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As much as Mr. Snuggles loves his owner, Fitz has a bad habit of overthinking the most minor things. His ability to make a decision and not think of every outcome, no matter how unlikely it could be, was none existent. This moment was no exception.
The red, sparkly, plush dragon watched as Fitz muttered gibberish to himself and wrote down a few words before scratching them out repeatedly for the past thirty minutes.
This was getting nowhere, and Mr. Snuggles felt like bursting. He wanted to grab the pen and write out every rant about; how beautiful Dex’s eyes are and how Fitz felt like he could get lost in them for hours on end. How his hair looked so soft, and how Fitz wanted to know if it felt as soft as it looked. How Dex’s laugh should be a crime by how sweet it sounded, how Fitz would feel giddy when he was the one to make him laugh. How cute Dex looked when he worked on gadgets because you could tell he was in his element, how a simple smile could make Fitz feel like a mess of butterflies.
If he could, maybe Fitz would stop overthinking and ask Dex out. Too bad Mr. Snuggles’ handwriting is the equivalent of a toddler’s, where not even he could read it.
“This is stupid!” Fitz threw his hands up. Pushing his chair away from the desk with his feet. He groaned and tore both hands through his hair. Staring up at the ceiling, he took a few deep breaths. “Snuggles, I don’t know what to do.”
The soft plush sat up straight at the mention of his name and ears propped up, “The letter is a great idea, but if you’re looking for something else, I have other ideas. Like, just going up and talking to him? He's not going to bite. At least I don’t think he’ll bite?” The dragon suggested with a shrug. His owner moved back to the desk and glanced down at him.
“This was a bad idea!” He gestured to the paper full of pen marks. More than haft the words written down had been scratched out. “I can’t give him this!”
“I think you’re doing great. Maybe if you do, Dex will kiss you.” Mr. snuggles tilled his head to the side and smiled up at Fitz.
The elf propped his head in his hand and narrowed his eyes at the red dragon. “I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me, but I hate it.”
Snuggles rolled his eyes. “You never listen to me.”
Fitz has a hard time talking to others about his feelings, so it wasn’t surprising that he chose a letter to try and confess his feelings for Dex. When he tries to explain his emotions and feelings, he rambles. Part of it is his struggle to find the best way to explain and the fact that talking about emotions made him nervous. When he sits down and writes, he can see what works and what doesn’t.
Unless you’re Mr. Snuggles. From the way the day was stressful to the nerdy boy that made his heart feel like it was going to fly out of his chest. Snuggles heard every rant. Good thing He was just as great of a listener as he was a cuddler.
But that could only do so much before others noticed the strange way Fitz acted when the strawberry-blond was around. Sooner or later, Fitz’s attempts to hide the butterflies would fail. Mr. Snuggles hoped Fitz would confess before that happened to save Fitz any embarrassment.
But at the rate things were going, that wasn’t likely.
Fitz grabbed a new sheet of paper, got most of it filled without scratching out words, and ensured it was eligible and neat. Snuggles clicked his tongue; he wondered if there would be a third draft or if Fitz would manage to keep it at two.
Setting the pen down, Fitz looked over what he had written. A minute must have passed of him just staring at it before he grumbled, “Forget it.” He folded the paper in haft and tossed it into a drawer.
”I don’t know how I’d give it to him.” He rolled his chair back and spun it around, eyes glued to the glowing stars on the ceiling. “It’s not like it’ll happen anyway, so there isn’t much of a point to giving it to him.”
He sighed, stood up, and left the room.
There was no way Mr. Snuggles would let Fitz hide the letter. For almost a year and a haft, Snuggle listened to so many love-sick comments. He couldn’t sit back and let Fitz keep pinning over someone who, Snuggles was reasonably sure from the glances he saw from Dex, liked him back!
The question was, how was he going to get it to Dex? It wasn’t like he could go up to Dex and hold it up to him. He could place it in a spot Dex would look, but he wasn’t sure where he’d put it and how he’d get there. Waiting for a time he would be over at Everglen could work. But there was the fact that Snuggles probably should have Dex find the letter when he’s alone, given that was Fitz’s original plan. There was also the rare chance Dex would be alone when he was at Everglen.
Looking around the room, Mr. Snuggles tapped a paw against the desk. His eyes landed on Fitz’s backpack, and his ears perked up. Fitz’s group of friends were going on a Blackswan mission that involved staying at a hideout for a few nights. If Mr. Snuggles could get the letter into Fitz’s bag, he could find a way to get it to Dex then.
He pushed at the drawer, nearly falling when it cracked open. Shifting to kick at it with his hind legs, he slowly got the drawer open enough to pull the paper out.
He flopped onto his back, taking a few deep breaths. Opening and closing a drawer was much more work when you’re stuffed with fluff. Sitting up, he slid the paper to the edge of the desk and let it fall, fluttering to the ground. Slowly he began to lower himself to the ground. Once hanging by his arms, he shut his eyes and fell to the floor with a soft plop.
Gently picking up the letter in his mouth, he went to his owner's bag. Pushing it over with his head, he began to move a few things over to make room for the letter and to ensure it won't wrinkle. Once happy, he returned to the desk so Fitz could easily find him when it was time for bed.
~~~
Before the sun had made its way into the sky, Fitz and Biana had been running around, ensuring they had everything they needed. In Mr. snuggles opinion, five AM was way too early, and the whole world should just go back to sleep.
When Mr. Snuggles was tucked into the bag and Fitz met up with his friends, the sun began peering over the horizon. Another hour passed before they started heading off to wherever the hideout was. Snuggles may or may not have fallen asleep along the way.
He blinked awake when the backpack was sat down. Muffled chatter of people slowly faded away, and Snuggles stretched with a long yawn. He peaked out a small opening in the zipper seeing other bags had been set down around the room. Pushing against the bag, he managed to get it open enough for his head to stick out. Now seeing more of his surroundings, Snuggles scanned the room.
It seemed like a standard living room, not much special about it. There was a light brown, L-shaped couch pushed up against a wall. Said walls were off-white with a big window to the left of the sofa and random paintings placed here and there. A few house plants were thrown around the room. Mr. Snuggles could hear Fitz’s group of friends talking outside.
Sitting down, Snuggles glanced between all the other bags thrown on the floor and couch. He recognized most of them; a faded pink backpack sat on the sofa, Sophie’s, next to a gray bag filled with pins, Keefe's. Biana’s baby blue backpack was next to Snuggles.
His eyes landed on a familiar lime green bag. He narrowed his eyes, lowering his head and ears pinned to his head, similar to an animal stocking prey. Wiggling his shoulders, he pounced or at least tried. His legs had gotten stuck in the bag, causing it to fall over. Crawling out from under it, Mr. Snuggles shook like a wet dog and stretched out his wings. He dug through the backpack and pulled out the letter. Standing up on his hind legs and holding the paper in his arms, he waddled over to the lime green backpack. Setting the letter down, he pulled at the zipper, opened the bag, and began climbing in.
Mr. Snuggles struggled to climb into the bag, wiggling and kicking his back legs to get enough movement to fall in. Once in, he poked his head out and reached for the paper, realizing his little stumpy arms couldn’t reach it. Mr. Snuggles huffed.
“What are you doing?” Ella peaked over the edge of the couch.
“Important mission,” the red dragon stretched his arms out as far as he could, giving his wings a few good flaps.
Mrs. Stinkbottom gasped, “Really, What kind of important mission?”
He let his legs fall limp and looked up at the green plush. “Top secret”
“Can I know? Is it a mission where you have to check everyone's bags to ensure they're not government spies?” Stinkbottom beamed, filled with excitement.
Ella rolled her eyes at her girlfriend. “Our owners and their friends aren’t government spies.”
The gulon plush threw her hands into the air. “You don’t know that!.”
“I can assure you, hun, none of them are government spies.”
“You never know; maybe Ella is a spy.” Mr. Snuggles smiled smugly up at the blue elephant and her chaotic girlfriend.
Mrs. Stinkbottom’s mouth fell open, and she slowly turned to Ella, “are you?”
Ella hummed with a flirtatious smile, leaning closer to the other, “What would you do if I was?”
The green gulon plush stepped back, blinking at her girlfriend. With each step back, Ella stepped closer before Stinkbottom fell off the couch with a plop. “Hey!”
“I didn’t do anything.” Ella held her hands up in defense with a teasing smile. “You just stop functioning when I flirt and tease you.”
“You didn’t answer if you are a government spy.” Stinkbottom folded her arms with a huff.
“Oh my gosh,” Ella rolled her eyes, “I’m not a spy!.”
“Hey, not to interrupt or anything.” Mr, Snuggles piped in and pointed to the letter. “But Mrs. Stinkbottom, could you hand me that while you’re down here and close up the backpack?”
She grumbled, giving Ella a long glare, before picking up the paper. “So I take it your mission is not to find government spies?”
Mr. Snuggles shook his head.
“What is it then?”
“You do know what top secret means, right?”
She grumbled, “yeah.” And handed the paper to Snuggles.
Ella eyed him, “I know you're up to something. Whatever it is, don’t do anything stupid.”
Before Snuggles could argue, Mrs. Stinkbottom closed the bag; her muffled voice said, “Good luck with your mission, man.”
He rolled his eyes and settled down, hugging the letter tight.
Now to wait.
~~~
It hadn’t taken as long as Mr. Snuggles thought it would for muffled conversations to fade into the room, and Dex’s backpack began to move. The sound of people talking faded away again. The bag felt like it had been tossed and landed on something soft. The sound of a closing door was followed by a sigh.
Snuggles placed an ear against the bag's fabric, trying to understand what was happening. From what the little dragon could tell, someone was typing on a computer. Every now and there was humming; he assumed they had headphones on, with music playing.
A few minutes passed before the backpack shifted and the bag opened. Light catching Snuggles’ eyes, he hugged the letter tighter and looked up to see Dex.
“What the” Dex raised an eyebrow, “aren’t you Fitz’s plush? How did you get in there?” He picked Snuggles up and smiled. “Heh, I suppose your not in my bag to help me fix my coding?”
Snuggles shook his head. He let go of the letter, letting it drift to the bed. The movement of the paper caught Dex’s eyes, and he picked it up. Setting Snuggles down, he unfolds the paper and his eyebrow knitted together. Looking up at the closed door and sat down on the edge of the bed.
Dex’s eyes ran over each word; with every second that passed, His smile grew as well as a slight blush. He chuckled, shaking his head, “Wonderboy, you’re an idiot.” He glanced down at Snuggles, “let’s get you back to Fitz.” Picking Mr. Snuggles up, he held him close to his chest, the letter tucked out of sight in his arms.
Walking down the hall, he stopped and leaned against the door frame. Dex held Mr. Snuggles closer to his chest, watching Fitz sort through some papers in the middle of the floor. His back facing them. “Hey,” Dex spoke.
Fitz jumped. He placed a hand against his chest and took a deep breath. “Don’t sneak up on me! God, are you trying to give me a heart attack?” He let out a breath to calm his nerves and smiled. "Hey, what's up?"
Dex chuckled and smiled back, “Sorry. You got a minute?”
“Uh, yeah?” Fitz eyed Snuggled, who just grinned back, wagging his tail, settling deeper into Dex’s arms. He slowly stood up.
Dex pushed off the doorframe and moved into the room, gently closing the door. “I found this little dude delivering this,” He handed Fitz the letter, who hesitantly took it.
He looked it over, and a blush found its way onto his cheeks. His eyes grew wide. “I-” His voice cut off. “Did you read it?”
“Yeah?” Dex nodded.
Fitz looked anywhere that wasn’t at the other and studdered. “I… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” Dex repeated. “Why would you be sorry?”
“I… I just don’t want things to be awkward.” Fitz ran a hand through his hair. “I really enjoy being around you.” He sighed. “And I don’t want you to hate me or feel uncomfortable around me.”
“Why would I be uncomfortable around you?” He asked.
Fitz held up the paper and pointed to it. “You read this, right.”
“Yeah, Wonderboy, do you really think I would feel uncomfortable around you or hate you because you're gay?”
Fitz looked to the left and down at the floor and nodded slightly. “You hated me in the past.”
Dex rolled his eyes. “I never really hated you. I was just an insecure kid that needed to work through their own crap. You had, and are, many things that I wish I was. Because of that, I pretended to hate you when Sophie came to the lost cities. I wanted to be your friend, but I was worried I’d get close, and you’d see I wasn’t as awesome and cool as you, and you wouldn’t want to be friends.”
Fitz raised an eyebrow, “What are you talking about? You’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.”
Dex shifted, blushing a bit at the compliment. “Wonderboy, I’m not going to hate you because you’re gay. You’re not the only one in the group that is. Have you seen the way Linh and Marella look at each other? I bet you my left kidney they’re secretly dating.”
Fitz grinned with a small laugh.
“The letter,” Dex looked down at Snuggles before placing him gently on the bed. “Was cheesy but sweet.” He moved closer to Fitz and gently held his hands up in front of him; when Fitz didn’t move away, he cupped Fitz’s cheeks. “I have a question for you.”
Fitz moved his hand to do the same but decided against it and moved them to the other's shoulders. “What’s your question?”
“Can I,” Dex’s voice softened, gently placing his forehead against Fitz's, “Be your boyfriend?”
Fitz’s legs gave out from under him, and he melted to the ground. Mush, Snuggles owner was absolute mush. Fitz smiled, lowering his head to hide his blush.
“Oh no!” Dex chuckled, lowing to the ground with Fitz. “That's not an answer! Do you need CPR?”
Fitz tried to muffle his laughter by placing his hands over his mouth. Dex gently tugged his hands away and clasped them in his. Both laughing, smiling and being happy. Mr. Snuggles beamed at the sight.
Fitz shook his head, his smile never fading. Muttering something snuggles couldn't hear, Fitz glanced up at the other. Letting their foreheads rest against each other once again. This time Fitz’s hands cupped Dex’s cheeks. “Yeah.” He whispered. “I’d love to be your boyfriend.”
“Yeah?” Dex questioned and leaned closer.
“Yeah.”
Fitz closed the last few inches and kissed Dex. Mr. Snuggles smiled, “about time.”