For the dialogue prompts maybe, 5 "I wish you could tell me whatâs going on. I want to help." with Stella and Jesse or maybe 8 âForever. Thatâs what we said, right? Friends for life?â with Romeo and Xara? I love your writing ^^
(shoots out of a coffin) IâM ALIVE! IâVE BEEN BUSY!!!!!!
âI wish you could tell me whatâs going on. I want to help.â
âWell, I donât need your help,â Stella snapped at Jesse; tiny, adorable, innocent, helpful, perfect Jesse. Because Notch knows how good they are at everything, how much they love helping everyone, how muchâ
Stella promptly yanks her hand out of the way, Jesseâs crestfallen expression immediately jumps to an alarmed one. âShoot, are you okay?âÂ
They reach out and take her hand automatically, glancing over the beads of blood squeezing their way out of the thin cut on Stellaâs fingers from Stellaâs overzealous attempts at slicing things open with the letter opener.Â
Thatâs what she got for snapping at Jesse, she supposed.
Stella snatched her hand back again, scowling at Jesse. âIâm fine. Why donât you justâ go do something else.â
âBut thereâs nothing else TO do,â Jesse pointed out, sitting back in the visitor chair. âYouâre sitting here and doing paperwork in an attempt to sort everything out before you head out and start helping with reconstruction since Notch knows theres a lot of that. I do do paperwork, Stella. I can help.â
Stella slammed the papers onto the table with a little more force than was probably necessary. âWell, I donât need your help.â Her teeth were slightly gritted, and it was hard to keep from outright shouting at Jesse.
Damn it, damn it, Jesseâs town had been pretty royally screwed up, the trust from the townsfolk had probably hit rock-bottom and theyâd have to build it back up, they were probably more tired than Stella was from having to do paperwork and running around and occasionally shuttling Lluna back and forth for co-parenting and dealing with the Admin (Romeo, still such a weird name) and that really intense lady (Zara?) and they still wanted to help Stella.
They werenât shutting themselves up and solely working on their own town. They werenât just trying to get trust back. They werenât wrangling together a bunch of people to help with paperwork. They werenât shoving Lluna off on Stella. They werenât refusing to deal with the Underneath.
No, they were juggling a hundred things at once and trying to take on yet another thing.Â
âI know you donât need it, youâre a very capable person, but I want to help,â Jesse replied earnestly, large green eyes blinking at Stellaâ
âWELL YOU SHOULDNâT!!â
Jesseâs chair rocked back an inch or two, the short person almost falling off before righting themselves hastily, Stella practically shouting at them with resentment rolling off of her in waves.
âYouâve already got your entire goddamn life to juggle, youâve gotta juggle worrying about your dadââÂ
Stella ignored the way Jesseâs cheeks pinked. ââ youâve gotta juggle worrying about your town, you have to work on the Admin and do your own paperwork and help your own people. And you do that! And thatâs fine. And thatâs fantastic.â
Stella was speaking very loudly and very quickly, and if she hadnât always been urged to speak clearly (even when ranting) and concisely, she probably wouldâve devolved into incoherent angry babbling. As it was, her teeth were starting to squeak.
âBut you donât seem to care that you have all that stuff to work on, you donât care that youâre already dealing with a million things, you donât give a crap that youâre going to run yourself into the ground if youâre not careful, no, you help everyone and you do everything to help people and you forgive them without a second thought and you keep people safe and you want to help aââ
Stellaâs words stalled in her mouth as her brain caught up, but her mouth finally propelled them out anyway. ââ an absolute bitch like me! Youâre fucking perfect, you know that?!â
Stella was now leaning across the table, hazel eyes narrowed right at Jesse, her hands crumpling a few of the papers on her desk. âYou donât give a damn about yourself, you seem to not care, why donât you be selfish for once in your Notchdamned life?!â
The shouting session ended just as abruptly as it had started, Jesse blinking at Stella with their irises not quite fitting in their eyes, a little smaller than usual as Stellaâs chest heaved, shoulders rising dramatically as she tried to bring in air.
Jesse finally reaches out and rests their fingers gently on the back of her hand in a comforting way. âHonestly, yeah, Iâm busy.â They pause, before letting out an awkward giggle. âOkay, understatement of the year. But yes, Iâm very busy already.â
They shrug simply, rubbing their thumb across the back of her hand in a soothing way. âBut⊠I wouldnât offer to help if I didnât think you want it. And I wouldnât offer to talk to you while you work if I didnât think you wanted company.â
âI donât need it, though.â Stellaâs voice is a little raw from screaming at Jesse, and the comment comes out as a croak. She clears her throat and tries again. âI donât need it, though.â
Another little shrug. âI know you donât, and thatâs fine.â Jesse gives a little shrug and a smile. âBut itâs much better to feel wanted than needed, right?â
Stella met bright green eyes for a moment, before the muted joy in them began to overpower her insistence and she glanced away.
Clearing her throat awkward, she sat down and split the pile of papers without another word, handing Jesse the half of the stack that was actually handleable.
Jesse glanced up from where they were already grabbing a pen and starting in on it.
âHowâs your day been?â