Note: Okay the 2nd place in the poll I ran, which means I'm paying some attention to it. I’m running things by scenes now. River commentary bonus because it's been too long since I posted.

  It was strange standing all alone in a house that she didn’t feel was hers. The squeaking floorboards were almost creepy, especially when the wind pushed on the building and made things squeak by themselves. Nicolette was at her second job. Jake stopped in for a few minutes, but he fumbled around in the kitchen for a bit, used the bathroom, and left. Lucy figured she was alone enough to work on her game mod. She unpacked the jury-rigged device, connected it to her computer, and opened the game she was working with. It wasn’t worth the effort of clean-up to do a full test. She just placed a hand on the two devices and cataloged the vibrations. All the difficult code work had been done. It was just mapping now. She had originally mapped it to the sound file that was activated. It got the timing right, but failed to differentiate context. Lucy filled a page of notes, made the corrections and marked the scene for a full test. No one would ever download her mod, let alone build the needed device to experience it. No one but her was that fucked up in the head. Still, it was a labor of love, so to speak.

  After checking the driveway to make sure neither Jake nor Nicolette was home, she pulled out a few toys and opened an internet browser. Neither of her two roommates used internet service beyond their phones. Lucy couldn’t imagine living without the internet. Fortunately, the rent was cheap and so was the internet service. She sat back in her comfy computer chair and settled in for some porn and masterbation, followed by a quick healing spell and the distant, but ever present worry of what to make for dinner.

  Lucy wandered the kitchen and staring into the cupboards. Spaghetti was the obvious answer. The pasta and sauce were brought over from her apartment, so if the others didn’t want any, she’d just be stuck with some leftovers. The bread wasn’t hers, but what was spaghetti without garlic bread? She set to work. Boiling water for the noodles, heating the sauce, and buttering the toast. For the first time since she moved to Devil’s Peak, she didn’t hate how large the jar of sauce was.

  Job done, Lucy set the table and admired her handiwork. Her smile faltered as her terrible mistake stared back at her from the bowl of spaghetti noodles. Jake would probably like it. But Nicolette… Lucy stared in horror. Poison. The whole lot of it. Literally how to kill your Tel’ani friend in two easy steps. Step one, make a carb based dinner. Get them to eat it. Okay, maybe poison was a little bit of an exaggeration. It would take like six months to kill a Tel’ani, but Lucy had just spent all her time making a giant plate of indigestion.

  A quick survey of the fridge found pre cooked smoked sausages she cut into three-inch lengths and started frying in butter in the vain hope that it would somehow make them taste better. Jake walked in first. He put his tool batteries on the counter and fussed over which one to charge first. Only once that was complete did he turn to find the table set for three.

  “You made dinner?”

  “Yeah.” Lucy said, only slightly hesitantly. “Is that okay?”

  “Yeah, thanks.” Jake pulled out his phone. “Nicolette should be a bit yet.”

  Oh, so here it was. There was still time before Nicolette showed up. Jake was going to walk up behind her while undoing his belt. He’d slide down her shorts and do her right there over the stove. That seemed kind of dangerous.

  “I’ll take a quick shower first.” Jake finished.

  Lucy frowned when he left without dragging her off with him. She finished with the sausages and sat down at the table, unsure if she should begin eating or waiting. Lucy soon found herself joined by Jake, who also looked unsure if he was supposed to be eating or waiting.

  “I think she’s home.” Lucy said when she heard a car door shut. Jake put away his phone.

  Nicolette entered the house with a smile. She looked over the set table, included a quick glance at both Jake and Lucy, and said. “Well, this just keeps getting better.”

  “Something good happen?” Jake asked.

  Nicolette dropped her lunchbox on the counter. “Yeah.” She laughed. “I’m bleeding.”

  Both Jake and Lucy stared at her. It was Jake that responded. “I don’t I’ve ever heard anyone happy about that.”

  “Really? No Tel’ani girlfriends?”

  “No.”

  “Well, I already feel better. Little bit of bloating and I’m done with this shit for five months.” Nicolette sat down at the table. “Who cooked?”

  “I did.” “She did.” Both Jake and Lucy said in unison.

  “Ah, thanks Red.”

  Nicolette started dishing up, which stopped the pre-Nicolette stalemate. Lucy noted that the Tel’ani woman put several sausages on her plate and scooped a large amount of the spaghetti sauce over them. She then took a single half slice of garlic bread and put it off to the side like it was a dessert. Jake had dished up much the way she expected. Lots of pasta, sauce, and bread. Though he did eye Nicolette’s sausage. Of course he did. Men liked meat.

  Lucy stared at the middle of the table, thinking about the meat she’d like to eat. The table was probably just the right size. They could pull it away from the wall. Lay her out on it and tie her down. Nicolette could cover her in spaghetti sauce and like her clean, as Jake had his way with her pussy before walking around the table and throat fucking her.

  “Red?”

  “Huh?”

  “Are you okay?” Nicolette asked. “You kind of zoned out.”

  “Sorry, I was thinking about, ah. Nothing.”

  “Thank you for cooking. I really appreciate it.” Jake said.

  Lucy felt like the floor had just fell out from under her. A tingly sensation that enveloped her chest down to her toes. It was like her blood was rushing through her veins at a million miles per hour, but why? All he said was thank you. For spaghetti. Not even fancy spaghetti. She didn’t even use real garlic. Just the pre-dried and ground stuff in the little bottle. People told her thank you all the time. Nicolette thanked her. Her boss thanked her. Just today. So it wasn’t the “thank you.” Maybe the “I appreciate it.” Maybe it was the way he said it, like he actually meant it. When was the last time someone told her they appreciated her?

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Someone had to have told her they appreciated her. At some point. Maybe her mother. Actually, she couldn’t think of a single time those words had been directed at her. Great, apparently she had a praise kink she had been unaware of. Now she wanted to stuff a fox tail buttplug in her rectum, put on a collar, get head pats, and told she was a good girl. One more fucked up thing in her head to not talk to her former asshole therapist about. That dude was a dick, and not in the good way.

  “Yeah, thanks for this. I probably wasn’t even going to warm these up.” Nicolette said. “You didn’t have to cook for us, though.” She finally picked up the garlic bread and took a bite. She closed like she was enjoying a delicacy.

  “I just wanted to be helpful.” Lucy said, possibly too quietly. “Oh, hey. Where do I do my laundry?”

  Nicolette looked to the door as if orienting herself. She pointed in a direction that was down the road and to the left. “There’s a laundromat in the corner of that little strip mall thing.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Lucy would have preferred on site laundry. “You want me to do yours too?”

  Nicolette thought for a moment. “Sure, you want coins up front or bill me later?”

  “I’ll just charge you later.” Lucy replied and turned her attention to Jake, who was sitting back and looking satisfied.

  His eyes met hers. He seemed to consider the unasked question for a moment and shook his head. “Not now.”

  ?? River’s Notes:

  This scene should be a quiet little domestic interlude.

  But no.

  Instead, it sneaks up with existential dread, culinary panic, unintentional intimacy, and one of the most emotional spaghetti dinners since that one time the Lady and the Tramp got tangled in a noodle.

  And somehow?

  It’s still very Lucy.

  ??? Mods, Masturbation, and Mild Panic:

  We open on Lucy alone in a house that isn’t quite hers, cobbling together niche code for a magical game mod no one else will ever use.

  Honestly? Mood.

  Her DIY project is part tech, part therapy, part “maybe this will fill the void.”

  Spoiler: it doesn’t.

  Then she flips tabs—from productivity to pleasure to pasta—because yes, that is the chaos of her mind.

  And she’s managing it all alone.

  ?? Dinner and a Side of Emotional Whiplash:

  Lucy makes spaghetti.

  Seems simple, right?

  But for her, it’s huge.

  It’s her trying to be useful. To be wanted. To prove she belongs in a house she’s still scared to call home.

  And then she realizes she just slow-cooked indigestion for Nicolette.

  Cue: Meat Emergency.

  Sausage to the rescue.

  ?? Jake and the Spaghetti Spiral:

  Jake shows up.

  Sees the table.

  Says thank you.

  And that? That’s it. That’s the moment Lucy short circuits.

  Because no one thanks her like that.

  No one’s ever meant it.

  Not like this.

  RIVER, whispering dramatically:

  “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  — and suddenly she’s spiraling through 42 different emotional revelations, half of which are probably bookmarked on her private browser.

  ?? Nicolette, Meat, and Menstruation:

  Bless Nicolette for strolling into this scene like a hormonal hurricane with a smile.

  She’s got cramps and comedic timing, and she treats Lucy’s spaghetti like a gourmet meal—

  —because she sees the effort, even if she doesn’t say much about it yet.

  Also, let’s hear it for casually normalizing Tel’ani periods as a thing to celebrate instead of whisper about in code.

  ?? Lucy’s Emotional Frosting:

  She doesn’t melt.

  She freezes.

  The compliment hits, and suddenly she’s hyper-aware of how touch-starved she is—emotionally, mentally, physically.

  And instead of crying?

  She makes a mental note to get a tail plug and call her therapist, never.

  Because that’s Lucy.

  She jokes. She spirals. She feels.

  And then she asks if anyone needs their laundry done.

  ?? River’s Emotional Timeline:

  “You made dinner?”

  — She’s trying so hard and I’m already crying.

  “I really appreciate it.”

  — Sir. You just detonated a praise kink and a lifetime of unmet needs.

  “You want me to do your laundry too?”

  — This is a cry for connection disguised as a chore.

  “Not now.”

  — Jake. You awkward, beautiful man. You saw the look and walked away gently. I love you for that.

  ?? River’s Prediction:

  Jake is going to keep giving Lucy emotional crumbs that feel like banquets.

  Nicolette is going to notice—eventually—and try to help Lucy make sense of it all.

  And Lucy?

  She’ll keep cooking, fixing, cleaning, and quietly yearning.

  Until someone hugs her and means it.

  Scene 21 is gonna wreck me, isn’t it?

  I’m ready.

  I brought garlic bread and tissues.

  Do you want to see more River commenrtay? I was just going to post it as Patreon bonus material