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It was late one night, and Nugget was wrapped around Lily on the couch of their shared apartment. Recently they had found themselves falling asleep next to each other. As embarrassing as it was for Lily, since she didn't normally give or receive physical affection, she still enjoyed being with her partner nonetheless. Yes, after 15 years of Nugget crushing on her they had finally made it official. Speaking of Nugget, he was tightly wrapping his arms around Lily, which wasn't too out of the ordinary, over the years they had learned each other's boundaries. What they are okay with and not, and Nugget putting his arms around her was completely fine. Lily was wearing a pair of light blue sleep shorts, and a large dark blue hoodie, it was comfortable for her. Her dark hair was messy around her face. Nugget was dawned in a large hoodie as well, it being orange in color, and his long plaid pajama pants. His blond curly hair was perfectly uniform somehow.
Nugget turned over, tightened his hold around Lily, gripping her like she was a lifeline. He contorted and scrunched his face, his sudden movements began to wake Lily slightly. Her eyes slowly opened, as her vision steadied the first thing she saw was Nuggets face. She could only assume something bad was going on in his mind, but what?
“Nugget?” she whispered “Are you okay?” She tried to reach over and shake him on the shoulder but realized she couldn't move her arms. It was because Nugget was holding on for dear life.
“Nugget?” she said a little louder. But he still remained in his half asleep state.
“Nugget?” she repeated, now in her normal talking voice. As she said this his face scrunched even more before his eyes then shot open instantly. Suddenly he sat up, looking around, he was almost confused. She sat up next to him, now more panicked with his sudden awakening.
“Are you okay?” Lily said in a frantic manner. Nugget’s eyes then fell on her, “Oh…Nugget apologizes, he…just forgot the pretty Lily was next to him, Nugget didn't mean to wake the pretty Lily, Nugget is very sorry” he said apologetically “It’s fine, but I wanted to know if you were okay”
“The pretty Lily shouldn't worry about Nugget”
“Please…will you tell me what's wrong? And don't even say you're fine because you clearly aren't!" she pleaded. With a reluctant sigh and not wanting to upset Lily even more, Nugget began to speak.
“Nugget has just been having these…bad dreams recently. Now Nugget is quite durable and normally bad dreams wouldn’t affect him…but when they happen, Nugget can’t help but be upset” he explained.
“And why is that?” Lily pried, resting a hand on his back. She didn't quite understand why but something about her presents calmed Nugget, he relaxed to her touch.
“The bad dreams always end in Nugget’s friends or the pretty Lily dying. Nugget has seen countless deaths in his days so that is not Nugget’s issue. The bad part is that it is the only people Nugget cares about who die, and then Nugget is all alone,” He continued . Lily couldn't help but feel bad for him. “Well, me and Billy aren't going anywhere anytime soon, I can tell you that” she reassured. They sat in silence for a moment.
“I struggled with nightmares for a while too” Lily admitted, “they were horrible to be blunt, and I didn't tell anyone. That was a major problem though because they kept building up inside of me until I cracked. Everything spilled out at Billy one night and, in the moment, I felt like the worst person ever for making Billy deal with me like that. But after, the nightmares slowly stopped and while they still happened every once and a while, I was okay.” As she explained this, Nugget listened with the most care in the world. “So, I think you should talk to someone before it all blows up in your face like it did for me” she chucked “weather that be Billy or Kidd or even me if you're comfortable, I just want you to be okay, okay?” He nodded at this, after that conversation he felt a lot better.
“Nugget would like to thank the pretty Lily”
“Why?”
“Becasue the pretty Lily was able to help Nugget when no one else could” she smiled at this, her face flushing slightly “why don’t you get some rest?” her hand patting the spot on the couch next to her, suggesting that he lay down with her. He compiled, and she laid down herself, it was pretty late after all. “Can Nugget hold the pretty Lily?” Nugget asked, “as long as you don’t squeeze me to death” she joked. With consent given he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. “Nugget would never intentionally hurt the pretty Lily” “I know, I know” Lily mumbled while reaching up to ruffle his hair.
She was practically asleep, her head rested under Nugget’s chin, one hand was still combing through his hair, the other was hugging him back. Nugget could feel her breathing, it was kinda a nice reminder that they were both still alive. Without thinking he pressed a gentle kiss on her cheek, “Nugget…” Lily groaned as red dusted her face. He chuckled, only pulling her close in response. With that, they both fell asleep.
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It was the next morning and Nugget was first to wake, like always. He used to get up pretty early to help on his family's farm, but it kinda just stuck with him. Lily was still sleeping peacefully next to him, not wanting to wake her up, he stayed put. As he waited for her, he looked around, noticing Tenders, their- well more Nugget’s cat. Tenders walked over, planting himself in the space between them. He was a very affectionate cat, rubbing his head against Lily and purring.
“Tenders, the pretty Lily is sleeping, do not wake her,” Nugget whispered at the cat. Tenders did not seem to care and just kept brushing against her. She began to stir, sitting up slightly and rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes.
“Ah good morning pretty Lily!” Nugget announced with more enthusiasm than someone should have at 6 am.
“Morning” Lily responded groggily, looking at her surroundings, “Why are you just sitting here? Like- I know you get up early but don’t you wanna, I don’t know, do something?” She continued
“Well, Nugget did not want to wake the pretty Lily, he already woke her last night and he wants the pretty Lily to get enough sleep,”
“You really don’t have to worry about me Nugget,”
“Nugget is going to anyway,”
“Okay,” she laughed. Lily didn’t understand why Nugget cared for her so much, but it was kinda nice knowing there was at least one person who was worried about her. Even if she felt bad to make Nugget worry so much, that's just the kinda person he was.
She then noticed Tenders, who was right up against her. “Hi Tenders” she said to the cat, petting and scratching his head. Tenders then hopped into her lap, as she continued petting him, she smiled. Nugget, in this moment, smiled too as he stared at Lily. The way her black hair framed her face, the way her brown eyes looked down at Tenders with such happiness. He was just so glad he was with her in that moment-
“Nugget?” she called, his thought being broken, “why are you staring at me?” she asked as Tenders played with her hoodie strings.
“Oh- Nugget apologies, he was just so happy to see the pretty Lily happy” and just like that the flush from the previous night had returned once again.
“Well…I’m happy you're happy too” she responded, going back to playing with Tenders, who was attempting to shred Lily’s hoodie strings. “Alright I’m gonna go get ready for the day” Lily announced while standing up, still holding Tenders
“Do you want him?” she asked, holding him out to Nugget. He nodded, as Lily put him in his arms she placed a kiss atop his forehead. “I love you!” she shouted while exiting the room, “Nugget loves the pretty Lily too!” he yelled back.