Entry for the Last Ship Sailing Competition II

Round Seven

Prompts:

(word) delicious

(word) soon

(colour) black

(food) cookie dough

Entry for the Ultimate Doctor Who Competition/Challenge

Steven Taylor: Write about a Quidditch Player

I must once again thank Dina for betaing this – you're absolutely amazing!

All The Little Things

Nasty tongues claimed that Marcus Flint wasn't a very observant man, and the people who thought that he had troll blood in him probably assumed that he wasn't the brightest candle on the cake either, but in the end, they were all fairly wrong. Even though he hadn't been a scholastic talent at all, Marcus still possessed his own kind of wit on the Quidditch pitch and he noticed a lot of things that were going on around him; he only didn't comment on them, as his father's rough hand had taught him to keep his mouth shut.

He wasn't blind to his environment, and neither dumb – thus, it was obvious to Marcus which holiday was approaching, even though he was too busy to remember which day it was.

He could tell from the giggles that were coming from groups of witches that were gathered in front of the shops and from the panicked or puzzled whispers some wizards were exchanging as they hurried down Diagon Alley.

Valentine's Day.

At first, he shrugged, as the day had never had much meaning to him – at Hogwarts, there hadn't been anyone who would have wanted to be courted by him, at least he'd thought so –

and thus he didn't care about the fuss the people around him were making.

However, only a second later he felt the same panic rush through him that the wizards trying to find a gift must be going through.

Katie… would she expect him to give her a gift, or prepare something special for the 14th of February?

They'd been together for more than half a year, unable to suppress their attraction for each other anymore during a training camp with the Wigtown Wanderers, and he would describe their relationship as serious, which would definitely justify the expectation for a Valentine's Day gift. However, he wasn't the type of guy who came up with romantic gestures; he knew how to make Katie smile, how to lift her mood after a shitty day , but all that was tiny things, and the concept of big things like decorating the bedroom with candles and roses or giving her big gifts was something that he didn't understand at all. Adrian had once attempted to teach him, but ultimately his best friend had given up, throwing his hands up while declaring that while Marcus obviously loved Katie and knew how to make her happy, he didn't have a romantic bone in his body.

But Valentine's Day was about showing your partner how much you love them… it would need big actions to express that amount of emotion, and that thought made Marcus panic so much he almost Splinched himself when he Apparated home.

He needed a solution, soon.

OoO

"I'm still surprised you want our advice," Angelina said dryly while Alicia smirked triumphantly; Marcus could barely keep himself from shifting on his chair uncomfortably, hating how much they were obviously enjoying this situation.

"Johnson, Spinnet, just stop the shit and give me a hint what I could do," Marcus growled, shooting them glares across the table. It had taken quite a big chunk of his dignity to contact Katie's two best friends and ask them for help, as he'd anticipated this smug reaction already – oh, the things he did only for his Katie.

"Well, she would kill you if you did something kitschy or big and pompous that's drawing attention and just seems way over the top."

Angelina nodded in exaggerated agreement while Alicia talked and took a sip of her drink before adding: "And she also wouldn't approve if you bought her some expensive stuff, she hates that, actually. So no diamonds or jewellery."

The two women nodded, at the same time now, and Marcus raised an eyebrow – they hadn't said anything that he didn't know already. "That's all you can tell me?"

Alicia shrugged and Angelina gave him a look that was almost a glare before answering sharply: "We told you what not to do. Did you seriously expect us to tell you what to do? She's your girlfriend, Flint, so you have to come up with something on your own. Use that brain Katie claims you have and get creative. You'll come up with something."

"Yeah, I heard that pressure works well sometimes."

They smirked at him and Marcus leaned back in his chair with a defeated sigh, running a hand through his black hair. He felt no wiser now, and he probably was screwed – he wouldn't ever admit it to them, but they'd been his last hope, as Adrian and a couple of his other friends he trusted enough to ask for advice had responded the same way.

Overall, everybody had said that he needed to do something that fit Katie and symbolised something of their relationship.

He seriously hated them for making it sound so easy while he felt like he didn't have an inkling of what the hell they meant with that.

OoO

Valentine's Day approached fast, and with every day that passed without a miraculous enlightenment, Marcus got more and more hopeless. Katie didn't drop any hints during conversations, no matter how much he hoped that she would cut the topic, and he briefly thought that maybe he should just stop worrying and do nothing. Maybe she really didn't care about Valentine's Day – Marcus didn't share the belief of some of his male acquaintances that women were a hive mind and thus all were into fashion and expensive gifts – and he scolded himself for not paying closer attention for anything that would indicate how much romance she actually expected. She'd always looked happy when he did small things to make her feel better, but maybe she secretly wished for him to do something more special…

His mind wouldn't let the issue rest, and on the 13th of February he ultimately decided to use the least kitschy idea he'd managed to come up with, hoping that she wouldn't be disappointed with her uncreative boyfriend.

Katie had an appointment with the Witch Weekly magazine editor the morning of the 14th, which would end after lunch, giving Marcus enough time to prepare his little surprise for her (and to calm down after freaking out several times). When she would return in the early afternoon, he would have everything ready and she would hopefully like his idea.

He'd gone to his parents' place to pick some flowers from their garden and arranged them on the coffee table in the living room before turning towards the main part of his plan – the baking of Katie's favourite cookies in heart shapes. During his long hours of mulling over plans, he'd asked himself what made them feel most content when they were together, and had ultimately ended up thinking of the cold, rainy Sunday afternoons that they used to spend cuddled together on the couch. Wearing comfy clothes, they would drink hot chocolate and eat cookies while talking about whatever came to their minds, or sometimes she would read to him. Marcus had never been a big fan of reading, but listening to her calm voice while the rain pattered against the windows made him wish she would read every book in the world to him.

Those hours made him smile when he thought of them, and he hoped that Katie felt so too.

While he wasn't a complete catastrophe in the kitchen, he hadn't baked them himself so far, and he hoped that he would manage; to make sure he was prepared well, he'd consulted several cookbooks that contained the recipe to Katie's beloved chocolate cookies with chunks of white chocolate and walnuts.

As strategically as he approached Quidditch, he also worked his way through the steps of the recipe, taking his time while making the dough. He still had about two hours at least before she would come home, so he wasn't in a hurry when he neatly placed one heart-shaped cookie after the other on the baking tray. The smell of chocolate that was hanging in the air lifted his mood and made him feel a lot more confident about his idea.

However, his beautiful imagination of her laughing and kissing him while whispering sweet words of gratitude was crashed when he suddenly heard the fireplace lighting up, announcing the arrival of someone via Floo, and then he heard her voice exclaiming: "I'm home! Where are you, Marcus?"

Marcus froze for a moment, staring at the unbaked cookies in horror as he tried to think of a way to get her out of the house for another hour or so, but then he already felt her arms wrap around his waist. "Hey, what are you doing? Oh, cookies!"

Before he could stop her, she'd already reached for the bowl and scooped some cookie dough onto her finger to lick it off, making a noise of approval. "Wow, it's delicious, Marcus. Definitely the best I ever had. But why are you baking?"

Shuffling from one foot onto the other, Marcus hoped that she was joking – could it be that she'd forgotten which day it was? His voice was slightly raspy from nervosity as he replied: "It's… it's Valentine's Day and I thought I'd surprise you… I'm sorry, they're not ready yet, I thought you would come home later… I didn't have the chance to get the hot chocolate ready..."

"Aww, Marcus, that's so sweet!" Katie exclaimed, wrapping her arms tighter around his waist while looking up at him with a big smile. "But you really didn't need to do anything for me, Valentine's Day is so materialistic."

He gulped, feeling a little stupid, which she seemed to sense, as a moment later she rose to the tips of her toes, cupping his cheeks before kissing him softly. Marcus held her close, relief rushing through him as she whispered: "But thank you so much. This is wonderful."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. It even makes me feel a little guilty for not having anything for you."

Marcus lifted her off her feet for easier access to her lips, causing her to giggle and sling her legs around his hips, and the sound made his heart jump in glee. "I have you. That's the best present I could ever receive."

"That's the most kitschy thing I ever heard you say," she mumbled between kisses, her voice free of mockery, and he smirked while setting her down on the kitchen table.

"What can I say. You make me do things I normally wouldn't, Bell. Only for you."