Moomin oneshots/headcanons!

Short snufkin x tall male reader!

((Requested by rowdyycat! Thank you so much for the request! I hope you enjoy and have a nice day!))

Being the tallest in your friend group was something you prided yourself greatly on.
Little my could climb you like a tree, you could pick everyone up without issue and had to look down at your friends to make eye contact.

The only one even close to your height was Sniff, but even he was a few inches short of your own height.
You'd honestly been insecure of your height all through your younger years, but soon embraced the stature you had with pride, who doesn't like a tall mumrick with a mischievous smile and a tendency to tease?

Honestly, poor Snufkin.

Snufkin and you had met through Snorkmaiden back when you guys were teenagers, he was nice and had a cute face, but you were no more than acquaintances for a good seven months.
When you started teasing him about his height was when he and you actually started being friends.

He was to your shoulder without his hat, so using his head to lean on and stealing his hat to wear on your own head or to pull out of his reach was a common sight when the two of you shared time together.
You'd sweep him off his feet and carry him around like a handbag and it would always end up with the two of you struggling in the grass as a laughing mess.
You never really called him by his name, using teasing nicknames like shorty, gremlin or you'd legit just call him small.

Today was no different.

You came up from behind in the forest, covered in flora and plant life to snatch his hat, making him look up at you with that cute look on his face of fake discontent,

"I see you have something of mine." You adjusted the hat to lean back on your head a bit, smirking down at him with a cheesy smile,

"Oh, do I?"

"Why, I'm sure that's my hat, unless mine has flown off somewhere and you just happen to have an identical." You resisted the urge to snort, smiling wider,

"Well, I am no thief as you know, I've always owned this hat!"

"Oh, have you? I've never seen you wear an item with such a look as my own." You finally caved, shoving his hat back onto his head, making the both of you laugh,

"I couldn't keep in my laugh any longer, I don't know how you stay so composed shorty." Snufkin huffed and fixed his hat, ruffling his bangs and looking up at you with the look that sent butterfly's up your spine,

"At this point, I'll have to start assuming you don't know my actual name." Your face felt hot, but you ignored it in favor of tipping Snufkin's hat down into his face,

"You say that, but I've said your actual name on many occasion." You walked in front of him, letting him tag behind while he, for the second time that day, fixed his hat,

"Oh? I'm sure you've only said my name in your dreams." Your stomach flip-flopped, all mighty, he never knew of the feelings he made sputter around in you,

"Hah! You wish to be in my dreams, maybe you're not so short in your's!" You squeaked as a pinch came to your swishing string tail, making you spin around with an embarrassed look on your face.
Snufkin covered his mouth, but his eyes betrayed him, showing you his cheeky smile even without his canines,

"Ugh, you're a cheater, y'know that?" Snufkin shook his head, walking ahead to follow the path created by deers.
You stumbled behind him, a hot faced mess of emotion,

"I am a cheater to an unfair game, maybe the only justice I'll ever serve." The two of you walked in undisturbed silence that sat comfortably in the air after that, continuing down the path before arriving at the beach's edge,

"Y'know (Y/n), could I perhaps ask you something personal?" The two of you sat in the sand and your gaze met his,

"Go ahead, I've known you long enough, what could possibly be too personal to ask?" He chuckled, shrugging,

"I was just wondering why you hadn't a significant other yet, many people love someone tall, you seem like a perfect man for many people in and around Moomin valley." Did Snufkin just- did he just call you perfect?

No- no you were overthinking it, he was just being polite- but that hue on his face and his fiddling with the sand made you think otherwise, so you decided to pry the only way you knew how.

Teasing.

"Awe, Snufkin, you think I'm perfect? Didn't think I'd have the rouge vagabond falling for me after all these years!" The mumrick huffed, flinging some sand at you as revenge for the teasing he had to put up with,

"That is none of your concern (y/n)."

"But you called me perfect."

"That's not the point."

"Stop avoiding it! You called me perfect!"

"Because you are!" Oh.

The two of you stared, both wide eyed and faces feeling much too hot to just be platonic feelings.
Snufkin groaned, pulling his hat over his eyes like you'd done for him earlier then proceeding to fall back into the sand, leaving you upright and embarrassed.

"You...you actually think I'm perfect?" Snufkin seemed to grip his hat tighter, silent for a moment before pulling his hat down to answer you, keeping eye contact from minimum to none,

"Of course I do, you're gorgeous, a beauty if I was selfish enough I would keep for myself like treasure from the deep caves.
You can't hide your emotions from people and you're so stubborn that it's endearing and you never cease your teasing and it's embarrassing to say that I like the attention you give me...." you looked out to the horizon, the sun slowly starting to set in a beautiful array of purples, reds, yellows and blues, the colors reflecting in your eyes,

"You want to know why I'm not taken yet?" Snufkin sat up, looking down at his lap, he seemed much too doubtful for your liking,

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to be the perfect man for anyone in or around Moomin valley, I want to be the perfect man for you." You didn't miss the way Snufkin stopped and his frame went rigid, face flushing up to his ears.

As the sun set, both of your clawed hands connected in the sand, creating a small, perfect shape of love in the crushed seashell dust.

This was the start of something beautiful.