lovestruckletters | Affectionate Comfort Mashup Meme take 2

Affectionate Comfort Mashup Meme take 2

The Affectionate Comfort Mashup Meme
or: an excuse for physical affection threads

Basically, mix and match as you like or do whatever the hell you want.

Post your name and canon and preferences and go the fuck at it.

Want even wilder ideas? Try this fun hurt comfort plot generator.

HURT COMFORT PROMPTS

1. INJURY. You've been injured. Broken bones or bleeding out or maybe just a tiny little papercut. The choice is yours.
2. SICKNESS. You're sick and laid up in bed, at home or in a hospital. The severity is up to you.
3. FEAR/ANXIETY. Something is happening and you're scared beyond belief.
4. LOSS OF SENSES. Sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell, etc. You've lost some important sense or ability and now you're left to deal with it.
5. DESPAIR. Nothing is good or right anymore and you can't shake the depression. Maybe that friend of yours can help though...
6. BREAKUP. You've been dumped. You need someone to comfort you, possibly by the one who dumped you.
7. MAKE UP. Fight or break up, it's time to makeup.
8. RESCUED. You've just been held captive and/or tortured for however long and finally, someone has come to the rescue.
9. BAD ROMANCE. Fight, cheated on, abused, whatever the case is, someone else can clearly see you need comfort from someone who isn't your terrible lover tonight.
10. LOSS. You've experience a loss of some kind and need help getting through it.
11. INSANITY. You're seeing things that aren't really there, hearing voices, or you're just convinced you're at your wit's end finally and you're going to crack. Maybe someone can give you a helping hand.
12. TIRED. You've had a heard life recently and you're just worn too thin to really care anymore. There's no fight left in you anymore. Can someone help change your mind?
13. ADDICTION. Drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, or any other type of addiction has got you in its grasp. First time or relapse. Will someone be able to save you?
14. INSOMNIA. You can't sleep anymore, no matter how hard you try. Maybe someone can give you company.
15. NIGHTMARES. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, you can't sleep without gruesome, horrible nightmares. Either someone is stuck in your dream with you, witnessing it or they're just waking you up, soothing you out of it.
16. BLACKMAIL. You've been caught doing something you shouldn't and you were blackmailed because of it
17. SEPARATION. You're going to be separated for awhile or were separated for a long time. Either make up for lost time or try to spend every last moment together.
18. VIOLATED. You've been violated in some way. Can include sexual overtones or not. Can someone help you through it?
19. STRANDED. You've been stranded somewhere remote, with no help of anyone finding you for awhile. Can you survive this together?
20. SINS. You're feeling the weight of your sins and guilt clearer than ever. Can someone give you absolution or lessen the ache any?
21. SECRET. It's difficult having to keep that secret of yours, be it a relationship or something you just don't want to share with anybody else. Maybe it's okay to talk about it now though...
22. ADDITION. Babies should be joyous things unless you're in a situation where you know you won't be able to care for them. Either you've adopted or found out you're pregnant.
23. AMNESIA. What it says on the tin. Why do these come with such detailed responses?

AFFECTIONATE PHYSICAL CONTACT PROMPTS

one; hugging. you just want to give your loved one a warm embrace. be it out of happiness, to comfort them while they're down, or just to give them something warm to latch onto, you just want to wrap your arms around them.

two; kissing. whether it's a peck on the cheek or a deep kiss, a kiss good-bye or a romantic kiss, you find yourself compelled to kiss the other person! be as tender or as passionate as you so choose.

three; holding hands. it's a simple gesture, really -- to reach out and take someone's hand. but that one simple gesture can convey any number of sentiments. what the sentiment is, is up to you, but you find yourself reaching out to take your significant other's hand.

four; carrying. is your loved one hurt and needs a lift? do they want a piggyback ride? or do you just want to spare them the effort of walking? whatever the reason, you're now itching to pick up your partner and carry them to their destination.

five; i love you. you've said it before or maybe you haven't but now you have to say it again or for the first time.

six; dancing. kick up the music, because it's time to dance! but no lone dancing allowed -- you need to have a partner! you can do whatever dance strikes your fancy. personally, i recommend the slow dance, but you can do whatever you want!

seven; massaging. did your significant other have a rough day? did they get hurt? or do you just feel like doing something really nice for them? whatever it is, you're giving them a nice massage now. they'll feel wonderful in no time!

eight; flirting. the easiest way to break the ice or maybe you're just an overly flirty person.

nine; cuddling. sometimes there's just no better feeling than curling up next to each other on a warm sofa. hold each other, lie next to each other, fall asleep on each other -- it's all good here.

ten; wild card! reroll, pick an option, or come up with something else!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's a good thing Spike isn't the kind of hypocrite to point out that kind of thinking is stupid. Instead, he accepts both their shortcomings with a—]

's how it's supposed to work, right?

Always a bitch when it doesn't.

[Doesn't matter. Spike retreats quicker than he should, perhaps, but it shouldn't take too much wondering to realize he's retrieving that water. He speaks as he walks, perhaps to remind Sparkling he's still there—]

You shouldn't apologize so much.

What happened happened.

[Sparkling focuses on the sound of Spike's voice as if trying to keep track of where he is even though he can't see him. It takes enough of his concentration that it's almost a distraction from how much everything just...is. It isn't even pain anymore so much as it's too much of everything happening to his body all at once. It hurts to breathe, he can't breathe, the flowers itch and strain his skin. Even the sound of the clusters of blossoms brushing up against themselves every time Sparkling moves is starting to get to him. It's like a reminder of how fully they've begun to take his body over, letting him know just how final his sentence really is.

What happened happened, and now he's got to lay in the ditch he's dug for himself.

His eyes are closed when Spike comes back, resting...or perhaps thinking. It would be a blessing to not think, but unfortunately sleep is off the table at the moment. So instead he's left to wonder if, maybe...]

At the facility, they're...treating people.

[He swallows, audibly.]

I don't think I can go back.

[Spike doesn't know anything about palliative care, he realizes, thought he doesn't want to even be thinking about what he could be doing. He isn't the type to let that stop him, no, he doesn't back down, he's never afraid, always fearless— but he is always aware. Always thinking just a little too much past those cold dark eyes, never about the right things.

He returns to Sparkling's side with water, unsure of how Sparkling is supposed to drink it, half sure alcohol is still the better alternative. But Sparkling speaks when he returns and Spike is left standing, staring, contemplating.

He pushes his thoughts aside along with whatever's in the way of this cup having a space on Sparkling's bedside table, taking his own place half-sat on the edge of the bed with one leg folded under him.

There's never been a guarantee the scientists could save Sparkling in the first place.]

Would you even want to?

[He asks, genuine.]

Even less like home over there than it is in here, I'm sure.

[Sparkling had asked for the water, but it's unlikely he'll even bother with trying to drink it right now. He lacks the energy to reach for it, and it had just been a convenient way to get Spike in the door without outright telling him what was going on, anyway. He'll try his best not to let the effort of bothering to get it go to waste, but that's something for future him to deal with. If he makes it there.

Sparkling leans his head back against his pillows, looking across at Spike with hazel eyes that are far less bright than usual. They're not quite glazed over, but they are very tired and resigned. Yet, even if it doesn't reach his eyes, he manages a smile as he's ever trying to do, but it's a bitter one. There's no humor in it.]

No.

[If he's going to die, he'd rather at least go on his own terms. Not terrified, uncertain if he'd even wake up or if he'd die on that operating table. What a way to go, after everything.]

I can't say this feels much like home, either.

[...]

I-

[He starts, stops. Almost aborts the sentence, but convinces himself to say it anyway, because maybe...]

I miss home.

...I'm sure you do.

Y'know— you never told me what you love about it so much.

[Spike, who's been sort of jostling his hands in his lap as he speaks, reaches out to tap Sparkling's leg with the back of his hand, as though prompting him.]

You should.

[What he loves about the kingdom...he could talk about it forever, he thinks. But he hasn't, because just thinking about home makes him sad. Thinking about the cookies waiting back home makes him even sadder.

But Spike is watching him expectantly, waiting. He has nothing to lose, and everything to gain. He can only hope it does something.]

It's all I've ever known.

[Is how he chooses to start, which does sound pretty intense for a colorful cookie world. He breathes out carefully, trying not to think too hard about how he can feel so much right now.]

But it's not just...a kingdom. It isn't just our home where we live, and work, and play. It's a place where cookies from all walks of life can come to live and make something of themselves, even if they come from a background where they shouldn't "deserve" it.

[He looks down at the roses around his wrists, mocking him because deep down he knows who they represent.]

It's a peaceful place, but we aren't adverse to conflict. We're willing to do what it takes to make sure that our world is not only a safe haven for cookies, but a place cookies can just...be.

[There are cookies in the kingdom who are, when broken down to their base traits and elements, "bad". And that's okay. If they're willing to try to change, and they're not out to directly harm anyone...

Sparkling looks blankly up at the ceiling, quiet for a long moment because he can feel his throat constricting again. This time, though, it's with emotion.]

...And I couldn't be more proud of knowing I live in a place like that.

And now, I- ...I'm not sure I'm ever going to get to see it again. I won't get to see my friends again.

[His eyes flicker back down to the roses.]

It hurts.

[Spike is quiet for a few moments, unreadable, his face unmoving past the crease of his brow. He scoots a little closer to Sparkling finally, dipping lower so he can look the other in the face.]

That's rough, [he admits,]

I can't even imagine. A world like that sounds too good to be true, to be honest. I'm kind of jealous.

[Spike smiles in a bit of a line. Even if they shouldn't deserve it plays over and over in his head.

Spike rests his hand under Sparkling's, thumb rubbing the joint of Sparkling's own in a tender gesture.]

Maybe you won't get to go back there. But you can take comfort in in the fact... You've been that, for others. A safe place, to... be.

[Sparkling is a little surprised, admittedly, by the gesture. Sparkling may not have known Spike terribly long, but what he does know is that he's very sparing when it comes to being tactile with others. He's active and always moving, gesturing as he talks, keeping some sort of momentum even in quiet moments. That sometimes extends to contact, sure, but not...like this. Sparkling would know, because he's equally the type of person to be sparing with opening himself up to that degree at the risk of seeming too...he doesn't know. Is it even fair to say vulnerable anymore, when he's like this? There's not much lower he can go at this point.

So he looks down at his own hand and realizes that he'd already reacted to Spike putting his own there before he even registered what he was doing, unconsciously craving the closeness. In the end, it's fine. He needs it, actually, and the fact that it's given unspoken- unflinching- helps.

He doesn't try to fake his smiling anymore, letting the quirk of his lips completely drop from his face now as he relaxes his fingers over Spike's. His own struggle a bit to move with the way the stems of the flowers are trying to choke out the tendons and keep them rigid, and as he feels Spike's thumb rub against his he realizes why this feels so familiar. The easy contact that's almost expected because that's just how he is, too drunk to really care how overly friendly he's being-

Sparkling's brows knit together and for a moment he looks pained in a way that isn't related to the flowers at all but instead an anguish he didn't really even know was there until he'd had everything he knew and loved taken away from him.]

...I hope so. [He finally murmurs, his voice raw.] That's all I've ever wanted.

[He turns his head to the side for a moment, his gaze off towards the far wall. Well, he's opening up...somewhat. But it doesn't seem to be working, which means he's not talking about the right things. Maybe he isn't going to figure out what those things are, but at least he's trying, he thinks.]

But really, I'm...I'm selfish, you know.

[Time to be Honest, if nothing else.]

I'm not...a nice person just for the sake of it. I want to be liked. I want to be renowned. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I became any less that someone worth remembering.

Isn't that awful?

[Spike's smile widens a little in response, just for a moment. He gives Sparkling's hand a squeeze, leaning in closer again so he can turn those big ol eyes up at Sparkling imploringly.]

Well if it is, we're the same kind of awful, you know.

[His smile spreads a little wider again, before he pulls back into his own damn space. If Sparkling can't manage to smile, that's fine. He'll still have one to see.]

But I don't really see what's wrong with being a little selfish. You're the first person you'll ever have in your life, right?

[Who's going to look out for you if you won't do it yourself?]

[How dare you make such a good point when he's here minding his own business, trying and failing to waste away gracefully like a 20th Century noble with consumption. But he is finding that having Spike here with him is far preferrable to the alternative...and when he feels his hand being squeezed, he tries to return it, weak however it is.

He huffs, dropping his head back against the pillows again.]

You're right about that, cowboy...

[Sparkling closes his eyes, not noticing a few of the carnations around his throat curling in on themselves a little. Withering.]

You know, it's funny. I hadn't realized it until...until I came to this apartment for the first time, and spent my first night alone. And it hit me that...the worst part about being here was how alone I was.

Even having so many new friends...like you, and Vicious. I really knew no one. I...had no one.

I- am...lonely.

[The flowers shrivel even faster.]

I don't know what I would do if I didn't have folks willing to stick their noses into other peoples' business.

[Die, probably.]

[Spike listens to Sparkling with a sad but calm kind of softness on his face, the corner of his mouth still pulled into a smile but still, still it doesn't reach his eyes.

He watches those petals start to grey, but he isn't too sure yet what's happening. The conversation seems to be helping Sparkling regardless, so Spike presses on. ]

Well, I can tell you what'd happen.

[He pats Sparkling's hand again.]

You'd get sad, then mean... Start trying to convince yourself you're not either of those things. Close yourself off to the world and make sure not to let it in anymore, get used to being lonely... Convince yourself being lonely in the first place is better than having something and losing it.

[He sighs, still gently rubbing Sparkling's hand with his own.]

And I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound very Sparkling to me.

Can't have that, now.

[If Sparkling had enough spare brainpower to think harder about what Spike is telling him, then maybe he'd be picking up on the fact that there's maybe some more experience in those words than what can be seen at a surface level. Sparkling very easily could have turned into a hermit immediately upon arriving here and finding out that he had to start from the ground up all over again, with no notoriety and no friends.

But Spike is right. It wouldn't be very Sparkling if he did that.

He coughs, every breath still just as pained as the last because even as the carnations and apple blossoms wither, the roses remain strong. They don't seem interested in letting him go at all, but at least some relief is better than none at all.]

Being lonely is hard. I don't like it very much at all, I'll admit. I'd stay at work longer just to avoid it if I knew Horatio wouldn't run me out before I stayed until morning.

[At work, Sparkling gets to be around people. That's where he thrives, extroverted as he is.

His brows upturn for a moment as he goes silent, because he can feel the roses in his lungs moving again. Growing ever further outwards, straining against the walls of his organs as they threaten to eventually burst through. So he has to just sit there and will himself to sit through the pain, refusing to let that be what breaks him down in front of someone else.]

Nnh. These flowers...they just won't leave us alone, will they..?

You know— I haven't even seen flowers like some of the ones popping up.

I'd only ever seen roses, before. Real ones, anyway, other flowers were mostly... Pictures.

[Why is he telling such an impulsive story? Maybe because he isn't quite sure what else to do or say. He just wants Sparkling to be aware he's still nearby, to feel someone is staying close.]

Never thought I'd see them growing out of people... [again] Or cookies.

You haven't?

[It's probably strange that a world with sentient cookies is more familiar with plants than Mars, thinking on it.]

The only reason I have is because...one of my closest friends, Herb Cookie, loves plants very much. He would probably be able to name every single variety that's shown up so far.

[He'd know all of the flowers on Sparkling, and perhaps what they meant, too.]

I'm sorry that you couldn't see them in a more...peaceful way. This isn't something that usually happens, in my experience...

[There are some plants that are carnivorous- cookievorous, even- but fortunately none of those seem to be an issue, here. At least not yet.]

[Spike has to give a genuine huff of amusement at the mention of Herb cookie. There really is a cookie for everything.]

So you like flowers, then? When they're not, you know, trying to take over.

[He leans over slightly to brush some of the wilted apple blossoms from Sparkling's shoulder.]

It's easier to like something your friend's into, right?

I wouldn't have called myself a plant lover before, but now? I can't imagine not having one or two in my bar...

[All gifts from Herb, naturally. He knows exactly what houseplants work best indoors, and because of that Sparkling doesn't have to worry about them much. They practically take care of themselves.

It isn't until Spike brushes the blossoms away that Sparkling actually realizes now that something's been happening, but instead of showing shock he just looks...mildly surprised, because he doesn't have the energy for more than that.]

Huh. A few of...a few of them have gone, at least. That's good...

They've been saying the flowers will wilt if you air out your grievances. Maybe there's something to it.

[And then, dusting a few more petals off before resting his hand on Sparkling's shoulder, he gives a gentle tease that masks the genuine;]

Don't have any more confessions to get off your chest, do you?

[Boy. That's the big question, isn't it?

As if the roses themselves have ears, Sparkling feels them squeeze around his esophagus, and suddenly he finds that taking a full breath is impossible. His breathing was already labored and shallow before, but now...? It's almost like a threat...

And his heart, of course, is in an equal measure of pain. He's amazed it's not hammering, yet every beat can be felt throughout his entire body. It's not pleasant.]

Sounds...sounds easy, when you put it that way.

[But it's not. He wishes he could just go into further detail about all of his worries, fears, and deepest desires, but would he even to save his own life?

He's not sure. Even admitting to his loneliness was almost a fluke more than it was intentional. He'd just already been on that track, and some flower-addled part of his brain said "fuck it" and didn't stop him from continuing.]

Yeah, I know.

[Though it gives him a pang of worry to see those flowers grow brighter, it's not as though he hasn't resigned himself to the inevitable outcome. Still, he's trying to comfort Sparkling, not make it worse.

And so—]

I'm no good at it, either.

I kept... a lot of secrets, more than I'm used to keeping, before I got here. Ended up getting a lot of people in trouble.

[. . .]

Part of me still wished in the end that it could have stayed secret.

So I get it. It's hard. Sometimes it's hard to admit things even to yourself.

Lucky for you... I don't think this is the kind of secret that hurts anyone but yourself.

["lucky".]

[Sparkling is quiet, for a time. He focuses on his breathing, letting his body rest as much as it can inbetween the stints where the flowers continue to grow, trying to choke him out from the inside.]

You're...right.

[He's right. And Sparkling...maybe it's against his better judgement, but he trusts Spike.

So why won't the words come? Why won't he save himself?

His eyes shift away, looking blankly across the room.]

I guess it just all feels...a bit unfair. To be forced against your own terms...

...Yeah, it does.

[Will Spike get sick too, he wonders? Will he end up laying beside the one he's betrayed, speaking horrible truths into the universe to save his own pathetic life?]

It is unfair.

I'm... sorry you're going through this.

Please...don't be. You didn't have to stay with me, yet here you are.

[Maybe anyone would have because it's the right thing to do, but...with Spike, it feels different. Sparkling has been around him enough times to know there's something different, about it.

Sparkling looks back over at Spike, then, his expression...tired.]

...I do have one thing I want to say, if you'll indulge me.

Hey. They do say I'm pretty good at keeping secrets.

[No one says that, because they don't know enough, because Spike doesn't talk to people about his problems or secrets or anything, actually.]

[...]

I have...a friend, back home. Someone I miss very dearly.

I keep thinking...that it's a good thing that they aren't here. That I should be happy that they're back on Earthbread where it's safe.

[He takes a slow, ragged breath.]

...But I'm not.

[And the roses inside of him weaken.]

Mmm.

[Spike hums knowingly.

Somehow, he got strangely lucky in that respect. But he gets it.

He gets it.]

Someone you want to be with, even when times are tough.

[And, he prompts;]

What were they like?

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