#everyone stop and look at the banner!! 🥺💖

[theflyingfeeling]

💖 it's here, it's pink, it's sparkly, and full of fluff 💖

Hiiiiii and welcome to witness my attempt at an Olli/Allu Advent Calendar, in which I'll give you ~a cute little something~ about these two idiots in love almost every day until December 24! My plan is to use prompts from this list to either write a fic based on the prompt or just some good ol' delulu thoughts if all else fails. I cannot guarantee there'll be a post literally every day, but I'm really excited to try this out and I thank you for your support along the way in advance 💝

The biggest thanks and a million hugs go to one of my favourite human beings @kraeuterhexchen for making the adorable banner!! I mean helloooooo?? 😭 Go show them some love ❣️

For December 1, the prompt list is titled One True Pairing Moments, and the prompt I chose was 'calling just to hear their voice' 🥺 You can read the fic below, I hope you like it <3

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PS. Even though this is an advent calendar of sorts, I'm not planning on making this particularly Christmassy. I hope no one minds terribly!

~

Falling for Aleksi had, in a way, sneaked up on Olli, at least if he fooled himself a little. He could pretend he didn’t feel any different about the man than he did about, say, Joonas or Tommi, but that strategy only worked for so long – that is to say, approximately until Aleksi as much as smiled softly at him from across a room or bumped his shoulder into his jovially when walking down the street and Olli would feel his breath getting caught in his throat or stumble in his words, his tongue tangled like shoelaces, which was so unlike him as well and frustrated him to no end. It really took a special kind of fool to not only develop some level of feelings for a friend, a colleague, a bandmate for Christ’s sake, but also become so hopelessly enamored with him that you rolled awake in bed in the dead of night, grabbing your phone and tossing it back on the nightstand again and again because you couldn’t decide whether or not you should, on some erratic 2 o’clock impulse, call him to let him know he was the very reason for your insomnia. 

Turning on his back, Olli groaned (only a little desperately) as he remembered losing himself in the lingering hug they had shared just before the arrivals lobby at the airport, inhaling Aleksi’s scent and wishing they wouldn’t have to go home just yet, even if Olli was more than ready to finally sleep in his own bed again. Ironically, ever since they had returned home from tour, Olli had spent night after sleepless night missing Aleksi terribly: his stupid jokes and playful banter that bordered on being flirtatious if Olli allowed himself the benefit of delusion; his quick, subtle smiles that probably meant nothing; his little touches Olli hoped meant something; his smell and his touch and the softness of his hair at the back of his neck, compared to which the blanket Olli was grasping in his fist was like sandpaper. (How he had come to know of the qualities of Aleksi’s hair in such detail, he preferred not to dwell on too much to save himself from the heartache, so let’s just leave it at ‘stressful, emotional week far away from home’ and ‘a little too much to drink’).

Above all, Olli missed Aleksi’s voice. He hadn’t even thought that was possible, until the other morning when Olli had woken up to a voice message Aleksi had left just hours earlier, rambling about a song idea he had gotten in the middle of the night – something he did from time to time – and Olli had spent the next several minutes replaying it over and over again as he had lied in bed procrastinating getting up and and instead closing his eyes to better imagine Aleksi lying there beside him, turned on his side to face Olli, talking to him sleepily like they often did when they shared a room on tour and were just too lazy to join others at breakfast. Much like the hug at the airport, Olli wished those moments would have lasted way longer than they did, often ending abruptly when either of their phones would go off with Santeri’s name on the screen, a passive-aggressive interruption to the soft, low tone of Aleksi’s early-morning thoughts. (Sometimes, when Olli was lucky enough, he had been blessed with the bliss of feeling the light touch of a fingertip tracing along his collarbone, cut short just as frustratingly by their well-meaning tour manager politely enquiring whether the two of them had plans of dragging themselves downstairs for some toast and coffee, or if they’d rather starve until lunchtime, for which he wasn’t at all sure they’d even have time that day.)

The lovesick idiot that he was, his thumb hovered over the ‘play’ button of Aleksi’s voice message, probably for the millionth time that week. The chest-carving hesitation turned into a heart flip when he noticed Aleksi was online.

Then Aleksi began to type, and Olli held his breath the entire time until a new message appeared in the thread, anticipation holding him by his throat.

You awake?

Olli exhaled and typed his affirmative reply, leaving out the reason why.

He blinked at the screen, waiting for Aleksi to ask him a random question that clearly couldn’t wait until morning, or perhaps talk about something related to another late-night Twitch stream (from what Olli had gathered, Aleksi had been doing a lot of those recently, and with his last remaining braincell Olli had managed to resist the temptation to watch every single one of them, because he knew that if he did, it would only dig his grave of pining and longing deeper, seeing Aleksi smile and giggle about but not being able to do that with him or snuggle up next to him when he was wearing that flannel Olli often used as a blanket in the tour bus). But instead of another text appearing on the screen, Olli’s phone began to vibrate in his hand, and it took him an embarrassingly long while to understand it was because Aleksi was calling him. 

“Hi,” he sighed when he finally collected himself enough to speak. He prayed he’d be able to hear what Aleksi was going to say from the thumping heartbeat echoing in his ears.

“Hi,” a soft voice said. “Sorry, I know it’s late…”

“No, not at all,” Olli hurried to say, “I mean, I wasn’t sleeping. Not even close, actually.” Part of him hoped Aleksi wouldn’t ask about it, but in some foolhardy way the possibility intrigued him. 

Nothing much, he would have likely said anyway, but what would happen if he told Aleksi how it really was? That he squeezed his pillow imagining it was him instead, or wailed into it because something had reminded him of a moment-that-was-probably-not-a-Moment™ they had shared? What would Aleksi say if he knew Olli sometimes touched himself the way Aleksi had touched him That One Night they never talked about? The only obstacle between Olli and that knowledge was a bottomless ocean of cold sweat and cowardice, and Olli had never been a great swimmer.

“So, ummm…,” Olli said when Aleksi’s end stayed silent. “What’s up?”

A short breath of laughter sounded through the phone line.

“Honestly? I don’t know, I… It’s just been a… weird week, I guess.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, like… my head’s just been so full of… everything and… I’ve been so busy and kinda tense and… fuck, this is going to sound crazy,” Aleksi laughed that brief laugh again, although to Olli it didn’t sound particularly cheerful. Tired, more like. Strained, somehow. Not sad, but definitely a little troubled, and Olli intended to find out why.

“I’m all for crazy, you know.” Olli hoped his sorry attempt to lighten Aleksi’s mood would work, and so he smiled in relief when he heard Aleksi chuckle at his comment.

“I know,” Aleksi said softly, in that tone of voice that had Olli melt against his bedsheets. “So yeah, it’s been a rough week, but… in between all that stupid shit, I’ve been thinking a lot about… umm… well, the tour and– and… about you, for some reason,” (the troubled laugh made its return) “and… yeah. That’s sort of helped me a lot recently.”

Olli listened to the words carefully, not fully believing what he was hearing, yet clinging on to them until they were all but swirling around in his otherwise empty head like dry leaves in October wind.

“And tonight I just couldn’t fucking sleep for some reason and nothing I did seemed to help and so I thought I’d call you. And I’m–” If it hadn’t been dead silent otherwise, Olli wouldn’t have heard the shaky breath Aleksi paused to take, “I’m sorry I’m calling you at this hour and bothering you with this all but I guess I just… wanted to hear your voice. To see if that would help.”

“Does it?” Olli asked. Aleksi’s confession had made him clasp his blanket close to his chest, as if that would do anything about his rapidly beating heart.

“Yeah. It does. So maybe just… keep talking?”

Despite his mind living a life of its own, completely unfit to form a single coherent thought, for Aleksi’s sake Olli tried his best to think of something to say, but everything he came up with was something he was not ready to tell him quite yet. 

“Uuummmm…” he said to buy himself some time, but while he waited for his useless brain and mouth to form any actual words, Aleksi spoke again.

“Fuck, I’m– I’m sorry, this is too weird, I shouldn’t have– I’ll let you go back to–”

“I miss you,” Olli blurted before Aleksi would hang up on him. He squeezed his eyes shut when Aleksi went silent, too silent for too long for it to mean any good.

The line stayed open, however, which Olli took as a positive sign, even if the seconds during which all Olli could hear was Aleksi's quiet breathing seemed endless.

“And I you,” Aleksi finally replied. “A little too much, probably, or at least that’s what it feels like,” he chuckled. Olli almost missed the quiet sniff that followed.

He had to steel himself for his next question.

“What do you mean?”

“Just… forget it.” Aleksi said quietly. Contrary to Aleksi’s request, Olli knew he was going to all but ‘forget it’ for the next 3-5 business days; mentally he booked all his evenings as well as most of his mornings and noons for pondering what exactly had been in Aleksi’s mind in that moment or why he had sounded so sombre, almost disappointed. He’d probably never come to any satisfactory conclusion about it though, at least not without a little help from Aleksi himself. 

A ridiculous idea popped into his head, and before he could stop himself, the words flooded out of his mouth.

“Do you wanna come over some time? To hang out? When your schedule’s a little less tight, I mean.” He sucked on his lips and closed his eyes as he waited for Aleksi’s answer, ready to hang up the moment he’d decline the offer on some obvious and logical reason for why Aleksi couldn’t possibly make nor want to take a trip to the north to see him, such as ‘didn’t we just spend over two months on the road together?’ or ‘damn, buddy, I miss you alright but not quite that much, I’ve done enough sitting in public transportation for one year, thank you very much lol’ or ‘what about Rilla?’

“You could take Rilla with you, you know.” Olli hurried to say, just in case, the deranged part of his brain thinking there might be a chance Aleksi might be at least considering it.

“Oh! Well, umm… I actually might have time next week? If– if you’re actually being serious about this.”

Funny you should ask, Aleksi; I’ve actually never been more serious about anything in my entire life than I am about having you here with me so that I can hold you and be held by you and see your face when I wake up in the morning and say goodnight to your annoyingly cute face instead of via text message and maybe, if the stars are in position and the northern wind won’t discourage me too much, I might actually be brave enough to torment you with the knowledge of just how miserable I’ve been since we last saw each other.

“I think it would be cool,” he said, because he had a feeling what he wanted to say would’ve been a tad too much and sudden. “I mean, if you’re up for it, of course. I understand if you can’t make it though, I know you have all those side projects.”

“No, I think it might actually do me some good to get out of the capital area for change.” Then there was a muffled ‘ouch’, followed by a laugh that sounded much brighter than any of the other ones Olli had heard from Aleksi that night. “Sorry, correction, it might do us some good. Rilla just told me she’s most definitely coming too. Rilla, stop nibbling on my toes!”

Olli smiled tiredly at the mental image that was painted in his mind of Aleksi and Rilla cuddling in bed, both minding their own business from what it seemed while still minding each other as well, very much indeed.

“I’ll be sure to set up a bed for her in the guest room.”

“The guest room? Do you not know her at all? If she’s not getting the master bedroom, she’ll ruin all your rugs and most of your shoes. Probably also gossip about you to all the neighbourhood dogs. And she’s brutal.”

Olli held his stomach as he laughed, tears almost forming in the corners of his eyes. In his defence, it was late and he was finally becoming tired, thus too far gone to help himself, let alone feel embarrassed about being in stitches about something Aleksi had said that was only mildly amusing. (It wasn’t the first time that had happened either, and likely not the last time.)

“So yeah, ummm, I can take a look at some flight options for next week and let you know, alright? I’m gonna let you sleep now and… I should get some myself too.”

Olli wanted to tell Aleksi he’d love to stay up chatting until dawn, but the yawn he let out when he opened his mouth to speak implied Aleksi had a point.

“Yeah, let me know. And… thanks for calling, I… you have no idea how much I needed this tonight.”

That was as close to a confession as Olli was able to get as of now.

“Probably not half as much as I did.”

Olli chuckled at Aleksi’s response, mostly to hide his own agony.

If only you knew. If only I knew how to tell you.

It didn’t take long for Olli to doze off after they hung up, and when he woke up to the kids from next door having a snowball fight under his window in the morning, he noticed new messages from Aleksi, sent half an hour after their phone call had ended, complete with screen captions of airplane schedules.

Would these days work for you? I might be free all week actually 😇

Olli cuddled into his pillow while typing his reply, hoping it wouldn’t wake up Aleksi.

yeah I’m free as well. I’ll pick you two up from the airport 🖤

From then on, Olli started counting the days until he’d see Aleksi again.

[bundleofyarrow]

Thank you for offering to do a matchup for me! 🥺❤️ I’m so excited! Here’s my info: Attack on Titan • men • definitely not a minor (31) • INFP • Gemini • physical touch & quality time (I also appreciate words of affirmation) • my pfp and the banner in my pinned post are pretty accurate & I’m 5’8” • empathetic, creative, introspective • reading, writing, cooking, hiking, yoga, afternoon naps • someone who’s patient, kind, has a good sense of humor (but knows when to be serious), romantic, thoughtful • coffee & bookstore, dinner & drinks (maybe dancing), picnic, drive-in movie

of course! you've been working hard doing everyone else's so i wanted to give you a little extra to show appreciation 💖 it was tough deciding between 3, but in the end, i decided to match you with...

💕 Compatibility 💕

As an INFP Gemini, it’s very easy for you to get lost in your own world once something grabs your curiosity. An intriguing piece of information, or an evocative lyric from a song, you lean into anything that feeds into understanding yourself or inspires your creativity. This is great because it motivates you to create and feel new experiences, though sometimes you go a little too far down the rabbit hole.

Being an ENTJ Libra, Erwin is attracted to intellectual challenges and finds himself in leadership positions quite frequently. People trust him because he’s very deliberate about making decisions, taking in as much information and perspectives as possible before taking action. It’s natural for him to take control and aim for perfection in all that he does, though he can have demanding expectations of both himself and others.

At first glance, it might seem like the two of you are complete opposites, but you do have one thing very much in common: both of you are voracious readers and have books for every subject and mood you entertain. If you’ve both enjoyed the same reading, you could talk about it together for hours, and that’s how you’d find common ground. Your first meeting probably goes something like this:

-

“Excuse me, I hope you don’t mind me asking…”

You jump a little, absorbed in the book you were reading. It was your lunch break and you decided to check the local bookstore for any new finds. Your eyes slowly rise from the pages to a striking looking man, a respectable distance away with immaculately kept hair. He looked like he was also just from work, in expensive looking slacks and a tastefully patterned navy tie that only made his blue eyes radiate more as he addressed you.

“…how is that so far? Any good?”

Blinking in minor shock that someone so attractive is suddenly talking to you, it takes you a second before you slowly nod, picking up to a more normal speed as you realize he’s asking about a book by your favorite author.

“The opening chapter drops you right in the middle of everything and I haven’t been able to stop reading. It’s amazing so far!” You blush a little when you realize that you’ve probably been loitering in the store a bit. “Definitely buying it to binge read this weekend.”

A polite smile crosses his lips. “That’s bittersweet to hear. She’s my favorite author, but it seems like that’s the last copy in the store.” He checks his watch. “This is the third bookstore I’ve been to and I haven’t been able to find a single copy.” A small sigh escapes as he turns. “Oh well, I’ll just have to wait until someone restocks. Shame, I was looking forward to it.”

“Wait,” You could barely believe what your brain was making your mouth say. “I’m definitely going to read through all of this soon, and maybe if you want, you can borrow my copy when I’m done?”

His eyebrows raise a little in surprise. “You would do that?” The man’s eyes seem to sparkle as you nod, now a bit sheepish in how bold you were. “Then, would you mind telling me your number…?”

-

Once you spend more time together, your differences will begin to complement each other. Erwin is prone to losing himself in his work, and appreciates how you help him relax and set aside time for himself. He is a bit of a people-pleaser and takes on too much responsibility, but you always find a way to remind him that he’s more than his job. In return, Erwin is an anchor for when you get overwhelmed by things in your daily life or what’s happening in the world at large. He’s always able to figure out the right thing to do or say whenever you’re having an emotional response, and over time learns your tells for when you need some grounding.

💕 The Relationship 💕

Domestic life between the two of you was a bit of an adjustment, but works surprisingly well. Whenever Erwin is working from home, he’s very absorbed on his laptop and his phone is always demanding his attention. Between emails and meetings, he would drink coffee standing up and attempt organizing the bookshelves burgeoning with both of your collections. At first this was a bit anxiety-inducing for you, but after seeing you do some at-home yoga to center yourself, he would stop what he was doing and join you. If he ever spotted you reading a book he’s read (which, admittedly, you’ve done in his line of sight on purpose), he would peek over your shoulder to see where you were at and ask how you were enjoying it. Erwin also had a habit of dozing on the couch come the afternoon, usually when he decided to read a book on a lunch break. After rescuing the book from his body weight, you were more than happy to join him for a cat nap.

But in return, Erwin would make sure to remind you of plans the two of you have made well in advance so you could get in the right headspace for social activities or errands. There was a tendency for you to get lost in whatever you were doing whenever you go any amount of time undisturbed, and he’d gently ease you back into reality with a kiss on your palm and setting down your favorite tea to eventually join him with. You also have a habit of reading twelve books at once, and he dutifully puts bookmarks in open pages and stores them on a shelf he designated for your current rotation.

Making sure that the two of you set everything aside and had quality one-on-one time with each other is central to your relationship. Erwin’s schedule was always aggressively booked and you needed plenty time and space for your own creative work and self-care. You got used to Erwin scheduling alone time for the two of you, no matter how casual (he would literally write “be lazy and watch tv” on your shared calendar), and after a few frustrating interruptions, he’s learned to put his phone away where he can’t reach it, either in another room in the house or in your bag instead of his pocket. But seeing how important his work is to him, and how time-demanding it is makes you feel special when he makes sure you and only you is who he’s paying attention to when you spend time together. The amount of eye-contact he gives you alone would make you feel like the center of his world.

Erwin really likes taking you out on more traditional dates, but always of the highest quality. He’ll read about a new restaurant with good reviews, and if it’s one of the cuisines you enjoy, books reservations immediately and tells you to keep your calendar clear that day. If the two of you don’t have a lot of social plans, and the weather is nice, you’ll tug him away from the computer to do a picnic at your favorite park. He always acts surprised and thankful when you share the sandwiches you’ve made for the both of you, and cleans out the jam you’ve learned to make with pastry that he picked up on the way to the park.

The both of you also enjoy weekend trips out of the city to be in nature, you would pick the spot and he would plan the details. Sometimes he’d book campsites based off things you casually show him, like if you were currently obsessed with waterfalls or a certain aesthetic, just to surprise you. He would do bird watching and plant identification while you took some time for yourself and did some writing out in nature. Between the two of you, you were the more skilled cook, but he insists on helping with prep work and doing the cleaning. You learned Erwin deeply enjoys eating grilled foods under the stars, he would positively beam at you the entire time. Something about being under the night sky with you, fire crackling and moon shining, brings out the extra romantic in Erwin. He was raised to be respectful to his partners, and tries to be a gentleman at all times. Often you’re the one who has to initiate physical touch, but he would respond as if touching you is always on his mind. Maybe it would go something like this:

-

“Oh look, we even have fireflies tonight!”

As the light fades from the sky, white lights dot the sky and soft yellow ones float around you among the trees. You hear a satisfied hum from Erwin just behind your shoulder, close enough to be heard over the pops from the campfire.

Looking down, you see that your right hand is close to his on the blanket you’re sharing. Your pinky instinctively reaches out to brush his fingers. His palm immediately moves to cover your hand, fingers lacing in between yours. Your gaze returns to the stars and you lean back a little, pressing lightly against his chest. This prompts Erwin to wrap his free arm around your waist and draw you into his lap, where you can feel his chest rise and the breath from his exhales. You can’t help but let out a satisfied sigh, which encourages him to place a slow and light kiss at the nape of your neck. When you move your neck to expose more skin to him, Erwin wastes no time putting his lips on you, as if he’s been thinking of this moment the entire time.

“You’re so beautiful under the stars.”