#iceskates

lúcio doesn’t miss how he’s unusually quiet in front of her, an instant wave of warmth hitting his cheeks, heart skipping a beat at the bouquet of flowers in mei’s hands, arms out, signifying that the other was giving them to him. He was used to receiving gifts, with his celebrity status , he was no stranger to flowers, even if they were few and far between.

but here it felt so different,maybe it was the look on her face, cheeks and ears tinting pink, hesitation to look him in the eyes, making her intentions beyond clear. Maybe it was all the time they had together to truly get to know each other and become close as a result.

or maybe, it was his growing feelings for the other that appeared as a result of that aforementioned closeness, making him hope that she felt the way he did.

“I know it’s an odd time…. all of us are extremely busy, with the attack on the base.”

mei finally looks at him in the eyes, a nervous yet sweet smile now present on her face, being slightly fidgety with her movements

“it’s sort of silly to remember….but that one time you brought up how you haven’t exactly had a valentine before….and I was…thinking I could change that,”

he knew mei was a casual fan when they had some downtime after his recruitment, clearly recognizing him and asking for an autograph, a short and sweet interaction

“a-…and I know we won’t be able to do anything too grand right now! but I didn’t want to do nothing for today….so I wanted to give you these…”

the bouquet now mere inches away from his chest, that small smile now a frown, showing the doubts creeping through her head about what was she going to say next.

“and I was wondering, if we get some downtime….would you be up to go out for dinner with me, just the two of us….”

there was always that lingering feeling that Mei saw him as nothing but a music artist she admired , and his fears about how that would define their entire dynamic, it creeped in once he started feeling so much more for her, those gazes that lasted longer than they should, and touches the fleeted, when she would randomly pop into lúcio’s head when he was in the studio producing a track.

he even tried his hand at writing down lyrics because there were so many occasions where he couldn’t stop thinking about her, he wasn’t a singer or a master lyricist by any means, and the lyrics were unbelievably cheesy in his eyes, but it felt healing to at least have an outlet to write those thoughts down, especially with his many doubts on whether those feelings were reciprocated in the same way.

but now he’s here,after everything they’ve been through, the inhabiter of his thoughts is asking him out, giving him flowers, stumbling over her words, still fidgeting the white material that holds the flowers, pink tinting her cheeks and ears, her eyes still peering at him, filled with a familiar softness and adoration, It all makes his heart swell, it makes him less tense, like a weight being lifted off his shoulders.

because he knows the climatologist feels what he feels, and that’s so healing to realize, with the morale being so down, with everyone being so stressed

“mei…..”

a wide beam is now present on lúcio’s face, a hand trailing towards the bouquet, fingers brushing against mei’s fingers, an act that shows that he accepts the flowers.

then his free hand gently cups her face, he doesn’t miss her breath hitching, and her face getting more and more flushed at the gesture, not expecting it, but soon melting into it nonetheless, the corners of her lips lifting upwards as she cracks a smile

“…I’d love nothing more.”