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aeriarchives · 3 months ago

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John the Apostle | A Name Meant For You | Romantic

When you and your friends go out to town to distribute notices on Jesus’ upcoming sermon, your betrothed John has an accidental slip of the tongue.

Requested by Mary

Upon setting the final stroke with the reed pen, you let out a sigh and put it aside, grabbing your wrist in order to massage your aching joint. As you move your hand, you look up at Mary, who is just finishing the final notice, having a more graceful handwriting than your own.

Another difference between the two of you is that her fingers are still relatively clean, which cannot be said about your own. Dark ink stains your fingertips and the side of your hand where you had accidentally brushed it over the parchment, making for messier flyers than the one the woman from Magdalene had written. No matter, for the message is all the same. You rub at the marks on your hand to no avail as you watch Mary gather everything into one pile.

“We’ve got quite a few,” she comments with a soft smile, concern crossing her brow as she sees you massaging your palm. “Are you alright?”

You smile at her. “Oh, yeah. I’m just not… Just not used to writing so much, you know? It has been quite some time since I’ve actively had to write something down for… How long have we worked on these? Two hours on end, without any breaks?” You blow a loose strand of hair out of your eyes and shrug. “The last time I wrote, I was trying to send my eema a letter. Turns out that we were visiting my hometown anyway, so I never ended up finishing it.”

Mary smiles, amused at your quip. “So,” she begins, “Why don’t you go to try to get these stains off whilst I go and get the other women to join us so that we can hand these out?” Finding that a good plan, you rise from your seat and stretch your sore back, heading over to the nearby creek.

John and Thomas are just busying themselves with their chores whilst Ramah chats their ear off about something the son of Zebedee is honestly not really paying attention to, when Mary Magdalene approaches them. “Hey guys,” she speaks up, “Ramah, the notices are done. Are you ready to head out?”

“Oh, yes!” the former vintner exclaims, getting up to join her friends into town. For a moment, John is relieved at the peace and quiet that is to follow, when he realises that the stack of parchment sheets in Mary’s hand means that you are headed out as well.

“Uh,” he begins, “Who is joining on your trip into the city?” Mary turns to John as he asks this.

“Ramah, (Y/n), Tamar and myself, of course. Why do you ask?”

“Did you… Do you girls need a chaperone?”

Mary shakes her head reassuringly. “Oh, no, we are just going to hand these out and perhaps hang a few on the local notice board. We will be back before dusk, if that’s what you are afraid of.”

John swallows hard and shifts in his seat before getting up, causing Thomas to look up at him.

“Would you like me to—”

“—You better not leave me to prepare this meal by myself,” the man from Tel Dor warns. “See how I’m letting Ramah go into town with her friends without worrying too much? You should try it.”

The younger Thunder huffs. “Oh please, you know as much as I do that you won’t stop talking about her until she returns.”

Thomas gives him a challenging look. “And you about (Y/n), so there.”

John narrows his eyes and sighs. “I’ll be right back.”

“You better,” Thomas responds, obviously not fond of the task at hand. Mary hums and smiles a bit, calling after John.

“She’s at the creek!”

John changes the direction he’s headed into with a quick word of thanks over his shoulder.

“Shalom,” the younger Thunder announces himself, and you nearly fall forward into the cold water of the stream as you yelp. You quickly regain your balance without slipping.

“Oh, hello John,” you smile at your betrothed as you look over your shoulder before turning back to scrub the ink from your fingers to your best ability.

The Disciple observes you for a moment. “I… Heard you were going into the city to hand out the notices?”

You straighten out, a little off-balance, and John puts a hand on your lower back to steady you.

“Yes, I am,” you say, rubbing the dark marks from your skin. John looks at it for a long moment.

“Is it working at all?”

You shake your head, sighing as you gesture at the bar of soap you had tried as well.

“No, but I’ll probably smell of lavender for the rest of the week.”

John grins softly at that and presses a kiss against your knuckles, causing you to blush. “Hm, you’re right. They do smell nice.”

Giggling, you gently swat his arm with your other hand. “You’re being such a charmer.”

“Can you blame me?” John responds before his grin falters a bit. “Hey, I heard that you aren’t bringing a chaperone.”

You hum and pick at a thread on his tunic. “That’s true, we’ll only be out for like an hour and a half.”

John lowers his gaze to watch you fiddle with his item of clothing, the gesture making his heartbeat pick up in speed and a possessive feeling swells inside his chest. “Thomas wouldn’t appreciate it if I were to tag along.”

A small smile tugs at your lips. “I don’t blame him. I mean, who even likes carrots to begin with?”

“Try peeling them,” your beloved muses, causing you to laugh softly.

“Anyways, don’t worry about me too much. You know that we won’t get ourselves into trouble as much as you guys do.”

“Especially Jesus.”

That makes you chuckle. “Yes, He has a tendency to upset the crowds that have the most influence, after all. But I mean it; we will be back before you know it.”

Your betrothed sighs and inspects you for a long moment, drinking in all the details of your face as if it is the final time he will ever get to see you. “What if you run into Pharisees who protest your actions of distributing flyers? You know how they think about women performing certain ministry acts…”

“It is not as if we are going to hand them out in the centre of the Temple Square or in the courtyard of the Synagogue, love,” you reassure him, patting his chest gently. The thread you had been picking on is only unravelled further now. “We are all going to stick together. There is no person in their right mind who would openly harass a group of women in public, right?”

John shrugs. “Well, I would definitely see Shmuel doing a thing like that.”

You hum and smirk. “Oh, well, he’s the exception.” The two of you smile at one another. “But I think it is adorable you’re being so protective of me.”

“I’m going to be your husband after all,” John reminds you, a thought that makes your chest happily swell. “But please, promise me that you are going to be careful, baby—”

Your heart does a little jump inside your body. The nickname leaves his lips before the younger Thunder can even realise it has formed on his tongue and his eyes widen, part of him hoping desperately that you haven’t picked up on it. You being as perceptive as you are, have of course heard what he said loud and clear.

“What was that?”

“Just be careful.”

You bite your lip, frowning in mock seriousness, “No, after that.”

John’s cheeks turn deep red as he realises that not only have you figured out that he called you by such a soft and intimate nickname, but that you are teasing him about that little slip of the tongue as well.

“It just… It escaped me before I knew it.”

“What escaped you exactly?” you press on. John knows pretty well that you just want to hear him say it again.

“That pet name.”

“Which one? Honey? Sweetheart?”

Letting out a sigh of defeat, John lowers his gaze, swallowing hard as he considers saying it again. “Baby. You are my baby, right? I think it suits you.”

You hum, shifting back and forth a little as you are more than pleased to hear the repetition of the pet name. “You’re not going to let me hear the end of it, are you?” John groans in playful annoyance. You shake your head, grinning from ear to ear.

“You can bet your last shekel on it, my love,” you muse, leaning closer to kiss his cheek. “Now, I think my friends are waiting for me to come with them, so… Why don’t you say goodbye to me properly before I go on my lengthy, dangerous trip to the market?”

Rolling his eyes, John feels a wave of gratitude and kisses the back of your hand again. “I will see you later, my darling,” he breathes happily, thankful that the two of you have such light-hearted banter without anything ever becoming truly awkward.

“See you soon,” you step away, looking at him with a soft smile over your lips, “Baby…”

The moment you call him by that exact same name that John had just said to you does something to him. The younger child of Zebedee nearly gawks at you as he watches you walk off to the other women, a playful air about you when you join them at the other side of camp. With one final glance over your shoulder, you wave at him. Your betrothed shyly returns the gesture before sidling back to Thomas, who has an exasperated look on his face.

“Finally, I was already beginning to wonder if you’d ever return before I peeled— What are you— What’s with that smile? Cut it out, man, is weirding me out.”

John shakes himself out of it and runs a hand down his face. “Oh, uh… I accidentally called (Y/n) by a pet name that was unintentional.”

Thomas frowns. “Unintentional?”

“I mean, I did mean it, but… What I’m trying to say, I don’t think it was that appropriate, since we aren’t married yet.”

The man from Tel Dor snorts a small laugh. “What? Don’t you two call one another ‘love’ and ‘honey’ and ‘sweetheart’ all the time?”

Nodding slowly, John sighs. “Well, yes, but—”

“—Now what nickname did you call her by that has you as red as that?”

John nearly feels too embarrassed to say it out loud. “I called her ‘baby’.”

For a few long beats, Thomas is silent as he looks at his friend. “That’s it?”

“Well, yes, don’t you think it’s—”

“—That’s what you’re worried about?” Thomas chuckles, shaking his head. Although he himself is not experienced in the slightest, for Ramah has been his one and only ever since they were in their mid-teens, he knows that John is breaking his head about nothing strange.

“But it’s so… I don’t know, informal?”

“And?” Thomas shrugs. “Does it matter? Are you going to address her by her full legal name every time you talk to her or something?”

The notion is so ridiculous that John cannot help but laugh, and it eases the tension.

“If anything,” Thomas admits, “I am certain that she loved hearing it.”

The former vintner is definitely hitting the nail on the head right there, for a small walk away, as you head for the nearby village to advertise the upcoming sermon Jesus is going to give, you are gushing happily about John to your friends and what happened just before you left.

“He called you what?!” Tamar gawks, “Oh, that’s adorable!”

Mary laughs as well, “That’s just the cutest thing I’ve heard all day. The two of you are so good together, (Y/n).”

Biting your lip, you blush heavily and sway left and right a little shyly whilst casually strolling down the road. “It felt really nice to hear it out loud, too,” you muse dreamily, a happy sigh leaving your lips.

“In that case,” Ramah concludes, holding the flyers up in the air, “I suggest that we’d hand out these things as fast as we can, so that you can return to your lovely husband-to-be so that he can call you all the pet names under the sun, alright?”

How can you ever argue with that? With a happy spring in your step, you head towards the village, barely able to contain your excitement about heading back to camp in a bit.

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aeriarchives · 4 months ago

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-Pray for the outcast & persecuted - that they are welcomed & embraced in God's Kingdom -Pray for victims of injustice - that Jesus restores what they have lost -Pray for those in danger - that the Good Shepard brings them to safety -Pray for the betrayed - that they know God's faithfulness & devotion -Pray for the misled & manipulated - that Jesus guides them to Truth -Pray for the desperate - that they rely confidently on God's providence -Pray for those who have failed in worldly endeavors - that they find true treasure in Heaven -Pray for those suffering in body, mind, & spirit - that the Divine Physician cures all of their ails -Pray for the grieving & mourning - that they find consolation & hope in the Resurrection -Pray for the absent - that they gain an active & attentive life with God & their neighbor -Pray for the misunderstood - that they feel the loving gaze of Christ who knows their hearts & minds perfectly -Pray for the friendless & lonely - that they experience the friendship of God, his angels, & his saints -Pray for the forgotten & abandoned - that they know that Christ is with them always -Pray for those who have no one to pray for them - that they never be without our spiritual support -Pray for the sorrowful & crestfallen - that they receive unfailing joy in Heaven -Pray for the despairing - that they find hope in the Gospel -Pray for those battling vice - that through the Holy Cross they overcome every temptation -Pray for those pursuing virtue - that they imitate Christ in all they do -Pray for the confused & uncertain - that they discern God's will & have the courage to do it -Pray for the remorseful - that they will come to know the boundless mercy of Christ crucified -Pray for the doubtful - that the Good Teacher brings them the Truth -Pray for those struggling with self esteem - that by looking into the mirror of Christ they may realize their goodness -Pray for those who feel unworthy - that they know they are always the Father's beloved son or daughter no matter what -Pray for those who feel useless - that they know God did not make them to be useful, but to be loved -Pray for those who feel purposeless - that they find happiness in the calling which God has made them for -Pray for the apathetic, nihilistic, & depressed - that they find meaning in this world & the next -Pray for the self-hating - that they soon love themselves as Christ loves them -Pray for the suicidal - that they know how precious they are in the eyes of God and will embrace the precious gift of live -Pray for the dying - that the grace & comfort of God be with them in their final moments -Pray for the souls of the faithful departed - that they rest in peace -Pray for all of us sinners - that we receive the prayers which we need so much

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