One Week

Todd wakes up to familiar moaning in two different registers. After yesterday's porno viewing he, Tabby, and Kurt had all drifted into their own projects after dinner. Todd debugged a program he was working on, Tabby had been editing video clips and Kurt appeared to be poring over some kind of case files he gave vague answers around when either of the other two mutant's asked about them. Day bled into night and they'd all drifted back together, eventually piling into Tabby's bed to sleep after taking a few turns nudging one another to go to bed when one of them got caught dozing in their puddle of limbs on the couch. 

They'd kissed a bit as they all drifted off, barely dressed and letting skin and fur rub over each other in a delicious friction of arousal with no momentum for anything more than that pleasant thrill in the blood. 

Waking up to fucking in progress isn't a big surprise, but there's some urgent emotional note wound through the whispers and heavy breaths that catches on the soft edges of Todd’s half-dreaming brain.

"Tell me, how did she hold you?" Tabby says, her voice gentle with more than sleep.

The question rings against a memory of her asking him something much the same a year or two back when he'd washed ashore between Tabby's sheets after a year long love affair finally cracked open on the rocks. He'd come apart wrapped up in the blond mutant, as she whispered questions and loving words he couldn't bring himself to fully hold and she pushed him to cry out the name of someone he couldn't hold onto any longer without hurting himself and them too. 

Todd blinks his eyes open, keeping still, afraid of breaking the moment unfolding next to him. 

Kurt makes a pained hungry noise, his face buried in Tabby's neck and his fingers in her cunt. The blond is sprawled over him, one arm wrapped around his shoulders drawing him close as her fingers card through his hair. Her other hand strokes his dick, long and steady. 

"She held me like I was beautiful, but strong enough I wouldn't break under her." He chokes out, pulling Tabby closer with the arm he has around her waist. 

"You are beautiful, and probably one of the strongest people I've ever met." Tabby says, tipping to kiss Kurt's jaw, "You sure handle the ways I wring you out like a champ."

Kurt gives a watery laugh and Todd’s heart skips a beat.

"Come on blue, tell me more." She says and Kurt laughs again.

"You know she tried to fuck me while I was flying on an Excalibur mission once?" Kurt asks.

Tabby gives a little shiver, whether from the blue mutant's words or hands Todd can't tell. Her lips spread in a wide grin. 

"No. Literally with the whole team right there?" Tabby asks.

"I was less worried about someone seeing and more about crashing the plane." Kurt says, grinning against Tabby’s neck, "She wouldn't get out of my lap til I promised to port us to my room as soon as we landed." 

Tabby giggles, and then her eyes find Todd's and she winks, "You've never minded an audience."

Todd takes that as a cue to announce himself, waving and murmuring a quiet  "good morning" half into his pillow. Kurt gives him a rueful smile, and Todd notices his eyes are wet.

"Kurt's alien amazon partner had to return to her home planet, like, two months ago. He tried to sneak out of bed to cry and I decided to give him his own medicine." Tabby says, still rocking against Kurt who whimpers softly. 

It takes Todd a few beats to work all that information through this early in the day. 

"Wait, fuzz taught you this 'tell me all the things that made you horny about your ex while I fuck your brains out' trick?" Todd asks, and Tabby laughs, nodding. 

Kurt shrugs, voice breathy "Our memories don't leave us when our lovers do. Pretending we won't miss their touch can be a loss all over again." 

A memory clicks into place around the first part of Tabby's explanation. 

"Wait, that spotted chick with the mane situation and that prehensile tail thing on the back of her head?" Todd says. 

Kurt nods, his smile brilliant and bruised, "Cerise." 

Todd whistles low, "Shit, I hooked up with her at that godawful Avenger's gala a few years back. Not surprised she tried to bang you midair, dawg. How long were you together?" 

"A year and a half." Kurt says, which, oops that gala Todd crashed to piss off Stark was definitely within the last year. Kurt must see his expression because he laughs and shakes his head, "What part of anything happening right now makes you feel she and I were exclusive?" 

Tabby nips his ear and Kurt moans and bucks, eyes slipping shut. Todd pulls his thoughts together without those molten eyes staring him down, sucking in a deep breath that only succeeds in flooding him with the smell of the others’ arousal. 

"Nonmonogamy now doesn't mean nonmonogamy then." He says, and Tabby gives him that approving smile he gets when he impresses her. The thrum of arousal that's been slowly winding through him since he woke up pulses with the look and he shifts his hips against the bed, torn between getting the pressure off his dick and grinding down as he watches the other two mutants rock against one another. 

"Monogamy is uncommon on her planet. She loved so freely, so hugely, how could I deny her chances to explore pleasure with this planet's people? Especially when that open lovingness is part of how I fell for her?" Kurt says, his hips stuttering up into Tabby's touch and his voice choked with feeling. 

Tabby nuzzles Kurt's cheek with her own, breathing heavy in his ear. He keens and shudders under her. 

"From what I saw, she fell just as hard for you, didn't she, blue?" She asks, "What was that name she called you?" 

Kurt hides his face in Tabby's neck again, "Kiveh. It means precious." 

Todd hums, "That what she whisper to you that had your tail twist into knots that night when I saw you leave?" 

Todd had avoided crossing paths with Kurt at the gala, afraid of making an ass of himself, but he'd still caught Cerise leaning down to whisper something in the blue mutant's ear that made Kurt duck his head and smile before vanishing. 

Those burning gold eyes are back on him and Todd's heart sings in his chest at the smile on the blue man's face, "Among other things, yes. She told me she had plans for you, I wished her good luck." 

"Yeah?" Todd asks, voice wavering, imagining strong blue hands wrapping around long, long spotted legs as two voices whisper his name, as Cerise told Kurt exactly how she'd worked Todd to pieces that night. 

Kurt holds out a hand, and Todd crosses the narrow gap between them, pressing himself over the parts of Kurt Tabby’s body doesn’t cover. He runs his hand over Kurt’s chest and the blue mutant shudders beneath them, his tail curling around the leg Todd throws over him and Tabby. 

“What else did she call you, when you held her this close?” Todd asks and Kurt whines into the kiss he presses to the underside of Todd’s jaw, murmuring an answer into the soft hollow there.

Todd and Tabby go back and forth like that, drawing answers out of Kurt, whispering them back to him in hushed reverent tones as their hands work him over. Kurt’s tail winds its way around Todd’s dick, but Todd doubles his efforts before the taller mutant can get a rhythm going, biting sucking kisses into his neck and whispering praises in his ear as he feels Tabby’s hand speed up. Kurt arcs, then snaps as he comes undone between them, face twisting in a look that borders on the edge of pain. He gives a choked cry, and none of them comment on the wet streaks running down his cheeks.

Kurt goes limp with a sigh, Tabby and Todd folding themselves around him. Tabby nudges his hand away from her cunt at the same time that Todd moves Kurt’s tail to wrap around his hip and the blue mutant makes a soft protesting noise, cracking open one eye to frown up at them. 

“Sometimes it’s okay for other people to make you cum without you having to work them into a puddle in return.” Tabby says and Todd snorts, running his fingers through Kurt’s loose curls. The blue mutant looks like he doesn’t believe her and Todd fists his hand in Kurt’s hair, tugging loosely. The noise the blue mutant makes will play forever in those little moments Todd grabs alone with himself and his thoughts.

“Ravishment’s only flattering when the ravisher doesn’t view it as some kind of sacred duty that they’re a dirty sinner for skipping out on, fuzz.” Todd says, dipping down to kiss him gently, “I know that’s a hard one on the whole utter selfless devotion approach you have to life.” 

Kurt shoots him a filthy look, but blows his hair out of his face where the curls Todd hasn't caught have fallen in front of one eye. 

"Fine. I'm still snuggling you both." He says, drawing Tabby to him as he snakes his other arm around Todd's waist and tugs. Tabby hums and smiles as she wriggles up close to Kurt, reaching out and tangling her fingers with Todd's as he settles against the blue mutant's other side. 

He's still half hard, and the scent of their mingling arousal as Tabby presses a kiss to the back of his hand, and he nuzzles into the silky warmth of Kurt's fur makes him shiver. Kurt plants a kiss on Todd's crown and Tabby shoots him a knowing grin when he melts a bit at the press of those blue lips. A three fingered hand runs slowly along his back, switching between the broad warmth of Kurt's palm against his skin and the ghosting lines of his nails. Todd sighs, eyes drifting shut as he wriggles in closer.

He shifts his and Tabby's joined hands, giggling when they land in a cool wet spot on Kurt's chest. Tabby snickers across from him and he cracks an eye open to see her smudging around Kurt's cum slick fur with a finger. The blue mutant flicks her ear gently, shooting them both a flat look.

"Stop playing in the mess you've made of me." He says, though the scold is undercut by the soft, drowsy note in his voice.

Todd huffs, half his smile hidden in the soft fur of Kurt's chest, "We can't be held responsible for the consequences of our actions." 

Tabby hums, the sound short and quiet. Her hand is loose in Todd's and Kurt smiles as he brushes her hair from her closed eyes. Todd rubs circles with his thumb on the back of Tabby's hand, letting the sounds of their mingling breath and the occasional hiss of tires on pavement drifting through the window carry his thoughts. Kurt's hand slows on his back, coming to rest warm and heavy on Todd's waist. 

He isn't sure how long they float in the lazy morning sun drifting through Tabby's curtains before one of their stomachs growls, startling a laugh out of him. 

“Breakfast time!” Tabby chirps, slapping them both on the ass before rolling out of bed, though she hits Kurt more in the hip than anything else, “Come on, I’m not cooking alone.” 

Tabby slips out the bedroom door with a tank dress she’d snatched up from the floor in her hand and Todd hums appreciatively at the curve of her ass and the smooth line of her back, the swirling ink garden that runs down her shoulder to brush her spine. Kurt sighs, his eyes on Tabby but he has that time traveling expression that says he’s elsewhere.

“You good?” Todd asks, sweeping his hair back, he didn’t braid it before bed, and it’s a tangled snare that will be a pain in the ass later.

Kurt blows out a breath, dragging his hands through mussed indigo curls as he glances up at Todd. After a minute he nods, eyes roaming over the ceiling.

“We always knew it wasn’t forever, you know?” He says, shrugging, “She always intended to return to her planet, and I intended to stay here.” 

“Knowing the end will come and it actually showing up aren’t the same thing though.” Todd replies, propping himself up on his fist as he glances down at Kurt. The blue mutant’s spend is spattered across his stomach, slicking down his fur and Todd snorts, flicking a wet patch with his finger. Kurt squints at him, ears flicking back against his skull and Todd sticks out his tongue, unrepentant. Kurt sighs through his nose, dropping his head back to the pillow and Todd fights the urge to tip forward and kiss the furrow in his brow.

“It’s not.” Kurt says, dropping his hands from his face, one arm draping warm and heavy over Todd’s shoulder, “But I don’t want to be the emo kid who cries because this one cereal reminds them of their ex.”

“So, if you burst into tears over Lucky Charms, don’t freak, got it.” Todd drawls and Kurt shoots him a flat look. The amphibious mutant rolls his eyes, “Dawg, one breakup I had, I listened to this one mix CD he gave me for three weeks straight until Pietro threw it out the fucking car window. Another one, Forge tricked me into leaving the lab then locked me out because I didn’t leave for like three days solid. The one Tabby pulled your little trick on me for? Two months after it ended, their favorite song came on during my set and I had to wipe my face on my arm during a spin because I started fucking bawling.” 

Kurt shifts, face going soft like he wants to wrap himself around Todd like a mantle, melt away every heartache the amphibious mutant’s ever had and Todd’s stomach flutters, chest warm with the temptation to let him that’s getting harder to fight. But right now isn’t about him, though of course the furball tries to turn it around. Todd flicks Kurt in the nose with his tongue, grazing the tip and that warm expression shatters as Kurt recoils, lips drawn up in a snarl. 

“Why?” He asks, shooting Todd the wounded look of a cat facing injustice of being dripped on while twining between your ankles at the sink. 

“We are all dramatic bitches when the sun sets on a love affair, yo.” Todd says, “You’re supposed to mope around and cry like you’ll never enjoy this one song, or the color yellow, or scrambled eggs again, because that’s how you get to the place where you remember you liked those things before that person was around, and they did not pack all the fucking joy in the world with them when they took their shit and left. I don’t give a shit if you need to cry about cereal or whatever, and I doubt Tabs does either. Do your thing, we’ll give you some shit til you laugh about it enough to stop crying, then you can cry about something else.” 

Kurt laughs, less a sound than a stuttering of breath as he and Todd sit up, “Ja, okay.” 

“Cool. Now let’s go eat breakfast before Tabby comes back in with the water gun.” Todd says, rolling off the bed as he debates between freeballing it or getting dressed. He plucks up his shorts from the floor, deciding the risk of bacon grease to the junk is best avoided. 

Kurt grimaces, scooping up his own pants off the floor but hesitating before pulling them on, tail prodding one of the tacky spots on his fur, “I think I’m stopping at the bathroom first.” 

Todd snorts and waves him on, “I’ll meet you in the kitchen then.” 

Kurt wanders into the kitchen after a brief encounter with a wet washcloth, the fur of his stomach still damp. He wanted a full shower, but figures waiting til after breakfast is a better plan rather than leave the others with all the cooking. Todd shoves a whisk and a bowl of half mixed batter into his hands as soon as he ports into the kitchen. 

“Sweet you’re out, my turn.” The shorter mutant says, making a beeline for the bathroom. 

“You could have come into pee while I was in there.” Kurt says, stirring away the little clumps of flour in the bowl. 

“Which would be great if I had just needed to piss.” Todd calls, the click of the bathroom door punctuating his words. 

Tabby laughs and Kurt sidles over to where she’s frying up diced onions, a smaller mixing bowl of beaten eggs flecked with cilantro and chili next to her elbow. 

“Sorry to be late.” He says, dropping a kiss on her shoulder. She threads the hand not holding the spatula into his hair, and he sighs at the soft scratch of her nails at the nape of his neck.

“You mean ‘thank you for starting breakfast’.” Tabby replies, tilting her head back to kiss his jaw. He snorts, turning to catch her lips with his.

“Thank you for starting breakfast. What exactly am I mixing?” He asks, hooking his tail around a half full coffee cup on the counter and stealing a sip. It’s more milk than coffee, without a trace of sugar. Definitely Tabby’s.

Tabby snatches the cup back from him, waving the spatula at him threateningly, “Pancakes, which you can start making by the way, the griddle should be hot.” 

Kurt switches over to her other side, pouring three globs out onto the stovetop skillet and enjoying the steady hiss they make as they bubble. “Thank you, for this morning too, by the way.” 

Tabby rolls her eyes as she pours the eggs over the onions, swirling them with the spatula before they can congeal into a massive omelette. “You’ve done the same a hundred times, don’t thank me for loving you back.” 

Kurt ducks his head, warmth swelling in his chest and he prods the edge of a pancake with a spatula as he swallows around the lump in his throat. It’s too pale to flip yet, and he ends up smearing batter on the edge of the spatula. Tabby sways into him, bumping his arm with her shoulder. He bites back the impulse to thank her again. 

“Okay.” He says, voice small, and she presses her smile to his shoulder. 

There’s a flush from the bathroom and the sound of water running before Todd ambles back into the kitchen, “Is there food yet?” 

Tabby passes him her spatula, planting a loud kiss on his cheek as she skirts past him, “You’re on the eggs, my turn.” 

“May wanna hold your breath.” Todd calls after her and Tabby snorts. “Also why’s there a water bottle on your toilet?”

“Like we haven’t smelled each other’s shit before.” She says as the door swings shut. 

“The water bottle’s mine.” Kurt says, flipping the pancakes as Todd turns to swirl the eggs, two are a mottled golden brown, but one has that unbroken satisfying crispness to it.

“What, you get thirsty on the can, fuzz?” Todd asks and Kurt laughs. 

“Toilet paper and fur are not the best combination.” Kurt replies with a shrug, flipping the pancakes from the griddle and pouring another set. His fur tapers out to a short fuzz in those areas, but not getting to wash up after a bathroom trip still doesn’t feel great. He watches Todd’s face flicker from confusion to understanding as the shorter mutant. 

Todd clicks his tongue as he shuffles the eggs around in the pan, “Huh, had not considered that issue.” 

Kurt hums, “Most people get caught up on the shedding and stop there.” 

Todd shoots the griddle an exaggerated glance, leaning into Kurt’s space, “You saying those are blueberry pancakes now?” 

Kurt rolls his eyes and shoves Todd’s head out of the way, “It’s fall, I’m not shedding that much anymore.” 

“Tell me that when I’m done picking the fur from my teeth after yesterday.” Todd drawls, then his face scrunches like he’s worried he’s crossed a line and Kurt tips down to kiss his nose. 

“It’s a bonus feature, fur acts as a great flosser, really helps with plaque build up.” He says, smirking and Todd snorts. 

Tabby strolls back into the kitchen, checking their handiwork, she presses a kiss to Todd’s shoulder before resting her head on Kurt’s. She reaches out for one of the finished pancakes, but Kurt slaps her hand with his tail.

“Hey! I started this breakfast.” She says, shooting Kurt a sulking look as she shifts her head from his shoulder to Todd’s. He chuckles, lifting the same hand he just slapped to her lips with his tail.

“And we’ll have it finished in a minute.” He says, flipping the pancakes on the griddle, Todd hums in agreement as he shuffles the eggs he’s scrambling into a dish before dropping veggie sausages into the same pan. 

On the counter, Tabby’s phone buzzes, screen lighting up and Kurt catches the flash of <3 Amara <3  with the message “Wanna talk a couple minutes? Miss you.” in the notifications and the way Tabby’s breath hitches as her eyes latch onto the screen.

"You can call her, you know." Kurt says, resting his cheek in her hair, "We can make hashbrowns in the time it takes you to call."

"But it's been a while since I've seen you guys." Tabby says, fiddling with the hem of her dress and avoiding both mutant’s eyes as she watches the pancakes bubble on the griddle. She steps back, twisting away as they both stoop and snake their necks to try and catch her eye. Todd leans at an angle that would throw out most people's backs as he looks up into her face.

"And you get to see us the rest of this week," He says, "You haven't seen your wifey in like, two months when you're used to waking up ass to ass with her every day."

"We're not married." She says softly, trying to cover the way her heart flutters at Todd casually calling Amara her wife.

Kurt huffs a laugh near her ear, wrapping himself around her from behind. "Neither are my parents, but everyone knows they are, really."

"Call her what you want, just go call her." Todd says, flipping the sausages as he darts his tongue into the bowl of fruit she’d washed earlier, snapping up a strawberry, "You keep staring into space like a sailor's wife in one of Freddy's period dramas."  

Kurt, the little shit, presses her phone into her hand with his tail as he slips his arms from around her with a parting kiss to her temple. He wraps himself around Todd, mirroring the position he just had with her, and Tabby bites her lip at the way the shorter mutant blushes then scrunches his nose at the press of Kurt's chest against his back.

“Oh, you’re whole stomach is still wet.” Todd says, arching away from the taller mutant, who only tugs him closer. 

Kurt shoots her a wink, flicking his tail with a shooing motion.

"Go go, we will not burn down the kitchen." He says and Tabby sighs, giving in. 

"Knock when you’re both ready." She calls over her shoulder, shutting her bedroom door at Todd's grunt of acknowledgment. The pair's muffled chatter drifts through and she smiles, hand lingering on the doorframe.

She dials Amara before she even gets both earphones in. The other woman picks up the video call on the third ring, and Tabby feels like the air is clearer the second brown eyes smile at her from the laptop screen.

"Hello sunshine." Amara says, voice still soft with sleep and Tabby can hear the hiss of waves in the background, see a patch of brightening sky over her shoulder.

Tabby rests her knee on her chin, smiling wide enough her cheeks hurt, "Good morning gorgeous, tell me what's the future like?" 

Amara had gotten more involved in land rights work back home in the last few years, and built connections with Moari activists doing similar work in Aotearoa. She'd hesitated, the morning one of them reached out to her about a Pacific Islander convening, staring into her cereal bowl until Tabby had slid it from her fingers to twine their hands together.

"We will always be right here." She'd said, kissing Amara's forehead and pressing their joined hands to her heart, "a few months apart will not change that, especially for something that you really want, and I think you really want this." 

Amara had bit her lip, eyes finding the peel and stick backsplash they’d stuck up behind the sink. Tabby ducked in to blow a raspberry into her neck, enjoying the echo of the other woman’s laugh in her ear.

"Besides,” Tabby said, biting her cheek against a grin, “Nikau will be there and I know you miss kissing those dimples and the biceps bigger than your head."

Amara had laughed, shoving Tabby away before reeling her in, kissing her with those soft full lips that always glowed with the heat hidden under her skin. Amara didn’t hesitate again, though it had taken them a while to sort through the logistics of getting there. Amara did burst into tears at the airport and Tabby hid her own in the warm crook of Amara’s neck as they squeezed each other as hard as they could, rocking back and forth. They’d traded stuffed animals that morning, after spending weeks sleeping with them. Tabby’s parrot, Cawly Rae Jepson for Amara’s rabbit, Bunstuff.

After two months, Bunstuff smells like everything else in the apartment, losing the soft musk of Amara, though Tabby’s spritzed him with Amara’s perfume every so often. The citrusy scent isn’t quite the same when not on her skin, but it’s something.

Now, Amara smiles at her, full radiance blurred by pixely lagging internet, “Chilly, but the sunrise was pretty good, we’re going kayaking today.” 

There’s a stiffness in Amara’s smile that Tabby catches even through the shit connection. 

“What’s up, buttercup?” She asks, leaning forward like she could reach through the screen and run her fingers along warm brown skin, feel the grit of sand from Amara’s morning walk. 

“How is three months so long and so short at the same time?” Amara asks, resting her chin on her knees, “Every day goes by in a blink, I’m learning so much it feels like I’m running and can’t catch my breath, but it feels like we never get closer to seeing each other, though I know I’ll be home in a few weeks.”

Tabby’d switched to exclusively contract work and pro domming a little over a year ago, and she’d spent most of first month Amara was gone seeing other partners and friends and throwing herself into jobs and bookings before she’d gotten too worn through to avoid her own company. Week one of actually spending time with herself had sucked. Week two and three was incredible. By week four she saw people more because she missed them and less because she was avoiding herself. By week five missing Amara was back to that blister ache on her heart and she’d jumped to have Todd and Kurt crash with her, just to have the apartment feel alive with sound that wasn’t her own breathing. 

She can hear the boys’ laughter through the door and guilt worms in her chest. She has missed them both, but a niggling voice questions whether she’s only using them to fill the Amara shaped gap in her bed til the other woman comes home.

Tabby swallows around the lump in her throat, sucking in a shaky breath, “Same baby. Same.” 

“Okay, your turn, what’s that face?” Amara says, and Tabby laughs, the sound wet.

“They’re not you.” She says, blinking as tears run down her cheeks, “The guys. I’m so happy they’re here, but I still miss you and then I feel like shit for missing you when I’m with them.” 

“Can I tell you something embarrassing?” Amara asks, leaning forward and whispering like the sea bird perched on the railing behind her might hear.

Tabby grins, “Always.” 

“I came on Nikau’s face last night then bust into tears. Like full baby blubbering from remembering that time we were at that party with the lube wrestling and then getting sad because you were too far away to high five this time.”

Tabby bursts into laughter, rocking back as she gasps for breath. 

“He was so sweet about it too, said he was lucky because Hana and Ihaia are both here, so he got to take more of home with him than I did.” Amara says, wiping her eyes with a thumb as she chuckles. 

“I’m glad he was cool about it.” Tabby says and Amara nods, smiling.

“We’re all at that stage of being away from home where you like, stare wistfully out over the ocean in the middle of gatherings. Crying is chill.” Amara says shrugging “Things have been intense here. Like, stuff is really good, but there’s still this sense of how big everything is when we’re all trying to imagine this is possible.” 

“I’m proud of you.” Tabby says, voice warm and Amara scoffs. “I am. You care so deeply about people and the world, you go for the things that scare you that you know you need, and when you want to do something you find a way.

“I love you.” Amara says, smiling. 

“I love you too.” Tabby 

There’s a ringing sound in the distance and Amara looks off camera at something, “Breakfast is soon, I’ll need to go in a few minutes.” 

Tabby hears the oven open and close, Todd and Kurt likely putting the food up to keep warm, “Same.”

They both sigh.

“Twenty-seven more days?” Tabby asks, reaching out and cupping the edge of her screen like she would Amara’s face. 

“Twenty-seven more days.” Amara says, reaching out in a mirror of Tabby. 

Tabby grins, "Hey, those photos you sent me, please tell me we can blow them up and turn them into a wallpaper for the living room."

"Tabby!" Amara says, the scolding ruined by her breathy laughter as she covers her face.

"Okay okay, I'll settle for a large poster size, we wanted to change the statement piece on that one wall anyway." Tabby says, holding her arms out wide in a measurement.

"Oh my god, why are you like this?” Amara asks, dropping her hands to smile at Tabby.

Tabby smiles back, brushing her hair from her face, "Well I'm dating this goddess of the fiery mountain so, you know.”

“Go have a good day, Sunshine.” Amara says. 

“You too, gorgeous, enjoy the water.” Tabby replies before blowing a kiss. 

There’s a pause as neither of them hang up, seconds trickling by as they keep making eye contact and giggling. 

“Alright. On three.” Tabby says, and Amara points a finger at her.

“You have to actually hang up on three this time.” She says and Tabby snorts.

“So do you! Okay. One.”

“Two.” They say together. 

“Three.” Tabby scrunches up her eyes as the word leaves her lips, clicking the red hangup button without looking. The sound of waves disappears, and the sound of Amara with it. The quiet rings in her ears. Then there’s the hiss of a car rolling by on the street outside, the call of birds from the tree by her window, and the soft rolling chatter of two dinguses arguing in her living room. Tabby opens her eyes, sighing as she drops and rolls off her bed. Twenty seven days aren’t so bad when you get to spend them in good company.