Everything in the world seemed determined to ruin Ditzy Doo's week. It was Wednesday morning, and she had the night shift today, along with Buck and Scootaloo. This was a change of pace; Buck had picked up a shift today to work the counter in place of Mr. Cake, while Ditzy was set to flex; switching between the kitchen and the front. They were both of them hurting for money, it seemed.

Ditzy had just put Dinky on the bus and was sitting down to craft and decompress. For a bunch of reasons, this was hard. One of them was that it was hot as hades today, but another was that this week was unfolding into an ongoing book about Ditzy's stressful life.

Chapter 1: First, Dinky had been held in detention for reading under her desk in class. This was nonsense to Ditzy. For one, Dinky had dyslexia bad, so reading was a struggle in the first place, but she did her best. She had been reading a short story for her English class under her desk during history, apparently, and also apparently, the teacher had taken umbrage with that despite the fact that Dinky had already finished her work for the day.

This was probably some private fight between teachers, but why involve Dinky in it? She had done a good thing; gone out of her way to try and study ahead, even though it was hard and she was punished for it! Detention was also total hogwash to Ditzy Doo. Kids have so little time to be kids and it's the job of adults to make sure they get as much of that time on their terms as possible, but you take time away from them when they step out of line? Didn't make any sense.

Chapter 2: Mr. and Mrs. Cake hadn't listened to her when she told them that they should stock up on some nice cold treats or maybe even invest in a better freezer or get the one they had fixed.

"Honestly, I may be wall-eyed but even I could see what was coming", she murmured. What had she said? She said that the summer was going to come sooner than later and people were gonna be lookin' for ice cream, not cupcakes and then that ice cream joint around the west side of Center had opened up and would you lookit that, all of those loyal customers went and vamoosed right over there for the ice cream that Ditzy had said they should get over at Sugar Cube Corner!

Whoops!

Now sales were down and so were tips and that had thrown out Ditzy's plan to treat Dinky to a trip to the zoo to make up for detention! Ditzy was currently half-hitching a bunch of aspiring friendship bracelets that Dinky wanted to give out at recess. Dinky didn't have many friends, sadly, and her few friends were members of the faculty, her own mother and Buck. Dinky had wanted to go out into the woods and find little animal bones to put on the bracelets, and for the life of her, Ditzy couldn't figure out a way to explain why that was inappropriate.

Chapter 3: Ditzy was so busy the last two weeks that she had only had time to shower and not take baths or even try a single one of her homemade bath bombs. This was a tragedy because baths were how she really soothed herself, and also because without soaking in warm water, her back was starting to really act up again. What was it about crossing the 30-year-old threshold that made your spine suddenly decide to rebel? Her breasts had a lot to do with it; they had a lot to do with a lot of the troubles in her life, but it wasn't their fault that every bone in her body seemed to pop when she did her stretches. Maybe she'd take a bath today before work. It might be true that she'd just get dirty again during her shift, but she'd be able to get through it and she would smell like lavender and daffodils and that would make people more forgiving if she dropped their cake, right?

Chapter 4: Ditzy had been seeing less and less of Buck just lately, and she knew every single reason why, because she'd been trying to ignore them as they buzzed around her head. Ditzy felt guilty when she threw the weave at the floor. She tried to glare her fists back into hands, but it didn't work. It didn't work, because she was furious.

The bulb in her closet had burnt out, but she was too short to reach it and she didn't have a step stool, and if she tried to stack things to get at it, she would definitely fall and hurt herself. She needed Buck for that. She had been sleeping with a pillow over her head on Saturday Nights because Buck had been hosting his loud friends and nursing booze and watching cartoons. She had been trying to not think about last Sunday, when she had tried to doze in Buck's bed next to Dinky, and had heard Buck and Adagio whispering and then singing and then canoodling in the kitchen. He had gotten Adagio to apologize later on, that was what the whispering was about, but Adagio had the poor man on a string; apologizing for nothing and soothing her and...and Buck had sounded excited under his breath, and Adagio had moaned and purred at him and Ditzy Doo couldn't stand this.

Buck was just trying to live a happy and normal life, and so was Ditzy and Adagio just dropped in from outer space and she stank like magic and she was ruining everything.

This was going on for way too long; Buck should have gotten wise by now, shouldn't he? Adagio was poison and she was going to run him through the wringer and try to use him all up. Wasn't that obvious? She had to have a real talk with him about this. He was spending more time with Adagio, now, and they had a date at the end of the week and they were probably gonna kiss! and hold hands!! and she was so, so mean and why couldn't Buck see it!!!? Ditzy Doo's fists pressed against her closed eyes and she shuddered and tried not to sob.

But Ditzy Doo should have known better too, shouldn't she? She had learned in little ways the things that Buck liked in girls, and Adagio was probably a whole bunch of them. She was confident. That was probably the thing. She acted like she owned the whole galaxy and for SOME REASON Buck couldn't stay away from her, even though she was just a cruel, angry little leech who didn't know the first thing about baking, and...Ditzy Doo stopped that thought.

She wasn't being fair, and she hated how ugly that made her feel. She just wanted to tell Buck how she felt and hug him a lot and now she felt like if she didn't do something drastic, she'd never get the chance because she had let Adagio waltz into his life because she had gotten lost on the way to speed dating and this was all her fault.

Buck liked girls who were confident and direct and...nasty? Ditzy Doo guessed that was a word for it. Adagio was nasty. She looked at Buck like a piece of meat! And that wasn't fair, because Buck was a whole three-course meal and no Ditzy, no that's super reductive and also real corny, just stop it and get back to the bracelets, you're wasting your free time thinking about this!

But was it a waste? Her concerns had to be valid because she had come in to do a little dusting and check on Buck and he wasn't home, which meant that he hadn't made it back after guy's night and Adagio had been invited to that, so he probably went home with her and...and Ditzy Doo was crying now. Stupid. Stupid, cowardly little thing she was, all she could do was cry and moan and, and KNIT while another woman was laying under the man that she loved, waiting for a chance to bite his head off.

What was she going to do? What could she do?

Ditzy Doo had a plan. She was going to try and get Buck, but it was taking some time. She had started taking dance classes down at the rec. Swing and jazz, specifically. Ditzy Doo liked jazz music, and she really liked electro swing. She knew Buck liked it too; he listened to it all the time when he was writing, and like, stuff with 'hop' and 'chill' and 'wave' and 'lo-fi beats to study/relax to' in the name.

Ditzy Doo was going to get good at dancing, and then she would surprise Buck with an invitation to, I dunno, like a dance club, or something, and she would show off and he would just fall right in love with her on the spot, because she knew something Adagio didn't; Buck loved to dance, and he really really liked girls that could dance, Ditzy remembered he mentioned that sometime, maybe it was this year, maybe it was when they met briefly back at Canterlot High, but it was marked important in Ditzy's mind, so it was true and she was going to get him, but it turned out that dancing was hard when you were a natural klutz, and the going had been slow.

But, it also turned out that learning to dance was actually really fun! And Ditzy had had a good time learning steps and chatting with the other ladies and twirling and prancing, and she really was starting to get good, but then she would come home after her class on Saturday and she would hear Buck and everybody else having a good time and she would get so jealous it hurt her eyes.

Buck hadn't invited her to Cartoons and Vodka, and he hadn't invited Dinky either, and she understood, there was alcohol and that wasn't appropriate for a minor, but why not Ditzy? Was she not 'cool' enough? Well, Buck had said he knew that Ditzy was tired at the end of the week and that was true, but it would have been nice to be asked, at least. Ditzy Doo could be cool! She could hang! What was she even doing? Buck. She was being upset about Buck, again.

Ditzy Doo couldn't dance Buck off his feet if he spent all his time in Adagio's arms. The two weren't even really dating, how had she gotten so close, so fast? It wasn't fair. It had taken Ditzy a few months to peel through Buck's layers of introversion, but this witch had just kicked his door down and now he was kissing her feet. It didn't make any sense, and Ditzy was tired of thinking about this, she hadn't even had breakfast yet!

Ditzy Doo's stomach rumbled as she picked herself up from the half-done bracelet pile and rolled her wrists. A nice cup of tea and some eggs would make this crummy morning a lot better, she reasoned. She grabbed her phone and turned on some nice, bouncy swing music.

She opened the window in her bedroom. This was a morning for a breezy floral sleeveless button-up tee and a fun little pair of stripy spandex shorts. Wearing something cool and flirty would make her feel better, definitely, she thought.

It didn't, of course, but she felt cute now, and that was a win, she guessed. What's that smell?

Ditzy Doo stepped into her kitchen just in time to see a haze of smoke filling the air and hear the fire alarm going off.

If Buck was being honest with himself, and he always was, painfully so, he had to admit something. He was fucking exhausted, and not in the normal mid-week in capitalist hell way. His social batteries were running on fumes, and his head hurt and if he was being real, his balls were aching from cumming so hard over and over again.

Adagio had been nice enough to drop him off at home, but it had come at the horrible cost that she did it in the morning when she was on her way to work and as Buck was waving her and Scoots off in front of his complex, all he could think was that he was several hours too early to exist. While he had slept like a narcoleptic bump on a log after railing Adagio and Scoots, he still felt like he'd need to sleep for a few thousand more years before he was fine again.

Buck had managed to make it home without forgetting his keys, which was pretty sweet, but what wasn't as sweet was when he did his budgeting for next week. Turns out, because tips were all fucked up, he was losing his tug-o'-war with the electric company. He was going to have to either stop hosting Cartoons and Vodka nights or just accept that next month was going to be one without lights or a freezer to stick his head into when it got this fucking hot again, and it would.

Buck looked over at the jar of cash on the stool by the door. He couldn't start picking into his vacation savings. The world was too cruel for that; he would need to get away and finally, finally let himself relax on a beach on the edge of Lord Hoof Island one of these days, and if he started nickel and diming out of that jar it would never end and then he'd be back at square one.

For fuck's sake. Buck had put out three different articles the last two weeks and none of those lines had even fucking wiggled. He was going to have to go and buy a buncha trash ramen during groceries before work, and that would be a really fucking embarrassing thing to do in front of Sunburst. Buck was so tired of being ground down under the heel of this fucking city. At least Adagio had offered to pay for their date; thank fuck for small mercies, but rent was a ticking doomsday clock and Buck didn't have the luxury of a bunker to run to. His only other option for quick cash was entirely unthinkable.

The worst part was that Buck, against all odds, was still fucking horny. He had genuinely wanted to go a few rounds when he woke up hot and hard, but Scoots had said that she wasn't as horny as the two of them and had politely said 'No' and Adagio had places to be, despite her favorite place at the moment being impaled in Buck's lap. So that was also a no, and now Buck was home and he was tired and frustrated and sweaty and he was having the genuine, horrifying thought that it was probably too warm to even jerk off without getting sweatier. Canterlot's spring was bullshit.

Maybe he could go and hang out with Ditzy Doo. There was no central air and heat in the apartments this far north, why would there be, but Ditzy had a pretty fucking sexy fan in her living room, and she liked to do lemonade this time of year and a nice, tall, wet glass of that was making Buck's nipples hard just thinking about it. Well, that was a weird, but not inaccurate thought, Buck said to himself.

Also, Ditzy was there and Buck hadn't seen her in a bit. Ditzy Doo was, to put it bluntly, the most peaceful space in Buck's life and he wanted to see her badly if only to remind her that he was alive and okay and try to confirm the same from her. She'd been busting her ass with overtime at work since that broken window last month and he felt so fucking bad for her.

Ditzy Doo was a tough, wonderful woman, but she was also human. Buck needed to remember to make her some nice new muffin recipe or just let her ramble without interruption for a while. That would be nice, to just breathe and relax for a bit instead of living in a supernatural porn drama for just one morning. He might even make it this morning if his brain would stop trying to take a crap in his soul for one minute.

He needed to ask her something, anyway.

There was also the pressing conundrum that he was now sitting on his couch hard as a fucking rock, and he didn't want to go waving that in Ditzy's face when he knew that she wasn't comfortable with that stuff. He thought he might put a shirt on and cover up. Did Ditzy have a problem with dude nipples? Buck didn't know.

Man, those dresses that Ditzy wore were always super nice and breezy. He wondered if he paid her or offered a favor, would she make him a nice short one that he could wear while jogging. He always ran too hot when he jogged, and going with a skirt would probably pay him back with a cool breeze between his legs.

Ditzy was good for skirts and she looked damn good in them, fuck. Actually, Ditzy very subtly had amazing fucking legs, and every once in a while she would come over in a short skirt and some cute-ass kneesocks and Buck would have to actually go out and pace around in the parking lot because fuck, man! Fuck, this wasn't helping. He'd just have to tuck himself if he went to see Ditzy Doo, because he was feeling needy, now. God damn it.

Buck sighed and stood. His normal exhaustion was layering with the weird new exhaustion of the spaces between being around Adagio, and the result was that he just needed a bit of recovery time. He would have to tell everyone that Cartoons and Vodka was too expensive for him, and that was sad, but at least that would mean that his Saturdays would open back up, and then they could become his hermit nights instead, and that was probably the best for his introverted ass.

Buck had just resolved himself to the task of pretending to be normal and going to see Ditzy Doo when he heard the screech of her fire alarm going off right next door.

Ditzy Doo threw her oven mitts to the floor and flapped a frantic towel in front of the kitchen window. She'd managed to get the oven off, sure, but the place was filling with smoke that she needed to get rid of if she was ever going to get the wall demon to stop screaming. The keening wail of the fire alarm made her ears sore as she tried to banish the weird brown smoke, and she was just about to pull out the faucet and start spraying when she heard her door slam open.

"Ditzy, move! I got it!" She knew it was Buck. He had said it urgently, but he hadn't yelled because he knew that would freak her out. Ditzy stumbled out of the way, and then heard the hissing of the little fire extinguisher that Buck had in his hands. "Go get the rubbin' alcohol from my bathroom, alright? We're gonna need it for the powder!" Buck said. He had snuffed the blaze and now he was waving at the smoke with a big, wide newsprint sketchbook. The smoke was backing off.

When Ditzy got back, Buck was standing under the now silent fire extinguisher, wiping his brow. She had to take a moment in Buck's bathroom to steady herself before she came back with the square shaped bottle.

She had needed help, and then Buck had swooped in like a superhero and saved the day and her heart was beating so fast! He was adjusting the waist of his pants and he was yawning, and he looked tired and oh no, had she woken him up just now? When did he get home? Did she ruin his brief moment away from work and Adagio?

"Ditzy, are you okay? Nothin' burnt? The hell happened in here?" Buck said. He was looking Ditzy up and down and walking around her and he wasn't checking her close, he wasn't touching her and she wanted him to touch her so bad but he was being sweet so can we just focus a little?

"I'm okay, Buck! It's uh...well, it's gonna sound silly, but I forgot that Dinky was messing around with shrinky dinks this morning before school and I think she might've...she might've colored them with crayons and well, she also forgot to tell me she was doing that, so here we are."

"Okay, but you're not hurt, right? How're your hands?" Ditzy felt a shock come barreling through her brain as Buck inspected her. He was holding her hands so gently, it was like he had picked up a fallen baby bird, and he was fighting panic away from his face and Ditzy Doo couldn't help herself, anymore, her arms flew around Buck's neck and she squeezed him.

"Oh, oh! Okay, okay, hey, it's alright, Ditzy. C'mon, let's get you sat down." Buck soothed. He was sweaty and warm and soft and...firm? Ditzy thought long and hard about long and hard things as Buck sat her down on the couch. He patted her shoulder and threw his head back and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm so fuckin' glad you're okay, Ditz!" Buck said. He rubbed his eyes, then.

"Buck! Language!" Ditzy had said it on instinct, but she shut her mouth immediately. Dinky wasn't home, so it didn't really matter.

"Right, right, sorry. I didn't mean to offend. M'just relieved, that's all." Buck said. "You got the rubbing alcohol?" He had a hand on his forehead, over his eyes.

"Yeah, Buck, I got it." Ditzy said. She tilted her head at him.

"Okay, that's good. I dunno about the tray I saw in there, but cleaning all the powder from the foam in there is gonna be a bitc--a whole production, prolly, and it would'a been worse without alcohol. We're gonna need garbage bags and scrubbers and thick gloves if we're gonna get done with it before work." Buck sniffed.

"...Buck, are you okay?" Ditzy said. She gasped slightly as Buck's hand fell away from his face.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I was scared, you know? I heard that alarm next door and I thought what if you were in here or god forbid, Dinky and it freaked me out, 'cause I don't know what I would do without you guys and I guess it really scared the hell out of me, you know, Ditzy?" Buck simpered. He breathed through his mouth and tears were gathering at the corners of his eyes. One of them slid down his cheek and dripped from his chin.

"Buck..." Ditzy wanted to reach out.

"Haha...what the hell? Am I seriously cryin' right now? God, I'm sorry Ditzy, I'm sorry about this, I'm just relieved that you're okay, you know, I'm sorry." Buck said. He started to wipe his face, laughing. "I'm sorry, I can't get it to stop. Lemmie get outta your way for a bit. I've got the stuff we'll need for cleanup, don't worry, I got this, I just need to calm my stupid ass down..." Buck was on his feet, but Ditzy caught his hand before he could run away. She had been here before.

"Buck...it's okay. Come here." Buck plopped back down on the couch and covered his eyes with his right hand. He didn't let go of Ditzy's hand in his left. How could we be here again so soon? Buck was falling apart, and he couldn't be this shaken just from a little smoke. He couldn't be this upset over Ditzy. "Buck, is it okay if I hold you for a little bit? Just for a little while?" Ditzy offered. Buck took a deep breath and he nodded behind his hand.

Ditzy Doo's hand slid gently up Buck's arm and onto his shoulder, then around to his back, and up to his head. Ditzy Doo pulled on him and turned him gently until his face was buried in her chest. Safe. Ditzy shimmied closer to him and pet his hair and let her head lay atop his. Buck's shoulders shook and his breath shuddered but it was okay. It was okay because she was here and he was safe and they were both going to be okay, because they had each other.

"Is not just the scare, is it?" Ditzy said it quietly against his head. Buck shook his head against her. "You've been stressing out again, and you're tired, aren't you?" Buck nodded. "Okay. It's okay, Buck, I'm right here, it's okay." Ditzy said. She felt that if she let him go, he was going to fall apart like a house of cards. She squeezed him, instead. She was starting to feel a bit bolder.

"Buck...it's Adagio, too, isn't it? Has she been stressing you out, too? Or is it just hosting people, or is it work?" Ditzy tried.

"S'not her fault I'm like this. It's nobody else's fault." Buck whined. Ditzy scratched his scalp, back around his ponytail.

"It's not your fault either, Buck. You just need to pace yourself a little more, and maybe take things a little slower, huh?" Ditzy said. Buck took a wet and shaky breath and nodded. His arms were around Ditzy's waist. He was so tired, and Ditzy understood; she understood better than anyone what living in 'tired' meant. And so, she knew what he needed.

"It's going to be okay. Buck? You hear me? It's going to be okay..." Ditzy said. She wanted to sing him a lullaby, but she was no good at that sorta thing. Instead, she summoned up all of her courage and she kissed the top of his head, over and over again in a little patter. Eventually, Buck pulled himself off Ditzy Doo. He sat up, red-faced and sniffled.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm sorry." Buck said. Ditzy pulled him back to her and kissed his cheek and let her forehead settle against his. Her traitorous eyes slipped down to Buck's lap for just a sec and came back up with a little piece of information that Ditzy really didn't need right now.

"It's okay, Buck. I'm here." Ditzy whispered. She made sure he could see her smiling. She was right all along. This was how she would fix the distance between them. She was still his neighbor, and he knew that he could rely on her, and she loved him so much, she took his cheeks in her hands, and her lips touched his, finally, and he wasn't pulling away, he was touching her, and...but no. None of that happened.

Instead, Ditzy Doo nuzzled her forehead against Buck and listened as his breathing finally evened out.

"Well...well, it's gonna be a bit before the oven cools enough to clean, I'm pretty sure." Buck said. "There anything else I can do for you around here?" Buck was reaching out, trying to find normal again after he embarrassed himself so badly in front of Ditzy Doo. He hated that he kept just being a fucking wreck in front of her. She must have thought he was a big fucking baby. He needed to be something like a man. Ditzy's smile didn't seem all that judgemental to him; she was being extremely patient, and he was both happy for that and angry that she had to be.

"Oh! Um...actually, yeah, there is. The, uh, the lightbulb in my closet is out and I'm too stubby to change it." Ditzy laughed. "Could you...?" She said.

"Sure thing. Where's the spare?" Buck said. This he could do without fucking crying, surely.

"It's on the top left shelf in there, you can't miss it." Ditzy said.

"Ah, well, if you could show me, that'd help. I got no confidence in my ability to find stuff, 'specially when I haven't seen it before." Buck said, scratching his head.

"Is that a...a ADHD thing?" Ditzy said. She was pulling Buck by his hand to the bedroom.

"Yeah. Object permanence's one thing, but when I don't know what it looks like, I cain't even start to look for it." Buck said. He tried to stifle his drawl without even thinking about it. Ditzy's hand was really soft, and she was in a really cute getup today, he noticed. She was probably planning to go for a walk or something when the alarm went off. That was a shame. Maybe if he worked fast, she could still have some of the morning or noon to herself.

Buck was standing in the closet, now. The room was well lit, but the closet was obviously kind of dark. Ditzy Doo handed him the bulb, but he looked up and frowned.

"I'm gonna have'ta stand on my ottoman." Buck said. "Can you grab that? The short, thick, kinda fuzzy thing in front of my couch?" Ditzy had been facing away, looking at the floor.

"Right, right, right! Thick, and uh, uh...kinda fuzzy." Ditzy said, wandering off. Good fucking job, Buck. You made her uncomfortable.

"Hold her steady, okay? There's wheels at the bottom." Buck said, up in the darkness of the closet. He'd stepped up on the footrest and below, Ditzy Doo was holding on to it and looking up. He seemed giant from down here. Like 'A' giant! Tall, he was kinda tall, that's what Ditzy had meant to think, not the other thing. She had tried to sort of scoot around to his other side to get a less distracting angle, but Buck had a nice butt, and that just wasn't fair.

"How's Dinky doin' in school?" Buck said it casually, a few million miles away, and Ditzy was thankful for the rope he'd offered her so she could climb back into a normal morning.

"It's lookin' like 1st grade is going to be rough on her." Ditzy said. Why was he taking so long to screw in the bulb? Was he waiting for something? Wait. Wait, was he waiting for Ditzy to make a move? Did he know? Is that why he's hard? Ditzy stuffed the thoughts into the back of her head.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ditzy. I had a lotta damn trouble early on in school...and later on, and pretty much the whole time, actually. Some folks just ain't made for standardized education. But hey, it's still early, I'm sure with time and the right attention, Dinky'll get on her feet and it'll be smooth sailin'. She's quick, you know? You've got a clever girl, Ditzy. When Dinky sits down and starts scribblin' and doodlin', I see my sister back when we were little, and my sister's a genius. Dinky's a curious thing, and I don't think a rough first year's gonna put that fire out, you know?" Buck said. He mumbled something then, wondering why he was having such a hard time getting it in.

"Dinky is going to be fine, I'm sure, but right now I think she needs to get used to being around other kids. I think that's the real ticket. She can't spend all her time here or being babysat or looking for dead stuff in the woods." Ditzy said.

"Do, uh, do those things gotta be mutually exclusive?" Buck said. He covered his eyes as the new bulb finally lit up.

The light was so furiously bright that it caught Ditzy right in the eyes, and her hands shot up to rub them and suddenly Buck was wobbling and the ottoman was rolling around the floor while Ditzy chased it, and Buck had fallen, but it was fine, because he'd fallen onto the bed! And Ditzy was there, she'd tripped on the ottoman, and her hand had fallen in a very embarrassing and convenient place and Buck and her, they looked up from where she was squeezing him, and they blinked and Buck smiled.

"You uhh...seem pretty curious about that. You...wanna take a look inside?" Buck said it careful, low and growling. Ditzy didn't need to be asked twice. She giggled and bit her lip and pulled the zipper down...

And that also didn't happen.

"Well, I don't want the other kids to make fun of her. I know what it's like being the weird kid, and I don't want that for Dinky." Ditzy said. Buck hopped down from the footrest and scratched his chin.

"Well, hey, that makes two of us, huh? Tell ya what; Dinky can be as much of a weird kid as she wants, and we'll just make sure she's the right kinda weird, ya know? Bein' weird ain't a curse, really, it makes some'a the most wonderful people in the world. Like you." Buck said. He patted Ditzy's shoulder as he passed her by, and she thought she might start crying, then. She had a man in her life that supported her and her daughter without compromise, and he was here fixing up her mess, and all the while he was going through a stressful time on his own, and what was Ditzy doing? She was sizing him up and thinking about making a move. What in the world was wrong with her?

"Man, it's hot. Say, Ditzy. I dunno if you set up any of that lemonade you make, but if you want, I could go and deal with the mess in the oven while you sit back'n have a glass. So long as you save one for me, of course." He was wiping his brow and looking back at her from the doorway with a warm smile. That was right. Nothing was wrong with her, it's just that the man of her dreams was in here and he was sweaty and hot and bothered and stressed and he was being very nice and and and...

"Oh, well, uhm, I haven't made any this week, but I can put a pitcher together and put it in the freezer for a little bit while you work, no trouble at all, I was, I was just thinking I should get some lemonade going, hahaha!" Ditzy said. She actually pushed past Buck through the threshold and kind of almost knocked him over with her breasts as she went by. Ditzy was leaning down into the refrigerator for lemons before Buck could respond.

"You sure? I don't wanna impose," Buck was saying, somewhere behind her. She heard him tear off a garbage bag and startled and hit her head on the fridge ceiling when she heard the weird, rubbery crack of it being shaken out. Buck's hand was on her back as she held her head, wincing. She imagined in that second that Buck's hands were both there, and they slid around her sides to her chest, and...

"Sorry, sorry! I'm not tryin' to startle ya. You okay?" He said.

"I'm okay, don't worry! Just a little bump, that's all! Here, do you like it sweet or more sour?" Ditzy asked a question she knew the answer to already because she desperately wanted to keep this casual conversation going. If she started taking long, awkward pauses, Buck might think he was making her uncomfortable and then he'd rabbit away.

"Sweet, definitely. Sweet would do me just fine." Buck said. Ditzy giggled in a way that she hoped came off and normal and not nervous.

Once the foam had been collected into trash bags, which Buck disposed of, the only thing left was to scrub out the oven. Buck was on that weird footrest again, this time using it as a bench to lay on while he scrubbed the ceiling of the oven. He had been right about the rubbing alcohol. The powder was coming out in big, runny clumps once Buck started scrubbing,

For the lemonade, Ditzy stirred in both honey and sugar, which was exactly how Buck and Dinky seemed to like it, and was very glad that Buck couldn't see her occasionally turning to gawk at his bottom half while he scrubbed in there. The poor thing was soaked in sweat now, but it seemed at least his...swelling had gone down. This was a good thing, right? Right! Right. She watched as Buck's hands came out from the oven and dropped the rag and bottle of alcohol the short distance to the floor, then press on the top of the oven, stop, then cross over his chest in contemplation.

"Hey, Ditzy? ...Could I maybe get some help in here?" Buck echoed from the depths of Narnia. Ditzy had lost focus at some point and shuddered back into reality as Buck spoke.

"Sure, Buck! What do you need?"

In the auspices of cheesy porno setups, it can be said that one of the most classic and most popular is that of the "stuck in the fucking wall" scenario. As the awkward twin sister of the glory hole,'stuck in the fucking wall' is a scenario wherein a hapless individual gets inexplicably trapped in a space that they somehow managed to squeeze into, but cannot get out of due to ineffable forces. Those forces of course, are the denizens of that legendary fey realm known as the 'pornographer's writing room' which is a place known to be filled with magical individuals who have the miraculous ability to draft with one hand.

A less explored sub-genre of this little chestnut of the film industry is the 'housewife trapped in whatever the fuck crevice of the home while doing housewife things and then, I dunno man, like her stepson just gets up in there while she's stuck' genre, which was similar to that one video that Buck used to have saved on his external hard drive with the japanese woman in the elevator door, which he deleted when he got to the age where school girl uniforms began to disgust him.

The former scenario, the one with the housewife, was the situation that Buck found himself in, except he in fact was the housewife, and it was sweaty and hot instead of being sexy because, as it turned out, the small size ovens in these horrible fucking apartments were just big enough for him to fit his big stupid shoulders in, but didn't really have the clearance that would allow him to slip out unless he could remove his arms, and even then it would still be a big hassle. These were the thoughts running through Buck's head as he wondered precisely how to phrase his question without making things awkward. He took a breath and made his best attempt.

"Ditzy, I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm stuck in your oven, and it smells like a barbershop in here, and I think the fumes from the fire retardant foam are startin' to make me dummer'n usual."

"Oh...oh no! Uhm, how can I help!?" Ditzy said.

"I uh...I'm thinkin', uhhh...uhh, like dish soap, and you're prolly gonna need'ta yank me outta here." Buck drawled. It occurred to Ditzy that Buck's shoulders were indeed wedged in the door of the oven, and he was gesturing with his hands as if this were a perfectly casual situation, but at some point, he had gotten hard again and she didn't really know how to process that, so she just grabbed the dish soap and put it in one of his groping hands. "No, no, I don't think...I don't think that's gonna work, logistically.'Cause I been gettin' at the walls of this thing, but I don't think I'm gonna be very accurate at squirtin' dish soap on my shoulders and really gettin' it in there. And, and I know this's gonna be awkward, 'cause it looks like my old friend 'no reason boner' is crashin' the party, but I think you're gonna haveta get in here and give me a little shine, you know? Not the boner! No, I mean the shoulders, I need ya to get soap on my shoulders-- am I articulatin' this right?" Buck rambled.

"You want me to crawl in there and rub soap on your shoulders so you can slide out?"

"I mean, yeah, and I'm gonna ask ya to not be awkward about it, but--and this's the inappropriate bit--but due to my understandin' of spatial dynamics, you're gonna have'ta crawl in on toppa me to do it?"

"Oh...uhmm..." Ditzy Doo blinked and for one beautiful, horrible moment, her eyes focused squarely not on the situation in her kitchen, but on the situation in Buck's pants, and to her profound embarrassment, came to the decision that she was not only not opposed to getting all up on Buck's lap, but this was, as a matter of fact, something that she was so excited about that she simultaneously wondered if she ought to excuse herself and also does Buck do hands cupped or fingers stitched during coitus? She bet fingers stitched; he was a sensitive type, and she definitely saw him holding hands like that with Adagio. "No, no, it's okay, I'm coming in!" Ditzy said, finally. If Adagio were here, Buck wouldn't be in this situation, because Buck very probably wouldn't have left the bedroom after just screwing in the lightbulb.

"Okay, okay, don't, just, alright..." Buck mumbled. It grew darker inside the oven as Ditzy Doo waddled over Buck's prone form and squeezed in, her breasts smushing up against Buck's chest. Ditzy groped around blindly, poked Buck in the eye maybe two or three times, then carefully followed the curve of his jaw, then his traps, and finally arrived late for her appointment at his shoulder with the bottle of dish soap in hand. "Hah, well, I betcha didn't expect to spend the mornin' on toppa me like this, but you know, I'm glad it was you instead of the handyman." Buck joked, to no one's laughter. "You're hands are real soft; what kinda lotion do ya use, Ditzy? Gotta get me some'a that."

"It's uh, it's an old recipe I do at home. Coconut oil and almond oil'n...stuff." Ditzy couldn't see much in here, but she was sure that if there was a mirror, she could see her face heating up. She wanted to tell Buck to please stop talking, but she was trying to stay focused on applying the soap with her fingers. This was awkward enough already without Buck...admitting...that he didn't mind...Ditzy being on top of him? Well, Ditzy supposed he didn't have to admit it, when she could feel his approval between her legs.

"Really? Man, everytime I turn my head, you've got another little craft goin' on. You can, uh, I think you've got me good and lubricated there, Ditzy. Again, sorry 'bout this. Hey, bright side? I bet you're oven's never been this clean!" Buck chuckled. Ditzy had gotten caught up feeling the curve of Buck's shoulders against the oven walls.

"Right...I'm just gonna..." Ditzy slid out of the oven with intentional slowness. Something in her said that if she let her breasts drag along Buck's body, the whole situation with Adagio would end sooner rather than later. She crawled off Buck and sat for a moment, between his legs, her girls sitting heavily in his lap and she began to think very quickly. Buck liked girls that were direct, and she saw him; she saw him blush when Adagio said corny porno lines at him. What if...what if Ditzy just happened to take advantage, just this once? Buck at the very bottom of everything was a simple man of simple pleasures, even if he liked to overthink. What if Ditzy just...just made things really simple?

"I know you're stuffy and uncomfortable in there, Buck, and I know you're stressed, but I think I know a way to help the both of us relax." Ditzy said it almost experimentally. The intention felt alien on her tongue. The rest felt natural.

She slid her hands under her breasts and saw Buck's chest rise as he sucked in a breath. His zipper came down, and as he slipped free under the weight of Ditzy's heavy top, he went silent. She knew there would be questions, later. And probably apologies. But this made sense.

Buck had been waiting for her to make a move all this time, it turned out because he didn't complain as Ditzy undid the button under her bust and let Buck slide right in.

He didn't complain when Ditzy squeezed her breasts on him from either side and if he was going to complain, his words crumbled into a low moan as Ditzy began to slide her breasts up and down and let them slap into his lap.

This was how she would win. Adagio thought that she was the only one who could play slutty, but Ditzy Doo knew what boys liked. She knew that Buck liked her, and she knew one other thing; when Adagio was off at work or off in that ivory tower of hers, Ditzy Doo would be right next door. She could come and comfort Buck in ways Adagio simply couldn't, and she could do it almost whenever she wanted. She could prove to Buck that he didn't need a bad girl; he just needed a good girl with even better technique.

It was only a matter of time before Buck's hips began to jump in time with Ditzy's rhythm, and suddenly Ditzy didn't have to do anything but hold the girls steady and let Buck finish on his own. She would take him to bed, then, and she would show him everything he was missing and they would be happy, finally, because they would be together.

It would be different, this time.

But then, of course, none of that happened either.

What happened instead is that Ditzy got up and grabbed Buck by the legs, and after a bunch of grunting, she finally got Buck to slide free. He smacked the back of his head on the tile, but he waved it off and said it was better than taking his meals inside of 'oven penitentiary' and Ditzy had given off an ugly, snorting laugh.

They were standing in the kitchen, now, and after the two of them munched on some sandwiches that Ditzy had in the fridge, Buck had downed two glasses of lemonade, and Ditzy was about to pour another one when he spoke up again.

"Man, Ditzy, I wish I could drink this all summer...actually, hey, how 'bout a lil' quid pro quo? If I buy the lemons and sugar and stuff, will you put a pitcher of this in my fridge at the end of the week? Then, I guess I'll go and get some more ingredients, I guess, and we can keep it goin'!" Buck said.

"That sounds kinda expensive, Buck." Ditzy said. One of her eyes was already refusing to look at him, while the other just kind of wandered around.

"No, no, lemons're cheap this time o' year, and it's only gonna get hotter. Having your lemonade on tap would be a godsend!"

"Okay, if you insist, I can make that happen." Ditzy was mumbling it now. She had stopped blushing about her little fantasies and had settled into a cold sort of distant shame. Adagio and Buck weren't 'really dating', sure, but even getting into the headspace of that little homewrecker made Ditzy feel slimy and gross.

"Well, is there anything I can do for you in exchange?" Buck said.

"Just don't get stuck in anything else. We got work tonight." Ditzy said, earning a laugh from Buck.

"Oh, jokes, now! Man...I'm sorry about the oven thing, don't know what I was thinkin' climbing so far in there. I guess the real lesson is that I shouldn't be up at hours before 11am, even if it is to stop a fire. I dunno how you mornin' people do it." Buck punctuated the sentence with a yawn that hung around a little too long.

Ditzy checked the little cuckoo clock she kept on her wall. It had been a gift, and she had unceremoniously torn out the mechanism that made it screech when the hour turned over long ago. It was about a quarter past 8 now.

"Buck...if you like, you know, as thanks for all your help, I could...I could let you take a nap on my bed and get the fan on you. Would you like that?"

"Really? You're okay with some strange man who smells like dish soap rolling around on your bed?"

"You're not a stranger, Buck. It's okay!"

"Well, I'm pretty strange, but sure, I don't wanna look a queen sized gift bed in the mouth. Or, uh...that one kinda got away from me. I'll be cleverer after the nap, maybe." He was already shuffling toward the bedroom.

Buck looked like he belonged in that bed. The second he laid back and closed his eyes, Ditzy could see him on the other side of Dinky from her, stroking the child's hair and smiling at Ditzy with those big golden eyes. Ditzy set the fan to max and shut off the lights and closed the shutter, and for the first time in a while, Buck looked like he was at peace. She wanted to join him, and touch him and be on top of him again, but it just didn't seem right to disturb him, now, but before she could leave, Buck sat up.

"Hey, actually, Ditzy, I wanted to ask ya somethin'. A favor. Well, one more, besides the lemonade. I've got an old jacket in my closet; a red leather one. It's got a ripped sleeve, and I was wondering if you'd sow it up?" Buck said.

"Oh, sure! Uhm...when do you need it?"

"Saturday. I'm...going on a date with Adagio and I wanted to dress nice, you know?" He said it like he was admitting to a dirty secret, like chewing gum in church. He looked away when he said Adagio's name. The bane of Ditzy Doo's existence. Ditzy let her hands open and relaxed her jaw and took a breath.

"Yeah, Buck, I can do that." Ditzy said, taking care not to grind her teeth. "Can you do something for me?"

"Anything, Ditzy. Name it."

"Scooch over. Actually, no; just sit right there. I'm gonna nap with you." Buck looked a bit nervous, but Ditzy was beyond caring now. She laid down next to him, then slid an arm around his waist before he could move over and pressed her breasts against his side. Her leg lifted over his and locked him in place.

"Uh...are you sure this is comfortable for you? I mean..."

"I'm tired too, Buck. And stressed. I wanna nap too, and you're comfy and warm." Ditzy said, nuzzling against Buck's chest, and she said it with the finality of a mother wishing her child goodnight at an hour past their bedtime.

"Well sure, but I didn't think you'd be okay with somethin' like this. Its'...you know, intimate." Buck yawned. Ditzy looked up at him and smirked.

"Oh, I get it. You're comfy with me straddlin' you when you're in my oven, but if we get cozy on my bed, it's too much? You really are a strange man, Buck." Ditzy giggled. She patted his chest lightly, playfully. She watched a blush rush into Buck's face. A blush that she had caused.

"No, no, that's not what I meant, I guess I thought that you didn't wanna, you know, touch me? I always feel like I'm kinda in the way when I'm over, like you're havin' to step around me, you know? No offense, I just didn't think you were the cuddly type, that's all I'm sayin'." Buck said. Ditzy closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat pick up. She decided to push just a little bit more.

"So you think I'm scared to touch you?"

"No, no! I just didn't think you'd want a man to just come in and start huggin' on you, you know? That's not really how neighbors act. I can be kinda touchy-feely, and I didn't wanna put that on you when I know you're not into the physical stuff, you know?" Buck was stammering now, and Ditzy was starting to understand why Adagio seemed to enjoy pushing him around. She had seen Buck be aggressive and flirty, and she had heard him control things in the bedroom through her wall, but this big marshmallow she was holding was completely new.

"Buck, relax. I'm not gonna bite. I'm okay with touching; because it's You. I trust you, Buck. You don't have to be scared of being yourself around me, okay? You're safe." Ditzy said, maybe more to herself than to Buck. She reached up and draped his arm around her and smiled up at him. "You see? It's okay."

"...okay, Ditzy. I...I'm gonna have to go out for those groceries soon."

"Just...five--ten more minutes, Buck. I just wanna enjoy this with you. This is nice, isn't it?" Ditzy yawned.

"It is." There was a blessed, comfortable silence, then, but Ditzy felt compelled to break it after a couple of minutes.

"Buck...it's going to be okay."

"Huh?"

"It's going to be okay. No matter what happens, it's going to be okay, because your friends are here for you, and I'm here for you. No matter what. You're going to be okay, Buck." Ditzy said.

She scratched gently at Buck's chest as she spoke, and she hoped it wasn't too corny, but it needed to be said. Buck needed to hear that, and Ditzy knew it. His arm slid back and he squeezed Ditzy's shoulder.

"You're really a marvel, Ditzy. I always feel so helpless around you, because you make me feel safe, and...I just wish there was something I could do to pay you back for everything you do for me. Please, if you ever need anythin', please just tell me and I'll do whatever I can. I mean it, Ditzy. Just name it." Buck said. He sounded a little choked up. Ditzy Doo's hands once again closed into fists. They shook for a moment before she caught herself.

"Buck?"

"Yeah, Ditzy."

"...I can think of one thing."

Ditzy slid over on top of Buck, straddling his waist. She suddenly found herself face to face with him, one hand on his chest. She rose and she slid forward and she smiled at his confusion. Buck blinked slowly as Ditzy drew close, and finally, after a million years of watching him and two years of listening to him and one naptime of clinging to him, finally, Ditzy Doo's lips found Buck's. It wasn't a sigh that came out of Ditzy as Buck's plush, thick lips came to hers. It was barely a whimper.

Ditzy sniffled softly as she kissed him and her hand trailed up and touched his cheek and she could see the shock in his eyes disappear just as they closed. Buck's hand squeezed her shoulder, and the other touched the small of her back as she pressed into him. She had been starving for him for so long, and she wanted to stay in this moment forever.

Buck...he was kissing her back! Ditzy Doo's arms slid around his neck and she tilted her head to kiss him deeper and sweeter. She thought he might melt beneath her, so she kissed him gently, but not chaste. No, she could feel Buck's hardness between her thighs and her own hips rocking slowly as she claimed him. It was like she had pulled him from the oven, he was so warm and sweet and tender and she pulled back for a moment to breathe and dove back into him and touched the softness of his hair and tasted the sour-sweet on his tongue and it was so right.

Everything was right; finally.

After a blissful, wonderful few moments of loving him with all her heart, Ditzy Doo finally pulled her lips away from Buck's and looked into his eyes. His gaze sprinted through hazy affection to dread and shame and then confusion, and his eyes looked into hers, looking for an answer that was evident to the whole world.

Ditzy Doo had kissed the man that she had been in love with for two years and a million centuries.

Buck's lips parted, and he took a breath, and his hand shrunk away from the small of Ditzy's back, and he looked around like he was searching for the right words in the corners of the ceiling and Ditzy Doo felt a bomb go off in her head as she realized that this wasn't a fantasy.

Ditzy Doo had actually kissed Buck, and he had kissed her back and he was starting to process this, and oh god oh god what did you do Ditzy WHAT DID YOU DO!?

Ditzy Doo shot up and away from Buck's face, and she scrambled out of his lap and covered her face and then the apologies started coming, a thousand sorrys that she had no idea how to articulate, but Buck's hand was on her wrist and it was gentle and he took her hands in his and he looked at her and there wasn't any anger.

"Ditzy...it's okay. I...listen, this is a conversation we need to have, because...well, I didn't think you saw me like that, and that's, that's a lot to process...okay?" Buck said. He pulled Ditzy very gently down, and she sat next to him on the bed, and she was doing a very good job of not bursting into tears, but maybe that was because Buck was holding her hand now, and she was right. He had stitched his fingers in hers and his hand was so warm. "Listen...if you don't want to talk about this, that's also okay. We can...we can say this was just a lil' accident in the heat of the moment, and we don't have to--"

Buck was cut off mid-sentence because Ditzy was kissing him again. She held onto the front of his tank top and kissed him deep and hot. This was not a mistake. It couldn't be.

Buck pushed Ditzy back, very gently but firmly, and Ditzy could feel his hand shaking.

"Okay, okay, okay...not a mistake. Okay, okay, I got that. Okay...wow...um... This...I'm gonna need some time on this, okay?"

"Please don't be angry, Buck...!" Ditzy managed to squeak it out from behind her hands.

"I'm not, I'm not, I just...I just need to go and get those groceries, okay? I'll...see you at work." And then Buck was out the door, and Ditzy fell over onto the bed and curled up and wept because Ditzy knew that right now she had to leave him alone again.

Like always.

"Ice cream man, give him a hand

the greatest man in all the land!

Give him a hand, he's got scoops for hands

the ice cream scoopin' man!"

The fluorescent lights of Barnyard Bargains always hurt Scootaloo's eyes. It didn't matter too much at the moment, because she had come to a stop behind the shopping cart she was pushing and was staring in confused anxiety at Sunburst from under the shade of her hoodie.

It was still Wednesday, around 1 pm, and Buck had invited Scoots to come and bum around the supermarket with him and Sunburst while they got their food and caught up with each other before Buck and Scoots went off to work.

This seemed like a totally normal thing to do, but the normalcy was ghallagered across the linoleum floor as Buck picked up a tub of ice cream from the freezer section just in time to catch up with the song that Sunburst was singing.

"Freezer box chest, fastest scoop in the west!

His ice cream is the best!

There's no contest and might I suggest

it's his ice cream to ingest!"

The two grown men did not sound especially good as they sang what sounded like an ice cream truck song from another dimension. Scoots pulled the strings in her hoodie and tried to erase herself and the blush on her face from reality as the two began to sing in unison, if not in much of a harmony.

"He's got all your favorite flavors like

Butterrumple Butter-Berry

Give me more of

Double-Triple-Dipped Dinosaur Cherry

Wumple Dumple Happy Sprinkle Shoe Cream Pie

Platypus surpriiiiise!"
Now their arms were around each other's shoulders as Buck spun the carton of mint chocolate chip on his finger like a basketball and people were looking and oh my god you guys are in public what're you DOING!?

"Boom! Touchdown!" Buck said as he dunked the ice cream tub into the basket. "Up top!" Buck said, holding a hand up to Scoots. She was considering a daring escape plan involving the vents in the ceiling and was therefore preoccupied, and so Buck happily high-fived himself instead.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Scoots groaned. Buck was being the opposite of how he was with Adagio and maybe fifty degrees goofier than he was at work. About maybe ten percent less silly than he was at the table, and overall things weren't looking good for Scoot's "Not being a total fucking goofus" portfolio this quarter, better to just burn the whole supermarket down and start over.

"What do you mean? It's just guys being dudes." Sunburst said it in that nerdy, analytical way that he said just about anything like he was correcting an answer on Scoot's math homework.

"Hey, hey, you said you wanted me to teach you singin', right? Well, this's lesson one! Singin' is not something you just do on a stage in front of people. Singin' is expression; it's gotta come oozing outta your soul in the grossest way possible. Singin' can be about anything and it can happen anywhere; the self-checkout line, the bus stop, your shower, on the can, anywhere, and if you wanna get good, you first gotta get comfortable doin' it where ever ya feel like." Buck said it to Scoots, and to her dismay, the advice made a kind of sense.

"So you just make stuff up sometimes, then? That's what singing is?" Scoots said.

"Oh, we didn't make that up. That was a real song made by real robots." Sunburst said.

"Hon, whaddya think about chimichangas for the next game night?" Buck said, holding up a freezer-burned package.

"What? Those are gross! We should do taquitos!" Sunburst admonished.

"You know, you could stand to learn to respect my tastes if you want this marriage to last the week!" Buck said, grinning.

"Honestly, dear, when it comes to food, you're like a twelve year old kid!" Sunburst said, slapping at Buck's back. Buck put his hands on his chest and dropped his jaw in mock shock.

"Oh, how dare. I can't believe what I'm hearing! I'm taking the kids!" Buck said. Now he was standing behind Scoots with his hands on her shoulders. She desperately wished she hadn't come out today. It would have been better to just go straight to the kitchen and cryogenically freeze herself in the walk-in then be a part of whatever this was.

"Ugh, my mother was right about you all along!" Sunburst laughed.

"Screw you, Sunburst, I fucked your mom!"

"That's true!"

"What?" Balked Scoots.

"And I fucked your mom, so we're even!" Sunburst said, crossing his arms.

"WHAT!?"

"'Cause I'mma mother lover-you're a mother lover, you're a mother lover, we should fuck each other's mothers!" Buck sang.

"Fuck each other's Moooooms~!" The two men sang in unison.

"What the...is this what you two are like when no one's looking!?" Scootaloo looked to Buck and Sunburst, who were now midway through a giggle fit. They looked at her at the same time, then at each other, and started to laugh harder.

"Well, I mean, yeah, but I'm also havin' a weird mornin' so I thought I'd pay it forward." Buck shrugged. "Anyway, this's about what'cha signed up for, so no complainin' now!" Buck said.

"No, no, I'm definitely gonna keep complaining." Scoots said.

"So if you can't host Cartoons and Vodka, do you want to do it at my place?" Sunburst said. Scootaloo let her eyes wander through the frozen treats and wondered if she should grab some popsicles if it was going to get hotter out.

This morning she had sat in the back passenger seat of Adagio's fancy sports car with a particularly hollow look on her face. It was the look of a girl who had fallen down the rabbit hole and was surprised to find that she liked what she saw down there. Buck had quietly asked Adagio not to comment on it, and she had simply reminded Scoots to come by after work.

"What, and try to enjoy the night with Starlight glarin' at me and Adagio the whole time? Fuck off." Buck said. "Uh, no offense."

"None taken. We've talked about it, a little bit, and Starlight did say she was going to back off some, but I get it if you don't want to hazard another round of "compliments" between her and Adagio. It's just a shame; I really liked spending Saturday nights like that. And besides, I just got a nice new loose leaf tea pot to try, so no one has to drink any more gross lipton pisswater!" Sunburst said.

"Hey, I resemble that remark! I drink that pisswater when I'm writing, and I marginally tolerate it!" Buck said, throwing one of those boxes of tea into the cart. When they'd met at the supermarket, Buck had looked lost in a sort of bewildered way, but he had brightened up when Sunburst started talking.

"Why don't you ask Adagio, Buck? I'm sure she'd be willing to host for you, and her place is sweet!"

"Ionno, Scoots. Somethin' tells me I'm about to be in an argument with her, and I don't wanna impose right now." Buck said. He reached his arm into the aisle and super-market swept a bunch of packages of top ramen into the cart. Scoots noticed that he wasn't making eye contact with either her or Sunburst as he did it.

"Wow, really? You guys seemed alright last night, is everything okay?" Scoots said.

"I...I'm not sure it will be. So when she shows up at work, and you know she will, please don't be all Scoots about it."

"What? What're you talking about? I'm cool, I'm super cool about this stuff!" Scoots blustered.

"You like to yell when people tell you shocking stuff, that's all I'm sayin'. It's like the opposite thing to tellin' your secrets to the hole in the ground, which I guess is like sayin' it over the intercom." Buck said.

"He's got you there, Scoots." Sunburst said. He was flicking through his phone. "Oh, well, looks like my place might be on the table after all." Sunburst said.

"How'd ya mean?"

"I just got a message from Starlight. She's saying that there's been some reports around Sugar Cube Corner, actually, and she wants to go and investigate. She likely won't be around the suite for a week. " Sunburst said.

"You tell her she better not spy on me while I'm at work! Literally nothing interesting happens there!" Buck said.

"That's not true, it's always interesting when Adagio comes in!" Scoots said, chuckling.

"No, no, it's not you guys, it's something else. Something about sightings of a weird, slender figure in Center Park."

"Spoopy. We talkin' Sirenhead or Slenderman?"

"Probably not a meme monster." Sunburst rolled his eyes.

"Okay, well, my plan is to stay out of it. It'll be nice to not have Glimglam glarin' at Adagio or badgering me, for once."

"Buck, I know that Starlight can be a little abrasive, but her heart's in the right place. She's trying to protect the city, and that means protecting all of us from supernatural threats."

"No, I get it, I really do, but what I'm saying is I don't want her to start a fight with Adagio. Starlight will lose." Buck said. It was checkout, now, and Sunburst and Buck were at opposite stations. Their backs were to each other.

"I don't know about that, Buck. Starlight has been at this game for a while. She's a lot stronger than you think."

"Well then, Adagio will lose, and that's just as bad."

"Is it?"

"Yes! She's...she's not the monster that Starlight makes her out to be, but anyone will lash out when they're cornered. I don't wanna see it come to that. The tension is exhausting, and I'm sick of bein' caught in the middle. And then there's the part where Starlight treats me like I'm fuckin' stupid."

"She thinks you're naive, Buck, not stupid." Sunburst said. Scoots watched as the two men seemed to slow on their item scanning. She hadn't heard or noticed any of the stuff they were talking about before, nor had she heard Buck speak so seriously with Sunburst.

"Same difference. She acts like I don't know the risks like I'm not scared as hell that I'm making a mistake here.

"If you're scared, why are you still courting Adagio, Buck? If she really scares you, why don't you just run?" The two hadn't looked at each other. They were walking side by side to Sunburst's car.

"Run? Where the fuck would I run, man? Adagio knows where I come from, and I wouldn't put Mom and Mamaw in danger. I wouldn't wanna run to my sister's place for the same reason. It's not that kinda scary, Sunburst. I don't fear for my life so much with her." Buck said. Scootaloo hadn't said a word. She was just quietly passing groceries to Buck and Sunburst. They each had a little pile of goods on either side of Sunbursts' trunk.

"Well good, because if she threatened you, Starlight and I would deal with it." Sunburst said. There were a few clicks, and then the three of them were in the car. Sunburst didn't start the engine. "What are you scared of, Buck? You can tell me."

"I'm scared...that I'm never going to have a normal life, now. I thought I'd gotten away from magic bullshit, but then it came knockin' at my door. I'm scared that Adagio is gonna realize how little I have to offer and she's just gonna fucking kick me to the curve, and I'm also scared of the alternative; what if she wants to keep me, and then I have to keep her fed on my emotions for the rest of my life? I don't know which is worse, and that freaks me out too! And I barely even know her! When we're alone, she tends to wanna jump on my dick, and when we're together, she's fuckin' antagonizing my neighbor, or Glimglam or you know, whatever the fuck that was with Scoots, and it's exhausting! I don't think any of this is who she really is, Sunburst. I think she has a lot to unpack and I think she's hiding it all from me."

"Look who's talking." Sunburst said. Scootaloo actually shivered then. She saw Buck turn to Sunburst and there was the look of a man who had seen too much and had said too little. Buck looked so old and so tired and so, so angry and resigned at that moment, that for the duration of it, Scoots wasn't sure if the Buck she knew was even real. It was terrifying, sort of, but it was mostly just sad.

"You want to know her, don't you?" Sunburst said, finally. He hadn't looked at Buck.

"Yeah."

"And it's because you can see that she's been through quite a bit, maybe more than you; probably more than you. And you can see that she's this strange, wonderful thing that shines with this light that you can't find anywhere else in the world, and when she looks at you, nothing else matters; nothing at all. She's a mystery and she's a renaissance painting and she's powerful and she's scary and she's everything else." Sunburst said it as if reciting a poem. Scoots supposed that's just what it was.

"...yeah, actually. How'd you know that?" Buck said. Sunburst looked at him and smiled.

"I know, because that's exactly how I feel about Starlight Glimmer." Sunburst said. "And because I know how you feel, I'm going to support you on this, even knowing that it's dangerous. Because you're my best friend, and I love you." Sunburst said.

"I love you too, man." Buck said. The two shared a deep and meaningful bro hug.

"Do you love her, Buck?" Sunburst said.

"...Please don't ask me that, I really don't know."

"That's okay. You said she was going to tell you about her own past on your date, so you have to make sure that you provide her with a comfortable emotional space for that. She did that for you before, so you owe it to her." Sunburst said.

"I don't think she's gonna wanna talk to me after tonight." Buck sighed. His safety belt clicked.

"Why's that?" Scoots said.

"...'cause Ditzy Doo kissed me this morning, and I'm gonna tell Adagio when I see her." Buck said.

"WHAAAAT!?" Scoots shrieked.

The engine started, and they were off.

Working at Sugar Cube Corner tonight was like dragging a cinder block on a string through an acidic bog. That is to say, a cinder block is heavy, but not the heaviest thing in the world, and an acidic bog is gross, but with the proper galoshes and a general understanding of where to step, it isn't too terribly treacherous, but doing these two things at the same time was the closest thing to a guarantee that you were going to have sore arms and the bottom of your soles dissolved by weeks' end, and to be perfectly frank, the wet socks was probably the worst part of it aside from the smell.

The freezer was broken, just like last summer, and also like last summer, no one had caught it until there was a standing pool of water leaking into the kitchen, and that wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the fact that the Cake family liked to use that freezer for their own groceries on the shelves just below the preserved treats, and the result is that Buck's socks were now definitely going to smell like ham and cabbage and concentrated yuck until he cleaned them or burned them in a ritual bonfire.

He was leaning toward the latter as he finally finished push-mopping the offending puddle out the back door and realized that he didn't have a change of socks, and so the rest of his closing shift was going to be dealing with that situation on top of the one in which Ditzy refused to look at him the whole time.

"Alright, y'all, it's finally cleaned up, and we're just about to hit pre-closin' time. You think anybody's about to come in?" Buck saw Scoots look out the door and into the night, then look back and shrug. Ditzy, who had been working the counter, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Buck saw one of her eyes creep at him for just a second.

"Haven't seen Adagio all day. That's pretty weird, I guess, but no, I think we're in the clear, Buck." Scoots said. Buck noted that throughout today's scheduled misery, she hadn't managed to prod either Buck or Ditzy about details from this morning, and Buck would be sure to tell Adagio not to push Scoots too hard for the remainder of her two weeks in servitude if indeed Adagio ever forgave him and also miraculously decided that she would speak to him again.

"Alright, well, I'm gonna sit down for a lil' bit, and then I'm gonna start doin' trash. Anyone opposed?" Buck said, already taking a seat at one of the metal tables. He saw Scoots shake her head, and he saw Ditzy Doo not look up as she counted the till. Ditzy's face bore the smallest, thinnest of smiles all day, and Buck wasn't sure what it meant. He hoped that she didn't think he was mad at her. Buck took his glasses off and let his eyes close for the span of a rambling internal monologue.

He had a lot on his mind; what the fuck else was new, but at the present moment, a moment that seemed to stretch on from the beginning of his shift until now, he had been thinking about that kiss and how, maybe, he'd been wanting it to happen for a while. He liked Ditzy Doo, he really did, and he had been sure that she wasn't into him like that.

He tried to go back in time and observe clues about this kiss, this kiss that had felt and tasted like something that had been building for a while, and he started taking notes. Ditzy listened to him, and that was a miracle, but she also did him favors and let him ramble and supported him and she had been more than willing to let him cry on her.

Every time he had gone to her for comfort, she had known what to say, and Buck had awoken many times to the smell of her charming his morning with a home-cooked breakfast. Ditzy Doo had all but taken the role of a part-time housewife in Buck's life, and now he was kicking himself for not seeing it.

She wasn't just protecting him from Adagio; she wanted to love him. She wanted to love him, and Buck had never known, and he thought then that maybe if he'd been more open with her, maybe if he told her the things he'd gone through, maybe if he'd been bold instead of just sitting around and suffering, maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe he and Ditzy would be together, and maybe he would be Dinky's step-dad, and maybe, just maybe, he would have never met Adagio. That thought made his heart poke up at the floor of his brain's shitty studio apartment with a broom handle. It hurt badly to think like that, which is why Buck's douchebag brain usually saved those kinds of thoughts for when he was trying to get some sleep. Did he love Ditzy Doo?

Yes. He loved that woman dearly and fiercely and he wanted nothing more than to try and make her happy, or at least content. For all the both of them had been through, when they were together, it was all fine. But was it the same loud, blazing feelings he had for Adagio?

No. No, what Buck felt for Adagio was a searing longing that he knew was special to her. If Buck loved Ditzy Doo the way one loves a beautiful, fragile doe that they saw while hiking, standing still and hoping that they didn't frighten it into prancing back into the brush, he wanted for Adagio the way a thirteen-year-old wants for his first waifu.

It was a messy, shameful, certain feeling that what you were reaching for wasn't real and could never love you or even know you, but Buck had reached out and Adagio was there, and she wanted him back. She might have even wanted him more than he wanted her, and that thought made Buck want to get up right now and go find her.

Buck was four hours into the stale purgatory of food service, and he still hadn't figured out just what to say to Adagio. He hadn't broken the rules, technically, but he definitely knew that he had cheated on her, and he hated himself for that. Above all, he didn't want Adagio to be angry at Ditzy, but he knew she would be, and so he resolved to be the lightning rod that would protect his neighbor from the storm of Adagio's jealous rage. He was terrified, frankly, but his father had told him ages ago that men speak after they have finished listening, and so he would tell Adagio, then listen, and then decide what to say. It was all he could do.

Buck heard a little chuckle, and when he looked up he saw that Scoots was doing a sort of awkward, peanuts-esque shuffle to the little jazzy tune that was currently crackling through the speakers of Sugar Cube Corner. Ditzy Doo had laughed, and Scoots had laughed with her.

"What? No one ever taught me to dance, either!" Scoots said. Buck was so damn glad for this tiny woman in his life. He finally had something to talk about today.

"Yeah? I could teach you, like, a little of that, I guess. You wanna learn the charleston?" Buck said, getting to his feet.

"Woah, really?" Scoots said. Immediately, her hands were balled into shaky little fists and her toes were tap-tapping on the floor.

"Yeah, totally! Check this out; step forward on your left, right? Like this." Scoots followed Buck as he stepped. "And now tap with your right, and then go back with your left and then tap with your right. Watch me; forward and a tap and a back and a tap! Forward and a tap and a back and a tap!" Buck demonstrated, snapping his fingers. He saw Ditzy look up from the till with a tilt of the head.

"Forward and a tap and a back and uh...like this?" Scoots took a few tries to catch up on the rhythm of the step, but she got it after Buck moved beside her to demonstrate.

"Yeah, yeah yeah! You got it! Okay, now, lemmie hit you with the swivel. Get the balls of your feet on the floor and do this with your heels; in and out and in and out..." Buck stood in place and bent his knees and swiveled his heels inward, moving on his toes, then back out again, back and forth. Scoots carefully, a bit clumsily mimicked the step, swiveling her heels in on time with Buck.

"Good! Now, we're gonna put them together. Now step with me! Forward and in and back and in and forward and in and wow, you got it!" Buck said. Scoots was positively beaming when Ditzy stepped to her other side.

"Actually, Buck, girls do it a little like this; Scootaloo, put your arms up? Like so..." Ditzy stood behind Scoots and lifted her arms, then back at her side, she did the step while flipping her heels up high and dainty.

"Woow, okay, okay, I got it I got it!" Scoots said. She was a natural. Scoots caught up to Ditzy's pace and the two of them laughed and pranced.

"Hey, Ditzy! I didn't know you could dance! Okay, Scoots, another thing is the arms. You can do it with them out like that, but most folk's'll get 'em swinging from side to side or back to front, like this!" Buck did the step, his arms going left and right like an upside-down metronome, but then he switched it up and his hands were pumping back and forth. He had naturally broken into jazz hands and would have looked rather dapper several generations ago.

"Oh, well, there's a bunch you don't know about me, Buck!" Ditzy was giggling as she danced over to Buck, and the two of them pranced back and forth, and the troubles of the day washed down like suds in a drain, and Scoot's flailing arms and all of Sugar Cube Corner went with it and it was just the two of them laughing and it was fine; everything was fine until Buck saw Ditzy Doo stop and blush and quickly run back behind the counter, the doe retreating into the woods, and he remembered where he was.

"Haha! Well, this's a start, but I don't think it's gonna be all that useful unless I find a time machine! But thanks, this's fun!" Scoots said, she was fancy dancing with great vigor now, and from what Buck saw it was like she'd been doing it her whole life.

"Yeah, yeah yeah, no sweat! There's a bunch of other little moves to the charleston o'course, but that's the main one. Man, you learn fast! I had to trip and bust my ass on the dance floor like four times before I could do it!" Buck chuckled.

"Oh...hahah...me too..." Buck heard Ditzy say it while she tried to pretend that no one could see her blushing.

Buck grunted as he swung the last of the garbage bags into the dumpster down the alley at the side of Sugar Cube Corner. At the very least, the cool Canterlot Nights wouldn't start letting him down until Summer's heat crept fully in. His arms were tired from mopping and brushing and charlestoning, but it was fine, the day was almost done. Wait, no, it wasn't fine. The day was almost done, and Adagio hadn't come in, which meant either work was busting her chops or she was somehow psychically pre-irate at Buck.

Buck wiped his hands on his pants and turned and Adagio was there and it was all Buck could do to cover his mouth instead of screaming bloody murder. Her eyes shone in the dark of the alleyway like a wolf's gaze in a darkened wood, and that red light was all Buck could see inside her silhouette. But then she stepped into the dingy yellow glow of the alley light and there she was. She was thirsty and she had bags under her eyes and her arms were out in a quiet, needful way.

"Buck? Please?" She hummed with a soft reverb and stepped forward, and before he even knew what he was doing, Buck had his arms around her and he lifted her up and supported her by the ass and she was squeezing him and breathing him in and her lips were next to his ear, and he could swear that her hair was floating around them and closing him in. That was the other thing, wasn't it? She needed him, and it felt so good to be wanted and needed by something so beautiful and terrible.

The moment didn't last.

Adagio stopped her nuzzling and contended humming and let her feet drop back down to the pavement. She stepped back and Buck saw her eyes wander quickly across him, assessing the damage with a few sniffs until finally, her arms crossed and her hip cocked and her lip trembled.

"You smell like her." Adagio spat. Buck breathed deep and steadied himself. He was glad, in a way. He couldn't hide his feelings from her, and that meant honesty was the only path.

"I was with Ditzy Doo this morning." Buck said. That wasn't the right words. He saw Adagio maintain her stance, but not her composure. Her nails dug into her crossed arms.

"Did you break our rules, Buck? Don't lie."

"I didn't. And I wouldn't."

"Come here, Buck."

"Adagio-"

"Come here." Adagio repeated. Her eyes blinkered red. Her smile had retreated somewhere at the trembling corner of her lip. Buck felt a bead of sweat roll down his back. Adagio seemed to taste his fear, and she blinked, and her glare softened. Her lips parted like she was going to speak, then she stepped forward. Her hands touched the brick wall of the alley behind Buck, trapping him on either side, and she leaned up and kissed him.

Adagio's breasts were against Buck's, and her knee was between his legs, but this kiss was forceful and in no way sexual, and Buck understood immediately that she was looking for something, and his hands held her shoulders and he kissed her back, and this too felt right.

Out of the intimate space that Buck and Adagio were sharing, past the mouth of the alley and across the street, a camera shuttered. Neither heard it nor saw the shape that held the camera as it snuck off and further out of sight.

"She kissed you, didn't she?" Adagio said, finally. She hadn't let Buck go. She was still surrounding him.

"...I kissed her back. This isn't her fault." Buck said.

"And still, you're making excuses for her."

"No. I'm making sure that you know that I was wrong, too."

"But you didn't break the rules, Buck. You know my one rule, Buck." Adagio said. She was shrinking away, now. Her eyes were studying something in the dark of the alley. Buck saw her expression crumple a bit when he touched her cheek.

"And I also know enough about you now to know that this hurts."

"I am going to tear the envious little eyes right out of her skull." Adagio trembled, turning away.

"Adagio, stop, please. We can talk this through." Buck's hand brushed her wrist.

"Don't touch me! Don't you dare touch me right now, Purple Prose!" Adagio retreated into the dark of the alley, away from the door. Her back was to him. A small, mousey part of Buck thought that he could get a head start if he started running, her hair was doing that floaty thing again, and if you just cross the street or go grab Ditzy and blow, you might live another day at least, but Buck stifled that voice and sat in the silence of Adagio's anger instead.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, I know you're sorry, Purple Prose. I can taste that, and all the other sad, self-defeating, petty little feelings that you're ankle deep in. I can taste that you're stressed and I can taste how badly you want to fix this, Buck, but you know what I don't taste? I don't taste anger, Buck. I don't taste consternation from you, and do you know what hurts me the most, Buck?" In the darkness, Buck could see her knees shaking.

"What?" Adagio turned, and her hand reached out into the yellow light to point a quivering finger in Buck's face, and behind it in the darkness, Adagio's eyes weren't that burning, hungry red, they were a beautiful, tear touched magenta again.

"I don't taste regret. Not even a tiny little drop."

"...No." Buck said, and Adagio was there again, and her hands were gripping his shoulders and there were tears running down her face and her teeth had sharpened and she was choking the words out as best she could.

"Do you love her, Buck? Tell me. Tell me right now!"

"I didn't say that, Adagio." Buck's eyes slid away.

"Do you love her!? For how long!?"

"I don't know, Adagio, I don't know! I'm confused, I'm sorry!"

"...you're not lying. Then why? Why did you kiss her back, Buck!? WHY!?" The tears were filling her sight, now, and she blinked through them, over and over to keep focus on Buck.

"She makes me feel safe, Adagio. She's my neighbor, and when I'm with her, I'm safe, and I can be myself and...I'm not afraid. She knows me. Almost better than anybody, and I just...I needed that this week, and I'm sorry."

"You needed that? You needed that because you're stressed..." She sniffed him again. "And you needed that because you needed a break...from me." Her forehead was against his chest, now. Her shoulders bounced with her gasping sobs.

"It's not just you, Adagio, it's a lot of things."

"Not just me." Bucks hands were hovering around Adagio's shoulders.

"This isn't your fault."

"No, no, it is. This is my fault, because I found you, and I decided that I wanted you, and I haven't a single clue how to keep you, and so you fell into the arms of another woman, and all she had to do was kiss you."

"Adagio, stop. That's not what I'm saying."

"What do you mean you can be yourself around her? How much are you holding back? Why aren't you touching me? Why aren't you holding me right now!? I can taste how badly you want to touch me!" Adagio was moving away again.

"You told me not to!"

"You should know better than that." Buck gave a labored sigh, and when he'd halfway wrapped his arms around Adagio, she pushed him away with a hiss. "Stop! You stink of self-loathing and pity! Are you pitying me now, Buck!?"

"No! I just want to know what you want!?"

"I want you to stop hiding away from me! That's why this happened! You're always holding things back from me, you're always going easy, whoever you are in there is always just out of reach and I'm sick and tired of it! Show me who you are, Purple Prose!" A flash of anger. Buck could feel it knocking urgently at the back door of his heart.

"You first! I don't even really know who you are. Everything before the battle of the bands, I don't know any of it. I told you about my childhood! That's the start of it, and it's a whole lot fucking more than you've told me!" Buck was trying hard not to yell at this woman, this incredible woman that he had wronged.

"You don't want to know me, Buck. If you come to know who I am, you'll learn to hate me." Adagio growled.

"Try me. I'm not scared of you, Adagio."

"Yes, because you're an idiot." Adagio turned to leave the alleyway.

"Is that what I have to be?"

"What?" She stopped. She didn't look back.

"Is that what you think I have to be to fall in love with you? An idiot?" Buck's arms were crossed. Adagio looked back at him, and then her finger was poking at his chest again.

"You know what? Yes, Buck. You would have to be an idiot. You're an idiot for coming to my bed, and you're an idiot for talking to me after I chased you around the hotel, and an idiot for taking me out on a date, and you're a fucking idiot for letting me come to your apartment after I hurt you, and a damned fool for bringing me to your game night, and you are the dumbest man in the whole world for looking at me the way you do. Only an idiot would see a glimpse of what I am and not run screaming, and here you are, Buck, here you are! You know what? I'm glad. I'm glad that I managed to stumble over a thing like you, Buck, because you know what? Without Aria and Sonata around, I didn't have anyone to get furious at! Every time, I see you, Purple Prose, it's like I'm playing a game of dragon chess with an octopus that doesn't know the rules, and is somehow still winning, and I'm tired of pretending like I don't see you fraying at the edges to accomodate me and this...this thirst, and you're an IDIOT if you think you can handle me!" The poking at Buck's chest had grown angrier and indignant, until finally, Adagio had dragged Buck's collar down to properly menace him.

"Stop yelling at me." Buck said, and Adagio let him go.

"You're impossible." Adagio finished. She rolled her eyes, but she wouldn't look away, now. Buck shook his head.

"We're the same."

"No, Buck, we're not. We are two completely different species."

"No, I mean we're both stubborn. You know what, Adagio? You're right about one thing; I am fucking tired. I'm tired of you trying to treat me like a sex toy, and I'm tired of you acting like you're the only one that this relationship is happening to! You want to see me, Adagio Dazzle? Fine! Purple Prose gets mad! And he gets fucking stressed, and tired and he has his fucking moods, alright!? He gets confused and he gets horny and he makes mistakes!" Adagio was backing up now, but soon Buck was leaning over her, his arm on the wall above her head.

"You wanna make this difficult!? Fine! Difficult is the only fucking way I know how to do things! You are not about to bark and sneer and run me away, Adagio Dazzle. You wanna see stubborn? You are going to tell me about yourself, and I'm going to knock your walls down and I'm gonna see you, and I'm not gonna run. I'm keeping my promise; I'm taking your pretty ass to the boardwalk and the aquarium and Scoots is gonna be there, and you're gonna tell me about it, and that's what it's gonna be, you understand? Since you're so sure that I'm too fuckin' weak for you, you're gettin' a fight."

"Same to you; Mr. 'you can't handle me in bed'." Adagio said. She was smirking, now.

"And that! I wasn't kidding. When we get back to your place, I'm going to treat you up, and you're gonna get proper love drunk, and I'm going to break you down, Adagio, because now you've pissed me off."

"Ooooh, big words for a man who has to ask to kiss me!" Adagio teased. "You think I'm scared of this little guy down here?" Her fingers traced along his crotch.

"You look scared every time I whip it out, Princess." Buck's fingers grabbed Adagio's chin and held her wandering gaze.

"I'm not scared of you, Buck."

"Oh? Then stop fucking running from me into sex and haughtiness and whatever the fuck you've got going on with Scoots."

"She's just for fun; stop reading into it, Buck."

"Good, 'cause I'm not fuckin' sharing you, Adagio. On Saturday, I'm gonna hear your story, and then I'm gonna make you scream my name." Their noses were touching. Buck could hear Adagio sucking drool back into her mouth as she spoke. Her eyes were sharp and needy.

"Mmmm...I like it when you're mean like this, Buck."

"Yeah? Then prove it. "

"Oh, you think you're going to break me on Saturday?"

"I know I will."

"Fine. It's war, then." Adagio said. She pushed Buck away and strutted out of the alleyway.

"...I really am sorry about this morning." Buck said. Adagio turned around then and power walked back to Buck. She glared into his eyes and grabbed him by the back of the neck and tongue kissed him like it was their first time. Buck's hands slid down to grope her ass while she explored his mouth, and it was like Buck had found an oasis with an orgy happening in the water. Everything about her felt and tasted so fucking horribly right.

Eventually, Adagio pushed Buck away with a dainty press of the fingers against his chest.

"I've already forgotten the whole thing, Buck." She said, grinning evilly. Buck watched her swiveling hips as they retreated around a corner into the night.

'Well then. Saturday was going to be interesting', Buck thought. He had others, like 'What the fuck just happened?' and 'I should probably let myself go soft before I head back in.' and 'Fucking hell, what am I going to do with my hair for Saturday?' He didn't think of the smile that Adagio had infected him with. It was fiendish and sharp and wanting.

Ditzy Doo saw it. From where she was watching across from the door to the alley, through the little round window, she had seen everything. She had even heard a little bit of it, and as she quickly scrambled to shutter the store windows and wipe off the countertops, she thought about the kiss that Adagio had given Buck, and she thought about how she'd ducked her head when Adagio's turned slightly to look through the window. And she thought about that smile on Buck's face.

It was mean.

Thirsty.

That smile that Buck had reminded Ditzy Doo of something truly awful, and a terrible thought hung itself up in her mind and rattled loudly in the breeze.

She wanted desperately for Buck to make that smile at her.

Author's Note

Song Review: Dancing On My Own is about going to a club and seeing the person you love in the arms of another. You dance and let yourself sink into longing and poisonous jealousy, wondering what you need to do to get that person's attention. "I'm right over here, why can't you see me?" Sometimes the only thing standing between you and the one you love is simply deciding to act.