The moment they stepped into the house, they got attacked by Brett. Vera couldn't suppress her smile. She was not over the fact their black dog was named Brett, ever. She had gotten various responses to her instant messages from her friends, but mostly they had been something along the lines 'lol' and 'you're shitting me'. Brett hadn't answered. Yet.
"Brett, down!" her mum yelped as his paws went on Vera's jeans, but the dog didn't care in the slightest, his tail wildly swinging and Vera would swear the puppy was smiling when she scratched his ears.
"Hi, pup. Hey, mum."
"I don't know if you ate, but I defrosted the wedding minces from Marky. If you want."
"Oh, thanks."
"Corner mince is there too," her mum prodded and Vera's eyes went wide, shooting her a look or horror, resisting the urge to shake her head violently. Perfect. When it wasn't the bouquet tossing, another brilliant tradition was there to scare Matt. Who invented this stuff anyway?!
"Thank you, Mrs .Machackova," Matt noted politely, giving her mum a smile, even though he had obviously no idea what she was talking about. Her mum smiled back brightly, not even admonishing him for addressing her wrong. Vera rolled her eyes.
"We ate a little something. Thanks, mum."
"So there a little space for the mince, huh?"
"Mum, he doesn't know the tradition. Please don't scare him. He might run away."
"I picked up something about a tradition...?" Matt asked hesitantly and Vera cursed mentally.
"Oh, yeah. It's the corner mince. When two people who are in love – not married, though – are invited to a wedding, the corner mince is added to the invitation. They should share that one," her mum explained easily and Vera made a face, warning her not to go further.
Matt looked at Vera, puzzled by her sentiment. "So you're just being greedy? Is it that good?" he teased her lightly and Vera sighed.
"Nope. What mum didn't say was that it should be eaten under a table. I— I don't want to make you crawl under a table, Matt. It's not that I mind sharing."
"Sharing is caring..." he hummed, sensing she was keeping something else from him, not sharing. Smart-ass. He shrugged. "I don't mind crawling under the table."
"See? You're overthinking things."
Her mum didn't explain the point of tradition though. Vera was incredibly grateful.
"What else is new..." Vera muttered under her breath. "You know that I might end up sharing it with Brett if you don't hold him during this ridiculous tradition, right?"
It was ridiculous. Vera had already been to one wedding, she already had shared one corner mince and she hadn't gotten married soon – as a matter of fact, a year later she had ended things with David. Lucky charm, wasn't it?
"It sounds cute," Matt noted, feeling the chair, moving it away so he could creep under the table. Vera looked up to the ceiling, shaking her head. Why was everyone insisting on ruining her relationship? Including Matt?
As expected, Brett followed Matt, thinking it was some kind of a new game. Vera's mum called him away, keeping him on place.
"I'm waiting, miss Machackova." Matt grinned and Vera chuckled, taking the stupid mince with her.
"Are you gonna tell me?" he challenged her in low voice as she crawled next to him and she just shook her head. She broke the mince in half. "I'll find out anyway, you know."
"You don't want to know, Matt."
"I'm pretty sure I do. So, are you gonna kiss and tell?"
"Can we just do the first part?"
Matt made a doubtful noise, chuckled, but leaned in, pecking her lips. Vera grinned when he withdrew and kissed him again. And again.
"That was three times. You owe me the 'tell' part."
"Later." Never. "And this was barely a kiss."
His lips were on her ear instantly, brushing gently. "Then yes, later."
---
Vera hated this, she really did. Marky had given her the dress for bridesmaids. The colour looked even worse than in the picture. It wasn't green, it wasn't lime— and was that a hint of blue? It was... something. Vera would be able to live with that – if anything, Matt couldn't see the colour, the material felt rather nice and the design wasn't bad either, short cut, simple. The dress wasn't perfect, but she would handle that. However, her hair... she wanted to cry.
"Ugh!"
That was the most comprehensible thought she was able to vent. Vera hadn't gone to a hairdresser to make the hair look okay, because that would mean cutting them again, and she wanted long hair. Matt wanted her to have long hair too. The problem was there was a certain period between fashionably short and long hair.
Guess what, Veronika, that period is now.
A light knock on the bathroom door made her head snap up. "Yes?"
"Can I come in?" Matt asked carefully and Vera sighed, humming in agreement. There was nothing incriminating he should be sensing. He peeked in. "You okay?"
Vera didn't even manage a smile, pouting, and Matt let himself in, closing the door again. He embraced her gently, kissing her goddamn hair. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"I hate my hair!"
"I like your hair," he protested softly, playing with its ends to support his exclaim. Vera was vaguely sure that what he said was an understatement. "I'm glad it's finally growing back."
"Well, I can't do shit with it. It won't hold in anything and I don't like it hanging loose. With the combination of the dress and this, I'll look like a fairy high on angel dust."
His body tensed and his nose nuzzled in her hair deeper; he was clearly holding back laugh. Vera frowned harder, trying her best to ignore the comforting stroke on her back, because Matt was laughing at her that was not even close to comforting.
"That's oddly specific." He loosened their hug, raising his hands to the disaster on her head, running his fingers through it with adoration. "Can I?"
Vera had no idea what he was asking, but melted when seeing his smile while he mapped her scalp and she hummed in agreement automatically, losing the pout.
His fingers started moving rather systematically and it took her a while to realize. Because she would never think of something like this being possible.
"Are you braiding my hair?" she asked him incredulously despite knowing that it was exactly what he was doing. Since when could Matt braid hair? Even if he could, somehow, since when did he just braid her hair?!
"Shhh," he soothed her, his expression getting focused as he got engaged in the surreal action. Vera obediently closed her mouth. It wasn't like she had anything else to say. She was too astonished to speak anyway.
Minutes passed, or maybe hours. Vera honestly didn't care, relaxing into his touch. It felt nice. Then he stopped, tilting his head, as if he was evaluating his work. He gently turned her around, her hair still in his fingers since he had no hairband.
"See, how about that? Just a very cute fairy. Without the drug addiction," he chuckled, traces of uneasiness in his voice, afraid of the verdict. Vera... stared.
The work wasn't perfect, but... it actually did look kinda cute. It was simple, just two rather loose braids, high on sides of her head, connected into one on the back. She would do it in three, five minutes tops, yet it was... pretty great.
The expression of the Matt in the mirror grew more nervous. She smiled at the reflexion, aware he couldn't see it. She reached for a hairband, taking the hair from him hands. He offered her a hesitant smile. She rewarded him with an enthusiastic kiss.
It took them about half of a minute to get her seated on a washing machine, letting him between her thighs, giving in to an inappropriate make out session. Vera was slightly amused – he didn't play with her hair this time, mostly tracing her face or the rest of the body, cautious not to ruin his masterpiece. His hair wasn't out of limits though which she might and might not shamelessly abuse. She felt the heat quickly rising in her lower abdomen, persuading herself it was okay to tug him closer.
By the time Matt winced, hearing someone at the stairwell, she wasn't the only one who was apparently excited. Dammit. She did not want her parents to know— well, they probably figured her and Matt weren't exactly platonic, but they didn't need to see it. She nipped Matt's lip for the last time, maybe a little desperate, rewarded by his low whine, and let her hands fell from under his shirt.
God, almost five days. They rarely lasted five days ever since he had come back (with the exception of... well). It was a fact. Physical love was... important aspect of their relationship, sue them. No seriously, sue them, Matt would crush anyone who would try.
He rested his forehead against hers, breathing heavily.
"You know you're slowly killing me, right?" he rasped, his fingers still digging in her thighs and ass.
Vera licked her lips, eyeing his crotch subtly. "I have a vague idea. It's not like you don't know what you're doing to me."
His breath caught in his throat. He looked a little in pain. "That's probably the worst part," he complained and Vera felt the blood rushing to her cheeks, pressing her lips together to stop herself from saying something... well, something. One of his hands travelled to her chin, fingers running over her lips – she subconsciously released the tension in them, letting him examine the swelling he caused.
"Knowing you want me back... it's the best part too," he breathed, forcing a tight smile.
Vera smiled honestly, kissing his thumb lightly.
"Come on. You take a shower, I'll make tea. Big day tomorrow."
---
"You figured out your hairstyle? Nice."
Vera almost had a heart attack when she heard her mum appear behind her back. Vera spun to her, hand on her chest.
"Sorry. Didn't want to startle you," her mum noted apologetically.
"I was just... thinking, Sorry. It was Matt, actually," Vera hummed, slightly embarrassed.
"Really? He braided your hair? Does that happen often?"
"Nope. Never. I think he aims to impress you," Vera grinned as her mum examined her hairstyle curiously.
"He's doing well then. He's... he really likes you, honey. If he's still trying to make up for the lost months, I cannot be angry with him. Can't blame him for playing maybe even dirty; he wants you to stay with him in US, badly."
"Oh, you got all that from him braiding my hair," Vera chuckled, slightly embarrassed. She knew he was trying hard. And he was being very successful, because she couldn't imagine him not being here or him just disappearing from her life; it would fucking hurt like hell.
"No. From the way he's acting around you," her mum explained softly, gentle smile on her lips. "He's blind – though I think he's well adjusted –, but he's still trying his best to be a gentleman. And he really cares about you."
Vera was puzzled by the emotion behind her mum's voice – she could tell her mum meant what she was saying, but there was a hidden note Vera couldn't quite decode. It almost sounded like a question... or a secret.
"Oh. ... Uhm. Well, I care about him, obviously. Can you really tell all that just from-" And then it hit her. "Ježišmarja, did you interrogate him? Did you— did you give him a shovel talk?"
"Can't blame your mum for being curious and protective!" she protested immediately, throwing her hands up just a little.
Vera stared at her in horror. Vera knew her mum was a marshmallow most of the time and probably hadn't scared him. However, she was also confident it couldn't have been a pleasant experience for Matt.
"Šmarja, MAMI!"
"I'm serious, Verčo. He's taking you over the ocean for another year at least, I'm not-..." Her voice suddenly sounded weak, unfamiliar creak in it and she had tears in her eyes. Something clenched Vera's heart painfully.
"Oh, mama." Vera left the cups on the counter, making her way to her mum, wrapping her arms around her. She returned the hug so fiercely Vera felt like in a freaking vice.
"I miss you, sweetheart. He's stealing my babygirl from me. I have to make sure I'm letting her into the right hands," she tried to justify herself and Vera hummed in response, wordless 'I understand, I'm not mad'.
"I miss you too, mum. So much. All of you." Her mum caressed her hair, careful not to ruin Matt's work. It made Vera smile through the tears that were gathering in her eyes. Again. "...And what's the verdict? Are his the right hands? Or you haven't decided yet?"
Her mum loosened her hold slightly with a huff. "He's older."
"MAMI!" Matt wasn't that old. He was seven years older. It would be different if she were still a teen, but they were both adults. Seven years weren't too many.
"And he's blind. I have no idea how despite all that I'm so far convinced they are," she muttered exasperatedly and Vera grinned.
"He has that effect on people."
"...And dogs."
"And dogs, apparently. That's a new one," Vera admitted, remembering the adorable image of the puppy exposing his belly for Matt to scratch, doggy smile and tail swinging happily.
"Haven't seen him interact with animals so far?"
"Nope."
"It's a good character barometer," her mum noted knowingly and Vera sighed, resting her head against her shoulder. Her mum giving her life advice and wisdom. The stinging in her eyes got more intense, so she quickly directed her thoughts the right and less teary way.
"I know. I think I'm gonna frame the picture."
"Good thinking." They fell in short comfortable silence until she spoke again, playful note. "You warned me he's gonna be polite and charming, you didn't warn me he's going to be cute. He's a grown man. He's not allowed to be cute. Šmarja. Now go, don't keep him waiting."
She patted Vera's arm lightly, not really letting go. Vera didn't want to let go either, not now.
"He's gonna get more than enough of me later. Now I'm talking to you," Vera muttered, sending Matt a silent apology. Her mum only reconsidered shortly.
"Okay. I guess he can handle few more minutes, can't he?"
"Yep."
---
Vera felt like she was in a freaking teenage movie, like was a girl being picked up by her boyfriend at her parents' house to be taken to a high school prom; they were a few differences like her getting up relatively early, because the ceremony was at eleven and she was just a little bit older than she should be, but still. To make the illusion perfect, Matt was waiting at the bottom of the stairwell when she walked down. And he gave her a perfectly gorgeous smile when she stepped on the last step. American high school prom movie scene, seriously.
Of course, they weren't a typical couple either. Matt couldn't just look at her like any other boy or man could – so she took his hand, guided it to the top of her dress and let him decently examine it, while the fingers of his other hand carefully felt her hair, earrings and necklace.
"You're beautiful," he breathed, hesitantly kissing her cheek, probably unsure of what he was allowed to do in front of her mum.
"You say that because you can't see the colour," she babbled, uneasy. She lowered her gaze despite the fact she knew he couldn't look into her eyes, even when his gaze was so intense and focused he would fool her. "It makes my face so pale that it looks like I'm about to be sick."
"Verčo!" her mum admonished and the corners of Matt's lips twitched. Uh-uh.
"Does it? I haven't noticed."
"Smartass."
Of course he used the opportunity to make a blind joke. And of course he turned it into a compliment in a second as well.
"It's probably because the bride doesn't want you to steal all the glory."
Goddammit, Matt, ease up.
"Good work, Matt. Keep going like this and she won't be anything close to pale," her mum teased. It was a poor cover up for the fact she was apparently impressed by their interaction. Impressed. Content. Charmed.
The fabulous lines of Matt Murdock, everyone. Prepare to be charmed.
"Are you blushing?" Matt asked with a satisfied smile on his face.
"You know that I do," Vera murmured under her breath. "A little. Probably." Totally.
"Perfect." Matt didn't even bother to hide his smugness.
"We'll see. Just wait until I give you the tie. I bet you'll look pale too," she threatened.
Matt was smoking hot in the suit, of course. He didn't even need to wear a tie to accomplish that, but it was pretty much required. Plus, it was the same colour like the dress, it had come with the package.
"Good thing I won't know about that."
"I'll remind you any time needed," Vera assured him sweetly, her lips curling in a smile, ignoring yet another joke. Matt's palm covered the chest area over his heart theatrically.
"That's so considerate of you."
"Anything for you. Anytime."
Vera could tell her mum watched the exchange like a tennis match, shooting Vera a disapproving look. She probably thought Vera should be more polite and grateful for Matt's compliments. But Vera wasn't very good at taking compliments, that was no news.
"I swear I don't know who raised her like this. I sure didn't. Must be New York," her mum apologized wryly.
Matt turned his attention to her, giving her an extra smile. "I heard the quarrel of lovers is renewal of love. I know she's shy and doesn't know how to react. And every time I think she's finally about to accept the compliment..."
Vera closed her eyes, hearing her mum's shocked exhale. This might be one of Matt's best strikes; hinting to her mum that he complimented Vera often enough for her to almost get used to it, while proving he knew her well enough to not really assume she would be taking the compliments with ease and grace. If her mum wasn't smitten and approving of him before, she sure was now.
Vera cleared her throat. "So. Shall we? I'll tie it up in the car. Mum, please?"
Her mum blinked, apparently snapping up from some kind of a deep thought. "Sure. Let's go."
They did, Vera's mum heading to the wheel. Matt whispered "kinky" to Vera's ear on their way to the car and Vera smacked his bicep.
"Tying up? You'd like that, huh?" she shot back, voice barely audible.
Her eyebrow rose and her lips parted when his only response was a gulp. She chased away the indecent thoughts, the flush in her face getting more intense and she quickened her pace. But she shoved the idea somewhere in the dark corner of her mind, because it might be useful one day.
----Notes:
You know, I did warn you there's gonna be lots of fluff. And I haven't even started about the wedding. Brace yourself :D