Sage X Luca
Word count: 1.7k
A man with a navy blue suit walked into a high-scale restaurant, confidently walking up to the hostess stand. His light, blonde nodding to the waitress behind the podium. “Reservation for two- the name’s Schafer.” He was led to a back table, quite private in comparison to the other tables in the venue. He sat down and looked around, waiting for his significant other to show up. It was nowhere near their first date; quite the opposite, actually. They’d been going out for almost three years now, and his partner consistently managed to impress him.
Years of dates and meet-ups, and they’ve been late to almost every single event. Without fail. He’s taken to telling his partner the time of an event 30 minutes early, in the hopes that they might be on time. They caught onto that, unfortunately. Apparently their own family tried the same thing.
Checking his watch, he sighed and rubbed the stubble on his jawline. He was worried the bouquet he’d brought would lose the zeal before his partner even arrived. He brushed his fingers through his blonde curls, loose spirals that fell down to his shoulders. His deep green eyes scanned the venue; still no sign of his partner. He checked his watch again. Ten minutes. He smoothed out his suit, a nervous habit of his.
Rapid footsteps caught his attention, bringing his gaze up to a slightly out of breath person. A lopsided smile crossed his face at the sight of his partner. “Sage!” He stood up to greet his partner, kissing them and sinking into a hug with them. His hugs weren’t describable with words. Sage’s hugs were like a warm blanket just out of the dryer, or the first sip of a hot drink on a winter's day. They smelled of eucalyptus; their favourite smell.
“Hey, Luca– sorry I’m late, I had to iron this because apparently it’s unacceptable to go out with wrinkles in your clothes-”
They scoffed, shaking their head and sitting down. Luca chuckled, giving them a knowing look.
“You talked to your mother before the date, didn’t you?”
Sage had a guilty look on their face, and they fiddled with the sleeve of their jacket, sniffling a little. It was a small action, one that was barely noticeable.
“...No…”
Luca just shook his head, reaching across the table to lace his hand in Sage’s.
“Hey, I think it’s sweet you talk to your mother every day. She has sound advice, you know.”
Sagejust rolled their eyes, leaning back in their chair. They sniffled again. It was a bit more pronounced this time, and caught Luca’s attention. He cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.
“She just worries too much.”
Sage says, though there’s a loving tone to their words. Luca gasped suddenly, startling Sage in the process.
“Oh!!! I almost forgot!” He bent down in his seat, reaching for the bouquet. Sage placed a hand over their heart, exhaling sharply. “Jesus, Luca –” He smiled apologetically, and revealed the bouquet.
“Sorry… Here, these are for you. Sage for my Sage.” The purple flowers were tied with a sage green ribbon; just the attention to detail that made Sage fall for Luca in the first place. Luca had a proud grin on his face whilst Sage took it, examining it with a lovesick grin. “Oh, Luca– I love it…you-you shouldn’t have…”
In their mind, alarms were going off.
‘Oh no. This isn’t good... He put so much effort into this. If he finds out I’m allergic, he’ll be crushed–’
“Sage? You there?” Luca chuckled, looking quite proud of himself.
“Get it? Sage….for MY Sage?”
Sage laughed, a little too loudly in their opinion, scratching the back of their neck. This earned them an odd look from Luca, but the conversation was cut short when the waitress came over, inquiring about entrees. Luca breezed through the conversation, letting Sage sit in silence. This dynamic was favourable for both of them. Luca was the chatty Cathy in the relationship, whilst Sage tended to let actions speak louder than words.
But there was another reason Sage was so grateful for Luca’s commandeering of the conversation. A vicious tickle blossomed in their nose, and it was all they could manage to not sneeze all over everything in the general vicinity. They leaned their elbow on the table, their hand covering the lower half of their face.
As soon as the waitress walked away, Sage grabbed the cloth napkin in front of them, messily stifling into it, surprising Luca.
“HH’KssH! H’etSSH!”
Sage blew their nose, ducking their head in embarrassment.
“Sorry… I didn’t mean to…”
“Bless you… you alright?”
Luca asked, clearly concerned. It was subtle, but the signs of fatigue were there. The slow, tired blinks, the slight sag in their shoulders. Something was wrong, Luca could tell. But what?
Sage nodded, setting down the napkin with a sniffle. Their nose had a hue similar to that of a dahlia.
“Yeah…sorry. Just a random sneeze, that’s all. Anyway-” They sighed, desperate to change the subject. “How’s the shop?”
Luca brightened up at the subject, happily accepting the topic change. Luca was a man of many passions, but his flower shop was one of the biggest prides in his life. Luca could talk for hours on end about the shop and all the different types of plants he’s acquired over the years.
And Sage would know, Luca has talked for hours. They once timed it.
Sage could drown in those tropical green eyes, so full of vivacity and enthusiasm. They could lose themselves in the way he waved his hands around, demonstrating the approximate size and shape of the newest plant he got in. Sage melted as Luca’s lips turned upwards in a crooked smile whilst he described the feeling of bringing a dying plant back to life. Sage was so distracted by Luca’s infodump, that the next sneeze nearly caught them off guard. They turned in the middle of his sentence, hiding behind their hands.
“H’utttshoo! E’kstshu! H’iitishh!”
Luca stopped in his tracks, watching his partner fall victim to this seemingly endless itch. Luca’s face contorted into one of concern. “Bless you. Are you sure you’re okay, Sage? Are you getting sick?”
Luca reached across the table, placing the back of his hand on Sage’s forehead. Nothing. Sage pulled back, shaking their head. “Ndo.”
They said, trying to hide the congestion that had crept into their voice. This caught Luca’s attention big-time. His frown stayed as he pulled his hand back, examining Sage again. Something was definitely wrong.
“Sage…” Luca started, in a tone that said, ‘if you lie, I’ll know’, “Is something wrong?” Sage looked everywhere but Luca. “Ndo… ndothigd’s wrong, I’m totally- total-hhih…hh-fide!” During this time, Sage fished blindly for the cloth from earlier, grabbing it and quickly bringing it to their face.
“K’etsshu! H’ktsshu! Aa’tshheww!”
Luca couldn’t do anything else but watch. Three typically was their max, so Luca continued.
“Sage, you’ve been sneezing all night-”
Luca was cut off when Sage held up a finger.
‘No-hhihh-t done-! K’atttshu! Att’shu! God-” Sage looked exasperated more than anything. Sage noisily blew their nose, forgetting where they were for a moment until they got side-eyed by a couple of nearby patrons.
Luca leaned in, whispering.
“Sage- what is going on with you?”
One guilty look towards the bouquet later, and Luca put two and two together. Mouth slightly agape, he leaned back, almost as if in shock. He looked from the bouquet to Sage, then back at the bouquet. He stood up, grabbing the bouquet and disappearing for a moment. Sage just sat there, feeling a little guilty whilst Luca got rid of the bouquet.
Once he returned, he didn’t sit back down. Instead he motioned for Sage to get up, which they did, silently. Luca grabbed Sage’s hand, a small reminder that Luca didn’t, in fact, hate them. Once in the car, Sage couldn’t help the tears that welled up in their eyes.
They cast their gaze towards the ground, sniffling a little. Luca glanced over and frowned.
“Sage… my love, what’s wrong.”
They looked up, trying to unsuccessfully blink away the tears.
“I’b sorry – I ruined everythidg.”
Luca looked crestfallen. He reached over, cupping Sage’s cheek.
“Hey - Hey, look at me.” Sage met Luca’s gaze, and that was it. Any chance of keeping their composure went out the window. “You have nothing to apologise for. We’re going to get you home, and in a nice, hot bath. Alright?”
Luca smiled softly while wiping some of their tears with his thumb. Sage burrowed their face in his hand, relishing the touch. They stayed like that for god knows how long, before Sage had to pull away again.
“H’ettsh!”
Sage groaned, closing their eyes and rubbing their temples. Luca snickered softly, starting the car.
“Let’s get you home, okay?”
Sage nodded, nearly falling asleep on the way home. Luca parked the car, gently nudging them when the couple got home. Sage made a small sound of displeasure, but got up anyway. They really wanted that bath.
Luca ushered Sage into the bathroom, wasting no time in starting the bath. Soon enough, the water was steaming, leaving Sage a sniffly mess. Luca led Sage by the shoulders into the bath, smiling a little when Sage let out a moan of pleasure at the warmth. Sage just sat there, sniffling, while Luca gently massaged their muscles. When Luca pulled back, Sage whined.
Luca just sighed softly, shaking his head whilst undressing.
“Calm down, I’ll be there in a second.”
And that he was, climbing in just a moment later. Sage leaned back against Luca’s chest, letting him massage their hair. Sage was almost completely relaxed against Luca, until-0
“Hhih-Hkshu! K’tsssh! T’issshiu!”
There were no tissues, so they just sneezed out into the open, the spray settling gently atop the water.
“Mmm…Bless you, Sage. You wanna get to bed, love?”
Sage nodded, but didn’t move. Luca chuckled, sliding out from behind Sage, helping them out of the tub and drying them off. The pair headed off to bed, Luca blessing Sage all the way to their bedroom.