niall malone ⚔ kirigaya kazuto (notsolo) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2018-12-04 21:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, * jamie, * kit, c: eve malone, c: niall malone |
WHO: Eve Ritter & Niall Malone
WHEN: Tuesday, December 4, 2018; Late Evening
WHERE: Eve’s apartment
SUMMARY: Eve lifts the Niall ban and decides to take a big step forward.
WARNINGS: Cute!
Eve blew out a long breath as the screen on her television went from the now familiar images from the game her brother and boyfriend had worked tirelessly on to the homescreen of her console, her arms lifting up over her head as she stretched her back and joints. She was sitting on the floor, right between the couch and the coffee table, which was littered with a nearly empty bottle of water and a few pizza crusts, the remnants of the quick dinner she'd eaten. It had been much the same over the last several days, with Eve rushing home from work, making something easy for dinner, and then sitting herself in that very position as she dove back into the video game. It had been a true exercise in restraint to not simply binge and devote all of her time to it; god only knew that she'd done exactly that many times before with the release of a game she had been highly anticipating, but this was different. For as much as Eve wanted to experience every part of the game that Noah and Niall had designed, she wanted to savor it, too. Knowing the developers of the game as well as she did, Eve had thoroughly enjoyed sitting down and being able to immerse herself in their creation and just feel them in it. There was no part of the game that didn't speak of them in some way, be it the visuals or the dialogue or the sound. It made her heart swell, in a way that was almost distracting when she had first started to play. As time went on, it became easier for her to fall prey to the immersion that she loved most about video games, but every so often there was a line or her eye would catch on a detail in the background that would make her pause and smile, a reminder that this wasn't just another video game. Setting her controller on the coffee table, she picked up her phone and immediately opened up her text messages. In the days since Eve had started this routine of playing the game, this was how it always ended -- with a text to Niall. "Okay, I'm done for tonight. You can come over now." She followed it up with a kissing emoji and hit send. Banning Niall from her apartment had been a necessary evil, or so Eve had teased. Still, it had also helped keep her from playing all night, as she wanted to see him. There was rarely a time when she didn't want to see him, though, and she'd half expected that feeling to at least fade a bit with time, but it had only grown stronger. Now, though, with memories of a deep commitment from another life and rings on their fingers from that life, she knew it wasn't going to fade. In fact, it had left her simply wondering if maybe it was time to seriously consider mirroring that commitment of Asuna and Kirito into their lives as Eve and Niall. Those exact thoughts were swirling around in her mind as she pulled herself to her feet and made her way to her bedroom, intending to change into something comfortable (the trusty yoga pants + t-shirt combination) while waiting for Niall to let himself in. Niall would have been lying had he tried to tell anyone that he had any chill since the release of the game. Though he’d been through both game and app releases before, those had all been in the employ of larger game production studios where he’d been responsible for a small piece of the finished product. This, though, had been years and so many laborious hours in the making, and the end product was 100% him and his best friend. There were pieces of the two of them woven intricately through every blade of grass inside the game, their thoughts and words gave birth to the story within, and the game itself was like their souls manifesting in homes internationally. He’d been blown away by the sales numbers, the reviews from critics who’d been given early access that were still trickling in. And though all of the signs, both quantifiable and qualifiable, pointed toward the fact that this game was going to be a success, a part of Niall still had trouble letting himself take a breath. It was easier at night, after he received that nightly text from Eve. She stilled his mind, even while he was anxiously awaiting her verdict. Niall didn’t even bother to text back. He’d been ready to head over for more than an hour and stood up the moment he’d heard the chime on his phone. Kiera was at Emilia’s, anyway--another situation Niall had been worrying over since his twin’s confession about her girlfriend’s condition--so he slipped on his shoes and head out immediately. Even lived barely even a minute from him--another reason why he didn’t enjoy the fact that they hadn’t gotten the house they’d talked about yet and wanted to rectify as soon as possible--and so he was there almost as soon as he’d left. The knob twisted easily in his hand as he let himself in, and he closed the door behind him before going to find her in her room, a stupid grin breaking out across his features the moment he saw her. Crossing the room to where Eve stood facing her dresser, Niall wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling her back into him as he buried his face in her hair. “Hi,” he murmured. He wouldn’t ask about the game. This was better. Eve barely had time to glance over her shoulder after she noticed Niall's presence before his arms were there, pulling her in. She didn't hesitate in sinking back into his chest, an immediate smile crossing her features as she released a content sigh. It was hard for her to wrap her head around the fact that there had been a time -- a time that wasn't that long ago, in the grand scheme of their lifetimes -- when she didn't know what the comfort of being wrapped up in him felt like. Everything about him, from the solid press of his arms to the scent of his shampoo, had become second nature to her senses in the months had passed since they had crossed the line from friends to more than. To know that she hadn't always been familiar with his even breathing when he was sleeping, what it sounded like when he told her that he loved her, or what his favorite pizza toppings were just felt wrong. But Eve did know all of those things and she knew that she wasn't going to take them for granted, not now or ever. Her hands rose and came to rest on his arms, fingers gently gliding over them. "Hey," she returned. "I missed you." It was silly, of course, because she had seen him earlier that day when she'd dropped off lunch for him and her brother, but it was nonetheless true. Besides, if she couldn't say something mushy and ridiculous to him, who could she say it to? “And who’s fault is that,” Niall teased, tilting his chin up to press a kiss against her temple. He understood the sentiment, though. He may have known that it was for the best that he not hover while she played through Idyllmir, but that didn’t mean that he liked being banned from her apartment until she said he could come over. Somehow, knowing he had to wait to see her had made those hours seem almost unbearable. But she was in his arms now and, if he was just going to be alone at home, anyway, he didn’t see why that had to change anytime soon. “But I’m here now,” he said, then added, “and K’s out for the night, so we could stay here tonight.” Carefully, so as to not step out of his arms or give him any indication that he should let go of her (because she was not ready for that just yet), Eve turned to face Niall, her own arms raising to meet behind his neck. "You're here now," she repeated as her fingers of one hand found his hair, "so let's stay here." Eve brought her free hand forward, letting her hand cup his jaw. The band on her ring finger glinted in the light from the ceiling, inspiring another wave of warm feelings that brought yet another smile to her face. Her own thoughts about their discussions they'd had of their future mixed with those that she'd known their counterparts had been hopeful for, and even got to live for a time within a virtual world, and left her, not for the first time, wanting their future to be their present. That thought clear in her mind, her smile toned down as her thumb brushed along Niall's cheekbone. "I love you, you know." Niall leaned into her touch, happy now that he was here with her. As much as he knew he was more than capable of spending time with just his own company, being near Eve was his preference. It was a different kind of need for nearness than what he had with his twin. He knew he and Kiera were codependent, at best, but this was different. It wasn’t about an inability to live without each other, it was an acknowledgement of the fact that they could and still chose to be together every day. He brushed his nose across hers before stealing a quick kiss, the thoughts of the game and her reaction to it temporarily quieted. “I had no idea,” he replied, voice quiet. Then, smiling, he said, “I love you, too.” That was it. Those were the words Eve couldn't believe there'd been a time in her life where she hadn't heard them, prompted or otherwise. There was a rightness there, as though this was how it was always meant to be. It may have taken a cross country friendship between him and her brother, years of gaming, and months of in person denial regarding their feelings to get here, but they were there. And somehow that was just the beginning of their story, she was sure of it. Pushing herself up enough to steal one more kiss of her own, Eve dropped back down. When she opened her mouth, she just let the words there just tumble out. "Will you marry me?" She paused, as though realizing what she'd said a moment later, tipping her head to the side. "I -- I know we've talked about it before, but..." Her words drifted off as her eyebrows raised, her expression turning hopeful. As her lips pressed to his, Niall had lifted a hand to brush his fingertips over her brow, letting them trail down and over her ear before the froze. Whatever he’d been expecting next, it hadn’t been that. They’d talked about getting married, of course. He realized they were both hurtling down this road they were on at top speeds, but he also had to recognize the fact that they had more than this history between them. But while they’d talked about it as though it were and inevitability instead of a question, he hadn’t expected here and now, or that she’d be the one doing the asking. As he let the words sink in, Niall realized he didn’t necessarily mind that it wasn’t how he’d pictured it happening. Letting his hand fall to her shoulder, he leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose, her forehead, and then caught her in a kiss that, by any rights, should have answered any questions she had without him having to utter a word. Niall wasn’t a terrible person, though, so when he hesitantly made himself break the kiss, letting his forehead come to rest against hers as he pulled her closer again, he replied, “I’d cross the entire universe for you, Eve, but all you ask from me is my commitment to you? If that’s what you want, it’s yours. I want it, too.” For as much of an impulse as asking that question had been for Eve in that moment, part of her knew what his answer would have been before she asked it. If there had been any doubt, she wouldn't have at all. But still, she couldn't help but feel a wave of relief as Niall came in for each of the quick kisses, then any doubt whatsoever was dashed with the last. Like him, she knew that they had moved along the path of their relationship quickly once it became a relationship at all, but there was no questioning that it would have felt wrong to do anything else. There had been a lot of things in Eve's life that she'd been sure of -- turning down acceptance to Columbia to attend culinary school, moving to Dunhaven to work with Stella, and always going with a fire type for her starter Pokemon being just a few -- and every decision she'd made with Niall since could be filed away alongside those. This, however unplanned it might have been, would be just one more to add to the list. Eve pressed in closer to Niall, her arms dropping to wrap around his waist. "You've already crossed a universe and a country to find me, as far as I'm concerned," she said, a wide smile crossing her face. "So commitment seems like a pretty good next step, right?" |