by pebble/scifipony
Fandom: Primeval New World
Characters: Evan Cross, Brooke Cross
Pairings: Evan/Brooke
Words: 1,094
Tags: Domestic Fluff, Married Couple, Pre-Canon
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Originally posted to SquidgeWorld on Oct 11, 2024 for the Flufftober challenge.
The idea for this fic (along with a few little snippets of it) has been sitting in my WIP folder for several years. It was originally intended to be just one scene in a much longer fic, which would have explored the backstory of Evan and Brooke falling in love and getting married, as well as the origins of Cross Photonics. Sadly, that fic never materialized, and probably never will at this point. But I saw the "Bet, game, contest" prompt in the Flufftober list and decided to drag this scene out and get it actually written out.
Evan glanced up from his phone as he walked through the living room, pausing when he spotted his wife at the corner table, quietly humming to herself as she worked away at whatever project had currently grabbed her attention.
He smiled. "What are you working on?"
He stepped closer to the table, leaning in to peek over her shoulder. To his mild surprise, it wasn't an art project of her own; it was a jigsaw puzzle. A large and complex one, from the looks of it.
"Lizzie sent it to me," Brooke explained, sifting through a pile of pieces that all looked the exact same shade of blue to Evan. "She was disappointed she couldn't visit for Christmas, so she sent a package of fun things."
"Isn't it a bit early for Christmas?" he asked, secretly a bit relieved Brooke's little sister wouldn't be joining them this year. As sweet as she was, her energetic personality could be exhausting when not restricted to small doses.
Brooke gave up on her pile of blue and grabbed for some purple instead. "With the weather being so rainy lately, I think she was hoping the puzzles and craft projects would keep me occupied. She doesn't realize it takes more than rain to keep me cooped up."
Despite knowing she didn't mean anything by it, Evan still felt a stab of guilt at her words. He knew his work had been keeping him away from the house a lot these past few months. Starting up a tech company wasn’t light work, but he hated how it took away so much of the time he used to spend with Brooke. Lizzie feeling the need to provide Brooke with a distraction from her absentee husband felt like a recrimination, regardless of intent.
Brooke slapped a piece into its spot, grinning in triumph as it fit perfectly. She glanced up at him with a teasing smile. "You want to join me?"
"Sorry, sweetheart, I've got to finish drafting those new contracts for Ange to look over. She wants to email them out to the lawyer tomorrow."
Turning in her chair, Brooke put on her best fake pout. Evan sighed in defeat. She knew he could never resist those gorgeous dark eyes.
Slipping into the chair beside hers, he glanced at the piles of color spread over the tabletop. Several patches of the puzzle were lying in various stages of assembly. His brow furrowed.
"Aren't you doing the frame first?"
"Of course not," she responded matter of factly. "Why would I do that?"
"Everyone does that. It gives you a starting point, and then you work your way in from there."
Brooke scoffed, grabbing a handful of orange pieces and dragging them closer. Evan automatically thought of a dragon protecting its gold. Brooke could be almost as protective when it came to her hobbies.
"That doesn't make sense," she said. "I do it by color. Grab a patch of sky or beach or something that catches your attention, and build that section. Then you find a new area to work on. For instance—" she gestured to the orange she was still sitting guard over "—I'm working on the sunset."
"Well, where's the box so I can pick a section?" Evan asked, knowing better than to debate this issue with her.
"That's cheating. Looking at the box is like peeking at the answers on a test. You have to build your picture without it, or it defeats the purpose."
Evan laughed. "What, did you write a rulebook on puzzle building?" He shot another glance at the mess of colored shapes spread around him and shook his head. "Nope. I'm doing this the right way."
"What are you doing?" Brooke asked, watching as he began sorting the pieces in front of him.
"As usual, trying to bring some order to your chaos," he said. He picked out all of the edge pieces he could find, separating them into piles based on shape. "A blue piece can go anywhere, but each piece has its own unique shape. It makes more sense to organize this way."
"Maybe, but where's the artistic joy in that?"
"It's not art. Solving a puzzle is a mental challenge."
"Oh, really?"
Evan's hands stilled, in the midst of sorting his piles. He recognized that tone. Looking up, he caught the mischievous spark in her eyes and braced himself internally.
"What?" he asked, anticipating anything from a comment on the weather to suggesting a spontaneous trip to the arctic. With Brooke, either was as likely as the other.
"How would you like to back that up with a little bet? If I can finish my parts of the puzzle before you finish yours, those emails wait until tomorrow."
"It's not exactly a fair race," he pointed out. "You already have quite a head start."
"Yes, but the frame and connecting pieces are a lot less than the main picture, so it evens out."
He sized up the puzzle, doing a quick calculation in his head. She was right. It would come out close enough to be fair.
"Okay," he said. "You're on."
The afternoon blurred past as they remained absorbed in their puzzle building. It didn't take long for them to give up on the separate sections idea and begin merging their efforts. As it turned out, Evan's methodical approach complemented Brooke's more haphazard method quite well.
Despite them working together to complete the puzzle, Brooke somehow still came to the conclusion that she had won their bet. Evan didn't bother disputing her claim. He could be very competitive against most people, but he never minded losing to Brooke. Maybe it had something to do with that brilliant smile lighting up her face while she celebrated her victory.
Evan was in the process of sending a text to Ange — warning her that he would be emailing the final draft of the contracts to her in the morning — when a sudden flash caught his attention. Looking up in surprise, he found Brooke hovering over the table with a camera.
"It looks so good," she explained, gesturing at the puzzle. "I needed to get a picture of it."
Evan smiled and stood, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he nodded his agreement. It really was a beautiful scene; a beach burning with sunset colors.
"Just look at what we can make together," Brooke sighed.
"It's a jigsaw puzzle, sweetie," Evan said, rolling his eyes. "It's not exactly rocket science."
She shushed him gently, leaning into his side. "Hey, let me enjoy the moment."
Thank you for checking out my fics! If you would like to chat with the author, you can contact me on my tumblr or dreamwidth, or leave a comment below!