Summary: You are in a relationship with an evil mastermind, and you have no idea about it.
You two met in a café.
He walked in ordered a drink and left while you were the one behind him in line.
After seeing him, you went back to the café almost daily.
You didn't even like coffee that much.
But the tall and handsome stranger kept you interested.
And to your surprise, he was just as interested.
Your relationship with him became romantic after the first date.
He invited you over to his place and had a lot of questions about pandas.
His obsession with the cute animals became obvious the moment you saw his home, he had a lot of panda-related things.
And he even got some from you.
He told you that during his work days, you wouldn't be able to meet but he would still text you from time to time, you understood and since you also had work, you completely agreed to only meet when you had the days off.
He would call you or text you on Saturdays and you two would meet up, you mostly went to the ZOO to see the pandas.
"Which one is your favourite animal?" he asked as you two were looking at the tigers.
"I'll show you." you grabbed his hand and dragged him to a different exhibit.
He looked at the animal up on the tree, sleeping, then he looked at the sign.
"Red panda." he said
"I think they are the cutest." you smiled as his eyes never left the animal sleeping up on the tree.
"Cute."
His voice was low and you barely heard him but you did.
Even so, his fascination with Pandas never stopped. He even got you a panda mug you brought into work.
Then it got to a point where he invited you over a Friday afternoon, so after work, you would head to his place with a small bag and you would spend the weekend there.
Then you would stay until Monday mornings and head to work from his place.
It was a simple relationship, filled with kind and sweet moments.
You would say you loved him.
But you didn't know much about him.
Him, on the other end, knew everything about you. He wanted to know from the moment he noticed you standing in line behind him.
But, how could a human capture his heart?
He wasn't sure, but you did.
He loved waking up, having you next to him, even just laying there was enough, but during colder days, you cuddled to his side, which he enjoyed even more.
He was sure he would never feel such a thing towards a human... and yet, he did.
He gave you his apartment key, hoping you would come over even more, damn you and your respect for his personal space!
Damn him for telling you that you could only come over on Friday afternoons.
You blink at the panda and then at your husband, pausing as he stares back at you, bangs covering his eyes but lips pulled into the way it would when he raises a brow at you.
“what is wrong, beloved?”
“…” you look down at the panda and then back at him. “…cute.”
He blinks at your words, ears turning pink from your compliment.
“…you’re the one who’s cute.”
You laugh sweetly at his compliment, corners of your eyes crinkling as you pat him on the back. Your husband is so cute.
He would beg to differ, but as he watches you laugh, same cuteness visible on your cheeks and he holds back the urge to squish it, he’ll let you live in your own fantasy this time. Maybe next time the two of you can match ears.
You somehow become good friends with this tall, dark, lowkey scary and intimidating guy, and you show him the stuff you like, the stuff that makes you go "I like this world. There are nice things in it", and unbeknownst to you, you become one of the reasons humanity doesn't get wiped out sooner.
Because if humanity disappeared and you became the last human specimen, you would be sad, wouldn't you? And he just can't have that happen. Not like that, not yet. He still needs to find a solution for this conundrum, because getting rid of humanity and of you with it is simply out of the question, for him.
And one day...
You're sad. Depressed, even. You can't see the good in humanity that day.
He doesn't know what happened exactly to put you in such a state, but you seem inconsolable.
Saying damning things about humanity and how there's no way of saving it, and maybe everyone should disappear, actually...
He lets you ramble and mope for a bit.
And once you seem done...
"Would it make you happier if something destroyed everyone else?"
You look up at him. A bit wide-eyed.
You eventually look down, ashamed.
"N- No... I don't think so..."
Too bad, he thinks, it would have been the best occasion to kill two birds with one stone, but humanity is saved again. For now.
Instead, he just grabs your hand and leads you to places you had first brought him to. And he speaks to you of all the good things you had talked to him about, all the things that made you go "There's still good in this world", and you help a grandma cross the street, and you help a kid find his mom at the zoo, and he buys you a panda plushie, even though you didn't ask for it.
He brings you back to your home, and on the way there, he buys some groceries. Once you're in front of your house, he asks to come in.
Turns out the groceries were meant to be your dinner.
He makes you a delicious soup, and you both eat it while watching videos of cute cats, funny dogs and adorable pandas.
Then he excuses himself on his way out, and you hug him while holding your new panda plushie.
"Thank you. I needed a friend like you, today."
Your words are stuck in his mind for two days straight afterwards.
POV: You look adorable and he needs to pet you. Now.
🐼
"What's the matter?" You finally asked him after noticing his restrained movements as you turned your head up at him. The dark, fluffy bangs covering his eyes made it hard to guess his normally aloof demeanor, but the way he had been fidgeting lately was enough to tickle your confusion.
"...It's nothing." He replied, although you noted the forced control in his strained tone while he acted nonchalant. You doubted him, eyeing him up and down.
He nearly took a step back at your narrowed gaze and stubbornly stayed silent, refusing to elaborate on his weird behaviour.
You lightly shrug in response, failing to realize that he was actually focusing on your hat. The panda hat... It looked too cute not to notice!
The knitted panda hat comforts you and it kept your head protected from the chilly day. Your hand patted the black, wooly ears after you readjusted it, completely oblivious to the tall man's inner struggle at your actions.
He gritted his teeth and clenched the fabric of his sweater in frustration. His pointy ears reddened slightly as he heavily fixated his gaze on your adorable knitted panda hat resting on your head.
By sheer impulse and an aggressive urge to express his feelings, he cleared his throat and grabbed your attention. Once he caught your gaze, his lips parted. Closing them awkwardly and grunted sharply in annoyance before he spoke up.
"May I... pet you?"
He muttered out hesitantly, his fingers trembling by his sides with a frown on his face. A flicker of emotions was shown on your face— bewilderment, thoughtful and finally understanding. A small realization and a small grin widened on you.
Without a word, you stepped closer to him and lowered your head, showing more of your knitted hat to him.
His breath hitched quietly at how easily you went along with his request, gulping dryly as he reached out to you slowly with a trembling hand.
You stood there patiently. Until a comforting warmth was laid on the top of your head. It moved carefully and gently as his big hand stroke your head. The soft wool beneath his palm sent a shiver down his spine as he imagined himself petting a real panda, and the sight of your knitted panda hat was encouraging it.
The two of you stayed there for quite a while, and you were stifling back your giggles as you watched his body trembling with excitement. His lips quivered at this tender moment and a small blush dusted his cheeks.