Work Text:
Alina was laughing. It was mid-morning and she was laughing, and it was so much like the sun rising in the east, warm and bright, chasing away any and all shadows that clouded his mind.
Nikolai found himself unable to look away as Alina’s laughter came from all the way where she and Tamar were practicing knife throwing. He didn’t know how throwing knives had resulted in her laughing with abandon, but the young king found that he didn’t care. He just wanted to keep hearing that sound that made him feel young and light, like he was just a young man watching a lovely young woman that made him feel… things.
“What do you think?” A voice broke through his reverie and he realised David had been talking to him for a while now.
Embarrassed, he turned to his friend and trusty inventor, and flashed a sheepish smile, “Can you please repeat what you said? I… lost my focus.” Alina laughed again and he swore he felt his focus hone in on that sound once more.
David smiled and flipped back a few pages on his notebook, “Like I was saying, if we build a two tier dock and cover the top, it’ll be a much more efficient way than using ladders to work on the highest parts of your ships.”
Nikolai nodded, silently pleased he had focused long enough to hear what David had been planning, “And we’ll build it where the old one is?”
David shrugged, “Uncertain.” He pointed towards the old pier, “I need to make some calculations, but I’m afraid the water will get too shallow in the summer to be a viable solution…”
His voice faded away as Nikolai found himself remembering a night he’d sat in that pier next to a sunshine girl who kicked like an untamed beast and made him feel free. She was laughing again and his memory shifted into a daydream. One where he’d kissed her without restraint, where she demanded he go through with his promises. He’d say something witty that would earn him that laughter he couldn’t get enough of, she’d roll her eyes all the way through, and then he’d probably kiss her again because he’s mind seemed to be strangely focused on kissing Alina until his air ran out.
“I’ll go work on my calculations. I can, huh, I can tell you need to think on it.” David excused himself before Nikolai could utter a word.
Damn. He’d been so excited over David’s sketches and then he’d gone and been a jerk. A jerk head over heels, but a jerk nevertheless. He’d need to meet with the Fabrikator later in his lab, where Alina’s laughter wouldn’t be a possible distraction.
He turned and saw Alina watching him. She had a smile playing on the corners of her lips, probably from laughing earlier. And her cheeks seemed to glow with the faint blush she had from exercising and laughing. Nikolai wished it was all because of him, saints, how badly he wished that.
Nikolai waved, hoping his limbs would behave and not give away how distracted with her presence he was. Alina’s smile widened and she waved back before turning back to Tamar who seemed to have found them a pair of bows. The young king reluctantly turned away from the scene. He had kingly duties to attend and none of them included daydreaming about a former grisha with hair like sunlight.
They were having tea in Alina’s sunroom today. It was a chilly day, rain had been pouring steadily since before sunrise, and the air had that distinct earthy scent that came with the rain.
Alina sipped her tea, watching Nikolai as he told her about the latest courtly dramas he’d had to endure that morning. He gestured wildly, re-enacting some of the nobles’ poses and gestures and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at how dramatic he was being. Even if he was right. She too would feel like mocking them if some duke or something came to her with concerns over the choice of wood for some farms’ fences… It seemed people who decorated everything with gold foil could be easily offended over some farmer’s fence option.
She looked up just as a lock of hair fell from Nikolai’s carefully combed hair-do. It hanged in his face, just above his eyes, a rebellious lock of golden hair that seemed to make the young king look even more dashing than he was. Alina caught herself before she stared for too long. She reached for a cookie. And looked at him again as Nikolai stood and paced to the window and then back to his place next to her.
All along, Alina watched, mesmerized by the way his hair fell in his face and how beautiful he looked in the mid-afternoon rainy light. Nikolai sat back down and turned to her, still speaking of… something. Alina didn’t even try to focus on his words, distracted as she was with noticing the few freckles that dusted the bridge of his elegant nose. How had she not seen them before? Would they be new or from his years at sea? Most likely the latter. They seemed to add to his beauty.
Suddenly she realised Nikolai had stopped speaking and was watching her with raised eyebrows.
“Something on my face?” He asked, his tone slightly playful. He wiggled his eyebrows and leaned in, “You know you can tell me, sunshine.”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Can I? And my king won’t break down completely if I mention there is something amiss in his perfect looks?”
“Oh…” A wicked grin spread over his lips, “Perfect, huh?” He leaned back and wrapped his arms around the sofa, “So that’s what you think of me, Alina. My, my… Tell me more.”
“How about I dunk this whole pot of steaming tea all over your insufferable royal head?” She threatened, hoping her friend didn’t notice the way she turned a darker shade of pink.
Nikolai chuckled, the sound warm and tugging something deep in Alina’s heart, and he put a hand on his heart, “And now openly seducing me? Sunshine, I’m going to think you plan on ravishing me right here and now.”
Just then, a knock interrupted their easy banter and soon a Corporalki was greeting them, “Apologies, but the envoys have arrived.”
Nikolai’s warm, light demeanour shuttered and shifted into a neutral, controlled one. He had gone full king in the space of a few seconds. It both unnerved and impressed Alina.
He nodded at the Corporalki and the young man moved to wait for Nikolai outside the sun room. Nikolai turned to her with a sad smile, “I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone that tea bath of yours, sunshine.”
“Just consider yourself lucky.” She shot back, even if her lips curled up in a smile.
Nikolai stood and was about to leave with a wink before he hesitated and did something utterly remarkable… He kissed her cheek. Then left without a word.
Alina remained behind, frozen with shock, the spot where his lips had brushed her skin burning with a strange heat she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
She was laughing again. And Nikolai just couldn’t get enough of it. Even if this time the reason Alina was laughing was because he’d somehow fallen into the lake while trying very desperately to impress her with his swashbuckling moves.
He was utterly and hopelessly in love and there was nothing he could do but drink in the sound of her laughter.
“You look ridiculous with your coat floating around you like that!” Alina said between her laughter, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, “Like a teal coloured balloon following you around!”
Nikolai reached up to brush his soaked hair back and flashed one of his most mischievous smiles. He took pride in the way Alina’s laughter paused for a moment, her eyes catching the movement of his hand and the smile he was donning.
He sighed and shook his head a little, a few locks of hair falling right back into his face, “You are a wicked vixen, sunshine.” He swam closer to the pier and hoisted himself, resting on his arms, “I’ll have you know the privateer way involves payback.”
Alina licked her lips and watched him warily, “I didn’t think pirates would warn about payback.”
Nikolai’s smile grew, “Privateer, sunshine. And we don’t.” Then he reached for her hand and pulled her with him into the lake.
Alina gasped as she broke the surface, half wanting to murder Nikolai, half wanting to laugh even harder. The sneaky bastard had charmed his way into payback. Why else would he look so… so… so seductive?
Pure, unrestrained laughter rumbled next to her and she splashed the young king in revenge, “You bastard!”
Nikolai flashed a mock-pout, “Now why would you bring my bloodline into this?” When Alina splashed him harder he simply laughed again, “You should have known, sunshine, I couldn’t die alone.”
She rolled her eyes, “The water is hardly enough to kill you, Nikolai. You seem to thrive in it.”
He swam closer to her and dropped his voice, “Yes, I do.” He fell silent as he watched her for a moment, before he reached out to comb away the hair that had fallen to her face.
His hand lingered on the back of her head before he slowly dragged it forward, and brushed his thumb along her jaw. Alina held her breath, watching the way Nikolai’s eyes burned with a fire that drew her in.
“I can’t stop thinking about you, Alina.” He whispered then, his voice raw with something she couldn’t quite name yet. Didn’t dare to name.
Alina parted her mouth, but no words came out.
Nikolai drew closer and curled an arm around her waist, just enough to warm her in the chilly water. If she wanted, she could simply swim away.
“I can’t stop thinking about you either.” She finally said, as if her words had just been waiting for his warmth before they could be spoken. “I don’t even know how, you can be so… insufferable.”
Nikolai chuckled as he cupped her face, “It’s part of my charm.” With his thumb, he wiped away a drop of water that fell down her cheek, “But you have to admit it, sunshine, you wouldn’t spend as much time with me as you do if you truly hated that I’m insufferable.”
She rolled her eyes and reached for his shirt, “I seem to recall you wanting to kiss me, but not until I was thinking of you…” She bit her lip, waiting for his reply. Yes, she had changed subject, but she was also dying to see what he would do right now.
Unable to resist it, Nikolai beamed, “I love it when you quote me.”
Satisfied, Alina tugged on his shirt and their lips met in a crash, water and laughter mixed in with the excitement of finally, finally sharing that kiss they’d both been waiting for.
Later that day, the two sat huddled under heavy blankets in front of the fireplace in Alina’s chambers. Hot chocolate in hand, the two couldn’t keep their eyes off each other, or their lips from meeting in laughter-filled kisses.
They’d returned inside soaked to the bone and dripping onto all the expensive marble and carpets. Nikolai took Alina through a maze of secret passages, all the way to her room, where he left her with a hot bath and promises to return shortly.
When he did, all dried out, hair sticking at odd angles and a new light in his eyes, Alina couldn’t help but drag him into her room. They kissed until they couldn’t breathe, laughed until their bellies hurt, and kissed some more. It was as though they were starved for each other, unable to resist the other’s pull, desperate to make up for lost time.
Then hot chocolate was ordered and the fire was set.
Nikolai leaned in to kiss Alina’s temple and whispered, “Have I told you how beautiful you are? The loveliest, most beautiful sight of all.”
Alina rolled her eyes and bumped their shoulders, “You, sir, are so ridiculous.”
He shook his head, “No, honest. And… If I dare say it out loud at last… Very much in love with you.”
Her breath halted for a moment, “You… really?”
A shy, boyish smile tugged on his lips, “Yes, Alina. And I have been for such a long time, I no longer remember what it’s like to not be in love with you.”
She kissed him again, this time a soft, tender kiss that lasts forever. When they broke apart, forehead to forehead, Alina whispered, “I don’t know when it started, but I’ve been…” She paused, suddenly afraid of saying it out loud. She’d been in Os Alta for so long now, slowly picking herself up, spending hours and hours in Nikolai’s company, getting to know all the ways he ticks. Somehow, her feelings just… changed. Was she ready to just… let go and jump into it?”
Nikolai put away their mugs and laced their hands together, “It’s all right, sunshine. You don’t have to rush.”
She shook her head. She had already let go and jumped into this, hadn’t she? When she kissed him? When she pulled him in for an afternoon of kisses? It was just the saying it out loud that seemed so daunting. Yet she had kissed Nikolai. And kept kissing him.
Groaning, Alina grabbed his collar and kissed him hard once, “I love you, Nikolai. You are so insufferable you drive me mad, but I do. Saints know I do.” She took a breath and chuckled, “Saints, why was that so hard?”
Nikolai laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her onto his lap, “Feelings are hard to deal with. Speaking of them even harder. But…” He brushed his nose against hers, “I’m happy you took the plunge, sunshine. Very, very happy.”
A wide smile tugged on her lips and she hugged him tightly, “Me too, Nikolai.” Suddenly everything felt much lighter. Alina wasn’t sure what or why, but it felt like that. She rested her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh of pure serenity and allowed herself to just be in the moment.
Nikolai kissed her crown and watched the fire burn in silence, savouring the way Alina’s body fit his so perfectly, the way she held him… the way she trusted him. He’d never imagined he’d actually get here, but here he was, with the woman of his dreams in his arms. He felt like he could take on the world right now.
With her by his side? He might very well do it. He heaved a long sigh and leaned back against the pile of pillows they’d formed behind them. Alina snuggled closer to him and together the two fell asleep by the fire, happy in each other’s arms, at last.