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“well, well, what do we have here?” you freeze in your spot, arms suddenly stiff as your hands tighten around the box in your hands, resting on his desk. he’s not supposed to be there. well, you’re not supposed to be there, it’s his office after all, but he’s not supposed to be back yet.
wriothesley’s office in the fortress of meropide is exactly how one would expect it to be. cold and dark, with the only light coming from the warm yellow glow of the lights by his desk and during the day, the sea-filtered light from above. his bookshelves are lined with folders that are stuffed with documents, pressed against books offered to the duke as gifts that you’re sure he hasn’t touched since tucking them in there. the couch and coffee table along the side are still decorated with a kettle and cups, though neatly stacked, waiting to be used. everything was neat, orderly, in place, just as he preferred things to be down in the fortress.
except for his desk. his messy, unkept, paper strewn desk whose wooden surface was practically unseeable with all the papers that had piled up. naturally, this was nothing new. while wriothesley could keep everything else in place, his desk was the one thing that seldom remained neat. it was your fault for thinking that you could help him clean up quickly, drop off the gift, and leave.
“sneaking around now, are you?” you can hear the growing smile in his voice. you straighten up and prepare to turn around to face him when two arms snake around your waist, tightening for a moment before wrapping around your body. the warmth from his own envelops yours as you feel his hair tickle your neck. wriothesley’s presence behind you is nothing but comforting, tucking you in closer to his own.
you can feel the press of his accessories against your body. though protected, you can still feel the bite of cold from the metal that crests on his chest. if you turned around, not that he’d let you when he’s so triumphantly caught his prey, you’d see that he’d loosed his tie upon seeing you in his office, fussing over his desk.
clearing your throat you admit, “i thought you were busy this morning. clorinde said you wouldn’t return until noon.”
“my dear, it is noon,” he hums. you hesitate, surely it couldn’t be, you had come to drop off the box nearly half an hour before… you were distracted by his messy desk. his gift sits in front of you, and with the way wriothesley crowds you into his desk, there’s no hiding it from him.
"so, care to explain what you’re doing sneaking around places you’re not supposed to be?” you know he’s staring down at the box on his desk, eyes tracing over the delicately tied ribbon that tops it off.
you roll your eyes and straighten when he doesn’t let you move away, “i came to drop this off. it’s a gift for you.”
"i can see that.”
you’re going to give clorinde a piece of your mind the next time you see her. you should have known not to trust her nonchalance. she had smiled upon you informing her about the surprise gift you wanted to leave for the duke, shrugging when you added that you were going to sneak in his office while he was gone. of course she knew this was going to happen.
“well, are you going to give it to me?” you can feel his hands itching to pluck the gift from your hands. with your back to his chest and his hair falling onto your clothes his expression is hidden from you, but knowing wriothesley, you can imagine the smug expression on his face. the ends of his lips must be curling up in triumph as you sigh in defeat. he steps back to give you space, waiting as you turn with the box in hand to present to him. before he takes it, he motions for you to sit up on his desk, one hand helping you balance yourself as he steps closer, your knees brushing against his thighs. you offer him the gift again and to your surprise, he doesn’t take it. instead he stares at it for a moment before looking back up at you.
“but i can think of a better gift,” wriothesley’s wolfish grin is triumphant as you inhale sharply at his words and try to suppress the smile that tugs at your lips.
you fail to scowl at him, “you’re shameless. some duke of the fortress of meropide you are.” wriothesley laughs loudly in response to your words. despite the cold of his office from being unused for the morning, wriothesley fills it with warmth. you let your fingers find his loosened tie and tug him forward. the look he gives you beneath his lashes is nothing short of what could be described as adoration. his hands find their way to rest on his desk, caging you in and tempting you at the same time. he’s all sly words and gentle touches, teasing with his actions and goading you into giving into his antics.
“you can have this gift first,” you bring the gift up between the two of you. the duke sighs dramatically but takes it from your hands nonetheless. he tries to weigh it subtly, running his mind through any possibility of what it might be. it’s lighter than he expected, but he wastes no time in unpackaging it. nimble fingers undo the ribbon, which he teasingly tosses over your shoulder, murmuring about reusing it later, for another gift.
it’s a tea flight set, with specialties from the nations across teyvat. wriothesley laughs softly and looks up at you, his expression giving away his excitement over the variety of new options. he tries to think if there were any signs that he had dropped about looking for new teas but he can’t think of any, as far as he could remember, he had only thought it to himself. perhaps he had written it somewhere and lost it in his pile of papers, the same papers that you seem content to help him organize every once in awhile.
“thank you, dear,” the features on his face soften. you return his smile and reply that you’d been looking for something special for him, for all the hard work that he’s been going.
“and besides, with the colder weather coming around, i’m sure the fortress will get a bit chillier,” you explain. wriothesley is quiet for a moment. and the moment you see him perk up you know something is coming.
“well i can think of—“ you promptly shut him up with a kiss, and wriothesley, cheeky as ever, can’t help but smile into the kiss. if this is what it’s like to receive a gift from you, he’ll have to tell clorinde to give you a wrong time to come by. this time was by chance, but next time, he’ll be more than prepared to catch you off guard and maybe with a gift of his own for you. clorinde can share some of his special teas if she can make this happen again. after all, it’s more than worth it to have you wrapped up in his arms like this.