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“Hearth! HEARTHSTONE!” Blitzen all but screamed, clambering up onto his chair to get away from the terrifying monster by his feet. Then he cursed himself— Hearth obviously wouldn’t be able to hear him. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He took a moment to internally facepalm before going back to freaking out, his chest heaving, eyes wide, heart being squeezed and crushed by his panic as it pounded against his ribcage.
The eight-legged beast started creeping up the leg of his chair, and Blitz panicked more, standing up rapidly on the seat as childhood memories flooded his brain. He’d always feared spiders, and when the kids at school had found out… he shuddered all over again. They’d been ruthless.
Blitzen shifted to try and get his footing so he could figure out what to do, but suddenly air was whooshing past his ears, and he let out a strangled yelp as his chair tipped over backwards. His arms windmilled frantically, but his back still hit the ground, hard. He thought he heard a crash in the next room, too— a picture knocked off the wall, maybe. He didn’t get to wonder about that, though, because it was at that moment that he realized the spider had landed right next to his head.
Blitzen tried to scream, but the wind had been knocked out of him and all that came out was a creaky little groan. He rolled over and away from his tormentor, stupid, childish, irrational fear making his heart pound and his guts roil, just as the door was flung open and Hearthstone rushed in, staff at the ready to protect Blitzen from whatever had hurt him, as he looked around worriedly.
The elf’s gray eyes took in the spider, then the toppled chair, and finally landed on Blitzen, bruised and panting in the corner of the office.
And then Hearthstone burst out laughing.
Blitz felt his face heat up as he watched his elf double over with soundless wheezing giggles that never seemed to end. He put his head in his hands, watching through his fingers as Hearth leaned on his staff, face flushed with mirth, and the dwarf couldn’t help but scowl as he tugged his knees to his chest and rested his chin on his folded arms. He glared at the chair, which still lay on the floor, and watched as the little spider crawled around aimlessly.
Then he heard the click of a phone’s camera.
He looked up, surprised, to find Hearthstone still grinning as he took a photo of Blitzen’s chair and the spider, then turned the phone to him and took a picture of Blitz himself. The dwarf took it upon himself to stick up his middle finger at the camera, hiding his face as much as he could.
“You are an asshole, Hearthstone,” he complained once the elf had put his phone away.
Rather than responding, Hearth, still smirking a bit, picked up the little spider and left the room. Blitzen heard the back door opening and then closing again, then Hearthstone’s footsteps got louder, and he reentered the room. He sat down in front of Blitzen, amusement clear in his gaze. At the sight of his elf’s twinkling gray eyes and loving smile, though, it became harder to be annoyed, and he couldn’t help but smile just a little bit too, to which Hearth lifted his hands and began to sign.
There he is. Hearth’s smile faded a little as something seemed to cross his mind. Are you hurt?
Just my pride, Blitz responded, still feeling rather disgruntled. I hate spiders.
The corner of the elf’s mouth twitched. Blitzen shifted so he was sitting on his knees, then leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Hearth’s neck, resting his temple against his boyfriend’s cheek just to feel his comforting warmth. For one who claimed to always be cold, Hearthstone’s skin was a near-constant source of heat. Blitz would never stop appreciating that.
Hearth’s shoulders shook with another wheezy little chuckle, and Blitzen couldn’t help the way his face flushed all over again when he felt his elf lovingly kiss his temple. When the two were alone, Hearthstone was much more comfortable being affectionate, and it was palpable— he always seemed to want to touch Blitz in some way, whether it be fingers intertwined over the table at breakfast, or Hearth sitting on the floor next to the sewing desk with his head leaning against Blitzen’s thigh as they each worked on their respective projects, not to mention the way their bodies naturally got tangled up together when they slept. Blitzen grinned. Gods, he was so gone on this elf.
He pulled back, cupping Hearthstone’s cheek in a rough, calloused hand. He knew his expression must be the definition of sappy, but he didn’t care. Why would he? He had everything he could want.
“I love you,” he said as he looked into Hearth’s piercing gray eyes, holding up the sign at the same time. The elf’s pale skin flushed emerald, especially around his long, pointed ears, but he was smiling, an expression so rare yet one Blitzen was privileged enough to be trusted with. He tore his gaze away from Hearthstone’s mesmerizing eyes to glance down at his lips (gods, those soft lips), making his meaning clear.
A smile still dominating his expression, the elf leaned in, closing the gap between the two in just a fraction of a second, but the moment felt like years, every passing millisecond without his lover’s lips on his a millisecond wasted, and gods, since when was Blitzen such a teenager? He couldn’t help but laugh softly at himself and his lovesick thoughts, moving his hand from Hearthstone’s cheek to slide up the nape of his neck and into his silvery hair, soft strands parting beneath his careful fingers, and Blitzen didn’t think he’d ever felt so giddy. He was where he was supposed to be, he was just sure of it— fate had surely led him here, for Blitzen could never have found such beautiful happiness on his own.
He felt Hearthstone smiling again, and wrapped his other arm around the elf’s shoulders, tugging him close, leaning in, and then they were toppling over, dwarf over elf, and they were laughing, and so what if they were just silly teenagers in love? That was all they needed to be.