rohankama

[rohankama]

idk, maybe you should put a knife to my throat if you want me to shut up? totally won't just make me horny, trust me. promise. .... maybe push me against a wall, too? also for non-horny reasons, cross my heart :) :) :)

[rohankama]

"Wholesome Embrace." - @minifrenchfry-kabbit Benji @ Preston.

Between finally getting his GED, having to move not once, but twice when Kiwi had freaked out the first guy he was renting from, the ongoing lawsuit to get his share of the inheritance, (saving up to pay for better lawyers after the last one had flaked out had taken awhile), and the multitude of drama going on with his 'family' because of it... he'd been distracted.

He was used to his terrible luck. But why did everything bad always have to happen to his friend? What did Penny ever do to deserve so much horrible shit growing up? Why, after the lawsuit against his grandma, did Fynn have to go through this?

He's brought them meal after meal to try and help out while Benji recovered, while Fynn was too stressed to cook, when Rohan was too tired, when Coco or Oliver couldn't help out themselves. When he had time of his own to help, he did, before and after Benji finally came home.

Preston had seen Benji beat up, had seen him mid and post panic attack, had seen him mad as hell and with a haunted look in his eyes. Seeing him wrapped up and limping to that extent? Had been horrible.

He wished he could help more than he was. It didn't feel like enough.

Part of him thinks that offering more would be pushing the boundaries of what he was allowed to do. Now that he knew more. Now that he could guess why Benji had shied away from those first awkward advances...

Benji was doing better now. He looked good with a cane. Was that a thought he should be thinking?

The hug Benji locks him into- he doesn't feel like he deserves it, but he still wants it so so SO bad. Like a stabbing pain in his throat finally clearing, he curls around the shorter rabbit monster and latches back just as hard, long, spindly arms as surprisingly strong as always.

This was the first hug from Benji in awhile that's felt strong- the way it was supposed to. His ears fold back. He resists the urge to bury his face into the soft spot between his friends ears. He jokes instead.

"Hey bud... you, uh, tryin' to squeeze the life out of me?"

[rohankama]

"Aww, don't want to be my sweet sugar daddy~?"

He smiles innocently at the glare he gets, batting his eyes exaggeratedly. Then, giggling, he gets back to business, tossing fur with bits of sand- not that there as all that much, the big baby- over the side of the bed as he goes.

Every so often, he uses the tips of his phalanges to get a good scratch in, just to try and ease just how clearly itchy this was making Benji feel.

"Those were just joke suggestions... but if you're actually comfortable with beau, I'll try to keep that in mind. There is another option here though~!"

"Something I've commonly seen online is partner. It's a bit formal sounding- once you stop thinking of cowboys- but it's also pretty neutral in regards to any sort of relationship."

His phone goes off in that quick little chime that meant Fynn was texting him. Preoccupied as he is, he doesn't bother to look. It was probably just a text letting them know he was almost back. If he didn't answer, he was sure Benji would get texted anyways.

"I don't think it's something we'll really need to use often or anything. Just a good thing to keep in mind for those that get stuck on things like labels... personally hoping we don't have to bother with people like that at all."

God fucking damn it. Regret, thy name is Benji.

The head pats had been unexpected, but not nearly as unexpected, and unwelcome as the barrage of "options” that he is suddenly bombarded with.

Each suggestion elicits a muffled groan into his arms, peeking up with ears lain back, and duo-hued eyes narrowed in contrite frustration at his teasing.

He would have rolled away from him, but he’d started to assist with the sand chafing under his fur, so he was very much torn in his want to escape, clearly something the bratty skeleton had intended.

He heaved a sigh and dropped his head fully back onto his arms in defeat, eyes closing as he listened to the crumbling of sand grains being combed out of his fur.

“I.. absolutely deserve this. Suddenly.. I think I’m okay with boyfriend..”

His mouth still twisted a little from even verbally saying it, having to fight the urge to scratch at the irritating particles himself like a desperate dog with fleas.

Fynn was really getting it when he came back with the snacks..

“Maybe.. beau is fine too. Just to.. differentiate when needed..? Never bae or fucking.. ‘second sugar daddy’ though.. Stars..”

[rohankama]

As he's already leaning against the counter, he just goes the full mile and hunches over to prop his elbow on it too, head cradled in hand. With a tired blink, he watches Benji switch targets. He knows for a fact that ginger tea is snatched, and judges harshly as hot water from the sink is used, boney brows rising to the sky.

Was that even hot enough for honey to fully dissolve? He thought not. It was nice of him to think to put it in, though. He hated the taste of ginger tea on it's own.

Not that I'll be tasting any of it, he thinks idly as the packet is tossed after maybe a minute.

Despite his inner judgments, he does take the mug, pulling it closer to him with his free hand before taking the offered pills.

"I followed you here just fine, I can manage the restroom, cottontail." He swallows the pills, follows it with a swig from the mug, and waves Benji off with a strained smile. "Thank you."

When Benji was out of sight, he slumped even more, tail curled around one leg. Just breathing for a moment. Then he snags the cup and walks it over to the microwave to nuke it just a touch more.

Not quite warm enough. He could still taste strands of honey in there. There wasn't really much ginger either, but that he could live with.

His brother would hate that he was using a microwave to make tea, let alone just honey water. The thought makes him chuckle just a little.

As he waits for the seconds to tick by, he starts undressing, toeing off his shoes and socks with a relieved sigh. He's unbuttoning his shirt as the microwave reaches zero, and he pulls the door to retrieve his mug before it makes to much noise.

With the mug set by the sink, he retrieves the stirring spoon from earlier to fix his honey water issue. Then he leaves it a moment to shrug his button up off the rest of the way, folding it before dropping it on top of his shoes. His belt follows, as well as folded pants, before he slots all of it into his inventory in one neat bundle to deal with later.

In just his undershirt and boxers, he sips on his drink, closing his sockets and just... absorbing the heat. When he's more or less done with that, he carefully sets it down in the sink with the spoon.

Then he goes to the bathroom. Once there, he discovers that he really, actually, does not want to take a shower. He makes a face at it before turning to the drawers. When Benji comes in, he's looking through them for some wet wipes, tail still curled around one leg, eye-light more silver than pink.

“Nothing substantial? Could just.. heat up some soup then. Honestly don’t think I have the energy to cook anything, anyway..”

He glanced back when he followed him into the kitchen, heaving a sigh, and a swat of a paw to his face when he’s reminded of the obvious.

“Of course.. food and whatever can wait, we’re going to get you cleaned up and changed. Can’t leave the night behind you, if you’re still wearing it.”

He got down a mug and from the cabinet, a bottle of over-the-counter pain meds, filling the mug with hot water from the filtered tank in the sink, then dropping in a ginger tea packet to steep.

Popping open the bottle, he shook a few tiny pills into his paw, crushing the rest of the packet into the cup before tossing the packet in the trash, and squeezing some honey into the mug, stirring it up with a spoon.

Sliding the mug over, he offered the pills for him to take with it, downing a couple himself and chasing them with a glass of tap water, returning everything to their proper cabinets.

“Figured we’d nip the stress headache in the bud. I’m going to grab some clothes from Fynn’s room, you okay to make it to the bathroom yourself? Probably best to use the downstairs one.”

He ducked out of the kitchen to flip the hallway light on, thankfully the bedrooms were upstairs, so if they were quiet, they wouldn’t disturb the whole house getting him settled.

“I’ll help you, whichever you decide on.. okay? And I’ll be right back.”

With that he stole quietly up the stairs, doing his best not to wake his ailing companion while sneaking a change of clothes from his dresser, and heading back down to meet Rohan in the bathroom once they’d been safely procured.

[rohankama]

The pat to her head feels... nice. More than it would on her shells head. Maybe normally it would feel like she was just being indulged, but Oliver was just so fucking nice she couldn't take it any other way than sincere praise.

She wasn't praised all that often, let alone after she'd freaked out on someone. It felt weird.

Weirder that an apology was, apparently, unnecessary. Even though she had forced him to come after her and she'd yelled at him, all after she had been the one to initiate the conversation that lead to all of this.

Oliver was strange. But, he wasn't bad either.

Her ears, pinned back all this time, slowly rise as he takes her metaphor and twists it into a point that makes quite a lot of sense. She meets his gaze fully when he turns, one visible eye latching to his own.

Hesitantly, she nods.

"I like reading." She mutters, nubs poking together. "And older books have a nice smell anyways, even if they are covered in dust mites... so, sure. I can give you a shot."

A small beat of silence before she opens her mouth again and quietly mumbles:

"...can we still get ice cream?"

He can’t help the somewhat bark of a laugh that left him from her blunt response, waving a nub to disregard and continue. collecting himself with a small clear of his ‘throat’.

He listens and lets it all get out, saving his own responses for when she was finished, making sure that while he did want to give her eye contact, that he also was staring at her for too long.

Something that he apparently had a habit of from all of the times it had made others uncomfortable during conversations.

“It did make sense, that was an excellent use of a metaphor.” He smiles, reaching over to lightly pat her head with a nub.

“However, your head is not stupid. While I appreciate the apology. It’s not exactly needed either. You’re going through one of the absolute worst times of growing up. Though sometimes being an adult isn’t much better.”

He blows out some air making ghost bangs flip up for a moment before they fell back over his eye.

“You’re right, we’re not objects. And we’re not papermache crafts either, Not something to paste over. That can be hard to remember sometimes. And peeling back the gunk can be….exhausting.” He drops his head back against the dome wall again, turning his gaze back to her again.

“But…Maybe we can both work together on that, peeling the gunk off and making our covers more…personal. That is, If you’re willing to give this dusty old book a shot?”

[rohankama]

Her ears flick fiercely when they're touched, the earrings on them jangling as they smack against her neck. A sound whistles out of her barred teeth that is reminiscent of both a screech and a hiss, if both decided to morph into some strange new entity.

The squinted eye shuts fully when Benji brings his fluffy face closer to nudge her head with his short snout. The other twitches violently as an embarrassed purple blush floods her face.

"What. Ever!" She yells, and that's really all she has to say about forgetting chickens existed while she was loosing her fucking mind, thank you very much.

Except for one other thing: violence. Violence was the answer. Violence was always the answer.

She stomps on his foot. Because he's to close for her to properly kick, and while she could knee him in the groin, she didn't want to kill him. That was the opposite of what she wanted.

Still leaning all her weight on that foot, she lunges onto him- or, it's more like she latches her clawed hands in his fur in a death grip and shoves herself against him, head ducking down to bury against his chest.

"Never again." She snarls into his fur. "Never. Again."

It takes a moment to register what had her so perturbed, but when it did, he couldn't help the amused laughter that bubbled out of him, only for him to wince and press a hand to his still-wrapped ribs, with a shake of his head.

"Ow.. damn it, forgot about that.."

Exhaling a fleetingly pained breath, he nonetheless grinned down at his exasperated charge, with a playful pat to her rounded ears.

"That's not true Lopey, you're very fond of chicken. I make it for you all the time. Those are technically birds, right?"

He was putting himself at risk of being kicked in his good leg, and he knew it, snickering and affectionately nuzzling his fluffy blockhead to hers.

"Sorry Lope, my old man is showing. Just means I'm tired of being in the wrong, and having to apologize for it. So I'm going to keep my dumb rationalizations to a minimum for a while, that's all."

[rohankama]

Hmm. Did he have the energy to throw more of a tantrum than he already had?

...

...

...no. No, not really. He was in more of a pouting mood than an actual upset mood. Ki-ki's juice boxes were safe from his greedy hands- for now.

Oliver is always good at sorting and managing things with priorities in mind, so Ro's really not surprised when he picks a topic without much pause. It wouldn't be surprising if this one had been bugging Oliver for quite awhile.

He is not the only one it bugs.

"I can't say he's been very specific about that with me either." Ro sighs, long and hard. "The topic makes him very anxious, and that is not what he needs right now, so I've stopped trying to get more out of him about it... but I do have some details that I've been able to sus out."

The spoon is dropped into the now empty bowl as Ro meets Oliver's gaze, eye-light flashing as he leans towards him.

"It has to do with his past... less than legal activities when he was more or less living on the streets. This snake is someone he met that more than likely paid for his services," He grimaces at the word, "and must have had a lot of power over him back then, if they're freaking Fynn out this much now."

"I know for a fact that both Benji and Coco- I'm pretty sure you know Coco- know whoever this snake is as well, but they're even worse than Fynn has been about explaining anything! Not that I've really tried to get more out of Benji while he's recovering..."

Ro presses his mouth into a thin line, glancing down at the table before looking back up at Olly.

"The only new info I got from Coco was to watch out for any suspiciously loitering cars outside of work or my house, or to mention if I notice any new monsters start to follow me. As if I can possibly do that when I'm managing a coffee shop!"

The concept of Ro being adopted made him snort. Not a chance in hell of that. Himself and Eden were far too alike. They even had the same squint of their sockets when irritated. Which, frankly was quite funny.

And while he certainly wasn’t going to say it aloud, He did certainly get his height and jaw from his father.

Not that he spent all of this time analyzing features of others or anything, just some things he’d noticed between his interactions with the family as a whole.

He shakes his head as the other talks about wanting to throw a tantrum instead, leaning back in his chair.

“Well you certainly could have a tantrum, far be it from me to tell you can’t if that’s what you feel would be helpful. Then after I could always grab you one of Ki-Ki’s juice boxes. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind sharing with her dear Ro-Ro.” He snickered.

“Hm…Could go chronologically but that’s also difficult. We could start with the apparent snake problem? Though I’m not quite sure how to feel about all of that myself.” He frowns with a bit of a click of his tongue.

“More specifics would have been nice, but he’s always been vague with me about anything that he decides to share.” He gains a small pout himself for a moment.

And Penny also hadn’t been told much about that, at least from what he gathered in their own conversations about it.

Which was understandable that he’d want to keep her out of stressful things as much as possible with the accident having occurred around the same time.

It’s fine, just had to keep scraping at the gunk from his cover. He’d get him eventually. At least he hoped he could.

[rohankama]

He is laughed at, and it's expected, but he still feels justified in shooting the biggest pouting face he has at Olly. There can be whatever apologies he wants to give, Ro will still pout with a huff, because he meant what he said.

Life gave them too much bullshit last year. This soap opera stinks, and he wants out.

Mentions of an evil twin get a snort out of him, his pout broken by a smirk and a roll of his eye-light.

"I'll let you know if it's suddenly revealed I'm adopted." He adds dryly.

That was something else shitty soap opera's did, right? Even if that twist was very much impossible, at least it was more probable than evil twins. At least in his universe.

Knowing what he did about things way out of his control, he wouldn't be surprised if there was an evil twin somewhere out there in the ether.

He leans forward to stab at his ice cream again, because there was no reason to waste ice cream just for theatrics, only to about spit the spoon out as he starts laughing. Fucking hell, life as a dommy mommy was not the kind of dom he asked for.

He could only hope that this year, she'd get her head on straight and at least have the decency of providing aftercare. Because there was absolutely going to be more bullshit, he just fucking knew it.

With a shake of his head, he licks cream off his spoon and goes for another bite. Smiling in quiet acknowledgement of Olly's roundabout compliment.

( It was shit like that, right there, though Oliver really didn't seem to realize how flirtatious he sounded, that turned a slight infatuation into a crush. Even though it has long since turned to a fierce fondness, Ro could still privately think to himself, damn Oliver, you have class. )

"I suppose talking about things would be good..." He sighs, scrapping the side of his bowl to get some of the melted cream in his next bite. "But maybe I'd rather tantrum like a toddler about it instead. What then, hmm~?"

"...also there's just.. a lot. I'm not sure what to focus on..."

@rohankama

X

He listens, attentive and focused. Fingers brushing over the surface of the warm mug of tea. With everything that had been going on lately, he’d figured he should check in. While he had sent a couple messages to Fynn and Penny both, gotten some details. He’d tried his best not to push too much.

Even if he was worried. Especially after such an odd call from Fynn not long ago, vaguely speaking about Serpentine monsters that he needed to keep an eye out for and stay away from?

That didn’t exactly make much sense, considering there were quite a lot of Serpentine Monsters. While he couldn’t exactly call a few of them friends, there were some he was acquainted with.

Mostly from talking with some of the parents at pick up for Ki-ki. But conversations he had none the less.

Fear. Was what that message had been. And he didn’t like the sounds of that.

So naturally, once things had appeared to settle down a little. He took the opportunity to check in on his dear friend.

And it seemed things were about as bad as he expected.

Though he couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him from Ro’s rather over the top exclamation, soon giving a small apologetic wave with his hand.

“Sorry, Sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh, It’s just…..this would be a horrid soap opera, though I suppose it would get quite the viewership going. Might need to add in an evil twin reveal somewhere though.” He gives a playful wink of his eye, with a soft shake of his head.

After taking a sip of his tea, he leans forward a little, as if he was about to whisper some sort of secret. “Well….life is a shitty dominatrix, she’s going to leave you sore and exhausted with no after care. And has a bad habit of dragging people back kicking and screaming for a second round.”

He taps his cheek some in thought for a moment. “As for why you specifically? Well, the strongest and often kindest people often face the most challenges.” He folds his hands together and rests his chin on them for a moment.

“In all seriousness though, Since there’s been no time for you to process….maybe going over it together would help a little? While we aren’t toddlers trying to learn the difference between dying and needing a drink. Sometimes breaking things down does help.”

[rohankama]

Ro is this close to falling into a pout when that "Sorry it's not" starts up. With markings burning just a bit brighter in embarrassment and slight annoyance as he gets ready for the no doubt stubborn insistence that actually, they are not boyfriends Rohan, it's not you it's me-

But what comes out of Benji's mouth isn't quite the script Ro expects. Thank fuck, honestly.

Boney brows raise up to the sky and he tilts his skull. Unable to resist, he reaches over and pats Benji on the head, phalanges petting the fluff between his ears.

"It's not like I constantly go around calling Fynn my boyfriend to his face." He says with a slowly spreading smirk. "This would be the same deal. Though, honestly, if the word is something bad for you to associate with, I could just call you something else. There's options here."

Feeling sand beneath his phalanges- Benji wasn't very good at getting sand out of his fur yet, especially in those harder to reach places- Ro snatches a fine-tipped hairbrush and comb from his inventory and scooches over to start trying to work out those pesky grains.

"I could call youuuu, my sweetheart? Or my beau, keep with the french word theme of the luxure? You're not bae, that's what I am. Oooh, my second sugar daddy~?"

His eyes followed the other’s finger until it had booped against his nose, the bunny-twitch more noticeable for a moment at the fleeting disturbance, long ears perking upright with one folding over, but he did little more than nod, and grin a little at the accurate character description.

His own amused expression fell to neutrality when Ro restated his position on the topic that had brought them to this point, listening intently without interruption.

It was more relieving than he could say, that he hadn’t damaged the rapport that he and Rohan had finally begun to eek out for themselves, nor did the truth of things being discovered, fuck up he and Fynn’s relationship like he’d feared.

It was understandable that it was going to take time to process, and he was glad to be reminded that a magic bond between them was still possible, at least in some way, Rohan could live out that fantasy, even if it was viewed, and operated differently than a full bond.

He, however, couldn’t help the grimace that crossed his face at the notion that was last stated, though not for the reason that the other would likely assume.

Which is why you’re going to clarify, right now. You goddamn moron.

"Sorry it’s not- ..”

He growled quietly at himself, before burying his face in his fluffy arms, clawed digits digging into his biceps some. Finally, he lifted his head with a vigorous shake, eyes averted off to the side, biting his lip with an expression that would likely be resulting in an embarrassed blush, if it wasn’t hiding beneath his dark fur.

“Boyfriend is a title I never wanted to be associated with. But that’s my own.. stupid hang-up, I’ll get over it. You’re right.. it would make it simpler.. as simple as the fucking gene allows things to be, anyway..”

He let out a gusty sigh, and his head dropped into his arms again, muffling a quiet groan of frustration into his fur, that had also fleetingly lit up.

[rohankama]

The slightly hysterical laugh that tried to bubble up when Benji asks is surprisingly hard to swallow back down. He manages though: all that comes out is a high-pitched wheeze.

With a pinched frown, he rubs at his sockets, trying to get the sleepy out and away as Benji goes up up and away meandering towards the kitchen.

Was he well enough to keep down food? He hadn't managed to stress puke throughout everything, which was a minor miracle considering his past record. Would eating more right now make the puking a reality later?

...only if he worked himself up again, which was always a possibility. His ability to freak the fuck out was annoyingly high.

"Food..." He mutters half into the pillow before he sighs and pushes himself up. "I don't think it would be a good idea for me to eat anything substantial. But don't let me stop you from a meal."

Benji probably hadn't had dinner yet... ah, the horrible wash of guilt, how he hated you.

As he followed Benji, he realizes that the usual sass he presents in his voice is absent and quickly decides he doesn't care. It was perfectly reasonable to get quiet, subdued Ro times right now. He didn't have the energy for anything else.

He finds himself hovering awkwardly in the space between the dinning table and the kitchen as Benji starts poking around. Normally he liked being taken care of and whatnot- it was kinda his puppy thing- but right now he just felt to off.

Maybe it was the clothes. He was still in work uniform.

"...I think I need to change." He says faintly, looking down at himself. Swaying, he leans a hipbone against the counter and exhales, rubbing at a bruised socket again. "Blergh..."

There’s a reflexive ear twitch from the first quiet call of his name. Usually it’d be enough to rouse him, but the fog of tire was heavy on him, and would require more effort in order to lift.

Thankfully the addressee had redoubled in his intention to wake him, and slowly, the sense of his surroundings began to bleed back in, though he kept his closed eyes shielded for a short while more, slumped in a recline against the chair.

“Mostly..”

Came his eventual, gruff reply to the other’s inquiry, stirring up from his recline to stretch his arms high above him, the kind of full-body, shaky sort of stretch that could easily result in muscle damage if one wasn’t careful.

He went limber again before that happened, scratching at the back of his ears with a heavy yawn, bleary blue-purple eyes locking onto the glowing, dim heart-light in the semi-dark of the living room.

“Shit.. didn’t mean to doze off.. you -.. doing okay, Pup?”

He clicked his tongue in disapproval at himself, pushing himself up out of the chair on initially shaky legs, before he managed to right his balance and start for the connecting kitchen, doing more appropriate and less risky stretching along the way, to banish the tire.

“Ignore that.. dumb question. Follow-up. You hungry? I can make us something, if you have the appetite. Or I dunno.. maybe just a drink? I don’t do much lone hosting, so go easy on me.”

[rohankama]

@minifrenchfry-kabbit from xXx

-

Benji wraps her up in a hug, and Penny tenses up, a statue made of metal, her arms iron bars crossed over her chest. Then her hand spasms against her arm hard enough to scratch herself.

Benji, between her and a knife.

She trembles in Benji's arms.

Waking up, vision swimming, head pounding, to see his arm reaching out to her in a puddle of his own blood.

He hasn't been able to hug her like this since before everything, and she can't even get herself to move and hug back.

His words are heard through a dull pound in her head. Pain blooms in her throat, wells in her eyes, and pulses with that damn drum in her head as he pulls away and makes her meet his gaze.

She sniffs when he thanks her, blinks back tears that are trying their damnedest to fall- and then scowls in utter confusion.

One eye squints, the other widens, and she throws up her hands wildly, fingers grasping at the air as if she could somehow grasp the handle of her sanity, as she has clearly fallen off of it!

"Neither of us eat birds. What the fuck does that mean?!"

[rohankama]

He rolls his eyelight to the sky and back, shooting a grudging smile right back at Benji's jaded grin.

"Ha ha, very funny."

This attempt to sidetrack the conversation was one he would welcome. He'd rather this than, oh, Benji try to get more about his thing with Oliver out of him. The lack of surprise about it was rather telling though- which meant he probably had stalked the both of them. Not that it mattered anymore.

With Benji's new propped up position on the bed, it's very easy for Ro to reach over and quickly boop him on the nose. He'll privately call it revenge for past stupidity.

"Smartass~ "

Revenge imparted, his smile slowly falls away into something more neutral. Hands clasping each other in his lap, fingers twisting as he looks down to the covers in quiet contemplation. His tail curls tight against the side of his leg as he sighs.

"Look... I know all of this started because we needed to talk about.. your bond. So, let me just restate, for the record: I am upset with myself because it is bringing up an old wound that I'd thought I was over. I am frustrated over the lack of communication that made this whole thing an issue in the first place, but I am NOT mad at you or Fynn."

"Any.. tenseness or, standoffishness from me is because I'm trying to reprocess things, and it is going to take some time, but I'm.. I'm trying my best to move on. I'm not trying to make you- either of you- feel worse about the situation. You're both already doing enough on your own, in my opinion."

"Whatever you decide to do with Fynn... whether you decide to legit talk to him about feelings or not... just know this hasn't affected his relationship with me. We were probably just going to end up doing a magic bond eventually anyways. You haven't fucked anything up."

He smiles softly, markings coloring just a touch.

"And... I naturally yelled it earlier like a brat, but... you're basically my boyfriend already. I don't think it matters if there's any lovey-dovey feelings between us: we've done enough stuff that couples would do together without a second thought at this point, might as well call us boyfriends just to make things simple!"

Despite the steady ache in his chest, he couldn’t help a somewhat amused chuckle from the other’s remark, his gaze lifting to his with an upward quirk of an ear, when the fresh tears were wiped from already-dampened fur.

It was a little embarrassing, he’d hoped that his fur would be just as effective at masking tears as fluster, but.. evidently not in this case.

“That’s kind of the point..”

Came his somewhat gruff grumble, heaving another sigh and perking both ears to show he was, albeit reluctantly - listening, reflexively crossing his arms to his chest, his foot anxiously tapping the mattress.

“We’re still reeling in the aftermath of the last.. live grenade I detonated under our feet. I’m not exactly in a hurry to set off another one..”

His concluding statement brought another much-deserved sting, lowering his head and closing his eyes with a slow, self-soothing breath, claw-tips once again scratching at the irritating grains of sand chafing beneath his fluffy head.

“And if I.. do confess, and I’m wrong about it? I’m not.. like you, Pup. Without getting into the messy details.. I’ve never had a gauge for romance. I only.. came to this conclusion by ruling out the feelings I do know. Friendship, familial, lust-fueled.. those ties do unmistakably bind us.. but there’s something else I can’t identify. Something.. more profound? Hell if I fucking know..”

With an overly exaggerated shrug of whole arms to the ceiling, he let himself tip over and collapse back onto the bed, head turned to keep his focus directed to the other from his newly prone position of quiet defeat.

“I’m not willing to blow our shit sky-high without knowing for sure. Don’t suppose I can just.. redouble on my promise to stop running away, and we can drop this whole thing..?”

[rohankama]

❛ i just wanted to make sure you’re okay. ❜ (Listen, Ro and Oliver haven't had a thread and that feels like a crime.)

@olivethesecuties

"..to be honest, everything is sort of a mess still."

Ro's harassers finding out where he's working now, the fucking bond, Benji avoiding him and then talking and getting somewhat better, THE HORRIBLE FUCKING EVENT, Benji injured, Penny's increasing anger issues as the gene has started to kick in with more vigor, Fynn's stress about possible stalkers from his past primed to mess with them (???), how weirdly strained and stilted giftmas had felt-

Fucking hell.

Ro grimaces, his eye-light dimmer than normal as it meets Oliver's worried gaze.

"It feels like so much has happened in to short a time... just, one thing on top of another, even if it was... technically spaced out? It just... ugh, there was barely time to process anything!"

He sighs and sits back in his chair, pouting down at the bowl of ice-cream slowly melting on the table before him.

"Why must everything about me and everything surrounding me be so complicated Olly? Why must life be plagued by so much bullshit? I don't actually want to be living in a shitty soap opera!"

[rohankama]

Sleep wasn’t something planned on, but he is already on his way out when the pets against his skull begin in earnest. Combine that with Benji’s soft fur blocking the light, and he was doomed.

He actually wakes when he’s deposited onto the bed, not by any of the jostling. Being carried to bed by multiple different people throughout his life, the movement hardly registered in his subconscious. No, it’s the lack of physical contact that does it, mouth twisting into a small frown as those fluffy arms are suddenly absent, sockets blinking cracking open to take in his surroundings.

The pull-out bed wasn’t unfamiliar, it just wasn’t something he frequently woke up on. When he did fall asleep on it, usually watching a tv show or something, Fynn normally moved him to his room for the night. That all to say, he wasn’t all that disoriented.

Vision still blurry from his unintended nap, he takes in Benji collapsed onto the nearby armchair. He looked tired. Was it because of him?

Benji was often tired and stressed, and Ro just had to add to the poor rabbits reasons to be exhausted.

Ro hated the taste of guilt.

He has to swallow a few times before he can get his voice to work. Even then, it’s quieter than he means to be.

“...Benji?”

It wouldn’t be good if Benji feel asleep on the armchair. That thought makes him feel better as he clears his throat and repeats himself, just a bit louder that time.

“Benji? Are you awake..?”

minifrenchfry-kabbit​:

“Alright, suit yourself.”

He shrugged nonchalantly with a hidden smirk in the dark, slumping back more comfortably against the seat, his attention finally caught by the familiar bracelet he was toying with at his wrist, blinking in recognition.

He remembered the day it’d been bought. The couple both decided on a whim to visit the coast, and Fynn had insisted that he be dragged along with them, no matter his protesting about third-wheeling.

The drive down had been a little awkward, but even he could see how much the beach meant to the stripey skeleton, he’d been so giddy with joy to share his passion with his grumpy ass, it hadn’t taken long for him to relax and start enjoying himself as well. It was.. a precious memory. He still had the hat - it was one of the few things tucked in his inventory that wasn’t strictly Fynn-centric.

Though, speaking of Fynn-centric items..

He’d caught a glimpse of the ruined makeup when he’d lifted his head to briefly smile at him, shifting in the seat a bit and taking the makeup wipes and a bottle of water from his inventory, offering them to Ro so he could maybe hydrate a little, and clean up the worst of the no-doubt itchy product.

“You know, could probably delay that inevitable if we go to mine. Fynn went home with a migraine, so he’s most likely down for the count. Want to go there instead?”

He waited for his answer, and when he affirmed it, Benji leaned forward as much as the seatbelt would allow, lightly rapping on the glass divider to get the driver’s attention, and giving him the change in address.

He was sure the driver wouldn’t mind any, their home was further into the Underground than the one Rohan shared with his family, so there’d be more of a fare involved at the end.

Settling back in the seat again, he readjusted his arm around the other as the car was plunged into darkness - the cab making its way through the access-tunnel into the mountain. As his gaze followed the occasional stripe of light as they made their descent, he came to a decision that he hoped would be the correct one.

What was a few more hours spent to ensure that Ro would be okay? He was a Fynn-substitute, so it was only right to pull out all the stops. He’d try and make his intent somewhat obvious, so he wouldn’t have to fully commit to a potentially dumb course of action.

Currently though.. with the pressure of the skeleton curled against his side, it did feel like the right one.

The makeup wipes are eagerly accepted, the offered water bottle shoved between his knees for later. Getting rid of the awful itching on his skull would help him become more composed. Less likely to loose his shit again. Hopefully.

He is dabbing at his face and mentally going through his inventory to try and find his compact when Benji makes his offer. As distracted and worn out as he is, it momentarily confuses him. It takes him a solid few seconds to remember that Benji didn’t have a separate place, he lived with Fynn.

At least his embarrassed flush was mostly covered by his hand.

He’s quick to agree. Going there with Benji would be better right now. He felt bad for being relieved that Fynn was laid up, but at least he wouldn’t have to explain until tomorrow morning. Potentially later, when Penny wasn’t around to see him upset.

Trying to clean up in the tunnel lighting was annoying, but all well, that was probably good enough. He shoves everything in his inventory to clean up or give back later, not wanting to make a mess of this perfectly good cab. Then he settles back and starts slowly working on the water.

The tunnel system was mostly for vehicles and supply transport, so he only really went this way when Fynn or Allura decided to drive him to work or pick him up. He more often used the elevator systems to get back to Undercity, then road the bus back, since it wasn’t a big walk back to their home from the stop. 

Compared to how bright the elevators were, the road always felt dark. The dark felt good on his eyes right now, even if he usually like it. The flash of the lights along the walls were not great though.

He closes his aching sockets and falls into a light doze.

[rohankama]

HURT / COMFORT : STARTERS

a collection of quotes, phrases, and sayings for when your muse needs a little TLC. change & alter as needed.

THE HURT:

“Nah, it’s not that bad. I’ve had worse.”

“I don’t think I can walk that far… or at all.”

“I’m fine. I don’t need your help.”

“Will you stay with me? Just until I fall asleep?”

“I’m sorry, I’m just—I’m just really tired.”

“I don’t need a break. I’m okay.”

“It was my fault. It was all my fault.”

“I think I need help.”

“So, I don’t think I’m dying, or anything, and it’s probably not that serious, but… I’m kinda bleeding. A lot.”

“Is the room spinning right now, or is that just me?”

“No, I’m okay, I just… I hit my head. Really hard. I’ll be okay, just give me a second.”

“I’m not sick! I’m fine!”

“No, I don’t think any of my bones are broken, or anything like that. Just bad bruises.”

“Yeah, but you should see the other guy.”

“I’m fine. This just happens sometimes. It’s normal for me.”

“I’ve got a headache.”

“Seriously, though, I’m fine! Stop making such a big deal out of it!”

“I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I don’t need your help, and I definitely don’t need your pity. Fuck off.”

“Please tell me I don’t look as bad as I feel.”

“I think I’m running a fever.”

“So, what’s the prognosis, Doc? Am I gonna live?”

“Stop fussing over me! I’m not a baby!”

“Can I stay with you tonight? I just… really don’t want to be alone right now.”

“No, I-I’m okay. It was just a nightmare. Go back to sleep.”

“I… can’t actually remember the last time I had something to eat.”

“You shouldn’t be here. You’ll get sick, too.”

THE COMFORT:

“Honey, have you been crying? What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I think you’d better take a break.”

“It’s not your fault, sweetheart. You did everything you could.”

“You don’t have to go through this alone. I’m right here for you if you’ll just let me in.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Don’t ever let yourself believe that there is.”

“You really don’t realize just how many people love you, do you?”

“If you’re not going to take care of yourself, at least let me do it for you!”

“I’m sorry. I know it hurts.”

“You’re not alone, baby. You never have been.”

“Let’s get you some food.”

“You’re dead on your feet, poor thing. Come on, you need some sleep.”

“Stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.”

“Tell me where it hurts.”

“How many times have I told you to be more careful?!”

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m right here, okay? I’m not gonna leave you. I’m never gonna leave you.”

“Oh, honey, you’re safe now. I promise. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“Go ahead and take a shower. I’ll fix you something to eat.”

“What happened to you, baby?”

“I’ll kill that bastard. I’ll kill him for what he did to you.”

“You look like shit, man.”

“Whoa, whoa, take it easy! You got pretty banged up back there, and you don’t want to go making yourself worse.”

“I’m not trying to baby you. It’s called taking care of my friends.”

“Sweetheart, you’re burning up! Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you tell anyone you were sick?”

[rohankama]

Send "Wholesome Embrace" to Hug My Muse and Refuse to Let Go.

Add Reverse to Have My Muse to Hug Yours Instead.

[rohankama]

CARING SENTENCE STARTERS 

for muses that need a little love. 

❝  i’m here for you.  ❞

❝  let me help with that.  ❞

❝  i’m here.  ❞

❝  nothing’s gonna hurt you.  ❞

❝  if they do it again, you tell me.  ❞

❝  i’ll protect you. ❞

❝  i’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you.  ❞

❝  let me take a look…  ❞

❝  i’m a phone call away.  ❞

❝  you should have called me.  ❞

❝  here, sleep.  ❞

❝  if you wanna talk, i’m here.  ❞

❝  hey, shh, it’s okay.  ❞

❝  i’ll never let you go.  ❞

❝  you’re with me now.  ❞

❝  nothing’s gonna take you from my side.  ❞

❝  i’ll do what i have to.  ❞

❝  i need you to stay here, okay? i got this.  ❞

❝  it’s safe here.  ❞

❝  i’m fine, let me see your face.  ❞

❝  we’re gonna have to keep ice on that.  ❞