#LISTEN. this fic is literally inspired by me seeing that post of charles talking to jj and pascale

[singsweetmelodies]

and finally, my darling:

piarles + soulmates ❤️

digging up another one of my 5-sentence fic prompts from a year ago because i reblogged this post and haven't been able to stop thinking about it, so naturally i had to write something about it <3333

this is... not quite 5 sentences, LOL, but it did make me smile a stupid amount. hope it makes you smile, too ❤️

Charles is busy talking to JJ and Pascale outside the Alpine hospitality when his soulmark - a blue swirl vaguely in the shape of a heart, located just below his collarbone, where Pierre loves to kiss - starts to burn with a gentle heat, like it always does when Pierre is close.

"Are you charming my parents again, my love?" Pierre asks, wrapping his arms around Charles' waist from behind and hooking his chin over Charles' shoulder. "Careful, or they'll never let you leave. Maman has been asking after you for months - I think she loves you more than me. Hi, Maman, Papa," he adds belatedly.

Pascale raises one eyebrow, but she's still smiling, soft and fond. "You can't blame me for asking about the man who my son has pined over for half his life, and you especially can't blame me now that you two have finally found your soulmarks."

"Maman!" Pierre protests, and Charles can't see his face, but he knows he's blushing. "It was only about ten years, and I'm twenty-seven. That's not half."

"Just as long as you don't make us wait another ten before you officially make him part of the family," JJ says, and now Charles is blushing, too. "We've waited a very long time for this, you know."

"Okay," Pierre mumbles in the way he always does when he's flustered and trying to hide it. "Well, Charles was coming to visit me before you distracted him, so I'm going to steal him away now, if you don't mind."

"We don't mind..." Pascale says with a sparkle in her eye that reminds Charles of Pierre before a good prank. "... As long as you throw in a good proposal while you're gone."

"Okay!" Pierre half-yells this time, tightening his grip on Charles' waist. "We're going now, thank you."

"It was lovely catching up with you!" Charles calls over his shoulder as Pierre starts towing him away. "I'll see if I can come visit over the winter."

Then Pierre is pulling him into his driver's room and shutting the door behind them, pressing Charles lightly against the door as soon as it closes. "They're terrible," he grumbles, dropping his head onto Charles' shoulder with a dramatic sigh.

"Must be where you get it from," Charles teases, carding his fingers through Pierre's hair. He takes a quick breath before he adds, "Besides, I don't think it's that terrible. Wanting us to get married."

Pierre lifts his head slowly. "Charles," he says, and there's something in his voice that Charles can't quite place. "We haven't even been soulmates for six months."

"No, we've been soulmates for our whole lives," Charles counters. "We only officially found out this year, but I... well, you weren't the only one who was pining for ten years."

"Oh," Pierre says softly, like he somehow hadn't known. Idiotic, wonderful man - as if they don't fit together perfectly in every possible way.

The next thing Charles knows, Pierre is pushing him up against the door with intention. "You know," he says, pinning Charles in place with his eyes as well as his body, "there is a chapel right here, in Vegas. Say the word, and I will go there with you."

"We are not getting married in the Race to the Altar chapel," Charles says firmly, even as his heart skips at the way Pierre's promise feels. Unconditional.

"But we are getting married?" Pierre checks, his gaze never leaving Charles' face.

"Yes, please," Charles says softly, and Pierre's gaze goes dark, like Charles knew it would.

"Good," Pierre says equally softly, breathlessly, and Charles shivers. That is... definitely one of the perks of having your best friend as your soulmate: knowing exactly how to push each other's buttons.

Pierre ducks his head, and tugs Charles' fireproofs down just enough to press his lips against Charles' soulmark. Charles melts against him, like he always has since that night in Zandvoort when Pierre drank a little too much champagne after his first podium for Alpine and "accidentally" kissed Charles on the mouth instead of on the cheek, and just like that, both of their soulmarks appeared.

"I love you," Charles says breathlessly, and not just because Pierre is kissing his neck exactly the way he likes. He also says it because it's true. It's been true for as long as Charles has understood what love is.

Charles can feel Pierre's smile against his skin. "I love you, too," he replies immediately. "And, Charles?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm so glad it was you all along."

#P.S. - thank you for being *my* fandom soulmate; B. love you endlessly ❤️❤️❤️ #🦑🏎️ piarles #5 sentence fic #(it's not 5 sentences at all 🤣🤭 but it's the thought that counts???) #(hehehe. <3333) #LISTEN. this fic is literally inspired by me seeing that post of charles talking to jj and pascale #outside the alpine hospitality in vegas #and just immediately thinking #“they are such a PART of each other's LIVES they are SOULMATES and they should get MARRIED” #aka a completely normal reaction which turned into a completely normal length of fic 🤣🤭 #xD

[espithewarlock]

Some end-of-2023 asks that didn't get asked but I'm answering them anyways! Some are from AO3 Wrapped and some are from the more general 2023 reblog.

How many works did you publish this year?

20! It's so much more than I thought I would post, let alone write!

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

Bittersweet, That Glitter (aka, Dragon!Pierre) by a long shot. I love the fantasy & worldbuilding and it's some of my best stuff. (I also loved dropping it on Sol unexpectedly and having her start shouting at me within a minute of posting it. Seriously, AO3, you chose then to be speedy with email notifications??)

What work of yours has the most hits?

My Pierre/Charles/Max Soulmark AU. Probably because it's one of the few chaptered fics that I have and probably because it's lestappen tagged. Of my oneshots, Omega!Pierre just beats OnlyFans!Charles by a few hits.

What work was the quickest to write?

I started Take, Take Me Over at 6:30am, wrote 1.9k words, edited, and posted it by 8:30am. (Then I went to the gym and found the perfect song inspiration. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

What work took you the longest to write?

Another Deep Dive All The Way Down (aka, the Carlando Coffeeshop AU that's a companion to Mermaid!Charles) probably had the longest time start to finish because I kept procrastinating writing the ending.

What’s your shortest work of the year?

I wrote exactly 1,016 words for the short-fic prompt challenge, Trading Controllers, and I'm impressed at how much story I squeezed into just over a thousand words.

How many kudos in total did you get this year?

I'm sitting at 2,307 while I'm writing this and that is simply insane! I'm done posting Coffeeshop and I'm hoping to get a few more on that one since it's now 100% complete. Honestly, the fact that over two thousand people have liked my stuff enough to say they like my stuff is incredible!

Which work has the most comments?

By sheer number? Soulmark AU at 66 comment threads, but that averages to 3.9 per chapter. Mermaid!Charles has 4.1 per chapter, for comparison. Of my oneshots, Nymph!Pierre has 8 (including an ESSAY that makes me 🥰), Baker!Pierre has 7, and OnlyFans!Charles has 7.

What do you listen to while writing?

I actually usually listen to Twitch streams. The video game music + the commentary/content gives me something to flip back to while I'm thinking over story ideas and doesn't pull me out of the writing flow like listening to distinct songs.

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

It's so hard to pick just one! Here's some of my favorites: 1. The 'little squid' bit from Nymph!Pierre 2. The whole meet-cute scene from Baker!Pierre (+ Kimi's "But that did not go well") 3. The line from Dragon!Pierre after he leaves ("Now that he knew the warmth of Charles' hands, of his mouth, on his body, there was no way the sun could compare.") 4. The absolute heartbreak of Pierre saying goodbye to Mermaid!Charles 5. OnlyFans!Charles pointing to himself ("what a coincidence! I also like your shirt.")

Talk about a new friend you made this year

Literally everyone in the Calamar's Club, but especially Logan & Sol. Sol for being the sweetest person ever, letting me be insane about dragons, and inviting me to the server after seeing me shout into the void for friends. Logan for dragging me into the chaos, the constant encouragement of everyone, and for making me melt every time they react to anything I post.

How was your birthday this year?

Excellent! I visited my sister, went to her wedding dress fitting, and we saw the musical Six! It was my first time seeing it and it was AMAZING.

Favorite book(s) you read this year?

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune & The Near Witch by VE Schwab

What are you excited about for next year?

Posting my PWFE fic, meeting up with a local-ish fandom friend, and hopefully planning my first overseas trip!

If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be?

Read your fucking comments, Espi! You could have been making new friends and having fun conversations all year and you were too much of a coward to try that until ~September~. Most of them are lovely and you should ignore the ones that aren't!

Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions?

Yep! I resolved to start lifting at the gym (instead of just doing cardio) and I've made pretty good progress! Going to continue into next year for sure!

#Espi answers asks! #or really non-asks in this instance #ao3 wrapped #2023 asks #get to know your fanfic author!