Chapter Text
🌇
You Bewitched Me.
Chapter Ⅰ ⇀ Every Damn Second You're With Me.
- Expressoz
Loud whirring sounded from the coffee machine in the corner. It wasn't unlike the coffee mage to brew a couple hundred cups during his studies. His theories and hypothese were much of importance to him. They were the only thing that actually made him useful in this world.
He remembered wanting to chose an entire different occupation, but life isn't always what you wanted. That's what he assumed at least. Becoming a major in Coffee Magic was his destiny, what he was made for. And he wouldn't have it any other way.
His chalkboard was filled with different formulas; some he had already tried and others he still had yet to attempt, but Espresso had begun to lose his memory of which had already tried and succeeded. The last time he slept? He was not sure, but he did not care either way. Sleep was a waste of time and was only for slackers. Espresso, of course, was no slacker. His work was far more important than anything, even his own mental and physical health.
He reached his fingertips under the lenses of his glasses to rub his droopy eyelids. They both burned from the amount of dedication he had towards staying awake and focusing. He then turned to the calendar, which hung on his dark chocolate walls. It marks a few weeks after summer, it was now autumn. He stared at the piece of décor on the wall as he calculated the days he had been awake but found it quite hard as the numbers started to blur. He squinted his eyes and walked towards the calendar
"Espressoooo!!" A loud calling boomed from the mage's front entrance from who he could assume was Madeleine. Espresso could remember giving him a spare key to his laboratory a few months ago now, just weeks after they officially got together.
The brunette sighed deeply as he pushed back the nose of his glasses. He was not ready to hear that loud obnoxious voice that he loved so dearly so early into the morning. Though it was roughly 11 o'clock, he was not prepared. Shaking his head and getting that out of his mind, Espresso then walked back to his brewer and took the fresh cup of bitter black coffee to take a quick sip. The mug he currently drank from was, of course, one of the many gifts the paladin gave him. It was a quick 'apology' for breaking one of the chemist's beakers one night.
Once Espresso finally placed the mug back onto his desk and licked the excess liquid from his lips, he could hear the loud creaks of his stairs groaning under Madeleine's heavy weight. His steps were quick, which only made the stairs suffer more than they already had to.
The old wooden boards had finally let out a relieved sound as the paladin reached the top of the stairs and into the mage's laboratory. Seeing only Madeleine's frame, Espresso could already feel the presence of his beaming smile that he wore at all times. Though he always had it burned onto his soft face. He knew it would not be fake around him unlike how it is with many others.
The angel trotted over to Espresso, his expression was filled with glee. He had waited his entire shift to even take a glance at his beloved. It made his long exhausting day better than it was beforehand. He loved it.
Espresso took another long sip of his black coffee, trying to ease himself when he realized Madeleine was behind him.
"'Presso?" The paladin called, tilting his head to see the other's face. The mage turned back with an exhausted face, dark circular eyebags were painted onto his bottom eyelids to make it even more obvious than it already was that he hasn't slept for days.
He fixed his uneven glasses and gave a curious hum towards his calling. "Yes? What is it?" His tone was colder than he would've liked it to be as he winced to himself.
"When was the last time you took the time to nap, my dear?" Madeleine started whilst he rubbed his gloved hand over Espresso's bare cheek. Its expression showed how worried he truly was. It shouldn't be however, but the mage knew there was nothing worth trying to convince him otherwise. He cared too much about his peers to push something such as that aside.
"If I can be honest for a quick second, I would compare you to the fact you look like Vampire without having any 'juice' for at least a day." The Knight Commander winced until Espresso leaned back into the comforting touch of its hand, eyes closed.
"I slept at midnight once I finished my work." Espresso mumbled, opening his eyes to stare back into the ocean that was Madeleine's eyes. The angel's wings twitched resentfully—he knew he was lying—.
"When was the actual last time you slept, cher?" He tried to ask again, tightening his embrace around the other. The professor took a deep sigh as he knew he would not be able to lie for long. So, he told him.
"A few days ago I believe. Not that long ago." Espresso scoffed while he tried to free himself from the knight's strong hold. Keyword: tried.
"'Not that long ago'?! Yet you have the audacity to lie about getting actual sleep. That's not healthy, Es!" Madeleine strengthened his hold on the professor to keep him from getting away. "You know it isn't healthy too. Your brain is just going to eat itself away because of how little amounts of sleep you get all the time."
"It's fine, Madelle. You need to stop worrying yourself over this. This has been happening for years; my body is used to it." Espresso justifies, trying to calm down his tense boyfriend. He finished the rest of his coffee before placing it right under the coffee machine. The angel gasped dramatically.
"It is not fine! Even if you've been doing this for so-called 'years', it still doesn't make it right1" Its voices squeaked embarrassingly as it snatched the unsuspecting glass mug and placed it high onto a random shelf in the mage's laboratory so he could not reach it.
~ A Few Minutes Later ~
📜
Espresso squirmed wildly whilst he tried to yet again release himself from the Knight Commanders strong hold. "Let me go, you moron!!" He screeched, trying to ignore the mocking laughs that sounded from Madeleine. They were loud as always, the way that Espresso adored.
"No can do, mon amour! You're stuck with me until you get some west rested sleep1" It cheered, making its way for the bedroom door as quickly as he could before the mage could manuver himself away. Madeleine then kicked the door to their shared bedroom open and playfully threw Espresso onto the silk sheets. He then joined him, climbing onto the bed before trapping the mage under his weight.
"I need to work, get your fatass off of me, you oaf!!" He tried to push him top the side in order for him to fall off the bed, but to no avail, he stayed still and didn't even move one inch as he pushed as hard as he could.
Madeleine laid its wings across the mattress to further trap him as it snuggled into Espresso's neck, making himself comfortable. After a while, the professor finally gave up on getting away from the man's arms. He leaned his head onto the latter's and finally surrendered.
The angel opened one of his two eyes, smiling teasingly at a moody Espresso. "Does this mean you'll finally surrender and rest?"
Espresso sighed and looked down at the knight,"It's not like I'll be able to get out and do anything else." Madeleine let a tired laugh escape from in between his lips.
"That's— yawn — good with me. G'night, Essy," He mumbled before drifting into a deep sleep. Espresso kissed the top of its head before joining his sleeping.
~ After The Nap ~
📜
His peripheral vision blurred in and out as the golden hour sun shone into the fine surface of the shared bedroom. The first thing that Espresso noticed was that Madeleine was no longer cuddled up to him. It disappointed him a little, but he would never admitted that out loud.
He rubbed his eyes a few times to focus them first to notice his glasses weren't even there. He figured his lover must've taken them off him once it had awoken back up as he reached to the nightstand to grab them. Espresso placed his circular glasses onto the bridge of his nose, getting a strong whiff of something he could not yet recognize.
The mage then yawned and made his way down to the kitchen. When he entered the room, he could immediately smell the sweet smell of food.
Madeleine mixed what looked to be batter, smacking and swirling it around with a rubber spatula with his tongue stuck out of the side of his mouth. He was clearly concentrated on his work which made Espresso more wary about making noise.
He loved how cute he truly did look when he was completely fixated on perfecting an errand, his hair tired back in a baby blue bow and his face scrunched like a cat.
The angel did not seem to notice the other as he walked behind the counter and leaned over it in order to better glance at what he was currently making.
The latter had had sweet chunks of fresh blueberries. The mage took another small smell of the rich, creamy batter before Madeleine turned back to see Espresso's rare relaxed face.
"Ah! Bonsoir, mon chéri!" Madeleine's smile lines became more prominent as his grin shone brightly whilst he continuously mixed the contents of... what was that better even for?
Espresso held onto the paladin's free hand while eyeing the stick substance before looking back at him. "What is this for, hm?" He raised an eyebrow as he asked.
"Oh! This!—" He dropped the spatula's handle to the side of the bowl before picking it up to show the flowing sweet liquids. "Is for waffles!— blueberry ones to be exact."
Espresso's confusing did not once strike down the knight's smile as he carefully went over to plug in the waffle maker. It was the same one The mage got it during Valentines this same year. He was not the best at showing affection in any way because of inexperience, but just receiving the kitchen appliance made Madeleine overjoyed.
The middle of the metal mold was a large indented heart to set for some less boring and more cute design for the warm bread dessert.
Madeleine tilted the filled bowl to the side, slowly pouring the smooth batter into the mold of the waffle maker. He then turned on the heat and lightly closed to lid as to not spill too much. He was not the best at cleaning baking messes anyway...
Espresso watched him for a minute before looking at the old grandfather clock on the other side of room that ticked the time to be the afternoon. The mage blinked slowly to adjust his thinking before looking back at the Knight Commander.
"Don't you think its quite late for making waffles, Madeleine?" He tsked, arms crossed over each other before the other looked over at him with an innocent face.
"It's never too late for waffles! Plus, it's for a little surprise! I can't tell you what it is though because like I said, it's a secret!" It smirked proudly, shoving one of its fists onto its hip and sighed its wait onto its right leg.
Espresso then groaned loudly to express his annoying while going over to brew himself a new cup of coffee that Madeleine finally took down. He really would be needing that coffee, wouldn't he?
~ Later That Evening ~
📜
After all the baked goods that Espresso had no idea about were packed, the two of them finally got dressed up for... something. Espresso decided on something more casual, wearing a basic beige créme button-up paired with a dark brown skirt that ended near the end of his thighs. Madeleine also took the same approach with a pair of dark slacks and a light blue button-up paired with a shiny pearl necklace—nothing too showy, surprisingly— .
"Ow! Dammit, Madeleine, not that tight!" Espresso scolded, pulling on the blindfold that was tensely tied on his head. He could already feel a migraine growing from how tight it truly was.
"Sorry, Espy!" the knight grimaced, retying the knot before grasping the mage's hand and rivetted their fingers together before carefully leading him out of the kingdom's gates.
Espresso sighed, feeling exhausted from this already. "You realize you could've just taken off my glasses instead of having me go through of pain of... eugh.. blindfolds." He made a noise of repulsion which caused the other to easily laugh.
"If you were still able to see just a bit, it would ruin the surprise for the both of us, cher." Madeleine commented while he held Espresso's hand tighter to lead him to those autumn forests.
The two of them loved the orange colors autumn would reveal each year. The colors were alluring to say the least. There was a certain something about how calming it was, but that was for another day to focus on.
"I'm nearly blind, Madeleine, I cannot see without them." He deadpanned as he tried to slowly follow his love.
Madeleine was careful of trying not to get Espresso near the twigs though he would only get a few scratches onto his leg as well as some sticks caught in between the fine material of his skirt—it failed anyway—.
"Do we really have to go through a bunch of... twigs?" Espresso guessed what kept getting roughing up his chocolate skin as he tried to warily get as close to the Knight Commander as her could.
"But it's the fastest way! You can't deny that I would always know exactly which route is the best to take! It's my job after all," It cheered while knowing that the professor was definitely rolling his eyes under the blindold that shielded them from view.
It then looked back to the latter as it finally began to relax its folded wings. "We're almost there, mon amour, I promise." He whispered and smiled once he watched Espresso's previous tense shoulders calm.
Seeing their destination up close ahead, Madeleine began to walk faster which caught the other off guard. "Madelle, wait!" He called while trying his best to not be tripped or hurt by any feral twigs.
A few moments went by before they both stopped. Madeleine let go of his hand and briskly walked behind him before untying the fold that locked away his only weak sense of vision.
"Are we finally here?" Espresso muttered the question as he began to feel overwrought with even more walking and injuries that were only minor.
Madeleine chuckled as he tossed the blindfold into his back pocket and began to lead him away. "Almost, my dear,"
The paladin still managed to keep a short distance between the two of them. He knew the other could still use the surrounding colors to navigate his way around, but he still did not want for him to fall and injure himself even if it was just a small cut—he needed everything to be perfect after all—. He slowly led Espresso under a tall tree and sat him onto a soft plaid blanket.
Madeleine quickly decided to clean off the circular lens' of the mage's glasses, wiping away the stray dirt that managed to get on them somehow. Once handing the glasses away, Espresso breathed a relaxed sigh as he placed his glasses back onto the ledge of his nose.
He then blinked a few times to be met with an overjoyed Madeleine, his dimples showing themselves off proudly whilst his wings fluttered excitedly. The mage took a moment to then glance around the unfamiliar area. Hundreds of trees circled around them to hide them away from anything and everything as desserts were placed delicately onto the large cloth. He could even spot a few more baked goods placed carefully into the picnic basket as to not overflow it.
"Oh, Madelle," He said just above a whisper. He was in awe, feeling purely romanced even. He could feel the heat from his body travel to all the parts of his face as he flushed a dark maroon. He looked back up to the angel in front of him, its cheeks and nose flushed and the tip of its pointed ears were that of a pink tulip's petals.
Madeleine scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little embarrassed. "Do... Do you like it?" He hesitated as he lowered his hands to nervously crack at his knuckles while he waited for a response from his love.
"Of course, I like you, you moron! I like anything that comes from you. You should know that by now." He whispered those last two parts before punching the other's arm. He knew it wouldn't actually hurt him, but he did it anyway as their laughs filled the area.
~ Only Few Minutes Later ~
📜
They were now situated in the middle of witches knew where, surrounded by different trees of browns, red, oranges, and yellows. Anyone could admit the warm color palette was a nice change to scenery as it gave a beautiful golden glow in the sun that was ready for rest. And though Espresso could admit its beauty, he was more concerned about how the two of them would get back; He hoped the other knew this area well.
He slowly followed behind, plucking out different colored flowers as he did. He really did quite enjoy the smells of the plants, making small little works with them whenever he actually had the time to. He didn't have as much time to do so now that he was busy in his tower for most of the month, but he enjoyed the time he did have to enjoy these little things.
Studying a few daisies he picked from the earth's crust, Espresso accidently bumped into the knight's back once he suddenly paused all movement. He shook his head to push away the fizzing of his brain before moving forwards and looking straight into Madeleine's eyes. He followed its pupils, leading to the thing he was staring at: A Lost Monarch. It was a large tree that Madeleine stared at with the face of confidence and determination.
It looked back at Espresso with a large smirk with his pointer finger aimed at the top of the colossal tree. "Do you think I can get all the way up there?" He squealed whilst his wings shook with enthusiasm.
"Well, of course, you have wings, dear, I'm sure it would be fairly easy for you to do so, would it not?" The professor pointed out, earning a quick head shake from the other.
"I meant without my wings." It stuck its tongue out before the two of them looked back up at the large 'plant'.
Espresso had to for for a moment until he glanced back at Madeleine. "I think it could be possible, yes, but do be care—" He was cut off by the image of the Knight Commander already seeming to be climbing up the bark.
"Thank you for you kind words, my dear, Espresso! Now, stay there, your knight shall be back soon!!—" He sung loudly, causing the mage to wince.
"What an idiot..." He muttered to himself. He watched as Madeleine began to climb higher by the second. If he didn't know his as well as he did, he could've been more impressed with the speed he went by.
It climbed higher and higher, getting his long hair caught in the branches every once and a while which did cause some discomfort to the angel.
Espresso shook his dead in disappointment once again as Madeleine fought the branches to earn his hair back before continuing to climb once again.