#VR-LA just fell over and Kyana caught him by the wrist in a panic

[kathbunny]

I'm writing the dinner time after effect of the above where Maxim is reframing things mentally

CW: sexual content

Maxim stared into the warm pot of soup on the stove, wondering if he should go ahead and eat or wait for VR-LA to get home. He had no clue how long VR-LA would be out, or even what he was up to to possibly guess, so he probably shouldn't wait. His mind wandered for only a moment before he caught himself, wondering if VR-LA was off doing something adjacent to that outfit. He took a breath, reminding himself it was none of his business what his roommate was doing, especially when his roommate hadn't shared anything.

Maxim heard the front door open. It seemed he wouldn't need to worry about that anymore. He poked his head out into the hall, schooling his expression to be his usual, perfectly neutral one. "Good evening." He began. "I made us soup-" Maxim immediately lost the practiced expression as he noticed some things he hadn't before.

VR-LA's eyelids were slightly glittery, like he hadn't managed to fully wipe off glitter eyeshadow. His clothes were slightly messy like they were put on in a rush, the top two buttons of his normal button-up undone. He had eyebags, which Maxim normally would have attributed to reading too late in the night, but now he was completely rethinking. He had some slightly bruising on one wrist, even.

VR-LA didn't seem to notice though, just sitting on the floor to start getting his shoes off he started talking. "Thank you for making dinner! Sorry for disappearing like that today, my job needed me to cover a shift. You wouldn't believe the day I had." He started rambling. "Things just kept getting messed up. I even forgot my uniform, so I had to borrow one. I'm the second tallest at work though, so my options were either too tall and wide or too short but the right width. Unfortunately, I was told to go with the too short."

Maxim just blankly nodded along, realizing he didn't even know what VR-LA's job was.

"I wasn't the only one messing up though, seems everyone had some bad luck. One of my coworkers broke a stack of plates in the hallway to the break room! And somebody else stepped in it and had to spend their whole break picking shards out of their shoes." VR-LA just kept going when Maxim didn't reply, tucking his shoes into the cubby by the door. He stood and stretched, his shirt rising slightly to show a bit of his stomach.

Maxim really hoped his face hadn't turned red. "I'm sorry to hear your day was stressful. I need to get to working, I have a project to finish." He lied, wanting to escape back to his room. "I'll be eating as I work. I hope you enjoy the soup."

VR-LA nodded, smiling brilliantly at Maxim. "Good luck with your work!"

Maxim felt like a horrible person for lying and all the other thoughts he was having, but at least focusing on the lying kept the other thoughts from bubbling up.

So today in the discord I ended up talking about a crack maid cafe au

Basic summary is just: Oto runs a maid cafe for whatever reason, the crew plays the Heap folks all work there.

Maxim and VR-LA are roommates, but VR-LA is keeping his job a secret! And this is just Maxim finding the maid outfit and having the wrong assumption immediately.

CW: sexual content

Maxim stepped into VR-LA's room, carrying the basket of clean laundry under one arm. He had finished picking his clothes out of the recently dried clothes, so he figured he could just put the basket on VR-LA's bed for until he got home. As he put it on the blue quilt, he noticed the edge of something sticking out from the closet door. It had probably gotten caught before VR-LA left.

It'd probably get messed up like that, so Maxim just went up to the door and slid it open. A dress? Maxim let his curiosity get the better of him for a moment, moving the hangers slightly to get a better look at it. His face heated up near immediately as he realized what it was. A maid dress? VR-LA owned a maid dress? And he used enough to hang it up rather than just storing it in one of the boxes in the closet?

Maxim glanced at the apron, which was tied to the hanger, seeing that there was something in the pocket. He couldn't tell what from the shape, but he also wasn't sure if he wanted to know. He stared for a moment longer, seeing something else was awkwardly hanging off the hanger. A garter.

Maxim shut the closet. If VR-LA was active in such ways, it was none of Maxim's business. Maxim repeated that in his own head as he marched his way out of VR-LA's room and back into the living room. He started looking for something else to busy his hands and mind, but his mind wandered anyway.

VR-LA did go out often, he had plenty of fairly eccentric friends, it wasn't too out of the question that he might be participating in some form of kink with somebody, or even multiple people. Possibly that MR-SN man that VR-LA followed around like a lost puppy. Maxim found that there were no chores left, so he just started folding the dish towels that they normally just piled into a little basket on the counter. And VR-LA did seem fairly out there himself when it came to his interests, half his shelf was science books and the other fantasy. Maids appeared in quite a few fantasy stories, right? And some of the shows VR-LA liked?

Maxim paused, realizing folding towels were giving him no distraction. Maybe he could prep for dinner then. That could occupy his mind. Not the images of VR-LA in that outfit. VR-LA hadn't ever shown it to Maxim, so it wasn't for Maxim to see. Why would he even show it to Maxim though?