Sleep didn't come to Maggie immediately. She was, of course, thinking about everything that had happened that evening. In a way, it was absolutely shocking that she had managed to come out the other side of everything intact. It wasn't just the nearly disastrous kiss with Velvet that had almost ruined things. After all, once they had lost track of her, Maggie just had to go and do something so stupid as monologue to herself out loud that she should have kissed Eleanor first. Ya know, right in front of Eleanor.

"...wait, what?" The look on her face would have been priceless, if it weren't for the fact that it also kind of read as 'disturbed'. "You... That was gonna... Me too?" Succinct, to be sure.

Maggie sighed sadly and leaned up against the nearby brick wall. "Yeah, I had a whole... thing... in my brain, and I kinda fucked it all up." She crossed her arms and stared down at the cement, trying to avoid seeing any more of the horror that no doubt lay on Eleanor's face. "I was trying to get everyone involved, but Vel freaked out before I could really demonstrate the idea properly..."

Eleanor quietly sidled up next to her, also leaning up on the wall. "...so it wasn't just all in my head."

"I mean I wasn't exactly being subtle." Maggie chuckled softly, finally glancing over at her. "You're both amazing, and frankly I'd be an idiot to just pick one of you over the other. I knew it was a dangerous move, but I had to. Just to know."

There was some silence as Eleanor appeared to think all of this over. Then she pushed herself off the wall, turned to Maggie, cupped her cheek and gently kissed her on the lips. "You dork..." It wasn't really drunk make-outs, but the mood was admittedly not quite right. And a kiss was still a kiss. They both broke out in goofy laughter as she pulled away. "Let's get back home and see if Vel is there. We can figure things out from there."

So, they did just that. When the apartment turned out to be empty, it didn't take a huge leap in logic to figure Velvet had run away to hide with the guys.

But all that was the past – the recent past, sure, but still the past. Nothing was officially decided yet, but signs were good. And before long, Maggie finally passed out into a blissful sleep.


Maggie was awoken by the sound of chatter and some rather delicious smells. As much as she loved her warm, cozy bed and the feeling of Bienfu laying on top of her (and suffocating her), she was far more excited to get up and investigate. Naturally, it took a while to get the massive cat off of her, and she had to knock back her usual round of morning meds. But finally she was able to escape to the main part of the apartment.

The source of both the talking and the smells was the kitchen. She casually stepped into the doorway and leaned against the door jamb, watching the adorable little scene before her. Velvet was in total wife-mode, with that super cute frilly apron and her hair pulled back by a scarf. Eleanor was sitting on the counter nearby, watching as she cooked, and laughing brightly at something she had just said. It was all so goddamn saccharine and it honestly warmed Maggie's heart. She would never, ever admit it.

"Room for one more? Or should I leave you two lovebirds alone for a while?" No doubt her smile was insufferable.

Velvet immediately got that familiar frustrated look on her face, and poor Eleanor went red. "Just... get in here, you goober..."

Chuckling, Maggie strolled over and popped up onto the counter next to the redhead, patting her gently on the head and adjusting a few stray bangs. "I tease because I care. How come you're not at the chapel, Church Mouse?"

"Well, I'm still kinda working off a minor hangover. Also um, I just wanted to make sure that I was around if... like, if you guys... wanted to... talk or whatever..." She fumbled with her hands in her lap. And while Maggie's usual instinct at this point was to dig in deeper on the teasing, she decided to try and be a nice person for once.

Reaching over, she gently slipped her hand into Eleanor's and squeezed it gently. "Let's focus on having a delicious breakfast. We can talk about stuff when we have nice, full bellies. We should never take food from Velvet for granted."

The cook scoffed, flipping some pieces of bacon before turning to shuffle some eggs, adding seasonings that Maggie couldn't name if someone held a gun to her head. "My cooking is nothing special. It's just... food. That's all."

"Which is exactly the kind of thing someone would say when they're an amazing cook and they know how to be humble. Seriously, Vel, you're amazing and that's all there is to it."

That seemed to put an end to things. Or, more likely, Velvet realized that this was not an argument she was willing to sink a bunch of energy into. Either way, victory achieved.


Breakfast was delicious, naturally. Once Eleanor began adding her compliments to the chef too, it obviously became harder for Velvet to maintain any idea that she was somehow not exceptional. To show their appreciation, Maggie dragged Nora into the kitchen so that they could take over cleaning duty. But before long, all possible distractions were out of the way. So they sat there together on the couch in the living room with Maggie in between her two friends. None of them were necessarily pouncing on the opportunity to say something, so she figured it might have to be her. She was the one who literally talked for a living, after all. "Um, so. I think we... already know how I feel about things. So I guess it just depends on the two of you. How do you feel about... dating? And I mean, like, for real, don't just say yes to be nice to me. I'll survive if you just aren't feeling it. But since the whole kissing fiasco went poorly, I want to be straight-forward about it this time."

Velvet began nodding her head slowly – a common thing she did that was less about agreeing to the proposal and more about signaling that she understood. "You're serious about this. Honestly, that seems like a good sign. I... I think it... would be... Ugh, yes, okay! Obviously, I want to! But... you wouldn't think I'm just like... making it a rebound thing, right? It's definitely more than that."

Carefully, she slipped an arm around Velvet's shoulder, rubbing her back gently. "Is that what you're nervous about? Girl, I can't even picture you having a rebound fling. Your species clearly mates for life. Metaphorically speaking." Glancing to the other side, she caught Eleanor's eye and smiled warmly. "How about you kiddo? Feeling overwhelmed or has the idea kinda grown on you?"

Her cheeks quickly started to glow red again and she glanced away and down at her lap. "I... couldn't stop thinking about everything last night. It took me a while to fall asleep. I just kept... smiling and burying my face in my pillows and... God, it was so ridiculous. But... I know that I want it too. I want to try. Even if it's kind of scary."

Maggie quickly hopped up to her feet, clapping her hands excitedly. "Then I declare today a non-day! Normally I would suggest we go on a date, but we basically did that last night. So! We shall stay in our pajamas, snuggle up with some blankets and shit, and binge movies!"

"As long as you promise to take the energy down a notch or two, sweetie. Snuggles generally require a more easy-going tone and less... hype..." Even if Velvet was being a bit snarky, you couldn't ignore that charming smile on her face. God, it was good to see that smile again.

Eleanor popped up, looking much more animated. "I have the perfect quilt for cuddles. I'll go grab it~" Just like that, she was off to her room, returning instantly with a big colorful bundle.

"Okay, well I guess I'm going to be the only mellow one in the room," Velvet teased gently as they returned to their spots on the couch and Eleanor stretched the quilt across their laps.

From there, it was pretty much exactly what one might expect. A lot of debating what movies they should watch, shifting back and forth, nestling into one another, pausing occasionally for food. It was exactly and precisely what Maggie had hoped for.


The living room was littered with empty chinese food cartons and half-finished drinks. Maggie's eyes slowly fluttered open, seeing the television idled on the Netflix menu. Clearly at some point they had all collectively passed out together, full of food and love. She gently shook each of the other girls with a little chuckle. "I believe it is officially time for bed, ladies. No point in sleeping in here when we have three perfectly good beds, yeah?"

Eleanor whimpered softly and burrowed more into her shoulder. "...'m not done snuggling. Need more."

"Sounds like someone's trying to sweet-talk her way into your bed, Mags." Velvet gave a low, breathy laugh. "Can't exactly say I blame her..."

Well, hell, no point in pretending like they didn't want to spend the night together. So she took their hands and gently tugged Eleanor and Velvet toward her bedroom. She got no resistance from either of them, at least not initially. It was only after the door closed behind them that she could feel Velvet's hand disengage from her own. "I should uh... I guess I ought to leave my glove on for the night..." For someone who could project a lot of self-confidence, Velvet really could look miserably unconfident.

Maggie just clicked her tongue and pulled her closer. "You're kidding, right? You always complain about how that thing itches like hell and that it doesn't breathe. It'll be annoying you all night if you leave it on."

"Well yeah, but... if I take it off then you'll have to look at it and... and touch it and..." She sighed sadly, not able to look at either one of them.

Her hands gently shifted, taking Velvet's gloved hand. As slow as she could, she started to pull it off of her. She wanted to give her enough space to stop it, if that's what she wanted. Thankfully, she didn't. She just watched her in quiet fascination. As more and more of her arm was revealed, those scars and burns came into view. Maggie casually tossed the glove aside when it was finally off, then pulled up so that she could kiss her gently on the wrist. "I always thought your scars were... beautiful, Vel. Not in that shitty pop song kinda way. I mean for real." This was far from a line. She had always admired Velvet's scars like one might view a cubist painting. Not that she would ever say such a thing out loud.

She had hoped that this might be the end of things, but that was when Eleanor slumped onto the edge of the bed with a sad sigh. "Um, while we're... being self-conscious about stuff... I kinda have a scar too, and... I've never really showed it to anyone before."

Velvet still looked a bit stunned by Maggie's showing of tenderness, but she managed to break away so she could approach Eleanor. "It's alright. You certainly don't have to. But I can promise if you do show it to us, we would never judge you for it."

After some clear internal debate, she finally reached down to her waist, grabbing her top and pulling it up and over her head. Sure enough, there on her chest, right in the center where you really couldn't miss it, was a massive vertical scar that looked... not great.

"After mom died, I realized that I might very well have inherited the same thing she had. So I got myself checked out, and sure enough my heart showed a much less severe version of the same condition. So of course I went in for surgery as soon as I could. Only the um... the surgeon was still kind of new I guess? He completely screwed up closing the incision and... well... Here it is..." She shut her eyes tight, and already Maggie could see the beginnings of tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Without a word, Velvet knelt down in front of her, leaned in, and kissed the scar with more tenderness than Maggie had possibly ever seen. She realized after a moment or two that she was holding her breath as she watched and slowly exhaled.

"V-Velvet..." she whispered softly.

In response, she just shushed Eleanor gently before placing another kiss on her lips. "You're gorgeous. Now, no more worrying about silly things. Maggie's right – as much as it hurts me to admit it. These kinds of things don't matter. It's the heart under the scar that matters. And if you ever tell anyone I said that, I will deny it up and down."

Laughing, they both began to undress more. Maggie was fairly certain that they had never really talked about things beyond simple snuggling. But she also wasn't about to complain. She slipped off her tank top and climbed out of her pajama pants only to be stopped dead by a very stupid realization. The obvious issue of what was between her legs. Sometimes it was fine. Sometimes it was an issue. She didn't have any reason to believe that either of them would be disgusted with her. But you could never be sure until it was too late. "Um... m-my turn I guess..." She laughed sardonically and swallowed, then casually turned her body to the side slightly, as though she could hide herself. "We should probably talk about my whole... situation..."

A slender hand took her own and started tugging her toward the bed. She turned back and saw Eleanor looking at her with the most gentle smile. "Maggie, there were no less than three separate references in your stand-up routine to the fact that you have a dick. If either of us had some kind of problem with that, I don't think we'd be here now. Come on~"

Finally she relented and allowed herself to be pulled over, tumbling onto the bed with her as Velvet gracefully slipped in beside them. "Now who's the goddamn idiot?"

"Shut up, you know full well that I- unh..." Any further bickering was cut off as Eleanor's hand dipped down, slipping carefully inside her panties, stroking softly. Even if she could formulate a coherent thought, she was further silenced by Velvet capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.

The three Ladies of Calamity might have each been a bit shattered in their own way, but Maggie was realizing that together they might be able to make one another whole.