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“You know what I’ve noticed about you?” Squiddo prompts, collecting the half stack of gaps.
“What?” Mapicc tilts his head slightly, open for some Squiddo shenanigans.
“You’re really sweet. People act like you’re mean and evil, but you’re just sweet.” Squiddo says, turning to face him. Hah.
“Yeah, I’m the sweetest!” He beams playfully, and continues on his wandering around. It warms his heart a little that Squiddo thinks he’s chill like that. At least Squiddo understands him. That’s why they’re the goat.
“No but actually,” they go on, watching him pace. “Like– Come here.”
“What?” He asks, pausing and walking over to her. “You need something?”
“That’s what I mean,” Squiddo explains. It takes him a second to process, ironing out the urge to provide. Oh.
“You kinda got me there,” he notes, but doesn’t back up. Just in case.
“Hannah and Zam say you like being called good,” Squiddo goes on, which– fjskjs?? What?
“I– Uh, I– …Squiddo.” He breathes a disbelieving laugh. They just stare. Mapicc can’t tell if he prefers their guarded glasses stare or their open and curious eyes stare. They have make-up on for their cosplay, he’s noticing. He has good eyes like that. He’s good like that.
“Is that bad? Should I not’ve– Sorry.” Squiddo apologizes, putting their hands up a little.
“No it’s– I just didn’t uh, expect that!” Mapicc answers, laughing. It’s only like 10% nervous. “I– Yeah. They say that.”
“…Is it true?” Squiddo poses, interested. Thanks Zam. Thanks Hannah.
“Yeah.” Mapicc shrugs. He’s mostly stopped being embarrassed about it, he just prefers when he’s pre-thoughtout his words. There’s a lot more deflecting he could’ve done, but. Well. His Squiddo bias.
“Mape,” Squiddo starts. Mapicc tries not to get excited. He’s normal. “Can I–”
“Yeah.” Mapicc permits, very easily and trying to breathe. This part is– It’s more, uh, not embarrassing but like. It’s just more hellhound-ish, makes him feel like an animal, giving someone that type of power over him. Not in a bad way, but this is something that requires planning to explain, and you can’t plan if you’re acting on instinct.
“Well, what do… What do you usually do? Like, do you have a ritual or– or a routine, or… I dunno, a thing?” Squiddo asks. Ohh. This is probably just the Squiddo way of getting close. Quality time, like the love thingies. The languages, loves languages.
He can do that. And he can do quality time with Squiddo without having to on the spot explain.
“Sometimes,” Mapicc explains. Squiddo wasn’t really active when they were teamed last season, so she didn’t experience his bullshit. “But when I– It’s like a biological thing, like how humans get tired, I get–”
They haven’t invented a word for it yet. In season four they called it hound gaming, then Zam started calling it doggy time, and Chungpire had mixed opinions. Minute didn’t ever talk about it, Bacon insisted he was like a broody hen, and Hannah latched onto ‘doggy time’ from Zam.
“Uh, I get like. All… nesty.” Mapicc immediately cringes internally. Really? That’s what he came up with? “Like– I wanna– Whatever.”
Squiddo laughs, humoring his partial shame.
“You’re– You’re good,” she says. “I’m listening.”
If Squiddo thinks he didn’t catch that wording, she’s dead wrong. He can’t help the smile that forms on his face, though. Squiddo bias. Hound bias too.
Unfortunately he absolutely refuses to think a single thought more
“I– It– This is just biology bullshit. Boring biology bullshit, too.” Mapicc excuses. They can do other things, spend other time together.
“Okay,” Squiddo indulges. Mapicc stares. Uhh.
“Do you wanna look for bases?” He offers, tilting his head. He didn’t think this far ahead.
“Not super. But if we bring buckets and slimeballs and look in swamps then sure.” Squiddo answers with a big smile. Mapicc narrows his eyes and smiles bemusedly.
“What do you need– Frogs? Do you–”
“For tadpoles. I just want them, really.” Squiddo shrugs.
“Cool. We can make buckets, and we stole slime from Luigi’s trap.” Mapicc says, and starts opening chests.
With that topic awkwardly postponed, they go tadpole/base hunting.
He’s glad she dropped it and let him very obviously change the topic. ‘Boring biology stuff’ is probably the lamest excuse ever, because it’s not even biology really. It’s just him, how he works, how his species works.
It’s just not a thing he can explain without a plan. Whatever. They have frogs to hunt, so Squiddo drops the topic and they go tadpole/base hunting and it’s over.
Except for how it’s not over at all, and Squiddo doesn’t drop it. A few days later, while they’re waiting for Zam and Ash (and hopefully Red) to log on, she takes a wistful breath from where she’s sitting.
“What?” He starts, squinting slightly. “You good?”
“Can you come here?” Squiddo requests politely, patting the side of the chair she’s on. Mapicc raises an eyebrow, and cautiously walks over.
“What is it?” He insists, glancing around. He mostly trusts Squiddo, but– well, anyone can betray someone. It’s not like it’s hard.
“On the– sit down.” Squiddo tells him. Mapicc gives her a look, but she doesn’t offer anything else. It’s his teammate. And if they betray, they’re kinda free. It’d give him something to do at least.
He drops it to the floor, then plops backwards and crosses his legs. He’s half expecting to get dropped into a trap. He’s not expecting for Squiddo to place a hand on his head and scratch behind his ears.
Obviously, he starts leaning into it before he even fully processes what they’re doing. ‘Cause it’s nicenicenice and it’s his pack.
“Your tail wags,” Squiddo comments, right before Mapicc’s brain kicks in and he opens his eyes.
“What the hell?” He asks, but doesn’t make an effort to move away. They pause scratching his head in favor of fixing his hair around his ears. Ohhh. Squiddo bias extended.
“I was– You dodged the question last time.” Squiddo offers, staring at his tail. Mapicc has half a mind to stop it, but there are bigger fish to fry.
“What question?”
“About the nesty thing. You get nesty, that’s all you said, you said you ‘get nesty’ and then you dodged the question.” Squiddo explains. Mapicc breaks into a lazy grin.
“So you’re buttering me upppp, ohh,” he teases. Squiddo gives him a bright smile that might be fake.
“Well, not if it isn’t working,” they answer, then they drop both their smile and their hand, shrugging. “I’m curious.”
Mapicc leans back too. He’d tell them they could just ask, but they already did. Plus, he’s not gonna lie to himself and say he doesn’t feel more inclined to share this stuff with someone who pets him. He’s had time to think.
“I guess ask away then,” he offers. Squiddo gives him a little smile in return.
“What’s your ritual? With being nesty?” They ask immediately. They wanted to know that earlier too, right? Routine. He doesn’t have a routine.
“I don’t super have one,” Mapicc shrugs. “It’s… I tell Zam, then we grab anyone else who’s available, and– that’s that.”
“Why Zam?” Squiddo pokes.
“‘Cause she has the most experience with me. Zam and I kinda have– We know what to do.” Mapicc explains. It just makes sense, he’s never needed to ask ‘why zam’ because why would it be anyone else?
“I see,” Squiddo nods. “So you, what, you get every Lifestealer? Just not me?”
“Yeah we hate you,” Mapicc says flippantly, then Squiddo laughs and he grins. “No, not– It’s usually just my team.” He closes his eyes and smiles up at them. “Which is you!”
“Me! Yay!” Squiddo cheers. Mapicc laughs.
“Whenever I get nesty in like two months, I’ll drag all you grimy worms into my den,” Mapicc… threatens? assures? promises? Promises. Squiddo blinks.
“You… You know when you’re gonna get nesty?” Squiddo questions. Mapicc nods, and she leans forward to pet him. Hey, no issues with that, Mapicc easily lets her.
“Yep. I can… I can kinda tell. It’s pretty regular too.” Mapicc answers, and Squiddo sits up. “It’s like every three months kinda.”
“You get a dog period??” Squiddo asks blunt and british. Mapicc, for his part, doesn’t get gender dysphoria about this.
“You know I’m trans, right?” Mapicc poses, not really a question. Judging by how Squiddo freezes, she didn’t. Dear God.
“What? You’re trans?” She asks, blinking and drawing away. “What?”
“You didn’t know??” Mapicc demands, because this feels like pretty basic information about him. Like. It’s definitely not a secret. He’s complained about like, girl things. Not girl things. Whatever you get it.
“No!” Squiddo says, hesitating. “Well. That’s good to know, I guess.”
Mapicc just laughs. Okay, well they’re already talking, and he’s had this conversation a few times so he doesn’t really have to plan it on the spot.
“It’s– Yeah. I mean, I’m not human, so I don’t exactly get periods, but it’s like. All hellhounds get the nesting thingy, just like, the girls are usually the nest protector.” He explains.
“Oh, that’s the opposite of humans,” Squiddo offers. Mapicc gives her a smile. Yeah.
“I know. It’s kinda– I mean, for a while I was…” Mapicc pauses. This was like, before season one. And up to the middle of season four. Yeah it’s behind him but it’s still… fresh. And he doesn’t want to share it with just anyone.
Squiddo isn’t just anyone though, it’s Squiddo. She’s trans too, she’ll probably get the whole dysphoria shit. The issue is–
“I haven’t really told anyone about this except for like, Zam and Ro and Spoke, but uh,” Mapicc starts. “I mean like, when I was younger it was so– It wasn’t pushed, but it was implied that ‘cause I was born a girl, I should be super protective.”
Squiddo just sits and listens and god this is so fucking stupid. He’s sitting docile on the floor and she was petting him just a minute ago and now he’s trauma dumping with a monologue he’s only given once and not planned out. What a life he leads.
“And I– I like being protective, I like defending my pack and my hoard and I like being big scary Mapicc, but I didn’t wanna be that if it was expected of me just ‘cause I have a pussy.”
Squiddo nods. She is so awesome.
“And outside of home, it’s the default for men to be the protector– and then it’s still expected of me. I don’t– I just wanted to be Mapicc, I wanted to be angry and mean and badass because that was me, not ‘cause of what people expected.” He goes on. When was the last time he talked about this? Spoke? In season four with Ro? “And I pass as a guy, but for a while I kinda like, hated that. ‘Cause I wanted to be different, I didn’t wanna fit so cleanly into stereotypes– and– Dude, it’s like okay, I fit into my family’s stereotypical girl, and then I fit into the rest of the world’s stereotypical guy. That’s so bullshit, like, jesus fuck.”
“Mhm,” Squiddo agrees, then she pushes the chair back and slides to the floor with a loud creak that makes his ears pin a little. “Sorry, I just wanted to be on equal footing.”
“You’re fine,” Mapicc brushes off, and Squiddo grabs his tail. This is not at all what the conversation was about. They’re supposed to be talking about some instinct shit or something. “But uh, that’s all chill. What are you doing?”
“I’m petting you,” Squiddo reports brightly.
“Cool,” Mapicc says, laughing breathily. “We can go back to talking about instincts now.”
“I’m glad you told me that,” Squiddo smiles, stroking his tail. It flicks without his permission, but she just ignores it. “I can kinda relate.”
Mapicc doesn’t say anything, so they continue.
“With the roles thing. I still haven’t figured it out. I just wanna be me without having to worry about like, if I’m presenting too masc or not femme enough– I’m nonbinary, by the way. If you didn’t know.” They look up from their hands (and his tail) to meet his eyes.
“I figured,” Mapicc nods, and Squiddo smiles a little. He didn’t actually figured, he just knew she was trans like, adjacent.
“Yeah. But I– I worry about it a lot. Or well– I try not to but it still happens. I don’t know.” They tell him, frowning and looking back down. Mapicc follows their eyes and realizes his tail is trying to wind around her hands. Awkward. “What if people think I’m too– I dunno, too girly? I am a girl, but also I’m… not. I don’t know.”
He’s bad at this.
“You don’t gotta know, either,” Mapicc adds onto nothing. Squiddo gives a miniscule nod. “That’s what nonbinary is, right? The uh, uncertainty.”
“Ambiguity?” Squiddo supplies, looking up.
“Ambiguity, yeah,” he says, like he knows what he’s doing. This next part though he doesn’t have to pretend. “And fuck other people. Fuck them.”
Squiddo hits her back against the chair, laughing. Mapicc can’t help but smile.
“I’m serious, actually fuck that. Just don’t listen to anyone who tries to fit you like, into their bullshit. That’s dumb.” He continues, flicking his tail. “You’re Squiddo. You’re just Squiddo.”
“I’m Therealsquiddo,” Squiddo says lightly, not with the full weight of her true name, more like… like a normal word, not a fancy word. A concept, not a specific. Whatever
“You’re you,” Mapicc agrees. Squiddo nods. “See, now we’re cool.”
“The cool and auraful Squiddos and Mapiccs:” Squiddo states.
“Yes. Are you– Can we move on? Or nah?”
“Yes.” Squiddo answers, and readjusts, still smiling idly. “Okay. What were we talking about?”
“Some bullshit,” Mapicc says unhelpfully. “Nesting and hellhounds.”
“Oh, right. Um.” Squiddo refocuses. “Is there more to nesting? Or do you just get protective?”
Mapicc makes a face.
“Ehh?? I wouldn’t– It’s not protective, really it’s just like, I wanna be around my friends more, so I hang out with my friends more. And nowhere but home feels like a safe place to hang out, so we just end up at wherever I’m living.” Mapicc corrects. Squiddo looks at his tail, then his face. “It’s justs chills times. For funs.”
“But you get– Hannah said you got protective, like didn’t want anyone but her to go in th– in your space.” Squiddo argues, which, okay maybe, but how come Hannah is spreading his shit? What the hell Hannah.
“She has no idea how to keep a secret,” Mapicc huffs, then grabs his tail and sets it as close to Squiddo as he can. She scoots forward until their knees touch. “Sometimes I get like that, but usually it’s chill A-F.”
“Why did you get like that with Hannah?” Squiddo follows up, and Mapicc blinks, going still. Okay. Well.
It’s– Hannah… Hannah is Hannah. And she’s brilliant and she thinks she’s way worse than she is and she’s sassy and she likes to tease and she just. She’s a really good teammate. She’s sweet. But she is also really determined and stubborn, so it’s hard to get her to stop once she’s set her mind on a goal.
Which is fine! He likes that about her, he likes going along with her scheme, she can just neglect herself sometimes. The trick is, she doesn’t like to neglect others, so if he gets ultra clingy in the den, then she doesn’t like to leave. It’d be rude.
It was mostly a season six problem, Chungpire was… well it was something. There was a lot going on, and he had no idea how to reach out so usually it was just him alone during doggy time. And Hannah found out and they had one day with the entire Chungpire in his den, then it was just him and Hannah.
It makes sense he got weird about her in relation to denning. It’s not– It’s normal. He’s regular about his friends. But it was a relationship formed in a hard time, and he latched onto it. That’s normal. It carried over to season seven, even when the threat of the world ending wasn’t as stressful.
“It’s Hannah,” Mapicc answers like a dumbass. Squiddo giggles. “I’m serious, she just– Y’know, her pathetic aura and her bountiful grace–”
“Don’t say Hannah has a ‘pathetic aura’” Squiddo laughs, leaning over herself. Mapicc grins. “That’s so rude.”
“She does though. Squiddo, you’re the one who asked, you can’t be mad when I answer.” He glares, all play. Squiddo leans up and shakes their head.
“Okay. So you’re just… like that all the time with Hannah.”
“Not all the time, just when my doggy period comes.”
“Your doggy period,” Squiddo repeats with confused laughter. “Okay Maypick.”
“You started it!” Mapicc exclaims, gesturing, and with that his tail slips out of Squiddo’s hands to sit at his side. Squiddo just keeps giggling at him. It warms something in him to see them so happy.
Once they’ve calmed down, and Mapicc’s tail is back in Squiddo’s hands (why are they so fixated?), Squiddo continues.
“Do you have other stuff? Like, I know Zam likes collecting trinkets, and Woogie likes. the cold.” She says, slightly awkward. Mapicc has to think for a second.
“I like– You know how Bacon likes gold? Or, at least piglins do, Bacon’s got some fucking bullshit going on.” He begins. Bacon was maybe the worst example to use but that’s fine.
“I know, trust me,” Squiddo answers. Mapicc’s tail flicks. Right, teammates last season.
“Well hellhounds have the same fixation, just on quartz. Mine isn’t really intense, just when my teammates wear little like, things. Like Zam has– Oh you know my necklace?” Mapicc suddenly realizes, pulling his necklace away from his neck. Squiddo leans forward to investigate. “It’s quartz. I made it in I think season three. For fun.”
“What does Zam have?” Squiddo asks, just out of curiosity probably, but…
“She has a necklace too,” Mapicc replies, dropping his necklace after Squiddo leans away. “It’s– Um.”
Hm. He doesn’t know how much of the post season four betrayal and castle arc stuff Squiddo knows, and he really isn’t about to explain it.
“I gave it to her,” Mapicc says instead of we planned it with Team Awesome and Ro and Terry and Spoke also have one and Zam betrayed before i finished hers and she kept it half finished and then in season five we allied and i finished it and then i broke it and then i fixed it after season six and then she wore it occasionally and now she doesn’t take it off. Instead of I broke it and i hated her and i hated her so much because she was a rat and she betrayed me except she wasn’t and she didnt. Calls it a gift instead of saying it’s an ongoing story he doesn’t really know the end of.
“Oh, cool,” Squiddo states. “Does Hannah have one?”
“Yeah. I asked her.” Mapicc answers. Fuck Zam apparently. He pauses, and notes his tail flicking. Does it really move this much? Fuck, he’s gotta get that on lock. Or maybe not, it’s kinda funny. “I was gonna ask you too in season seven but you didn’t log on.”
“Oops,” Squiddo offers, smiling. Mapicc grins back. He can’t be mad. Well he actually totally can, but it’s– Squiddo bias. And then Squiddo pauses petting his tail, drawing his focus. “Wait, do we– Do all the Gummyworms get necklaces?”
“Jepexx has earrings,” Mapicc counters instead of yesyesyeysyesyyeysyesyyes!
“So it doesn’t have to be– Wait Jepexx has his ears pierced? Oh no I knew that. Jepexx has quartz earrings?” Squiddo interrupts herself. Mapicc smiles.
“The earrings are actually from Poafa, he has a necklace from me,” Mapicc says. “It’s– We used red and blue quartz to differentiate.”
“There’s different quartz colors??” Squiddo interrogates, furrowing their eyebrows. Mapicc can’t help but grin wider.
“There are,” he says, trying to suppress it and failing. “We– You know we grew up together, right?” Squiddo nods, so he continues. “Well, it was like, one of our first projects. Different types of quartz aren’t like, super different to work with? But it was– They’re pretty bad.”
Mapicc turns to the side to show off a Jepexx orange ear tag next to a Poafa blue one, both messily cut. Squiddo makes an ‘ooo’ noise.
“Oh, that’s what they aree,” Squiddo clicks, poking at his ear. It twitches. “They made these? For you?”
“Yeah, when we were like, 13-14, yeah.” Mapicc smiles, shaking his hair out. God that was horrible. Fun! but horrible. “But anyways.”
Squiddo respectfully returns to their spot, and still holds his tail. Maybe they’re just weird. It’s probably that. He runs a hand through his hair, shaking it back into place.
“Does it just– Like is it just beautiful and heartwarming?” Squiddo asks.
“Yes?” Mapicc raises an eyebrow. “I don– What do you mean?”
“Like, is there a deeper meaning? Or is it–”
“Oh, it’s just a sweet little reminder of friendship,” Mapicc answers, chipper. “Or whatever the relationship is. They’re for everything love related.”
“Heartwarming moments and aura,” Squiddo responds.
“Exactly,” Mapicc nods, hiding a smile. Very poorly, he thinks. “Do you have more orr..?”
“Yes,” Squiddo answers before he even finishes. Mapicc huffs a laugh. “So quartz and nesting and being sometimes protective; what else?”
What else? He isn’t too sure how separate he is from his instincts. They’re just part of him.
“I like being warm? And I– I mean I dunno how much protectiveness comes from, like–”
“Sorry. You just told me that.” Squiddo apologizes. “Is it hard to make a clean cut? Between like, you and your species?”
“Kinda,” Mapicc hums, and looks to the side to think. “I guess– Mm.”
“Mhm,” Squiddo says supportively while they wait for him to figure out how he wants to say this. God bless Squiddo.
“I guess– It’s such like, an integral part of me. Do you insist on having meals together ‘cause you’re a human or just ‘cause you’re you?” Mapicc points out. Squiddo nods along. “Would you be entirely current-you if you weren’t human? I mean, obviously not, but. It’s a– Yeah, it’s a little hard to distinguish.”
“That makes sense,” Squiddo takes in. She pets his tail. “You like being pet. I think that’s–”
“Yeah that’s definitely some hound shit,” Mapicc concedes.
“For sure,” Squiddo agrees. “You like being pet, you like quartz, and you like nesting. Do you– Is there stuff you don’t like?”
“I don’t like you,” Mapicc says, and Squiddo laughs, taken aback. He jolts, and barks a laugh. “Sorry. I– I didn’t me-he-hean that.”
“Evil and fucked up Mapicc:” Squiddo says. “You fell asleep on Ash a few days ago.”
“Yeah, I had a migraine,” Mapicc nods, briefly wondering why the hell they just said that but chalking it up to Squiddo things before he realizes they probably meant that as a question. “Oh. That might’ve been– Nether wastes smell like dry computer air, and that’s how Ash smells.”
“I’ve noticed that,” Squiddo says, to his surprise.
“Really? I thought humans were shit smellers.” Mapicc says. Squiddo blinks at him, hands stilling.
“Don’t say we’re shit smellers,” Squiddo breathes humorously.
“My bad.”
“– but yeah. He smells pretty– Well it’s a recognizable smell.” Squiddo clarifies, then they jump. “Not– He smells good. It’s just strong. Like the humble lavender.”
“We get it bro,” Mapic drawls. He’s happy for them, for Ash and Squiddo. “That’s cool though. I didn’t know you could smell that.”
“Wait, what do I smell like?” Squiddo asks, suddenly focused. “Is it bad?”
“Uh,” Mapicc starts. This question sucks, because there are approximately zero words for smells. For such an important sense… “Like– kinda like convenience stores and fields of wildflowers in summer. And you and Ash smell like each other.”
“Oh,” Squiddo says simply, paused. Wuh oh. Was that rude?
“Sorry,” Mapicc apologizes, ears itching to pin backwards.
“No that– You’re just sweet.” Squiddo brushes off, smiling. “That’s a really nice way to put it.”
“I’m so’s sweets,” Mapicc beams, squeezing his eyes shut. It’s meant to be a joke, but then Squiddo puts a hand in his hair and he relaxes his eyelids. “I’m just docile.”
“You’re a murderous hound,” Squiddo says.
“I’m just docile,” Mapicc repeats.
“Your tail wags,” Squiddo says, so Mapicc opens his eyes and looks down. Her hand slips away.
“Why are you so– My tail isn’t that interesting.” He huffs, purposefully flicking it.
“I’ve– No one else has a tail like yours. It is interesting. And it’s soft.” They answer, stroking it. Mm wording. Petting it.
“I guess,” he says, even though Jepexx has the exact same build and Squiddo’s definitely seen him. “What else? C’mon c’mon c’mon! Go go go!”
“Okay!” Squiddo laughs. “Um. Different hybrids call like, close friends like, flock or pack, do you have… a word? For friends slash family?”
“Just pack,” Mapicc answers, tail thumping. Just the thought makes him happy? Really? He’s gotta to learn how to suppress some tail shit. “It’s really important– I told you that me and sometimes Zam grab all my teammates and get them in the den?”
“You didn’t say den, but yeah,” Squiddo nods.
“Den is just wherever I’m chilling. Like our base on Lsoss is prolly gonna be the den this season,” Mapicc elaborates. “But– It’s– The people are more important than the location.”
“Awww,” Squiddo coos, and reaches over to pat his head a few times. Mapicc leans forward, ducking down to hide a smile. “I thought a den would be, y’know, cave-like. Like foxes.”
“Like, sometimes?” Mapicc answers, leaning away. “I mean, it’s nicer when we can get a real den, but usually it’s all chill with just somewhere safe.”
“Ohhh,” Squiddo says. “The people are more important.”
“Yah,” Mapicc nods wisely.
“Why?” Squiddo asks, making him blink.
“Why what?” Then, before they can answer: “Why are the people more important?”
Squiddo hums an assurance, so he pauses. Well. Because people are more important than things.
“Well I like my pack more than I like my house,” Mapicc shrugs. No one’s asked him that before.
“Oh. Well that makes sense.” Squiddo smiles a little awkwardly. Mapicc purposefully thumps his tail a few times. Don’t be upset.
“Yup!” Mapicc grins, all teeth. It serves its purpose, and Squiddo laughs. Yayy!
“Do…” Squiddo starts, then trails off, hesitant again.
“Do what?” Mapicc pokes. They shift, and hold his tail. It’s a little– It’s making him smile involuntarily, how much she’s messing with it. Lock in.
“I don’t know if this is offensive.” Squiddo prefaces. Mapicc shrugs. “Do I get a quartz thing?”
Oh.
Oh. Oh. Oh god.
“Uh,” Mapicc manages, breath tangled in his throat. His tail is wagging.
Because yes, she obviously does she does she does but it’s just usually him asking people and no one who isn’t a hellhound propositions him like this and– and it–
“Sorry!” Squiddo chirps, putting her hands to her face like she’s hiding. It just frees his tail to wag harder. Embarrassing. Horrible situation.
Squiddo gets anything they want, he’s deciding it here and now. They’re the new favorite.
“You’re– ‘s all good I’m just…” He blinks. Holy crap he needs to lock in. “I usually ask the other person. It’s–”
“Sorry. Sorry we can just ignore tha–”
“Squiddo it’s fine.” Mapicc stresses, a growl slipping. Squiddo finally relaxes a little bit, slowly lowering their hands. “It’s… more than good. I…”
He’s being asked. He’s being asked to appreciate someone. No, not… That makes it sound forced. It’s just, Squiddo is requesting to make a manifestation of mutual respect. Asking him, instead of him asking the other person if he can. It means they care back, he’s not one sided.
And now he has to improvise.
“It’s just different,” Mapicc decides on, failing horribly to suppress a purr. “Usually I– It’s good that you asked. I’m– It’s–” He pauses for a second. It’s what, good? Sweet? Exciting? Kind, nice, loving, meaningful– “It means a lot that you asked.”
Squiddo stares, then they smile, only a little hesitant.
“So it’s not offensive,” they measure.
“No,” Mapicc rushes, all too genuine, heart trying to jump out of his throat. Ahem. “I– No. No, you’re good.”
“You’re good,” Squiddo beams, and Mapicc throws himself backwards onto the floor, beaming. Dear god. Hopefully the floor knocked the sense into him, jeez. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, Squiddo,” he laughs, getting his hands under himself and pushing up. God he– he really likes her. This is so chopped. He’s such a loser. “You’re– You’re good. You’re fine.”
“The good dog: You’re good!” Squiddo chimes, and Mapicc almost slips because of how sudden Squiddo is.
“Uh– Thanks.” He breathes, doing a horrible job at suppressing his big stupid smile.
“No problem, Mape!” Squiddo beams right back.
“Stop it,” he says, teasing. “You’re too nice. Stop.”
“I have the illness that makes you nice,” Squiddo tells him solemnly.
“Wait that suuckks,” Mapicc says, and shifts back into place. He gets to make a trinket for Squiddo. He gets to make a trinket for Squiddo.
It has to be orange.
“Am I invited to the next nesting time?” They ask, somewhat hesitantly.
“Duh,” Mapicc answers, but maybe that’s too blunt. “Of course. You’re on my team, right?”
“Yay!” Squiddo cheers softly. They pause, then slowly grab his tail. He trusts them, and just lets it happen. “I don’t have any more– Oh wait, why do– Why do you– Why do you like the warmth? Or–”
“Just do,” Mapicc shrugs. “I guess the Nether’s pretty warm, and that’s where I grew up, so I just prefer it.”
“Mmm,” Squiddo nods. “Okay, those were all my questions.”
“Cool. Uh,” Mapicc hesitates. “Thanks for listening. It’s–”
“Of course!”
“– cool to talk about. And it’s nice to– Y’know. You get it.”
“Yes,” Squiddo nods again, closing her eyes with the motion. Mapicc can’t help but smile.
A few weeks and some planning later, Squiddo has a bracelet of red and orange quartz. It’s just the sweetest stupidest thing and it makes him needlessly grin every time he’s reminded.
Ash has regular quartz earrings from season five that he starts wearing again, definitely Squiddo’s fault. Not that Mapicc’s complaining.
Zam and Ro too still have the necklaces that they don’t take off. Ro has uh, a few other things from various… from just being around. It’s– He just looks nice in quartz, whatever.
He talks to Red, and unsurprisingly, Red doesn’t really like jewelry. That’s fine with him, until a day passes and Red comes back, sent by Zam to get ‘at least something’ or else ‘our dog will cry.’ They settle on an embezzled tie that looks absolutely horrendous, but Poafa helps fix it. Fabric is hard to work with, alright?
It’s fun. It’s really fun. He hasn’t done this in a while.
And it’s… It’s nice, too. Girls don’t make jewelry, or at least, hellhound girls don’t. He doesn’t even think about societal standards outside of hellhounds, and it’s so… freeing? Yeah.
He hasn’t felt this secure and happy in a while. They keep getting jumped, yeah, and literally everything is going wrong, yeah, but he thinks about what he told Squiddo. The things don’t matter more than the people.
And his people, his pack, are the best. He loves his team this season.
It’s nice. It’s just all really nice.
(The next time he gets all weird and nesty, he has five whole other people that he trusts entirely. And they all have proof that they love him.)