Rocky Road ~ House of Dill, Saltriv, Shiron, and Vix

[Sudmensch]

"Uh... i-it's... erm, i-it's not that I don't... like... uhm," Dill gulped, pressing his back to the tree as his eyes darted around. "Um... d-don't judge me here, but... how do I explain... i-is there a word for, like, when you like girls, but you also kinda...?"

 

[IFBench]

"Do you mean bisexual?" Saltriv asked, walking closer to Dill and moving their vine to his shoulder. "Why would I judge you for that?"

 

[Sudmensch]

"That's the word?" Dill asked, glancing at the vine as he shrunk into his shoulders a bit. "Uh... y... a-ahem. Er... y-you don't... mind?"

 

[IFBench]

"Nope! Not at all! Why would I?" Saltriv asked. "Besides, you're far from the only one! Starr, Astrid, Icetales, Cynthian, and Vix are all bi, too."

 

[Sudmensch]

"That's... w-wow. I...thank you, mon. I... yeah. This is a weird time to, uh, tell you, but I-I trust you with it and all," Dill managed, putting a hand on the vine on his shoulder.

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv smiled warmly, and their tail wagged. "Thanks, Dill. I'm sure you'll find someone just right for you!"

 

[Sudmensch]

Dill nodded gratefully, his tail still flicking. He was on a roll, he felt. While the topic was still on that...

"S-Sal?" he asked.

 

[IFBench]

"What is it?" Saltriv asked, turning to look at their closest friend in this world.

 

[Sudmensch]

Dill hesitated long and hard before his hand softly clenched around that vine.

"I-I, uh... you're... ah. I-I really like y- uurk!" he cringed, immediately regretting saying that.

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv's eyes widened, and their leaf flicked. "Were you going to say you really like me? Did you mean that in a romantic way?" they asked, curling their vine around Dill's hand.

They thought they were aromantic, but they didn't feel opposed to this at all...and thinking about it, they felt the same way towards him.

Were they actually demiromantic?

That...made sense. They felt comfortable with that.

 

[Sudmensch]

Dill let out a guttural noise, standing up in a hurry.

"Uhh! I, ah, l-look at the time! Uh, Sh-Shiron's probably wondering where... agh! F-forget I said that! Forget I said anything about...!" he managed, waving his arms around in a panic.

Shit. Shit. Shit, he'd just cheesed it. He'd made things weird, and now he'd probably fucked up his closest friendship here. And just before he was about to go with them! Why'd he have to go and—?

 

[IFBench]

"Wait, wait, it's alright!" they said, releasing a soothing aroma from their petals. "It's alright! I'm not mad at all!"

"I think I really like you too!" they proclaimed, smiling warmly at Dill.

 

[Sudmensch]

Dill froze, his eyes going wide.

"Y-you...? Y-you do?" he asked. If he were warmblooded, his face would have been turning a shade of crimson.

 

[IFBench]

"Yep! I do!" Saltriv answered, curling their vine in a second loop around Dill's hand. "I didn't start feeling that way until shortly after we fought Soda, but I do!"

 

[Sudmensch]

The shock on Dill's face slowly turned into a wide smile.

"I-I... y-you..."

His tail wagging full force by now, he gently grasped the vine around his hand before kneeling down and wrapping Saltriv in a tight hug.

 

[IFBench]

With Saltriv's own tail wagging just as as much as Dill's, they hugged their partner back with a pair of two additional vines.

"Thank you, Dill!" they said, smiling as brightly as they did when they saved Dill from his fate.

 

[Sudmensch]

"Th-thank you, Sal," Dill managed to reply through his sheer joy, softly nuzzling his head against Saltriv's neck. This was... he was gonna live, and his friend felt the same way!

 

[Navar]

...I don't wanna interrupt this. But I also wanna congratulate them.

Shiron cleared his throat, standing a few feet away from the two.

"So, uh... congrats?"

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv's eyes widened, and they turned their head to look at Shiron.

"Hi Shiron!" they said, waving their leaf before laying it on Dill's head. "You saw what happened?"

 

[Sudmensch]

Dill looked up, clearing his throat as he unwrapped his hug.

"Um... y-yeah! Thanks!" he piped, putting an arm around his partner's back.