continued from nyeleti's open starter (@gotwcird)
nyeleti did not know that, and she barely felt shame for the way her heart skipped a beat at thyme's discovery. she always felt a giddy, embarrassing thrill at being fussed over. she was so rarely on the receiving end of acts of service from anyone other than her mom and, occasionally, her baby brother, usually under extreme duress and only for their mother's benefit. no one else before had wanted to care for her, not in ways that didn't feel needful, transactional. she reached out, touched her finger to the other's cheek, stopping short of drawing them across the bed for a kiss only because waffles were, in fact, a limited-time commodity. "you spoil me," nyeleti stated, smiling around her words. "it's undignified. how will i ever go back to my usual regime of gas station donuts and, like, the dregs from the keurig in the grad student lounge?"