turtlov:

Courtship Schmortship (Orc x Reader)

Summary: You get a surprise gift from your friend, Blake.

Really short, kinda awkward. Anyhow, first (modern) orc story!

—

The bell above the door rang as you stepped into the small shop. The smell of incense hit you before the warm glow of the atmosphere. All around the shop, small string lights and lanterns were hung up in lieu of using the florescent light panels on the ceiling. The general vibe of the place was just… serene.

You weren’t really one to buy gemstones or sage and rave about chakras- you had nothing against it, but it wasn’t for you. No, you were here for one specific aspect of this little store. The records.

“Back already?” a familiar voice said behind you. You turned to see Blake behind the counter, leaning forward to look at you. His brown eyes were lazily opened and his mouth quirked to the side around his tusks in a relaxed smile. He almost embodied the mood of the store, always calm and carefree. If he looked more alert, patrons would likely become intimidated. He was an orc after all.

“Hey, Blake! Yeah, I just got my paycheck and I thought I’d blow it all here.” you shrugged shyly, your eyes coming to rest on the music section. Blake chuckled behind you.

“I don’t mind. Everytime you blow your paycheck, I get to see you, so it’s nice.” he smiles.

“You get my money and my exquisite company? Sounds unfair to me.” you pick up one of the vinyls.

“Is that to say you don’t enjoy being here?” Blake asked, resting his chin in his hand. You peered up at him through your eyelashes.

“Of course not, this place is great. It always mellows out my mood after a bad day.” you sigh, choosing another album. “It’d be nice if you guys had some beanbag chairs or something laying around so people could hang out here.”

“We have some in the employee’s lounge in the back.” Blake offered, raising his eyebrows.

“Maybe another time. I’ve got to go home and feed Gizmo before he eats my shoes or something.” you slide the albums onto the counter and retrieve your wallet. You set the cash on the counter and look at the rack of sunglasses whole Blake bags everything up. Your hands graze briefly when he gives you the bag.

“Enjoy your purchase.” he gives you a genuine smile that you can feel all the way to your bones and your cheeks darken.

“You too.” you instinctively say. You immediately start to stammer and facepalm. “I-I mean- I wasn’t. Uh-”

“If this is your way of inviting me to your apartment to listen to music, you’re doing pretty bad.” Blake laughs. “But I believe in you. You’ll get it next time.”

You flush more and lock your eyes onto the ground as you quickly leave, waving goodbye. That’s the worst thing that could ever happen between two individuals. ‘You too’ you huff as you open your car door and settle into your seat. God, what awkward planet were you from? Blake didn’t seem to mind too much, though.

—

You get home and feed your cat, much to his delight, and start rifling through your bag for some music to put on while you cook. You freeze in your spot. A braided bracelet rests at the bottom of the bag. Did Blake accidentally put that in? Maybe one of his fell off? He did wear a lot of them. Oh shit, you unintentionally stole this.

“Oh shit.” you curse out loud. Picking up the bracelet, you rush out of the door. Hopefully Blake hadn’t left to go home yet.

—

You catch him right as he’s locking up the front door, key still in the lock.

“Blake!” you jog up to him and he looks up, surprised.

“Oh! (Y/n), what are you doing back here?”

“Uh, this found it’s way into my bag. I wanted to return it.” you hold out the bracelet to him. He looks down at it, something flickers in his eyes.

“You… you don’t want it?” he asks.

“What? Wh- no no that’s not. I-” you look around, feeling lost. Fucking words. “I thought I stole it on accident.” you admit. Blake looks almost relieved and attempts to hold back a smile.

“No, you didn’t steal it. I put it in there. It’s yours.” he nods to it.

“Mine? Why?” you bring the bracelet to your chest.

“I wanted to give it to you. You always seem to like my bracelets so I made you one.” he cautiously reaches for your hands. “You can add whatever you like to it- charms, jewels, beads.” his eyes dart to the side at that and he pulls one of his braids out of his chaotic mass of hair. Carefully, he unbraids the end and slips off one of the ornately carved beads. Then, he picks up your bracelet and threads it through the bead. “There, see?” he holds it out to tie onto your wrist.

“Blake, you don’t have to give me this!” you shake your head. Blake frowned down at you.

“Are you going to make me rebraid my hair and throw away your gift?”

“Wh- no. I just… you don’t have to go out of your way to make me things.” you fidget with your sleeves.

“Don’t worry about it. Just take the bracelet.” Blake orders. You hold your arm out so he can tie the bracelet to you.

“Thank you.” you mumble.

“Mhm.” Blake hums, his fingers lingering around your wrist before he retracts and clears his throat. “Uh… have you had dinner yet? I’m starving.”

“Ah, no. I was just about to when I found this.” you twist your hand, bouncing the bead.

“Oh. S-sorry.” Blake rubs his neck, averting his gaze. “Let me buy you something to eat.”

“Blake, if you keep buying me gifts, I’m going to have to start spending more time and money at your shop.” you sigh, following him to his car.

“That’s the plan.” he smiles, opening the door for you.

The car ride to the diner is filled with light conversation and good music. It was hard for you to find a kindred spirit that shared your taste in music. You noted the fact that Blake’s car smelled like vanilla and smoke- a more concentrated version of him, you thought.

“M’lady.” Blake bowed as he opened your door.

“God you’re a nerd.” blush dusts your cheeks and you take his hand as he helps you out of the car. You don’t need assistance, per say, but it would be rude to deny holding his hand momentarily, right?

The two of you sit at one of the many empty booths and order your food from a waitress that had worked there for longer than she’d have liked.

“Jewelry, dinner… if I didn’t know better I’d say you were trying to woo me.” you say idly, looking at the small menu of desserts. When you hear nothing, you look up and see Blake staring at the tabletop with wide eyes and furrowed brows.

“You okay there, Blake?” you ask softly.

“What if I was?”

“Huh?”

“Trying to woo you. I-I mean courting you wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”

Your eyes widen and you open your mouth to say something, but you’re interrupted by the arrival of your food.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Blake nods to the waitress, flashing her a crooked smile. He returns his gaze to you, heaving a sigh. “Ah… sorry about that.”

You feel compelled to stay on the topic, but get the sense that Blake would rather not. The two of you spend the rest of dinner in awkward silence.

–

Blake insists on walking you to your car, even though its ten feet away from where he parked. When you get to your door, you pause.

“Um… is it ok if I stop by tomorrow?” you look up at Blake.

“Yeah, of course. You know when the shop is open.” he nods.

“I mean, like, to hang out. The two of us.”

“Oh. Y-yeah. I’d love that, actually. You can finally see the foretold beanbag chairs.” Blake grins. You find yourself smiling too and lean up on your tip toes. You have to grip his arm, both to pull him down to an accessible height and to stabilize yourself, but you manage to place a kiss on Blake’s cheek. He flushes a darker shade of green. “U-uh can we redo that? I wasn’t ready.”

You laugh, placing your hands on the sides of his face and bring him down again, this time kissing his lips. He sighs and melts into it, bringing his arms around you.

“You just skipped four steps in the courtship.” he rests his forehead against yours.

“Courtship, schmortship.”