[fic] Stare Me Down Across the Table
WHAT. FIRST POST IN MONTHS AND I'M POSTING FANFICTION?
...yeah. I wrote this for my English class. Topic was Valentine's Day and I had to include a bunch of literary devices. Fun times.
Title: Stare Me Down Across the Table
Author: fallenxembers17
Characters/Pairings: Estonia, Sweden/Finland
Word Count: 1208
Rating: PG
Warnings: Human names, genderbent Finland.
Summary: A meeting and a proposal in a coffee shop. Because coffee shops are the best places for one-sided love to be made excruciatingly painful.
There is a saying that a man and a woman cannot be best friends without anything else getting involved. Eduard and Tina defied that saying on a daily basis. They were friends since childhood, you see - their parents were friends, so of course they were friends. It simply was. Like most childhood friends, they had their differences, their disagreements, but unlike most childhood friends, they never grew apart. They went through separate relationships and despite all of their friends thinking the hook-up inevitable, it never happened.
But really, some say it wasn't just destined to be. Not true love.
Tina tended to end up with the Bad Boys. She'd fall for their charisma, their risk - and was left metaphorically caged. Eduard tended to end up with... well. He didn't so much as end up with girls as get the short end of the stick. Oftentimes a heartbroken Eduard would end up on Tina's couch nursing a pint (not always ice cream). Equally often would Tina, bruises peeking from behind loose t-shirts, show up at Eduard's door desperately in need of a friendly face. This pattern continued through their college years and even a little beyond, until Tina began to think sensibly and Eduard just stopped trying in favor of his IT career.
They couldn't stay in that limbo, though. Something had to change - and that something was Berwald. The day before Valentine's day, Tina and Eduard were having their annual coffee meet in their usual café. It was small, humid, and cramped, but they squeezed into a sequestered corner table and gossiped until the third cup of coffee ran out.
“He doesn't seem like the usual guy I go for though!” Tina chirped from over her coffee mug.
Eduard let out a short sigh and continued staring at his coding. “That's what you say about all of them, dear.” He pretended not to see the guilty start from across the table.
“W-well, yes!” Tina stammered out. “But this time I mean it! He looks potential wife-beater, but he's a total sweetheart once you get to know him! He has this adorable puppy, and he said that when he gets married he wants to adopt.”
Eduard finally looked up at that. “He's very... forward, isn't he?” he asked, eyebrows raised. This time, Tina went bright red, and Eduard hurried to continue, “Please don't answer that.”
“Anyways! I need help! Oh, great Valentine's gods, tell me what to do for Berwald! This relationship is as important to me as air is to all of mankind!”
And then the pair were struck by the sheer absurdity of that statement and giggled for a few seconds, earning themselves stares from the other costumers. Eduard chuckled and said, “We're the freaks of the café!”
“If we're freaks, where's my mutation? Obviously, yours is your brain, the way you breathe that rainbow code of yours.”
“Oh, you've got horns growing out of your head. You can't see them, but you're quite the devil's child.” This sent them both giggling again, and indeed, the stares they got were reminiscent of X-Men and the Fantastic Four. “But... in all seriousness,” Eduard said after he could breathe again, “if he's that important to you, and that nice, he shouldn't need anything. Besides, you're a girl! He's supposed to give you things!”
Tina looked down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt in response. In doing so she missed the forlorn look that passed over Eduard's face. More gently, he said, “Tina. Look at me. What's got you so worked up? I've never seen you like this?” She fussed with her hem some more and chewed her lip before sighing and bringing her head up, but she still wouldn't meet Eduard's eyes.
“He... well, I. I found something the last time I was at his place. It...” She gulped and looked back down, then continued mumbling. “He had an engagement ring hiding in his closet. I-I think he's going to p-propose.”
A beat, then two. Then, “Well. That's big news.”
Tina looked up, revealing a flushed face and indignant eyes. “Big news? It's huge, it's - you know how badly my past relationships have gone!” she wailed. “I don't think I'm ready, I mean, he's sweet but I'm terrified!” A panicked look took over her, and Eduard didn't bother resisting the urge to reach across the table and stroke her hair. More mutant behavior, this time noticeable to him, not the other café patrons.
Mutant behavior or no, he wasn't surprised when she brushed off his hand as if it stung. “I didn't come here to be petted, Ed. You know me better than that.”
Eduard stared at her for a second before replying. “Yes. Of course not. Advice. Um. S-set up a nice dinner?”
“He's already done that.”
“Get him flowers?”
“You're girly. Men like the girly sometimes.”
“No.”
“Well then.”
A long pause followed, marked by quiet sips of coffee and desperate looks, broken by discordant jangling of the bells on the coffee shop door. And then the silence was shattered by a deep voice calling from the entrance. “T'na? Y' here?”
The girl in question nearly fell out of her chair. She tried to compose herself as she raised a hand and called out, “Berwald? Berwald, I'm over here!”
A head peeked out from behind the corner that protected their table and Eduard couldn't help the small “Woah” that escaped. He was huge, seeming to tower higher than even Ivan had, and his face was fixed in a glare that looked super glued on. Tina saw the men sizing each other up and leaped out of her seat to make introductions.
“Eduard, this is Berwald, my b-boyfriend. Berwald, this is Eduard, my best friend.”
“'M not yer boyfr'nd.”
“Wh-what?”
“Mm. Least, not if y'd rather I be s'methin' else.” Tina stared, shocked, as Berwald pulled a little box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. He was, Eduard noted distantly, blushing furiously.
Tina wasn't noticing anything, really - not Berwald's blush, Eduard's crestfallen look, or the awed stares of the other customers. She was staring at Berwald holding that ring as if she had never seen him before.
“T'na.” He cleared his throat, then continued. “Tina Väinämöinen, will you marry me?” He spoke every word clearly and slowly, abandoning the curt, grunting speech from earlier.
“O-oh. You... Berwald.” Tina blinked, breathed. Thought for a second - remembered quite evenings spent with Berwald and his puppy in front of a fire, remembered less quiet but still gentle evenings in the bedroom, remembered how happy she was with him. “Yes. Yes, yes!” She stammered the words out, still disbelieving, but euphoria was rapidly taking over.
The pair ended up having their happily ever after, with a quiet wedding (Berwald was happy to let Eduard be best mad) and a happy life. They adopted a rowdy but adorable British child whose father had abandoned him, and Berwald never hit Tina, not even once. Eduard remained a part of Tina's life and became an uncle to their son, but he was left to wonder when Tina would realize hat he had loved her from the very start.
...yeah. I wrote this for my English class. Topic was Valentine's Day and I had to include a bunch of literary devices. Fun times.
Title: Stare Me Down Across the Table
Author: fallenxembers17
Characters/Pairings: Estonia, Sweden/Finland
Word Count: 1208
Rating: PG
Warnings: Human names, genderbent Finland.
Summary: A meeting and a proposal in a coffee shop. Because coffee shops are the best places for one-sided love to be made excruciatingly painful.
There is a saying that a man and a woman cannot be best friends without anything else getting involved. Eduard and Tina defied that saying on a daily basis. They were friends since childhood, you see - their parents were friends, so of course they were friends. It simply was. Like most childhood friends, they had their differences, their disagreements, but unlike most childhood friends, they never grew apart. They went through separate relationships and despite all of their friends thinking the hook-up inevitable, it never happened.
But really, some say it wasn't just destined to be. Not true love.
Tina tended to end up with the Bad Boys. She'd fall for their charisma, their risk - and was left metaphorically caged. Eduard tended to end up with... well. He didn't so much as end up with girls as get the short end of the stick. Oftentimes a heartbroken Eduard would end up on Tina's couch nursing a pint (not always ice cream). Equally often would Tina, bruises peeking from behind loose t-shirts, show up at Eduard's door desperately in need of a friendly face. This pattern continued through their college years and even a little beyond, until Tina began to think sensibly and Eduard just stopped trying in favor of his IT career.
They couldn't stay in that limbo, though. Something had to change - and that something was Berwald. The day before Valentine's day, Tina and Eduard were having their annual coffee meet in their usual café. It was small, humid, and cramped, but they squeezed into a sequestered corner table and gossiped until the third cup of coffee ran out.
“He doesn't seem like the usual guy I go for though!” Tina chirped from over her coffee mug.
Eduard let out a short sigh and continued staring at his coding. “That's what you say about all of them, dear.” He pretended not to see the guilty start from across the table.
“W-well, yes!” Tina stammered out. “But this time I mean it! He looks potential wife-beater, but he's a total sweetheart once you get to know him! He has this adorable puppy, and he said that when he gets married he wants to adopt.”
Eduard finally looked up at that. “He's very... forward, isn't he?” he asked, eyebrows raised. This time, Tina went bright red, and Eduard hurried to continue, “Please don't answer that.”
“Anyways! I need help! Oh, great Valentine's gods, tell me what to do for Berwald! This relationship is as important to me as air is to all of mankind!”
And then the pair were struck by the sheer absurdity of that statement and giggled for a few seconds, earning themselves stares from the other costumers. Eduard chuckled and said, “We're the freaks of the café!”
“If we're freaks, where's my mutation? Obviously, yours is your brain, the way you breathe that rainbow code of yours.”
“Oh, you've got horns growing out of your head. You can't see them, but you're quite the devil's child.” This sent them both giggling again, and indeed, the stares they got were reminiscent of X-Men and the Fantastic Four. “But... in all seriousness,” Eduard said after he could breathe again, “if he's that important to you, and that nice, he shouldn't need anything. Besides, you're a girl! He's supposed to give you things!”
Tina looked down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt in response. In doing so she missed the forlorn look that passed over Eduard's face. More gently, he said, “Tina. Look at me. What's got you so worked up? I've never seen you like this?” She fussed with her hem some more and chewed her lip before sighing and bringing her head up, but she still wouldn't meet Eduard's eyes.
“He... well, I. I found something the last time I was at his place. It...” She gulped and looked back down, then continued mumbling. “He had an engagement ring hiding in his closet. I-I think he's going to p-propose.”
A beat, then two. Then, “Well. That's big news.”
Tina looked up, revealing a flushed face and indignant eyes. “Big news? It's huge, it's - you know how badly my past relationships have gone!” she wailed. “I don't think I'm ready, I mean, he's sweet but I'm terrified!” A panicked look took over her, and Eduard didn't bother resisting the urge to reach across the table and stroke her hair. More mutant behavior, this time noticeable to him, not the other café patrons.
Mutant behavior or no, he wasn't surprised when she brushed off his hand as if it stung. “I didn't come here to be petted, Ed. You know me better than that.”
Eduard stared at her for a second before replying. “Yes. Of course not. Advice. Um. S-set up a nice dinner?”
“He's already done that.”
“Get him flowers?”
“You're girly. Men like the girly sometimes.”
“No.”
“Well then.”
A long pause followed, marked by quiet sips of coffee and desperate looks, broken by discordant jangling of the bells on the coffee shop door. And then the silence was shattered by a deep voice calling from the entrance. “T'na? Y' here?”
The girl in question nearly fell out of her chair. She tried to compose herself as she raised a hand and called out, “Berwald? Berwald, I'm over here!”
A head peeked out from behind the corner that protected their table and Eduard couldn't help the small “Woah” that escaped. He was huge, seeming to tower higher than even Ivan had, and his face was fixed in a glare that looked super glued on. Tina saw the men sizing each other up and leaped out of her seat to make introductions.
“Eduard, this is Berwald, my b-boyfriend. Berwald, this is Eduard, my best friend.”
“'M not yer boyfr'nd.”
“Wh-what?”
“Mm. Least, not if y'd rather I be s'methin' else.” Tina stared, shocked, as Berwald pulled a little box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. He was, Eduard noted distantly, blushing furiously.
Tina wasn't noticing anything, really - not Berwald's blush, Eduard's crestfallen look, or the awed stares of the other customers. She was staring at Berwald holding that ring as if she had never seen him before.
“T'na.” He cleared his throat, then continued. “Tina Väinämöinen, will you marry me?” He spoke every word clearly and slowly, abandoning the curt, grunting speech from earlier.
“O-oh. You... Berwald.” Tina blinked, breathed. Thought for a second - remembered quite evenings spent with Berwald and his puppy in front of a fire, remembered less quiet but still gentle evenings in the bedroom, remembered how happy she was with him. “Yes. Yes, yes!” She stammered the words out, still disbelieving, but euphoria was rapidly taking over.
The pair ended up having their happily ever after, with a quiet wedding (Berwald was happy to let Eduard be best mad) and a happy life. They adopted a rowdy but adorable British child whose father had abandoned him, and Berwald never hit Tina, not even once. Eduard remained a part of Tina's life and became an uncle to their son, but he was left to wonder when Tina would realize hat he had loved her from the very start.