Vermish Fluff-fest (The Order - Vera Stone x Hamish Duke)

i kissed the lips of a potion and now i'm out in the open

"Oh, Vera, my love!" Those were the words that startled Vera awake and was the beginning of what was about to be a very special night. She unwillingly roused from her sleepy state and went to fetch the door to an overly-excited Hamish. He immediately jumped to hug her. "Ugh. Boy, am I happy to see you!"

"What are you doing here? I thought you said you couldn't come over tonight. And it's- what time is it?" He grabs his phone from his pocket and shows her the screen. "2 in the morning? What the hell are you doing?"

Hamish was acting odd; even his walk was all weird. It was as if he was a posh elderly. Not that he didn't already exude rich grandpa vibes, but that night, it was almost tenfold. "What happened to you?"

"Not gonna invite me in first? Rude." He walked past her causing her mouth to open wide from shock. "I don't know actually. Oh. Whoops. I hope you don't get pissed, but I accidentally let it slip to Jack and Randall when the next raid was."

"Accidentally?" Vera didn't think that to be possible. He was the kind of person who understood the meaning of loyalty. She's always appreciated that about him.

He plopped himself onto her couch before responding. "Yeah, it's like I can't stop just saying whatever I wanna say."

Suspicion began registering to her brain. "Did you drink anything tonight? While you were with friends?"

"I mean, I guess I had coffee." He mindlessly shrugged.

She shook her head as she realized what caused all of this. "Damn it. You've been given a truth potion."

"Woah, really? Cool!" His expression went from awe to oh. "Oh, fuck, Jack and Randall!"

"I'm actually more worried about you saying things without your full consent." Concern was written all over her face.

"You're worried about me? How sweet." His grin was so huge it looked painful. "So how long does this last?"

She rolled her eyes at his prior statement before answering his question. "I can reverse it with a simple spell, or it could lose its influence if you wait for a few more minutes."

Sliding from his side to the opposite of the couch, he dragged his butt closer to Vera. He embraced her from behind and nuzzled his head onto her hair. "Hmm. That's good."

"You are acting like a clingy puppy right now." And yet she still leaned into his touch.

"Well, everyone's been calling me similar names lately so might as well give them what they want. Am I doing a good job?" was his reply.

"Tell me you don't believe that." She shook her head and gave him a disapproving look.

"'Course not. It's not like I'm a lost, helpless soul you took advantage of. I'm a man!" He cried out, too enthusiastically for a grown adult at almost three in the morning. "But more importantly, I'm your man."

That did it for her. "Oh, god. I think I've had... enough of all the cheesy for a whole lifetime. It's time we fix this."

As she was about to recite the incantation, Hamish instantly stopped her. "Wait. You know what I've always wanted us to do?"

"What?"

(Play the music for added effect. Skip to 0:44 since the intro is quite long.)

"I've always wanted to dance with you. Maybe just so that I could have an excuse to see you dance. I'd always imagine how amazing you must be as a dancer and how great you'd look." His voice sounded bashful as he was saying it, but his gaze told a different story.

"Idiot." She couldn't help but retort. "Okay. Up."

"Do I have to stand to reverse the potion's effect?"

"Just do as I say." Her tone was demanding.

"I love it when you're bossy. There's something so sexy about it. But how is that any different from all of you really?"

"Shut up and dance with me, you idiot." Upon hearing those, Hamish quickly got up and moved closer to Vera. He was uncertain what to do, so he did what felt natural.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she initiated their uncoordinate non-musical dancing. Regardless of how awkward they must have looked, he believed that this was the most amazing thing they've ever done together. And he was right, staring into her at that moment, she resembled her at her best. There was no comparison. She was the only one. He leaned into her shoulder, closing his eyes in hopes of capturing that event better that way.

"Yours, though, right?" His words were muffled from pressing his entire head on Vera's shoulder. She was surprised when she heard sniffing noises.

"Stop sniffing me."

"Okay, Grand Magus." The sarcasm was discernible in his tone. "I think I'm back to normal, by the way."

He was glad he was himself again. That despite the magic that caused all of this running its course, theirs hadn't.

"So when you were sniffing me, that was normal to you?"

"Duh, I'm a wolf."

"You are back to normal." Temporarily, he lifted his head to shoot her a look of disbelief, then proceeded to rest his forehead onto hers.

Time had passed after they stopped their swaying, yet they remained there standing, letting everything linger on. In the darkness of the room. "Thank you, Vera."

It was funny how even though no magic affected her judgment nor her senses, the occurrence still managed to shed light onto different sides to both of them that they were never brave enough to share with each other.