Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Maggie looked over the preliminary evidence in front of her, trying to piece together the clues. It was late at night, and she didn’t have nearly the full picture. She knew she wasn’t going to solve anything before going to bed, but she wanted to make a little bit of progress at least.

Just then, Shelley walked into the office and slumped down on a chair. She let out an exhausted sigh.

“Hi, Shelley.”

Shelley perked up and shot out of her seat, putting a strained smile on her face. “Hey, dudette! How’s it going?” Her legs wobbled slightly from how tired she was, but she kept the same anxious grin the entire time.

“Shelley,” Maggie responded, “you don’t have to do this in front of me. We have been over this.” Shelley sighed and nodded, falling back into her chair. “If you would like to pull your chair up to the desk, you can help me with some of these clues.”

Shelley obliged, sitting next to Maggie. Recently, Shelley had begun helping Maggie with her cases. They were an unexpected duo, but really, it made sense. Shelley existed all throughout the house, allowing her to gather information in pretty much any room inconspicuously. It also helped that Maggie had an entire shelf to herself, meaning they could talk about cases without any prying eyes or ears. Maggie wouldn’t say anything about it to her, but she also figured that the seclusion was probably good for Shelley’s state of mind. She had a place where she could just relax, be exhausted without having to mask her anxiety all the time. Maggie wasn’t a particularly relaxed individual herself, but it was certainly more mellow here than the rest of the house.

As they looked over clues together, Shelley’s eyelids grew heavy. She kept catching herself nearly nodding off. Maggie put a hand on Shelley’s shoulder. “Would you like to stay here again for the night? I have your blankets and pillows.”

Shelley smiled sleepily and nodded. “Yeah… if it’s not too much trouble… I should probably just sleep here.”

Maggie nodded. Shelley had been staying over more and more lately. With her further involvement in Maggie’s cases, and Maggie’s desire to secretly help her be more relaxed, it just made sense for Shelley to stay here.

Shelley accepted the pillow and warm blankets given to her by Maggie, and quickly fell asleep. Maggie smiled as she looked at the sleeping woman. Shelley looked so peaceful when she slept, like she wasn’t holding the weight of the world on her shoulders anymore. Maggie just wished she could carry that peace into the rest of her life.

Eventually, Maggie found herself having trouble keeping her eyes open, and decided it was time for bed. She nestled herself into her own set of bedding, and drifted off to sleep.

__________

The next morning, Shelley and Maggie went to Kopi’s café to continue discussing evidence. The case was… a rather strange one. They still didn’t have all of the information they needed, only background information about those involved, and the nature of the mystery. Something was interfering with the function of an object. But that’s why they were here. They were going to meet the person who had brought them the case.

Suddenly, the café darkened. The air dropped in temperature, and a sinking feeling of dread filled the place. Shelley instinctively moved in front of Maggie, ready to protect her, though Maggie wasn’t worried in the slightest. It was just their client.

“You know, I never quite understood the appeal of drinking coffee in the morning… It’s much more exciting at night.” Nightmare took a seat with the other women, smiling as she saw the fear on Shelley’s face.

“Thank you for meeting us here, Nightmare.” Maggie seemed completely unfazed, getting to business immediately. She did notice how scared Shelley was, of course, and subtly motioned to a seat next to her, further from Nightmare. “Please, tell us what happened.”

“Well,” Nightmare replied, “something has been… interfering with my work. Whenever I try to enter someone’s dreams, I find it impossible to stray away from the topic of insects.” She paused thoughtfully, before continuing. “I certainly enjoy the occasional insect-based nightmare, but variety is the spice of life, and I’ve been missing that spice for about a week.”

“Hmmm…” Maggie furiously wrote down notes in a notebook. “So… these bugs have been interfering with the creative aspect of your work?”

“Yes…” There was some hesitation in Nightmare’s voice, but Maggie didn’t notice. She was still looking at her notes. Shelley, though, did notice, and realized it was on her to follow this lead.

“Uhh… was that… the only thing it’s impacted?” 

Nightmare sighed. “No… it’s not.”

Maggie gave Shelley a determined nod. “Good catch, Shelley. What else have these insects affected?”

“Well,” Nightmare started, “if it were just the human having these dreams, I would not be so concerned. I would assume it was just a phase of some kind, and wait it out. But…” Nightmare hesitated. “These insects are not only affecting the human’s dreams. They are also affecting my… sexual activities.”

Maggie blushed slightly. “Oh! Uhm… care to explain?”

“Betty also seems to be having her dreams invaded by insects, and, to quote my beloved directly, ‘a swarm of insects isn’t nearly as sexy as being murdered in the woods’.” Nightmare sighed dreamily. “I love that woman…”

“Well,” Maggie replied, jotting a few more notes down, “thank you for the information. We’ll be in touch as soon as we make some progress on the case.”

“Thank you both very much.” She smiled at Shelley. It was a genuine, warm smile, meant to put Shelley at ease, though there was still a chilling air of underlying terror in her expression that she really couldn’t do anything about.

Maggie looked up from her notes again. “I suppose we should get to work.” She turned to Shelley. “Ready to follow some leads?”

“Hell yeah! Let’s get going!”

Maggie and Shelley stood from their seats, gave Kopi a wave, and left with their coffees.

__________

“So,” Maggie said, “it’s probably a good idea to check the bedroom next. Maybe there will be a clue there.” She looked up from her notes and over at Shelley. “Have you noticed anything strange in the bedroom recently?”

Shelley shook her head. “Only the normal strange stuff. Sorry I can’t be more useful.”

Maggie furrowed her brow. “Why are you apologizing? It is helpful to know that nothing overtly suspicious has been happening. And even if it wasn’t useful, that wouldn’t be your fault.” 

“Oh… right. Sorry.”

“Shelley…”

“Sorry!” Shelley groaned. “No… I’m not sorry? I’m confused.”

Maggie gently put her hand on Shelley’s shoulder. “Just… take a breath. Everything will be fine. Nobody is mad at you.” Shelley inhaled deeply, and then exhaled. She smiled at Maggie, giving her a nod to let her know that, yes, everything was fine.

“Perfect. Then let’s go to the bedroom.”

__________

Maggie had trouble keeping her thoughts in order as she stood before her current suspect, but she was determined to solve this case. She was strong enough to get through this, she knew it.

“Ssssooooooo…” Maggie started, her voice inexplicably distorted, “d-d-d-do YoU k n o w anything about [BED_CHARACTER_NAME]’s alter ed nightmæres¿ You do rESidE right nExt to hEr.”

Daemon’s face, as usual, was completely unreadable as they replied. “G  HHx pakdK LLL wrt J.”

“I’m sorry? I didn’t quite catch that.”

“{IF: Daemon = Interrogated by Maggie about dreams

THEN: Alibi = “I haven’t done anything to interfere with Betty’s mind. If anything, her psyche should be clearer now. I have been spending less time in the bedroom as of late.”}”

“Hmmmm…” Maggie tried to write down a note, ending up with random lines of code instead. Whatever. She would remember long enough to write what she was thinking afterward. “W h a t  has been DRawing u away from the b-b-b-b-bedroom?”

Maggie could swear a hint of a blush came to Daemon’s imperceptible face as one word was uttered from her mouth. “Łūçïṅđá.”

Maggie turned to look at Shelley. “Well, do you have any- Shelley!” Shelley was staring off into space, slack-jawed, blood dripping from her nose. Maggie grabbed Shelley and rushed her out of the bedroom, calling back, “Thank you for your cooperation!”

__________

Shelley laid against the wall on the second floor landing. Maggie kneeled in front of her, wiping the blood from her face with a handkerchief.

“Shelley? Are you okay? I’m so sorry that happened… I should have made sure it was safe for you. I hope you’re okay…”

Shelley blinked her eyes slowly, still recovering. “Hey… don’t sweat it, Maggie. Thanks for having my back in there… sorry about getting blood on your handkerchief.”

Maggie smiled, looking into Shelley’s eyes. She had gotten all of the blood off of her, but her hand lingered on the woman’s face. “You think this is the first time I’ve gotten blood on this thing? What do you think it’s for?”

Shelley laughed. “I guess that makes sense. Did we get anything from Daemon?”

“Sort of,” Maggie started, “he claims to not have been doing anything that would impact Betty’s dreams. Apparently, she’s even been spending less time in the bedroom, and more time with Lucinda.”

“Did they say where they were going with Lucinda?”

Maggie shrugged. “They didn’t, but… neither of them are really bound by the same laws of reality as the rest of us, so I doubt we’d even be able to understand if they told us.” She sighed. “I really thought ‘bug’ was pointing to coding… I guess that was a false lead.”

“Well… there are other things that interact with code, right? Maybe that’s still a clue!”

Maggie beamed. She was ecstatic whenever Shelley started really getting into a case. She wasn’t sure if this was going to take them anywhere, but why not follow Shelley’s hunch? “Maybe we should talk to Mac?”

“Sounds like a plan! Lead the way!”

__________

Shelley leaned on the desk, across from Mac. Maggie was letting her take the lead in this interrogation, since it was her idea to continue pursuing the code connection (and to make sure her brain still worked after the whole Daemon incident).

“So,” Shelley said, staring intensely into Mac’s eyes, “any suspicious internet activity from the homeowner?”

Mac furrowed their brow. “I believe, legally, you have to get a warrant to get that kind of information.” Shelley groaned, frustrated. “Luckily, we are not beholden to human laws.” Shelley perked up again. “They haven’t visited any suspicious websites recently, but I did notice a charge on their bank statement from a vendor they don’t normally buy from.”

“Really?! What is it?!”

Mac shrugged. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t say what they bought, just where they bought it. And that doesn’t give us much either. It was just a local thrift store, so it could be basically anything. Sorry I didn’t have anything more solid.”

Shelley sighed in defeat. “Thanks, Mac. You’ve been really helpful.” She looked at Maggie. “Any idea who we should ask next about this?”

Maggie nodded. “If the human bought something at a physical store, then they came in with their purchase through the door. Let’s ask Dorian if he saw what they brought home.”

Shelley pumped her fist in excitement, thrilled that she was helping in some way. She rushed out of the office, not even waiting for Maggie to follow.

__________

“Well, it’s about time you came to me, don’t you think? After all, I see all the comings and goings of the homeowner, anytime they enter or leave the house.”

Shelley and Maggie stood face-to-face with Front Dorian, his tall stature towering over the already quite short women. “Apologies if you felt neglected, Dorian,” Maggie replied, “but we were prioritizing more concrete clues and suspects first.”

“And yet it still led you back to me.” Dorian’s mouth twitched, which Maggie assumed was the equivalent of a smile for the stoic door. “I’m just messing with you. What do you need to know?”

Maggie pulled out her notebook. “According to Mac, the human made a purchase at a thrift store nine days ago, which lines up with the timeline of our mystery. Did you happen to see what they brought in with them?”

Dorian shrugged. “It was in a bag. I saw a bit of cloth poking out… looked a bit like a bedsheet?” He pondered for a moment. “You know, now that I think about it… I’m pretty sure I saw Betty wearing it. Same colour, at least. Must’ve been a bedsheet, then.”

Maggie nodded. “Thank you for your cooperation. We’ll be in touch if we have any further questions.”

__________

That night, Maggie and Shelley were right back in Maggie’s office. They had new evidence to look over for the case.

“So, what do we know?” Maggie looked at the clues laid out in front of her, trying to piece it all together.

Shelley fidgeted in her seat as she thought. Usually, being around Maggie calmed her nerves (at least, as much as her nerves could be calmed), but now, the pressure was on. She wanted to prove herself.

“Well,” Shelley started, “we know that both the human and Betty have been dreaming about bugs. The human also bought what Dorian said looked like a bedsheet a couple days before…” She considered the clues for a moment, before her eyes grew wide. “WAIT!”

Maggie perked up, looking at Shelley as she seemingly pieced something together.

“They got a new bedsheet! Could it have brought bedbugs in?”

Maggie raised her eyebrows. “Well, thrift stores usually make sure the things they sell have been cleaned, but mistakes can always happen… I suppose actually being bitten by bugs would explain the bugs in the dreams… I think you’re onto something! Let’s go talk to Betty!”

Shelley excitedly grabbed Maggie’s hand, practically dragging her out of the office.

__________

Maggie and Shelley found Betty in the bedroom, asleep, cuddling with Nightmare. She was wearing a new bedsheet, this one a soft lavender colour.

“BETTY!!” Shelley’s voice echoed through the room, startling Betty awake.

“Wh-what?! What’s happening?” She rubbed her eyes, turning on a lamp. “Shelley? Oh, it’s nice to see you! I’ve been worried about you, you haven’t been around as much.” She furrowed her brow. “Why are you yelling at me?”

“Bedbugs!”

“What?!” Betty looked at Nightmare. “I don’t have bedbugs, do I?”

“I don’t… think so, no…”

“Shelley, sweetie, what’s this about?” Betty’s soft voice soothed Shelley, enough to gather her thoughts.

“Well… you got that new bedsheet, right? And then… and then you started having dreams about bugs!” 

Maggie put a hand on Shelley’s muscular arm, a choice that nearly pulled her attention completely away from the task at hand. Still, she managed to focus.

Betty sighed, turning to Nightmare again. “Was this your doing?”

“Well…” Nightmare began to blush. “Look, I was worried about you. You’re important to me, and you’re in distress. Of course I went to the best detective in the house to figure this out.”

Betty smiled, and pressed a soft kiss to Nightmare’s cheek. “That’s so sweet… I suppose I should have come clean about this earlier.”

“About the bedbugs?” Shelley asked.

Betty laughed. “No… come with me. All of you.” She got out of bed, and led the group downstairs to the living room. She picked up a small box on the coffee table, and presented it to everyone else.

“ This is why the human and I have been having nightmares about bugs.” As they looked closer, they could see that it was a VHS case. A horror movie about the world being overtaken by insects and vermin. “I saw that they were going to watch a movie late at night, and, well… I figured it would be nice to watch it with them. Even if they can’t see me.” She sighed. “As it turns out… I don’t do super well with horror when I don’t have Nightmare there to hold me. Neither does the human, apparently.” She laughed. “We don’t have bedbugs. It just so happens that the two people Nightmare visits most often both made an… unwise choice in late-night entertainment.”

“Wait,” Maggie said, “does that mean the thrift shop was a false lead?”

Betty shrugged. “I think they got the movie and the new bedsheet at the thrift store.”

Nightmare cocked her central head to the side. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

Betty sighed. “I felt… stupid, I guess. I made a dumb choice that messed things up for both of us… I was hoping it would pass quickly. I feel a bit silly, being with you, but not being able to watch a horror movie without it ruining me for days. It just kind of felt like I was too weak.”

Nightmare cradled Betty’s face in her hand. “My dear… there’s no reason to feel weak.” She kissed Betty on the forehead. “You never have to feel self-conscious around me.”

Betty embraced Nightmare, sinking into her jet-black fur. “I love you, Nightmare.”

“And I, you.”

Maggie frowned slightly. “Well… I guess we solved the mystery… but we didn’t really solve the problem , did we?”

Betty shrugged. “I mean… it’ll solve itself in time. I’m not going to have insect nightmares forever.”

“No,” Nightmare responded, “but I do so enjoy our nights together in your dreams. There may be a way to speed up the process.”

“How so?” Betty asked.

Nightmare held up the VHS case. “I’ve never seen this film.” She grinned, a hint of mischief coming through her silky voice. “How about some exposure therapy? This time, with someone to hold you.”

Betty giggled. “Sounds like fun.”

Half an hour later, Betty and Nightmare were curled up on the couch watching the movie, the only light in the room coming from the television and the moon. Maggie and Shelley decided to watch the movie with them, sharing a large chair together. Shelley was, as expected, quite anxious for the entire movie, and held onto Maggie the whole time. Her arms tightened, and she buried her face in the crook of Maggie’s neck, during a scene in which a number of large insects weighed down a shelf, causing it to collapse off of the wall. Maggie did her best to comfort Shelley while she was being squeezed and cuddled, softly stroking the muscular woman’s hair.

She didn’t mind the contact, of course. She didn’t want to admit it to anyone, least of all herself, but… 

Maggie was falling for Shelley.

Chapter Text

Penelope woke to the sound of something being dropped. Immediately, her mind started racing with possible dangers.

“ Dasha, ” she whispered, “ I think I heard something. ”

Dasha groaned groggily. “It is probably nothing, Penelope.”

Penelope heard another noise. “Dasha, seriously, something’s going on…”

Dasha sat up, looking over at Penelope. She seemed to still be half asleep. “Okay… I will check it out.” She kissed Penelope on the forehead. “Dasha will protect you.”

Dasha slipped a shirt on, before stepping out into the rest of the office. She looked around, trying to find anything out of place. Everything looked normal. “Penelope… everything is fine. You can come out and see.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Dasha saw it. Right in the center of the desk, in a pool of its own spilled ink, was Penelope’s favourite pen. Split in half, crushed, and picked apart by… something.

Penelope came out after Dasha. “I guess I might have just been imagining-” Her gaze settled on the pen, and she let out a blood-curdling shriek.

__________

Penelope furrowed her brow. “Maggie, I know you take your job seriously, but is all this really necessary?”

Maggie looked at her, almost offended that she would even ask the question. “Do you want to find the person who did this?”

“Well… yes.”

“Then let us do our work.”

“Right.” Penelope nodded. She thought for a moment. “It’s just… I mean, it was my favourite pen, but… the chalk outline is a bit much, no?”

Maggie shook her head, and turned to her partner. “Don’t listen to her, Shelley. You’re doing a good job.”

Shelley beamed as she pocketed her chalk. “Thanks! Look, I drew us!” She pointed to a small doodle of herself and Maggie next to the outline of the pen.

Maggie nodded. “Adorable.” She took out her pen and notebook, and turned to Dasha and Penelope. “So, what do you remember from last night?”

“Well,” Penelope replied, “I heard a sound, like something being dropped… I guess it was probably the pen. I woke Dasha up because I was worried, and she went out to check.” 

Dasha nodded. “When I looked, I didn’t see the pen at first. I only noticed it after it was too late… and Penelope had already seen the mess.”

Maggie took a couple of notes. “Hmmm… Interesting…” She tapped her pen against her chin. “We’ll be in touch if we find anything. My condolences, Penelope.”

Penelope nodded. “Thank you.” She and Dasha took their leave.

“You know,” Maggie said, “I noticed something when you were drawing the outline.”

Shelley perked up. “I was helpful?!”

“Of course!” Maggie pointed to the remains of the pen. “Do you notice anything… missing ?”

Shelley thought for a moment. She let out a defeated sigh, and shook her head. “Nothing’s coming to me.”

Maggie smiled. “It’s alright.” She pointed at the pen. “The spring is missing. Everything else is here- if a little destroyed- except for the spring.”

“Oh, yeah,” Shelley said, “why would somebody steal a spring?”

“I don’t know… and why not just take the pen?” She clicked her pen absentmindedly. “Did you happen to see anything strange in the office last night?”

Shelley shook her head. “I was with you all night.”

“That’s right…” Maggie looked up at the shelves on the wall. “Well, how do you feel about a stakeout tonight? If the culprit destroyed one pen, maybe we can put out another as bait!”

“Uhh… are you sure?” She looked up at the shelf Maggie had her eye on. “The shelves in here are pretty high up. What if I drop you? You’re fragile, you could get hurt!”

Maggie put a comforting hand on Shelley’s back. “Hey… I’ll be alright. You’re not gonna drop me.”

Shelley took a shaky breath, before giving Maggie a forced smile and a determined nod. “Alright! We’ve got this! Everything will be fine!”

__________

That night, Maggie and Shelley sat on one of the high shelves in the office. Maggie had set up what was essentially a blanket fort for them, and had her binoculars trained on the desk top. Shelley, meanwhile, was nervously fidgeting next to her.

“Shelley? Are you okay?”

“Yep! Totally fine over here, brosefina!”

Maggie slid in closer to Shelley, and took her hand. Shelley turned to look at her, her eyes filled with anxiety. “Hey… Shelley. Just look into my eyes. Just focus on my voice. Take a breath in. Exhale.”

Shelley took her advice. She focused on Maggie, the sound of her voice and the feeling of her hand. Shelley’s anxiety wasn’t going to be fixed by this, but she was definitely feeling calmer. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Thanks, Maggie…”

Maggie blushed slightly as Shelley looked into her eyes. She scooted a bit closer to Shelley, pulling a blanket up over both of them. Shelley sighed again, leaning into Maggie. Maggie hesitantly put her arm around her in return.

The next several hours passed by uneventfully. Shelley eventually fell asleep, curling up in Maggie’s arms. Maggie held Shelley close, not quite wanting to acknowledge how much she was enjoying this.

Their serene time together was cut short, however, as a scream rang out from upstairs. Shelley jolted awake, and looked at Maggie. 

“What was that?”

Maggie stood up, and helped Shelley to her feet. “I think our culprit just struck again.”

__________

Maggie and Shelley charged into the attic. They found Artt, kneeling on the floor, weeping over a collection of destroyed pens.

“Artt!” Maggie rushed over. “What happened?”

“Maggie! My gel pens! They’ve been destroyed !” A tear ran down Artt’s face as he held the fragments of his broken pens in his arms. “Why? Why would the world be so cruel ?!”

Maggie looked at the scene, pieces of the pens left on the floor. “Artt? May I see some of the pens?”

Artt gave Maggie a handful of pens, still crying. Maggie inspected the pens closely, before giving Shelley a nod. “The springs are gone.”

“So it is the springs that they’re taking.”

“Seems that way.” Maggie turned to Artt. “Don’t worry, Artt. This is our top priority at the moment. We will get to the bottom of this.” She looked over at Shelley again, saying, “Come on. Let’s go back to my place and try to figure this out.” Shelley nodded, and followed Maggie out of the attic.

As soon as they were out of the attic, Maggie tapped Shelley on the shoulder. “Shelley… look at this.” She held out an orange piece of thread. “I found this stuck on one of Artt’s pens.”

“Oooh! What do you think it is?”

Maggie shrugged. “I’m not sure… but it’s definitely not Artt’s.” She paused. “You know. On account of the nudity.”

“Well,” Shelley responded, “I know we can figure it out! Maybe we can even figure it out tonight !”

Maggie shook her head. “Shelley, it’s three in the morning. We’re going to sleep when we get back.”

“Nah, I can stay up! It’ll be fine, I’m barely even tired!” The bags under Shelley’s eyes betrayed her exhaustion.

Maggie sighed. “Shelley. We’re both going to sleep. You’re not staying up all night over this, okay? It’s better for us to be well-rested when we wake up than to push ourselves past our limits just to be fast.” A slight smirk tugged at Maggie’s lip as she heard herself. If she was the one saying that they needed to get rest, Shelley must have been really pushing herself.

Shelley let out a soft sigh. If she weren’t so tired, she might try to fight it. But she really needed sleep. “You’re right…”

Maggie patted Shelley on the back. “We’ll get out there and figure this out first thing tomorrow morning, alright?” Shelley nodded, and Maggie led her back to her place to get some sleep.

__________

The next morning, Shelley and Maggie went out to get coffee from Kopi as usual. Shelley sat down at a table while Maggie went up to get their drinks. Shelley sighed, staring at the orange thread they had found in the attic, trying to figure out what it could be from. There were quite a few objects in the house that an orange thread could have fallen from, but Shelley couldn’t think of any reason for any of them to be doing this. Maybe Maggie had some more concrete theories.

Maggie stood at the counter, waiting for her drinks. She smiled as a very tired-looking Mateo walked up next to her.

“Mateo! I’ve never seen you here before.”

Mateo smiled. “Yeah, I don’t really drink coffee much, but… I’ve had a lot of new arrivals to the rescue recently, and they’ve been keeping me up.” He stifled a yawn. “But, how are you? How are things going with Shelley?”

“Excellently!” Maggie beamed. “She’s really coming into her own as an investigator.”

Mateo gave Maggie a knowing look. “That’s… not what I meant, and I think you know it.”

Maggie blushed. “What are you implying?”

“Well,” Mateo responded, “she’s been spending a lot more time at your place, hasn’t she? Staying the night, even?”

Maggie furrowed her brow. “I hardly see what that proves, other than her dedication to solving mysteries.”

Mateo chuckled softly. “Well, you know I generally stay around the living room, right? So if two people, say, cuddled together while watching a horror movie a few days ago, I would have seen that.” Maggie didn’t respond. “Listen, I’m happy for you, Maggie! You and Shelley are both always working so hard… it’s nice that you have each other.”

Maggie sighed. “Our relationship is… strictly professional.”

“Okay,” Mateo responded, “sure it is. Just know, I’m happy for you. Even if you don’t want me to be.”

__________

“So what is this thread? Do you have any ideas, Maggie? Maggie? Maggie !”

Maggie snapped back to focus on what Shelley was saying. She had been thinking about what Mateo said their entire time in the coffee shop now, not really contributing a whole lot to the mystery.

“Huh? Oh, right, the thread…”

“Maggie,” Shelley put her hand on Maggie’s. Adrenaline rushed through Maggie’s veins. “Are you okay, dude? You seem distracted.”

“Yes, I’m fine… just a bit tired, I think.” That was a lie. Maggie was better rested than she had been in months.

“Well,” Shelley said, “do you think we should make a list of people who might have left an orange thread behind? Maybe we could go around interviewing them.”

Maggie nodded. “That’s a great idea, Shelley.” She thought for a moment. “Perhaps we should also warn everyone in the house with springs… so far, it’s just been pens, but we don’t want people caught off guard if that changes.”

“Great!” Shelley said. “Maybe we could split up for this? I could warn people, since I’ve been told I’m great at inspiring anxiety in others, and you could talk to anyone who might have lost a thread, since you’re an experienced detective.”

Maggie smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Awesome!” Shelley jumped up from her seat, depositing the thread in front of Maggie. “I’m gonna get going now! Don’t wanna waste any time if we’re making sure people are safe!” She grabbed her coffee, and started running. “See ya later, brosefina!”

Maggie smiled as she sipped from her coffee. She really was hopelessly in love with that woman.

__________

Maggie shuddered as she walked into the laundry room. She didn’t have a lot of leads to follow, and the most prominent one led her here. There really weren’t many items in the house that could have dropped orange thread at a crime scene, and even fewer that Maggie could even imagine doing something like this. And even then, this was a stretch.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself to approach the hamper. She stepped up, wincing as she heard incoherent yelling back and forth.

“DIRK! I KNOW YOU’RE LYING!”

“OH, FOR GOD’S SAKE , HARPER! YOU’RE JUST MAKING SHIT UP TO BE MAD ABOUT!”

Maggie sighed. She really hated the laundry room.

Maggie walked up to Dirk, and cleared her throat. “Dirk. I have a few questions for you.” She pulled out her notepad.

Harper scoffed. “Oh, I guess you’re gonna fuck her , too, aren’t you?!” Maggie glared at her. Despite her small stature and general cuteness, Maggie’s gaze was intimidating, threatening enough to shut Harper down immediately.

“Please. Just answer my questions, and I’ll leave you to… whatever this is.”

Dirk sighed. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

Maggie held up the orange thread. “This look familiar?”

Dirk furrowed his brow as he looked at the thread. “No, it doesn’t. Where did you get it?”

“A crime scene,” Maggie responded. “Someone has been destroying pens and stealing springs. This is our only lead at the moment.”

“Why would I be stealing pen springs?”

Maggie sighed. “I have no idea why… anyone would be doing this. Nobody has a motive… it just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well,” Dirk replied, “sorry I couldn’t help.”

Maggie smiled sadly. “Thanks. I’ll be going now.” She turned around, leaving Harper and Dirk to their angry yelling… or their angry makeout, based on the sounds Maggie heard as she left.

__________

“Hey, Dorian!” Shelley walked up to the door, giving a friendly wave. “You have springs in you, right, bro?”

“Well, yes,” he responded, “in my knob.”

Shelley nodded. “Thought so. Just coming by to say that someone is going around stealing springs, and you should be careful.”

Dorian smiled slightly. “Thanks for the warning.”

Shelley nodded. “No problem!” She thought for a moment. “Do you… know who else might have springs? I’ve been trying to make a list, but… I don’t really know who would be on it.”

“I know everyone who has springs, Shelley.” Dorian started counting on his fingers. “There’s Betty, Koa, some of Chairemi’s forms… Timothy, of course… I don’t know much about robotics, but I’d definitely give Lady Memoria a heads-up for her dog… let me just write this down for you.” Dorian wrote a list of objects with springs in them, and handed it to Shelley.

“Thanks! This is really helpful, Dorian!”

“Not a problem,” he responded, “happy to help keep the house safe.” He thought for a second. “I suppose I actually missed someone on that list… but Maggie already knows, I assume.”

Shelley cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean by that?”

Dorian shrugged. “Maggie’s stand, the one that holds her on the shelf. It’s spring-loaded.”

Shelley’s eyes widened. “Wait… so… Maggie might be in danger, too?!”

“Well, yeah, but-”

Shelley sprinted away before Dorian could finish his sentence. She needed to get through this list as quickly as possible so she could get back and protect Maggie.

__________

Maggie sat in her office, rubbing her temples. She had to figure out who this thread came from. There were a few people with similarly-coloured threads on them, but… it just didn’t make sense. Dirk had already denied that it was him, and, while he could have been lying, he didn’t have any kind of motive. He really didn’t seem like the type, either.

Then, there was Teddy. His coat had a colour that matched the thread fairly well, but… Teddy was just too friendly for that. He would never hurt someone. Even if he was willing, once again, no motive.

And then Mateo. He also had orange on him, but… well, similar to Teddy, Mateo was one of the gentlest, nicest people in the house. He also had all of the inanimals to take care of. He probably didn’t have time for this, even if he weren’t one of the kindest people Maggie knew. She might just have to accept that the thread was a false lead. Maybe it just got stuck on someone’s shoe?

Just then, Shelley burst through the door, out of breath. “Maggie! You’re here!”

“Yeah… I didn’t have many suspects to interview.” She gave Shelley a tired smile. “How did you make out with your task?”

“Everyone has been warned! They’ll all be safe… hopefully.” Shelley seemed rather nervous, but Maggie figured it was probably a better idea to just let her wind down now that she was in a calm, secluded place, rather than question her about it. Questions didn’t tend to put people at ease. Especially coming from Maggie.

Maggie smiled. “Well, at least one of us made some progress.”

Shelley shifted anxiously. “Yeah, yeah… uhmm… would it be alright if I stayed the night again?”

Maggie gave Shelley a confused look. “Well, of course it is. I mean, you basically live here at this point, I usually just assume you’ll be staying over.”

“Oh! Awesome! Thanks, Maggie!”

Maggie giggled. “No problem.”

Shelley looked like she still had something on her mind. She hesitated, and awkwardly cleared her throat, before asking, “Uhh… would it be alright if we… sleep together tonight?”

Maggie blushed, and her eyes widened. “Sleep together?”

Shelley’s face turned red as well, as she yelled, “NOT LIKE THAT! I just thought it might be a good idea to share a bed tonight! Safety in numbers, right?!”

“Oh, right.” Maggie relaxed, though she had to admit, she was disappointed. “Yeah… yeah, you can sleep with me tonight.” Shelley seemed quite anxious, and it made sense. Someone was destroying things around the house. Of course Maggie would let her sleep with her if she was scared. Though, she probably would have allowed it in any normal circumstance, too.

“Great! I promise to keep you safe!” Some of the tension seemed to have left Shelley, though she never looked truly relaxed.

“And I’ll keep you safe, too.”

“Right!” Shelley figured she didn’t need to be protected. There were no springs in her. But she also didn’t want to worry Maggie, so she went along with it.

__________

That night, Maggie and Shelley snuggled up together to sleep. Maggie didn’t know what to expect, but when Shelley wrapped a muscular arm around her, she let out a surprised “Oh!”

“Sorry! I should have asked before assuming you would want my arm there!” Shelley started to withdraw her arm, but Maggie stopped her.

“It’s alright, Shelley. I was just… surprised. You may leave your arm where it is, if you want.” Shelley’s arm settled back into place over Maggie.

Maggie felt Shelley’s abs pressing up against her. Chiseled and hard, yet pleasant to lay against. Just the feeling of Shelley’s abs made Maggie’s mind run wild. She imagined herself kneeling on the ground, kissing and caressing Shelley’s impressive musculature, making her feel appreciated. She pictured Shelley glistening in sweat after an exhausting, yet gratifying, night together. 

Shit , she thought, feeling the arousal building in her core, not right now!

Maggie focused on the ceiling above her, trying to distract herself from thoughts of Shelley until she fell asleep.

__________

Shelley jolted up in bed, hearing a noise outside. She quickly turned to wake Maggie, only to find she was already awake.

“Did you hear that, too, Maggie?” Shelley’s voice was shaky.

Maggie nodded, whispering, “Let’s go check it out.”

The two women crept out into the main part of the office, being as silent as possible. Shelley positioned herself in front of Maggie, not willing to risk her getting hurt.

Arriving in the office, they found Maggie’s pen, destroyed, missing its spring. This time, though, they found someone at the scene of the crime. An adorable tasselhound.

“Davi?!” Maggie was shocked to see that Mateo’s dog was the one doing this. He was always so well-behaved. “Davi, what are you doing?” As Maggie took another step into the office, she saw that Davi wasn’t alone.

Hiding behind the tasselhound was a strange little creature, its body bearing a striking resemblance to Maggie’s now-destroyed pen. Its tail was a long spring, longer than the rest of its body.

Suddenly, everything clicked in Maggie’s brain. “Ohhh, I see. Davi has been breaking pens because he thinks that they’re springtails in need of rescuing.” She knelt down and scratched behind Davi’s ear, getting a happy tail wag in return. “He’s just trying to do a good thing. Although, we should probably figure out how to get him to stop .”

“Can’t blame him,” Shelley said, “it definitely is weird that a living creature is born whenever a pen breaks.” She thought for a moment. “Does that mean pens are eggs?”

Maggie considered the question, before saying, “Maybe we don’t have to solve every mystery.”

Shelley smiled. “Fair enough.” She knelt next to Maggie, scratching Davi on the head. She noticed the orange tassel on his neck. “Oh, that must be where the thread is from! His collar!”

Maggie nodded. “I knew Mateo had similarly-coloured tassels on him, but I didn’t even bother asking him. I figured he was too nice to have anything to do with things being damaged.”

Shelley shrugged. “You were basically right.”

Maggie smiled. “Thanks.” She looked over at the springtail, who was currently hiding behind Davi. She held her hand out for it to sniff. The strange little animal slowly approached, excitedly jumping up and down when it recognized her scent. It leaped into her arms and snuggled against her chest. “Well. I suppose I have to keep you, now, don’t I?”

Maggie and Shelley stood up simultaneously, Maggie cradling her new pet in her arms. “Well,” she started, “we should probably bring Davi back to Mateo and clear everything up.”

__________

“Davi! Davi! Where are you, buddy?!” Mateo had been calling for Davi all morning. He had gotten up early to check on all of the new springtails, and noticed that he couldn’t find Davi anywhere. He was worried about him. 

Mateo slumped onto the ground with his head in his hands. He ran an animal rescue, but he couldn’t even take care of his own dog? What made him qualified to do this at all?

Just as Mateo stood up, planning to call out for Davi once more, he saw Maggie and Shelley approaching. They weren’t alone, though, and as soon as Davi’s eyes met with Mateo’s, he charged forward. Tears streamed down Mateo’s face as he embraced his dog, relief washing over him now that he was back.

“Davi, where were you?!” He scratched Davi’s chin, giving the dog another hug. “I was worried about you!”

Maggie approached, her springtail fast asleep in her arms. “He’s been ‘rescuing’ springtails.”

Mateo looked up at Maggie. “What do you mean?”

“Someone has been destroying pens around the house,” Maggie responded. “The springs were missing every time, so we assumed someone was just stealing springs.”

“But then,” Shelley said, “Davi woke us up cracking open Maggie’s pen. He was just freeing these guys from their eggs!”

Maggie laughed softly. “Right… he had pure intentions, but we’re hoping you can convince him to stop.”

Mateo nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll explain it to him.” He scratched Davi on the head. “He’s a smart boy.”

Shelley furrowed her brow in thought. “Well, what are you going to do, now, with all of these springtails?”

Mateo sighed. “Hopefully get them adopted?”

__________

Penelope held the tiny creature that had once been her favourite pen. She gave it a kiss on the forehead as she scratched its stomach.

“He’s so cute! Oh my god, you’re even better now than you were when you were a pen!” Penelope squeezed the springtail in her arms as it nuzzled into her shoulder.

Mateo smiled. “Well, I’m glad he has a new home now.”

Maggie smiled as she watched the last of the springtails find his home. She wanted to make sure they were all taken care of, since they were part of her case (and adorable), so she had followed Mateo to every adoption.

“Well,” Maggie said, as she and Mateo left the office, “I suppose that’s it.”

Mateo nodded. “How’s Nancy, by the way?”

At the mention of her name, Maggie’s springtail poked her head out of Maggie’s coat. “Pretty good, it would seem,” Maggie responded.

Mateo gave Nancy a pat on the head. “And, uhm… how are things with Shelley?”

Maggie scowled slightly at Mateo. “What do you mean by that?”

Mateo shrugged. “I mean what I said. How are things with Shelley?”

“Shelley,” Maggie said, quite matter-of-factly, “as I told you this morning, was feeling sore from not properly stretching before her workout yesterday. She’s at home resting. Other than that, ‘things with Shelley’ are just as they usually are.”

“Right…” Mateo smiled. “When you say ‘at home’, whose home do you mean?”

“Mine, of course.” Maggie frowned. “Are you implying something?”

“Maybe,” Mateo replied. He yawned. “I’m going to go home and get some sleep, now that all of the springtails have been adopted.” He gave Maggie a hug. “You get some rest, too, okay?”

Maggie nodded. “I’ll try my best.”

Mateo giggled as he left. “Maybe you can cuddle up with Shelley when you get home?”

Maggie scoffed, and headed home. She didn’t like that Mateo was onto her. She also didn’t like spending so much time with Shelley without telling her how she felt.

What she did like, though, was that Mateo was probably right. Shelley would probably like to cuddle when she got home.

Chapter Text

Kopi silently entered the bedroom, quietly shutting the door. She looked around, seemingly pleased with what she saw, and convened with the people she had gathered.

“So,” she said, “you all probably already know why I’ve gathered you here.”

“Actually,” Beau responded, “I have no idea.”

“Neither do I,” said Skips.

Kopi sighed. “Okay, fair enough.” She looked around the room, making sure they weren’t being watched. She gathered the group closer together, saying, “It’s about Maggie and Shelley.”

“Ooh!” Betty exclaimed. “I like where this is going. Got a plan to get them together?”

Nightmare gave her lover a confused look. “Get them together? I was under the impression that they were already a couple.”

“Nope.” Mateo sighed. “According to Maggie, their relationship is ‘strictly professional’.”

Betty laughed. “I’ll believe it when I see it. There was nothing professional about the way they were holding each other when we watched that horror movie with them.”

“Agreed,” Nightmare said. “Watching them made me worry that I wasn’t cuddling you hard enough.”

“Aww!” Betty kissed Nightmare on the cheek. She whispered, though not quietly enough, “You can go as hard as you want on me, baby…”

“Don’t they live together?” Gaia asked. “Didn’t they adopt a dog together?”

“Well, a springtail isn’t a dog,” Mateo responded, “but I see your point.”

Gaia turned to Kopi. “As someone who lives pretty close to Maggie, I’ve seen a lot from those two. Oblivious as can be. Hope ya got a good plan.”

“I do, I think,” Kopi said, “and I’ll need your help. All of your help.”

__________

Shelley stepped into the coffee shop, feeling a strange pang of loneliness being here without Maggie. It was absurd, really. The only reason she wasn’t with Maggie right now was because Maggie had let- or, more accurately, forced - Shelley to sleep in today. She’d been pretty stressed recently, after the homeowner had left a ten-pound weight on a shelf. She held out, but there was still some residual anxiety, and she hadn’t been sleeping well as a result.

Regardless, it was silly to feel lonely. She had just come from Maggie’s house, from laying in her bed, but because she wasn’t directly in her vicinity, she felt sad. Not surprising, of course. She’d been trying to ignore it, but… she was desperately in love with Maggie.

Kopi smiled as Shelley stepped up to order. “Hey, Shelley. Where’s Maggie today?”

Shelley put on her trademark strained, anxious smile, and said, “Oh, she’s just out solving a mystery, brosefina! She told me to stay home and get some rest… but I’m fine!”

Kopi gave her a sympathetic smile. “Are you? You can talk to me, you know.”

Shelley kept her smiling façade up for a few more seconds, before letting out a defeated sigh. “I just… I’d be fine without the sleep, you know? Really, all I want is… for her to be there.” She blushed. “I, uh… I didn’t really mean to say all of that…”

“Don’t worry,” Kopi said, “I understand. It must be hard to spend all of that time together while keeping your feelings hidden.”

Shelley laughed slightly, her mental exhaustion clear from her voice. “It is. Thank you, Kopi.” Shelley sighed. “She’s so sweet, and smart, and beautiful… I don’t know what to do.”

Kopi nodded. “Maybe she feels the same? Could be worth asking.”

Shelley shook her head rapidly. “Nope! No way! Not gonna do that! What if she doesn’t feel the same way?! That would make things so awkward! I mean, I’ve been sleeping in her bed, I can’t just confess my feelings !”

Kopi narrowed her eyes. “Wh- wait… you sleep in her bed?”

Shelley shrugged. “Sometimes. If we’re cold. Bodies are warmer than blankets.”

“You- I- what are you- but- you sleep in the same bed !? You cuddle to stay warm !?” Kopi rubbed her temples. “Just tell her! You’re basically in a relationship already!”

Shelley waved her hand dismissively. “Nah, I think she’s just a physically affectionate friend.”

“Shelley… Maggie and I have been good friends for years now… I don’t think I’ve even given her a high five!”

Shelley shrugged. “I think we’re reading into things. She probably doesn’t see me that way.”

Kopi groaned. If this is what they were like… Kopi’s plan had to work. Because they sure as Hell weren’t going to figure it out themselves.

__________

“So,” Maggie said, “why did you ask me to meet you here?” She had been called over to meet with Beau, Gaia, and Skips for some sort of ‘top-secret mission’.

Beau held up an ancient-looking sheet of paper, covered in scrawled words and scribbled images. “We found this , hidden away in the corner of a closet. It has some clues about the whereabouts of some sort of great treasure, so we wanted your help on our quest!” 

Skips nodded. “Chance said we should have a ‘balanced party’ for our quests, and we figured, mystery solving is a niche you could fill.”

“And what roles do all of you fill?”

“Well,” Gaia said, squeezing Beau’s bicep, “we’ve got the muscle, here. Skips’ got his bugs he can… kinda control.” She smiled. “And I’m just me!”

Beau beamed, and ruffled Gaia’s hair. “And ‘just you’ is perfect!” Gaia blushed, and gave Beau a kiss.

“Well…” Maggie said, “I’m certainly intrigued. Count me in.”

Beau pumped her fist. “Yes!” She took a breath, composing herself. “Alright, so. This sheet of paper says something about untold treasures. And then there’s just a bunch of numbers.”

Maggie frowned slightly. “Numbers?”

“Here, look.” Beau handed the paper to Maggie. There were, indeed, just a bunch of numbers

3 18 1 23 12

19 16 1 3 5

“We’re not sure what it means,” Beau said, “so, we figured, if we had a detective-”

“It says ‘crawl space’,” Maggie responded, quite matter-of-factly. She frowned. “It’s the simplest form of substitution cypher…”

“Yes! The crawl space, of course!” Beau clapped Maggie on the back, harder than she was expecting. “Maggie, you’re a genius!”

“I am,” Maggie said, “but I don’t think this puzzle required that. It’s so simple, it’s almost as though whoever wrote this wanted us to find whatever is hidden…”

Gaia shrugged. “Doesn’t everyone who hides treasure and leaves clues to it, on some level, want it to be found?”

“I suppose… though I worry it’s a trap.”

“If it is,” Skips responded, “we’ll know it’s coming, now.”

“Exactly!” Beau pulled everyone in close under her arms, her friends all significantly shorter than her. “If there’s no trap, we keep going! If there is a trap, that’s just classic adventure stuff! It’ll be fun!”

__________

Kopi waved as Betty and Mateo walked up to the counter. She lowered her voice, and said, “Hey! You’re right on time.”

Betty smiled. “Of course we are. This is important.”

Kopi nodded. “So, are we all clear on what the plan is?”

Mateo shrugged. “Just… distract her, right?”

Kopi nodded again. “Keep her occupied while Maggie ‘solves the mystery’.”

“Why us?” Betty asked. “What makes us good for distracting?”

“Well,” Kopi responded, “I figured we should try and be nice about our scheming, so… maybe you could help her get some rest?”

Betty grinned. “Oh! That, we can do.”

__________

As Shelley finished her tea, she saw two of the softest people she knew walking up to her.

“Heyyyy, Shelley…” Mateo gave her a somewhat awkward smile. “We, uhm… we heard you were having trouble sleeping?”

“Oh! No, no, I’m fine, bro! Getting plenty of sleep!”

Betty rubbed Shelley’s shoulder softly, saying, “It’s okay, Shelley. We’re here to help you.”

Shelley wanted to stay strong, but they were right. She was tired. And they were both so inviting .

Betty smiled. “The bedroom is pretty quiet right now… why don’t you come on up and take a nap? We’ll keep you warm.”

Shelley didn’t want to admit defeat. “No, it’s… you don’t have to…” She let out an exhausted sigh. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Betty wrapped her arms around Shelley, “come on, let’s get you upstairs.” Betty and Mateo guided Shelley up to the bedroom, letting her settle into the mattress. She let out a sigh, as Betty and Mateo nestled in on either side of her. She felt warmth spread through her as she was surrounded on all sides by softness, both of them enveloping her in their arms.

Shelley heard another voice in the room. “May I join?” She looked over to see Nightmare standing near the bed. Shelley nodded, and Nightmare crawled onto the bed, settling behind Shelley. She ran her fingers through the woman’s hair, lightly scratching Shelley’s scalp. The normal air of intimidation and fear following Nightmare felt different, somehow. Directed out into the rest of the world, feeling protective rather than threatening. 

On paper, this was the perfect environment for the best nap of Shelley’s life. But still, it felt incomplete.

After a while of relaxation, Nightmare spoke again. “Are you unable to sleep, Shelley?”

“Yeah… I don’t really know why.”

Betty looked up at Nightmare, giving the large monster a wink. “You know… I often have trouble sleeping without Nightmare there. Even when I’m otherwise very comfortable.”

Shelley looked back at Betty. “What do you mean?”

Betty shrugged. “I guess if you have someone special, sometimes, you just… can’t sleep without them.” She smiled at Shelley. “Does anyone like that come to mind for you?”

Shelley hesitated. “Well… maybe.” She sighed. “Look, guys, this was really nice, but… I just can’t sleep.”

Mateo rubbed Shelley’s shoulder. “Hey, you can still just stay here and relax, right? Maybe just let us know what’s on your mind? If you feel like it.”

Shelley nodded, sinking further into the warmth of the trio surrounding her. “It’s… Maggie. I just… can’t stop thinking about her.”

__________

“Well, here we are. The crawlspace.” Beau looked around, underwhelmed. “Just kind of a hole, isn’t it?”

Skips shrugged. “It’s a pretty big hole… and it’d be a pretty good place to hide something.”

“Well,” Maggie said, “does anything stand out?”

Gaia pointed to a corner. “I think I just saw something move over there.”

Maggie shone a flashlight where Gaia pointed, and sure enough, was greeted by a swarm of enormous cockroaches. Upon being illuminated, the cockroaches turned to the group, and began to charge. They all screamed, diving behind the pillars in the room, Maggie and Skips behind one, Gaia and Beau behind the other.

Gaia leaned in and whispered to Beau, “Are those part of the plan?”

“No! They’re real cockroaches!”

Before Gaia could respond, Skips spoke up from the other pillar. “I’ve got this!” He shifted to his more monstrous form, calling out, “Denizens of the shadows! Come to my aid!” Dozens of silverfish emerged from the darkest corners of the crawl space, charging at the cockroaches. They were… mostly ignored, considering their diminutive size and general inefficacy in combat.

Gaia sighed. “Right. Shag it.” She looked over at Skips. “Skips! Gonna need ya small again, b’y! Need me some juice!” 

The shadowy monster nodded, shifting back into Skips’ true form. “Be careful, Gaia! Don’t hurt yourself!”

Gaia scoffed, as shadowy tendrils gathered around her body. “B’y, who knit ya? Thinks I can’t handle myself?” Gaia was now wreathed in shadows, hovering in the air.

Wind whipped through the crawl space. Maggie held onto her hat in one hand, and secured her coat with the other. She felt Nancy, her springtail, squirming around in her favourite pocket. “Skips! What’s happening?!”

Skips shrugged. “Why do you think, of all the objects in the house, Gaia is the one I’m attached to? There are so many darker places in the house, but none of them are literally cursed like Gaia.”

“ Cursed?! ”

Skips just shrugged again. “Dangers of buying secondhand, I guess. She doesn’t remember how it happened.”

Maggie made a mental note to follow up on this mystery later as she turned back to Gaia. Shadows issued forth from Gaia, pinning the roaches back into the corner. The bugs skittered away into a hole, leaving the adventurers alone.

The party let out a collective sigh of relief, regrouping in the center of the room. “Well,” Gaia said, a smile on her face as though she hadn’t just revealed an Earth-shattering secret to Maggie, “glad that’s over.”

Maggie nodded, still trying to process what just happened. “So… see any clues?” The group split up, and began searching the crawl space for anything clue-like. Really, most of what was there was just pebbles and dead bugs, but eventually, Maggie stumbled upon a folded piece of paper.

“Look at this…”

Everyone gathered around Maggie as she unfolded the sheet of paper. Beau squinted at it. “A grocery list?” Sure enough, the paper in Maggie’s hands appeared to simply be a list of things that could be purchased at a grocery store.

-Icing

-Bagels

-Udon

-Papaya

-Radishes

-Olives

-Fennel

-Eggs

-Naan

“Well, I don’t see how this helps us,” Gaia said.

Maggie frowned slightly, before tilting the paper a bit. Her eyes widened, and she turned to the rest of the group. “It’s an acrostic!” She ran her finger down the paper, saying, “See, if you take the first letter of each word, it spells out ‘ibuprofen’.”

“Huh?” Beau cocked her head in confusion. “What the hell’s an ibuprofen?”

Gaia smiled, pulling Beau in close. “It’s an over-the-counter painkiller, angel.”

“Oh… well, where do we even go now?”

Maggie smiled. “Farya.”

__________

Nightmare stroked Shelley’s hair softly. It wasn’t quite enough for her to get to sleep, but it really was relaxing. The warmth of her friends surrounding her felt nice, too.

“Why don’t you just tell her, sweetie?” Betty asked.

“I just… don’t want to ruin a good thing, you know? We’re friends, we solve mysteries together, she lets me stay at her place when I’m feeling overwhelmed…  what if Maggie doesn’t feel the same way? Do I lose that friendship?”

Nightmare shrugged. “And what if you don’t lose that friendship?”

“Well, I won’t if I don’t tell her.”

Nightmare sighed. “Shelley, you can’t live your life ruled by fear. If you didn’t ever do anything that could go poorly for you, you would die of dehydration. People choke all the time.”

Shelley groaned. “I know… I know I should tell her, but… it’s difficult.”

Mateo nodded. “I can imagine, but… isn’t it just as difficult to keep hiding how you feel?”

Shelley sighed. “Maybe? I don’t… I don’t know.”

__________

The door to Farya’s office swung open, causing the first aid kit to jump. Skips, Gaia, Beau, and Maggie all entered together.

“Hey! Someone injured?” Farya had a big smile on her face as she greeted the group in front of her.

“No,” Maggie responded, “we’re on a… quest, I suppose, and our most recent clue has led us here.”

Farya frowned slightly. “Oh… why?”

Maggie showed her the slip of paper they’d found. “It’s an acrostic, it spells ‘ibuprofen’. We figured that that was our next clue.”

Farya tilted her head inquisitively, and shrugged. She opened up a cabinet of ibuprofen bottles. “Here it is… don’t know what kind of clue you’re gonna find here.”

Maggie furrowed her brow, and picked up a bottle. She shook it. It rattled, just as she would have expected. She continued this with all of the bottles, until she picked one up that was suspiciously light. Sure enough, there was no rattle when she shook it.

“Farya? Do you mind if I open this?”

“Go right ahead! I don’t need empty bottles.”

Maggie unscrewed the cap, revealing another rolled-up sheet of paper. She pulled it out, and unfurled it, as everyone gathered around to see it.

It looked to be a riddle of some sort. Maggie cleared her throat, before reading. 

“If the treasure is something you truly desire

Then you’re going to need to go up, a bit higher.

Geometry, coding, who knew there’d be math?

At least you can take a relaxing bath.

(Not quite the same room, but directly adjacent)

Where one rests, your target is considered subjacent.

You’ll find your quarry where one most often gets laid,

The very same room where terrors are made.”

“Oh,” Maggie said, figuring out the clue immediately, “it’s in the bedroom.”

“How do you figure?” Skips asked.

“Well, ‘up a bit higher’ probably means the second floor. I assume geometry and coding refer to Tina and Daemon.” Maggie pointed to each line as she spoke. “The ‘relaxing bath’ is in an adjacent room, which is true of the upstairs bathroom. ‘Where one most often gets laid’ is, presumably, the bed. And ‘where terrors are made’ probably refers to Nightmare.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Skips said. “Let’s go!” Skips and Maggie ran up the stairs, while Beau and Gaia stayed back for a moment.

“You know,” Beau said, “even though I know this is all fake… it’s really nice to have a quest to go on with you.”

Gaia smiled. “Aww, Beau. I’m sure we’ll find some kinda adventure for ya.” She gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Beau smiled as she took Gaia’s hand and walked upstairs with her.

__________

Kopi sat down on the bed, patting Shelley on the shoulder. “Still can’t sleep, huh?” Shelley shook her head. “Well,” Kopi said, “I brought you some chamomile and lavender tea. I mean… if all of this isn’t enough to put you to sleep, the tea probably won’t help much, but… worth a try, right?”

Shelley sipped the tea. “Thanks, Kopi.” She sighed. “I just wish-”

Shelley’s sentence was cut off as the bedroom door flew open, Maggie and Skips bursting into the room, followed closely by Beau and Gaia.

“Maggie!” Shelley practically shot up from the bed upon seeing the detective’s face. She smiled, a genuine smile, not the strained one she had when she was trying to hide her feelings.

Maggie beamed when she saw Shelley. “Shelley! You’re here! This is perfect!” She ran over and grabbed Shelley’s hand. “We’ve been on a quest, searching for… some kind of treasure. I didn’t want to bother you, since I know you were supposed to be getting some sleep today, but… I have been wishing you were here the whole time.”

“Aww! I’ve been wishing you were here the whole time, too!”

Maggie frowned. “In the bedroom?”

Shelley’s eyes went wide, and she blushed, as she yelled out, “Hey, doesn’t really matter, don’t worry about it! You’re here now, catch me up on the mystery!”

Maggie nodded, pulling out the paper. “It looks, from this clue, like whatever we’re searching for is under the bed.”

“How are we going to get it?”

Maggie opened her coat to let her springtail leap out of her pocket. “Nancy? Go for it!”

Nancy scurried under the bed. The group heard a bit of shuffling, then silence, then the sound of something being dragged slowly. Nancy eventually emerged, dragging a small, wooden box with a sheet of paper on it.

Maggie knelt down and patted the springtail on the head. “Good girl!” She took the piece of paper and unfolded it.

“Well?” Beau said. “What is it?”

“Another riddle, it would seem.” Maggie turned to Shelley. “Would you like to do the honours?” Shelley smiled, and took the paper.

“You’ve found the chest, but its contents are blocked.

You have one more step before it’s unlocked.

Open your heart, let yourself be exposed,

To progress any further, feelings must be disclosed.

It doesn’t matter who, but one must make a confession

Of desire, of love, of wholehearted affection.

Your love must be true, and it must not be known,

And the feelings confessed must be your own.”

“Hmm…” Maggie’s face scrunched into a frown. “So it wants… a confession of love? How does it even know? How does it unlock after hearing it?”

Skips shrugged. “Magic?”

“Right…”

“Well…” Gaia turned to Beau, cupping her head in her hand. “I love you, Beau.”

Beau smiled. “I love you, too… but we say that all the time. I don’t think it counts as a confession.”

Maggie groaned. She felt a knot in her stomach, knowing where this was going. Her dread was suddenly worsened by Mateo saying, “Well, if only someone here were hiding feelings that they could confess to someone else.” He gave Maggie a very pointed look as he spoke.

Maggie sighed. Telling Shelley how she felt was one of the scariest things she could imagine. But she couldn’t stand leaving something unsolved if she had the tools to solve it.

Maggie put her hand on Shelley’s shoulder. “Shelley…”

“Wait!” Shelley took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry to interrupt you, but I’m the most relaxed I’ve ever been in my life, and I don’t know how long I have until I become too nervous to do this. Maggie, I really like you. You’re probably the only person I feel comfortable being an anxious mess around.” She laughed nervously. “I, uh… I haven’t been able to sleep today, no matter what I try, because… I just can’t stop thinking about having you there with me.” Shelley was clearly sweating now, and was looking anywhere but Maggie’s face.

Maggie was at a loss for words. Her hand trembled as she reached up for Shelley’s face, turning her to look into her eyes. “Uhm… may I kiss you?”

Shelley nodded, and Maggie guided her face down to meet her own. Their lips met, and it was everything either of them had wanted. They separated, each one wanting to go further, but neither wanting to do so in front of the crowd of their friends that surrounded them. Shelley pulled Maggie into a bone-crushing hug, though Maggie was too happy to be worried about how hard she was being squeezed.

Shelley looked down at Maggie. “So… uhh… what’s in the box?”

Maggie held the box up and opened it. She frowned, and turned to the rest of the group. “It’s empty. Beau, I believe you’ve been tricked in some way.”

Beau grinned. “ You’ve been tricked in some way!”

Maggie cocked her head to the side. “Excuse me?”

“Well,” Kopi said, “for a while now, we’ve all been watching you working together, and… it’s been a bit frustrating.”

Betty nodded. “You both clearly wanted this, but neither of you were going to make a move. So we intervened.”

Maggie stammered for a moment, trying to think of some kind of retort, but nothing came to her. They were right, and they had helped her. Maggie sighed. “Thank… thank you.’

“You know,” Nightmare said, “if you’d like some time alone… we can leave the bedroom to you.” She grinned, slightly teasingly.

“And I can watch Nancy if you want,” Mateo offered. At the mention of her name, the springtail ran to Mateo and squeaked with excitement.

Maggie and Shelley were beet red at this point, desperately wanting the conversation to be over, but also desperately wanting each other. Shelley was the first to speak up, uttering a rather quiet, “yes, please,” before turning away from the rest of the group.

Gaia smiled. “Alright, come on, let’s give’em some space.” And with that, the group exited the bedroom, leaving Maggie and Shelley alone together.

The two women stood in awkward silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say next. Finally, after far too long, Maggie spoke up. “We can just… lay down and cuddle, if you want.” She took a deep breath. “When they left us alone, the implication seemed to be sexual, but… we don’t have to do anything if you’re uncomfortable.”

“Would you be uncomfortable?” Shelley asked, her breath catching in her throat. Maggie shook her head. “Well, neither would I…”

“Well, then…” Maggie moved in close, pressing a kiss against Shelley’s neck, right under her jaw. Shelley shuddered, dropping her jacket off of her shoulders. Maggie trailed her finger down Shelley’s chest, before slowly pulling away. She began unbuttoning her jacket, her hands trembling slightly as she did. She threw her jacket off, leaning into Shelley.

Shelley slowly laid back on the bed, pulling Maggie in and kissing her. Their tongues intertwined, slowly at first, but they quickly began to find their rhythm together. Maggie hooked her fingers on the waistband of Shelley’s shorts, waiting a moment for her approval. A quiet, whimpered “Please…”, followed by Shelley bucking her hips onto Maggie’s hand, prompted Maggie to pull off the shorts. She reached back up, brushing her hand along Shelley’s crotch as she moved to remove her underwear. Maggie gazed down at Shelley’s pussy, almost in disbelief, finally getting to see her like this after all this time pining.

Maggie leaned in, spreading Shelley’s labia with her thumbs, and dragged her tongue along Shelley’s pussy. She flicked her tongue on her clitoris at the end, eliciting a moan so loud she could swear they’d hear it all the way in the kitchen. She slowly circled her tongue around Shelley’s clit, getting faster and faster as she went. She gasped as she felt Shelley’s legs tighten around her. They were so strong she almost wondered if she’d be snapped in half when Shelley came. Only one way to find out, she thought.

Shelley’s juices gushed into Maggie’s face as she finally orgasmed. To Maggie’s relief, she wasn’t snapped in half, simply pressed into the bed. Her face was buried into Shelley’s crotch, involuntarily, but not unpleasantly. When Shelley’s body finally relaxed, Maggie sat up, Shelley’s fluid dripping from her mouth.

Shelley sat up, sliding Maggie onto her back. She slipped Maggie’s top off, and removed her bra, revealing the detective’s soft breasts. Shelley rubbed both of Maggie’s nipples for a moment, delighting in the small gasps and moans coming from her.

Shelley moved to Maggie’s leggings next. She began pulling them down, though they were rather tight, and getting them past Maggie’s hips, while she was laying down, proved to be a bit awkward.

“Just… rip them. Please.” Maggie’s voice was barely a whisper.

Shelley gave her a confused look. “Rip them? Your leggings?”

Maggie nodded. “I have more at home. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? I think I can get them off of you…”

Maggie shook her head. “I want you to… take control. Make me yours.” She paused. “If you’re comfortable with that.”

Shelley’s eyes widened, and for a moment, both women were still. Suddenly, though, Shelley positioned her arms on Maggie’s legs, and spread them wide. She grabbed the crotch of Maggie’s leggings with both hands, and ripped a massive hole in them, revealing her bare legs and her underwear. Shelley took the underwear, and pulled it down enough to reveal Maggie’s vulva.

Maggie shuddered and gasped as two of Shelley’s fingers slid into her, barely meeting any resistance at all. Shelley pumped her fingers in and out, slowly at first, but quickly picking up in speed and intensity. Maggie moaned and gasped as Shelley kept going. Shelley brought her other hand over, rubbing Maggie’s clit under her thumb. The combination of sensations caused Maggie to call out Shelley’s name as she came. Shelley felt Maggie clench on her fingers as she slowly pulled out.

Maggie relaxed into the bed, panting, as Shelley moved up to kiss her. Their lips met once more, the women passionately kissing between Maggie catching her breath. Shelley sat up, pulling Maggie into an embrace, holding the soft woman against her chest.

After a moment, Maggie separated from Shelley’s arms. She put her hands on either side of Shelley’s torso, and slowly leaned forward. She dragged her tongue along Shelley’s chiseled abs, thoroughly, methodically, tasting the sweat on her body. Shelley looked down with anticipation, watching Maggie’s tongue slowly inch closer and closer to her chest, until finally, Maggie took one of Shelley’s tits into her mouth. Shelley moaned, ready to go another round.

__________

Two hours had passed by the time that Shelley and Maggie finally collapsed into the bed together, both glistening with sweat. Maggie pulled herself close to Shelley, letting out a soft sigh against her neck.

“I wish we had done this a long time ago.”

Shelley closed her eyes and smiled. “Same.”

Maggie lazily trailed a finger down Shelley’s sternum, pressing a kiss to her chest. “Hopefully we’ve tired you out enough that you’ll get some sleep tonight,” Maggie joked. Shelley didn’t respond, as she had already fallen asleep. Maggie smiled, snuggling in close to her lover and pulling the blankets up over her.

Betty would understand if they stayed a little while longer.