#I'll do few more drawing replies from old questions in my inbox before going to next drawing idea

[rika-mortis]

Do dev and Timmy get close? Does peri get excited or scared to see his big brother again?

Kind of! At least that’s what Timmy would like to think. Personally, I don’t see Dev as the type to be very open with others (Hazel being the exception). I imagine Dev just acting like he always does, not fully understanding why Timmy wants to spend time with him. Maybe one day when Dev grows up, he’ll realize it and wish he had appreciated it more back then.

As for Peri, I think it’s a mix of both. We’ve already seen how nervous he was with his parents before being reunited with them, so I imagine it would play out in similar way with Timmy 🤔 I remember someone from the FOPANW crew mentioned something that Peri is the type who wants to stand out more than his parents. He’s probably aware that Timmy doesn’t remember him. And because of that I can see Peri trying his best to appear classy and sophisticated because he wants to leave a strong first impression on Timmy just like what he did with Dev.

(Though it probably wouldn’t take long for Peri to break down in front of him.)

[starflungwaddledee]

clearing my inbox of a variety of asks with text replies, or ones that will get art answers later but that i still figured i could get back to now with simpler responses in the interim.

lots of anons, but i'll ping anyone who i can!

topics include: general nice words + people's theories (thank you!!), dededesign, daroach (sorry), sentient ancient artifacts, magolor (sorry...), whispy woods (SORRY...). there's also a decent scattering of awtdy and clockwork heart tidbits but they're all over the place, and a small collection of increasingly desperate asks hoping bandee will be released from morpho dee 😂

oohh this one is actually super old, sorry that i never got back to it! i get a little overwhelmed by the Nice Words ones sometimes and i'm not sure what to say besides 'thank you!!' because it means a lot to me and 'thank you!' just sometimes feels like it doesn't cut it...?

anyway, i'm very grateful!! i'm thrilled if i could inspire you to try out any constructed-language work of your own!! i'd love to see more of that going on in the kirbyverse so if you ever give it a crack feel free to lmk!

i'm glad you like the full penguin dededesign; quite a few folks seemed to enjoy that actually and i was pleasantly surprised! i haven't drawn that much of most characters besides bandee, to be fair, but the next comic will be about dedede and should answer some of the other questions i've been getting about him too!

i should say that it's likely the totally full penguin design won't make it for the comic, because it's hard to draw the sheer length of their bills from many angles or having the expressiveness i need for dedede, and i really only did that one for funsies. but i'll hopefully find a nice compromise!

aaaa the joy of being mentally unwell about The Characters and The Story. thank you, glad i can be of service! 👍

this is quite perceptive of you to notice and it's definitely something that occurs in the timeline. due to galacta knight's influence (and kirby's altered reputation) visitors and threats- both international and intergalactic- start to think twice before risking an approach.

alas, because daroach appears in the timeline before galacta knight's switch-in occurs, he would already be in contact and friendship with kirby. that unfortunately means he'd meet the same fate as the rest of kirby's existing allies.

@i-only-created-this-to-read a little similar to the above ask, yes, the intergalactic picture of popstar is definitely changed by the presence of a violent, otherworldly warrior and a ruthless hero. i also answered your questions about necrodeus previously and am not sure what else to say about him.

i have confirmed before that dedede is not dead, and more about his scenario and overall role in the plot will be revealed in comics. but i will say that he's a smart guy, despite his silliness, and a loving king. he absolutely came to the same conclusion about the frequency of his own possessions as well, through no small amount of heartbreak.

i definitely headcanon the Lor as sentient; in the light novels, bandee also speaks to her fairly directly. i actually headcanon all the Ancient artifacts as having an amount of sentience (this seem in line with what we've seen in canon, so i don't think it's a reach) and the lor herself seems especially benevolent to me.

our headcanons for the novas are different to yours, though that plays more of a role in the clockwork heart au. i quite enjoy your theories about how the ending might go and you've definitely picked up some details!! i won't confirm or deny anything, but i will say the lor is present in the AU, and that magolor has enough knowledge of artifacts to know that a wish on a wishing star could be a viable solution.

it took a while for folks to start asking me about magolor actually, which i found kind of amusing because he's the deuteragonist (second protagonist, after bandee) of the au!

i do definitely think that canonically magolor lives on the lor starcutter; though he does say he wants to buy a holiday home on popstar! however in awtdy, unlike the dream land four three, magolor's entire timeline is trashed from the get-go by galacta knight's arrival

some of these answers will take me longer to get to as i'll provide them in comics (it should be a fun reveal at least), but i will say: he hates popstar. he hates it there. he'd give just about anything to be anywhere else.

until he meets bandee, of course.

the rest of popstar fare a little better or a little worse at various points in the au, kind of like in the mainline canon timeline. for the most part, galacta knight isn't that interested in most of popstar. he enjoys living there, it's peaceful and undeniably pleasant, and frankly he'd like to continue doing so!

he can be convinced (by kirby, and the maintenance of the lie) to perform care to some of its citizens when necessary- such as rebuilding after a crisis. but in general he minds his business in dream land, and occasionally off-world or interdimensionally with kirby and bandee on missions.

whispy, who also keeps to his own in the woods and is just a cantankerous old tree, is probably fine. at least up until star allies, when he, you know. gets possessed.

@pumpkinnkidd oh absolutely.

@torrentialchaos2 that would be a different story to chrysalis au, i think! one i could write, but haven't. chrysalis au is specifically about bandee, you can't really extract him from it? 😭 but if morpho possessed magolor it would depend on a lot of things: like what is everyone's relationship to him when it happens? i think even when he comes back from his redemption arc, magolor and the gang are friends, but it's not the same as bandee, who is a core member of their unit.

we've already seen what happens when magolor gets possessed and kirby has to Beat His Ass to get him back to normal. and we've seen that when morpho possesses others who are capable fighters, kirby doesn't hold back. so maybe that? magolor is a magical little guy; he's got a better chance of getting spat back out unscathed.

i could however probably write a version of this for magicapple if i wanted, which would be much more emotionally pulverising lmao

@trainerbob23 thank you!! this one took me a bit to respond to sorry, but i'm grateful for the warm welcome! the AUs are definitely my primary investment and i'm glad that folks are enjoying seeing them develop! some of them are connected to each other (awtdy + it's various endings/alts) but others are separate.

i also do have some backstory/lore for starstruck dee, which i'll hopefully get to soon as well. i would say that she is... very much related to stars and the cosmos, yes.

@eliastheownerof0axolotls this one was part of a longer ask (that i've answered part of, and still have another part of in my queue... sorry;; ) but i think this part- especially in terms of kirby- has probably been mostly answered by now! both kirby and dedede have significant roles!

i view dedede as having a mentor-like dynamic with bandee as well as with kirby, and they all care about each other very much! but (especially because they are all adults in my hc) he also absolutely trusts them to handle themselves.

referring to this post and the (cw angst) art at the end. i will hopefully answer some other asks about the clockwork heart au which will satisfy more of its overall premise and timeline and all, but in regards to the peculiar image...

why that picture is completely normal!! bandee is super fine and normal in it and everything is great and good and fine and fine and fine and fine!!! hhahaha!!!

(something very bad is happening, lmao. entirely doomed by the narrative.)

speaking of bandee being doomed by the narrative:

some tags here as well, but i just love the frequency of these...

bandee gets possessed one time and everybody loses it... quick!! when will he get unpossessed!!! save that little guy!!! he's sad so we're sad!! (relatable. everyone is so valid.)

the tags on the main posts about morpho dee are just full of people screaming and crying and being like "NOOO I HATE THIS SM I'M IN PAIN /pos" and it's so good hahahaha

sorry to the folks who hate to see him going through the blender, he's being spun in the microwave at like 90mph on my blog. but don't worry, chrysalis au does have a predictably good ending; though obviously bandee has some capital S Stuff to unpack afterwards!!

🌟⭐✨

aaand i think that's all for now! hopefully if you've been hanging out for an ask for a while you're answer is here, and if not (and possibly even if it is), it's most likely taking me so long because i want to do an answer with art.

i'll try not to let these build up again like this, thank you for your patience!

[katedrakeohd]

This is for you @sirbeepsalot 🌹🥀🌺🌻🌼🌷⚘

I've had a bunch of asks in my inbox forever and need to finally get around to them. I was inspired by @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria and her one shot about Drake meeting Camille at her flower shop. I went in a totally different direction, but hopefully this little story is just as fluffy. 💗

....

Paint me a Picture 🎨🌷🌼

Drake hummed happily to himself as he stepped out of his office. He had just finished a conference call with his fellow council members finalizing the plans for Kate's upcoming baby shower. They had put off the party for the past two months amid fears of the Coronavirus spreading into Cordonia. Kate's due date of March 12th was fast approaching and they had reached the decision to reduce the guest list to under ten people. This suited Drake just fine because he wasn't much of a party person, plus Kate found too much attention and fussing around more tiring than exciting at this point.

Checking his watch, Drake realizes that his call had taken him well into the lunch hour and he was quite hungry. The plush carpet of the stairs muted his footsteps as he descended toward the main hall. He could feel the empty space blanket him in its silence, and he wondered where Kate, Hana and the corgis were.

When he had last seen Kate that morning she had been reorganizing the supplies in the nursery for the fourth time. He had chuckled at her restless nesting and kissed her on the cheek before leaving to make his phone call.

"Go get some fresh air and sunshine, it'll do you good."

Kate sighed, rubbing her aching back. "I guess so. I wonder what Hana's up to this morning."

Drake shrugged, "Send her a text to come get you and take your mind off baby stuff."

"Thanks, I will."

..

As he turned the corner toward the kitchen, Drake could smell toasting bread, and the delicious aroma of chicken soup. His mouth waters and he swallows, breathing deeply as his stomach rumbles. The sound of laughter, clink of plates and drawers opening and closing made him smile. Over the past 8 1/2 months the kitchen staff had become familiar with Kate's unusual cravings at all hours of the day. Early on she had wanted salty snacks, and then halfway through her second trimester her cravings had her wanting sweets, during the last month she had started combining the two in odd ways. It made Drake shake his head in wonder, but he obliged her desires. And if Kate was happy, Drake was happy.

Walking into the kitchen unnoticed, he sees the staff loading up a tray with a platter of sandwiches, and a pitcher of iced tea.

"Good afternoon Ladies," he says, and the laughing chatter amongst the women stops.

"Lovely day indeed, Your Grace." Marie the head cook replies with a smile.

Drake eyes the sandwiches on the platter hungrily. He could imagine sinking his teeth into the golden toasted bread, and hearing the crunch. "Are these for Kate and Hana by any chance?"

"Why yes they are. They're taking lunch in the sunroom. I can add another drinking glass and another plate if you'd like to join them."

Drake nods, "That would be wonderful. How about if I take lunch to them then?"

Claire, the young kitchen helper, protests as she sees Drake reach for the tray. "Oh my goodness, Your Grace, let us do that. You go on ahead and we'll bring lunch to you. "

Drake grabs half of a sandwich, "Well, if you insist. I'll just take this to go then, thanks."

Turning around to leave the kitchen Drake raises the sandwich to his mouth and checks the contents before taking a bite. Lettuce, tomato and a slice of swiss cheese. Not bad, but could use some bacon.

..

In the sunroom the atmosphere is that of a bright summer's day despite the dull late winter landscape outside. Lush greenery, tropical flowers and golden sunshine fill the space and give it a pleasant warmth. Off to one side, chair cushions are clustered together on the tiled floor. At the moment they're serving as lounges for sunbathing, sleeping, corgis; but earlier the cushions had served as a comfy surface for a gentle yoga session for Kate and Hana. Now the two friends were standing at easels and painting, chatting back and forth about what to hang in the nursery.

"So you and Drake still don't know if you're having a boy or a girl right?"

Kate nods, "As much as I want to know now, it's still a mystery. Our doctor knows though."

Hana purses her lips in thought as she dabs some blue on her canvas, "So do you mind if I paint a gender neutral landscape instead of flowers?"

"Not at all. I'm still sticking with flowers though. The ones in here are just too beautiful not to paint. If it doesn't suit the theme of the nursery I'll just hang it somewhere else."

Hana rinses out her brush, setting it aside and selects a different one to line in some happy little trees in a dark brown. "I suppose Drake is hoping that you have a little boy."

"He won't admit it, but of course he does. He's itching to go camping and fishing, to kick a football around, toss a baseball with a son."

With a shrug Kate draws in some green stems on her yellow daffodils, "Of course these are all activities he could do with a daughter as well. I remember tossing around a baseball with my Dad in the backyard."

Opening the door and stepping into the sunroom Drake is met by the wall of heat and fragrant scent of flowers. He immediately feels overdressed as a trickle of sweat runs down his neck. "How do you ladies stand it in here?"

Kate turns away from her painting to look at Drake, "Oh Hi Honey, welcome to summer in March."

Under the shade of her Sun hat, Kate is wearing one of Drake's old denim shirts as a painter's smock, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. There's a green smudge of paint on her cheek. Drake notices that it appears that she's wearing little else other than flip flops.

"Uh, Kate? Are you naked under my shirt?"

Kate giggles, covering her mouth, putting another smudge of green on her face. "No silly. I'm wearing a bikini top and shorts." She glances down at herself, "I can see it looking that way though."

Hana is wearing a short summer dress, and her own Sun hat. "You look a little warm there Drake. I wouldn't mind if you decided to take off your shirt."

Kate snickers as she goes back to her painting, "Yeah Honey, don't be shy."

Drake clears his throat, loosening his top two buttons and rolling up his sleeves. "I think I'll just open a couple of windows instead."

Kate watches Drake crank open a window, appreciating the flex of the muscles in his forearms. The fresh air blows the fabric of his shirt against his chest, making it stick to the sweat on his skin. She realizes that he isn't wearing a tee underneath. Probably why he was reluctant to remove his shirt in Hana's company. Drake notices her watching him and gives her a wink as he walks across to open another window. "So what are you ladies painting today?"

Kate feels the cool breeze brush the hair off the back of her neck and she shivers with delight. "Thanks honey, I didn't realize just how warm it was getting in here."

Drake does a quick bow with flourish of his hand, "Always pleased to be of service, Your Grace."

Hana giggles, "We're painting flowers and landscapes, to answer your previous question."

Drake settles down on the floor with the corgis, resting his elbow on a cushion and rubbing a belly as one dog happily rolls over. "I have the pleasure of informing you ladies that iced tea and sandwiches are also on the way, for our lunch."

Hana wipes her brow, "Anything with Ice in it would be welcome right now. I first experienced cold tea when we were in Texas for Savannah's wedding. I wasn't sure if I'd like it."

Kate sighs, "Mmm, I love lemony iced tea in the summertime. I miss it from being back home."

Drake's stomach growls again, causing one of the corgis to give him a look and then retreat to a spot in the shade, "Sorry Fluffers, didn't mean to disturb you. Don't worry I'm not hungry enough to eat you, close but no."

"I could go for a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs right now," Kate says wistfully as she paints a tomato red poppy onto her canvas bouquet.

Drake groans, folding his arms behind his head as he leans back on the cushions and closes his eyes, "Oh stop, you're just making me more hungry."

Kate bites her lip, "Ooh, or pizza. A nice big slice of ole New York thin crust with extra cheese."

"STOP IT!" Drake barks out a laugh, chuckling as he wipes the sweat off his brow. "I ate half a sandwich on my way here, and it's really tasting like another half right about now."

Kate wipes her hands on a rag, "Ooh, what type of sandwich?"

Drake shrugs, "I dunno, there was cheese and some lettuce in there, maybe tomato?"

Kate kicks off her flip flops and walks across the warm floor tiles to stand over Drake, casting a shadow across him, hands on her hips. "And you didn't think to bring the rest of the sandwiches with you?"

Drake cracks an eye open to look up at his wife, his face scrunching up in amusement at her paint smudged face and raised eyebrows. "Hey, I tried to take the tray with me. But I don't think the girls in the kitchen trusted me to get the sandwiches this far without eating a few."

Kate nudges his leg playfully with her foot. "So true. We've all seen how much you like to eat."

Drake growls playfully, reaching out to grab for her ankle but she steps back out of his reach, "Can't help it if I'm a hungry man, c'mere you. I bet you taste like chicken."

"Nah ah, if I get down on those cushions with you I might never get back up. I'm going to wash up my hands and then take a seat over there at the table. Besides I think cannibalism is frowned upon in Cordonia."

Drake smirks at her and rolls over on his stomach, watching her walk away. "Mmm, golden fried chicken. You know how much I'm a breast and leg man."

Hana bursts out laughing, "Geez guys get a room."

Continue on to the next part

[emmerrr]

if your'e still taking prompts. how about a pynch au with adam as a massage therapist and ronan as regular and they chat during their appointments ft. adam freaking out about ronan's tattoo and back muscles and ronan freaking out about adam's hands until adam is just like.....here's my personal number i'll do it for free.

I’m so sorry this took so long thank you for your patience! also I have never done a trc au before so how dare you drag me out of my comfort zone lmao. I tried, I hope it’s okay!

also this is the last prompt in my inbox, high five for getting shit done! let’s just ignore the two that I had to apologise for not being able to do (again I’m sorry to those anons!). I think if I offer up prompts again I might have to get people to pick from a list or something so that it’ll be something I know I can do and no one ends up disappointed. you live and learn. anywho, onto the prompt. this was meant to be shorter but it got away from me because, hello, of course it did, it’s me and my lack of self-control. so I’ve just posted the first scene here but the whole thing is on ao3 here.

(disclaimer: I know nothing about massage therapy or how muscles work and I did zero research so please forgive me, I am but a humble, lazy fic writer).

-

“Adam, your two o’ clock’s here. Shall I send him in?”, Henry’s voice crackles through the intercom, startling Adam out of a daydream.

Adam’s just returned from his lunch-break following back-to-back appointments since 8am, and he’s got another packed afternoon in store for him despite the fact that what he’d really like to do is go home and sleep for a thousand years.

If only.

He sighs, then clicks the button on the intercom. “Sure, Henry. Send him on through.”

“You got it, boss.”

In the remaining minute or so he has, Adam pulls up the appointment details and runs through it briefly just to remind himself. It’s a first-timer, a Ronan Lynch, complaining of back discomfort. Other than a date-of-birth (he’s just a few months younger than Adam), that’s about all the information Adam has on his newest patient; an incomplete file even by Henry’s lax standards.

Knuckles rapping on the door-frame draw Adam’s attention and he looks up, then momentarily freezes at the specimen crowding his doorway. The man he’s faced with is tall and broad-shouldered and surly looking but in a hot way, his hair shaved short, dressed entirely in black from the beat-up leather jacket to the intimidating boots. Adam realises his jaw has slackened and fallen open, no doubt making him look like a gormless idiot, so he quickly pulls himself together.

He fixes his best patient smile in place. “Mr. Lynch, is it?”

The man grunts and steps into Adam’s office. “Ronan,” he says.

“Ronan,” Adam amends, and he stands up and holds his hand out towards him. “I’m Adam Parrish, I’ll be your massage therapist for today.”

Ronan eyes Adam’s outstretched hand for just a little too long to be comfortable, but then he does begrudgingly shake it. Adam gestures to the chair opposite his desk and Ronan sits down and crosses his arms. Huffily. Adam’s smile starts to slip; a disgruntled patient first thing after lunch seems like a bad omen for a long and arduous afternoon.

Adam sits at his desk and glances at his computer where Ronan’s file is still open on the screen. “I’m a bit lacking on your details, I’m afraid,” he says. “I’d just like to check a few things with you if that’s okay?”

Ronan shrugs which irks Adam, but he takes it as permission to ask anyway. “The problem’s just listed as ‘back discomfort’ here, but are there any outlying circumstances I should be aware of?”

“Like what,” Ronan says.

“Like is it being caused by an injury, for example, be it recent or old.”

“No.”

“Okay…” Adam types this into the file. “Is the pain constant, or just sometimes?”

“It’s not constant. But it’s often.”

“What do you do, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I run a farm.”

“Oh, right, okay. Lots of heavy lifting then, I reckon.”

“You reckon right,” Ronan says dryly. He’s not looking at Adam, but rather letting his gaze dart around the room, taking everything in. He keeps darting glances at the massage table, something akin to suspicion in his gaze. It’s a little bit endearing, actually.

“You’re, uh, you’re supposed to lift with your legs, you know,” Adam can’t resist saying.

“Oh really?” Ronan says sarcastically, but there is the tiniest hint of a smile on his face and he locks his eyes on Adam’s for the first time since entering the office. “They teach you that in massage therapy school?”

“They do actually,” Adam replies matter-of-factly, rewarded with Ronan’s brief snort of laughter.

“Hey, is this place even like, fucking legit?” Ronan asks abruptly.

“What do you mean by that?” Adam says, although he’s pretty sure he knows where Ronan’s doubt is coming from.

“I dunno, it sort of seems all… new agey and shit.”

“It is ‘new agey and shit’,” Adam says, air-quoting with as much derision as he can muster. The place is run by psychics after all; tarot readings and all-sorts go on here. But also, acupuncture, there’s a spa, and massage, which is where Adam comes in. “You don’t need to be worried though. I’m a certified massage therapist. I’ll even show you my certificate and everything.”

Ronan regards him evenly but then shrugs. “Nah, man, I’ll take your word for it.”

 “Thanks for that glowing display of support,” Adam says with a magnanimous smile. “Alright, one more question. What made you book an appointment?”

“My friend made me,” Ronan says, looking like a petulant child with his arms still crossed. “I’m here under duress.”

Adam laughs lightly. “Okay, well—hang on, wait…” he trails off because this is starting to sound familiar. “You’re not Gansey’s friend, are you? Richard Gansey?”

“So he’s mentioned me,” Ronan replies, sounding resigned.

“Yeah, like six months ago! He said he had a friend who was a farmer with a bad back and that he was trying to get him to come and see me.”

Ronan smiles wryly and does jazz-hands. “And here I am.”

Adam shared a couple of classes with Gansey in college and managed to strike up a friendship that had endured long past graduation. Despite life pulling them in different directions, they still make the effort to meet up every month or so to catch up in person, and it was one of these occasions that Gansey had mentioned his farmer friend. Now, Adam shakes his head at Ronan. Based on the limited information he has and everything he’s assuming from the two minutes since Ronan’s been in his office, he reckons that it’s been six months because that is literally how long Gansey took to convince Ronan to come. He’s probably only here now because his pain has worsened. Not to mention that he’s probably in more pain than he says he is.

All in all, it’s a good thing he’s here. Adam is very good at what he does.

“Alright then, Ronan. Take your jacket and shirt off and lie down on the massage table for me?”

It looks like it physically pains him to do so, but Ronan starts to do as he’s asked, albeit with plenty of grumbling under his breath. Adam returns his attention to his computer so that Ronan doesn’t feel scrutinised and only looks back over when Ronan has made himself comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as he can get.

Adam gets to his feet and heads over and is unable to stop the slightly awed, “Oh!” that falls from his mouth.

“What?” Ronan asks, a little muffled thanks to his face currently being in the face-hole of the massage table.

“Your tattoo,” Adam says. “It’s beautiful.”

“… Thanks,” Ronan mutters, and Adam can’t see his face but thinks he sounds a bit guarded; perhaps the tattoo is a touchy subject. It covers the entire expanse of Ronan’s back, creeping up his neck and over his shoulders. It’s all swirling vines and claws and beaks and flowers, and things Adam’s not sure he even has a name for. He thinks he could look at it for hours and not get bored. Then he remembers that he actually has a job to do, and forces his attention into doing that job.

“Try and relax for me,” Adam says.

“I’m perfectly fucking rela—Jesus fuck, Parrish, give a guy some warning!” Ronan exclaims when Adam first touches him, flinching so hard that it almost makes Adam jump.

Adam’s half-exasperated, half-amused by the theatrics. “Me telling you to relax was your warning. What did you think was going to happen?”

“Yeah, alright. You just took me by surprise.” He sighs. “Okay, go.”

Adam rests his hands flat on Ronan’s back near his shoulder-blades to acclimatise him to Adam’s touch. Gradually, the tension Ronan’s holding starts to loosen, and Adam gets to work.

He doesn’t say much; just works away at the knots seizing in Ronan’s muscles, and there’s a lot of them. Occasionally he asks Ronan a question about how he’s feeling, if it’s uncomfortable or painful, and Ronan grunts a response. But on the whole it’s quiet. Adam can usually tell when a patient wants conversation and when they’re just counting down the minutes until it’s over and Ronan definitely falls into the latter category. At least for now.

When the session is over, Adam steps back while Ronan puts his top back on, surreptitiously getting one last glance at that glorious tattoo and the very nice back it sits on.

“How was that?” Adam asks.

“It wasn’t terrible,” Ronan allows, which Adam is happy to take as a win.

“Did you want to book another appointment? Regular treatment would do wonders for you. There’s only so much I can do in one session, particularly as you obviously lead a very physical life.”

Ronan raises his eyebrows at that and smirks, and Adam prays his ears aren’t turning pink. He didn’t mean to imply any innuendo so he’s just gonna slide straight on past like nothing happened.

After a moment Ronan finally replies, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

“A wise decision,” Adam says sagely, then leads Ronan out of his office and down to the welcome desk, where Henry is ‘busy’ playing solitaire on his computer. He looks up at their approach and smiles widely. “Henry, could you book Mr. Lynch in for next week, please?”

“Absolutely,” Henry says, and there’s a knowing edge to his voice that Adam doesn’t trust for a second. Henry taps away on his appointments spreadsheet and hums thoughtfully. “Next Thursday at…3? Any good?”

“That works,” Ronan says, and he’s gruff and grumpy again.

Henry writes the details down on a card and hands it to Ronan. “Then I guess we’ll see you next week, Mr. Lynch.”

“I guess you will.” Ronan gives Adam one last look, then he nods and walks out the door.

“I like him,” Henry says when Ronan’s gone. “He’s stoic.”

“He’s something alright,” Adam says absently, and Henry waggles his eyebrows.

“Think you’ve got yourself a new regular?”

“Fuck me, I hope so.”

“Adam Parrish!” Henry says delightedly. “I thought you were a professional.”

“I am a professional,” Adam says, and he plasters on a smile, feeling lighter than he has all day. “Send in my 2:30 please, Henry.”

Henry salutes. “You got it, boss.”

“And stop calling me that.”

read the rest on ao3 :)