Room for One More

“I’m home, Stormy!” Barry dropped his bag by the entrance of the log, the double doors wide open as animals wandered in and out. “Stormy?”

“In here,” The firefly called from the back room they dedicated to the weather mage’s potions. The backroom had been replaced and repaired multiple times from numerous accidents. The multicolored wooden panels sourced from different times and places told a story of the flowerling’s trials and tribulations. Stormfly didn’t bother to look up as he continued to count each stir. “What were you up-- Twenty-two-- to today?” 

“Oh! Um, just hung out around the meadow,” Barry said.

The limited reply caused the dark flowerling to look up, mildly concerned. “Did something happen?”

“No!” Barry said a little too quickly, and made a face as he tried to recover, “I- er, Ivy was there.”

“Oh,” Stormfly’s voice lowered instinctively. His face became a tense mask of neutrality as he turned his blue eyes down to focus on the potion once again. The lower half of him, on the other hand, flashed beyond his control. “How was he?”

“Good. He was just stopping by for a visit is all,” Barry tried to move in for a hug but Stormfly flew off to look for an ingredient. The blueberry flowerling huffed, a bit exasperated, “Look, I don’t know why you get so mad when he’s around.”

Storm turned around, blinking furiously behind his glasses against his own light. “Because whenever he’s here you try and hide it! You act like I don’t know!”

“I- I’m sorry Stormy. I-” Barry put his hands up defensively. 

“I know you like him. I know you like a lot of people, okay? Just- Just stop making me feel like you’re hiding stuff from me,” Stormfly closed his arms in on himself as he backed into his supply racks, his voice dropping to a near whisper as he murmured, “I’m not stupid...”

“I never said you were, Stormy!” Barry said, his hands at his side as he danced in frustration. “Please, just let me hug you. I’m sorry I have crushes on other flowerlings, I really am-”

Reaching out with one hand, Storm let himself be pulled from the shelves with a rattle. The flowerlings collided with an ‘oof’ as Barry wrapped his arms tightly around him. “Don’t be sorry for being you. It’s why you can’t pick a favorite animal. Your heart’s too big to ever pick a favorite.” 

“B-but I really like you,” Barry whimpered into a messy crop of hair that smelled like rain.

Pulling away, Stormfly locked eyes with a set of Christmas-colored ones. “I know you do, but... you want a family. I’m terrified of Oomy.”

“You are amazing with him!” Barry nearly screamed in protest.

“Hang on! Let me finish,” Stormfly watched as the tamer ruffled his red bangs in an attempt to calm himself. The dark look his eyes cut under his brows made the mage’s voice timid. “I… I’m so scared I’ll screw up. I’ll say the wrong thing, or I’ll do something that would make it so that they aren’t happy. Barry, I can’t thank Dulcie enough for helping us with him. I- I don’t know what I would do if there were five of them depending on me. I can barely handle you depending on me. I-”

Barry shot forward and pulled the jabbering flowering back into his cheek to muffle him. “Enough. No, enough. Struggle cuddle! Shh-shh. You stopped him from crying when he got lost on Halloween, didn’t you? You told him we’d always find him when I just hugged him like a dummy. You solved half his fears with logic, Mr. Dad, so I don’t want to hear all this.” Releasing his bear-like hug enough to rub his feelers against his boyfriend, he went on. “I’m making my big family bit and bug by bit. I don’t need it all right now. I have you.”

“I-I know and I’m happy about that but-” Stormfly still flashed as he tried to work out his words, “You make Ivy happy too. I’ve seen how he looks at you and… and I… I guess what I mean is… we can share.”

“We can share? What?” Barry blinked quizzically a few times before it dawned on him. “Me?”

“T-the log has room; his room even.” Stormfly pointed out the guest room the entomologist frequently stayed in. “I just…”

“What?”

“I’m afraid I might have ruined things… between us… Ivy and me, I mean.” Stormfly tried to look to the ground but Barry caught his chin.

“Ivy adores you. Why else would he want your opinion on anything or everything?” The tamer tried to flash him a smile as he went on. “I mean, why else would he be so afraid of disappointing you if you found out about the sp-Iiii Don’t know what I’m talking about anymore do you?”

“I’m putting a pin in that one.” Stormfly poked the tamer’s nose as he squirmed free. “But I mean it. I’m not always cuddly or in a good mood.”

“You could what? Tag him in? Pawn me off?” Barry caught his hand and let it slip from his.

“Don’t say it like that.” Stormfly looked back at the blue outstretched hand with a hurt expression. “I love you, you know I do. But I don’t want to stop you from being happy or- or just liking someone and being liked back. You both deserve to be happy. We can figure it out. I mean if Tack and Nomi’s wishers can sort it out, maybe we can too...”

Barry was more excited about the fact Storm grabbed his hand again. “I-I promise I won’t play favorites or anything like that! I want you to be happy too, Stormfly. I- gosh, how do I even explain this to Ivy?”

“Just… I don’t know, ask him in some cute way kinda like you did me,” Stormfly sighed, emotionally exhausted by this point and just wanting to nap. 

Barry grabbed the ingredient Stormfly was looking for earlier and floated lower than him. “Would you go on a date with me and hold hands and stuff?!”

The weatherling covered his face as he started to laugh and cough on the smoke spewing from his cauldron. “Oh god, Barry. You made me burn another one!”

“Will it explode?”

--------------------

“Barry?” Stormfly searched the wide yard full of animals with no sign of a beaming blue flowerling. “You home?” 

Parked in front of their house and blocking the door was a large dozing rhinoceros beetle. Unable to free himself, Barry waved his little hand from the doorway. “I’m stuck in here!” He’d been unable to move the bug for a while ever since the weather mage went out for his errands. “I can’t get him to move.”

Struggling with the contents in his arms, Storm fiddled with the pockets of his robe until he found the little cherry poppers. Several tufts of lint and pieces of paper fell to the grass before he was able to pull a few bangers from the dark recesses of fabric. 

He threw the seed cap at the large bug knowing it wouldn’t do more than scuff the shiny outer carapace. It startled the big boy awake enough for him to saunter over to another, quieter shady patch. The loud pop was enough for Stormfly to lose hold of the one thing he went out for.

“My hero,” Barry cheered as he sprung from the doorway. He scooped up the weather mage, careful not to knock his bags to the floor. “What all did you bring back?”

“I-hang on,” Stormfly looked around and pointed to the colorful little beetle scurrying away from the commotion. “Amethyst saw me in town and had me bring him home. The charm was easier than she thought it would be.”

Barry’s face lit up with excitement as he nuzzled the flowerlings neck. “You are the best! Thank you, thank you.”

Blushing hard as his lower half pulsed brightly, Stormfly shoved the tamer. “Come on, you could have asked her for help.” 

“I could have, but she scares me.” Barry pressed his face closer against his squirming friend. "Her face is all Meh."

“How are you afraid of anyone you, social butte- Barry!” Stormfly flashed quickly as a small raspberry-fart blew rudely against his neck. The hands that held him treacherously started to tickle a trill of laughter from the dark flowerling. 

Stormfly successfully shoved the stupid, smiling face away to make his escape. Abandoning the ingredients that spilled from the forgotten bags, he whirled to face the tamer with a bottle held over his head. “So help me I will!”

Halted before he could even pursue, Barry laughed with his arms up menacingly. “Oooh! Here I was calling you my hero.”

The blue flowerling tried to advance but Stormfly readied to throw. "I will stink bomb you and Ivy will want nothing to do with you!"

Barry gave a mock gasp backing away. "You're the stinker!"

"Go give the boy the bug!" He clutched the bottle in front of him as he reclaimed some ground. "Tell him- tell him…"

Barry caught his friend’s trembling hands and traced circles with his thumbs. "I'll tell him he has a home," he said as he pressed their foreheads together.