[id: @britishsass bob's one to judge his husband is a cactus in his mind]
Well of course now that you've pointed it out I have to write it.
a sequel to this ask send me prompts!!!
“It’s much better than it used to be,” Bob said, his voice muffled.
“Mmph.”
“I’m doing fine now, really.”
“Mmph.”
“Helmut--”
“Mmph.”
“...do you wanna see the cactus version of you that’s in here?”
There was a long, long pause. Then, very gradually, Helmut released Bob from his death grip of a hug and straightened up.
“Yeah,” he said. But his face was still tight and sad, and his eyes drifted across the barren little island and the endless ocean around it.
There was no way for Helmut to know it, but it was better than it used to be--although of course it would have been hard to get much worse. The island had grown as the sea around it receded. The sand was now dotted with patches of beachgrass and flowers, especially thick around the bases of the pots.
But the last time Helmut had visited, this place had been a garden.
“Bobby--”
“Come on,” Bob said, taking Helmut’s hand.
“Bobby.”
“It’s never going to be the way it was,” Bob admitted, looking up at Helmut. “But it’s not going to be like this much longer. I’m better now. Okay?”
At last Helmut smiled, though sadness lingered in the corners.
“Oka--oh my god, I’m adorable.”
Bob scratched his cheek and tried not to sound embarrassed.
“I mean, they’re just representations of people who are important to me. That’s not how I actually see you--”
“Look at the little hat!” Helmut exclaimed, not listening in the slightest. He crouched down to get a better view. “And the petals for my hair--Oh I love it, Bobby, this is amazing. Hey, if we show it to Lucy, do you think she’d be able to crochet it for me?”
“No! We are not having Lucy crochet my mental representation of you,” Bob said, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at his husband.
“Is it because you don’t want her in here? That’s fine, I’ll just draw her a picture.”
“No.”
“Yeah, I’m definitely going to ask her to do it. I’m going to put it on the dashboard of the Feel Mobile. Ooh, maybe I’ll get those giant googly eyes for it.”
“Helmut!”
“Look at him, Bobby! He’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! I want to look at this every day of my life.”
“Is this because I didn’t like the ear-me in your mind? Is this payback for that?”
“Nooo, why would I do a thing like that?” Helmut said, and from the way he couldn’t take his eyes off the little cactus, Bob honestly wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him.
