Chickens and Swords

[alittlehinky]

Ain't gonna let this lick me. Cricket came to this conclusion weeks ago, but he has to repeat it to himself at least a few times a day. Silently. He's honestly still adapting, and it's frustrating, but the longer it goes on, the better he gets. He always had pretty good upper-body strength, but it's increased even more after practice wheeling himself in a chair, or holding onto Willie's saddle. He's had to hire help making deliveries, but after a period of struggle and relearning, he's back to doing his own manufacturing. Even some canning, now, in preparation for fall and winter on the horizon.

There are ten cases of apple cider in the shed, ready to be shipped out in the morning.

Right now, he's on a layer of blankets on the porch, surrounded by half a dozen pumpkins. He started to carve the biggest and orange-est, but after the seeds had been removed and set in the kitchen to dry, another idea took hold of him, and now he's carefully twisting and weaving a grapevine wreath in the shape of a familiar two-horned circlet. He can probably find some gold spray paint for it in the Plaza. Loki can decide whether a spooky face is needed, from there...

Comments

[magpiemythos]

"Nope!" Loki replied cheerfully, smile widening. "It's a secret all for you!"

He sobers slightly as Cricket continues, clearly processing the idea, for all his heart does a little skip in his chest at that admission, tilting his head ever so slightly into the feel of the fingers carding through his hair.

"I really did. Gotta be faster on the draw if you want to get the jump on me, Pretty Cricket." He was still reeling a bit that he actually went through with it, but there was no doubting the delight in his tone regardless.

[alittlehinky]

"I guess I...wasn't sure if it was even a thing we could do. I mean, a god marryin' a human sounds like tempting fate somehow. But I already set things up so if somethin' happened to me you'd have whatever I left behind. 'Cause I know you don't need that, but I wanted to be someone who at least tried to take care of you."

His fingers keep moving, slow and gentle, not even trembling now. "I just want to be here for you as long as I can."

Leaning in for a kiss, he's quiet for several moments, sinking into the contact and tenderness, but at length he says, "Gotta ask one question, though, and any answer you give me is a'ight, won't change a thing. But do you ever want us to have kids? Adopted or not, I don't care. Just wanna know what you're thinkin'."

[magpiemythos]

"Let's be real, I tempt fate just by existing." Whatever else Loki was going to say? Was cut off by what Cricket added there. That he'd... set things up. That he wanted to take care of Loki. And the idea of there being an after him that just felt like a punch in the gut. It just made a vague idea he'd been stewing on crystalize into something more urgent, more insistent but for now he wasn't going to say anything. Not until he had it.

Cricket wanted to be there, Loki would do what he could to help, because he wanted that too.

He was just soaking up the sweet attention and returned the kiss willingly as they relaxed, just basking in the general delight of the moment regardless. The question that Cricket came up with was... well it was somewhat expected. It was a conversation that came with this sort of relationship shift right? "I... do like children well enough. I've just... they've never had much good fortune if they were mine."

A faint huff. "The Eddas were unpleasantly accurate there."

[alittlehinky]

"Yeah?" He smiles gently at him. "Sometimes I feel that way too, to be honest with you. Got kind of a rough start. Makes me wonder sometimes if I wasn't expected to make it this far."

"But I did." His smile blossoms into a bright grin. "'Cause here we are. Stubborn as shit, the both of us."

In their own different ways. Ancient mountains and arctic landscapes have a way of rewarding determination, even in those that seem too delicate to thrive there.

Cricket has no inkling what's in Loki's head now, but he'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, he's just relieved that the question he asked hasn't dampened the mood. "Maybe your fortunes are changing?" he suggests. "Nexus has a way of doing that."

"Don't have to decide for good right now. I just wanted t' know if it was possible. 'Cause I sure as hell ain't ready now, but I think some day I might be."

[magpiemythos]

"Here's to stubborn, spiteful little brats who keep on keeping on." Did Cricket miss the considerations? Probably for the best- he meant well and would worry about Loki doing what he'd planned. Better to save telling him until it was time to do it, lessen how long he'd have to worry for.

"You're not wrong there. I ran into you, after all." It was a heartening idea, that whatever else there was, that maybe the fate's perchance for misery in his future was offset by the Nexus and it's oddities. Cricket was certainly proof of that. "We'll put a pin in the kids conversation for now, revisit it later. Because well I'm not totally adverse to the idea, so we'll see what the future holds, hm?"

[alittlehinky]

"I'll drink to that," he agrees. "Later. When we've got somethin' to drink." He pulls Loki closer again, hugging him tight.

"Sounds good t'me. It was just what you did back where I grew up. Get married, have as many kids as you can afford t'help work th' farm. But we don't need to have 'em for that kind of reason, and we can wait and see how things go."

Because even though Cricket suspects his life span won't be as long as he might like, he's pretty sure he's got a good fifty years ahead of him.

"...thank you," he says after a moment. "For bein' the one to make a move. I know that ain't easy."

[magpiemythos]

"I think there's a bottle of mead somewhere in the kitchen." But for now he wasn't about to go hunting for it, just snuggling in on Cricket with a soft, pleased little huff.

"If we wind up with two, they can race Willie and Thori." Loki pointed out, more teasing than anything, earning a muzzy, half-asleep whuff from under the porch from the latter.

If Loki had his way, Cricket would have a lot more than fifty years. But... it would be up to Cricket. It wouldn't be right otherwise... the trickster would just make damn sure the option was available. And argue his side of things should he need to.

"The present earlier this week was me chickening out," Loki admitted in a wry tone, resting his head against Cricket's shoulder. "The soapstone was for you anyways but well..."

[alittlehinky]

"Sounds like a plan. Was gonna just make soup tonight to go with pie, but we could get somethin' nice brought in." One big advantage the Nexus has over rural Virginia: you can get just about anything delivered.

He laughs a little at the thought of children racing on their Pokemon. "Only if Willie'll let Thori have a turn with 'em. She's ten kinds of full of herself since she evolved." In a sweet way, though. She just wants to help carry everything around, now that she can.

Cricket turns onto his back and curls his arms around Loki reassuringly, making himself a pillow. "Aw, baby...I had no idea. I really do like the chicken, though. I thought you was just tryin' to cheer me up, on account of me having trouble getting around lately."

There's a pause as he kisses Loki on the head and then an impish grin lights up his face. "So, I got an engagement sword and and engagement chicken! Bet there ain't been anyone else courted like that before."

[magpiemythos]

"We can set up a fancy picnic in the living room even." It sounded cute to Loki, and he figured it would amuse Cricket so why not?

And Willie was adorable, just chuckling at the mental image of the pokemon stubbornly hoarding any children while Thori sulked and threw a doggo tantrum.

"I mean... it wasn't the actual plan but I am glad it cheered you up regardless..." Loki relaxed where he was, chuckling at that grin from Cricket, scrunching his nose for the kiss. "Engagement chicken, hm? I suppose you're not wrong. Doubt there's many getting courted like you."

[alittlehinky]

Cricket chuckles again, and it's so quiet it almost sounds more like a purr. "Picnic sounds perfect. Everything sounds perfect right about now."

He'll just continue stroking Loki's hair and shoulders, as long as they're snuggling like this. The sun is dropping toward the horizon now, and it won't be long until dusk, at which point they'll probably need to go inside for warmth, but for now everything feels perfect. There's red-gold light on the trees and glinting off the eaves above them.

"I don't know how I got so lucky," he murmurs. "Ain't nothing that unusual about me. I know you're gonna tell me I'm special t'you and that's how it should be, but sometimes all of this just feels like a fairy tale."

[magpiemythos]

Loki lets out a soft hum of agreement, feeling a warm, honey-sweet sort of placid content at the feel of Cricket there with him, the feel of those fingers in his hair. It was mirrored enough in the way the light was shifting to those golden hues as the sun was setting, leaving him quite content to stay where they were for the moment. They could move inside in a bit, but there was only one moment like this, and he wanted to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.

"You're a delight," Loki pointed out with a lazy smile. "Normal or no, I find myself quite attached to you. Like trickster catnip or something."

[alittlehinky]

"You're attached to me?" He eyes Loki with mock surprise. "You mean like you might wanna marry me or somethin'? Why, Loki, I'm shocked."

He reaches back with his free arm and pushes himself around, using that leverage to flip them so he's halfway on top of Loki. Of course, the godling doesn't have to be moved if he doesn't let himself be, but he usually acquiesces when Cricket gets playful. "You're the love of my life, Pretty Bird."

...and that gives him an idea how to 'revenge propose'. But it'll take some time to pull it together.

[magpiemythos]

"It's utterly out of the blue, I know," Loki replied, pretending at serious surprise. "Utterly unheard of, how absolutely smitten I am."

And as Cricket guessed, Loki allowed the shift- he usually did, enjoying the back and forth of it, even if they both knew that he could bench his moonshiner boyfriend without any effort if the whim struck him. But it was nice to just let Cricket settle them, especially at that admission that had scarlet flushing up his neck and ears.

"You're a menace, but I do love you for that, Pretty Cricket."

[alittlehinky]

Cricket is just as happy to be manhandled as he is to do the rolling around himself, but at this point in their relationship he is well aware that Loki likes to feel looked-after. He is more than happy to do it, whether it be in the form of cooking pumpkin pies for them both, or pinning him in an embrace.

The I love you, even though it's reached the point of an understanding between them, makes him melt, and earns Loki a pretty fierce kiss on the lips.

...a fierce and lingering kiss, in fact, which is likely to go on for quite a while, because he can't think of anything to say to top that. Hopefully the flutter of his heart and the raw joy he can feel shivering under his skin is enough of a statement.