#ethera’s writings🦁

[etherfraisie]

Endearment

—> in which Cove learns few terms of endearment for you

Pairings: Cove Holden x fem!reader

Tags: fluff, (maybe) a bit cringe. both of you are still nervous around each other. you’re still at the early stage of the relationship. tweaked the main story a little bit to fit the narrative in this fic. HEAVILY self-insert. Sets time in between step 2 and step 3. Reader is Indonesian for the sake of this fic.

Words:

Sayang = dear

Sayangku = my dear

Cintaku = my love

Kasih = love

Cantik = pretty

“Sayang.”

The moment Cove said that, you stop whatever you’re doing. The pen in your hand drops as you slowly look up to Cove who’s sitting in front of you.

It was faint, barely a whisper. The word almost drowned between the soft music that idly plays as you’re both doing your summer work. But you heard him nonetheless.

It’s been a while since you talked about your biological parents with your moms. Ma had told you that you weren’t born in America. You originated from Indonesia and your parents moved to America as your dad got a better job opportunity there. You weren’t old enough to remember all of your previous life before moving here. Faces of your biological parents are blurry, but you remember a few words of your, technically, mother tongue. Mom did mention how it was difficult for you to learn a new language at first. It took some time and practice, especially because you’re still so young.

Since then, you try to relearn your mother tongue. Trying to reconnect with your roots. Ma and Mom were worried at first. Scared that it’ll somehow change you, but they’re supportive nonetheless. Especially now after seeing the way you happily tell them random facts about your culture.

Cove is no different. He has always been your first supporter and this won’t be an exception. He has helped you find information about your culture in every way he can. He is always there beside you, for better and for worse.

However, you don’t remember ever learning the new language together. You had always just talked about the culture. Sure, Cove has shown interest about learning together in the past, but you know how difficult it could be to learn a new language. You don’t really want to fill his already full plate with something so small, you think.

So it’s shocking to hear him call you a term of endearment in your mother tongue. Cove’s face is red. Too red, actually. He’s never this red even when he’s saying one of his corny pickup lines. Knowing him, he probably has planned this for a few days now.

Seeing that there’s no reaction from you, Cove slowly opens his mouth again.

“Sayangku—“

“Stop, stop!” you cut him immediately, not able to handle how much his words can affect you. Your hand outstretched, grabbing a handful of his face and effectively stopping Cove from saying anything further. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?! When did you learn that?!”

Cove holds your hand that’s covering his face, pulling it away gently. He sheepishly answered, “a few weeks ago.”

“You…” At a loss for words, you sigh. Looking at him with adoration. “What am I gonna do with you? You know you don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to! I know how important this is to you, and it’s important to me too,” Cove quickly replied.

You laugh at his antics. Oh, surely one of these days he will stop with the unpredictable silliness. But you wouldn’t wanna change it any other way. You’re happy to see the next thing he’ll do that will surprise you.

“How much have you learned?” you ask. You rest your head to your hand, patiently waiting for his answer.

“Well, um.” He absentmindedly rubs the scar on his hand. “There’s the basics of introducing yourself.”

“And then you jump straight into the terms of endearment?” you tease which has an immediate effect on him as his face turns deep red and his eyes looking anywhere but yours.

“No! No… Well, yes, I kinda did.” He scratches the back of his neck. “Can you teach me more?”

“I’d love to!” You shoot up, happy to see him also invested in your culture.

You thought that was it because after that you both started doing your summer work again. The thought of teaching Cove about your culture makes you giddy. Your leg couldn’t stop bouncing in its place. But then Cove mumbles something.

“What is it, Cove?” You lean closer to him making sure to hear what he’s about to say.

“Can I call you that from now?” he says a little bit louder.

“Call me what?”

Cove takes his time to answer you again. His body language becomes more nervous as the second goes by, but he’s determined to talk about it so you patiently wait until he opens his mouth again.

“Can I call you sayang from now?” His voice keeps getting quiet as he says his question.

That’s it. Now he has done it.

You can feel your face getting warmer and to save you from embarrassment, you hide your face in your hands. Cove isn’t any better either. He’s not only rubbing his scar, but his whole arm now. Nervous over what you’ll say, he looks away from you and only steals a little glance while he waits for your answer.

After recollecting yourself, you slowly look up from your hands. Taking a peek of Cove, he’s still rubbing his arm slowly.

“Uh, yeah… sure…” you mumbles. Then you thought it wasn't a firm enough answer. “Yes! I’d love that! Call me sayang!”

The words had come out in a shout, which startled Cove. But he recovers immediately and laughs. The air surrounding you two isn’t as awkward as before now, as you both laugh about the silliness and how nervous you were a second ago.

Ever since then, Cove has never stopped calling you sayang. Quite the opposite, actually. He keeps adding more and more endearment in his vocabulary. ‘Sayang’ for everyday use, ‘cintaku’ when he’s feeling extra happy that day, ‘kasih’ and his puppy eyes are a common combo to melt your heart, and ‘cantik’ when he’s teasing you.

You couldn’t be more proud and Cove couldn’t be more happier to be able to help you.