Archive of Our Own ^beta

Lucius had been feeling strange for a while now. Like a true Elenasto he'd been bottling up said feelings, but it was definitely getting to him. There was only one person he thought would be able to help him, but that would mean trying to initiate a (semi) serious conversation.

He cornered Nova in the engine rooms one evening after dinner.
"Nova, this might seem like a weird question, but can I paint your nails?"
"Huh?" she asked, looking up from the notes she was taking on the engine.
"Well, I wanted to paint my nails, but I wear gloves so it would really be a waste." Lucius explained.
"And I'm your pick for this?"
"I was wondering if it would be possible to paint Quill's nails. His talons?" Lucius said musingly. "But no, Quill and Sentry wouldn't work, and Aila probably wouldn't let me."

Ever since the dragon turtle, Nova had found it very hard to say no to anything Lucius asked for. No matter how much the idea of having to hold her hands still for extended periods of time made her squirm, she couldn't find it in her to deny him.
"Okay Lucius, we'll give it a shot." she said, hoping she sounded much more cheerful than she felt.
"Now?" Lucius asked, voice a little strained.
Nova made a face, and glanced back at her notes. "If that's what you want."
"That would be really helpful, thank you Nova." Lucius said, already turning to walk away.
Nova cast one last wistful look at the engines before having to half jog after Lucius to keep up with his long stride.

Nova settled down on Lucius' floor as he looked through a small box of colourful liquids. He hummed to himself thoughtfully, before settling on a gold.
"Blue?" Nova asked hopefully.
Lucius shook his head firmly. "Nova, your nails are already blue."
Nova was already fidgeting before Lucius even sat down next to her.
"You have to try and keep the hand I'm painting still." Lucius said, "And once there's polish on it you won't be able to do anything with them for a while."
"Mhm!" Nova nodded.

Lucius took Nova's hand and began carefully applying a layer of polish. It would have been calming, if it weren't for the panic he felt as he tried to psych himself up to ask his question. He wondered if Nova could feel the tension in the silence between them, or if he was just projecting.

“How can you tell if you like someone?” Lucius finally asked.
Nova scrunched her nose, “Why are you asking me?”
“You like people pretty often.”
“I- That’s- I mean-” Nova blustered, flushing purple. Lucius had to tighten his grip on her hand to keep her from flapping nervously, he didn’t want her to ruin the work he’d done so far.
“No, that's fair.” she conceded with a sigh.

There was a pause. Lucius quietly finished another nail, not looking up at Nova.
“I don’t think I’ve been unsure about whether or not I liked someone since I was in school.” Nova said, “We meet a lot of very pretty people…” Nova trailed off dreamily.
Lucius furrowed his brow, and made a hum of concentration, “Yes, I suppose.” he said contemplatively. “But, thinking someone’s pretty is different from liking them.”
“I guess?” Nova said, tilting her head. The hand Lucius wasn’t holding was tapping a pattern on the floor, and making it difficult for him to focus.

Lucius finished the last nail, and let go of Nova’s hand.
“You have to try and keep that still for a bit.” He reminded her.
Nova nodded very seriously, handing him her other hand and making a face of intense concentration.

He’d finished half of her nails before Nova spoke again.
“I think I like everyone I find pretty.” She said musingly, “Do you not?”
“I… I don't know.” Lucius said, “I think people are nice to look at sometimes, but I don't want to - to kiss them or anything.”
“Do you want to kiss anyone?” Nova asked.

Lucius felt the tips of his ears heating up as a blush spread across his face. Nova gasped, and he couldn’t help but wince as her free hand began to flap excitedly - he’d spent so long on those nails.
“Lucius, do you like someone?” Nova asked eagerly.
“Nova, nails.” Lucius deflected.
“Sorry, sorry.” Nova said, forcing her hand to go still.
He could see her fingers twitching as she tried to keep them still. Nova was practically bouncing with excitement.
“I don’t know.” He admitted quietly, “That’s why I asked.”
“So, why do you think you like them?” Nova asked
“W-well-” Lucius stuttered.
Where could he even start with that? He’s my best friend? I want to be with him all the time? He makes me feel like I can do anything? Sometimes I wonder how kissing him would work?
“Oh, I don’t know!” He whined, “It’s all very much!”

“Okay, okay.” Nova babbled, “It’s time for Nova V’ger’s foolproof test of love. Foolproof love test. Uhm, crush test. Test if you have a crush.”
“How long have you had this test?” Lucius asked skeptically
“I’m making it up as I go along.” Nova admitted.
Lucius sighed, “I suppose this is the best chance I’ve got.”
Nova pouted. “If you don't want to take my cool and guaranteed to work test you could always ask Quill to-”
“I absolutely can’t ask Quill.” Lucius said, going pale.
Nova giggled, "Okay, okay, so maybe that would be an abuse of his powers."
Lucius held back a sigh of relief as that sailed right over Nova's head. "I suppose I did ask for your help…"
"Test! Quiz!" Nova said excitedly.
"Can I finish your nails first?" Lucius asked, and Nova nodded.

With Nova's nails finally finished, and one of her hands dry enough she could write, they were ready.
"Do you really have to write this down?" Lucius asked, fidgeting nervously on the edge of his bed.
Nova looked up at him incredulously. "Lucius. I have to write everything down."

"Okay, first question!" the sound of a quill scratching against parchment filled his room as Nova quickly wrote. "Do you ever think about them for seemingly no reason?" she read aloud.
Lucius thought about it very seriously. "I think there's always a reason."
"Might need to rephrase that one." Nova mumbled to herself. "Does everything remind you of them?"
"Well… Not everything. A lot of things."
Nova nodded, and quickly scribbled that down.

"Okay, question two is a simple one." Nova said, not looking up from her notebook. "Do you think they're attractive."
There was a long pause.
Lucius couldn't make himself look at Nova. This was supposed to be a simple question? Lucius wasn't sure he knew how to answer that, he wasn't even sure he knew what constituted being attractive.
Nova noticed his silence, and glanced up.
"Rephrasing?" she asked, and he nodded rapidly.
"Okay, uhm." Nova scrunched her brow in concentration. "Do you think they're pretty? Are they nice to look at?"
"I- I suppose." Lucius stuttered, going a bit pink.
Nova made a soft humming sound as she wrote down his answer.

"What about… Do you dream about them?" Nova said
"Elves don't dream." Lucius said, raising an eyebrow.
"Alright, daydream then!"
"Isn't this the same question as earlier?"
"It might be! The quiz is new!" Nova whined

"This doesn't feel like it's helping." Lucius sighed.
Nova closed her notebook sheepishly. "You're probably right. I just got excited to try and help, and I probably made it weird."
Lucius smiled at her, "It's alright Nova."
Nova left her notebook on the floor, and sat on the bed beside Lucius. She leant against his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her.

After a beat of silence, Lucius spoke. "I'm sure I'll figure it out."
Nova nodded. "You're very smart Lucius."
Lucius laughed, "I'm not sure about that."
Nova pulled away and looked up at him with a serious expression. "I mean it! You're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for."
"You and Quill are the smart ones." Lucius insisted
Nova swatted him on the arm, "Just because you don't know as much about magitech and stuff doesn't mean you're stupid!"
Lucius didn't really understand what she meant, but he smiled at her anyway, "Okay, thank you Nova. I'll bear that in mind."
Nova narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Okay, well, good."

"I still think I can help." Nova said
"You can try."
"Okay, so. I think we might just experience crushes differently!" Nova babbled. "And just because whenever I think someone's pretty I immediately start imagining spending the rest of my life with them doesn't mean having a crush would be like that for you."
Lucius raised an eyebrow, but Nova kept talking.
"I think you probably like them! You think they're pretty, and you think about them a lot. And I don't think you'd be this confused about whether you liked them if you were just friends!"

"That's actually very helpful." Lucius was shocked, "Thank you Nova."
"I helped!" Nova said excitedly. Before Lucius could say anything else she was babbling again. "Okay, this is probably rude, but I am so so curious. I need to ask who you have a crush on, Lucius please."
Lucius went very very pink. Nova was looking at him pleadingly, and his resolve crumbled quickly.
"You have to promise not to tell anyone." he said quickly.
Nova nodded rapidly, holding out her hand. "Pinky promise!"
Lucius obediently linked their fingers in his second ever pinky promise.

"I think I like Quill!" he blurted out as quickly as he could.
Nova gaped at him. "Quill?!" she asked.
He buried his head in his hands. "I know!" he whined, "It's hopeless."
"No, Quill-" Nova quickly shut herself up, as if remembering she wasn't supposed to say something.
Lucius looked up at her, "Quill what?"
"I promised I wouldn't say!" she said, clasping both hands over her mouth and rocking back and forth with nervous energy.
Lucius made a very confused face as he slowly, very very slowly, connected the dots.

"You should tell him!" Nova blurted out, looking up at him over her hands.
"I don't think I can." Lucius said nervously, "I only just realised I like him."
Nova made a small frustrated noise, "You boys are so difficult sometimes." she muttered to herself.
"I'm sorry?" Lucius said nervously.
Nova swatted him on the arm, so gently Lucius was only aware of it because he saw her do it. "Why are you saying sorry?"
"I don't know." Lucius said

"Well, how would you rate Nova V'ger's foolproof crush test now, huh? One hundred percent success rate!" Nova said triumphantly.
Lucius laughed, "Yes, I suppose."
He didn't think the quiz was what made him figure it out, but it couldn't hurt to let Nova believe it did.