#joe x nicky prompts

[zairaalbereo]

I’ve got you.

For the prompt “protective”.

Does this still count as a doodle? Somehow it managed to break containment and ran away with me, but the prompt just hit a nerve, and I wanted to try doing it justice.

Thank you @lazaefair for the lovely prompt! 💕

#the old guard #tog fanart #kaysanova #immortal husbands #yusuf al kaysani #nicolo di genova #joe x nicky #joe/nicky #the old guard art #prompt fill #doodleZ #my art

[linaxart]

to safety

for @theartguard's prompt lottery event!

#the old guard #tog #joenicky #kaysanova #joe x nicky #tog fanart #the old guard fanart #yusuf al kaysani #nicolò di genova #events #prompt lottery #digital art #fanart #sketchbook #accessible art #and so the artblock continues

[isabellehemlock]

a wedding

For @olivepdf sun and moon bingo ~ middle row down. Excerpt under the cut is from my precanon fic, Their souls were knit together (and he loved him as himself). You'll also find a non shaded version for extra details ✨️

One hand remained on Nicolò’s flushed cheek, but Yusuf moved back just enough to hold his now free hand up between them, as Nicolò slipped the ring over the first knuckle, “Yusuf, I - I will honor and cherish you for the remainder of my days,” He lowered the ring further down, his voice raspy as he tried to finish the vows in the Arabic he had been trying to learn for months now, “I pledge myself to you with sincerity, and honesty, and humility.” And Yusuf had been so utterly unprepared for it, that it didn’t even matter if he butchered the pronunciation, it was the sentiment behind it that made him hold Nicolò even closer as he mumbled against Yusuf’s shoulder, “And - And I love you - “

“I love you, too,” Yusuf dipped his head beside his, his voice trembling as he spoke the words that were stitched onto his very soul, “For as long as our God allows us to be together, I will love you all my days.”

“I will as well,” Nicolò whimpered, his hands flexing against Yusuf’s side before he pulled back to look up at him with blotchy eyes, “My apologies for the tears.”

“I do not mind them,” he said with a reassuring smile, as he gently wiped them away, his own ring catching the light of the candle beside them, but unable to look at anything but his husband, his Nicolò, his forever.

The tension in Nicolò’s face broke with a wet laugh, a quick reflection that it was likely not the last time he would cry in front of him, and Yusuf barely had a chance to tease him right back about it - before Nicolò tipped his head to kiss him.

And everything was lovelier than it had ever been.

#tog art #my tog art #the old guard #tog #joe and nicky #joe x nicky #fanart #digital art #fic based art #prompt based art #sun and moon bingo #background is a filtered version of a free stock photo of a lovely Orthodox church I found online ❤️ #tw religious imagery #tw religious themes #immortal husbands #kaysanova #yusuf al kaysani #nicolo di genova #nicolò di genova

[yuliares]

Nicky/Joe from The Old Guard, based on this tweet:

Joe: “Hello Professor Genoa! My name is Joe, I’m here to take a photo for the article on your latest research grant!”

Nicky (internal): oh no he’s cute

Nicky: “Nice to meet you, Joe. Please, call me Nicky. Should I…?”

Joe: “No need to pose! Just act normal, pretend I’m not even here!”

Nicky (internal): oh no he smiled don’t panic be cool

Nicky: [launches into planned lecture] “Within the animal kingdom, there is a wide range of male genitalia-“

Nicky (internal): nooooooooooo

Nicky: “For example, the Argentine bluebird duck has the longest proportional-”

Joe, gazing adoringly at this beautiful man: Wow he knows so much about ~nature~

Prompt suggested by Rebecca @theadventureofhistorygirl, font based on Winkle, and the image of the hands with camera traced from this stock image!

#the old guard #immortal husbands #nicky x joe #ficlet #fanart #meet cute #twitter prompts #my artwork

[ongreenergrasses]

🥺 plz

yes of course! love this prompt 🌹

Joe’s sides hurt from laughing. Nicky was still giggling helplessly on the couch.

“Anyway,” Nicky said once he’d stopped laughing quite as hard, “I should probably get ready to leave. It is quite late.”

“You can always crash on the couch,” Joe offered.

Nicky shot a pointed glance at the couch, which was short enough that most of his legs would hang off the edge, and had been hanging off the edge for most of the night.

It had been a good night, a good time, and still Joe cursed himself, because it was just one more night where he didn’t tell Nicky how he truly felt.

Nicky clumsily pushed himself up off the couch and staggered, nearly falling. Joe shot up out of his chair and grabbed him by the elbows to steady him before his brain could catch up with his body.

Nicky darted a quick glance at Joe and mumbled out a “thanks,” before pulling his arms free and heading down the hallway towards the bathroom.

Joe started clearing up the plates from their dinner, still left on the coffee table. He was on his way to the kitchen when he chanced a glance down the hallway, where he saw Nicky, still in the hallway, staring into Joe’s bedroom.

Joe mentally ran through every embarrassing thing he possibly could’ve left out. Everything was put away, so he called, “Nicky?”

“Hmm?”

“Everything okay?”

“Fine,” Nicky said, sounding slightly strangled. Joe left the plates in the sink and went to join him.

He looked in his bedroom. It was neater than usual, and Joe didn’t think anything had changed from the last time Nicky had come over. “Is something wrong? In here?”

“Nothing is wrong,” Nicky said, still clearly affected by something wrong, “only - you sleep with that?”

“With what?”

“That thing, that I won you. At the carnival?”

“Oh, the skunk?”

Nicky had won him a stuffed skunk when they went to the fair several weekends ago with Nile and Dizzy. His aim was almost scarily accurate, so he had in fact won Joe many things, but in Nicky’s words, the skunk was the only stuffed animal worth keeping. Joe had put the rest of them in the closet.

“You sleep with the skunk I won you?”

“Yes?” Joe looked at his bed again. “Should I - not?”

“Joe,” Nicky said, sounding incredibly frustrated, and before Joe knew what was happening, Nicky had whirled him around and pulled him in with his enormous hands on Joe’s face and was kissing him, hard.

Their noses knocked into each other. Their teeth knocked into each other. It was objectively a terrible kiss, except for it was with Nicky, which meant it was the best kiss of Joe’s life.

Nicky wrenched himself away from Joe before Joe even fully realized what was happening. “I cannot do this,” he said, “Joe, I can’t, you drive me crazy.”

“I drive you crazy?”

“You’re so - you’re so handsome, and talented, and you’re funny, and you sleep with that stupid stuffed skunk I won you, and you’re beautiful, and I can’t - ”

“Nicky,” Joe said, a little helplessly because Nicky was working himself up into a state for what Joe thought was no good reason, “I’ve been in love with you for years.”

Nicky froze mid pace. “What?” he said weakly.

“Years.”

“Why didn’t you - ”

“Nicky,” Joe said firmly, “I would love to go back to kissing you. And maybe we can talk more later.”

“Oh. Right.”

They stood in the hallway, staring at each other. Joe knew every inch of Nicky’s face, probably better than he knew his own. Nicky was still staring at him with a completely stunned expression on his face, which Joe privately agreed with. He couldn’t believe that this was happening, either.

“Right,” Nicky said again, stepping closer. His hands were shaking.

“It’s okay,” Joe said, and he reached up and wrapped his arms around Nicky’s neck. “You already have me.”

emoji prompts

#ask and you shall receive #lovely anon #prompts #the old guard #joe x nicky #yusuf al kaysani #joe al kaysani #nicolo di genova #nicolò di genova #i saw this prompt and immediately knew who i wanted to write it for but honestly i think it’d be adorable for any pairing #this one also got long wow lmk if anyone wants a tag or a read more break

[nickydestati]

duolingo tog prompts #19

It’s been a long, long time, but I missed this so much and hope to be a little more active again in the near future. Anyway, this prompt inspired me so much, so have this little fic. I hope you enjoy it!! 💖

prompt: you want to forget me (ti vuoi dimenticare di me)

*

Nicolò feels like throwing up. He wipes his sweaty palms on his trousers for what feels like the hundredth time.

Now. He’s going to ask it now. Okay, now then. On second thought, perhaps in a minute would be better.

Why is this so damn hard?

He knows why, of course. Because he has wrongfully besieged Yusuf’s home and killed him in the most horrifying ways possible. Because he has been a monster and would have to spend all his infinite lifetimes to atone for what he has done before he could ever be forgiven. Because asking Yusuf to stay together even though they have found the two women from their dreams and there is absolutely no sane reason for Yusuf to spend one more heartbeat in Nicolò’s abhorrent presence is the epitome of hubris.

What has possessed him to even consider this plan? 

He has come to know Yusuf’s kind heart. His warmth, his ever-smiling eyes. He has mistaken his innate kindness for something else, something impossible. He is a fool for putting so much hope in his delusions.

But it seems he has been a fool all his life. One more day won’t make a difference, will it?

It has to be now. Andromache and Quynh are out on a personal errand for a couple of days, and he doesn’t know if such an opportunity will present itself again in time.

God, this is worse than dying.

He opens his mouth to ask his question, the question, nerves sizzling through his body, but to his surprise, Yusuf speaks first.

“Tomorrow it is, then?” he asks, his eyes fixed on the flames between them. His voice sounds heavy, dragging the evening air down.

For a moment, Nicolò is too confused to speak. “Tomorrow is what?”

“The day we say our goodbyes and go our separate ways.” 

The ground tilts beneath Nicolò’s feet. He feels like throwing up again, but for entirely different reasons. This can’t be happening.

But Nicolò knows this is the only possible course of reality. Any other scenario is just a feeble figment of his pathetic imagination. The way Yusuf avoids meeting his gaze only confirms it. That blankness in his usually vibrant eyes is only ever reserved for Nicolò.

It was foolish to think, even for but a second, that he could ever be worthy of forgiveness.

So he swallows the burning tears down and says, “Very well.”

____

Nicolò has always been a light sleeper. So when a twig breaks somewhere to his left, he opens his eyes to see Yusuf slipping away into the night.

Is this how it will be? No goodbye at all? Only waking to an emptiness as consuming as the void sky up above?

No, that can’t be. That isn’t Yusuf at all. There must be a reason for his secret departure. There must be. Maybe Yusuf is in danger. Maybe he has to settle a score with some culprit they dealt with a couple of towns ago. 

Without a second thought, Nicolò rises and follows.

After a long while, when the shimmering surface of water emerges in the distance, his heart grows cold.

Quynh has told him stories of the lands they were traveling through. She told him of a hidden pond. If you drink from its waters, it will take away your memories. 

He watches when Yusuf reaches the banks. He watches as he kneels and scoops up water in the cup of his palms. 

No.

Yusuf jumps up, scimitar drawn.

With a start, Nicolò realizes he said that aloud. He comes out of the shadows and Yusuf’s expression turns into one of incredulity.

“You followed me.” An accusation.

“I’m sorry,” Nicolò says. “I wanted to make sure you weren’t in danger. I didn’t mean to-”

“I’m immortal, it’s a bit difficult for me to get into any serious danger.” Yusuf looks exhausted as he lowers his sword and turns to the pond again. “You can go back to the camp now, I will be there shortly.”

“I don’t think you will, though.” Nicolò’s voice is so soft it’s hardly audible over his hammering heart. “You want to forget me.”

It is only fair. Nicolò knows that. It is only fair Yusuf wants to forget the man who caused him such pain and misery. And if this is what Yusuf wants and what is best for him, then Nicolò will not stand in his way.

“I understand,” Nicolò says. “Please let me help you. Let me stay and guide you back to the camp and make sure you are safe until Andromache and Quynh are there for you. Then I will leave and you’ll never have to see me again. I promise.”

Yusuf’s back is rigid and unmoving.

“For what it’s still worth,” Nicolò continues, “I am sorry for all I have done. I am sorry I have robbed you of your home and your people and your happiness. I am sorry I wasn’t the man I am now. And I am sorry that you had to be the one to make me better. I don’t expect to ever deserve forgiveness, but I don’t intend to stop trying either. I hope it makes you feel a little better that my eternal life will be spent in atonement for what I have done to you. Or at least, that you will feel better for this little while you will remember.”

Ever so slowly, Yusuf turns. Nicolòs eyes widen as he sees the tears on Yusuf’s cheeks, the painful desperation in his eyes.

“You think that’s why- Nicolò, I-” He looks away for a moment and breathes deep. When he meets Nicolò’s eyes again, Nicolò’s breath stills at the rawness on his face. “I want to forget you because I love you.”

All the air is sucked away from the sky.

“I want to forget you because I don’t think I can bear missing you.”

Maybe he’s still asleep. Yes, that must be it. He will probably wake up soon.

“I know it’s selfish,” dream-Yusuf continues. “But I just-” His voice breaks. “I just can’t miss you, Nicolò. I just can’t.”

Any moment now.

“Please say something, Nicolò,” Yusuf says quietly.

“This is all a dream,” is the only thing Nicolò can say, because going along would hurt all the more.

Yusuf blinks and seems taken aback. “I’m sorry I have appalled you. I’ll drink now and then we can each go our-”

“No!” Nicolò hastily puts a step forward. “No, please. That’s not what I meant. I’m a monster and I’ve wronged you in more ways than there are stars in the sky. There’s no way you could ever say such things, because it’s exactly what I long for you to say. No, it’s more than I would ever dare to hope for. So this must all be a dream. There’s no other explanation.”

While Nicolò is rambling, Yusuf comes closer until they stand so close together Nicolò can count all Yusuf’s laughter lines. Nicolò falls silent as a cold, damp hand takes his own. He looks down at their entwined fingers, wide-eyed.

A gentle finger guides his chin up until he meets warm, glowing eyes. “This is not a dream, Nicolò.”

Soft lips touch his own and Nicolò melts.

Yusuf is here, Yusuf is real, and Yusuf loves him back.

#joenicky #yusuf x nicolo #joe x nicky #immortal husbands #the old guard #tog #the old guard fanfic #tog fic #yusuf al kaysani #nicolo di genova #usertriz #i don't dare tagging anyone else because it's been so long 🙃 #duolingo prompts #hegel writes

[nilefreemans]

Thanks for the prompt! Here's one for you (whatever characters/fandom are appealing to you)

“Don’t ask me that…”

Joe/Nicky because I'm predictable feat a modern au where Joe is a psychic and Nicky is a chef

this is born from the weird mix of watching the Bear and Maggie at the same time

The restaurant has long since closed, and Joe sits at the bar, twirling his half-empty glass in his hands idly, mind distracted as his friends close up for the night.

Across from him, Andy is cleaning out the taps, wiping them clean for the night and she sighs heavily before setting down her rag and leaning against the counter, looking at Joe and placing her hand on his own. "Your thoughts are louder than your ice clinking against the glass Joe," Andy says and Joe sets down his glass and glances at Andy, apologetic. She pats his hand before going to get down the bottle of vodka and two shot glasses, filling them both. "Spill," Andy says and she gives Joe the shot. He accepts it and clinks the glass against her own before throwing it back, grimacing. Andy in turn laughs loudly. Hopefully not too loud, Joe didn't really want the reason for his thoughts being so loud to walk through the door and ask questions Joe doesn't want to ask. "Relax, Nicky is going over the new menu with Nile, they're in their own world if anything it will take both of us to drag them out of there," Andy explains and Joe relaxes just a little. "Nicky keeps asking about my vision of him," Joe says and Andy hums, encouraging him to continue. She's been his friend since Joe was a teenager and she was skeptical at first about his abilities, but she came around after Joe's vision had rescued her horse. "It wasn't a bad one though, you would have told him if it was," Andy says and Joe sighs because that's just it. Nicky had believed Joe when he explained that he was a psychic, he didn't even ask for proof or even a fortune telling for himself. He had just taken Joe's word. They became friends slowly. Nicky was working on relaunching his family's restaurant after a tragedy, and Joe was starting his own business. They had similar friends and Joe had recommended Andy to bartend after she had retired from horse competitions.

He had a few visions of Nicky in the restaurant. He had seen Nile come in before they ever met her, and he has seen the fire that had taken out half the kitchen, and Nicky collapsing during a stressful service.

But then Joe had a different vision of Nicky. He had a vision of himself with Nicky. Happy, married, with two kids and a dog and a house. The whole domestic scene had Joe reeling because he wanted it so bad he ached.

"I've never had a vision of myself before," Joe stresses to Andy after telling her the vision of his supposed future with Nicky. "And Nicky is-" "In a relationship with his job?" Andy sums up and Joe grimaces. Nicky was a good man and he was very passionate about what he did, but he often left his personal life behind on the figurative back burner so he can work on his actual back burner. "Talk to him Joe," Andy says firm but not unkind. "I can't-" Joe starts and there's a noise from the entrance to the bar and Joe startles to see Nicky there, looking at the two of them with wide eyes. Andy's eyes dart between the two of them, and she squeezes Joe's hand gently before moving away to give them space.

"What did you see in your vision Joe?" Nicky asks, voice quiet as he looks at Joe with his wide eyes that Joe can never quite guess what color they are. They go from a stormy grey to the calm colors of the sea in the morning, and right now Joe can't make out what color they are, just that their intensity is directed straight at Joe.

"Don't ask me that..." Joe says, meeting Nicky's intense stare with his own. He knows Nicky to be stubborn, this restaurant would have failed if he wasn't, but Joe can be just as stubborn. "You said you didn't want to know about visions with you in it." "But what about if it's us?" Nicky stresses, stepping forward and Joe finds that he's at a loss for words.

He never saw this coming.

#kaysanova #the old guard #joe x nicky #yusuf al kaysani #nicolo di genova #andromache the scythian #usernicolo #userlyde #my writing #totalnerdwrites #these two shows couldnt be more different so have this weird ass fusion ahjsdhjkasdhjasdjhd #sorry idk who to tag anymore #ereshai #thanks for the prompt!

[disregardandfelicity]

(84) Married to the job & (14) Bodyguard AU ☺️

Ok. These are sillier and siller and by that i actually mean deeply overwrought and dramatic and taking the prompt way too seriously lmao. I'm sorry I'm making you read this. BUT nevertheless...

Nicky serves in the Italian army, Joe serves in the Tunisian army. They meet when Italy sends some of its men to help set up some training center/regime/etc. They obvious fall in love but it is FRAUGHT. They are not out, and there's no way they can have any sort of meaningful relationship, even a clandestine one, and stay in the roles they have now. Their schedules do not leave a lot of room for sneaking around, especially with someone in another country.

Joe is willing to go for it anyway. He is an incurable romantic, he's never felt this way before, he's going to risk it all and proposes they both resign their posts as soon as is feasible. That's all - he's not saying let's publicly come out, just start taking steps to have more flexible careers and stay mostly closeted but still be with each other.

Nicky is not on board.

This career is important to him. He became disillusioned with the church as a young adult and flipped that unquestioning devotion and loyalty and adherence to a new organization that would take him and has served this one just as fastidiously as he had intended to serve the church.

Joe is heartbroken. They part, and that's that.

15 years later

Joe left the army as soon as he could anyway and decided to leave his home. He needed to live somewhere where being gay was less of a target on his back and of late resides in London. He started writing and ended up being quite good and wrote a couple successful books, the latest of which has been very controversial. It's fiction, but its depictions of homosexuality and religion have not been a hit among all crowds. There's some growing vitriol online, and it's to the point where his publisher is hiring him a bodyguard and he is begrudgingly allowing it.

And who should show up to protect him? Nicky of course.

Tension, tension, make out, regret, attack attempt at an event, make up, make out, ✨♥️happily ever after♥️✨ The End.

Footnote: Italy apparently does provide support to Tunisia to develop the capabilities of its army. I don't know the details of who or what they send/provide, but lets assume its Nicky.

#the old guard #joe x nicky #ive realized these prompts allow me to do my favorite part of fic writing #research and stew on a carefully crafted backstory without actually doing any writing lmao

[maddielle]

#there’s an AU in here somewhere May I raise the concept of Merman Nicky and Werewolf Joe? 😌😌😌

HERE YA GO

rated teen, it's a tad suggestive and takes place in a sex club but mostly it's just a bunch of flirting

#ask #joe x nicky #writing prompt

[zairaalbereo]

Baby, it’s cold outside…

For this absolutely lovely prompt:

Dear, dear anon, I don’t know if I can put into words what a pure joy it was to read your message. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Sometimes I feel like I’m the last one at this party that is the TOG fandom, still dancing to a song on repeat that came out three years ago. And I will keep dancing and drawing and writing, because I love themmmmmm. But that’s why it makes me so so happy to know that my art and my writing bring you such joy. Thank you for letting me know! It truly means so much. ❤️❤️❤️

#the old guard #tog fanart #kaysanova #immortal husbands #yusuf al kaysani #nicolo di genova #the old guard art #joe x nicky #joe/nicky #prompt fill #thank you thank you thank you #doodleZ #my art

[mnemo-ink]

Had a dream where Joe and Nicky were vampires or werewolves or something in between? And they were technically “married” or something, but they were not actually really together, and Nicky was 271 years old so this “supposed to be together but keeping our distance” thing had been going for a whiiiiile. (they met when Nicky was “new”, but Joe had already lived for at least decades)

At some point, I had to translate some historical text for some exam, because of course even set in fantastical world with some fav characters in the background, I still have to do some scary school exam... Anyway, this fantastical world still had a pope. And it was on the pope’s orders that two centuries earlier Nicky had been turn with many others to fight in a war. 

And now I keep thinking of this AU and wonder: did Nicky know from the start? Did he think the attack that led to him being turned was an accident? Only to learn years later that, no, it was ordered and organised by the pope? All for the war that he has come to realize is about greed and power and money anyway?

#the old guard #joe x nicky #things I saw in a dream #also while not together just keeping it civil #the sole plot point was Nicky going to save Joe when some important vampire event goes badly #and saving joe meant breaking in a place full of enemies on his own #vampire au #or was it werewolf au? #is it a prompt? #sort of? #my prompt

[isabellehemlock]

I have covered you in my memories, a shroud composed of tears, stitched haphazardly with my grief

I have veiled you for protection, a holy icon that holds a heart so sacred it could only be carried by you

I pray no pain, nor hunger, nor thirst may ever find you again

I am shrouded now as well, a cloth of my own making, bound to you as you were to me - but I will embrace it, for I have nothing else to cling to but my grief

Shroud - a ghost AU for @theartguard monthly prompt

Image description under the cut

A digital art piece, featuring the characters Joe and Nicky from The Old Guard, in a ghost AU for the monthly prompt of the Art Guard server. Nicky is clinging to Joe with one arm around his waist, and cupping the back of his neck with the other. His face is half buried in Joe's shoulder, eyes closed, trying to find a peace that alludes him in his grief.

Joe is looking off to the side, forlorn and distant, half present and half outside of himself - only remaining in place by Nicky's desperation to keep him grounded. He is partially see through and there is an otherworldly glow about him.

Behind and around them is a gray and blue background of woods with a bright light and cascading stars shining down on them.

At the bottom, on Nicky’s right side is a cursive font that reads "Isabelle Hemlock."

#the old guard #joe x nicky #immortal husbands #yusuf al kaysani #nicolo di genova #nicolò di genova #tog #tog art #digital art #fandom art #my tog art #the art guard #the art guard prompt

[peri-helia]

Take it easy with me, please

In lieu of the New Year drabble I haven't finished, here is a Joe x Nicky slice of life drabble where the title inexplicably comes from ABBA. Taken from this prompt list: cooking together

“I love you more than life itself, but fuck off”

Joe snorted on a laugh, a hand coming up to cover one of Nicky’s that is cradling his face. It’s a line he’s heard from his beloved’s mouth so many times before. He remembers it from the first argument, proper argument, that they’d had since they’d become lovers. And so many others since. Probably none more than this.

“But I want to help” he insists.

Nicky’s lovely eyes kindle warmly, mouth ticking up in one corner the way it does when he’s trying not to laugh. Joe knows no map better than he does Nicolo di Genova’s face.

“I know you do, hayati. And I love you for that. But this,” Nicky gestures behind them, “is not what one would call helping”

Joe plays along, mouth dropping into an enquiring ‘o’, eyebrows raising. “What would ‘one’ call it, tesoro?”

“Getting in my fucking way”

Joe can’t hold back anymore, he ruptures into laughter. Abandons the pots and pans he'd been starting to wash to pull Nicky into a soapy kiss. They both get lost in it a little, while the others are in the other room. They pull at each other, hair and shirts. Nicky bites at Joe’s plush lower lip, the way he’s wont to. Joe’s hands slip under Nicky’s t-shirt, the hem pulled free from the constricting ties of his apron up to press at Nicky’s shoulder blades, leave marks that will fade a split second after they’re made.

Nicolo is a tolerant man but if there is one thing he cannot stand, it is someone trying to help him cook.

Joe pulls away first, delighting in the way Nicky chases his mouth, at having made him forget the holds of life, beyond love and desire. Many a pot has bubbled over because of Joe and he holds each time a personal success.

“Should I disappear from your sight?” Joe asks with a contented sigh, patting Nicky on the chest, smoothing a non-existent rumple from the fabric of his t-shirt.

Nicky smiles, that gorgeous, rakish grin that Joe loves best. “Another hour would be perfect”

When Nicky is in the kitchen, it is to be himself, his ingredients and the battered old radio crooning terrible love songs The rest of them are expected to involve themselves only if they want a glass of water or to have a spoon shoved under their nose to check the seasoning.

“I’ll just-“ Joe reaches over to the corner of the worktop, where his hoodie sits beside the eggs and the other groceries not yet put away, “get out of your way”

He winces when he hears the tiny crackle of the bag of Doritos under the fabric, even as he carefully off-sets the weight of the jar of salsa in the right hand inner pocket. Joe was so the wrong person for this job. He knew he should have gone with paper over scissors. 

He’d be sent to do recon, because they were, with all the love in the world, starving. Another hour. Quynh already had Domino’s on speed dial. It’s not that they won’t eat what Nicky’s so lovingly cooking – he always relishes his turn to cook – especially now that they are all together once more. They will savour it. It’s just that like so many things with immortality; their healing, refractory periods, hair growth – they burn a lot of calories and coming back to life is hungry work. They put Hobbits to shame with the size of their second breakfasts and elevenses. Brunch as well as lunch, supper after dinner.

Hence the crisps and dip. Nile had pleaded. Begged.

Joe holds his breath as he looks up from under his lashes at Nicky. His beloved is singing away under his breath, swaying his shoulders as he bangs the wooden spoon on the lip of the saucepan.

He gathers the hoodie tighter, to stop the bag falling out by a loose corner. Another treacherous crinkle of the paper. Fuck. What did they make these bags of anyway?

Turning as nonchalantly as he can, Joe starts to walk towards the door. Then, as it comes over the radio he sings along, "Take your time, make it slow"

Nicky remains, a smile slipping over his face as he stands by the stove, as he too sings along under his breath. Joe can barely believe it when he gets away with it, slipping out and just as casually pushing the kitchen door to before haring up the rickety stairs as quickly as his feet can carry him.

“Make your fingers soft and light,” Nicky huffs on a laugh as he stirs the casserole, listening to Yusuf make off with ill-gotten gains, reaching into the pocket of his apron. “Let your body be the velvet of the night,” the half eaten brownie he’d cut from the tray is a little squashed from being in his pocket when Joe embraced him, but Nicky wouldn’t have it any other way. “Touch my soul, you know how” he warbles, savouring the gooey chocolate, “Andante, Andante Andante, Andante, go slowly with me now”  

#my writing #tog drabble #kaysanova #joe x nicky #the old guard #tog fic #tog drabbles

[ongreenergrasses]

Meaningful gestures prompts TOG joe/nicky

"Don't you dare wake them up."

hi anon 💖 i love this prompt, i hope you enjoy!

Joe doesn’t remember the last time he slept.

They’ve been moving around a lot, after Merrick. (Joe’s life has become temporarily divided, before and after Merrick. He didn’t ask for this.) All the different time zones and strange hours for travel have been messing with him. Joe’s even lost track of where they are, which normally he’s good about remembering.

“Copenhagen,” Nicky says when Joe asks him.

Their hotel room is too small and too white. Joe goes out and buys the first florid too-bright blanket he sees. It’s got a print of a tiger and some lilies, and it’s absolutely hideous. Nicky still smiles when he sees it, and that night he falls asleep almost immediately in Joe’s arms.

Joe waits until Nicky is fully asleep before he rolls onto his back and stares up at the ceiling. He lies there like that for the rest of the night.

When Nicky gets up, he does as well. He’s sure that he must have slept for an hour, maybe two, but it doesn’t feel like it.

Nicky’s brittle at the edges and everything about him screams that he wants space. Joe can’t give him space, not in this hotel room. It’s so small that the two of them are circling each other until Nicky walks out, the door shutting slightly too hard behind him.

Joe goes to Andy and tells her that they’re leaving. She looks sad, but she hugs him and tells him that she and Nile will be all right.

The next morning when they get to the airport, it turns out that the four of them are on the same flight to Amsterdam. Nicky seems annoyed by it, so Joe braves the coffee line for both of them, which earns him a smile.

Joe doesn’t remember the last time he saw Nicky properly smile. Since before Merrick, to be sure. (And there it is, again. Joe hates having his life divided up by something so horrible.)

There’s something about airports that exhausts him. They have a connection on from Amsterdam, and Joe’s eyes feel so heavy he can barely keep them open. He finishes his coffee and before he can overthink it, leans his head on Nicky’s shoulder. Nicky slightly adjusts, then runs a hand down Joe’s spine to his waist, pulling him in closer.

Joe doesn’t know what happens, only knows that between one blink and the next, he’s asleep.

He only wakes slightly when he hears, or feels, Nicky speaking. “Don’t you dare wake him up. He hasn’t slept, Andy, not for days.”

Joe hears Andy murmur something in response, but it’s lost as he falls back asleep.

Joe sleepwalks his way through their flights, and getting to the house, and helping Nicky at least open the windows to get some of the dust out, before he collapses on the bed, with Nicky curled up next to him, and finally, blissfully, gets some actual rest.

meaningful gestures

#ask and you shall receive #lovely anon #prompts #the old guard #joe x nicky #yusuf al kaysani #joe al kaysani #nicolò di genova #nicolo di genova #i really should change my tag to nicolò al-kaysani bc yes i am that bitch lmaoookxkcnc #i am also rationalizing then flying by the fact that it’s better for them to move quickly #let the man sleep!!!

[bookersebastien]

hmmm hello?? for the cliché prompts: 44 for joe x nicky if it speaks to you 😊💜

brielle ty so much for the prompt!! this was so fun to write! i did change the prompt slightly because i ran with the idea before double checking the prompt. hope you like it! also this got lost in my drafts for a bit so yes i know this was from soo long ago 🤣

44. i’m your new neighbor and i got locked out, help! 

Yusuf could think of nothing else other than his painting. The soft brushstrokes, the feeling of the bristles gliding across the canvas as the colors blended together at the tip of his fingers, the idea in his mind slowly taking the shape of something complete, something real, something magnificent.

Or it would as soon as he got up these fucking stairs.

Three days he'd been holed up in his apartment working on a new project, sudden inspiration chaining him to the easel and he was all too willing to let it hold him captive, the paintbrush cuffs around his wrists. He was utterly and completely consumed by it, to such a degree that it was all he dreamed about during the few hours his eyes managed to slip shut despite his best efforts, and all the coffee in his apartment.

Then right as he could practically see the finished product before him, it was missing something, a very specific shade of green so perfect in Yusuf's mind he spent two hours attempting to bring it to life. Paint tubes littered the floor around him, half empty and some dripping onto the ground in what he took to be a mocking manner as he failed each time to make the color he could see so clearly in his mind.

Three art stores later and he could only pray that this time he could create the green he so desperately sought. His fingers were itching to get ahold of his brush, his feet bouncing quickly up the last few steps, once again cursing his decision to live on the third floor of a building with no elevator. But the view of the nearby park could not be beat.

He was in such a hurried daze coming up the stairs that he ignored the noise across the hall from him, juggling armfuls of supplies because even if he was just there for paint he could not let the sale on canvases go unnoticed, nor the new clay glazes they got in.

His breathing was nearly ragged, his hands patting down his pockets, only finding his wallet and not the telltale jingle of his keys. His movements became so desperate he let his stuff come crashing down to the floor, his knees coming down right after, his hands searching inside the bags but the keys were still nowhere to be found.

Now the noise got louder across the hall, he could hear some people talking before he caught sight of someone walking towards him from the corner of his eye. He let his head hang in his hands, mumbling to himself that he swore this wouldn’t happen again after the stairs incident of 2015. 

The stranger approached him and spoke with such sincerity that Yusuf froze in place.

"Do you need some help?" His voice was calm and unbearably soft as he spoke, an Italian accent heavy on his tongue. Yusuf let himself laugh a bit at himself, because even if he wanted to say no, anyone could see that he needed it. After a moment he let himself glance up at the stranger who was looking down at him with concern. He just stared for a second before remembering you were typically supposed to answer when someone asks you a question.

His face was shadowed as he leaned down over Yusuf, but he could still admire the strong shape of his jaw that sloped down to impossibly broad shoulders.

"I uh-seemed to have forgotten my keys." He could barely manage the words, his breath stolen by the stairs and captured by the man before him. A man he realized he'd never seen before. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

He took a look at Yusuf's door before answering, "I'm your new neighbor it seems. I'm Nicky." He sticks his hand out and Yusuf takes it, suddenly remembering he's sitting on the floor as he reaches up.

"Yusuf. Oh sorry--" he pulls back quickly once he sees his hands are still coated in paint, his mad dash out the door didn't include washing his hands first, "--I'm in the middle of a project."

"You are an artist then I assume? Or is there some other use for all the supplies?" Nicky asks eyeing the, quite frankly, ridiculous amount of supplies scattered on the floor around him. Yusuf stood up, suddenly feeling mildly embarrassed as he tried to put everything back in the bags with as much dignity as a man in his position could muster.

"I am, or I guess was trying to finish a new piece I started, hence-"

"Forgetting your keys?" Nicky laughed and Yusuf's heart skipped at the sound. "I can't say I've done the same for art supplies, but I understand feeling when I'm cooking. Can I ask what it is?"

"I don’t usually like to discuss my pieces until I'm done," Yusuf replied before he even realized what he was saying. It’s not like it wasn’t true but the last thing he wanted was to come off as rude to his beautiful new neighbor. He smiled awkwardly as he finished grabbing his things; never one to be nervous he found himself double checking the paint lids with painful slowness before setting each one back in the bags and leaning them carefully against the wall. It felt like it took him hours while Nicky watched.

"It's fine. But I would like to see it when it's done if that's alright."

Yusuf just nodded. He realized his desperation to get back into his apartment had paled now, pushed into the back of his mind as he spoke to Nicky, feeling something stir within him. There was an earnest calm about him, words careful and eyes searching, posture tall though his frame shortened by the breadth of his shoulders.

"Would you like some coffee while you wait for a locksmith?" Nicky offered and Yusuf was in no position to refuse, not like he would anyway but that soft Italian voice pulled at his chest in a way he didn't think he could refuse if he wanted.

"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you...," he whispered, words trailing off when Nicky bent down to help him with his bags, his face catching the sunlight from the window as he stood. His cheekbones complimented his strong jaw, his nose so perfectly highlighted by the light it's as if he was looking at a painting. But it was his eyes that Yusuf could not look away from. A soft green, the color of the shallow waters of the Mediterranean, of sea glass, of the moss that covers the forest floors.

The perfect shade of green.

#spacewitchqueen #ask #usrbkr writes #the old guard #tog fic #kaysanova #yusuf al kaysani #nicolo di genova #usertriz #demonicneonfishy #userhegel #userkayla #idk who else to tag #but enjoy this supremely late ficlet

[aimmyarrowshigh]

Hey Aim! 😊 I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed the hell out of Haiku and I honestly let out a little squeak of joy when I saw it and read it. Great work as always. I also wanted to ask you what’s one pairing you want to explore next year, which work of yours have you reread the most, and which was your favorite pairing (or y'nno, top six to nine) that you wrote for this year for Ao3 wrapped? Hope you're having a great day! 😚

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. ^_^ I've never done a Reverse Big Bang before, so it was a different sort of prompt than I normally use and it was a fun new exploration!

19. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

Ooh. This is tough, because I honestly write pretty much whatever tickles my fancy without regard for whether other people will read it anyway, LOL. I'm excited to post more Stucky longfic (YEAR OF FINISHING WILL CONTINUE INTO 2023) and to finish and post the Steve/Joyce. I do really want to try writing Eddie Munson/Wednesday Addams, if I can brain up a plot for it. Right now the idea is just Good Vibes. I'm excited about a lot of the Femslash February pairings that I'm planning on for 2023, as well. But there isn't anything that necessarily sticks out to me like, "oh I wish that I felt like I could write X but I can't," because I just... do the thing, usually.

20. Which work of yours have you reread the most?

Of all time? I think Cinnafic, probably -- it's the oldest thing I have posted that I'm still actually quite proud of at least most of, and I just reread it this year so it's in my head. I think the District 4 story in that series in particular is what I've reread the most of my own stuff. If I do say so myself, the Vibes in that story are Immaculate.

Of things I've written THIS YEAR, Five Times Captain America Fucked A USO Girl & One Time Steve Rogers Got Fucked. I was in a writing fugue state while writing it so I didn't hyper-edit myself the whole time and make myself sick of it while writing, for a change. LOL

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?

Oh man. I'm so bad at ranking pairings. I mean, I feel like I'd have to call myself a liar if I acted like anything other than Steve/Bucky were my OTP of the moment, but it's honestly kind of rare that I have a true One Pairing That I Like Best because I'm such a multishipper. I love writing Kate/Yelena. I love writing Gomez/Morticia, and I'm excited to write more Wednesday/Enid. I love writing just about any woman character/Velma Dinkley, hahaha. Dang who all did I even write for this year? I love Chrissy/Eddie :(((((((( my sweet doomed bbs. The pairings that I wrote the most this year are, in order, according to AO3:

Yelena/Kate

Steve/Bucky

Phryne/Jack

Booker/Nile

Joe/Nicky

Darcy/Wanda

Eddie/Chrissy

Katniss/Peeta

Gomez/Morticia

Andy/Quynh

But like, the pairing I wrote the most this year is still only 79/968 fics that I posted this year, so I've written A FUCKTON OF PAIRINGS.

#fanfiction ask meme #2022 fic wrapped meme #five places cinna came from #fandom #fanfiction #my fic