#and there's little hints of Willie hidden all over Alex's space and person

[legolasghosty]

Flower prompt! How about blue salvia for willex? 💙

...ignore the fact that this was sent in like 4 months ago...

"I figured out what it is!" Alex exclaimed, dropping down onto the park bench beside Willie, a shy smile pulling at his lips. "You're pebbling!"

Willie stared at him for a second. What? Also, who gave this guy the right to look that cute in a hoodie and basketball shorts? Seriously. His hair is all damp and messy from band practice and the tan lines on his ankles look ridiculous. And somehow, he's still the prettiest person Willie has ever seen.

And he also definitely said something... whoops.

"Sorry, what did you just say?" Willie asked sheepishly.

Thankfully, Alex's smile didn't dim. "All the little gifts and stuff," he said. "It's called pebbling, it's a kinda love language thing."

Willie tilted their head. "Um, what? Gifts?" Willie wasn't much of a gift person in general. Christmas was a pain in the neck, trying to figure out what everyone wanted.

"Like the other day, with the snare keychain you found after work?" Alex responded, mimicking Willie's confused motion. "Or the pink sea glass last week? All the little stuff you give me. It's called pebbling."

"I do that with everyone though," Willie said slowly, trying to think. "It reminds me of you guys. It's not really... on purpose."

Oh gosh, now that Alex pointed it out, Willie kind of did give all their friends a lot of random stuff. Some of it was cool, but most of it was probably junk. He just liked sharing it with them. But... they didn't want to be annoying to their friends...

"Gosh, sorry, I didn't mean to overstep," Alex burst out, startling Willie. "I just saw something online about it so I was doing some research and I guess I just wanted to tell you. But I'm so sorry, we can drop it-"

Willie covered Alex's mouth with his hand before he could say anything else. "No it's okay," they promised, pushing away their own thoughts. "I just didn't really, um, realize I was doing it. I don't want to bug anyone."

Alex wrapped his fingers loosely around Willie's wrist and moved their hand from his mouth to his cheek. "It doesn't bug me," he promised. "It's actually really sweet. I was looking into it cause I wanted to learn how to... I don't know, do it back I guess? Cause I love it when you share stuff with me and I wanted to give that back to you."

"You wanted to-" Willie began, but then gave up. Words were way too complicated.

They slid their hand around to the back of Alex's neck and kissed him. Because, really, what else could he do? What words could show Alex just how much he meant to them? How he was always on their mind, drumming and dancing and laughing and holding them? How little things like this just pulled Willie deeper into the ocean of love he felt for his partner, and how Willie never wanted to resurface. The English language didn't really have the right words for that. So instead, Willie kissed him.

When they separated, one of Alex's arms was around Willie's waist. His other hand was tangled in their hair. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes sparkled. In books, there tended to be lines about how one character could see a million things in another's eyes. That wasn't really the case here though. All Willie could see in Alex's eyes is "I love you" repeated over and over and over again. He hoped Alex could see that message shining right back at him as they breathed in tandem.

"You're amazing," Willie murmured, resting his forehead against Alex's.

"Learned it from you," Alex answered, his faint chuckle tickling Willie's skin.

"So it's called pebbling?" Willie clarified.

"Yup," Alex confirmed. "Apparently penguins do it too."

"Well at least I got somewhere to go with my fancy tuxes," Willie joked. "I beat penguins."

Alex laughed and pulled them back in for another kiss. And a couple of days later, when Willie showed him a little collection of pebbles, worn smooth by the Pacific Ocean, he kissed him again before he could get out the words, "These made me think of you."

#legolas tag #willex #julie and the phantoms #jatp fanfic #jatp #alex mercer #willie jatp #also this probably goes without saying #but Alex keeps all the little stuff Willie gives him #After the third time Willie gave him some kind of little rock type thing #he went to Julie and got a fun mason jar to keep them in #They live on his bedside table #and he's always adding new ones as Willie gives them to him #the snare thing mentioned here goes on his keys #along with a little rainbow heart made of Legos #it's just very soft #and there's little hints of Willie hidden all over Alex's space and person #Alex also definitely starts getting Willie penguin stuff for a bunch of holidays #socks and stuffies and a pillowcase(long story it was cute) #and Willie absolutely loves it #they're just soft and sweet and in love and I love them so frigging much #I have a problem it's fine