Ishi

Your poor Zandik has been up night after night, hunched over his lab's workstation to work tirelessly on whatever new idea has popped into his head. He tells you there's no need to wait up for him—he'll come to bed when he's done—but rarely does he keep his word.

Even when you manage to drag him into your shared room, finally coaxing him to come to bed, he insists upon spending "just one more moment" at his desk. Right across from your bed.

Quite frequently, that "moment" tends to bleed deep into the night, and you later find your husband at his desk, lying face down in the morning light with his pen still loosely clutched between limp fingers.

This morning is no different.

Sometimes, you think it's not so bad if he doesn't come to bed at all… it certainly saves you from his snoring. You shake the thought away as quickly as it came, knowing you miss feeling his warmth beside you enough to justify dealing with his snores.

Your focus returns to your sleeping Zandik, draping a blanket over his shoulders. His desk is littered with papers, mostly schematics you're hardly able to make heads or tails of. Beneath his head, however, lies a rather hefty document—documents, you quickly realize—with pages upon pages of dense text spanning top to bottom. His free hand acts as a bookmark between the last few pages, meant for signatures. There, you catch a glimpse of two signature lines: one empty and the other filled by the Regrator's signature.

That explains it.

You shake your head, quietly chuckling to yourself. For as dear of a friend Feofan is, he certainly hates to be lenient with his funds.

You step away, watching the slow rise and fall of Zandik's breathing. He won't be up for another few hours, you figure. Who knows how long he was up last night? You leave him to his rest, shutting the bedroom door as quietly as you could manage.

Heading toward the kitchen, you can't help but worry about him all over again. He's reassured you countless times that the modifications he's made to himself allow him to skip indulging the inconvenient needs of the human body. You don't believe it at all, not when dark circles stare back at you when you meet his gaze. Or when he moans and groans about his back and insists upon a massage—though you've never turned him down.

Still, it's frustrating how he constantly insists on working himself to the bone. Not once has he heeded your suggestions to take a rest, or even just a short break. You tell him he needs it just as much as you do—he isn't getting any younger, after all—but he brushes off your concern just as he did when he was busy pulling all-nighters in the Akademiya.

Perhaps you should give him a taste of his own medicine and ignore him instead. Leave him be for a day or two and he'll surely miss your concerned presence. He always seems to be so nervous when he thinks you're upset with him—maybe that'll teach him to listen.

You shoo the thought away as you pull open a drawer, but it certainly gives you ideas. As fun as that would be (for you, maybe), you have a pleasant surprise in mind for him when he wakes up. First, however, you must overcome the dilemma that surprise brings:

Would tea soothe him more than coffee?

You wonder as you sift through the little drawer of teabags. You know his habit of loading up on far too much caffeine and shutting himself in his lab until the next morning, but that certainly can't be relaxing.

Tea it is, then.

Your fingers trail over various bags and packets and boxes almost mindlessly. Most of them, the ones you've bought with Zandik in mind, are meant to aid sleep. They've gone untouched, since you don't have any use for them and Zandik is often too busy to take a single sip, usually leaving behind a mug of cold tea on his desk.

Your wandering fingers land on an ornate box shoved to the back of the drawer, a position terribly insulting to its appearance. It was a gift from dear Feofan, which once held an absolutely lovely tea imported from Liyue. It was quite possibly the most extraordinary tea you've ever tasted, that it was such a shame you and Zandik emptied the box almost immediately after receiving it.

You wish it was still full, or had a little bit left at the very least, as it would've been your go-to if that was the case. Instead, your fingers settle on a Sumerian brew.

You pluck the little bag from where it was nestled in its box, knowing it's your husband's favorite when he's not downing who-knows-how-many cups of coffee. You reach for a cup; a proper one, as you've seen Zandik sip out of flasks enough times to make yourself uneasy. He calls it practical, you just shake your head.

Engrossed in your thoughts, you don't notice Zandik's presence creeping up behind you until you feel his chin resting on your shoulder and a pair of warm hands make themselves at home upon your sides. He noses against your neck, as if debating as to whether he should stoop low enough to whine for your attention as well.

You give him a glance from the corner of your eye. "Hm? I thought you were asleep."

"I was, yes," he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to your neck. "Are you preparing this for me? How kind of you."

He peers over your shoulder, inspecting the empty mug and the teabag draped over its rim as they both wait for water.

"But… this won't do." he mutters as he's already reaching around you, ready to make the cup of tea himself.

"Stop that!" you scold with a swat to his hand. "I'm trying to do something nice for you. You can start heating the water if you want to help."

"Hm, of course. Forgive my…" he pauses, pressing a lingering kiss to your nape as he backs off, "…impatience."

He lets out a satisfied chuckle as he paces to the other side of the kitchen, no doubt with that stupid grin on his face, leaving your own feeling just as warm as the spot on your neck. Grumbling in annoyance, you take another mug from the cabinet and rest it beside the first.

"Make sure to fill it enough for two." you say as your fingers search the drawer for yet another satisfactory tea. You're no picky connoisseur, so you decide on the same blend.

"That was my intention, my dear. You make me sound so heartless," Zandik replies as he runs the pot beneath a stream of water. "Although… were you anyone else, I would never have considered it."

Soon enough, his arms find themselves wrapped around your waist once more, and his head nestled against your neck. "You're very sweet to have thought to do this for me."

"You deserve to be treated."

He hums. "Do I?"

"Yes."

"If you say so."

You resist the urge to roll your eyes. "I do say so. Do you want me to tell you I don't?"

"No," he replies, surely grinning. "I simply wanted to hear you say."

…

"It's taking quite a while, don't you think?" Zandik hums against your shoulder, still wrapped around you as if he's trying to fuse the both of you together.

You once again resist rolling your eyes. "It takes time to boil water. Shouldn't you know that?"

The silence had stretched for twenty minutes and the air in the little hideaway seemed seconds from growing too thick to breathe. Dottore had moved you here after the failed attempt at subduing Columbina. It was a pleasant enough place that he'd personally carved out with the newfound powers. A small lab hidden away in a cliff. And with his large lab in Nod-Krai gone, surely no one would think to look for another?

Dottore had wanted to move you further away, but you'd refused. It was already bad enough that he wouldn't let you stay at the larger research facility up until it had been raided. Of course you understood the risk, but you were hardly helpless.

You supposed having to patch him up now was the consequence of refusing to leave Nod-Krai altogether. Not that you could bear the thought of him returning to a lonely place in this condition. He didn't have to say that it was worse than it looked.

Shouldn't a deity be above wincing when rubbing alcohol was used on their wounds?

Why did it have to be you who broke the silence. You had yet to even attempt to pierce the dark cloud around Dottore and still your stomach had already dropped. His body looked odd with all the modifications. Not that now was the time to say.

"You're not going to tell me about the results?"

The temperature dropped a few degrees. Perhaps that wasn't the best line of questioning right now.

It was truly horrendous if he didn't even want to discuss experimental results. Even a failure held important information to dissect, reconstruct, and put to use.

Archons above, you'd been reduced to brushing fingers against his skin, leaning against him, kissing the top of his head. Anything to get him react to something. He hadn't even reached for your hand.

Another point of discomfort was how he'd kept his mask on. Of course, that was how he appeared in front of others but… You sighed, fastening the end of a bandage securely around his arm. It had been so long since he'd hid his face when it was just the two of you.

"We should've brought something more efficient than this." Perfect, give him a chance to go off a tangent about one of his solvents for recovering health and closing wounds.

Dottore merely grunted.

You adjusted your shirt.

Well then. Were you supposed to start weeping in relief that he hadn't perished entirely? Or scold him for losing one of the moon marrows? You supposed you could yell a little, although it would probably echo quite uncomfortably with the stone walls. Throw yourself into his arms and lavish him with praise?

Maybe he'd want something sweet.

Just as you turned to look in some of the supply crates, there was a tug at your cloak, barely there but enough that you stopped.

Finally.

Dottore's voice sounded like he'd been swallowing sand when he said your name, rough and coarse. He'd probably been yelling at the Traveler and their little entourage. You waited for a moment only to feel his hand release its grasp. "Forget it."

The pit in your stomach was rapidly growing as you walked away. Seconds stretched to minutes as silence settled once more. You searched through some of the crates stashed towards the back, briefly wondering how long Dottore must've been making arrangements for this outcome. They could stay for months without lacking anything.

"Are you planning to leave?"

You straightened up at his words, clutching a small pouch of hard candies.

"Excuse me?"

He still wore his mask when you turned. The signature quirk of his lips was nowhere to be found as he continued, nor did his voice sound anything like what she had previously encountered. "Now that I've failed here, will you abandon me as well?"

You blinked once. Twice. Your hands were steady as you loosened the string on the pouch, picking out a peach flavored candy and holding it up.

"To what end?"

"You-.." Dottore's hand twitched. He'd discarded the gauntlet at least. "If you abandon me now, the others are of a disposition likely to forgive you. Blame me, say you knew nothing of my true ambitions." He sounded disappointed. And you would've pitied him if not for the following sneer. "I'm sure they'd be happy to collaborate with you."

You picked another candy, lemon, and threw it as hard as you could at him.

Dottore recoiled in surprise, head still covered by that infernal mask snapping up. His sharp teeth flashed in the dim light emitted from his body.

"Maybe I will."

Time stopped moving. Figuratively at least. You were relatively certain that neither you nor the world had been frozen at the behest of a spurned heretic. Stubborn as he were, even Dottore probably couldn't manage that without all three marrows.

You stepped forward, peach candy still in hand as you pocketed the pouch. Dottore made no move to prevent you from nudging the mask away from his face and let it clatter to the ground. His eyes were a little misty.

Despite his transformation, he still looked like a wounded critter when you cupped his cheek. That he leaned into it was a good sign. Before he could protest, you'd slipped the candy past his lips.

"You're a fool if you truly thought I'd do such a thing. Wouldn't you say our 'collaboration' has transcended terms as simple as mutual benefit?"

A faint hint of a smile crossed Dottore's lips as he sucked on the candy.

You lowered herself into his lap, letting your forehead rest against his shoulder. His skin felt almost a little tingly, like a current ran just beneath it.

"But I will leave if your body doesn't change back after this nonsense." Both of them chuckled, melting further into the embrace.

Perhaps you'd been a little worried about him.

A smirk appeared on your face when you adjusted your body and turned around so that you faced Scara, your hands leaning into his chest.

"Hey babe" you spouted, his eyes still on his phone when he answered with a short hum.

"Who's your first ever crush?" you could see his ears lift up but you hadn't noticed that his ears had grew a tint of red.

"Nobody.. why?" he mumbled quietly.

"What! That doesn't make any sense, come on! I won't be jealous I swear on the Archons.." you jumped, getting closer to his face when his eyes finally met yours.

"Mmh.. I told you that I never liked anyone until you got close to me." he answered, this time you noticed his ears getting redder.

"We only got close before we started dating, which was only a few years ago. No way you've never liked anyone before!" your head started to lean on his chest.

"Only I know, you can keep wondering" his hands moving up on your hair to caress them as a smile forms in his face, his soft touch that makes you melt instantly.

You felt your cheeks heating up to his touch, you pout for a second.

"T'least give me a hint.. just a small one!" you asked as you felt his hands slowing down.

"Fine, she's a girl" as he tilts you chin up with a grin obvious on his face.

One of your hand moved to grip his hands to brush your face, his touch was warm despite the cold temperature of your room.

"That's so obvious.." you mumbled in his hands.

"My first crush was Megan Fox." he teased, knowing well you'd be even more curious.

"That's not fair!! That's a celebrity crush, I want a real one." your face obviously pouting now.

"Why won't you tell me!! It's not like she mattered now anyway, unless.. it's me..?" you continued and teased with a grin on your face as soon as you said that.

Scara stayed quiet as he felt heat going up from his neck, his eyes avoided yours. You got up slightly and leaned closer, pulling away his hands from your face as your leaned closer to him.

"Wait.. is it me??" no answer.

"Scaraa.. you've liked me since back then??" you called out to his name as you leaned in even more, you could feel his warm breath on your face, your hands got up to hold his face.

His hands wrapped around your wrist, but it was lose and not enough to hold you back—almost as if he wanted you to go closer.

"Aww, that's so cute Scarababy!! Was it because I was too cute for you to handle??" you gave him a peck on the cheek and continued to nibble softly on his neck.

"I didn't know you had your eyes set on me first... I would've confessed to you wayy earlier then" you smiled as your breath landed on his neck looking at the mark you left behind Your faced moved up to face him as his gaze finally met yours. You felt his hands moved to the back of your head and the other landed on your waist.

Both of your face leaned in closer until both of your lips finally met. It wasn't a hungry, it was just right—perfect, and enough for the both of you.

"It doesn't matter how long I've set my eyes on you when I finally have you hear in my arms" after he finally leaned back, the hands that was once on the back of you head moved on top to pat it.

"Baby you're so sweet—I can't believe you're the same person who used to tell other people to piss off when they do as much as to look at you" teasing him as you rested your head on his shoulder, still in his arms.

"Whatever.." he said annoyed jokingly, the rest of the night were filled with even more kisses and teasing after you found out an interesting fact about your boyfriend.

authors note:

honestly i really enjoyed writing this even if it's so short, also fun fact this was inspired by a convo me and my crush had yesterday but he never told me who his first crush was..