#(or something?)

Let me show you one of my original concepts :>

Because. Why not haha👍

Characters refs Masterpost

He didn't vow against his family, or vow against his grave, or vow against any god that was real or not. He just didn't think he'd ever get that. After seeing what he'd seen, he just sort of internalized that belief.

But then he met Nikolai, and somehow, Nikolai made him want things he didn’t think he deserved. Nikolai was kind, and charming, and understanding, and absolutely feral in their bedroom, and gave everything John wanted and more.

He was everything John needed.

So of course, one day, the words came spilling out before he could stop them.

They were sitting in the hangar while Nik worked on the helicopter. John was sat on the work bench, legs dangling, watching Nik's every move.

Nik was covered in sweat, flight suit unzipped and peeled off, tied around his waist so that John could see every sweaty, rippling muscle.

Truly, it wasn’t the sexiness of the man that drew him in, though that was certainly a benefit. It was the steadiness in his movements, the strength in his shoulders. The quiet patience that had carried John through too many sleepless nights.

And when Nik looked back and gazed at him, it was that look that John had come to love, steady, teasing, and sure.

Nikolai sauntered over, knowing something was on John’s mind. He wiped a smear of grease off his forearm, tilted his head, and asked if everything was all right.

And John couldn’t stop himself.

“Will you marry me?”

For a moment, Nikolai just blinked at him. There was the faint hum of the hangar’s lights above them, the scent of oil and sweat and summer heat curling in the air. The wrench in Nik’s hand stilled, and his brows furrowed like he wasn’t sure he’d heard right.

“...What?” he said softly, with a half-laugh behind it.

John didn’t repeat himself. He just met Nik’s eyes, heart hammering hard. It wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t a plan. It was just the truth.

Nikolai took a slow step forward, hand hovering above John's knee, still unsure. “You ask me now? When I am dripping sweat and smell like petrol?”

John shrugged. “Seemed as good a time as any.”

Nik’s eyes narrowed with that familiar, fond suspicion. “You are serious.”

“I am.”

Nikolai set the wrench down carefully, like he was afraid any sudden movement would scare John off. He closed the distance between them until John could smell the salt on his skin.

“John,” he murmured, voice low enough to make the hair on the back of John's neck rise, “you do not ask things like this unless you mean them.”

“I mean it.”

Nik could have fallen apart there at the sight of him. No grand gesture, no ring, no candlelight. Just a soldier sitting on a table, staring at the man he shouldn’t have been lucky enough to find, and accepting him like a gift anyway.

Nik huffed out a breath of a laugh, or maybe a sob, and he cupped John’s jaw in his hand. “Then, da. Of course I will marry you.”

John exhaled a laugh through his nose, and Nik pressed his forehead to his, their lips finding each other's for a gentle moment.

🐙🦀✨

(ramblings and close-ups below ↓)

subaru-kun subaru-kun subaru-kun subaru-kun subaru-kun subaru-kun I love love love love love love you

(don’t you think he’s cute?)