sweet things
Mein Beitrag zu dem Twitter-Adventskranz. Kann nicht glauben, dass dieser OneShot das erste Baker/Nandin ist, das ich außerhalb des Canons geschrieben habe.
My Sunflower Modern AU where Small Town Moon is a book or something and Aloe writes Baker/Nandin fanfic. I said what I said. (Yes this is my flimsy excuse for the OOC-ness.)
Rating: General Audiences
Fandom: Small Town Moon
Relationships: William Baker/Nandin Singh, background Yuka Hiiragi/Zoe Way, Diego Pacana/Ely Garcia (mentioned), Philja Kamatov/Tarek Rivera (mentioned)
Characters: Nandin Singh, William Baker
Additional Tags: Fluff, Nandin’s internal monologue bc it deserves its own tag, Alternate Universe-College, which isn’t really alternate but you know, oblivious William Baker, I wrote this instead of sleeping, slight OOC-ness?, Small Town Moon Christmas Fic Exchange 2020, no beta we die like Türsteherbae
Stats: Published: 2020-12-23 | Words: 1458 | Chapter: 1/1
Summary: William wouldn’t miss an opportunity for free cake.
Notes: my gift to Ariel for the STM Christmas Fic Exchange 2020! Merry Christmas! Loosely based on real events.
Sweet Things
succulents
“Nandin,” William started, smiling brightly at him, still a little bit out of breath from running, and Nandin had to avert his eyes as to not do something entirely ridiculous like smile back. “Long time no see.”
Which was a lie since they had only seen each other two days ago, but on the other hand very true since to Nandin it had felt more like an entire year, so he didn’t bother correcting him.
“Do you like sweet things?”
I like you was Nandin’s first thought and there weren’t enough words to tell how much he was judging himself for that. He took a moment with that one, trying to weigh his options-if he told the truth and said no but William liked sweets, he might dislike Nandin, and if he said yes and William didn’t like sweets, it would widen the rift between them.
So he eventually settled for a vague “Occasionally.”, cringing internally. I don’t like sweets at all, I just want to be close to you.
“Great!” William beamed at him. “See, there’s this café down the street and they have this Christmas special that if you come as a couple you get a free dessert.”
Nandin’s face betrayed no emotion when he stared back at William, but his mind was a mess. Couples get free dessert? Is this your way of telling me you’re in a relationship? Let me guess, it’s Zoe Way! Nandin recalled the countless of times the two of them had hunched over William’s phone, shoulders bumping together, or last week when she had put make up on him and uploaded the picture to Instagram.
“So I was thinking,” William continued, oblivious to the storm inside of Nandin, “we should go there and pretend we’re a couple! To get the free dessert, I mean.”
“Yes,” Nandin replied before he could even fully process William’s words. William blinked at him in surprise but then broke into a smile, and Nandin asked himself whether they would be holding hands. We should hold hands, shouldn’t we? We have to make it look real.
“Thanks, Nandin! I guess even you are willing to do things you hate for the sake of cake.”
Nandin wanted to protest because he had the feeling William wasn’t getting it quite right, but then William took his hand, dragging him out of the hallway and outside, and Nandin forgot what he had wanted to say. No thoughts, head empty, only William’s bright green eyes, his cheeks flushed with the cold from outside, his smile like the sun under this grey December sky. He was so perfect, Nandin’s head actually hurt.
He squeezed William’s hand lightly in his best attempt of signalling Yes, I’m absolutely here for that, we’re holding hands, this is happening. Despite the coldness of the last weeks William’s hand was soft and it was too easy to forget that this wasn’t real, they were only doing it for cake. Which was ridiculous on its own-William had more than enough money to buy himself all the dessert he wanted.
When they reached their destination, William opened the door for Nandin. “After you.”
Nandin’s heart jumped, but his head wasn’t buying it yet. Was William flirting with him, or was that just … William?
Christmas music was playing in the background and there were couples everywhere. They got a table, and Nandin looked around the café, spotting some familiar faces like Ely Garcia and Diego Pacana, and Philja Kamatov and Tarek Rivera, and-wait, were that his roommate Yuka Hiiragi and Zoe Way?
Now I’m feeling jealous of Hiiragi, of all people. How did this little demon end up here, like why is she not alone even when I am, how is this fair? William, please don’t leave me hanging for this one. How many months has it been?
William ordered a hot chocolate with about a ton of mini marshmallows and Nandin tea which turned out to be disappointingly bad. William was happily slurping his hot chocolate, cheeks still red from outside and all, and he just looked very content, which made Nandin not mind the tea as much.
Nandin was still trying to master the skill of watching William without looking like the hopelessly lovesick fool that he actually was. He still wasn’t sure how he even ended up in this situation; he had met William because him and Yuka used to date which, thankfully, had been a really long time ago now. Despite the ending of their relationship William kind of stuck around, ruining Nandin’s life with his puppy eyes and obnoxious grins ever since.
“Messy,” Nandin commented when William put his cup down, leaving a chocolate moustache above his lip. In literally any other universe Nandin might have had the courage to lean forward and brush it away with his thumb, maybe even lick said thumb afterwards, but in this one his heart was already beating way too fast at the thought alone.
So instead he takes the napkin, gently dabbing it on William’s face, feeling like his ribcage was going to burst any minute now. William looked a little astounded, his face flushed which must still be from the cold, even after the hot chocolate. Then he laughed. “Ah, Nandin, always so tidy. You can’t stand messy things, can you?”
Nandin didn’t know how much longer he could take it, so, in the heat of the moment, he took William’s hand again.
“Huh?”
Nandin laced his fingers with William’s, holding his hand tightly, looking at William with a challenging glare. Let’s see how you misinterpret this! Obviously, you can’t! William! Why else would I want to hold hands with you, be here with you? I really like you!
William looked at him dumbfounded. He must be really warm in his sweater despite taking off his scarf already because his face wasn’t getting any less red, but he finally said “Oh, you’re really dedicated to your role, Nandin!” He laughed. “For a second I thought, like, what are you doing, but I realised you must really want that cake.”
Nandin was silently slowly counting down in order to keep himself from slamming his head right on the table because he honestly could not take it anymore. I don’t even like cake! I don’t care about sweets! Your hand is so warm and soft, I don’t want to let it go! William! I like you! So much! “Actually, I,” he began, maybe finally ready to pour his heart out thanks to William’s insufferable obliviousness, when suddenly-
“Here is your free cake! On the house!”
Why would you interrupt my confession like this, Nandin internally wailed. I was this close! I hate cake! He really couldn’t believe this.
The plate sat between the two of them, the waiter was gone, their hands were still linked. Nandin sent the cake a death glare, the pink frosting looking sickly sweet, and then William smiled his sunshine-smile at Nandin. “Yay, you got your cake! You can let go now, you don’t have to force yourself any longer.”
“No,” Nandin replied, holding William’s hand even tighter.
“No, what?”
“I’m not forcing myself.” See, I’m being direct. For the love of god, William-
William blinked at him. “Yeah, I mean, that’s why we’re here. And after all that you’ve been through to get it, you should really try the cake now.”
He looked genuinely confused and Nandin was torn between wanting to kiss him and cracking the plate open over his head.
“I don’t like cake.”
William blinked again, and he started to laugh. “Nandin, that’s so funny! I love your humour.”
“William,” Nandin said, clutching with bloody fingertips at the edges of his fraying patience. He sent a desperate prayer full of months of unanswered internal weeping and gay panic to any deities that may be listening as he bit out the three words: “I like you.”
He had expected to feel like he needed a cleanse after that, but surprisingly it was not as bad as he thought. William chocked on his laughter. “Oh my god, I can’t believe this is happening. I always thought you hated me!”
Nandin held his breath.
“I mean, not a surprise since nobody can resist me for too long, but you’ve been a tough one, I have to admit. And I’m a little flattered, honestly-who knew that under all those cold stares you actually liked me. Nandin, I’m so happy that you finally admit we’re friends!”
Nandin just wanted to outright scream. How was this even possible? What else was he supposed to say? William was already happily digging into the cake, a grin still hanging from his lips. He’s literally going to be the end of me, Nandin thought.