Work Text:
You narrowed your eyes in concentration, bottom lip tucked under your teeth as your fingers worked tirelessly to fit two of the many pieces in your star together. Pushing too hard, the 3 pieces you already had put together crumbled apart. “Damn it,” you mumbled, starting over.
“What is that?”
You looked up and saw Spencer looking at your broken wooden star, and your cheeks heated. You hadn’t realized he was watching you try—and fail—at putting it together. “It’s called a star puzzle,” you began. “It’s basically impossible to figure out. You have to put all of the pieces back together to form a perfect star. But the origin of it is, um, kind of a romantic tale,” you paused, smiling. You were a hopeless romantic, and this particular little love story was one of your favorites.
“There was this young prince who wanted to win the heart of the fairest maiden in the land, so he climbed to the top of the tallest tower in the kingdom and caught a falling star for her. Unfortunately, he was so excited that he dropped it, and it smashed into all of these pieces, so he frantically put it back together again to prove his undying love for her. He succeeded, and they lived happily ever after.”
Spencer paused, mulling over the words. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Your face fell. “What do you mean?”
“You can’t catch a falling star; it would burn up in the atmosphere.”
“Yeah but it’s not literal, Spencer,” you chuckled. “It’s just a fable.”
“But there’s no moral. Fables have morals.”
You sighed. “Fine, then it’s just a romantic story. And it’s one of my favorites, I think it’s really sweet.”
Spencer watched you for a moment, and his eyes softened. “You said he put it back together just to prove his love for her?”
You nodded.
He pursed his lips for a moment in thought before grabbing it and beginning to fiddle with it.
“But it’s basically impossible to—“
Spencer interrupted you by miraculously finishing it in mere moments, and then he did something that shocked you. He gently placed it on the table in front of you, and gave you a small smile.
“For you,” he said softly.
Your mouth fell open, and everyone on the jet whooped and whistled and laughed in surprise at Spencer’s boldness. His cheeks turned a bright crimson, now unable to meet your eyes, and you grinned. Feeling emboldened yourself by what your genius coworker was implying, you stood up and walked over to him until you stood directly above him. He looked up at you then, nerves and confusion swirling in his eyes as his mouth fell open.
“Wha—“
You interrupted him by leaning down and pressing a soft, sweet kiss to the corner of his mouth. “We’ll talk later, okay?” You whispered so no one else could hear.
Spencer tried to control how wide his grin was, and he nodded eagerly.
You’d never been so grateful for a silly little fable.