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nursegracecreates · 2 years

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Sound Effects and Overdramatics, Pt 28

🎊🎉✨(200 Followers Comfort Special!)✨🎉🎊

Cw: just pure fluff and my love of the John Dies at the End series! I was going through a hard time while writing this, so it was more for comfort. The plot will thicken next chapter; self ship pairing Grace H x Toby "Ticci Toby" Adams

Tw: tattoos, marijuana mention

One would think that, since I woke up so suddenly, effectively foiling Toby's sneak tickle attack, that he would have given up. These random "attacks" had been occurring since Toby discovered that either a) I wasn't ticklish, or, b) I was ticklish, just very good at hiding it. He had settled on option B. So his plan was to keep trying until he caught me off guard. I could actually see the moment Toby decided to go through with his plan. His eyes sparkled as he dug his fingers into the skin of my ribs, slightly flexing them as he moved his hands around on my sides. He studied my face closely, watching for signs of laughter to show him he had found success and a sensitive spot.

Toby eventually drew a laugh from me, but it was more because of my opinion that this was Toby at the height of adorability. I couldn't help but to give him the giggle he was working so hard for. Toby smiled crookely and victorious, and leaned down to kiss me slowly, nothing rushed or hurried about it. When he was done, Toby moved his body so he could rest his chin on my chest and rolled expressive but clouded eyes up to me. Light from one of the wall lamps, burning dimly on low, reflected off of Toby's milky eyes and it made them appear to glow like a cat's in the dark. He had something heavy on his mind, I could see it lurking under the surface. I reached out to push Toby's hair from his eyes.

"That's a pretty heavy look" I said, letting my fingers trail down to his cheek, "So what's wrong, love?"

Toby sighed and grinned sheepishly, "Nothing, sweetness, it's just..." Toby paused to find the right words, his eyes moving minutely as if he were physically searching through a list of words. "Things are about to really pick up, I can feel it. Especially with this meeting and- I don't know. I don't want you to leave later because nothing about my life is normal. But I want it to be."

"What? Normal?"

Toby nodded, his expression angsty as he averted his eyes, unable to meet my gaze. He started chewing his bottom lip.

"Oh sweetheart" I chuckled and cupped Toby's scarred cheek so he would look at me again. "Things have never been normal for us. We aren't a date night couple and probably never will be." Toby's once honeyed eyes met mine again and they looked a little relieved. But not by a lot, and he was still worrying at his bottom lip, his top right front tooth drawing his lip in for his left canine to nip at. "And that's fine" I reassured him, stroking my thumb softly along the bottom of Toby's cheek scar, "I was a homebody to begin with. Just my home has changed, that's all."

"The mansion?" Toby asked with a furrowed brow, confused, "Cos we can get a house of our own if you want. After things settle down."

I smiled, honestly about to laugh over Toby's obliviousness, "No, Toby, silly man" I slapped his shoulder playfully. "I said my home has changed because you're home. We could live in a cardboard box and it would be home because you're there with me. But if you're feeling mournful for a normal dating phase in our relationship, we could do that today." After all, Toby was right. Things were about to pick up. I remembered Zalgo's deep rumble, "Soon." A moment of brief panic hit me. How do I warn Toby about Mother's fears?

Toby pulled his head up, smiling hugely and suddenly excited, his moods transitioning fluidly. It was as if the thought had never occurred to him. He hovered over me on hands and knees, "What like a date day?"

I stole a glance at the clock across the room 12:47 pm. After we'd gotten in from Jack's, we'd showered and fallen asleep immediately. "Well, a date afternoon. But- yeah! Why not? It'll be our first and last shot at normalcy. Then we can be as weird as we need to be."

The last traces of worry left Toby's face, leaving him looking boyish and charming as he grinned at me.

He leaned in and kissed me again, nipping at my lips playfully before he pulled away and got out of bed. I followed, but my back complained at me for it; my spine protested being upright br aching dully at my lumbar region. I stretched, putting my hand over the stretch of spine that was bothering me. I could really do to have it popped.

And like that, Toby was there, taking be into a backwards embrace that smelled like crisp water, sharp geranium and amber wood. His hands captured my wrists and pulled them until he held my arms crossed over my chest. Then Toby adjusted his arms and grip until he clasped his right wrist with his left hand and his arms were wrapped around my chest and upper arms.

"Breathe out for me sweetness" Toby muttered into my ear, causing my skin to break out in gooseflesh, a little thrill sped my heart rate. Toby had always been able to do that to me, with just his voice. I closed my eyes and slowly exhaled all of my breath

Toby did two things simultaneously. He squeezed me, so tightly, in his arms as he lifted me from the floor, making it so my feet dangled as he stood to his full height. My back responded by popping in rapid succession, all the way up and down my spine. I let out a moan that, admittedly, sounded very lewd and Toby chuckled that masculine chuckle men normally reserve for after sex. I relaxed into his body with a sigh.

A few moments passed this way and if I'm honest, my left hand was starting to ache from clutching the amulet Mother had given me in a way that kept Toby from seeing it. I needed real clothes with pockets, not Toby's old worn out Denver Broncos shirt that hung to my knees.

"We should get dressed" I said, trying to steer Toby away from the bed. If allowed, Toby would spend the majority of his time there, quiet and enjoying time alone with me.

"Hmm" Toby hummed, "I suppose. How fancy are we getting?"

"I dunno" I laughed, "I need to explore my new wardrobe further. I've barely seen any of it. But dress nice. Just in case. Wait" I stopped, "we're going into the same closet."

"It's separated" Toby said, pulling me towards the door in quarrying and then opening it. Past the door, it looked like we were entering a mall bathroom. There was a wall in front of us with a dresser, the one is been getting some of my clothes from. The entrances to the closet(s?) were to the left and right, hiding behind ornate, dark wooden doors with x's not just carved over the doorways, but into the wood of the doors themselves, over and over, in a tiny alternating pattern.

Toby shuffled to the left door, so I assumed my clothes were to the right. Oddly, I'd not noticed the doors any of the other times I'd come here. I'm not sure if I thought the closet only contained one closet or what and mentally kicked myself in the ass. I opened the door, curious to see what lay beyond.

Toby had said Slenderman had sent Myra, Tommy's lady love, to buy some extra clothes for me. I expected a few outfits, maybe a dress or two that were completely not my style and didn't fit.

What I found, however, was that it looked like Myra had bought out the store. The clothes were organized, not by type or color, but by length. Floor length dresses gave way to short dresses, then shirts from tunic length to midriff tops, followed by bottoms, from skirts to jeans. Dressers took up space under the shorter items, and there was a wall of shelves holding shoes and bags. I was immediately overwhelmed.

I went to the shorter dresses and looked at the tag of the first one, the paper hanging from a little tie belt in the front. Not only was it my size, it was the size I preferred to buy, a size up so I had room to move around. Impressed, I checked the tag of a calf length with three quarter sleeves in emerald green. It was also my preferred size. I hurriedly checked several more dresses. All my preferred sizes for the dress styles.

"Incredible."

I backtracked and took my time looking at the dresses I'd skipped though, starting my search in earnest. Finally, I settled on a knee length dress with long sleeves in dove gray. The dress had a full skirt that had 100% twirlability, and it transitioned smoothly into the bodice of the dress, which was form fitting with a scoop neckline. When I put it on, I decided Toby would be very happy with the neckline, plenty of cleaveage, cleavage, it still managed to be modest. The sleeves were long but the material was thin. It would keep me warm without a coat or jacket.

One of the drawers contained a pull out mechanism that held jewelry, mostly silver, white gold, and platinum, and a wide selection of necklaces, chains, bracelets, anklets and rings- there was even a smaller box filled to the brim with 8mm plugs and tunnels for my ears. There was also a selection of regular earrings. I picked out a long, silver necklace chain and looped it through the amulet, then put it around my neck. It hung to my upper abdomen, but looked as I hoped it would: ambiguous but likely meaningless (and therefore harmless), quirky jewelry any woman my age might wear. I selected a bag to carry my, an probably Toby's, things

There were eighteen pairs of shoes on the shelves, but only six pairs fit me correctly. Apparently, Slendy's recon for my clothing sizes didn't extend to footwear. The shoes all came in groups of three, a pair in my size and a size smaller and larger. A pair of boots, ballerina flats, heels, fancy sandals, and a pair of white canvas on white rubber sneakers had been selected. For this night, with this dress, I picked the boots, which were made of black suede and hugged my legs all the way to over my knees, with a small heel. I have myself an assessing look in the mirror that was next to the door. Not bad at all. I'd forgotten how well I cleaned up.

I poked my head it and checked the antechamber for Toby, then hurried to the door that led to our room when I didn't see him. The bedroom was empty as well as the bathroom, allowing me to grab my makeup bag and quietly make my way back into my side of the closet. Then I sat on the floor in front of the mirror and put on some basic makeup, a little powder, eyeliner and some shadow, and a pop of deep pink lipstick at my lips. I used a travel sized hairbrush from my bag and brushed it until it fell in loose curls to my shoulders. I needed to redye it, maybe a different color this time, but there was no time today. Instead I put a loose crown braid in my hair and was lucky enough to find some nail polish to touch up my nails. One last look, and I was hitching the bag I'd picked out after putting my makeup in it. And then I left the closet, feeling confident in my wardrobe choices.

I was so preoccupied coming out that I collided with Toby when I reached the bedroom door. I hadn't even seen him until I was face first in his chest, my hands clutching his shirt as he gripped my upper arms, holding me to him so I didn't fall. He looked down at me in surprise, and then took my hand in his and swung me out so he could see me better. I posed and Toby's face reflected slight awe and excitement. I hit another pose and smiled for him.

"Y- you look amazing" Toby said, a ghost of his stutter returning for a moment. He was smiling just as brightly as I was.

"Likewise" I told him "You look so nice!"

And he did. Toby wore a pair of dark gray dress pants that looked to be specifically tailored to his long, lean frame. An olive green sweater vest covered a tucked white dress sheet and his shoes were black loafers. He looked like he had just stepped off the cover of GQ, so handsome. "How did you manage to match my choice so well?!" I asked.

Toby grinned, lighting up with my compliments, "It was either this or the tux" he said and he gave my hand in his a tug. I took the hint and leaned in so he could kiss me. When he pulled away, his lips were slightly pink and his fingers lifted the chain holding the amulet, lifting it to let it slide from his fingers, "I like your necklace. I've never seen one like it."

I touched the amulet. Did Toby know what it was for? Had he been peeking and was now giving me a chance to own up to the information? I studied Toby who was smiling excitedly and decided no. Toby was too direct. If he knew I knew something he needed to know, he would just ask. I needed to figure something out soon, though. "Thank you" I replied, "It just looked interesting, you know?"

I was hoping I would never have to use it, or tell Toby why I had it. But if Mother was worried about it, it was probably something that would happen, and soon.

We headed to the door after ai added a few more things to my bag, Toby in the metaphorical driver's seat for door travel, but I had to stop Toby from grabbing his hatchets on the way out.

"We're supposed to be normal today" I reminded him, "Normal guys don't bring hatchets on their dates."

"But what if-" Toby started with a smirk on his face.

"Normal guys don't take hatchets on dates unless they're doing are throwing barbecue" I amended, "And I'm pretty sure they supply the hatchets there."

I slipped the gun out of my bag just enough for Toby to see, then put it back. Toby raised his eyebrow, the graceful curve of his scar gapped eyebrow arcing skeptically, "So normal girls carry a handgun on their dates?"

I cocked my head as I thought about it, "Yeah," I replied, "Some do."

We passed through the door and were through the void so quickly that I didn't get a chance to see it. It seemed as if we had just stepped out of our bedroom into-

The rain.

Well technically we were under an awning. We were standing under the awning of a construction site trailer. The partially constructed hotel the site was dedicated to loomed tall in the gloomy sky. I looked at Toby in confusion and he nodded his head toward something behind me. I turned and saw a sprawling pedestrian mall, complete with multiple restaurants, a warehouse store, a chain pet store, and a marijuana dispensary, amongst other, smaller businesses. All we had to do was cross the road.

"Shall we?" Toby asked, holding his hand out to me. I gave Toby another smile as I took his hand, "We shall."

Toby led me down a gravel driveway for access to the trailers and we jogged, hand in hand, across the street. We were lucky that it was a road adjacent to the much busier highway. We walked around the edge of the shopping center. We'd been on the back side of all the businesses, and could now see that this place was packed with places to explore. A thrill of excitement lit through me just thinking about spending the afternoon with Toby in these stores.

The first place of interest was a smoke abs CBD shop. The store's walls were lined with glassware; bongs pipes, bangers, nectar collectors of all shapes and sizes.

"Whoaaa" Toby breathed as he just stood in front of the shelves, taking it all in. The cashier came up to us, asking if they could help us with anything.

"We're just looking" I told the employee kindly and nudged Toby in the ribs so he would stop staring at the shelves in the open mouthed way he was. We looked around and found that they sold Tim's brand of rolling tobacco, even the flavor Toby said Tom thought had been discontinued. We bought him a few bags, but Toby kept returning to this one bong.

"Toby, no" I laughed, amused, "That thing is just too big." The bong in question came up to my knees and was made of thick, heavy glass. It was blood red at its base, but faded to frosty white and then clear at the mouthpiece. Salamanders were etched among flames around the beginning of the neck, three of them crawling up the neck where red faded to pinkish orange.

"But Grace..." Toby reasoned, "It's perfect."

"Perfectly huge" I sighed, "What are you gonna do? Haul it around with us all afternoon?"

"I can take a door-"

"You know you get logy if you use the door too many times in a row" I reminded him.

"I could carry it" Toby bit his lip, chewing as he thought.

"Toby, baby, that thing has to weigh at least fifteen pounds" I reasoned, "Plus, it's definitely attention grabbing."

Toby was rubbing his chin as he chewed his lip and thought, stroking the strip of hair he had started keeping on his chin. He pulled his hand away and snapped his fingers, "We can come back for it! Or, OR, I can take the door and put it in our room..."

"And this is where I argue that that bong is too heavy for me" I sighed, "And it's so big that I'd have trouble using it."

"I'll lift it for you, Sweetness, no trouble" Toby grinned, "And we'll get something smaller for every day use, a pipe. Big Lizzie can be for special occasions."

"Oh my gods, you've already named it" I breathed as Toby said "Besides I already named it." We blinked at each other and laughed that we'd had the same thought at the same time. "The name is subject to change" Toby chuckled.

"Okay" I relented, "We'll come back for it when we call it a night. Now, pick me out something either pretty, or cool. Or both."

Toby spent at least fifteen minutes picking us out a pipe. He finally settled on one that was opalescent white. It was shaped so you could stand it on end, reminding me of a brick oven if it were round. Three glass drops were lined up on the neck of the pipe in pastel pink, yellow and cyan.

"What do you think?" Toby asked, "It's both pretty and kinda cool. I've never seen one like it."

"It glows in the dark" the cashier said from behind the counter. There were no other customers and the store was small.

"Ooh" I turned the pipe in my hands, "You did wonderfully, honey."

Toby beamed, chest puffed up with pride as I handed the pipe to the cashier so we could check out. Toby even worked out with the cashier to come back for both the bong and our bags before the store closed at nine.

Toby held the door for me as we walked out into the unseasonably warm gloom.

"Where to next?" I asked Toby as I caught his hand. I brought it up as we walked, his left hand held in my right, and kissed the big scar going through the center of his hand like stigmata.

"Is that a bookstore?" Toby asked, "The lighting is messing with me, hard to see." He was squinting from the overcast sunlight, holding his free hand up to block one of the few rays of sunlight.

I nodded, "Yeah, do you want to check it out? Pick up a few books?"

"Yes, fuck, yes please!" Toby said excitedly, "I've already read everything on my shelves at least twice. Even the books I borrowed from Jack. The mansion has a library but... the books are hard to keep up with."

We started walking, passing a few stores. "What do you mean? You lose the books or something?" That didn't sound like Toby, who was usually pretty organized, so my interest was piqued.

"No" Toby laughed as we pushed into the bookstore, "Nothing like that. But the books are weird, Slender has some sort of spell on them. So if you leave them unattended for more than thirty minutes, they start kind of just... making their way back to the library. They even push bookmarks out, it's freaky." Toby pushed open the inner doors of the store and took a deep breath of paper-and-ink scented air. "That smells so good."

We headed over to the sale table. Hardcover editions of a selection of classics like Poe's Complete Works, as well as Lovecraft and Dickens. Toby started a "to buy" stack, adding the Poe and Lovecraft books, and upon further consideration, Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

"Do you have any books you've been wanting to read?" I asked Toby as I smoothed my hands over a purple blank journal that had a glittery purple cloth cover set behind a silver filigree frame. "You know, a good recommendation, or a series that's expecting its next part?"

Toby added the purple journal to our stack as soon as I stopped touching it. I smiled as he kissed my cheek as he picked it up. "No, not really. Like, Kate tells me I should read this series she reads about a witch, a vampire, and a pixie who live together in an abandoned church. But I don't think it's for me."

I nodded, "The Hollows series, and you're right. You'd hate them, especially Nick."

Toby grinned, "Good to know. What about you?" He gave me a sidelong glance with happy eyes as we moved to another table, "Any recommendations? Since you know my taste so well?"

I nodded with a placid look on my face, "Of course. To the W's!"

We hunted down the W section and I found books by David Wong, three of them. I pulled them from the shelf and handed them to Toby. He took them and read the covers. "John Dies at the End. Huh." Toby blinked and shuffled to the next book, "This Book is Full of Spiders. Good to know." He shuffled to the last book, "What the Hell Did I Just Read?" Toby looked to me, "Okay, Sweetness. Why should I read these?" Toby crossed his arms, holding our books to his chest. His facial expression said 'Wow me' and his shirk said he kind of already was.

"It's about these friends, John and Dave. And a drug called soy sauce. Now you don't take this drug. It takes you. And it like... opens you up to well... basically your world, really. Dark or weird beings, strange creatures, interdimensional struggles. These dudes catch the attention of this dark, all powerful being and basically nothing is ever the same." Toby was listening with rapt attention. "And it's also a love story. But from the guy's point of view. Dave falls for Amy hard and she has to learn how to live in Dave's world."

"Okay, you're good" Toby said, adding the books to our growing stack, "Does he have any others? David Wong?"

I smiled because I had already been leading Toby to the next books, "David Wong is his pen name. His real one is Jason Pagrin. He just released a new John book 'If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe'." And then I pointed to them on the shelf.

"Encouraging" Toby chuckled. His eyes were alight with amusement as he read book spines, "What about Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits?"

"You'll want that one too, and the sequel" I plucked it from the shelf and started another stack, which Toby added Futuristic Violence to.

We added a few more things to our purchase. Toby found a pair of readers that help him see a little better when it came to print, and he insisted on buying me an adorable stuffed kitten with tentacles instead of legs. I immediately named her Calypso Paige. We also wasted money on a few bookmarks, even though I think we both knew we wouldn't be able to find them in a month's time. We checked out, I think even more excited for the dates conclusion, so we could go home, cuddle up, and read the books we'd bought.

We realized it had been a shameful amount of time since we'd eaten last. Neither of us were to great at scheduled meals nor were we particularly hungry. But we figured we should get something anyway and picked up a couple cinnamon rolls at the pastry place next door. Toby had to beg them not to put any topping on his. We ordered drinks and sat down, debating on whether we should go to the pet store to look around.

"I'm not so sure" Toby replied, "I'm just gonna end up seeing some dog, or cat, or lizard. And then I'm gonna want to bring it home with us. Badly. But I can't take care of an animal full time. And don't say you'll take care of it" Toby said as I opened my mouth to say just that, "Then it would be your animal. Plus you're just as busy as me."

"True" I said "Maybe at a later time, we could revisit the topic." I didn't voice the obvious "when things calm down".

The batista called Toby's alias, Aaron, and he left to get our drinks with a nod. He brought back his usual black coffee, but had gotten me a treat (in his eyes), a white chocolate latte with cinnamon. He acted like he was going to pop the bottom of my cup with his hand and I jumped, knowing he wouldn't but instincts are hard to overcome with hot coffee in your hands.

I sputtered, which made Toby laugh and pull me closer in the booth seat, hugging me.

"Tch, asshole" I said, but smiled even as I halfheartedly swatted at Toby's chest as he hugged me with his arm

"Yep. And you love me anyway" Toby said proudly, "What a day to be alive."

After our break, we perused a record shop. Toby found a vinyl copy of Old Crow Medicine Show's Wagon Wheel, which he played on the record player the shop supplied for customers wanting to test their records. While the folksy Americana tune played, Toby danced with me in the middle of an aisle, just a simple two step as he sang along in my ear, "Rock me mama like a wagon wheel. Rock me mama any way you feel, heyyyy mama rock me. Rock me mama like the wind and the rain. Rock me mama like a southbound train. Heyyyy mama rock me..." Toby was a little flat, but it was music to my ears. The cashier, a tired looking old lady, watched us with a snaggletoothed grin.

While we browsed the shelves of a fragrance shop, Toby spoke up, "We should get something really nice to commemorate today. It's been so awesome."

"The date's not over yet, maybe we'll find something" I said as we walked, Toby's arm draped over my shoulders. I held on to his fingers with the hand not wrapped around his waist and leaned my head over until Toby's shoulder while we made our way to the front of the store.

When we went outside, I noticed the sky beginning to darken, afternoon transitioning to evening. Suddenly, Toby stopped walking, and I looked up at him.

Toby was staring at a storefront a couple doors down. "It's perfect." He started towards is, pulling me along behind him.

He was striding towards the tattoo shop with purpose.

"A tattoo?" I asked him as we stopped at the door, not hating the idea.

"A tattoo" Toby confirmed, "Matching ones, even."

I thought about it a little more and Toby asked me, "What do you think?"

"I mean, I don't hate the idea" Toby opened the door for me, "What should we get?"

Toby thought about it as we walked in. "Don't you know all that stuff about flowers? Like how people used them to send messages back in the old days?" Toby asked me, "What's a good flower that sums us up?"

This to a considerable amount of quick thinking. What would be a flower I would have sent Toby two centuries ago? I had to think about what the relationship was for both of us. Well... this was definitely a relationship unlike any other I'd had. As d Toby was picking up the pieces, learning how to love and trust again after Natalie. It was kind of a new beginning for both of us, a new life. Yeah! So flowers that symbolize new beginnings. There's daisies, but they seemed to girly for Toby. Calla lilies usually get associated with death instead. And if daisies were too girly, daffodils were definitely out. "... What about a dandelion?" I asked, "Like after it's gone to seed, when it's all fluffy? They symbolize a new beginning."

Toby leaned over me, curling his body forward, to kiss my forehead as I leaned against him where he stood. "I love it. I love you."

I was beaming as we went up to the counter and Toby told the attendant that we were looking to get two tattoos of the same design. We had to fill out some paperwork and show our (fake) IDs, but soon we were being led back to the work area.

We met the tattoo artist and worked out a design with him. It was three dandelions with a sprig of green leaves. One was a fluffy, fat dandelion flower in full bloom, the middle was one gone to seed, a few seed pods floating off on bits of fluff. The final was a baby dandelion, curled up before it blooms. All three were bound together with a leafy sprig by a piece of baling wire, cut short and neat.

"So you two are happy with the design?" our tattoo artist, a red mohawked, pierced punk with dark skin covered in ink named Robert.

We were both nodding and Toby took the chair first, so I could watch how it was done.

"Look at my man, being all valiant and shit" Robert said, "You gonna be honest about if it hurts? That's gonna be a pretty tender spot." We had decided to get the tattoo on our left collarbone area/upper chests.

"It'd be a moot point" I said, taking Toby's shirt and sweater vest as he disrobed for Robert to ready the area. "He's got congenital insensitivity to pain. You could carve those flowers into him and he wouldn't even flinch."

Robert looked at Toby in surprise, pausing in wiping down Toby's skin with alcohol to clean the area. "No shit? That's fuckin wild. I got a friend with insane pain tolerance. That's gotta be similar."

The tattoo gun was soon buzzing and Robert was laying ink into Toby's skin as he talked and bullshitted with us.

"So how long you guys been together?" Robert asked in his accent that I could quite place. Sometimes it sounded foreign and others, a very clear Pittsburgh inflection was there. He wiped the excess ink away. Half of the linework was done. River was a fast worker, especially since he was freehanding.

Toby gave me a glance and I handled it, snorting out the shocking part of our bond, its relavative newness, by saying, "Around a year and a half."

"Cool, cool" Robert hummed, starting in on the shading, "I like that you're getting this ink together, but not each others names. I always say name tattoos are a curse. Unless it's like your kids or your dead or something."

We continued making small talk and soon, Toby was shaded, and then done and it was my turn. I had to pull one arm out of my dress so Robert had access to the whole area. Between my dress and Toby's sweater vest as a cover to hold to my chest, we managed.

The tattoo actually didn't hurt too badly. At first. At first, it felt a little like bee stings and then a sunburn. However, once Robert started in on the finer details of the wild flower bouquet, it really started getting sensitive. And with every pass of the needle bundy, a sharp, but aching pain was establishing itself amongst my nerve endings. My eyes were starting to tear up a little.

Toby noticed and came to wipe the tears from my eyes before they even had the chance to fall.

"Almost done" Robert said in a distracted way as he shaded in what felt like another petal. He repeated this a few more times, then wiped my skin clean again. He produced a mirror and held it up for me, so I could look.

There, in black ink, looking red and irritated, but absolutely perfect, was dandelion tattoo. I noticed Robert had added a little metal heart charm to the wire holding the flowers together, something I hadn't noticed until I saw it on my own skin, but Toby's was identical.

"It's perfect, Robert" I said, "thank you so much."

Toby walked up and gave Robert a tip. I spotted at least three twenties, but the bills were kind of stacked on top of each other, so I couldn't be sure. Robert said his thanks and nodded to the table where he was set up, and Toby sat the money there. Robert covered my tattoo in ointment and then a shiny black wrapping that reminded me of the pads under prepackaged meat. He handed me a care sheet and a couple of tiny vats of after tattoo cream and Toby took his sweater vest as I rearranged my dress top.

Toby was grinning widely as he paid up front. The grin lasted through getting burgers and dropping back by the smoke shop for Big Lizzie and our other purchases there.

"One last stop" Toby said and he led me to the dispensary. We went inside and Toby picked some flower from their specials menu. He flashed a medical card with an alias under his picture. Toby looked mad enough to kill, he was staring at the camera with just the surliest of looks. This ex change with the card, however, resulted in the employee taking off the sales tax of his (generous) purchase.

Bags dispersed between the two of us (Toby with the books and smoke shop bags, me with the food and flower) we returned to the construction site. Only this time, we actually went inside the half constructed hotel. I wondered how there could possibly be a door here. The halls and rooms were in various stages of completion, the place probably only having existed a week or two, tops. But, sure enough, Toby led me directly to a doorway that looked like it had just been created today, while we were shopping. I realized when we found it, that I had been feeling a vague pulling sensation in my gut that had only gotten more noticeable as we got closer to the door. I'd always wondered how Toby managed to locate doors, and now I think I figured out the answer.

We had to shearling link arms before we stepped in because of the shopping bags. It wasn't pretty, nor was it comfortable, but it worked, keeping us from getting seperated in the void. W stepped out into our bedroom and Toby crossed to the dresser to set his load down, pulling me with him accidentally. I had to run a little bit, Toby's legs were just too long for me to keep up at a normal pace, and I sat our other bags down. I sat our food to the side and we ate while we put things away. The flower containers went into the safe along with the gun from my bag. Toby sat our first book on the bed and then carried the others upstairs to the bookshelves. Toby left Big Lizzie on the desk and I put the journal and bookmarks in my bedside table drawer. My stuffed kitten with tentacles took up prime real estate amongst the pillows where Toby and I slept. The pipe joined the bong and Toby sighed in exasperation upon finding Tim's tobacco. Toby left to take it to him so he wouldn't forget with a "Be right back, Sweetness."

Everything had been put away between mine and Toby's efforts, so I left the bedroom for my closet to undress. The dress went into a hamper next to the door, and I put the boots back where I had gotten them, filling their space on the shelves. I went to the drawers, curious about what was in then and found more pajamas, a wider selection than what was in the antechamber dresser, along with regular clothes that I would check out later.

I picked a camisole and shorts in black. Toby is such a hot sleeper that I had learned to sleep in as little clothing as possible. The cami was lace, and transparent in the midriff. The cups of the top were mercifully solid instead of see through like the rest of the top, or I would have never been able to wear it in confidence. The shorts were nothing special, just black silk with a lace hem. The urge to remove my tattoo covering was intense, but Robert had told us both to keep our new ink covered for the first night, lest the ink get pulled out by the fabric of our shirts or sheets. I had to stop myself from picking at the edges and decided maybe it would be best to cover up more, for my own sanity's sake.

There was a cute robe in the next drawer down and I shrugged it on. The black, slightly sheer material was actually pretty warm, but the lace cutouts in the arms helped ventilate the robe so it didn't get too warm. Satisfied, I left the closet and found Toby was back from visiting Tim. He had stripped down to his boxers and was kicked back in bed, Calypso the Cthul-kitty tucked between his arm and ribs on the right side. Our book was resting on the bed in the space that I slept.

Toby looked up, it looked like he had been reading the book's back covet from where it sat on the bed. When he saw me, his expression was content. But contentedness turned into something else that resembled if I had hit Toby between the eyes with a ball ping hammer.

I crawled up onto the bed and joined Toby amongst the pillows and blanket. Toby was still looking dumbstruck and when I reached the pillows and sat, I asked, "What's wrong love?"

Toby shook himself out of it, literally shaking his head as he blinked hard a few times.

"Nothing, Sweetness" Toby murmured as he moved to be closer to me. He produces the new pipe, freshly loaded to the top with fluffy green ground weed. I accepted it and cooperated with Toby as he lit it for me, my lungs filling with pungent smoke that tasted slightly of mint, but mostly very green. I almost coughed, but managed to suppress the urge as I handed the pipe back to Toby. He took one of his usual monster hits and I watched as his eyes went wide. Watching Toby fight not to cough was amusing as always. He always took more than was necessary and he slapped the bed a few times as his body shuddered with the effort not to cough. Finally, Toby was able to get a quick breath in through his nose and we exhaled together.

"Okay" I gasped, "Clever distraction, but what's wrong, honey?" I bit my lip in worry, hoping Tim hadn't reported the first zombies or something.

Toby sighed and laughed at the same time, the sound coming out as whooshy along with a good amount of rasp. "Sweetness, everything is completely fine right now. Including you." He reached forward and moved the robot for a little peek, "Just appreciating the view. Honestly I didn't think the dress could be outdone."

I blushed and accepted the pipe again and we smoked before really settling in to read. Toby ended up shoving my stuffed animal up towards the headboard and sat the now empty pipe on his beside table along with his Zippo. Toby opened his arms after flopping onto his back, and opened his arms, creating space for me.

I laid down on my side, facing Toby and gave him a quick kiss before I snuggled up to his body. I picked up the book, the first of the John series, and started reading, making sure the delivery was right.

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