A/N: reworked this chapter a bunch it helped cope with being waitlisted to a program i really wanted to be accepted into lol hope you enjoy!

A few days after the leaking roof disaster, quickly followed by the pyjama incident, Lockwood was still deep in problem-solving mode. The trouble with the roof was mostly delegated to Holly as it involved all sorts of paperwork and lists that he paid her to look at so he didn't have to.

That left his mind free to work through the pyjama incident. Though, perhaps Holly would have some helpful insight on that as well? She and Lucy were very different in that regard, so maybe not, but perhaps something worth considering if his lone attempts to sort it ended up rebuffed.

He had offered Lucy use his pyjamas without thought, as an apology, and so she could sleep more comfortably. Then he'd walked in on her in the bathroom and his heart had stopped and restarted. She'd looked cute - no, that wasn't the right word; sexy? Still not right. Alluring? Whatever it was, he had been captivated. So much so that he'd completely missed her obvious discomfort and then was at a loss when she'd expressed it more clearly.

He still wasn't one hundred per cent if her discomfort was from the tightfittedness or something else, because she had still seemed self-conscious when she came to his bed after changing back into her clothes. Lockwood was going to get to the bottom of it. Even if he wasn't quite sure how yet. What he was sure of: he absolutely needed to see Lucy wearing his clothing again.

She'd borrowed things before, of course, over the years living together it was inevitable, but never like that. He wasn't sure exactly what he found so pleasing and he didn't care. It was a harmless fascination - or he was going to make it one at least, so that Lucy wasn't uncomfortable next time.

With that thought in mind, he pulled out his newly bought loungewear for company game night, a monthly tradition that had started a while back as a thinly veiled excuse to unwind and spend time together when they weren't all in mortal peril.

He was sure no one would comment on his slightly baggier than normal clothes of choice. He hadn't gotten anything drastic, only a size up and the regular instead of slim-fit. Still in his usual colour of choice, grey. He didn't want it to be suspicious lest Lucy notice something and think it had anything to do with her. He might not have known much about girls, but he knew they could get touchy about sizes.

Opting for subtlety, Lockwood decided to just wear the bigger bottoms tonight and an old bordering ratty, he'd probably throw away soon, white tee. His usual thin grey zip-up on top.

"You look cosy." Was, thankfully, all Lucy said as he slid into the space beside her on the couch, reaching an arm around her shoulders.

"I am." He grinned at her and was pleased to see her cheeks turn pink as he pulled her in a little closer.

"Do I need to shield the monopoly man's eyes?" George looked at them, nose scrunched in distaste.

Lockwood flicked a piece of popcorn at him, then looked back at Lucy who was snickering. It sometimes, more often than he cared to admit to himself, all felt so surreal. If he let himself get swept up in it he'd feel undeserving of his friends, his thriving business, Lucy's return, and subsequently starting to date her. All of them surviving everything. No matter how much time passed, he didn't think he'd ever fully understand how he could get to be so lucky.

So much still felt difficult to get used to, game night of all things especially. Before the fall of Fittes, going to the Other Side, and finding his parent's last presentation, Lockwood had never wanted or liked free time. He'd had a singular purpose, and even sleeping and eating felt like frivolities he wished he didn't need. Some mornings he'd almost wished the sun wouldn't come up so that he could spend all his time eradicating ghosts until he ultimately collapsed and met his untimely end.

Then Lucy had come, and he'd opened up more to George, and it got easier letting new people into his life. How quickly he'd been able to tell Holly about Jessica's room and even mending things with Kipps was a testament to that.

He'd begun to understand and feel that not everything was pointless, that it wasn't true that nothing mattered when everything met the same end. He started finding more reasons to stay put and be grounded. His favourite reasons were all in the room with him now.

A broken-off curve of a thin pretzel hit him in the nose, breaking him from his thoughts and making Lucy laugh more at his being caught totally by surprise of George's retaliation.

"You better be the ones who plan on cleaning that mess up." Holly set a tray of biscuits beside the game on the table, stopping Lockwood from continuing the mini food fight.

"Of course, Holls." Lockwood smiled and thanked her as he grabbed a biscuit, pointedly ignoring George's triumphant smirk.

"Good. I'll have to head out early today; Julie has an early night, and our schedules haven't lined up like this in so long." She cast an apologetic look around as she settled into her seat.

"No problem. And, you know, Holly, you can always invite her." Lockwood said.

"But then it wouldn't be company bonding." She pointed out.

He wasn't certain if she was serious or not, he chose to assume not, but still, he played along. "Consider it a plus one."

George snorted, "Besides if it was really company bonding, Kipps would have to come more often and Flo less."

They chatted as they played, snacks quickly disappeared, petty arguments got far too loud, and laughter echoed out. No one said a thing about the pyjama bottoms, and Lockwood himself forgot he'd worn anything different than his usual. He hoped integrating larger shirts into his wardrobe would go as successfully. And then, figuring out how to get Lucy comfortable wearing his clothes again.

A/N: i guess this counts as filler? idk cuz it does drive the (small bit of) plot forward so not really idk but i hope you enjoyed it nonetheless they are silly gooses

writing Lockwood is hard so lemme know how you think! i do love figuring out a challenging emotionally struggle charachter

thank you for reading and liking and commenting 3