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Can't Say No

Summary:

Sabine's been making a lot of friends lately. More than friends, in fact. When the Flower Dance comes due, said friends end up meeting each other and Sabine finds out she's gotten more than she bargained for.

Notes:

This was inspired by "Can't Say No" by Conor Maynard and spiraled out of control from there. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Text

“Hey Sabine!”

Sabine waved to Maru, smiling softly as she headed over. Maybe this Flower Dance would be different this year. Last year had just made her feel like she was a huge outsider, which she had been at the time.

“Sabine!”

That was Leah, heading over with a beaming smile on her face. With a flash, Sabine remembered the picnic and started to blush. There had been a bouquet involved then, hadn’t there? She vaguely remembered drinking with Shane and talking about the women in the town.

“Hey there.” And there was Shane himself, looking a bit more cleaned up than normal. Had there been a bouquet involved with him too? She remembered the gridball game and started to sweat. Did these people ever talk to each other?

“About the dance…” Maru was talking to her now. What had she been talking about? The instant recall was not working, and Leah and Shane were now there. As if on a signal, Shane’s arm went around her shoulders at the same time Leah’s snaked around her waist. Maru paused in her talking.

“Sabine?” The scientist was eyeing the other two people with interest. Leah was sizing up her competitors. And Shane looked partially defensive, partially like he wouldn’t mind mixing it up with a couple of females over her.

“Y-yes?” Sabine answered, ducking her way out of the combined arms. “Can I help you?”

“You’ll be dancing with me, right?” Leah asked. Maru gave her a look over those glasses. “I had understood that Sabine would be with me this year,” she interjected.

“I was hoping that she and I might…” Shane started, but a look from the other two made him trail off. “Never mind.”

“Can I help you all?” Lewis asked. “We’re about to start the dance an-”

“No,” Leah and Maru answered flatly, turning to Sabine.

“So. Who -are- you dancing with?” Maru asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’d like to know that too,” Leah added.

Sabine could feel her lips twitching up into a defensive smile. “I...hadn’t figured that out yet?” she admitted.

“You hadn’t…” Maru started.

“Figured it…” Leah continued.

“Out yet?” Shane finished lamely.

Sabine nodded, swallowing hard. “I wanted to get to know you better. All of you. And well, the bouquets seemed the easiest way to do that, and…”

“You do know what the bouquets mean, don’t you?” Leah asked.

“That we can be best friends?” Sabine tried.

Shane blanched.

“They mean we’re dating,” Maru explained.

Sabine turned a bit pale. And she’d given them to three people.

“I think it’s starting to sink in,” Maru said, pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head.

“I suppose the real question is, who do you want to date?” Leah asked.

Sabine kicked the ground slightly. “...would you kill me if I said yes?”

“To who?” they asked.

“...to all of you.”

Chapter Text

“To all of us,” Shane said, glancing at the two women.

Sabine nodded sheepishly. “If you have a problem with that, I understand. I just…” She shook her head. “You’re all wonderful people and I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, and I figured that the kiss was just an incredibly friendly gesture here and-”

“You kissed her?” Again, the three spoke in unison, looking at the others.

“I’m...gonna go be over here,” Sabine said, starting to take two steps back. Leah and Maru immediately locked down on her arms. The two women were surprisingly strong, Sabine realized, as she tried to pull away and realized that she wasn’t budging.

“Not that easily, you won’t,” Leah said as an explanation. “We may be an artist and a scientist , but I have to haul that wood back to my cabin, and Maru explores the mine quite a bit for metal, don’t you?”

“Don’t forget about me,” Shane started. “I...well, I stock shelves,” he said.

“Don’t forget about him,” Sabine agreed. “I like him too.”

Leah and Maru glanced at each other, then turned to Shane. “Alright. What do you think we should do with her?”

“Do with me?” Sabine asked, starting to pale a little.

“Well, you led us all on. There’s got to be a punishment for that.”

“P-punishment?”

Shane thought for a moment, then smiled at the two women. “I think I might be able to come up with some things, if you two are interested.”

They both eyed the former town drunk with a bit of curiosity.

“For now, I think it’s best to agree that Sabine doesn’t dance with any of this year, and we figure out her punishment, yes?” he continued.

Leah and Maru exchanged another look, then let go of the purple-haired woman. “I can go with that,” Leah said. Maru nodded in agreement.

“So, I’m off the hook?” Sabine asked cautiously.

“Not by a long shot,” Maru replied. “We’ll come find you when we’re ready.”

“We do know where you live,” Leah reminded her.

It sounded more like a threat than anything else, Sabine mused as she scrambled away from the group. She scanned the crowd until she found what looked like a friendly face.

“Sebastian.”

“Sabine,” he greeted her, then looked over her shoulder. “You have three pairs of eyes looking over here at you occasionally. Thought you were going to dance with my half-sister this year, considering you two are dating?”

“It’s a long story,” Sabine said, shaking her head. “For now, want to dance? Or were you planning on asking Abigail?”

Sebastian blushed, shaking his head. “Don’t think she sees me that way. You sure my sister isn’t going to kill you?”

“I’m not sure of anything right now,” Sabine replied. “All I know is that there are three people who are probably currently plotting my demise.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “This you’ve got to tell me. If you want, it can be over a game of Solarian Chronicles.”

“Deal.”

They lined up for the Flower Dance. Maru had paired up with Harvey, who looked elated, and Leah and Shane had seemed to reach a truce and were dancing together. If Sabine glanced in their direction, though, their eyes seemed to be boring through her.

“Tell you what,” Sebastian murmured in her ear. “Since I don’t know how well you can make it into the house with being in the doghouse with my sister, I’ll meet you out by the lake near our house and we can talk there, okay?”

Sabine nodded, trying to focus on the dance steps. It wasn’t a difficult dance, but her mind was anywhere but dancing. If only she hadn’t bought those bloody bouquets.

Chapter Text

“And that’s what happened,” Sabine finished, looking up at Sebastian. It was late night the next day. She’d taken the minecarts to skirt the town, giving a bit of thanks to Yoba that she’d had the foresight to get those fixed. She was a bit sweaty from fighting in the mines all day, but it had worked - no one had come to bother her. Now she was sitting on the edge of the lake

Sebastian shook his head, taking a drag on his cigarette. “You’re nuts, you know that?”

“I hang out in the mines,” Sabine replied as way of an explanation.

“If you wanted to give me a bouquet…” Sebastian couldn’t finish when he saw the look on her face - he broke into laughter.

“I think I’m in enough trouble without dating two people from the same family,” Sabine said miserably, hanging her head.

Sebastian snickered, shaking his head. “How did you not know that was what the bouquets meant, though? Didn’t Pierre give you the rundown on them?”

“He said it was a way to get to know someone better.”

Sebastian facepalmed. “He didn’t. Surely you knew that…”

“You think I would have done this on purpose?”

“Maybe? I don’t know if you’re into that scene, and for the record, I don’t judge if you are,” he said, starting to see the look on her face.

“What do you think is going to happen to me?” Sabine asked.

“Hard to say. Maru’s a scientist, so her take on this may be different than Leah. Shane’s probably going to need the most bolstering - he’s always been a bit of an outsider to the town, even worse than I am. At least I have Sam and Abigail.”

“How’s the band going?”

Sebastian brightened. “Good! Abigail volunteered as drummer and we’re starting to get our sound together.”

“Good.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Sebastian taking another drag off of his cigarette.

“How much experience does Maru have with-” Sabine went quiet when Sebastian gave her a look.

“Please don’t finish that sentence. We’re half-siblings, and I don’t think of her that way. I’ll help you out how I can, but aside from smuggling you out of town, you’re going to have to face the music one way or another.”

Sabine nodded. “I am, aren’t I.”

“Make the best of what you have right now, and try not to fear tomorrow,” Sebastian intoned, stubbing his cigarette out on the ground. At Sabine’s curious look, he smiled. “It’s a line from Solarian Chronicles.”

“We really must play that again some time.”

“Provided you survive, we can.”

Sabine groaned and lay back on the ground. “Your sister’s going to turn me into a robot.”

“Half-robot, maybe.” Sebastian smiled down at her and ruffled her hair. “I’m heading in. Feel free to stop by anytime.”

Sabine nodded and made her way across the boards to the minecart near the quarry. Sebastian had a point - it was getting pretty dark. Even being used to the mines, Sabine still couldn’t help ducking her head as the minecart took off. She always expected something to be in the cart with her, and remembering that day that the clay creature snuck up on her in the darkness had her pulling in tightly until the minecart finally stopped near the bus stop.

She made it home without incident, and slid under the covers with a bit of a shiver. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.

Chapter 4

Notes:

The chapter that earned this fic its rating.

Chapter Text

Spring turned into summer, and there had still been no mention of the punishment from the three of them. Sabine hadn’t been actively trying to avoid them, but she hadn’t gone out of her way to cross paths with them either. She’d been holed up in the mines with the excuse of helping fill up the museum archives, and no one had really questioned her on it.

The loneliness was starting to get to her. She missed her friends, or whatever they were to her. Were they something more?

A bone smacked into her face, sending her sprawling across the frozen dirt of the mid-level mines. She brought her sword up just in time to block two bony hands reaching for her throat. There were more skeletons closing in, though, and she realized with a start that she didn’t remember the last time she’d eaten anything. Her arms were shaking with exhaustion.

A small explosion concussed into the grinning skull above her, cracking the bone to the core and sprinkling her with bone fragments. She dove into a roll, sword coming up to swipe into two more skeletons. She could hear explosions behind her, but she let herself only examine the area directly around her, broad sweeps of the obsidian blade keeping enemies at bay.

Finally, movement stopped. She fell to one knee, panting heavily.

“You really shouldn’t be down here by yourself,” a familiar voice said, and a dark-skinned hand reached down into her vision.

“Hi,” Sabine said a bit guiltily, taking Maru’s hand and pulling herself up. “How are you?”

“Looking for you.”

Her shoulders hunched as she tried to draw into herself. “For?”

“Talking. Here.” She pressed a small bun into Sabine’s hand. “Eat that, then come to Leah’s cabin. We’ll see you there.” Without another word, Maru tucked the slingshot into a pocket and disappeared into the elevator.

Leah’s cabin? We?

Sabine’s mind was filled with questions as she scarfed down the bun and caught her breath, feeling her energy rise a bit. Maru was gone by the time she made it up to the top of the mines, and she used the run to the woods as an opportunity to try and clear her head. She should bring something with her.

One visit to the farm later, she was knocking on Leah’s door and waiting as the crickets of summer started to chirp the hours away.

The door swung open, and Leah’s head poked out. “Sabine! Come in. We were expecting you.”

Again with the we. She nodded and walked in, shrugging off her backpack.

The door closed behind her. Shane and Maru were already seated at the table, and Leah motioned for Sabine to join them. She did so, albeit a bit curiously.

“We’ve been talking,” Leah started, leaning against the wall. “About you.”

“About me,” Sabine repeated, glancing at the three of them.

“Mhmm.”

“None of us are willing to give you up,” Maru added with a smile. Was that smile a little more sly than she realized? And what exactly had been in that bun that Maru had given her? She was starting to feel a bit nervous.

“Which means...what?”

“Which means, if you’re willing…” Maru continued.

“We’re okay with sharing,” Shane finished, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“...sharing.”

“We’re all interested in you beyond just friendship,” Leah clarified, walking over to the remaining chair at the table and taking a seat.

“What does...sharing entail?” Sabine asked curiously, hands fiddling with her backpack.

“Whatever you’d like it to,” Maru answered. “We have some ideas if you’re open to them, starting with tonight.”

Sabine stared at the three of them, then let out a sharp laugh. “...you’ve been plotting with each other?”

“You -did- bring us together in an unexpected way,” Shane pointed out. “None of us were expecting to have to deal with the others at the Flower Dance.”

“You might say we’ve become friends,” Leah added. “Combining talents, if you will.”

“I think I need dinner first,” Sabine said a bit weakly. “I...brought along some food to share, if you’re interested.”

“Food definitely might be an idea,” they agreed, then eyes widened as Sabine started unloading her pack. Fresh baked bread from that morning, several types of jelly, salad, maki rolls with fresh fish - it seemed like she were pulling out her entire larder out of her backpack.

“I didn’t know how many people included ‘we’,” Sabine explained to the staring faces. “Or who, though in hindsight I should have expected this.”

“...is that hot pepper jelly?” Shane asked.

“It is.”

“Rhubarbs…?” Maru questioned.

“I remembered you liked pie,” Sabine replied. “And Leah, I made some wine too.”

Leah shook her head, chuckling. “You really went all out.”

“I realized I’d been avoiding the people I cared about, and I wanted to make up for that.”

The three of them exchanged a glance. “If you’re willing, we have some ideas on how you could start to do that,” Maru said.

“After dinner and dessert,” Sabine said, “I’d be willing to entertain those ideas.”

They ate in relative silence aside from people making enthusiastic noises over their favorite dishes. Sabine knew them well, and ate her maki rolls while ruminating on what ideas they might have come up with.

Sooner than she expected, the meal was over, and three pairs of eager eyes turned upon her.

“If you’ll follow me,” Leah said, her eyes glittering. Sabine nodded and followed after her to the bedroom, Shane and Maru close behind. What she saw had her eyes goggling slightly.

Leah’s bed was much larger than she remembered it being. In fact, the bed was now circular and took up the majority of the bedroom. In addition, there were metal loops that adorned the wood in spaced intervals.

“You like it? It’s a custom job courtesy of Robin,” Leah said, beaming. “It was a bit embarassing to ask for it, but she just winked and said that she’d see what she could do.”

Sabine swallowed as she eyed the loops. “What are those for?”

“Bondage. That doesn’t have to happen if you don’t want it to,” Maru added.

“You were in on this?” Sabine asked Shane. He held up his hands with a sheepish smile.

“Hey, I’m not just the chicken guy that works at Jojamart. I have other interests too.”

“That you two share?” Sabine said, looking over at Maru and Leah. They beamed.

“I spend a lot of time alone,” Leah admitted. “And my ex was into the scene.”

“Maru?”

“I work with robots and electricity. There are certain things you learn about yourself when you have a tendency to shock yourself when you’re not paying attention,” the scientist pointed out.

“The question is, are you interested?” Leah asked. “If you aren’t, feel free to say no. You can say no to all of this, in fact.”

“I never said that,” Sabine replied cautiously. The three of them exchanged a look, then smiled at her. “And I am...curious.”

“You’re welcome to be open with us,” Maru said, taking a seat on the bed and patting the spot next to her. “For now, we want to know what you like, and see if we can...fulfill those urges.”

Sabine nodded, taking a seat next to her. “I stopped by the spa on the way home so I wouldn’t be sweaty from the mines,” the purple-haired woman murmured shyly.

“That’s completely fine,” Maru encouraged, placing a hand on her cheek. “Do you mind if I kiss you?”

Sabine chuckled sheepishly. “I...I think I would like that.”

“Good.” Maru leaned in and their lips met in a soft, chaste kiss. When no resistance was met, the scientist decided to press her luck and ran her tongue along the other woman’s lips, seeking entrance and finding it. Sabine ‘eeeped’, hands coming up and clinging to Maru as she slowly explored her mouth with all the care and delicacy she gave to her scientific inquiries. By the end of the night, Sabine thought, she was going to be an experiment in this scientist’s hands.

Maru broke the kiss to take in some air and smiled at Sabine. “Still good?”

The purple-haired woman could only nod dazedly. “Yeah.”

“Good. We had several ways of going about this, one of them being taking turns. If you want, we can do that, or we can see about...collaborating.” Maru hung on the last word, glancing up at Shane and Leah.

“...collaborating?” That sounded dangerous...and fun.

“We all jump you at once,” Shane clarified, looking up at the ceiling with a very definite blush on his rugged cheeks. “It can be a bit...intense.”

“And fun,” Leah added with a smirk.

“I...how would that work?” Sabine asked, raising an eyebrow. “There’s one of me and three of you.”

“We’d make it work,” Leah assured her. “And if someone’s doing something you don’t like, you speak up and we do something different or stop. You’re the one driving this.”

Sabine tapped on a loop. “And these?”

“Are for you, if you want. I have silk rope.”

“And I have some...toys,” Maru volunteered with a slight blush. “I brought them along just in case. Batteries too.”

“I’m just here with my imagination,” Shane said with a shrug. “And condoms, if you’re interested.”

Sabine sat back on the bed, looking at the three of them. They’d really thought things through.

“...okay.”

“Okay, what?” Leah asked.

“Okay, I’m interested. Arms only for now on the tying up, though.” Sabine thought for a minute. “Isn’t there something about safewords too?”

“Yes. That would be helpful,” Leah said, rummaging around in her closet and coming up with several lengths of rope. “You don’t happen to have one already, do you?”

~
“Um…”

Leah chuckled. “You can borrow mine for now. It’s pineapple. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to need your shirt off so it doesn’t interfere later. Provided you’re still interested.”

In response, said shirt was tossed at her head. Leah beamed. “Excellent. If you’ll lean back and give me your wrist next. And Shane, if you’d do the honor on the knots? You were a boy scout once, weren’t you?”

Shane, who was blushing and acutely trying to avoid Sabine’s look of amusement, stepped over and tied the knots, leaning over Sabine to do so. He didn’t smell of alcohol of all - in fact, he smelled more like hay than anything else. It was a pleasant smell, Sabine decided.

“You smell nice,” she murmured quietly, leaning up to lightly kiss his cheek. He blushed harder.

“I’m familiar with these kind of scenarios, just not with…” He indicated the room. “An audience. Or other participants.”

“First foursome?” Leah asked.

“I’m used to just me and another person,” Shane admitted.

“Least you have that,” Maru said.

Leah and Shane paused, looking over at Maru. The scientist coughed, rubbing the back of her head.

“Lots of imagination, no opportunities to use it outside of myself? I live with my parents, remember?” Maru pointed out.

“True. Though your mother did a really good job on this bed,” Leah said, tugging on one of the loops to test it.

“I might have found pictures for her,” Maru admitted.

Leah just shook her head and laughed. “Of course you did. You ready, Sabine?”

“I think so?”

“Good. How do we want to do this, folks?”

“I’ve already gotten to kiss her, so I don’t mind going elsewhere,” Maru said. The mention of ‘elsewhere’ had Sabine shivering in anticipation.

“Okay. Shane?”

Shane rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I feel like the odd man out, literally.”

“We can work on that,” Leah assured him. “How about you take lips and I’ll take neck, and Maru...ears work for you?”

“Will do.”

They descended upon the bed, and Sabine had a moment of half-panic, half-arousal before Shane kissed her. His weight hung above her, tantalizingly close and yet so far, and the loops on the bed rattled as she tugged instinctively at them to pull him closer.

“Someone’s needy,” Maru murmured into her ear before a tongue darted out to lick along the curve. Had Maru always been this way before Leah and Shane had gotten a hold of her?

“We can unfasten those if you like,” Leah said on the other side before kissing down her neck and a bared shoulder. “Just need to ask.”

Part of Sabine wanted to ask, but there was something about being denied the ability to touch someone else that hit something deep inside her. She could feel the roughness of Shane’s face against hers as he kissed her while still holding himself above her, and something clicked.

“It’s okay,” Sabine murmured against his lips. He opened his eyes to look into hers. “I want to feel you against me,” she clarified.

She could see his pupils widen with desire before he lowered himself onto her. Even clothed, she could feel his hardness through his jeans. Had this been what he’d been hiding? Her eyes flicked down to it, then up to his eyes, and from the way he looked at her, that was a yes.

Sabine grinned sheepishly at him. The awkwardness of the situation wasn’t lost on her too, even with her hands tied up above her head. Leah bit down on the join between her shoulder and neck, causing her to cry out softly and immediately blush from the involuntary cry. It was almost a ripple through the other two - Shane blushed as he started to pull away from her, and Maru purred into her ear at the sound. A hand wrapped around his hoodie-clad arm, and Maru and Shane exchanged looks.

“No running away,” she reminded him. “We agreed on this.”

He nodded, looking at them before pulling off of his hoodie and shirt. For someone who worked at a supermarket, he was built in a wiry strength way, muscles showing more when he moved than when he was still. Even Leah looked over him with an eye for appreciation.

“You should wear more than just that hoodie sometime,” she murmured. “And come model for me.”

Shane blushed.

“I didn’t know that you-” Maru started, looking over at Leah.

“I appreciate many fine talents,” Leah replied with a knowing smile. “Depends on the person, but I tend for the fairer sex.” She kissed Sabine’s cheek. “Like this one, for instance.”

Sabine chuckled. “I would have never guessed.”

“How many salads did you make for me?” Leah asked, the artist’s fingers wandering down to Sabine’s bra hooks.

“Ah. Can I just say that Gus makes a mean salad and leave it at that?” Sabine pled.

Maru and Shane just shook their head, chuckling at Leah’s stunned reaction. “You bought me salads every week from the Saloon?”

“I wanted to make sure you were eating properly!”

“She brought me strawberries,” Maru volunteered. “And stuff she found in the mines.”

“Hot peppers and beer,” Shane said. At the women’s looks, he shrugged. “I have simple tastes, what can I say?”

“Speaking of, I might have made some hot pepper...well, I want to call it wine, but I’m afraid to try it,” Sabine said. Shane raised an eyebrow at that.

Leah shook her head, unhooking the bra and tossing it to the side. “Still good, Sabine?”

She nodded, and started to blush as Shane and Leah exchanged positions, Leah now directly in front of her. “Is this tag team?” she asked.

“What do you think?” Leah asked, then leaned in and kissed her soundly. Sabine made an ‘mmf’ noise as those long, slender fingers danced up her sides, thumbs stroking the underside of her breasts. She barely noticed Maru sitting back, the scientist’s cheeks flaring red.

“Like what you see?” Shane murmured, nodding towards Leah and Sabine.

Maru lightly punched him in the arm, staring pointedly at the ceiling. “Maybe,” she admitted.

“It’s okay to stare. I think.”

Leah gave a thumbs-up to Shane and pulled back from Sabine, leaving the purple-haired woman panting from the repeated snogging of her partners. “If you two want to take over the upper half, I have plans for the lower,” she explained, fingers already unbuttoning Sabine’s jeans and sliding them off of her hips along with her underwear.

Maru and Shane exchanged a glance before lining up on either side of Sabine, Maru on the right, Shane on the left. On an unspoken cue they dipped down, each taking a nipple and suckling lightly.

Sabine arched under the ministrations, head tilting back as she struggled against her bonds. “Ah ah ah,” Leah admonished, leaning down and biting along the inside of her thigh. “We’re not -nearly- done with you yet.” A finger swiped through her nethers gently, and Sabine looked down just in time to see said finger disappear into Leah’s mouth and the braided woman close her eyes. When she opened them again, they locked on Sabine’s with smoldering desire, making the tied-up woman shiver with the intensity of the gaze.

Leah held that gaze as she dipped down, only breaking contact when her tongue found Sabine’s folds and explored until they found that small bud of nerves. Sabine cried out in surprise, pulling on the bonds a bit harder now as Leah proceeded to demonstrate her extensive knowledge on the subject matter.

Gods, she needed to kiss someone -now-. Maru glanced up from her breast and seemed to understand the needy look in her eyes. Her lips descended upon Sabine’s, and she gasped slightly as the purple-haired woman’s tongue found hers and wound about it desperately, needing something to ground herself.

Between Maru, Shane, and Leah, she was coming to a head rather quickly. Sensations coursed through her, and she cried out as Leah and Shane managed to pull off a combination that sent her over the edge. Her body writhed in the restraints, toes curling into the mattress as the two kept her there, Shane’s rough fingers teasing the nipple Maru had abandoned and Leah continued her ministrations on her clitoris. Maru broke the kiss, backing up a little to let her breathe.

Finally, Leah seemed to be satisfied, cleaning up the area with her tongue. She tapped Shane’s shoulder and the two lifted their mouths from her body, looking at Sabine. She didn’t know how she was going to move after this. When Shane released the restraints, though, her arms dragged him in for a powerful kiss, then moved to Leah, and finally Maru. All of them were out of breath once she was done.

“I don’t know if I can do a round 2,” Sabine panted in apology. The three exchanged a grin.

“That’s fine,” Maru said. “There’s always tomorrow, provided you’re interested.”

It was all Sabine could do to give a tired nod. “Right now I’m interested in lots of cuddles and sleep.”

“Any preference on who?”

She shook her head, holding out her arms. Leah nudged Shane and Maru. “You two take her tonight.”

“But-” Shane started. Leah shook her head, wiping off her mouth with a grin. “I’m good for tonight. Promise.”

Shane nodded, and curled up behind Sabine, not bothering to put his shirt or hoodie back on. Maru was dragged in by Sabine with a soft yelp, the farmer’s arms wrapping firmly around her waist. “Still think some people have more clothes on than necessary,” Sabine murmured softly, “but that can always be fixed tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” they agreed.