My Kindness Is Not A Weakness

21 for the intimacy prompts? 💖

“do you remember the first time someone killed you in front of me,” nicolò starts, green eyes lost in the vastness of the starry sky above them, resting his head on yusuf’s chest. “after we became lovers?”

the hand on the crown of his love’s head stills for a second, yusuf’s eyes looking down at him. “does this remind you of that?” yusuf asks teasingly, chuckling when nicolò turns around to roll his eyes at him. “and yes, i remember. it would be hard to forget that.”

nicolò’s cheeks turn pink as memories from a warm evening like this come back to yusuf in disjointed flashes; he feels the sting of an arrow piercing through the muscle on his upper arm, his grip faltering on the hilt of his scimitar, then his blood runs colder through his veins, eyes watering as nicolò screams his name like he’s never heard him do before, killing their attackers so swiftly it feels as if he is cutting through nothing but air, a desperate look in his green eyes as he calls his name over and over and over. yusuf remembers the numbness, the paralyzing fear that this poisonous arrowhead  could steal him away from his nicolò, that his eyes might never see him again, that his hands and lips might not get another chance to touch him, to love him. 

yusuf remembers coming back to life to find nicolò’s ear pressed against his chest, desperately waiting to hear his heart beat.

“this is my favorite sound in the world,” nicolò whispers in arabic now, resting his head back on yusuf’s chest, one broad hand sliding up to touch his waist. “more beautiful than any love song or poem, more calming than the murmur of rain or the roar of the sea.”

yusuf leans his elbows on the grass, poking a finger on top of his love’s head. when nicolò turns around to look at him, yusuf’s grin is blinding. “and you say i’m the incurable romantic, huh?”

nicolò crawls until their noses brush together softly. “i guess we both are.”

If you want an angsty prompt, what if Joe and Nicky, as part of a mission, have to pretend to have a messy breakup somewhere public and Nicky says something that crosses a line(“maybe I’m just tired of you after all this time”?) and really hurts Joe? He regrets it immediately, realizes he went too far, but he can’t take it back, perhaps not for a while depending on the mission, while Joe has to go along with it

Hello, anon! Thank you so much for sending the prompt. I hope you like it. ✨

Joe hates this mission. He usually hates every single one that keeps him and Nicky apart and not because he's needy, — he's, a little bit. Can you blame him, though? His husband is everything. His all and more. — but because they will have to break up. Their target is interested in Joe so he and Nicky will have to do a whole scene to call the man's attention. 

Nicky is at the bar, wearing a tuxedo that would make Joe weak to his knees if they were alone, literally and metaphorically.

They exchange looks when Joe enters the ballroom and unperceptive smiles to anyone else, but them. Booker tells in their respective earpieces that the target will be arriving in a few minutes. The plan is simple: take him to Joe’s room where Andy and Booker will intercept him. He’s one of the bosses of a human traffic net and they’ve been trying to find the man for years; when he showed interest in Joe, the plan made itself. 

Nicky bumps his shoulder against Joe’s, faces inches from one another, so close that if Joe takes one step he will be able to touch Nicky and melt in his arms just like he did last night. He shakes his head. 

Focus, Joe. 

They start arguing, something simple, about how their relationship is not working anymore because they have different points of view and the play pretend is going perfect, the target is watching them with a glass of bourbon in his hand and a cynic smile, enjoying the scene way too much. 

“Maybe I’m just tired of you after all these years,” Nicky says in a harsh tone. 

Joe steps back, almost losing balance; he excuses himself and walks away, holding back the very real tears that are about to fall.

x

Nicky is losing his mind. Losing it. He crossed a line, but he has no idea which one; he saw in Joe’s eyes the minute their argument ended: the hurt, the confusion … the disappointment. They need to talk, but they’re finishing a mission and Nicky can’t blow their covers now. He’s locked in another room with Nile in case the rest of the team needs backup, walking from one side to the other, opening and closing his fists out of nervousness. He can’t believe he messed things up. Of course, they will make their peace but every minute is a lost one and he doesn’t want to lose a single second.

“Nick,” Nile says in an understanding tone, but knowing very well she can’t let him interrupt the mission.

“You didn’t see the hurt on his face, Nile. I crossed a line. His eyes,” Nicky rubs his face in desperation. “Are Andy and Booker with the target already?”

“Not yet. They’re going to step in any moment now and you will be able to talk to Joe.”

“My husband is alone with a maniac. Great!”

“Your husband who is an immortal warrior is alone with a manic,” she corrects him. “He can end the guy in a minute,” she reassures him.

Nicky shakes his head. 

“No, he can’t. Not in the emotional state he is right now. He needs me, Nile.” 

Nile gets a message from Booker saying the target is secure and Joe is fine and alone in the room. She tells Nicky everything went great and they both step out to different destinations. She’s on her way to meet Andy and Booker and he’s going to find Joe.

Nicky finds Joe sitting on the bed, looking at his own hands with a look that Nick recognizes well. It’s fear. The fear he saw when he first killed Joe and after they kissed for the first time, it’s the fear he sees every time he comes back to life and Joe is waiting for him. He sits next to his husband and kisses his shoulder, which makes Joe look at him.

“Everything went great.” 

“Yusuf,” Nicky intertwines their fingers. “Are we going to have this conversation after or before I prove how much I love you?”

“After, please,” he whispers. “I need you to show me.” 

How much you love me. Make me complete in every way you know. Disarm every single weapon, tear down every single wall that my mind still has. Love me like I’m the only thing you’ve ever loved even if it’s a lie. These words go unsaid, and he doubts he will ever be able to say them out loud ever after millennia.

x

“I like this song, I think it’s very us,” Nicky says caressing Joe’s curls while In My Veins by Andrew Belle plays on the speaker. “Only you, my incurable romantic, would learn how to use a modern thing to put together songs that remind you of us. Tell me now? Please?”

“I’m tired, Nicolò,” Joe hides his face in the crook of Nicky’s neck and passes one arm around his torso.

“Yusuf, look at me,” Nicky says in a caring and yet demanding tone, one that Joe can’t escape, so he does, eyes full of unshed tears. “What is it, amore?” he caresses Joe’s cheek. 

Joe bites his lower lip, pondering for a moment. He was able to keep this fear to himself for so long. Why share it now? Why ruin things?

“Time,” he says and goes quiet for a minute, before continuing. “I wonder if we didn’t have this immortality or even if there was someone else, um,” he closes his eyes, the next sentence leaves his mouth in a whisper. “I wonder if it would be me. If you would love me.”

“For how long have you been feeling this way?”

“It’s been a while,” he admits.

“Why did you never tell me that?”

“Because it’s stupid to think about it. You don’t have another choice.”

Nicky raises an eyebrow in complete disbelief and sits down, narrowing his eyes. “What did I do wrong?”

“What?” Joe sits too and touches his husband’s naked back. “Nico, you did nothing wrong.”

Nicky turns to stare at him. “Yusuf, you’re the sun that shows up every morning to warm my skin, you’re the light that leads my way back to life after I die, you’re the reason why my heart overflows with love. You’re everything. My entire heart, my entire soul. You’re my life. We have choices every day, Yusuf. I could walk away and live with somebody else, but I don’t want that. I choose you. Every day since the day you offered me your hand. And not because of our immortality. It’s because I love you. You are the only one for me,” he moves his hand to wipe a tear that is falling from Joe’s eyes. “I wish you had told me that before.”

“Now I feel like an idiot,” Joe says, grabbing Nicky’s hand and kissing his knuckles. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize,” Nicky smiles, staring deep into his eyes. “You are the person that reminds me that we’re still human. I would never expect insecurity at this point. You’re very human, my heart.”

Joe looks at him confused. “Nico, you’re the most,” 

Nicky shuts him with a kiss, pulling his curls to bring him closer, which makes Joe moan against his mouth. “Because of you. Everything good that I’m is because of you, Yusuf.”

Joe captures Nick’s lips again, before resting their foreheads together. “Show me again?”

“For the rest of our lives.”