|| big feelings, little time
pairing: eli bray x reader
word count: 1423
summary: eli has never been the kind of man to ask for help, or for company. sometimes, though? it's nice not to be alone. or, he and reader tend the horses together for a bit.
other notes: there are no eli x reader fics on ao3 so i had to take matters into my own hands. reader is left completely ambiguous appearance-wise, and is just referred to as she or her throughout this. i MAY add more chapters later <3
read on ao3 HERE!
They work in silence for a while. Eli’s hands seem to steady just a bit; maybe because she’s here now, or maybe just because he’s actually gotten into the flow of things. She chooses to believe it’s the latter, but a small part of her hopes it’s the former. Every few minutes, Eli mutters under his breath about how she’s getting in the way, as though he’s not the one deliberately standing closer to her than he needs to.
“Crowley likes you,” he says abruptly. “You… you’re good with the grumpy horses.”
She’s quiet for several seconds, trying to absorb the fact that it sounds like he just gave her a compliment. “And grumpy people,” she teases lightly.
Eli’s brows furrow. “Shuddup,” he mutters, but it lacks any genuine annoyance. In fact, she could swear she sees the ghost of a smile flicker across his face, gone as quickly as it came.
