oc kiss week 2025 @ockissweek day two - first
this post contains spoilers for the relationships in the spider prince trilogy! set between the witch hazel tree and spider spider bee - this is dubiously canon, although the gifts that are given are definitely canon.
Nuisance is nervous, and Eddie doesn’t know why.
It’s April. Less than a month ago, they’d spent Eddie’s spring break in Lockswood which, to the surprise of absolutely no one, had been the opposite of relaxing. Since it hadn’t felt like a break, Eddie had no qualms hopping into the emerald green truck and making the drive from Edmonton to Fairy Hill for a self-imposed long weekend. The surprise on Author and Nuisance’s faces had made it all the more worthwhile.
“I missed home,” Eddie had said, smiling faintly, “so I came home.”
This reunion had been the expected level of joyful; Nuisance launched himself at Eddie without any preamble, and Author had joined him only a moment later. They’d both talked Eddie’s ear off about every tiny thing that had happened since the last time they’d seen each other—including things they’d already made Eddie aware of over the phone—and Eddie had been more than content to listen to them, watching them talk with their hands and feed off of each other’s rising voices. The three of them sat in a circle around the Wilshire kitchen table eating store-bought muffins (their usual supplier too far away to regularly provide her magic baking) and pulpy orange juice (Eddie looks forward to the autumn, when the Karpinski Orchard will start making apple juice again).
Eddie isn’t sure exactly when the feeling of love started or when it became apparent. Loving Author colours all memories of her, like it’s always been true. It always has been, Eddie supposes, in one way or another. Author, the literal girl-next-door and the best friend anyone could ask for, has been Eddie’s constant for almost twenty years. A lifetime so far. Loving Nuisance is something new and a little fragile. Nuisance, who’s true name is Redbud, who told Eddie his true name without blinking and had the gall to be surprised when Eddie returned the favour, has wormed his way into the crevices of Eddie’s life. Sometimes, Eddie wonders if that’s a good thing. Usually, it’s pretty clear that it is.
After they’d talked themselves out, they’d turned expectant looks on Eddie. Eddie imagined opening up to them, as was often the case, but what was there to say? Oh, yeah, I’ve been in a fae fight club for months. I have dreams about the killing I’ve done and it’s ruining me, but I’d do it again for you. Instead, Eddie said, “It’s just school. It’s pretty boring. I much prefer being here.”
That was about when Nuisance’s demeanour changed. Something about him became skittish, oddly reserved. Eddie wondered if Nuisance had seen through the blasé nature of the preceding sentence, but that didn’t seem to be the cause. If Nuisance had been worried about Eddie, he wouldn’t pull back, he’d push forward. Instead of spending the night piled in the Wilshire living room with Eddie and Author, Nuisance disappeared into the forest—a place Author couldn’t follow and Eddie wouldn’t want to—and hasn’t been seen since.
“I’m starting to feel offended,” Eddie says drily, around one o’clock on Saturday, almost twenty-four hours after arriving. “I came to see you both, and yet…”
Author shook her head, familiar pigtails bouncing with the movement. “It’s not you. He’s been…like this, lately. It’s like he’s caught in a lie.”
“He can’t lie.”
The look Author shares in response to that is withering. “Yeah, that’s what I mean. He cuts himself off a lot and spends more time in the trees than he used to. It’s been worse since Lockswood.”
A horrible thought strikes Eddie. “Do you think he wants to go back?”
“I don’t know,” she admits, chewing on her lip. “That’s why I haven’t narrated it.”
Nuisance returns for dinner. Author’s mother makes pancakes, and the processed sugar and sticky syrup both delight Nuisance enough to, at least briefly, push any worry from Eddie’s mind. Author's laughter says that she feels the same way. The fae can eat human food, but Eddie hasn’t seen any of them take to it with the same fervour that Nuisance does. When they’re pleasantly full, the dishes done and the sun just starting to dip towards the horizon, Nuisance drags them both outside, right to the very edge of the forest.
Eddie never gets tired of watching his magic, the way he extends out a hand and things grow. In this case, an overlarge flower, its centre as big as a queen bed and its petals gently cradling the space, with one bent down just so to allow entrance. This is the sort of place that Nuisance likes to sleep and, on occasion, Eddie and Author have joined for brief respite. There’s still some snow on the ground, but the weather has taken an unexpected turn for the warmer, and the passage of the Spring Equinox means that Nuisance is in-season and powerful enough to beat the weather.
“Wait here,” he tells them when they’ve settled into the flower. “I’ll be right back.”
And he is, darting into the trees and reappearing only a few moments later with two wooden boxes. He climbs into the flower and sits cross-legged in front of them, balancing one box on each knee. The petal closes up behind him. “I brought you presents.”
He hands the smaller box to Author and the larger one to Eddie. Author opens hers first.
It’s a necklace. A delicate golden chain with a glass pendant the size of a nickel. Eddie leans closer to see and Author holds it out. The pendant is a beautiful, intricately carved bee. Anatomically correct, it almost looks as if Nuisance caught and transformed one from Author’s hives.
Eddie opens the other box and sucks in a short gasp. Sitting on the plum, satin lining is the most beautiful knife, also made of glass from tip to hilt. The hilt is carved with a beautiful spider not unlike the one that Eddie transforms into, and the blade is sharp on two sides, more of a dagger than Eddie usually fights with.
“The glass is unbreakable,” Nuisance says with no small amount of anxiety. “I had to trade some tears for it. Do you like it?”
“Yes,” Eddie breathes.
“Of course,” Author agrees. “What’s the occasion?”
He shakes his head. “No occasion. I just…I love you. I’m in love with you. Both of you.”
Eddie’s breath, already barely there after seeing the knife, hitches.
Author reacts first, as she usually does in situations like these. She drags herself onto her knees and leans across the flower to touch her lips to Nuisance’s. Eddie stares at the sight of them, both flushing—Author pink, Nuisance gold—both pressing closer to each other. It’s chaste, quick, but Eddie’s heart surges anyway. “Love you, too,” Author says a moment later. She glances at Eddie after, the tiniest little look. Eddie isn’t sure what it means.
But Eddie needs to react to Nuisance, first, who is just about making eye contact with those honey-gold eyes full of worry. Eddie’s kisses barely fill a hand, and one of them was with Edna on a dare. With a silent wish that a lack of experience won’t ruin the moment, Eddie tugs on Nuisance’s capelet to get him to move closer. “Redbud.” The name is a sigh. “I didn’t need a gift to get me to say I love you.”
Their kiss starts hesitantly, but that’s mostly on Eddie’s part. Nuisance smiles into it, more teeth than Eddie thinks is usual, but it’s perfect anyway.
When Eddie pulls back with a nervous sort of smile, Author has hooked their pinkies together on the soft bed of the flower. Eddie looks at her, and her eyes are shining. “It’s us, too, right?” she asks.
“Of course it is,” Eddie answers.
Author kisses like she narrates: with purpose. Eddie huffs a laugh and cups her neck to stroke her jaw, to soften her. She allows it, smiling like Nuisance had. Different, and the same. Eddie loves them.
They spend an hour in the flower, until the sun sinks and the cold night air bites at their skin.
“Hey,” Eddie asks as they head back to the house, catching the fabric of Nuisance’s capelet again. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“What? No. Why would I want to?”
Eddie shrugs, allowing a beaming smile to overtake any remaining nervous energy. “Just checking.”