Frogg's Lilypad

you spring up from the ground in an instant that if alhaitham hadn't memorized all your mannerisms long ago, he might've been startled by how quickly you moved.

"how calculative of you, my beloved! i don't need flattery, i need something to wear," you cry, resorting to theatrics that remind him a little too much of his old roommate.

"anything goes well with what you have on now," he simply says. the clarity in his words tell you that he's honest, though alhaitham scarcely ever says anything he doesn't mean. you'd appreciate the small white lie every now and then, but you've come to adore his frankness. it's refreshing and in good faith, often steering you away from meaningless arguments that typically arise between married couples.

"really?" you say, tilting your head to the side.

"of course."

alhaitham places a kiss on your temple and it never fails to make your insides flutter. apart from being a loving gesture from husband to wife, that specific show of affection often reminds you of your grandparents. it was how your grandfather always greeted your grandmother, even if she was just entering the room.

"well, if you say it's alright, i suppose it is."

your husband's reassurance reinstates your resolve and you rise to your feet, suddenly remembering a matter that was slightly more important than your attire. "right, we should get the pilaf ready now. ummi said to bring about 8 to 10 servings, yes?"

alhaitham stands as well, nodding. "she's been boasting to all the relatives about how wonderful your cooking is."

"our cooking," you correct, your brows slowly knitting together. "does ummi even know you're much better at it than me?"

"no. i tell her you do it on your own."

you click your tongue. "i won't stand for lying in this household, my beloved. but mark my words, i'll get so much better at cooking that i won't need your help anymore!"

in your presence, it's hard for him to keep emotion from showing on his face. the motivating fire in your eyes involuntarily makes the corners of his lips twitch.

"you are aware that ummi doesn't care if you can cook or not?"

"i'm perfectly aware, but i care. later in life, i'd like to be a doting grandmother who's always cooking for her grandchildren."

alhaitham chuckles, adding this to his mental list of all the things you wish for in the life you shared. you didn't know, but he has vowed to make them come true for you no matter the time it takes.

"we don't have children of our own yet and you're already thinking of our grandchildren?" he says, a brow raised.

"it's good to be ready for anything. isn't that so, my beloved?"

with the concentration of a surgeon performing heart surgery, you take extreme caution in plating the food you'd be bringing to ummi's gathering later that evening. alhaitham's distant cousins will be coming as well and you went on and on about how you have to keep up airs because you were praised so much for the plating at the last gathering—even though it wasn't actually you that decorated the plate, but dehya, who happened to have an undiscovered knack for it.

after wrapping up the meal prep, you disappear into the bedroom to finish getting ready. as usual, it takes a tad bit longer than you claim and alhaitham patiently waits in the foyer.

when you finally do emerge from the hall, your husband's eyes soften and he presses his lips into a thin line as if to keep from laughing. "are you forgetting something, love?"

his question catches you off-guard and you freeze. "hm? did i forget something... napkins? did we have to bring napkins?"

his silence urges you to keep guessing.

"oh no, was it plates? did ummi ask us to bring plastic plates so she won't have to bother with the dishes?!"

alhaitham can practically see the worry manifest on your face. you're thinking about how there are no plastic plates at home, which means the two of you would need to stop by the supermarket, but the supermarket that sells plastic plates is one in the opposite direction of ummi's home, and considering that it's a sunday, it might be crowded and—

"love?" he interrupts. he takes a step towards you, holding you by the shoulder to make you face the oval mirror that hung on the wall in the foyer. "your hijab?"

you gasp at your reflection, a furious blush creeping across your face as you realize how utterly foolish you were for forgetting the one thing you were losing your mind over earlier. the shock lasts only for a few seconds though, before you register your silly oversight as humor and burst out laughing.

"oh, 'haitham, what would i do without you!" you laugh, running back to the bedroom.

alhaitham shakes his head to himself, but in truth, he deeply cherishes moments like these. it makes him happy that you rely on him, that you lean on him like this.

when you return, you have a scarf that resembles his emerald eyes and it doesn't take long for him to recognize it's the one he gifted you on the day he visited your parents to ask for your hand in marriage. you stand in front of the mirror, expertly wrapping the scarf around your head as he watches in quiet awe.

"what is it, my beloved?" you catch him staring from the reflection in the mirror, but alhaitham looks only at you.

"you're beautiful," he says, with the same immediacy in which he spoke with previously.

"hmm," you turn your head to observe the finished look, double-checking to ensure the pins are fastened in place. "you don't think i look like a beansprout today?"

alhaitham frowns. it's what you like to call yourself on the days you find self-deprecation funny—but not once has he ever found humor in it. perhaps because he knows it was how you were made fun of in your adolescence when a handful of kids couldn't understand your decision to start dressing modestly. you wouldn't say that you suffered because of it, but appearances, more often times than not, had an impact on a young girl's self-esteem. even though it may not be something that deeply troubles you now as an adult, alhaitham knows there are days when covering your hair feels like a heavier task than usual.

once more, alhaitham grips your shoulders, turning you to face him now.

"you're beautiful," he repeats for the third time that day, convinced that the number of times he iterates it will never cheapen its meaning.

"there is honor in you wearing this," he adds quietly, gently running his fingers down the length of the fabric as he would to your strands of hair when it's just the two of you at home. "honor that i will never know."

the weight of his words don't fall lightly on you and in that moment, you wonder how it's possible that a love so all-encompassing could exist.

─ YANFEI

You kept smiling to yourself like a fool as you poured the milk into a heart shape, though a smile tugged on your lips your mind was running wild, how can it not when that gorgeous lady is sitting right there?? you don't know her name but guessing from the various books about law always scattered on her table you guessed she was a law student, or a lawyer.

You finally mustered up the courage to give her your number, you hesitated as you picked up the tissue with your number on it, aether's eyes were on you as his hands were glued to his phone, you guessed that he was updating the gc about your law student shenanigans, you sighed as you picked up a brand new tissue deciding to not go through with your plan.

"Stop being a pussy and just give it to her oh my archons, do it for me at least I am tired of your bullshit."

Feigning an offended face you decided to listen to your friend, you picked up the tissue with your number on it as you walked over to the law student's table, though unknown to you the said law student had been ranting to her private account about how amazing you look, she was stunned with how someone could look perfect while literally pouring liquid into more liquid, but in yanfei's eyes you always appeared perfect so she paid no mind to it.

Her heart did plenty cartwheels as she reached for the tissue, she was supposed to wipe her mouth with it, parallel to her you'd been on edge for the past 15 minutes, the gorgeous law student had been paying no mind to your tissue but instead focused on her laptop, but now that she saw it you couldn't help but hide below the counter, your co-worker trying his best to stop his laughter.

Well let's just say you received a text from a very beautiful pink haired individual later that day :)

─ SCARAMOUCHE

You enjoyed the peace and quiet, which is why you easily found solace in the small cat cafe near your house, not only was the cats' company amazing, you secretly adored the barista that worked there, from what you've heared from his co-workers his name waa scaramouche, oddly you thought it suited the indigo haired man.

You've went on numerous rants about how gorgeous and breathtaking this man was to your friends and you're sure that they're tired of you however you slowly worked up the courage to finally talk to him, and today's the day!!

"hi."

"hey?"

"i uh, my name's _____"

"..good to know?"

goddamn it he's cute but can't he just get the hint??

"look i think you're really cute, do you wanna watch a movie with me or something??"

The normally quiet and snarky man was nowhere to be found, the man who stood before you was completely flustered, a blush dusting over his cheeks as he directly avoided your eyes.

"With me? Are you sure??"

"Yes. 100%, Is that a yes or a no?"

"It's a yes.."

You certainly left the cat cafe with a little more than cat hair that day.

•Always rambles about your songs it's the cutest

•Ranks your songs by his most favorite to least, though he loves all of them 

•He would over-analyze all of your lyrics no matter how light hearted they are, you could be talking about cats and he would link it to how animals are going extinctー

•Always listens to your songs when studying or just generally doing any task and always sings along

•Has all your songs memorized by heart and he just randomly hums the tune or sing the lyrics without realizing 

•He doesn't get to go to your concerts very often but he always has your assigned glowstick each time he can go

■ ー xiao

•None of his friends expected him to be a fan of you until they heard time blast your songs when he thought he was home alone.

•When he's walking somewhere with his headphones, everyone would expect that he's listening to hard rock or something similar but no, it's just you on loop

•Him: 🖤💀😈🤬☕

•The music he listens to: 💞💌🧚‍♀️🦄

(This is a joke, dw I hate it too)

•Falls asleep to your music a lot, it's somehow very comforting to him

•You were the one who inspired him to start learning how to use a guitar 

•Definitely cried when he got to go to one of your concerts 

■ ー scaramouche

•Openly slandered you on Twitter and has been banned way too many times

•But don't let that fool you, he's an international superspyー I mean a huge closeted fan that waits for hours outside the stores as soon as one of your albums come out

•Has a whole strategy on how to hide all of his huge collection of merchandise in his room, if he ever invites someone in his room in the first place

•Has two different accounts where the first one is a well known [name] hater while the other is a well known [name] stan

•Got your autograph when he got backstage passes to your concert and he has it frames it his room