pspspspsp Holloweane fans, come get y'all's juice ‼️‼️
“It’s magical, isn’t it?” Miss Holloway said, her tone so light it seemed innocent. “It almost doesn’t look real.” Duke tore his gaze away from the scenery to give her a very pointed side-eye, “Now darlin’, just what exactly are you implying?” “I didn’t imply anything,” she singsonged as an incredibly coy smile spread across her lovely face. “Whatever implication you got from my words is just your interpretation.” In which Duke and Miss Holloway wake up to snow outside <3
I'll put the link here and the rest of the story below the cut!!
https://archiveofourown.org/works/62220355
Awareness came to Duke in slow, syrupy stages. A flutter of his eyelids revealed sunlight filtering through his blinds, entirely too cheerily for his preference. He lifted his head slightly, exposing himself to the chill of the room, and squinted at the clock on his dresser.
Instead of glowing green numbers steadily projecting the time, the clock blinked repeatedly, its numbers stuck flashing 2:36. Duke let his head fall back onto the pillow with a soft thump. It certainly wasn’t actually late afternoon. The power went out in the early hours of the morning, so he had no clue what the actual time is.
He spent an exceptionally short moment considering grabbing his phone to check the time. The thought was quickly tossed away. Not only was the chill of the room a deterrent, but he had no obligations today.
Duke shifted slightly, snuggling back into the warmth of the blankets and the arms wrapped gently around his torso. Miss Holloway’s body pressed against his back, creating a line of warmth that heated him inside and out. He craned his neck, trying to get a glimpse of her lovely face without disturbing her sleep. Duke learned early on that her ability to wake up at the slightest disturbance was unparalleled. Still, he couldn’t help but allow his eyes to roam and take in just how relaxed she looked in her sleep.
She was burrowed in just as deeply as he, her head just barely poking above the blankets. He liked the way her hair splayed out on the pillows. With his dark blue sheets, her hair looked like tongues of flame against the night sky. Duke chuckled a bit at his own flowery poetics. She just managed to bring that side of him, a side that he hardly knew existed, right to the forefront. Miss Holloway would probably laugh with him if he mentioned his thought to her once she was awake.
He sighed contentedly as he relaxed his straining neck and settled back onto his pillow. Duke wanted to fall back asleep, but the curtains did little to stop the sunlight from beaming its way directly into his eyeballs. He really had no clue what time it was, it shouldn’t be this bright outside at all. Still, even if the sun had a personal vendetta against him, he could still bask in the peace of a rare calm morning, and a calm morning with Miss Holloway in his bed, at that. Against his back, Duke could feel her breaths puffing against the bare skin of his back. A smile tugged at his lips as a wave of fondness rolled over him.
He’d make breakfast for her when she woke up, he thought. He had all the ingredients for pancakes, and he could even do a nice apple-cinnamon compote to go on top. Miss Holloway would absolutely insist on helping, never content to sit idle. If he was lucky, he’d convince her to just make eggs, set the table, and let him do the majority of the work.
Maybe he’d put on some music they could enjoy while they worked. He could sneak a couple of her favorite songs onto the queue just so he could hear her sing along. Duke wasn’t sure what the rest of the day would hold for them, but he could at least make sure breakfast was as nice as possible. She deserved it.
As if his thoughts summoned her, Miss Holloway’s arm tightened against his stomach before relaxing. Her hand ran across the soft pudge of his stomach, a trail of goosebumps following in her wake. He could feel her sigh against his skin and cuddle evermore closer, as if she could merge with him if she just scooted close enough.
He leaned back into her touch, acknowledging her awake state without words. Some mornings, even though Duke could tell Miss Holloway was awake, she wasn’t ready to have an actual conversation. So on those mornings, like this morning, he stayed silent, content to allow her to wake up slowly in quiet.
Duke could spend the entirety of eternity like this, quiet and wrapped up in the safety of Miss Holloway’s arms. Her fingers continued their nonsensical path across his body, touch for the sake of touch, a gentle intimacy. Her lips joined the sensations traversing his body as she kissed her way across his back and up towards his shoulder. Each kiss left a bloom of heat in its wake, adding to the warmth spreading in his heart. Duke smiled and turned his head to meet her, already anticipating her destination.
Their lips met in a peck, then two, then three. He pulled back just long enough to turn the rest of his body to follow his head so he could catch her with a better angle. Her hand smoothed against his back, following the dip of his spine up to his head, where her fingers tangled in the curls there. Duke used his hand to lift her chin, gently, and couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her.
“Hiya Duke” she says with a smile of her own, before catching his lips with hers again.
The angle is better this time. The slide of her lips against his sufficiently distracts him from remembering to respond to her properly. His cheeks feel warm when he pulls back, and he can’t help but smile at the way her head chases him, leaning back in for one more peck.
He shifts back properly this time, and speaks in-between peppering every inch of her face he can catch with kisses. “Heya darlin’. How’d you sleep?”
She laughs at his antics. Duke takes advantage of the extra space he’s granted from the force of her laughter tilting her head back. He ducks down and presses more kisses to the exposed skin of her throat. Her giggles taper off into a pleased sigh. He tries to hide his smile, but Duke is sure Miss Holloway can feel it pressed right up against her skin. She tugs on his hair a little, so he shifts until his head is rested against her chest, breathing in time with her and feeling her heart thudding steadily.
“I always sleep well when I'm with you” she hums, and it takes Duke a moment to remember that he had asked her a question.
His smile widens when the realization hits. His cheeks were hurting at this point, sore from the sheer outpouring of joy he experienced any time he was near Miss Holloway.
“I’m glad” he responds, and he grabs her hand to press a kiss there, in the hope that the motion would encapsulate all the feelings he surely couldn’t put into something as trivial as words. “What d’you wanna do today? I’m thinkin’ pancake breakfast.”
“That sounds nice. I’ll help, of course. I am surprised you don’t wanna go outside first thing, though.”
Duke tilted his head up, just so she would have the added benefit of properly seeing the confused scrunch of his eyebrows, “Why would I wanna go outside, darlin’? It’s cold as hell.”
Miss Holloway smiled down at him and bopped the tip of his nose with a gentle finger, “But you were so excited about the snow last night—”
Duke didn’t even give her a chance to finish her sentence. He remembered now. The second the word snow fell past her lovely lips, he tried to abandon the warmth of their combined body heat under the blankets. In his eagerness to get up, he somehow managed to twist himself up in the sheets. He yanked on them, trying to get to the window as fast as possible. Hatchetfield hadn’t seen a proper snowfall since he was a kid, he’d be damned to miss it because of a sheet trapping his legs.
Miss Holloway took pity on him and, with deft fingers, released him from his prison. He slowed just enough to give the back of her hand a peck in thanks, then rushed to the window and threw the blinds open. As far as his eyes could see, the entire world was swathed in white. It wasn’t actively snowing, but the ground, the trees, and the roofs of the surrounding buildings were all weighed down with an overly generous heaping of snow. It looked like the whale world had been transformed into a winter wonderland snow globe, just waiting for someone to shake it up.
Disbelief welled up in Duke’s rapidly beating heart. He just couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing. For the past week, the whole town had been up in arms about the incoming storm; it was the only thing anybody wanted to talk about. But for the last week, Duke didn’t allow himself to get excited. Something in him didn’t really believe it would happen. Snow in Hatchetfield was completely unheard of, even despite all the weird things that took place in the town. So, Duke didn’t let himself give into any of the hope or hype surrounding the weather. If he didn’t get excited, then he wouldn’t be disappointed. But now, right in front of his eyes, a sight he used to wish for every winter as a child.
He startled a little when Miss Holloway appeared at his shoulder and wrapped a fluffy black blanket from his bed around both their shoulders. She slid an arm around his waist and leaned down slightly so she could rest her head on his shoulder.
“It’s magical, isn’t it?” she said, her tone so light it seemed innocent. “It almost doesn’t look real.”
Duke tore his gaze away from the scenery to give her a very pointed side-eye, “Now darlin’, just what exactly are you implying?”
“I didn’t imply anything,” she singsonged as an incredibly coy smile spread across her lovely face. “Whatever implication you got from my words is just your interpretation.”
His heart seized, and Duke wanted to groan out loud at the feeling. The sheer amount of love and care he held for her was too overwhelming; he feared he would burst at the seams, and it would all spill out. How could he use something as silly as words to express all that he felt for her? There weren’t enough words in any language to properly express all that he felt. The arbitrary mess of syllables and sounds couldn’t hold a candle to it. How much he loved her, how honored he was to be held in any kind of regard by her. Even when he was confused, even when he didn’t understand. He trusted her, he loved her, he adored her with all his being.
Overcome, he pulled her in a hug, being careful to still keep the blanket wrapped around their shoulders. He hugged her, as if she would be able to feel all that he was feeling, as if his arms could send telepathic messages straight to her brain. She relaxed into him, melted, really. Someone as amazing as her, as awe-inspiring as her, felt comfortable, even happy in his arms. And Duke was struck with the knowledge that he loved her, just as she loved him back.
“Thank you” he said with a tremble audible in his voice. And he meant it for the snow, for allowing him to know her, to love her, and for her loving him back.
“For what?” she asked.
And Duke heard what she meant.
