#which almost everyone has been doing lately i've noticed which is extremely irritating and i think it's probably because i'm autistic lmao

[vampyroteuthid]

today at work was less awful until the very end when i was putting together syringes that had been autoclaved and the vet came up and was like it's easier if you do it this way blah blah and then he picks one up that i had put together and was like this is wrong Obviously because the plunger is all the way up here. and i was like well it's not so fucking Obvious is it because i Obviously did not know that. i still have no idea what he was talking about because the plunger was the same diameter as the syringe and went all the way to the bottom which i thought were the only important factors. but Obviously they are not. which nobody fucking told me!!!!!!!!!!! christ

[captain-cargoshorts]

I just got done with my first day of work and it went... Well. It certainly was something.

So I had a 4 hour shift today training on registers. It's scary bc they're the old style with a tiny screen so you can't see what you're doing until the end and if you do something wrong it yells at you. I have a trainer with me pretty much the entire time though so I'm doing okay. She says I'm picking it up pretty quick and doing a great job (validation!) and I've figured out how to keep conversation going with customers so they follow the pin pad prompts and everything.

The first three hours go great. My trainer seems pretty tired tho and between customers she talks about how she's burnt out and wishes she could leave retail bc it's a lot. I share about my previous jobs and we both agree that retail is hard and customers are awful. Then about half an hour before we close a Chinese family (I promise it's relevant) comes in and start looking around. They have a toddler with them that immediately goes to the toys by the register and pulls out all the cars to play with on the floor. Irritating, but not a problem until he starts climbing on the fixture. I try to get the mother's attention without leaving the register unattended bc I'm not supposed to and she ignores me until I'm pretty much yelling "MA'AM YOUR BABY" over and over. Finally she turns around and gets him down, but she shoots me a dirty look as she does so. She then goes back to talking to her mother (I think) in mandarin. Guys, I don't speak mandarin. I didn't know what they're saying, and I don't really care? Until I notice my trainer looking Extremely Nonchalant (tm). You know the look. Turns out, she understands mandarin and the ladies are major gossips. I don't ask for a translation bc there's still other customers and it's my job to ring them up and talk about the rewards program. But they've been standing in the kitchen area for like thirty minutes.

It's now time to close. They ignored the warnings 15 and then 5 minutes out and haven't moved. My trainer meanwhile has started getting extremely antsy. Not only are we supposed to be starting on closing tasks, but the ladies have noticed her looking over and are now talking about her. "That girl with the yardstick keeps looking at us" etc. Apparently. Again, I don't speak mandarin. She sends me away to do a sweep of the store for stuff that's out of place, etc, so I don't know what happens for a bit but my trainer stays up at the front to check out the ladies and let them out whenever they finally decide to leave because the door is locked to prevent other people coming in. She doesn't approach them to ask them to hurry up though. Like, she's ADAMANT that she won't. I, being extremely new, don't know what to do. They don't leave.

Eventually our manager comes down from the cash office and asks them if they're going to buy anything, because we're very much closed for business. It is now 20 minutes after closing, and they've been here almost an hour. They grab one (1) spoon and check out with the manager, which is a massive waste of everyone's time because they don't seem to even want the spoon? But finally they leave and we can take out the trash and do the bathrooms and stuff.

To the surprise of literally nobody, we get out late. Apparently we usually get out at like 7:45. It's 8:15. We're going to have to explain that to the store manager tomorrow. I walk the other non-manager employee to her car bc it's polite, but I noticed that the manager bad the trainer stayed back to talk so i check back in with them. The moment I get within earshot they stop talking and are like "what's up? You were leaving?" I said yeah but you stopped and we usually make sure everyone gets to their cars. I just want to check that everything's okay. They say they're fine and I get the feeling that whatever is going on is Absolutely Not My Business so I start walking back to my apartment.

There's a dead raccoon on the sidewalk on the way home.

[incorrect-toriko-quotes]

Oh my God, I'm so glad you brought up Coco's past/childhood, the experimentation, etc. in your long post on it because I have being thinking about it for years. So nice to see someone talking about it, and how messed up what happened to him was. Would love to see any other rants/analysis you have on that. For example, it's been a long time since I've read the series, how is Coco's relationship to Ichiryuu/the other Kings presented? Thanks, and really enjoy your posts!

First, I’m glad you’ve been enjoying my posts! The fandom may be small, but its always worth contributing to!

You said you “would love to see any other rants/analysis you have on Coco’s past”, and trust me, I’m more than happy to deliver (believe me when I say I have a HUGE buildup of talking to do about this one specific topic)

Now, under the cut, I’m gonna answer your question on Coco’s relationships with the other characters. And I’m going to make this way more complicated than it needs to be. Because when it comes to the other characters (especially family members), Coco is one of those characters where his relationships have been heavily influenced by his past.

(Apologies in advance for how unnecessarily complicated I made this)

Let’s start with Anon’s question:

How is Coco's relationship to Ichiryuu/the other Kings presented?

Now, obviously, over the course of the series, it changes drastically. But let’s take a look at what we see in the beginning and see where we end up from there. (I’ve been going back through the series start-to-finish, since I’m finally getting to reading the VIZ translations of the manga)

In the beginning...

We all know that Coco was introduced really early in the series, at the beginning of Puffer Whale. He explains that, in order to avoid being hunted down by scientists, he moved to Gourmet Fortune and became a fortune-teller. This is not only to avoid the scientists themselves, but (moreso in the anime), its also mentioned that he tries to avoid the general media, which the scientists could use to find him through.

Now, I don’t know if anyone else remembers, but I’ll include this screenshot from Episode 4: Prepare It! The Poisonous Puffer Whale! The Heavenly King Coco Appears! (Manga equivalent is Gourmet 11: Into the Cavern We Go!!)

(A bit unrelated, but anyone else notice that he literally flinches when Komatsu jumps on him? At first I thought it was just because... that’s what you do when someone jumps on you. But then I got a closer look at this screenshot and realized just how uncomfortable he looks — hell, he looks more like he’s in pain than like he’s been startled.)

I remember seeing this, and seeing his realization that Komatsu isn’t afraid of him. At first I was like: “Okay, yeah. He lives alone in the woods with his crow and avoids other human beings like the plague. He thinks everyone is afraid of him. Makes perfect sense.”

But then I started taking a closer look at his relationship with the rest of the family (Ichiryuu, Rin, and the other Kings), as well as the other characters in general. That’s when I noticed something:

We rarely (if ever) see Coco make physical contact with anyone that isn’t Toriko or Komatsu.

Now, of course, there’s probably some things I’ve missed. But I’ve been trying to keep track of this as I go back through the series.

One thing (shortly after that last screenshot takes place) that Coco mentions is that he’s confused that Komatsu is willing to touch him because of his poison. And a few seconds/pages prior, Toriko was explaining to Komatsu that Coco had been experimented on in the past, and he left his old life behind to live quietly and undisturbed in Gourmet Fortune. And from there, as more of Coco’s character is revealed, we realize that it’s not just people around him being concerned for their own health and well-being (we all remember the fangirls in Gourmet Fortune). It’s that Coco, as a general rule, doesn’t like being touched.

Now, at first (again, in the context of the previous screenshots), we think it’s because of his poison. A mix of “I don’t want to be poisoned” from others and “I don’t want to poison you” from Coco. And obviously (based off his response to Komatsu), this is going to play a part in the reason why.

But then again, I would like to remind you that Coco was, canonically, experimented on. And for those of you who haven’t seen this post I made, it’s actually canon that he was branded a “Dangerous Beast” (by the scientists) when he was either 11 or 12 years old (with the odds being in favour of 11, as he has a birthday fairly late in the year).

(Image from Volume 2: Coco!! (Gourmet 11: Into the Cavern We Go!!) - VIZ Media translation. Yes, it’s the same image from my last post. Sue me.)

Now of course, you can all theorize as to what, specifically, said experimentation entails. (Personally, it just sounds like it would involve a lot of blood-drawing, but again, I think Shimabukuro wants us to make our own theories on this.)

But there’s something else to consider: if his aversions to being around other people (especially being touched), stem more from fear/trauma than from a desire to protect others. (And I think we can all agree that it’s not just introversion... this is more than a little on the ‘extreme’ side)

Now, to be perfectly clear: I’m not really referring to the process of the experimentation. I’m actually referring more to the fact that he was hunted for experimentation, as opposed to the experiments themselves.

One thing that’s always bothered me was the fact that it was the IGO who were hunting him.

Why is this bothersome?

Because the IGO wants to prevent war by beating the evil Gourmet Corp to GOD. Because the president of the IGO goes behind the backs of the corrupt, evil men who hog the food and spend lavishly at the casino to deliver food to children in poverty. Because its very clearly established that Ichiryuu’s a good father! Because, when Sunny, as a child, accidentally broke a cup and cut his arm, instead of focusing on the broken cup, Ichiryuu’s first concern is to look after the cut on Sunny’s arm. 

Because the IGO are supposed to be the good guys.

So when we see them doing morally questionable (and in some cases, morally repulsive) things, it’s jarring.

And even more so for the characters.

Think about this from Coco’s perspective, as an 11 year old child. Just for a moment. Thus far, he has seen the IGO...

Deliver food supplies to children living in poverty

Adopt some of these children (himself included)

Nurse these weak, malnourished children back to health

Raise them in a generally loving environment

Train them to be skilled Gourmet Hunters

I’m sure you’re expecting me to say something like: “He was a literal child, children are trusting!” but looking at this, why wouldn’t he trust them?

And that’s the big thing to consider when looking at his behaviour towards the other characters: The IGO’s repeated experimentation (and attempts at experimentation) were a betrayal of his trust in them.

He’s not just avoiding the scientists and the media by giving up his career as a Hunter. He’s avoiding the IGO as a whole. They betrayed him, and he can’t trust them anymore.

And then I took that back to his general avoidance mannerisms. As I mentioned: Coco rarely (if ever) touches anyone who isn’t Toriko or Komatsu.

(Top left: Volume 15: Zebra!! (Gourmet 125:  Journey to the Underworld!!) Top right: Volume 2: Coco!! (Gourmet 9: The Days of the Four Kings!!) Bottom left: Episode 5: The Deadly Cave Battle! Fire, Five-Fold Spiked Punch! Bottom right: Volume 5: The Regal Plateau!! (Gourmet 41: Confrontation and Invasion!!))

The above collage I made is a bit messy, but I think it serves its purpose. Coco rarely makes physical contact with anybody, and when he does, its with Toriko and Komatsu (and apparently mostly for comedic purposes,)

One thing worth noting, though, is that he does, in fact, offer to shake Sunny’s hand when they meet at Regal Plateau. Sunny declines and responds with...

...but it is worth noting that the offer was made. Sure, this could be interpreted as Coco doing the obligatory Older Sibling job of irritating Sunny, but when he says this, his tone isn’t snide or sarcastic. Furthermore, Coco is known for his reserved nature, and isn’t the type to draw attention to something he doesn’t want noticed. If Coco was truly dead set against Sunny touching him, its very unlikely he would’ve pointed out that Sunny was retracting his Feelers (because, let’s be real, it would be pretty in-character for Sunny to then send out his Feelers solely out of spite)

And that’s pretty much it. He doesn’t even seem to let Ichiryuu or Mansam inside his personal bubble. Every time they’re seen together, he stays a good distance away.

That last part is especially interesting. If Coco was truly keeping his distance solely to avoid poisoning people, then it seems unlikely that he’d come closer to Toriko, Sunny, and especially Komatsu, but avoid Ichiryuu and Mansam. If anybody’s going to be safe for him to be around, Ichiryuu is definitely in the top 3, if not at the very top of the list.

So thus far, we have a few things worth noting on the point of Coco’s general avoidance of all other people:

Coco initially claims that he avoids other people (especially being touched by other people) because of his poison, and is surprised when Komatsu dismisses that concern — in fact, he actually comes to become very close to Komatsu (emotionally) shortly after. More on that later.

Coco was experimented on by the IGO as a child, which was a massive betrayal of his trust in them

The only people he will let touch him are Toriko, Komatsu, and Sunny. He keeps his distance from even Ichiryuu and Mansam.

When everything is accounted for, Coco’s avoidance of other people is more an issue of trust than one of concern for their safety.

While its true that Coco directly says that its an issue almost solely of concern (the aforementioned “I don’t want to poison anyone and nobody wants me to poison them” mentality), if anything, seems more like a defense he’s prepared if he’s asked about it. I wouldn’t call it a lie (if anything, he might’ve even convinced himself that its true — but that’s just further speculation), but its definitely not the hard truth.

Anime-only fans may be surprised by this, but in Volume 3: The Thing!! (Gourmet 17: A Taste of Poison!!), Coco says this:

Makes sense, right? When he gets startled by Starjun’s GT Robot in Cavern Lagoon (literally 4 pages later), he (seemingly instinctively) prepares an extremely lethal poison — and (in the manga) almost collapses afterwards as a result (Hmm... perhaps one day I could try and analyse the effects Coco experiences of using his poison? I think the whump fans might enjoy that one)

But back to the main point: the fact that Coco says this is... odd to me. “Odd” to the point that I went back to recap large parts of the series, and sure enough... I didn’t actually find much in the way of Coco consuming canon alcohol. Things implied to be alcoholic? Yes. Things canonically established to be alcoholic? Ehh... not really.

I could elaborate on that more, but I’ll get back to the point.

The key thing he says here is that he “loses control of his poison��. Again, this makes sense (because again, Starjun’s GT Robot seemed to trigger his poison, and that was an emotional reaction. Surely being drunk would have a similar effect?).

But as I’ve mentioned: he doesn’t go near Ichiryuu, Mansam, or really any other powerful characters. He even keeps Tylan at a distance, and Tylan specializes in neutralizing poison.

But Toriko, Komatsu, and Sunny? They most definitely could not handle most of Coco’s poisons. And in the previous collage (bottom left), Toriko is holding Coco after a fight, mere seconds after Coco had been using his poison, ruling out the possibility that its a matter of situation/circumstance.

Consider now: the relationships Coco has with Toriko, Komatsu, and Sunny.

Coco (at least, at the beginning of the series) is closest to Toriko. They’re on fairly good terms, and their fight with the Devil Python (while containing the occasional playful jab at the other) is not just coordinated, but cooperative. They work well together, and they seem to get along the best out of the Kings.

When it comes to Sunny, sure, their relationship is a little strained. Sunny is jealous of Coco’s ability to make entrances, and has no qualms about saying harsh things that are, on occasion, hurtful. And Coco is still somewhat standoffish towards Sunny. But that’s not to say that they don’t seem to get along at least decently well. Unlike with Zebra, they don’t yell or argue that much. They bond over certain topics, and will still work together.

...I don’t think I need to say anything about Komatsu. Everyone likes Komatsu.

But look at these relationships compared to each other. What do they have in common?

Though they may not be the smoothest of relationships, they are at least decently trusting in nature. These are people that Coco knows he can trust.

Recall again, that Coco has had his trust in the IGO shattered by his past.

So, back to Anon’s question

How is Coco’s relationship to Ichiryuu/the other Kings presented?

Okay, so I may have strayed off topic a bit. But, well, Anon asked for more rants/analyses.

So, what does all that have to do with how Coco's relationships with the rest of the family are presented?

Well... it technically has nothing to do with it. But hear me out:

In terms of just presentation, I could sum it up in a list:

Toriko: Coco and Toriko arguably have the best relationships out of the Kings. They not only are willing to work with the other, but they automatically work together. I'd say more, but then I'd just be restating what I said earlier

Sunny: Coco and Sunny get along well enough, but its shown that they're not on the best of terms. Their relationship is somewhat strained, and they're both prone to slighting the other. Nevertheless, they're on decent terms. (Again, not gonna restate everything)

Zebra: Coco is shown to strongly dislike Zebra, especially early on. Most notably, he refuses to go with Toriko to pick up Zebra from prison without a second thought. However, due to Coco's generally docile nature, they don't get into huge fights like Toriko and Sunny do with Zebra.

Ichiryuu: ...It's complicated. While (as I said before) Ichiryuu is shown to be a generally gentle and caring father, this post elaborates a bit more on some of what could be extrapolated from the facts that Ichiryuu runs the IGO, and that the IGO has done some pretty awful things to Coco.

But, well, that's kind of a gross oversimplification of what is understood through context and offhanded comments about the past.

Because, when everything's been accounted for, Coco trusts Toriko and Sunny. Not just in the way that "they'd probably save his life if they had to", because let's be real, Ichiryuu would do that. Rin would do that. Hell, Zebra would do that.

But Ichiryuu runs the IGO. He's the president of the entire organization. And as I've mentioned in the past, he's not stupid. Goofy? Yes, but not stupid. Ignorant? Well, sometimes seemingly so for comedic effect, but he’s never proven to miss important things when it matters most.

When his child is being subjected to literal human experimentation, he can't pretend he doesn't know. And if he's the PRESIDENT OF THE IGO, he can't pretend he doesn't have the power to stop it. He's letting this happen. He's complacent in letting Coco be experimented on — something that's clearly established to be traumatizing. In the second picture featured, Toriko directly says: "He's gone through a lot of bad times. Enough to quit being a Gourmet Hunter."

Sure, as a general rule, Coco is presented with having generally decent relationships with everyone else. But when it comes to how he truly feels about most of the other characters (especially when taken in the context of his past, which perfectly enough, is what Anon was asking for), its a general distrust in almost everyone. (Because he was betrayed by the IGO, of all organizations.)

Now, what I’m about to say is fairly off-topic, but then again, what in this WALL OF TEXT wasn’t?

One thing I’m sure many of us find to be at least somewhat irritating is when introversion is treated as a character flaw that has to be “fixed”. Its never quite sat right with me when I see an introvert be “fixed” into being an extrovert by the end of a story.

But strangely enough, they didn’t really do this with Coco.

Not because he stayed an introvert the whole series (though really, he did stay fairly reserved).

But, because the extreme lengths he was willing to go to in order to avoid other people? The things he did that went beyond introversion in order to stay away from people?

Those are things we see lessening over the course of the series. Sure, he may still live on a precipice in the woods, but after Cooking Fest, he invites Sunny and Zebra over.

Think about those with that scene towards the end of Puffer Whale in mind:

(Screenshot taken from Episode 6: The Knocking Master! Time to Taste the Puffer Whale!)

Again, I’m going to end this rant on an invitation for further speculation. I wonder if most of Coco’s character development is less about him overcoming his fears of his poison (or, if you want to get philosophical, his fear of himself), and more about overcoming the fear of himself he came to develop after a series of very traumatic experiences (being convinced by these scientists that he’s a “Dangerous Beast” that should be locked up), and gradually coming to be able to trust people again?

---

And of course, feel free to add to this in the notes! Or laugh at the sheer amount of time I’ve spent analysing this. Or yell at me for being too confusing and not just answering the question directly.

[rubysunnday]

any bonnie x shelby sis? I've been seeing it a lot lately and tI just love the idea so much like hduehuehdueh and especially with your writing it would be so amazing! :) love your work

You walked over to your desk and froze. Slowly, you set your keys down and began taking your scarf off.

“Who sent me flowers?”

The questions was directed at no one in particular but it was Esme who answered.

“No idea, they were here when I got in,” she replied, joining you and looking at the beautiful bouquet of lilies, violets and peonies.

“Is there a card?”

Esme shook her head. “Not that I saw. Maybe you’ve got a secret admirer,” she sang and you shoved her away, chuckling.

“Nah, fuck off, who’d want to admire me?”

You moved the flowers to the edge of your desk and sat down, pulling out the first pile of paperwork and began getting to work.

Tommy had finally relented and allowed you to work for him a year ago. He was still stupidly over – protective and refused to let you anywhere near anything dangerous, but you enjoyed the work. It allowed you to see more of your brothers and it gave you something to do.

Bonnie Gold had arrived into your life shortly after the black hand messages arrived. It’d been a whirlwind of emotions – you’d spent most of that time in the hospital with John and Michael – and Bonnie had been someone you’d come to rely on during that rocky time.

You were completely oblivious to Bonnie’s many attempts to woo you - much to everyone else’s amusement. He tried and tried but nothing seemed to make you realise that he liked you.

So, there you were, scribbling away at the paperwork when someone set something down on your desk. You looked up and frowned.

“Another one?” You exclaimed, staring at the basket of tulips in front of you.

Ada, who had put them on your desk, shrugged. “Someone handed them to me and said they were for you.”

���For the love of god,” you muttered. “Thanks, Ada.”

Things calmed down for the rest of the morning and there were no more mysterious flower deliveries.

You rolled your eyes at the flowers as you got up and headed to Tommy’s office, knocking on the door and waiting for him to call you in.

“Enter!”

“Hey, Tom,” you said, giving him and his brothers a smile. “I’ve finished this lost for you.”

“Thanks, y/n,” Tommy replied, giving you a rare genuine smile.

You turned to go but paused. “I don’t suppose any of you know who’s been sending me flowers?” You asked, looking between the boys who were like family to you.

“Nope,” John said, shrugging.

“Looks like you’ve got secret admirer,” Arthur teased, raising an eyebrow and you rolled your eyes.

“As if,” you replied, walking out the room, oblivious to the knowing looks the boys were giving each other.

/

The next morning, you were extremely flustered. You’d gotten back late from the Garrison after Finn had forced you out and had slept through your alarm. That meant you’d missed the chance for Polly to give you a lift and you’d then missed the bus that dropped off near the shop.

Never before had you been so grateful that Michael drove past your house every morning and had time to pick you up.

“I’m so tired,” you yawned as you and Michael walked down the road a bit to the shop door.

“Do you really need two jobs?” He asked as you opened the door.

“It’s money -“

You stopped talking, frozen in the doorway as you took in your desk.

“Oh, seriously?!” You exclaimed, roughly untying your scarf and throwing it over the coat stand as you took in the fact that your desk was covered in bouquets of flowers.

“They were here when I get in,” Tommy said, raising his hands up in surrender. “No one saw anyone come in either.”

“For fuck’s sake,” you muttered, stepping over the ones on the floor to get to your seat.

“Here,” Finn said, helping you take all the flowers of the desk. He tried to hide his smirk as he did so, but you noticed, smacking him around the head.

“This is not funny,” you hissed, glaring at him.

“No, because it’s totally normal for someone to receive dozens of anonymous flowers in one day,” he replied. You just glared at him and he quickly skulked away back to his desk.

You focused yourself entirely on your work for the next few hours, ignoring the flowers around you.

“Hey, y/n,” Arthur called, tapping your shoulder.

Your head shot up and he gave you a smile wave. “What?”

“Lunch, my treat,” he offered, and you frowned. “No tricks, just some decent lunch. I know you didn’t get home until stupidly late last night.”

“That was my stupid twin brother’s fault,” you grumbled. But, you relented, suddenly aware of how hungry you were. “Yeah, ok,” you sighed, standing up for the first time in hours. “I could do with some lunch.”

The two of you went down to the bakery around the corner from the Garrison, ordering warm sausage rolls and freshly cooked biscuits.

You returned to the shop with a smile on your face. Until you saw even more flowers decorating not only your desk but Esme and Lizzie’s too.

“For the love of god!” You yelled, staring at them all. You groaned and stormed into Tommy’s office, not caring that he was having a meeting.

“Alright, which one of you have been sending me flowers?” You glared are them all.

“Well, I’ve not got any money, so it isn’t me,” Finn replied, and Isaiah nodded.

“Me neither,” Isaiah replied, shrugging.

“It’s not me either,” John added, raising his hands up in a meek attempt at surrender.

“Nor is it me or Arthur,” Tommy said, leaning back in his chair.

“Then who is -“

All five of the rooms occupants stared at you in confusion as you cut yourself off and stared at nothing in particular.

“Y/N, you alright?” John asked, looking at you worriedly.

“ABARAMA!” You yelled, storming out of the office. “I’m going to fucking murder your son!”

Finn snickered under his breath as the front door slammed shut. “Now she realises.”

“Only took forty bouquets of flowers,” Isaiah added, and Finn laughed.

“What are you two on about?” Tommy asked tiredly.

“Bonnie has finally summoned the guts to tell our darling y/n how he feels,” Finn explained. “Which is going to be very interesting to hear about later.”

/

You found Bonnie skulking around the back of the Garrison, clearing up the empty barrels and boxes.

“Bonnie Gold,” you said loudly, making him jump and drop the barrel he was holding, “are you aware of just how irritating you are?”

Bonnie gave you that infamous smirk of a smile and you rolled your eyes but smiled. “I see you noticed.”

“It’s hard not to notice the dozens of flowers littering my desk and my sister – in – law’s desk,” you replied, stepping around the crates to get closer to him.

“Did you like any of them?” Bonnie asked and you noticed the hopefulness in his voice.

“I loved the violets and daisies,” you told him coming to stand in front of him. “They just happen to be my favourite flower.”

Bonnie shrugged and you almost burst out laughing at how hard he was trying to pretend that he wasn’t bothered. “They matched your outfit.”

“Ah,” you said softly. “Bonnie, serious question: do you like me?”

“Of course I like you,” Bonnie replied, “you’re one of my best friends.”

“I don’t mean like that, you dolt,” You told him, attempting to hide your smile. “I meant do you like me, like me?”

Bonnie’s eyes widened a fraction and if you hadn’t known him so well, you would’ve missed his reaction entirely. “What on earth gave you that idea?”

You sighed quietly realising that you were going to have to be very blunt with him. “Bonnie, why else would you have spent all of your money on sending me flowers? No one else in my family does that unless they’ve majorly pissed me off.”

“Do you hate me?”

Bonnie’s voice was so small as he asked the question. You found yourself stepping forward and taking his hand in yours, squeezing it ever so slightly.

“How can I hate someone who sends me flowers? How could I possibly hate somebody I love, eh?”

Bonnie’s head shot up. “You love me?”

You nodded. “I was ignoring it until now. In fact, I think I’ve loved you ever since I fell asleep on you in the hospital, Bonnie. I’ve just been oblivious to it all.”

Bonnie’s face lit up and he smiled broadly at you. “So, are we?”

“Yes, Bonnie, we are. Although, I’m not going to be the one to tell my brother’s.” You stood up on your tip toes and kissed his cheek. “But, first, you are going to take all of those flowers off my desk and put the somewhere nice.”

“Can’t you put them in your house?”

“Bonnie, I don’t have a house, I move between all five of my families,” you told him. “Besides, there is no room in any of my bedrooms.”

“Then where am I meant to put them all?”

“In Tommy’s house, obviously.”

Bonnie rolled his eyes. “Obviously.”