i know you haven’t written much for phoenix x archers so i’d love a little blurb on how they first met!
Elle, my love! Thank you for participating in my birthday blurb night, and for requesting these two cuties' first meeting.
the night we met
SUMMARY: Cecily Archer doesn't believe in love at first sight.
WARNINGS: Alcohol consumption/mention
WORD COUNT: 0.6k
“Two beers, please,” Cecily said, holding up two fingers for good measure in case the bartender couldn’t hear her over the music.
The dark-haired woman nodded with a warm smile and bent down to grab bottles from the fridge under the bar top. “Let me guess,” she said when she stood upright again. “TOPGUN?”
Cecily cocked her head to the side with a wry smile. “How’d you know?”
The bartender smiled and put the beers down. She tossed her head towards something behind her, and when she looked over her shoulder, Cecily’s eyes landed on the pool table. Her backseater, Beacon, was already greeting a group of other aviators.
“They’ve been arriving all night,” the bartender explained, pulling Cecily’s attention back and popping the caps off the bottles. “I made a qualified guess.”
Cecily handed over her card to open a tab. “I’m guessing it’s not your first class.”
She shook her head, moving towards the register. “And it won’t be my last,” she replied, tapping away on the screen. “You got a callsign like the rest of them?”
“Arrow.” The bartender furrowed her brows. “Last name is Archer,” she explained, pointing to the name tag on her chest.
“Ah, makes sense,” she said with a nod, coming back to Cecily with her card.
A patron grabbed the bartender’s attention, wanting to be served. She excused herself, and Cecily grabbed the beer bottles off the counter. She turned to move away from the bar, only to almost crash into a fellow servicewoman.
“I’m sorry,” Cecily exclaimed, checking if she’d gotten beer on herself or the other woman’s uniform.
She looked up and met a pair of dark brown intelligent eyes, and a mouth turned upward in a soft amused smile. Cecily’s breath caught in her throat. The woman was stunning, even in the unflattering service khakis and her dark hair pulled back in the standard tight bun.
“It’s alright,” she replied, putting a hand on Cecily’s upper arm to assure her. “One of those for me?”
“Huh?” Cecily looked down at the beers in her hands and then back up at the woman. “Technically for my backseater, but you can have it.”
“I’m joking,” she said, a warm chuckle passing her beautifully plump lips. “You bought it for your friend.”
Cecily had never subscribed to the idea of love at first sight, but this woman was making her question that belief before even learning her name. Maybe it was attraction at first sight instead. She couldn’t tell when her brain was trying to come up with an answer that didn’t make her seem desperate or, worse yet, a fool.
Cecily shook her head briefly, trying to clear her head and pick her jaw off the floor before turning her attention to the woman once again.
“He won’t mind,” she insisted, offering her a bottle. “As long as you cover the next round.”
She was awarded with a brilliant, full smile and her heart beat a little faster.
The woman accepted the beer and clinked the bottle against Cecily’s. “Deal,” she hummed. “I’m Natasha Trace. Phoenix.”
They started towards the pool table in step with each other. “That’s a cool callsign,” she mused and tried not to blush when their hands brushed against each other. “Cecily Archer. Arrow.”
Natasha hummed. “Cool callsign.”
Cecily almost melted into a puddle on the floor when Natasha winked at her and took a sip of her beer. So much so that she didn’t even register that Beacon asked where the hell his beer was because she was too busy cursing love (or lust) at first sight for being real.
Sylvia, hello! Thank you so much for the birthday wish and for participating in blurb night. I'm pretty bad at writing angst, so I hope this is what you were looking for. Enjoy!
wait for me
SUMMARY: Cecily lets her nerves get the better of her.
WARNINGS: Angst, implied anxiety, denial of feelings.
WORD COUNT: ~0.6k
Cecily sat on the leather sofa in the rec room, fiddling with the zip on her flight suit. Beacon had wandered off several minutes ago, complaining that she was no fun to be around.
Cecily couldn’t argue with that assessment. She had moped for days, trying to shake the uneasy feeling in her stomach but with little success.
On the surface, she didn’t know what caused her anxiety. She didn’t know why her appetite had disappeared, why her leg constantly bounced, driving even the most patient people mad, or why she’d gone back to biting her nails.
Deep down, though, she knew exactly why.
As if summoned, the reason for all Cecily’s nervous energy appeared in the doorway to the rec room with a barely there smile, making her insides feel funny. She couldn’t tell if it was butterflies or stomach acid.
“Hey,” Phoenix said, taking a step into the room. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all.”
Phoenix made a beeline for the couches, and Cecily fully expected her to sit on the one opposite her. She didn’t, opting to sink down into the soft leather right next to Cecily.
They sat in silence for a while. Normally, they would chat away about even the smallest of things, but Cecily didn’t know how to talk to Phoenix anymore. It was almost like coming back to Top Gun had glued her mouth shut, making their shared moments uncomfortable.
“I feel like you’ve been avoiding me,” Phoenix said, finally breaking the quietness.
Cecily turned to face the other pilot, eyes wide and uncertain. “What? No!”
Phoenix quirked a brow. “Really? Because you seem to leave the room whenever I come in, and this is the first one-on-one conversation we’ve had since you were called back.”
Cecily frowned. “It is?”
That didn’t seem right.
Phoenix nodded. “I just want to know why.”
“No reason,” she answered. As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew they were wrong.
Phoenix’s expression hardened, and she stood abruptly from her seat. “Got it,” she said, her voice cold and even, as she turned and headed for the door.
Cecily shook her head before jumping up. “Phoenix,” she called after her, but the other woman didn’t stop as the door flung open and she left.
Cecily jogged after her, shouting her callsign down the hallway, but she still didn’t stop.
“Nat,” she tried instead.
It worked. Phoenix turned back to Cecily, who stood just outside the door to the rec room, but she didn’t close the distance. “What?”
Cecily stepped forward. “You’re right,” she admitted. “I have been avoiding you.”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “Why?”
“I’m scared,” she told her as she fought every urge in her system not to fidget. “I was excited when I got the call that they needed me back here. I didn’t know it was because you and Bob had to eject, and they didn’t know if you’d be able to fly.”
“Why would you ignore me for that?”
Cecily balled her hands into fists, biting her lip. “I don’t…” she trailed off, uncertain. “You’re my friend, Natasha. I don’t want to lose you.”
Phoenix’s jaw clenched, looking down at her feet, then back up at Cecily. “Is that what we are? Friends?”
Cecily gaped, not sure she’d heard Phoenix correctly at first, but when the other aviator turned around to leave, she took a step forward. “Wait,” she called. “Nat!”
But Natasha didn’t stop. She disappeared down the hallway and didn’t look back.
Happy Birthday!!! ^_^ Hope it's a great one, even if it's a quiet one. For your Blurb Night event! I'm doing this now, right now, because I want to be the FIRST to shoot you one of these!! :D
I would like a mutual pining, but the good one - you know the one: where the love IS reciprocated but both idiots are too caught up to realize it.
For Cecily Archer (I am exactly this kind of geek, I chose her because I noticed that 'Arrow' was her call sign haha ^_^) and Natasha Trace!!!
. . . may your Blurb Night be a stunning success!🥂
Day, my love, I'm so sorry this is so late. I didn't think burnout would hit me right around my birthday, but it did, so this took a while. Thank you so much for the birthday wish and for participating in blurb night. Enjoy this mutual pining for Arrow and Phoenix!
promise you'll be patient
SUMMARY: It's pining season at the Hard Deck for Natasha and Cecily
WARNINGS: Swearing, so much pining, a smidge of jealous!phoenix
WORD COUNT: 0.9k (idk what happened either)
Natasha was losing her mind.
Hangman had abandoned his fascination with Jas as soon as Cecily walked into the bar, and Natasha didn’t like it one bit.
She couldn’t blame him, though. Cecily was gorgeous. Kind, a badass, one hell of a pilot, and she was honestly surprised she hadn’t been called back to Top Gun at first. Turns out she was the spare in case something happened to the other aviators. Cecily was the spare, the second choice, and Natasha had never wanted to shout at admirals more.
She took a swig of her beer, trying to ignore the way her stomach did somersaults when Cecily laughed, or smiled in that way that made crinkles appear around her eyes and her cheeks look rounder. She even looked cute when frowning, which she did a lot while talking to Hangman.
Cecily’s backseater, Beacon, stood on the opposite side of the bar, waiting for his drinks. He raised one in a greeting to Natasha before he turned and headed back to his frontseater.
She only hummed in acknowledgement when Bob dropped onto the stool next to her, the salty scent of peanuts following him around the crowded bar.
Bob nudged her shoulder with his. “You’re staring.”
Natasha’s head whipped around to face him so fast that it almost felt like whiplash. Bob jumped a little, making the peanut shells rattle in the cup. “I’m not staring,” she protested, but she didn’t sound very convincing. Even to herself.
Bob looked skeptical, too. “How long have you been in love with her?”
Natasha opened her mouth to argue, to tell her backseater that he was wrong, that he was seeing things that just weren’t there. Then he raised a brow, pushing his glasses up his nose, and she remembered that someone trained him to pay attention. He was trained to pick up minor details most people would miss.
“Since we were at Top Gun together,” she admitted.
Bob hummed. “And nothing happened.”
Natasha shook her head, dispelling the memories of that time and how much it hurt to know they wouldn’t see each other every day anymore. “No,” she finally replied. “No, I didn’t think she was interested.”
She had spent those thirteen weeks dropping hint after hint that she was into Cecily, but the other pilot had seemed completely oblivious to Natasha’s advances. She’d gotten so desperate around week ten that she’d asked Beacon to bring it up to Cecily. It hadn’t helped. She still didn’t acknowledge Natasha’s incessant flirting.
“You should tell her,” Bob said, bringing Natasha out of her head and back to the bar.
Natasha shook her head. “She’d freak out.”
Across the room, Cecily Archer was freaking out.
A golden-haired pilot had sauntered up to her when she first arrived, looking cocky and confident, like he’d never experienced rejection a day in his life.
“Hey, darling,” he’d said, heavy Texan drawl obvious to her Louisianan ears. “Can I buy you a dri–”
“I’m gay,” Cecily blurted out before he could finish. She picked at her nails, doing her best not to bite them, as her eyes darted towards the bar. She locked eyes with Phoenix for a second before looking away, heat rushing to her cheeks.
He nodded. “Okay,” he said, shrugging. “Can I still buy you a drink?”
She lifted her eyes to the pilot, Seresin, according to his name badge, and narrowed them. “You can’t fuck me straight.”
His eyes widened, shock crossing his handsome face. “I wasn’t implying that I could.”
“Then what were you implying?”
He put his hands up, palms facing her. “Nothing. I just wanted to buy you a drink.”Â
“I got it,” Beacon said, returning from the bar with two bottles, offering one to Cecily, who accepted with a quick thank you. “Phoenix has a new backseater.”
Cecily quirked a brow. “She does?” She looked over Beacon’s shoulder towards the bar where a bespectacled man slid onto a barstool next to Phoenix.
“What’s his deal?”
Seresin frowned. “Bob? I don’t think he has a deal.”
“He’s cute, though,” Beacon noted, sipping his beer without taking his eyes off Bob. “Very cute.”
Cecily rolled her eyes. “Stop drooling.”
“I will when you do.”
Cecily raised a brow. “I’m not drooling.”
“But you’re blushing,” Beacon argued.
“I’m not.”
“You are,” Seresin pointed out.
Cecily stifled a groan, her eyes slipping back to Phoenix, who was already looking back at her. She smiled and when Phoenix licked her lips before smiling back, a fresh wave of heat overtook her.
“Am I really that obvious?” She asked helplessly, looking from one man to the other.
“Yeah, you’ve been obsessed with her for years,” Beacon pointed out, shaking his head.
“I have not.”
“You have.”
Cecily opened her mouth to argue back, but Seresin’s voice carrying across the chatter and music in the room cut her off. “Hey, Phoenix,” he shouted. “Quit eye-fucking and come join us.”
She elbowed Seresin in the ribs as her heart thundered in her chest, but Cecily couldn’t find it in herself to be mad at him when Phoenix rose from her seat, and made her way over.
“Hey,” Phoenix greeted, dark eyes focused entirely on her.
