Ryan slept well enough, despite his itching thoughts from the night before. Having Lena right there, masturbating, was… thrilling. Though, it mostly left him wondering why she had masturbated with him less than two feet away in the first place.

Sure, there was always that irresistible urge that hits someone when they least expect it, but Lena had been acting odd all day. What with the looking away, the occasional panicked glance, blushing randomly, and looking ashamed equally as much: it all leaned into the probability that Lena was horny up the whazoo all day.

But why.

He didn’t buy that she was just randomly in the mood, or at least some part of him reasoned it wasn’t random. And what with her being strange around him… Ryan hoped he might have been the reason she was hot and bothered. And if he was, that meant she was attracted to him.

A tiny.

Smaller than her thumb.

As he lay there in bed, now early in the morning, he looked over at Lena. She was still asleep, neither of their alarms having gone off yet; Ryan just happened to be awake early. And that left him with his thoughts from last night.

He just hoped that her affection was more than just physical, if he was correct that she was turned on because of him. She’d talked about being around tinies before, though under less than desirable circumstances.

What if her high school experiences were where this stemmed from? What if she wanted to do whatever else happened at her school, even eat him? That would be unexpected and so unlike Lena that Ryan was hesitant to even entertain the idea.

Since he started living with her, she had been nothing but considerate, if a little absent-minded at times. Carrying him wherever he needed to go, accommodating him in her home after what was probably a spur of the moment offer to let him live with her; she even tried to do it all for free.

Sure, she’d known he was tiny beforehand, but this whole arrangement was spontaneous. Wasn’t it?

Lena’s family was in the housing business, was it possible her family owned where he had lived? That she was aware of the situation?

Ryan contemplated that little nugget of thought, rolling onto his side. No, that was stupid. That wasn’t like her, and Ryan knew it. Nobody plays the long con for as long as they’d known each other, and he was pretty sure he knew her fairly well after having been friends for so long.

She was a kind person, easily excited when it came to any sort of emotion, had loads of stupid jokes, and was rather competitive. She wouldn’t take the time to manipulate or lie, she’d just say what was on her mind for the most part. Sure, everyone had secrets, but he was certain she wasn’t the type to manipulate the housing market to get him to live with her.

It seemed like a far-fetched idea anyway, yet Ryan got a little stuck on it. Was he really so ready to assume the worst of Lena?

Ryan shook his head, pulling his blankets up around him. No, no he wasn’t. The only thing pointing him to that idea was his own mixed bag of emotions. He was just distracting himself, diverting his attention from the real thing on his mind.

The fact that Lena’s possible affection made him uncomfortably giddy.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the possibility, quite the opposite: he was optimistically ecstatic. To think that the woman he loved might possibly love him back… it was a good thought. A great thought! Hell, just thinking it was possible made him smile.

He had never before in his life considered living with a normal, let alone being in a relationship with one, yet here he was: facing the possibility head on. And he was surprised at how comfortable he was with the idea.

Unfortunately, it was only a possibility; the only information he had to work with was how she’d been acting yesterday and the fact that she’d masturbated with him nearby. Either of those could be explained differently but damnit, Ryan was hoping he was right.

Ryan couldn’t just come out and confront her though, especially not about the masturbation. God, she’d be embarrassed, and he didn’t want her to be, even if she was cute when she blushed. That, and he might be reading things a little too hopefully.

He didn’t want to jump the gun, so to speak, only to discover that he’d been reading the situation wrong. That would be… awful. Honestly. He’d have to move out of town and delete his online accounts, go hide in some barn in the middle of nowhere.

That was an exaggeration, of course, but he didn’t want to tempt fate and lose any opportunity he might have with Lena. So, he’d still be careful, if a bit more confident.

Ryan checked his phone. Nothing new. There were still a few minutes before Lena would be awake, or at least until she started to wake up. With a grunt, Ryan decided he’d had enough lying in bed, wrestling with his thoughts.

Throwing his legs out of bed, he stood barefoot on the cold wood of the nightstand, stretching tired muscles. It wasn’t a bad morning, sunlight trickled in through the blinds on the window, reminding him that he’d have to ask her to open them up, get some fresh air in the room.

He took a quick walk around the base of the lamp, looking up under the lampshade. It was during quiet moments like this that Ryan recognized just how big something like this was. He wasn’t in awe or anything, but it was humbling. Something so normal, blasted up to a scale that was just so beyond him that it was hard to wrap his mind around it.

He stole a glance over at Lena, still on that train of thought.

She was huge. Or, well, he was tiny. It didn’t matter, she was huge to him, and he was caught off guard in the moment, staring at the building sized woman lying in bed with new eyes. She was beautiful, and absolutely great to look at, but she was utterly massive. How would a relationship between them work? Realistically, he knew it wouldn’t be any different than how they lived now, but maybe he’d be under her covers at night instead of-

Ryan tore his eyes away, blushing. Well, that was quite the thought. He hadn’t really considered anything like that. He was caught off guard, not sure what to think of it, but he was sure that he liked the thought. He shook his head, approaching the edge of the nightstand with a tired sigh. He really didn’t know how to process this.

He peered around the room before something reddish caught his eye on the floor. That hadn’t been there last night. It was a bit hard to make out on the floor of the dimly lit room, but it only took another second for him to recognize figure out that it was Lena’s underwear.

Dark red with no frills, it sat there on the floor, physical proof of Lena’s activities last night. He blinked; face growing warm. He hadn’t doubted that she’d masturbated last night, not really, but this really set it into reality.

The quiet morning was broken suddenly by the harsh beeping of Lena’s alarm clock on the opposite side of her bed, and he watched her arm whip over to the clock, slapping the snooze button. Ryan took a glance back down at her underwear on the floor.

If she knew he knew it was there, that would almost be as bad as Lena finding out Ryan knew she had masturbated. Or, well, close anyway. She’d be embarrassed and, well… Ryan didn’t want her to have to be, especially with how she beat herself up after she sat on him. She might just see it as mistake in a list of mistakes.

So Ryan had to act.

Ryan quickly climbed back into bed, rolling over and away from the slowly waking giantess, taking a breath. He didn’t need to bring last night up, he didn’t need to bring her underwear up. All he needed to do was be cool. That was easy, right?

He heard Lena roll over, so he did the same, looking over at the tangled, messy, forest of black hair he called his roommate. Even unkept and half asleep, Ryan thought she looked great. She squinted at him, so Ryan waved.

Lena blinked slowly, her eyes not exactly focused on him in her hazy lack of coherency. Ryan sighed. She’d be a while, it was 7 AM, two hours before she would normally wake up; even then, she took a while to get moving. Unfortunately, Ryan had work in an hour, and needed her help to get the day started, so he would try to ease her into being awake.

He sat up, Lena’s eyes closing as she drifted in and out of sleep. He cupped his hands to his mouth. “Lena!”

Her eyes opened again, still unfocused. Ryan shouted again, this time waving his arms to get her attention. Her eyes slowly focused on him, and a small, tired grin grew on her face as her eyes closed once more. She mumbled something incoherently, drifting asleep again.

Ryan sighed, cupping his hands around his mouth once again. “Lena! Wake up!”

She stirred once more, instead rolling over onto her back, groaning. “Idunwan, werkstupd.” She muttered slightly more coherently. Ryan sighed once more, giving another, longer shout. Lena’s head flopped to the side; her eyes mostly focused on him. Ryan gave her an urgent look, waving at her.

“Good morning! Time to get up!” He shouted, watching as she rolled to face him again, eyes blinking tiredly before actually focusing on him.

“Mornin.” Lena managed, shifting in bed again. “I gotta get up, don’t I?”

Ryan nodded. Lena groaned, rolling onto her back as she pressed her hands against her face. After a couple seconds, she threw off her covers and stood in a single, mostly fluid, motion. Ryan sat on his bed, waiting for her to wake up a bit more as she swayed on her feet.

He’d seen her in the outfit last night, a small crop-top with matching short-shorts, and she had forgone a bra again. He’d tried not to stare last night, simply trying to be polite, but she didn’t make it easy when she lay on her bed in that mockingly-seductive pose she’d taken. If he hadn’t had her image in his head last night, he did now. And with her towering over him, he couldn’t help but admire her.

Of course, he now knew she was going commando as well and, after a second of shifting her hips uncomfortable, it appeared she now remembered that too as her eyes slowly grew wider.

Ryan looked away as Lena glanced at him, making sure he looked distracted with his phone. In his peripheral vision Ryan watched Lena look at the floor, then back at him before nonchalantly kicking her leg out, her underwear sliding somewhere else. She raised her hands above her head, leaning back now with a grunt as she over emphasized a stretch to cover her kick.

Lena must have thought she’d been pretty slick with that maneuver. Not knowing what to do with himself, Ryan stood up with a stretch of his own as Lena finished hers.

“Alright, we’ll have breakfast then you can shower first, since you have work at this ungodly hour.” She said, interrupted by a growl from her belly, which she glared at. Ryan chuckled as she lowered her hand to the nightstand, so Ryan jumped on.

“I’m about as hungry as you sound. I think I’ll have toast.”

Lena nodded as she carried him out of the room. “Damn stomach won’t shut up, but that’s right, you got your toaster yesterday.” She grinned down at him as she descended the stairs. “Warm meals are back on the menu, huh?”

Ryan nodded, yawning. He did his best to hide his glances at her boobs, they were bouncing so ridiculously without a bra that it was hard not to look. Any guy would be tempted to steal a peak.

At least she was too tired to really notice his glances.

--

Oh god, he noticed.

Lena was tired, but not so tired as to not be conscious of her passenger looking behind his shoulder as they went down the stairs.

Just get to the kitchen- was that the hand that I used to- oh god, does my hand smell?

Lena walked a bit faster down the hall, pushing down the growing sense of worry she’d developed in the past few minutes since waking up.

She’d certainly been in a particular mindset last night and it all culminated in an honestly excellent masturbation session, but still. Even before doing that, she’d been egging him on and teasing him hard for most of the day.

Not that she had outright confessed or anything. She just wanted to see if he liked her, at least physically; and apparently, he did! His stare last night and this morning confirmed it for her. That was good! Also: a little embarrassing! Now that her mind was clear of whatever horny demon had latched onto her yesterday, she was positively embarrassed about last night.

She sat him down on the kitchen counter, stepping back as he set to work on his toast.

Still, knowing he liked her, despite her size, was great! Knowing he hadn’t noticed her masturbating was also very nice! There was a brief scare with her panties on the floor, but she successfully kicked them over to the nearly overflowing hamper.

He hadn’t even noticed.

But now she was completely commando, and she was trying her best to hide it. She couldn’t hide her lack of bra, obviously, but she could hide her lack of underwear. They just had to eat breakfast, then she could pull on some underwear after she showered. Didn’t help that she was wearing such short shorts.

For now, she tried to distract herself with the simplicity of watching her little roommate make toast in his tiny toaster. The tiny appliance was adorable, and she couldn’t help but make toast as well, right next to Ryan on the counter, dwarfing him and his toaster completely.

Ryan just looked up at the giant toaster, then back at his own. “Showoff.” He muttered, much to her amusement.

She was about ready to lay in with some light teasing but was pre-empted once again by her growling stomach. They both looked at her belly, though Lena’s glance was more of a glare to her roommate’s amusement.

Lena stepped away from the counter, deciding to try and bring back some normalcy as she went to get some milk from the fridge. She was also aware that her shirt didn’t cover her midriff and she could feel her cheeks flush as Ryan had stared at her bare abs.

Clearing her throat, she pulled out the milk and looked over at Ryan. “Did you want something from the fridge?”

She couldn’t really see Ryan, but it looked like he had nodded. “Sure, how about some of my orange juice?” Lena nodded, carefully pinching the tiny jug of orange juice from his part of the fridge.

After a few minutes of toasting the two of them were sitting at, and on, the kitchen island, slowly munching away at their breakfast. Lena finished first, returning her toaster to its cupboard. Ryan hadn’t finished yet, so she kept herself busy wiping the counter of crumbs and giving it a once-over with a towel before running the dishwasher.

She looked over at her roommate. He was still eating. Slowly.

Lena leaned onto the island, looking at Ryan. “Ya almost finished? Its only toast.”

She caught his eyes dart to her chest again before he shoved the rest of his toast into his mouth looking up at her. “Sorry, I spaced out.”

Lena snickered. Sure he did. “Well, c’mon then. I’ll drop you off in the bathroom so you can shower and get to work so that I can shower and wait to work.” She lowered her hand down next to him, making sure it was her other hand this time, as opposed to the one she’d used last night.

Ryan nodded, stepping onto her palm, his socked footsteps tickling her hand a little. She held still until he had sat down on her palm.

“Away we go!” She said with a little over-the-top peppiness, carrying Ryan to the bathroom upstairs. She noticed he’d avoided looking back at her boobs this time, either too busy thinking about work or making a conscious effort to not sneak a peek, she couldn’t tell.

She flicked the light on, setting him down next to his shower. “Now, don’t take too long, I want to shower too ya’know.”

Ryan waved his hands, shooing her out of the room. “Oh please, I’ll be done in ten, I’m faster than you are.”

“Pfff.” Lena retorted, but left as he requested, shutting the door behind her. She waited a couple seconds until she heard his shower start, then walked to the bedroom to turn her computer on.

--

Breakfast was good, Ryan decided as he finished up his shower. The toast was great, just as he’d expected, as was simply having a warm breakfast suited to his size. There was also the pair of perky breasts he’d been sneaking glances at all morning that kept him distracted. That had also been great, and a little too distracting at times.

What wasn’t so great was the clear hard-on he’d hidden successfully through most of breakfast. It was something he was sure to take care of in the shower though, he didn’t need that while he was working. It was easier to masturbate discretely in the shower than in bed, an idea Lena apparently hadn’t considered last night.

And, of course, his thoughts had been on last night. It made his ‘task’ easier.

Now though, he was all set for the day. Specifically work.

His shoulders slumped, not at all looking forward to work again. Sure, he had an actual desk now, but work was work. With a sigh, he pulled on a fresh change of clothes and texted Lena that he was finished.

A few seconds later Lena opened the door, extending her hand for Ryan to climb on. “That was 16 minutes by the way.” She said as he hopped onto her hand.

“Still faster than your decade and a half showers.” He replied, trying not to stare at her chest again. That shirt did not leave much to the imagination.

Lena poked him with her other hand as she carried him to his desk on her desk. “Oy, I pay the water bills, I take as long as I want.”

Ryan hopped off her outstretched hand, walking over to his desk. “Yeah, well I’ll be paying rent soon anyway, so-”

“Oh, no no.” She interrupted, hands on her hips. “Your rent doesn’t cover utilities; it would be a crime to charge you for how little you use.”

Ryan looked up at her, raising a brow. “Like, an actual law, or is that a figure of speech?”

She shrugged. “I don’t remember, but it should be if it isn’t already.” She grabbed a change of clothes from her drawers before stepping to the door, looking over her shoulder with a smug grin. “Now, get to work!”

“Not my boss…” Ryan muttered to himself as Lena left to take a shower. His computer booted up and within a few minutes he was hard at work.

Lena eventually finished her shower, noticeably faster than normal, and returned without much pomp and circumstance, leaving Ryan to his work. He did steal a glance at her and, yeah, she’d gotten properly dressed: blue jeans and a hoodie.

He kept typing away as she booted up her own computer, browsing the internet until she had to start work. The relatively giant monitor was a small distraction, and was only a problem when she pulled up a few videos of silly cats doing silly things. For all the headaches the damn felines caused tinies, he couldn’t help but find them adorable in videos.

Not in person though, a few too many chases. Thankfully they’d never been able to catch him, or he’d have been toyed with, bitten, and maybe swallowed outright. Good thing too, those tongues did not look pleasant.

Once Lena started working, the morning pushed on for a few hours, only taking a break when Lena’s noisy stomach groaned, much to her chagrin. Ryan could only chuckle. That over-active belly of her’s was becoming something of a dinner bell for Ryan, oddly enough.

Their short lunch break was just some microwaved meals, nothing fancy. They ate away from their computers in the kitchen and complained about work stuff.

Lena’s clients had been finicky all day, and she wasn’t able to get any of them to give a firm answer on much of anything. Ryan’s day hadn’t been much better so far, having been renaming files all morning because someone higher up decided to name their documents the same thing so they could work faster.

They shared in their combined frustrations before returning to the grindstone. The day got a little better for Ryan, but only worse for Lena, with several clients straight up yelling at her or telling her to call them tomorrow. Despite this, they both had a constant stream of work to manage.

Thankfully, with how busy they both were, the working day slipped by fast, both of them clocking out at 5:30.

Ryan looked up at Lena, standing up to stretch after the past few hours spent in a chair. “I thought you still had an hour left?”

Lena shrugged, closing her work browser. “My schedule’s flexible. If any of my clients had bothered to actually be reasonable today, then I’d still have some work to do.” She grumbled as she stood up too, taking a wander around the room to stretch her legs.

Ryan sat back down at his desk in a slump, the evening suddenly open to him. Aside from games, he didn’t know what to do.

Lena sighed; hands clasped behind her head as she wandered back over to the desk. Ryan shared the sentiment. He felt positively drained from work, and apparently Lena did as well. He passively scrolled through his game library, which Lena did as well after sitting back down.

“Any idea of what to do now?” He asked as she started scrolling through her own library.

She scrolled for a moment, scanning through the multitude of games they both owned. “Not a clue.” She said after a moment.

“Never heard of that, what’s it like?” He said, a small smile on his face as he felt Lena glance down at him.

“I should sit on you again, that was a horrible attempt at a joke.” She said, shaking her head. Ryan saw the tiny smirk on her face though and chuckled to himself. Bad jokes were the best jokes, and she liked them more than he did.

He decided to push that comment though, taking it as a challenge more than anything to banter them both out of the drained post-work slump. “Well, I’m sure you would try to sit on me again, but I wouldn’t let you.”

Lena raised a brow, leaning back in her chair as she eyed him. “Oh, you could stop me now? You do realize just how much that would be weighted in my favor, right?” Despite her taunting, there was something in her voice that wavered.

Ryan smiled, choosing to push forward anyway. He had her now. “Oh I’d say you have the weight advantage. Trust me, I’d know.”

Lena slowly leaned forward, a look of disbelief and a small amount of pride plastered on her face. “Really dude? Low blow.” She considered this with a small smirk of her own. “Although you couldn’t really hit me high. Or mid. Hell, even low is a bit of a stretch.” She leaned back again, her smirk vanishing. “I doubt I’d even feel it in any case.”

Ryan feigned a blow to his chest, to which Lena chuckled half-heartedly. Ryan stopped pretending to be hurt and looked up at his friend. It sounded like she wasn’t into this, which was worrying.

Lena pursed her lips, looking contemplative and hesitant. Something was on her mind, clearly. Ryan worried he might have done something wrong and was about to ask when Lena seemed to get over herself and spoke first.

“Thanks for trusting me.”

Ryan blinked, not sure what to make of that. “Well, yeah, sure. I don’t know why I wouldn’t.”

She didn’t look at him, instead looking down at her hands on the desk. “Well, yeah, but… you’re trusting someone who is nearly a hundred times your size to not…” She trailed off, trying to find the words before giving up and looking at him to see if he understood.

Ryan was fairly certain he understood what she was talking about, and he sighed. “Lena, of course I trust you. You may be like…” He crunched some math in his head, guessing at her height. “60 or so times my size, but I also know you pretty well. You’re not the sort of person to hurt someone else, unlike those bullies you went to high school with.”

She shrunk in her chair a little but didn’t say anything, so Ryan continued. “Sure, you sat on me, two days ago I might add, but it’s not like that hurt me or made me hate you. Hell, I liked it.”

A beat passed as Ryan caught up to the words he was saying.

Lena blinked and looked at him.

Ryan screamed internally.

I Just said that. I just said that? Yeah, I just said that. Ryan thought to himself, his mind beginning to freeze up. Was he lying? No, but it’s strange to say that you like being sat on by someone whose ass could quite literally smother you.

It’s another thing entirely to say it to someone who you also liked a whole heck of a lot. Then it’s in another ballpark altogether to say that to someone who you both liked and knew could literally hide you under their butt.

For that reason Ryan’s mind went from frozen to panicking, unable to do so much as whisper his thoughts as his thoughts went wild in his head. Thankfully Lena did something first, her frown curling into a smile before she cracked up with laughter.

Oh boy.

Ryan refocused his attention to the world around him, not sure what to expect. Lena was leaning over the side of her chair, snorting laughter. He stared at her, not at all sure what he should do now, so his brain continued to stall and panic as Lena laughed.

Eventually, her laughs ebbed away, and she wiped some tears from her eyes. “Man, I was not expecting that. I mean, I can’t exactly blame you for liking it, you’re a guy after all, what guy doesn’t like a good butt?” She sighed with a grin, shaking her head. “You didn’t expect to say that, I bet.”

Ryan shook his head, swallowing as he finally took a breath. “No, no I was not expecting to say that at all.”

Lena snorted. “Well, surprisingly, it helped to hear.” She let out another long breathy laugh, still smiling as she looked down at him. Ryan was red in the face, and he knew she could see it. He watched her smile twist from genuinely laugh-happy, to conniving.

“What, you embarrassed about my butt now? Y’know, I’m the one that should be embarrassed here.”

Ryan cleared his throat, trying to grasp at his ability to retort, but Lena beat him to it.

“Well, as I said, I can’t blame you. The last time you and my ass had quality time, it wasn’t really under the best circumstances.” She teasingly put a finger to her chin in thought.

“Lena-” Ryan tried and failed to interject.

“Of course,” She stood up and spun around, leaning on her chair as she put her jeaned butt on the edge of the desk. She wiggled it at him, mirth in her voice. “How about you two get acquainted? Ass to man.”

Her teasing tone smacked Ryan out of it, and he slumped down in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he was hit with a wave of bemusement as Lena resumed her snorting laughter. It also helped him to not stare at her ass like an idiot.

Eventually Lena’s laughs subsided and she spun back around, spotting Ryan as she leaned on the desk, face first this time. “Oh come on, I didn’t layer it on too thick did I?”

Ryin smirked, glancing up at her. She was pretty close now, head resting on her folded arms, probably able to read his expression of ‘done with this shit’ quite clearly.

“The only thing thick here is your butt, Lena.”

She jumped back, a hand to her chest. “You little shit, get over here!”

Ryan was plucked from his chair and pressed against her cheek as she held him in one of their hugs. Ryan shook his head with a chuckle and returned it as best he could. These past few minutes had been a goddam rollercoaster, but it seemed his efforts to cheer her up had been worth it.

After a few seconds of what could only be described as ‘nuzzling’, Lena let Ryan sit on her palm. She had a smirk on her lips, but she did look apologetic. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Teasing you about my butt felt appropriate after...” She trailed off.

Ryan shrugged. “Its fine, I brought it on myself. Though I’m more confused on how you were able to go from teasing, to sad, to laughing, then back to teasing so easily. Also, why?”

She scoffed. “Its not easy, I can tell you that much. Besides, it’s your fault anyway.”

Ryan sat back on her hand, using her fingers as a backrest. “My fault? How is this my fault?”

“You’re the one that made that dumb joke that started the teasing.”

Ryan thought for a moment. “What was the joke?”

Lena pursed her lips as she thought. “I, uh, don’t remember. Something about a game, I think.” She shook her head. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Once I made the ‘sitting on you’ comment my mind was elsewhere.”

Lena looked distant again. Ryan sighed. “Lena.”

She sighed, rolling her head to the side. “Yeah yeah, I know. I just hadn’t really let it sink in that I… well I have a lot of power over you, and I don’t want to let you down and screw things up by acting stupid.”

Ryan nodded. He’d, of course, already noticed this, having lived it. The one time he decided to not wait for her and go out on his own in the house, she’d sat on him. He was a tiny in a normal world, but that’s just how it was.

“Lena, that’s just life for me, especially in a city. I’ve been stepped on, kicked, and had boxes dropped on my head since I moved into a city. You won’t manage to screw anything up unless you blatantly try and kill me. Which, if you do, fuck you in advance.”

Lena chuckled. “Point taken. Still, I’ll be sure to watch my step once the ladders and stuff arrive.”

“Oh? You got me ladders? I thought that was supposed to be a surprise?”

--

Lena had laughed that off easy enough, just telling him those were obvious, because they really were. She wouldn’t just slip up and tell him he was getting that little scooter thing, or the elevator, or the InHome. She wanted to see his reaction.

Well… maybe not his reaction to the InHome. Those were expensive, and he apparently disliked gifts! He was a difficult friend to splurge on, that’s for sure.

After the moment had passed, they decided to just get started on dinner, not even prompted by Lena’s loud-as-hell stomach. They decided to make a proper dinner, not sandwiches, or salad, or toast. While Ryan didn’t have a place to cook yet, she decided to try and prepare something he could like from her own stuff: pasta.

Nothing crazy, and nothing with tomato sauce. That wouldn’t be the same at his size. She’d gone with the smallest pasta type she had, and even that would be a double handful to him. She also decided on alfredo sauce, since that was probably mostly the same at his size, for the most part. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be a proper meal.

If you counted pasta as a proper meal, which both of them did.

Ryan sat on one of Lena’s cookbooks near the stove, though not near the burners. “I’m not going closer, even if you can’t hear me.”

“I know, I know, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Lena stirred the pasta in the pot, checking the temperature of the sauce while she did so.

“Then why do you keep sliding the book I’m on closer to you?”

“To hear you bett- oh, right. Sorry.” Lena smiled sheepishly, feeling a little dense. She was still trying to forget the fact that she’d shoved her butt in his face earlier. He seemed to have moved on, but Lena was having a harder time forgetting.

It wasn’t even the embarrassment; it was her whole attitude earlier. He was right, she had gone through, like, twelve emotions in the span of a few minutes. That was weird, even for her.

She stirred the sauce for a moment before she heard something, which pulled her out of her musings. Ryan said something she couldn’t quite make out, so she looked over at him. “What?”

Ryan shook his head. “I said, you don’t need to watch the pasta like a hawk. It’s not gonna explode on you or something.”

Lena scoffed, then shrugged. “I do what I want, and I want this to not stick to the pot.”

“Fair point.”

She smiled anyway. Whatever had grabbed hold of her earlier was gone at least, but she worried that whatever was afflicting her mental state would rear its ugly head the next time she interacted with Ryan.

And how could she fucking avoid that?

She huffed a little, testing the pasta. So far, she hadn’t had any issues since just after work. But… looking back on the past few days she could see that her emotions were getting wilder and far more intense. From having a near panic attack after sitting on him, to masturbating with him not five feet away from her. Her emotions were fucked.

She wasn’t even on her period, and that had never done anything like this anyway.

“Lena, are you going to eat all the pasta before getting it out of the pot?” Lena looked up, slurping in another tiny noodle. She grinned sheepishly, ignoring the gurgling protests of her stomach to just keep eating.

“Well, it’s done anyway. Hope you’re hungry!” She moved the pot off the burner and dumped the pasta into a strainer. “I made way too much for me and you to eat in one sitting. We’ll have some leftovers tomorrow, I guess.”

She prepped the pasta, mixing it with the sauce before getting a bowl for herself. Ryan’s bowls wouldn’t hold much pasta, if any, so he used the toy bowl again. That one at least held a few.

They once again ate in silence, though Lena watched Ryan for his reaction to what she’d made. From his reaction, it wasn’t half bad. He did notice her watching him however and gave her a thumbs up.

“It’s good! A bit chewy, but I expected that.”

Lena nodded, smiling as she took another bite. Her one bite was larger than his entire dinner she contemplated as she chewed. The thought made her laugh inwardly, shaking her head. Hell, it was bigger than Ryan.

That thought brought up some unpleasant memories from high school again, and Lena shuddered, eating the spoonful quickly as she snuffed out the memory. Fuck Miah and her torturing bullshit. It was a stain in Lena’s memories that she just couldn’t shake off no matter how hard she’d tried to do so.

She angerly took another bite of pasta.

“So,” Ryan started, pulling Lena out of her thoughts. “What should we do after we eat? I was going to suggest another movie. Or some games, if you’d like.”

Lena shrugged. “I’m down for whatever.”

Ryan ate another tiny mouthful. “Yeah, well, one of us wishy-washy people has to choose.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “And why isn’t it you that’s deciding?”

“I was just trying to be courteous.” Ryan shrugged. “I know you don’t want to get your ass beat in Brawlems.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is then. I accept your challenge!” She shoveled a bit into her mouth. Ryan chuckled, which she could hardly hear. “After we’re done eating, of course.” She added after swallowing.

They finished up their meals and Lena threw the leftovers in the fridge. Maybe she’d have the rest for lunch or dinner tomorrow. That didn’t matter right now though, her pride had been attacked and she needed to respond full force! She popped a mint in her mouth, worried he would be able to smell her breath from the desk, and the two of them went upstairs.

Thank god for the distractions of video games! Lena was able to push her worries aside for a bit, not worry about her crush, or her size, or his size, or any of that: on the field of Brawlems they were equal.

Or, well, basically. Ryan really did whoop her ass in the first few rounds, but once she was warmed up, the matches were even. In the end he had more wins though, but she put up a fair fight. He made a show of bowing, to which she sarcastically clapped to.

“All hail the conquering hero, huzzah, huzzah.” She said in beat to her slow claps as Ryan blew some kisses to an imaginary crowd.

“My victory was truly earned.” He droned in a very dry, posh accent. “My boasts were not jests, I say, I say indeed.”

Lena snorted a laugh, and Ryan’s façade broke shortly after.

She shook her head, still smiling as Ryan sat back down in his chair. “Alright, alright. Does the champion want ice cream? Because this loser wants some ice cream.”

“Lena, you’ve been holding out on me! You had ice cream this whole time?” He sounded mortified, but Lena smirked.

“Well, in my head I thought there wouldn’t be enough for two people. Buuuut…” She gestured generally towards Ryan before bopping him on the head as light as she could, mouthing the word ‘small’.

Ryan swatted her hand away, shaking his head with a grin. “Well, at least there’s enough for both of us then. I’m gonna use that toy bowl the size of a salad bowl though. Get myself a whole lot.”

“Pff.” Lena scoffed, lowering her hand for Ryan to climb on. “Still not enough to make a dent in my lot.”

She carried him back down to the kitchen, dropping him off on the island while she pulled out the tub of vanilla ice cream and some chocolate syrup.

There was enough for one person, two if there was a small eating too. She really hadn’t factored that in over the past few days, each time she thought of it she remembered there was only enough for one person and hadn’t considered the matter any further.

Lena quickly rinsed out the toy bowl Ryan had used earlier, handing it to him with a piece of paper towel. He set to work scrubbing away the alfredo sauce from earlier as Lena grabbed herself a spoon. She looked into the tub, considering how to get Ryan his part of the dessert.

“Well, I’m not gonna waste a bowl, so how about you climb in and scoop how much you want.” She tipped over the tub, holding it steady as Ryan finished cleaning his bowl. He looked up at the open tub of ice cream, shivering.

“Man, I wish I had grabbed my winter coat. If I knew I’d be entering a tundra I’d have been more prepared. I’m not even in there yet I’m freezing already!” Ryan stood up and approached the open container anyway.

Lena chuckled. “It will be a bit of an adventure then, huh?”

Ryan looked up at her as he stepped up to the lip of the tub before dramatically kneeling down and used his oversized bowl to scoop out some ice cream from the edge. He raised his bowl up with a smirk, walking away from the cold. “I’m all set on adventures, thanks.”

Lena pouted. “Well, you’re no fun.” She tipped the tub back up as Ryan laughed. She shook her head before a little idea entered her head. She grinned mischievously, picking up the syrup. Her roommate must have seen her smile as he looked up at her. “Whaaat are you doing?”

“What?” Lena asked innocently, tipping the syrup over Ryan. “Don’t you want some Syrup?” Ryan held his arms, shielding himself from the syrup.

Lena just laughed, leaning on the counter as she sat the bottle back down. “What, you think I’m really gonna pour syrup on you?”

She laughed some more as Ryan blushed and stopped cowering under his bowl of ice cream, eyeing her. “You would though.”

Lena shook her head, still laughing a little. “Nooo, I would never.” She took a breath, gesturing towards him with the bottle of syrup. “Now, do you want some syrup, or not?”

Ryan sighed, holding out the tiny bowl of icecream. “Just a drop, I want to be able to taste the vanilla too.” She went to squeeze the bottle, but Ryan stopped her, raising his hand. “Wait! Let me set this down so you don’t get any on me.”

He quickly sat the bowl on the counter, stepping back as he waved up at Lena. “Alright, have at it!” Lena chuckled, squeezing the bottle.

So, you know how when a squeezable bottle, like ketchup or syrup, is left flipped over for a while, you have to wait a minute for the substance to travel down to the cap before squeezing? You know how when you don’t wait, all you get is a spurt of what was left at the top that gets everywhere due to your impatience and negligence?

Yeah.

As Lena squeezed the bottle a burst of chocolate splattered onto the countertop, the little bowl of ice cream, and all over Ryan.

“OhgodI’msorry!” Lena got out, dropping the bottle on the counter as Ryan sputtered in thick syrup, wiping his face as he stumbled back. Lena panicked, quickly picking Ryan up and running through cleanup options for chocolate subconsciously, automatically going to her default.

She pressed Ryan against her tongue, licking the syrup off his back before deftly spinning him around and licking him again.

During which, she froze.

--

Ryan was completely disoriented for all of the few seconds after the chocolate had spurted onto the counter, his clothes, the bowl, and himself. He’d been wiping syrup off his eyes as Lena picked him up and he had only registered that for half a second before something wet and warm rubbed up the back of his body.

Then he was spun around, still completely disoriented, and barely had time to open his eyes and blink away some chocolate before he was pressed into a wall of reddish, pinkish… something. Once again it was wet and quite warm.

Then Lena stopped moving him.

Ryan for his part, had no idea what was going on as he stayed pressed against the warm wetness. Not a towel, too solid. Not a paper towel, too wet. He tried to move his arms up to wipe his face or push off of the wall he was against but found them pinned to his sides. She must have been holding him between her fingers or something.

A second passed as he felt a warm breeze wash over him, smelling like alfredo and mint. A weird combination, it was like-

Ryan stopped moving.

That was Lena’s breath. This was a tongue. This was Lena’s tongue.

She was licking him.

His brain stalled. Lena must have reacted before thinking and licked the chocolate off him. Having been here for a couple seconds now, he could feel a bead of saliva trickle down his head and back, a very warm bead of saliva.

This was weird.

Weirder still was the fact that he… didn’t find it disgusting. Ryan had thought that being up against a tongue, any tongue, would be absolutely disgusting. And, thinking about it, that was still the case: the difference was whose tongue this was.

Another second passed before he tried to move again, just trying to get Lena’s attention more than anything. If he knew her, and he did, she was sitting there with her mouth ajar (literally) as her brain tried to process what she was currently doing.

She’ll realize what she’s doing and pull me away, then I have to get her to stop apologizing so I can take a shower and process this myself.

He wiggled some more, trying to keep it rhythmic so she wouldn’t think he was frantic or anything. That could just make her more worried, and he didn’t want that. After a few kicks of his feet he felt the pressure leave his arms, but the warm wetness of her tongue remained.  

Gravity shifted slightly, allowing him to push off of her tongue, now completely coated in saliva. He managed to blink away the viscous liquid and looked forward into Lena’s open mouth. Everything had a sheen to it, even in the dim light. Her tongue stretched into the darkness before him, and another warm breath washed over him.

He was still outside her mouth, kinda, but her hand had left him on her tongue. He moved, trying to turn around, but everything shifted as her tongue moved faster. He lay flat against it, moving his head to watch as he was carried into her mouth with her lips closing behind him.

Oh.

It was dark, it was warm, it was slimy, a bit muggy, and he could hear her breaths somewhere above him. Ryan went to move again, more a reaction than conscious thought, but the entire world turned into a blur as light reappeared and he was sent flying through the air.

He hit her waiting hands, drenched in saliva and cold as hell in the open air after being in her mouth. He managed to wipe away the saliva on his face as he blinked the world back into focus. His head was also ringing a little, but he could still hear Lena just fine.

“I-I can’t believe- I’m sooo sorry, I just- I can’t, why did I- I’m sorry I did that,” Lena stammered, her face close to Ryan in her hands as she checked him to make sure he was okay. “I didn’t think- I tried to clean you off, then I realized- oh god I licked you, I’m so sorry- then you were in my mouth and, oh you’re covered in spit- I’m so sorry, Ryan I-I… I…” She trailed off, finally taking a breath.

Ryan wiped as much saliva off his face as he could, wiping it off his hands and onto her palms. He opened his mouth to speak and had to spit out some saliva he hadn’t noticed. It had a weird texture, but thankfully it was basically tasteless, if a bit minty.

Lena noticed this and backed off for a second. “Oh Ryan, I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Quiet for a moment Lena.”

Lena closed her mouth, looking nervous and apprehensive as she bit her lip. Ryan took a deep breath of air, clearing the smell of alfredo from his nostrils. Or he tried to, he smelled like alfredo and mint now. He looked up at Lena.

“It’s fine, I just need-”

“What do you mean its fine? How could this be fine! I licked you! Then you were in my mouth! You should be mad, or-or at least frustrated!”

Ryan let her finish before he spoke, calmly. Not a steely calm, just calm. He expected that he should be upset, but he wasn’t, not really.

“I am a little frustrated.” He admitted, deciding not to stand. His clothes were drenched and sticking to him weirdly, and he didn’t really want to move until his shower was nearby. “But I’m not mad. Not really.”

She looked absolutely confused, rightfully so. By all rights, he should be mad at her, but he just couldn’t be mad at her about this. It was just silly.

“I mean…” Ryan trailed off for a moment, considering how best to lighten the mood. “You did get the chocolate off of me.” He held his breath, hoping that landed at all.

She just stood there, blinked, then shook her head. “No. No no no. No. This isn’t a joke, Ryan. You were in my mouth.” Well, that failed.

Ryan winced but tried to hide it with a shrug. “There are worse places to be.” He looked her in the giant eye. “If I didn’t know who you were, I’d be fuming. But, Lena, I know you.”

Ryan continued. “You made a joke about getting chocolate on me, then you got chocolate on me. Anyone would feel guilty or get upset at themselves for doing that.” He raised his arms to the sides, cringing as the saliva-coated sweatshirt slid against his skin. “Granted, the saliva is annoying, but being in a mouth isn’t as bad as I had anticipated.”

Lena’s eyes grew concerned. “I forgot that hadn’t happened to you before.”

Ryan let his hands drop to his sides. “Better your mouth than someone else’s. Though, if you put me in your mouth or lick me again, be sure to have more mints, or brush your teeth.” He wrinkled his nose. “I smell like pasta now.”

Lena raised a brow, leaning away somewhat. “Why would I do that again? I didn’t even mean to do it this time.”

“More of a general warning, Lena.” He sighed, slumping. “Lena, I’m trying to make light of this because, at the end of the day, this isn’t something I can be mad at you for. That and you shouldn’t feel bad about this.”

Lena pursed her lips, thinking. “Okay. Alright. I’m still sorry though.”

“Apology accepted.” Ryan flicked some saliva from his arms. “Now, do you mind bringing me to the bathroom to shower? As… interesting as it is to be coated in your saliva, being soaked in anything is just awful.”

Lena nodded but didn’t say anything. Instead, she quickly ran him up to the bathroom, letting him step off her palm before she darted out of the bathroom, hastily closing the door behind her.

Ryan sighed, turning to walk towards the shower, his saliva drenched clothes clinging uncomfortably.

She clearly was upset about this, even after he tried to downplay it. Who wouldn’t be though? Accidentally doing what she did was… embarrassing. And uncomfortable. Ryan couldn’t imagine having someone in his mouth, it was just too odd. That and the whole ‘haha, I’m gonna pour chocolate on you- oh shit I poured chocolate on you’ fiasco that started this.

He didn’t bother peeling off his clothes, choosing to shower with them on to try and wash them off. He wasn’t about to bring saliva-stained clothes to the laundromat after all. Ryan turned on the warm water and let it run over him, just basking in the heat as he let his thoughts roll through him like the steam from the shower.

I liked it.

He frowned as the realization hit. He liked being in her mouth. It was weird, but being there was intimate, in a way. It wasn’t something anyone else would get to do and was something that only she and he would ever know about. He had literally been inside her mouth, and he had come out unscathed.

And he had liked it. Hell, he’d like anything to do with her, but he didn’t expect to like that.

Ryan lifted his face to the stream of water, letting it run down him as he closed his eyes. Well, it wasn’t like that was a bad thing, but it would take some getting used to. Question was: would he let her do that again?

First, he’d have to make sure she was feeling better. This had hit her harder than it had hit him, emotionally at least. So, first he’d make sure her head was back in the right place, then he’d tackle his feelings towards her mouth.

One step at a time, one step at a time.

--

I can’t believe I did that.

Lena leaned against her bedroom door, trying not to listen to the sounds of Ryan showering. Like, holy shit, she licked him like she was licking the cream out of a fucking Oreo.

He’d never been licked, he’d never been in a mouth and, hell, he’d never been eaten; then Lena comes along and ruins all of that. Oh boy had she ruined it. She ruined ice cream even!

Sure, Ryan accepted her apology, and tried to placate her, but she had seen him struggling to just get her saliva out of his eyes, and she’d seen him spit her spit out of his mouth. Who wants that? Who would want to be stuffed in someone’s mouth like a candy and spit out like… like… like spit! Who?

It was humiliating, that’s what it was. She’d licked her roommate, her friend, and her crush. There was no other word besides embarrassing, and that didn’t encompass the fact that he’d spent the first minute outside her mouth trying to calm her down!

She took a breath, trying to regain some control over her emotions. They’d been erratic, and this was another in what was becoming a long line of fuckups because of them. Oh god, if this was a trend then it would continue.

Lena slumped to the floor, fighting back some tears as she realized she was going to lose her chance with him. With her best friend, someone she could laugh with, joke with, tease, and just enjoy being around. She fucked it up and she’d keep fucking it up.

She let her head fall against the door. She’d been a lot to deal with. Just that morning she’d been the one to make a joke, and he’d been the one to try and pull her out of yet another emotional slump. Even before that she’d sat on him, then he’d been the one to calm her down from a panic-attack! When she’d just sat on him!

Closing her eyes, she tried to steady her breathing. She could imagine Ryan trying to calm her now, making jokes and being so nice when she didn’t deserve it. She really didn’t, she’d been dumb, and he’d been the one to pay the price time and time again. Every step she took to try and get closer to him turned into a big fucking disaster.

It was only a matter of time before she actually hurt him, or worse.

Lena’s eyes blurred as a few tears slid down her face. She was upset at herself; she wasn’t like this. She was calm and cool under pressure, she could seal deals with clients, she could talk to her friends, she knew them better than she knew her family.

She wasn’t a klutz who forgot how fucking bottles worked. She didn’t just lick people clean. She was aware of her surroundings enough to not sit on her friends. She never forgot her bra. And she’d never masturbated with someone else in the room.

What was wrong with her?

She sat there, crying softly to herself as she listened to Ryan showering off her saliva. Would she just keep messing up until he finally left? Or would he stay just because he’s her friend?

My friend…

A friend who calmed her when she was upset, a friend who accepted apologies while saying they weren’t necessary, a friend who was more worried about how she felt than how he felt. A friend she loved.

Lena sniffed, wiping the tears off her cheeks. She was stupid, yeah. He was her friend; they’d been friends for over ten years. They cared about each other and wouldn’t just cast each other aside because of a few fuckups.

She’d been worried she would just start dismissing what he wanted, that she would start acting more like Miah and enforce her will above his. And what did she do? She dismissed his attempts to make her feel better, to let her know he was fine and that she hadn’t hurt him.

She hadn’t become like that bitch Miah, instead she had ignored Ryan’s forgiveness and his attempts to make her feel better.

“I’m an idiot.” She muttered to herself, shaking her head. She loved him and, damnit, she was going to let him know it. If not through her actions, then…

Lena took a breath, standing up from the floor. She wiped her cheeks again, straightening her clothes as she stood up a bit straighter.

I’m going to tell him.

Yes, she had to be honest. It wasn’t like her to just... bottle up feelings, to hide them away out of some worry that her feelings would be rebuked. It wasn’t like her to hope that if she put effort into their relationship, it would just magically evolve into mutual love. Surprises were one thing, but how much she loved that little idiot was just something else entirely. It wasn’t that she was done waiting; she was just done kicking herself.

“First things first, he is going to want a change of clothes…” Lena marched over to her nightstand, leaned close to his little dresser, and gingerly began to go through the drawers. She managed to find and pinch up some boxers, a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt. That would have to do.

She marched out into the hall, and swung open the bathroom door, ready to begin being a better friend and-

“Lena!” She stopped and processed where he was on the counter, hiding behind the hand towel she’d let him use. What he had worn into her mouth was scattered on the counter, leaving pools of water from his shower. She felt her face burn as it occurred to her that he had been showering.

“Sorry, sorry! Just-” She quickly dropped the clothes she’d brought, leaving them next to him, before turning away. “Text when you’re done!” Lena rushed out the door, pulling it shut behind her. She stood there for a moment before she stepped away, staring at the door.

Well, that went swimmingly.

Well, at least she had meant well, she’d just have to do better next time. She stood up straight. “No more shit talking myself. I got this.” One step at a time, one step at a time.

Lena returned to the bedroom, thinking calming thoughts and watching her phone for a text. He probably needed a moment. Even if he had accepted her apology, he had just been in another person’s mouth. Then said person had barged in while he was showering.

She frowned, tapping a finger on the edge of her phone. Maybe it would be better to try and get a feel for his current mood before slapping him with the ever sappy ‘oh gosh, my prince charming, I love you! Kiss me!’. It would be a bit weird to say that while he was still reeling from her saliva.

Well, hopefully not something that stupidly sappy. Sure, both of them tried to alleviate and make things lighter with jokes and funny phrasing, but that didn’t mean it was appropriate for a confession.

“Ryan, I love you.” She said to herself, softly. “Ryan, I love you.” She tried. “Ryan, I love you. Ryan, I love you.” It sounded good to say aloud, but how best to say that? Was there a best way to say it?

No, probably not. Just best to say it. She took another breath, spinning her phone on her palm. “Ryan, I love you. I’ll just say that.” Sounded easy enough. “Ryan, I love you. Easy.”

Her phone lit up, and Lena nearly dropped it; she fumbled for a moment to catch it before seeing a message from Ryan telling her he was all set. She took yet another deep breath.

“I love him, I can do this. Just act normal, act sorry for earlier, and see how he’s doing.”  She nodded to herself before walking to the bathroom and slowly opening the door, finding Ryan sitting on the counter in the clothes she’d grabbed.

He waved to her and she took a breath, entering the bathroom. “I- are you all cleaned up?”

“Yep, got all the, uh, saliva off. Feeling a lot better now.” He bobbed on his feet. “How about you?”

Lena rubbed the back of her head. “I guess? I… Sorry.”

Ryan chuckled. “I know, and its fine. This is what showers are for, right?”

Lena gave him a small smile. “Well, I don’t think they were made with spit in mind…”

“Bah.” Ryan said, waving the thought away. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.” They both chuckled at that.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Lena conceded. “I don’t suppose you still want some ice cream?” She almost hesitated when lowering her hand to the counter but fought it. He wasn’t about to get around the house without her help, at least not yet.

He climbed on, sitting once again in the middle of her hand. “Sure, but hasn’t it melted?”

“Oh no!” Lena sped her way down the stairs, mindful of her passenger as she did so. “I completely forgot!”

Thankfully, it had only been a little while, and while Ryan’s bowl of ice cream had melted, the tub was still fine.

“Man, that chocolate got all over the place.” Ryan said as she let him off her hand near the splattering of chocolate syrup. “Heh, there’s kind of an outline where I was standing.”

Lena looked where he was looking and smirked. There was an outline, a very small outline. She pinched up the chocolate and ice cream covered bowl and ran it under the sink before returning it to Ryan.

“Oh right,” Ryan muttered. “I get to trek into freezing and now partially melted vanilla Siberia. Great, and now my hair’s we too.”

Lena chuckled, tipping the tub over before she grabbed a paper towel. “While you’re getting a taste of Siberia, I’m gonna clean up the chocolate.”

While she cleaned up the mess, Ryan scooped out another tiny serving of ice cream from the edge of the tub, managing to avoid the melted ice cream that pooled nearby. This time Lena was patient, carefully getting a single, tiny drop chocolate in his bowl. She then poured a very liberal amount on her own, drowning the vanilla in chocolate.

They sat in the kitchen, eating their dessert in silence. For Lena, it was difficult. She wanted to say something, anything, to gauge Ryan’s mood. He was acting nonchalant now, clearly treading carefully to try and make Lena feel better about earlier. Show her that he was fine by acting as if everything was fine.

I love you so much, little guy.

She sighed. Was now a good time to bring it up, or maybe it was too early? Should she wait till tomorrow? No, work was tomorrow. So, she would tell him tonight? Maybe after work tomorrow? No, that was too far away, she’d lose her nerve by then.

She glanced down at Ryan, who was finishing his bowl, standing up from the counter he’d been sitting on. She hurriedly glanced away from him as he looked up at her.

“Well, I’m finished. You?”

She stopped, looking at the ice cream left in the tub. “Well, no, not quite.”

Ryan placed a hand on his hip, bobbing forward and back on his heel. “Dooo you want to eat it over a Multycoon game?”

God damn it, stop trying to make me feel better. I’m trying to make YOU feel better.

“Oh, you’re on.” Lena said instead. She dropped her spoon in the carton of ice cream and let Ryan climb onto her open hand before she brought them to her desk.

They booted up the game, and it went on for a few hours. It was hard for Lena to stay focused on the game, but she decided to do it for Ryan’s sake. He was trying to make her feel better, and she was trying to not step on his attempts anymore, but damnit she wanted to make sure he was feeling better too!

So, she let him win the second match, if only by a few points.

“Holy shit, I don’t think you’ve ever lost this!” He said, sitting back in his chair.

“Well,” She said, trying to act like she was as confused as he was. “a broken clock is right twice a day?”

He looked up at her. “I’m not sure that analogy fits here, but I see what you mean.” She couldn’t read his expression while he was on her desk, not unless she wanted to get up close to him. Then it would be obvious she was just trying to see his face.

Was now good? Now would be a good a time as any, right? They just had a good game of Multycoon, even if she let him win once. Was that the right time?

“Oh shit.” Lena’s attention was back on Ryan, worried.

“What happened?”

“Its 11:40, that’s what happened.” He groaned, hands on his face as he leaned back in his chair. “We have to get up early and now we’re up till midnight again.”

Lena groaned too. “Shit. Why does your job have to be so early?”

Ryan stood up, locking his computer for the night. Lena followed suit, standing up from her chair. Maybe she shouldn’t have suggested a second game, but it felt appropriate.

She lowered her hand to Ryan, who climbed on, and they both went and did what they needed to do before bed, swapping turns in the bathroom before they were both climbing into bed. Lena had opted for an old, faded nightgown she had instead of something skimpy like last night’s pajamas.

She didn’t need that right now.

They both got in bed, and she lay there for a moment, trying to formulate the words she wanted to say. Before she could get any sort of nerve in line, Ryan spoke up.

“Good night, Lena. Please don’t sleep through your alarms, I don’t want to trek your room again.”

Lena chuckled tiredly. “I have it set for the right time.” She said before hesitating again.

“Good night, Ryan.” She managed, cursing internally.

She clicked off the lamp and heard Ryan roll over in his bed. She didn’t close her eyes though. She lay there for several minutes, simply staring at the ceiling in the darkness. She couldn’t sleep now, even if she wanted to. She didn’t want to wait for tomorrow after work, she didn’t want to tell him while they were both half asleep and working, and she didn’t want to lose her nerve.

Lena had to tell him now or she would never be able to do it.

She looked over at him, lying in bed. Despite the dimness of the room, she could make out his miniscule form almost clearly. Her heart was beating in her ears, she just had to do it.

“Ryan?”

He didn’t say anything, so she slowly reached over and poked him.

--

Ryan was nearly asleep when she said his name and, despite his near-asleepness, his thoughts jumped to last night and he was suddenly alert. Was she going to masturbate again? Why was she saying his name? He didn’t know what to do. Should he do anything?

Fuck.

He lay there, deciding to just ride it out, and see what she would do.

Then she poked him, surprisingly lightly. “Ryan? Please wake up.” She said louder this time.

Ryan slowly rolled over, he could barely make out her pale face in the darkness; not enough to read expressions, but enough to know she was sitting up and looking over at him.

“Yeah? I’m awake.” He managed, sitting up under his covers. Was she okay? Was something wrong?

She hesitated, and her face turned away from him. He heard her take a breath before she faced him again. He could mostly make out her eyes as they locked onto him.

“Ryan. I love you.”

His brain stalled.

What?

If she were closer to him, she might have been able to hear an audible whirring sound coming from his head as several gears simply failed to align. Thankfully something clicked and he managed to speak.

“I love you too, Lena”

He heard her exhale, a smile growing on her face in the darkness of the room.

“I love you too Ryan.”

“I love you too.”

“You just said that.”

“So did you.”

There was a pause as Ryan’s brain finally ticked forward, and he chuckled. “We’re bad at this.”

Lena laughed softly with him. “Yeah, yeah we are.”

“I love you though.” Ryan said, falling back in bed as a massive wave of relief crashed into him.

“I love you too.” He heard her say before she fell back down too, both of them rolling to face each other.

“And I love you.” He said, a smile on his face. It felt good to say it.

“As much as I love you, we do need to sleep.”

Ryan sighed. “Yeah.”

“Good night, Ryan. I love you.”

“I love you too, good night Lena.”