Send me an OTP and I tell you...
Who made the first move;Â
Whatever reason you have forming in your head right now concerning why Ciara wasnât the one to make the first moveâlet me tell youâis probably wrong. She failed to make it not because she lacked the courage to do so, or because she was overwhelmingly shy, and certainly not because she was unaware of her true feelings for him. No, Ciaraâs reasons are quite the opposite; Ciara failed because she knew he wouldnât return her feelings.
This girl wasnât afraid of rejection, because she knew sheâd definitely get it. There was no point in wallowing in her own shallow pool of self-pity, because the guy she liked wouldnât return her feelings. If she allowed that to stop her from enjoying her life and his companionship, then what was the point? Liking someone is supposed to fill you with a happy, glorious feeling ⊠not bring you down.
"But how could she be so sure Arthur didnât feel the same way?"
Well, the answer to that is quite simple, dear: He told her. Maybe not directly, but he did. Up until that first move was made by him, these two had a platonic relationship where Arthur would tell her everything from the girl he currently was crushing on to how much of a stick-in-the-mud his roommate was and even would go so far as to say things like âyouâre like a sisterâ to her.
Ciara didnât mind though. She liked to see him enjoy walking with whatever girl he was currently dating, and she liked to know that he felt close enough to consider her his family. As long as he was happy, she was too (even if it stung every once in a while).
Needless to say, that left Arthur to do it. And boy did the feelings start to hit him out of nowhere. He spent the next week trying to get advice from Ellie, who kept saying it would be fine ⊠(âWhy will it be fine, Ellie??â âJust trust me: sheâll say âyesâ.â "How do you know?!?" âI just do.â) Eventually, he did manage to muster up the courage to ask their mutual friend out on a date after various pauses in his speech and mental screaming. It was awkward, but she did say âyesâ just like Eleanor said she would.
He didnât do anything particularly romantic, when he asked.
Who said âI love youâ first;
Unlike Arthur (and their future daughter), sheâs not awkward to the point of not being able to say a simple âI love you,â especially after having feelings for her sleep-deprived wombat friend for so long. She came to terms with how she felt a long time ago, and now that she somehow managed to snag him ⊠she wasnât not going to tell him.
The delivery definitely could have been smoother though ⊠not that it was bad ⊠but suddenly blurting it out with enthusiasm higher than he had ever witnessed her having towards anything, when you are in the middle of a crowded street ⊠gets you some weird looks and an overly embarrassed boyfriend with a bright red face whose grip on your hand seems to have tightened quite a bit.
Arthur likes to joke about that day sometimes: "Smooth, Ciara. So smooth." "Shut up."
Not never, but not constantly.
Itâs important to remember that these two were close friends before everything so they had a lot in common. However, that doesnât mean they never disagreed on something or had an occasional spat. And those times often left Eleanor to be the middle ground because the two of them were too frustrated to solve it on their own (or even look at each other).
Eleanor wasnât as helpful though, when it came to arguments concerning their newly developed romantic relationship ⊠or rather she refused to get in the middle of it. Something about how she canât baby them for eternity and a healthy relationship is all about communication and blah blah blah. All Arthur heard was âyou on your own, Artie boy, tough fucking luck.â
A few of their fights actually had to do with Arthurâs jealousy problem, which, after the first or second time it caused a major issue, was no longer cute and more infuriating. Ciara couldnât walk down the street with him without him, at some point, whispering in her ear: âDid you see the way that guy was looking at you? Why I outta!â when in reality nothing happened. She thinks heâs a bit too paranoid.
Other times it was over something like someone took the teasing too far or âwhy didnât you do the dishesâ or âwhat the fuck, you promised we would go out tonight!!!!!â or âNO, CICI, WE ARE NOT ADOPTING FIVE CATS!!â
Whose big spoon/little spoon;Â
No one has a particular spot in the âbig spoon/little spoonâ sleep position.Â
It all kind of depends on who falls asleep last. Sometimes itâs Arthur, who either came home late from work or was busy doing something around the house and hadnât realized how late it had gotten. Sometimes itâs Ciara, who stays up late petting her cat and reading a book or recently returned from a âgirlâs night outâ with Ellie.
The only real important thing to note is exactly how they look while sleeping that way:
Ciara, when sheâs the big spoon, tends to not only hug Arthur from behind but she entangles her legs with his and rests her chin on his shoulder (or whatever part of his body she can reach) ⊠Occasionally, this womanâs hands tend to wander a bit south of the equator in her sleep ⊠which makes things a little awkward for Arthur in the morning, but he refuses to move her because he isnât risking the possibility of waking her up. His little Cici can be a fairly light sleeper at times.
When Arthur is the big spoon, he tends to rest his head on top of hers and uses one arm as a pillow while his free hand holds his girlsâ. His hands somehow ends up inside her shirt though, and Ciara wakes up to his unshaven-stubbled face tickling her neck and his fingers lightly touching her stomach.
What their nicknames are for each other;Â
They donât really have special nicknames for one another. Arthur calls Ciara Cici and Ciara calls Arthur Artie, but so does everyone else. Ellie tends to also use GiGi, but thatâs a story for another time.
Itâs when they start teasing each other that unique (???) nicknames present themselves. Youâll hear âdumb fuck,â âoh sweet, stupid child,â âdork,â âspecs,â and a sarcastic âmy god/goddessâ (among others).
Neither of them is better than the other per say, but Arthur and Ciara have certain dishes they make better than their counterpart thatâs for sure.
Ciara tends to do most of the cooking though, not necessarily due to ânormalâ gender roles or anything but she tends to get home before he does so it kinda just all works out that way. Her specialties are cakes and Mexican food.
Weekends are usually Arthurâs thing though, when they arenât out on a dinner date, because he normally gets off work much earlier than normal (also Saturday is his day off). His specialties are crab salad and baking various bird meat.
You and I - Ingrid Michaelson
Lucky - Jason Mraz ft. Colbie Caillat
The Search is Over - Survivor
Who remembers their anniversaries;Â
Both, however, Ciara doesnât like to make an enormous fuss over them. A simple âhappy anniversaryâ from her significant other would be enough for her, because the fact they remembered and acknowledged the day is what is important ⊠but âŠ
That doesnât stop Arthur or his attempts at upping the romance for the day, which Ciara canât say she particularly is against but itâs not necessary either. He gets flowers, books a nice place to eat, and often times puts aside they things he needs to do for the entire day just to focus on her. Itâs sweet really.
In return, she makes sure when they get back home that he enjoys himself in bed ⊠with a new book she happened to buy him because she knew he had been eyeing it for awhile in the store.
Their favorite thing to do together (besides sex);Â
To simply hangout actually.
Thatâs the nice thing about being close friends before they were lovers, because a good portion of the time they still acted as such. Nothing much changed about their relationship once they started going out, just really small stuff like: they would stand a little closer together, heâd be holding her hand while both of them were in deep conversation with Eleanor and would only remove it when he began using his hands to talk, and she would occasionally peck him on the cheek. And of course theyâd go out on dates, make-out a little on her couch (which sometimes lead to other things), but yeah, in general not much changed. Just added benefits.
Who âwears the pantsâ in the relationship;Â
However, Ciara probably does more than Arthur. BUT BARELY AND ARTHUR WANTS TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THAT.
You see, the things is ⊠She knows when being stubborn with him can get her somewhere and when it canât. In certain situations, if she pressures him or stands her ground long enough, she can manage to get what she wants.
She once bugged him for so long to come clothes shopping with her and Eleanor that he finally gave in just to shut her up. His only condition was that they not ask any questions like âdoes this make me look fatâ or âdoes this color look alright on me??â And Cici was totally okay with that ⊠so long as he carried the bags for them.
How they would get engaged;
It all started with a book.
A book and a highlighter.
It took some planning on Arthurâs part: he had to find a book he knew his Cici would definitely want to read, he had to keep his ring (and blue feather) well-hidden, and he had to take the time to highlight words and phrases that stuck out in the book. He wanted to make it a confusing little puzzle that took a little thought on her part, but that he knew would also be fun for her.
And it was. She was appreciative that he went through all the trouble to set it up. And the fact he went back to something so traditional as a blue feather meant a hell of a lot.
Needless to say, she accepted.
What their wedding would be like;
It was rather large in terms of people. They invited family and friends and friendsâ parents. And obviously that means the reception was large as well with lots and lots of food.
That also meant the had to be careful with how much money was spent on other things though like Ciaraâs wedding dress and her bouquet and the decorations.
Speaking of the reception, when it was time to cut the cake and feed it to each other, Ciara took a handful of it and smashed it in Arthurâs face before laughing giddily. Arthur would have been mad on any other day, but today ⊠It somehow made their special day better. Besides he got revenge rather fast by kissing her right after and getting icing all over her mouth, earning a little shriek from her.
How many kids theyâll have;
Ciara wanted a larger family, but Arthur ⊠Arthur isnât the most fertile of men and it makes him feel terrible because the one thing his wife wanted was more kids and he canât give them to her. A lot of his self-loathing stems from that.
BUT THAT MAKES THEIR BBY EILEEN ALL THE MORE PRECIOUS AND SPECIAL OKAY GOTTA LOVE THE ONE THE MANAGED TO CREATE. And thatâs why Arthur is kind of wrapped around his daughterâs finger. He cherishes her, because sheâs the only one they got.
