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When Frye had dragged herself into their room that evening, it was with heavy shins and dense wrists as she scrubbed at dry eyes.
The octoling had never let themselves be one to let her get away with these moments, sharp eyes always catching her malaise and toil so they could pluck it from her body, and scrunch it up like the sour mistake it was.
That night was no different, as they snapped their book shut and almost shot to their feet. “Oh, beautiful , is everything-“
“I’m just a lil bit sore,” Frye excused, stopping them with a sluggish swat of her hand. “I promise it’s all good, Shiv.”
“You promise ?” Shiver’s frown tightened - only to soften considerably as Frye looked at them with her wobbly, weary gaze. Their claws plucked together. “Do you want me to try massaging your back? It might make you feel just a little bit better.”
Frye’s instinctual protest died on her lips. Unfortunately, their wits were more powerful, considering her current state; they made an excellent point. She let herself plummet onto the bed beside them, the soft landing only minutely disrupting the blankets. It only made Shiver bemusedly chuckle, tipping her onto her stomach. “That’s my girl.”
Frye nestled her face into the fleece covers, hiding her reddening face as her ears bashfully twitched. Shiver hummed in their amusement, skating their hands up to ride beneath the inkling’s shark hoodie containment and drag up the fabric with them slowly. “Is it alright if I roll this up to your neck?”
The ocher squid gave a hasty little nod, provoking Shiver to giggle as she only seemed to appear more flustered.
“Oh. All embarrassed, now? You know I’ve seen you in significantly less than this, sunshine-“ Shiver leaned forth to tease into Frye’s ear, pulling slightly on the strap of her bra and letting it snap back into place. It only made her blush blaze brighter as she huffed and lightly nudged them in the leg with her elbow. They chortled, running a supportive hand up and down her bicep.
“This is different,” their fiancée declared, raising her face from the soft fabric. “It feels almost- more intimate, in a way? It’s hard to explain. Something about it being so… soft and private? I dunno. My head feels a lil fuzzy, right now.” Self-consciousness in the fluency of her own words came anchoring her chin back, right back, down to the bed’s plush material.
Shiver’s eyes creased with fondness, “Oh-“ They cooed, setting their palm just beneath her shoulder to press - with a cautious firmness - into the planes of muscle there. “Baby, my girl. You’re so sweet, I hope you know that.”
Frye let out the smoothest of sighs, stretching out her fingers so the webbing idly strained with the gracious stretch. “You’ve drilled it int’a my head at this point, Frosty.”
“For good reason,” They retorted. “Honestly, if only you’d let me spoil you like this all the time.”
The inkling’s ears fluttered as they continued to unwind the tense muscle, folding her arms to prop up her chin. “I don’t need to always be spoiled, though… I’ll be okay in the end-“ Frye excused in a half-awake mumble.
“Why scrape by on ‘okay’ when you can let yourself feel good? You deserve it, velvet.” They soothed a hand between her shoulder blades in a motion that they hoped was comforting, as they loomed over her to press a feather-soft kiss to the back of her ear.
Her face, aglow with a shimmering crimson, appeared over her shoulder to gaze back at them - fixing them with a sheepish but absolutely bedazzled gaze. Love glimmered in her pupils like a hidden, undiscovered hue - so tender, so molten that it melted their hearts to slush.
“You think so?” She hushed beneath her breath, smiling so radiantly when a gentle palm sought out and cradled her cheek.
Shiver let their own grin smear across their features in a broad stroke of warmth.
“I tell you only the truth, my precious.”