A/N: This one goes between chapters 10 and 11. Actually, this is direct continuation of chapter 10.

Husk was at the end of his rope.

Alastor was over once again, talking a mile a minute and dusting Husk's bookshelf. Dusting his fucking bookshelf. Dusting. His. Bookshelf. The asshole had ran out of decent excuses and had been reduced to fucking cleaning Husk's house, which was something he normally did approximately, ah, never.

Fucking hell.

It had been almost a week since… Well. Since shit hit the fan. And Alastor had come over every single damn day.

The first day had been more than understandable. Alastor had had to make sure Husk really wasn't dead. Neither of them had bothered to pretend the visit was about anything else, even if they carefully didn't bring it up. They had gone grocery shopping together, as Husk's fridge and cupboards had been very fucking empty, and then they had cooked and ate together – and Husk had made damn sure to have seconds, just to make up for their previous disaster of a meal. Husk's heart had been tripping in his chest the entire time, but he had manned the fuck up and just ignored it. Being genuinely happy and relieved to be able to spend any kind of time with Alastor once more actually helped, as he didn't need to be infatuated with his friend to feel this way after their long rift.

It was fine. It was understandable. They both needed the time together.

The second day Alastor showed up again, this time to make "celebratory slash apology crepes", his exact words. Husk had felt a little rotten about that, since Alastor sure as fuck didn't need to be the one to keep on apologizing, but he had accepted the gesture anyway because he wasn't about to say no to crepes. He had offered "apology cuddles" in exchange, and Alastor had been equally happy to accept those, so there was that. Husk had gone all out with purring, too, because he knew how much Alastor enjoyed it. Husk was mostly embarrassed by it, but that was a small sacrifice to make if it made up for his own fucking idiocy even a little. That, and allowing himself to indulge being just a little touchy-feely towards Alastor was probably good for him. Something about totally abstaining being worse than rare little indulgences, or some shit. As long as he kept his mouth shut and didn't actually grope the guy, right?

That had been fine, too. More apologies probably cleared the air or something.

The third day had had Alastor inviting himself over again. They had drank some whiskey while Alastor had rambled on and on and on about what had been going on in his afterlife during the last weeks. He could have done that via the radio, but okay. Husk had let it slide. He owed Alastor that much. Alastor had definitely drank a little more than usual, but Husk had pretended to not notice.

Catching up was probably good, too. Maybe that had been necessary.

The fourth day had found Husk a bit weary of the constant socializing, but he had let Alastor drag him into thrift shopping and antiquing anyway. At least that had been a less intense an activity than a one-on-one conversation for hours on the previous day had been. That didn't mean Husk hadn't crashed hard when he had finally been alone and at home.

That was about when things had gone from 'fine' to 'not as fine'.

The fifth day Husk had very deliberately fled his house the first thing in the morning and had gone for a long walk, and then to a pub. He had had just about enough of Alastor and just wanted a damn break, which hadn't seemed like a likely thing to happen if he had stayed at home. It hadn't been long after his first drink that Alastor had called his Walkman with a tone of voice that had clearly been trying very hard to not sound panicked, but hadn't quite managed it, and Husk had felt damn awful because of it. It had taken a while to reassure Alastor that he was fine and he was simply not at home, and that Alastor was well aware Husk wasn't obligated to be home 24/7. Alastor had invited himself to the pub regardless, and only the fact that Husk had felt bad for giving him a scare had stopped him from sending the guy packing.

And today, on the sixth day? The fucker was cleaning his house.

Alastor was his best friend and a bit more, but there were fucking limits.

"Al. Listen", Husk said, and took the stupidass duster from Alastor's hand and tossed it carelessly aside. Alastor gave him an inquiring look, and the fact that he didn't seem the least bit bothered about losing the duster spoke volumes about his lack of actual care for the activity. Husk pinched the bridge of his muzzle, took a gentle hold of Alastor's arm, and guided him to sit on the couch.

"Look. I get it", he said after taking a seat next to the guy. "I know you had a scare and you're… well, probably traumatized. And I'm sorry. But you can't keep coming here every fucking day. You know me; I need space. I missed you too, but this is too fucking much at once."

There. Honesty. Communicating. Being responsible. He could fucking do that sometimes.

Alastor stared at him with a fixed smile, and then lowered his gaze with a deep, staticky sigh. The fact that he gave in that easily was pretty worrying, really.

"...I know. I know. Savvies", Alastor said, and glanced at Husk before looking back at his fingers that were twisting and fidgeting. "Hah, this is where our natures truly clash, isn't it? You need space. But I've been deprived of your company for almost two stressful months after years of at least weekly contact, and then you almost got erased. What I need is to soak up your presence in order to regain my balance. That's… a conundrum. Our needs being the exact opposites of each other."

...Damn. That was… That was a lot to unpack. Geez. Husk had vaguely realized that Alastor was not only extroverted as hell, but also used him as his main outlet for that, but he hadn't truly grasped just how deep that ran. After all, Alastor had been fine without him for about fifty years. The fact that his broadcasts had grown sparser over the span of their friendship had been a clue on the deep seated loneliness Alastor had struggled with, but Husk had chalked that off as Alastor getting extra entertainment from his time with Husk and thus needing the bloody kind less. He really should have been more observant.

Fuck him for thinking for even a second that Alastor wouldn't miss him if he was gone. His depressed and alcohol-soaked brain was really motherfucking dumb at times.

He scratched the back of his neck and stared at nothing in particular in silence while digesting Alastor's words and contemplating his options.

...Deprived of his company...

Oh, fuck it.

"How much company-"

"How much space-"

Both of them cut their words short at the same time, just how they had started at the same time, and looked at each other. They stared at one another in silence, until Husk snorted and grinned. Alastor chuckled and shook his head.

"Fucking wow", Husk said, and opened his arms in, apparently, a much needed invitation. "Just come here, you clingy asshole."

Alastor grinned widely and practically dived into a tight hug, making Husk do some impressive flapping with his wings to keep from falling off the fucking couch because of the impact. In the meanwhile, Alastor was happily rubbing his face against Husk's neck and shoulder, his ridiculously cute ears tickling Husk's nose and his stupidass fucking headforks poking into his jaw.

Husk could feel his face burning under his fur, and for once he was glad for his feline qualities that made sure nobody would be able to see it. And the fact that Alastor wasn't looking anyway. He absently stroked Alastor's back while holding him close. This was not their usual cuddle-position – and he was going to ignore the fact that they had a usual fucking cuddle-position, thank you very much – but he wasn't complaining. Actually, he'd prefer to not acknowledge any of it at all, in order to preserve his sanity and the willpower to not do anything stupid.

He cleared his throat. "So. How about every other day? For now. Not fucking forever; I can't handle you every other day for-fucking-ever. But for now, you could visit every other day to do your presence soaking, while I get to have guaranteed peace and quiet the other days. Would that work?"

Alastor hummed, which produced a small vibrating sensation against his fur that Husk very carefully ignored and didn't fucking think about. "Perhaps. But let's add once a week therapy cuddles to the package."

Therapy cuddles. Fucking really? Did Alastor think Husk was a moron? He just wanted to cuddle because he's a clingy little shit, and used this bullshit as a convenient fucking excuse for it.

"You're pushing it, bitch."

Alastor's grin widened; Husk could feel it against his shoulder. And wasn't that yet another thing added into his 'not thinking about' pile. "That's not a refusal."

Damn it.

"It's not, but fuck you", Husk replied while trying to hold back a smile. He was pretty sure it could be heard from his voice regardless. He wasn't sure why he even tried.

"No, thank you. So yes to cuddles?" Alastor ran his fingers over Husk's wings and Husk had a very difficult time breathing normally. Fuck damn it. He could not fucking handle this.

"Fine, but only for a month", he said, and moved his wings. Alastor, thankfully, took the hint and relocated his hands to scratch the back of Husk's neck instead. That was much safer. That was familiar and business as usual. He could deal with that. And it felt nice.

"No. I deserve two months and you know it."

...Fucking hell. Husk had to give it to Alastor: that was grade A guilt tripping.

"Okay, fucking fine. But you are not allowed to be a whiny little shitstain afterwards when it's time to break the fucking habit, understood?" Husk grumbled, trying to push away the feelings of guilt.

Alastor gave a menacing chuckle. "No promises."

Husk was pretty sure he had just sold his soul to the fucking Devil, and the worst part was that he wasn't too sorry about it.

"Jackass", he said, and continued stroking his clingy friend's back without a further complaint.

Alastor pressed closer with a contented sigh, and fuck damn it, Husk was both dreading and looking forward to doing this for the next two months.