunities to pick on me.
“So did anything good come out of that wreck over there?” he asks, pointing towards the kitchen.
“Uh…maybe.”
“What I’m hearing is that you don’t know if they’re safe.”
I scoff as I stand. “Oh now you choose to be cautious.”
“I’d like to keep all my teeth, thanks.”
“You weren’t so concerned about that earlier.”
Tray now in hand, I look them over. They don’t look luxurious, but they look more than presentable.
“And you have destroyed my trust,” he retorts.
“Fine.”
Setting down the tray, I pluck a little molded heart and pop it in my mouth. Instantly, I feel far more confident than I had as it melts in my mouth.
“Ooo, I need to keep that recipe.”
Cocking a brow, Bragi grabs one for himself. Pride blossoms in my chest when he smiles.
“Definitely better than the rock chocolate. Hell, this is better than most of the ones at the market.”
“Wish it didn’t take me as long as it did to get it right,” I sigh.
“Yeah? How many times did you fail before you got it right?”
A hand drags down my face. “Four.”
“Damn. I guess you better keep your day job.”
“Ha ha,” I say sarcastically, swiping the tray out of his reach.
“Oh c’mon!” He flops to his side, lying his head on my lap and grinning at me. “You know you got the best book shop in Scala. Even the citadel relies on you for text books.” His little flattery isn’t winning him any points. “And honestly, would you really rather own a candy shop than a book shop?”
“Not the point.” I poke a finger against his cheek. “You’re rude.”
“Sure, but I’m dating the best person in all the worlds.”
Okay, five points.
“You’re only saying that because I have the chocolate.”
“Are you saying that you want me to say it more often? ‘Cause I can do that.”
Blood rushes into my cheeks. “No!”
“I don’t see why not—it’s all true.”
“I will throw the rock chocolate at you.”
“As long as you let me eat those ones.” His mouth opens in a gesture to be fed. I shake my head but pick up a chocolate to drop on him. A smile sneaks onto my face as he happily chews.
“You’re spoiled, you know that?”
He gives me his signature smirk. “Of course. Now are you gonna tell me what all this was for? I didn’t forget something did I?”
“Didn’t I just tell you that you were spoiled?”
“Okay, then why am I being spoiled this time?”
I know I wanted to find a way to make Bragi’s week somewhat better, but now that I’m confronted with it, I can’t exactly meet his gaze as I make my confession.
“Because…I hate seeing you depressed. I know you’ve had kind of a shitty week so I thought maybe we could end on a happier note.” I spot my mess and sigh. “Granted, I don’t think cleaning the kitchen is gonna be fun.”
Soft laughter reaches my ears and I look down at him. Bragi’s smirk never fails to get my heart racing, but it damn near stops every time I see an honest smile on him. He’s got bags under his eyes, his hair is messier than usual, and he’s been a little down all week, but he’s happy and I would go to the ends of existence for him.
“You dork,” he says. “I love you.”
The elation is so strong I might burst. “I love you too.”
He drops another dessert into his mouth. “But you are not allowed to make these for anyone else.”
“What?”
“Do you really want Vor and Eraqus mauling you for these?”
“Oh…no.”
“I didn’t think so.”
~~~~~
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