#wiggie

"Urgh!"

Willie looked up from the novel he had been invested in-he loved to read, and this book had been particularly investing, but when he heard the disgruntled noise from across the room, he put it down.

"What's wrong Zita?"

She looked up at him, all pouty lipped, and showed him the pile of mangled yarn in her hands. "Tangled."

Willie softened, sitting down next to his daughter. Smoothing down her wild dark waves, and kissing the olive toned skin of her forehead. "Were you trying to knit something liebchen?"

Zita nodded, cuddling to his side, and twisting the ends of his long hair. "Wanted to make socks for Christmas for you and abea. Nonna Beulah taught me how."

Willie grinned at that-Beulah was still kicking, though much slower these days. But she loved Zita like her own, and since Reggie didn't have anything to do with his family, and what passed for Willie's were galaxies away, she had deemed herself honorary grandmother to her.

"She taught me too, though I wasn't as young as you are when I started learning," Willie said, taking the pile of yarn and slowly untangling it. He made a cat's cradle to make Zita smile and giggle, something he dearly loved to see.

He and Reggie had brought her home a few years ago-barely a few months old, and she became their world. Now she was part way through her first year of school, and a bundle of energy. She could be found cartwheeling and singing around the farm. The animals loved her-even the chickens, much to Willie's chagrin.

Willie had a lot of adventures in his lifetime-and he thought that coming to Earth-nay, staying here to be with Reggie was his greatest one. But nothing could prepare him for what fatherhood was like. He loved it, no matter how tiring, hard, or fulfilling it could be. And Reggie was right there with him-making sure that Zita grew up loved, and safe.

Sure, she didn't know one of her fathers was really a space alien that used to resemble a gelatinous pile of orange goo, but they were planning on telling her one day when she was older.

"Well, how about I help you get back to making those socks?" Willie offered.

"But then they won't be a surprise!"

Willie bit back his smile at that. "Well I'll help you make abea's and then you can have nonna help you do mine, and I'll act really surprised when I open them on Christmas morning."

"Okay."

Willie sat on the ground, Zita snuggling into his lap and he helped her wind the yarn around the needles, working them together until she had several rows of red and black yarn.

"Do you think abea will like them?" Zita asked as they worked, the clack of the needles the only noise, as Rosie was out in the fields with Reggie.

"He'll love them," Willie assured him. "You know the first gift your abea ever gave me was a set of fluffy socks?"

"Really?"

"It's what convinced me to stay here."

"Where were you going to go?"

Willie paused-they had always promised they would have the discussion together, and when Zita was a bit more mature. So he could fudge a few details. "Home I guess. But I realized my home was here-with your abea."

"And Rosie and me!"

"Exactly liebchen," he said, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. "Now, I'm going to start suppe, but you call me if you need help."

Willie was chopping vegetables when Reggie came in, wrapping his arms around his waist. Willie relaxed back into the hold, sighing when Reggie kissed his cheek. "Hi cowboy."

"Hi space man. How's the rugrat?"

"She's taking up the family holiday tradition."

Reggie gave him a queer look, then listened, hearing the familiar click clack of knitting needles. He had never taken up the art but he loved everything Willie had knit for him, and to know that Zita was learning it as well warmed his heart.

"Socks?" he whispered.

"Act surprised," Willie hissed back.

"I am, so it won't be much of an act," Reggie murmured. "I'm going to go wash up, then we can eat."

Willie nodded, then called out "Zita, abea is home!"

The two men smirked as they heard her scramble to hide her work before the padding of feet rushed towards them, Reggie catching her as she threw herself at him in a hug.

"Hello motek, what have you been up to?" he asked her, swaying them around as Willie slid the casserole he had been working on into the oven."

"Nothing!" she said-totally not suspicious.

"Sounds fun," Reggie replied, resting their foreheads together. "Now, can you feed Rosie while I get ready for supper?"

Zita nodded, squealing as Reggie pretended to drop her, kissing her before heading up the stairs.

Willie gave her a wink and mimed zipping his lips. She gave him a thumbs up and whistled for Rosie, taking off to fill her bowl.

And on Christmas morning, there were socks galore-a matching set from Beulah in rainbow hues, a set from Willie with little stars stitched into them, and one set from Zita-one in red and black, one in hues of orange and green for Willie, and a purple set for herself.

You knew this was going to be set in the I am the Willies verse when you sent it right? Ain't Christmas without The Willies!

Reggie smiled as he came into the farm house and heard the clack of knitting needles. Willie loved to knit, making sure they had a never ending supply of socks, socks, hats, and mittens. He'd even started selling some of the items he had knit at the local market since there was no way they needed that many socks.

"Whatcha making now spaceman?" Reggie asked as he leaned on the door jam.

"Sweater," Willie replied absent-mindedly, concentrating on knitting and pearling not even looking up.

"Didn't you tell me there was some curse about sweaters?" Reggie asked, rubbing Rosie behind her ears as he sat in front of the fire, sighing as the warm eased the ache in his cold joints.

"That's only for unmarried people," Willie said, finally looking up and smiling at him, the firelight shining off the ring on his left hand that Reggie had put there a year earlier.

"I'm not one for sweaters, and you barely like to wear clothes, so who is it for?" Reggie asked.

"For Rosie of course."

Reggie paused at that, then looked from Rosie to Willie. "You're knitting a sweater...for the dog."

"For Christmas!" Willie exclaimed proudly. "Miss Beulah said everyone should have a great holiday jumper."

“The dog doesn’t need a Christmas jumper," Reggie said with a snicker. "She has fur."

"But she'll look so cute!" Willie protested, dropping the work and rubbed over Rosie's face. "Won't you girl?"

Rosie yipped, licking over Willie's face, making him giggle. Reggie smiled at them fondly-these two, plus all the animals out in the barn, they were his world. Sure, going back a few years he never thought he would fall in love with an alien, let alone marrying him and making a life together, but here they were-happy, healthy, and what else could he need?

"So who is Beulah making a jumper for then?" Reggie asked.

"Oh, she's doing a little less knitting these days. Says her arthritis is acting up," Willie replied. "She was going to do this one, but I volunteered to do it. She was super happy."

"Never known Beulah to be overly fond of dogs, even ones as sweet as ours," Reggie remarked.

"Well she said it would be good practice for when we have a bundle of our own."

Reggie sputtered at that. "Ummm...do you know what that means?"

Willie shrugged, picking up his knitting once more. "I figured it was one of those colloquialisms that I didn't understand and you'd explain it."

Reggie sighed. "Beulah is expecting us to have a baby."

"I know I'm unfamiliar with some Earth customs but I have studied enough biology to know we require a female for that."

Reggiel snickered at that. "That we would. Or adopt. But maybe we should talk about the whole having kids thing."

"I don't think my physiology can adapt to carry young," Willie said, his needles slowing but not stopping.

"Good to know, but I mean-do you want kids?"

"Baby goats?"

"Human children."

"Oh,." Finally the needles stopped, and Willie looked off into the distance. "I never thought about procreating-my species does not do this, don't form those connections. But-I think it might be nice to see a little being grow, and to care for it."

"Yeah, me too," Reggie said, reaching over to squeeze his hand. "I think...maybe we could adopt though?" Willie cocked his head to the siad, so Reggie gathered he didn't understand. "Sometimes kids don't have parents-so people can take them in and become their parents. Kids of all ages, so we don't have to get a baby, if we don't want to."

"Oh, I like the sound of that," Willie said. "It's kind of like how you took me in, and how we got Rosie."

"Exactly."

"So where do we go to get a child? I've never seen one in the stores."

Reggie giggled at that. "Sorry spaceman, it's a bit of a process, we can't do it today-or any time soon. But we can look into our options, and get the process started. Maybe have a kid for next Christmas."

Willie grinned, then picked up his needles once more. "Well then, I had better get knitting-if we're getting a family, we'll definitely need matching sweaters, even Rosie."

"Reggie?"

"What's up Willie?"

"Can you help me with an experiment?"

Reggie stopped for a moment at that, looking up from his sudoku puzzle. When your alien roommate asks you for help with experiments...it's sometimes hard not to envision probes and bright white lights. "What kind of experiment?"

Willie stood before him, rubbing his arms as he held him. "Replicating something I saw on television?"

"It's not another skateboarding trick is it?" Reggie asked learily. "Because you know you have to work up to doing ollies again."

"No," Willie scowled. He hadn't really hurt himself, since his real body was gelatinous, but it had scared the hell out of the both of them. "Besides I have the helmet you gave me now."

Reggie held his reply that the helmet already had a huge crack in it, but at least it soothed his worries. "What do you need help with?"

WIllie pulled him up, then grabbed Reggie's face, mashing their mouths together. He moved around a bit then pulled back. "That was...interesting."

He made a move to rein Reggie back in but he held up a hand while wiping the saliva off his face with the other. "What was that? Were you trying to devour me whole or something?”

"You know I don't consume humans," Willie replied.

"Okay then why the trying to eat my face? What were you even watching?"

He got pulled to the television and had to muffle his laughter when the screen came into view. Willie had been watching anything and everything in an effort to acclimate to the human experience, and apparently now, he had found rom-coms. Though the passionate kiss on screen was nowhere near as pseudo-cannibalistic as Willie's smooch had been.

"So you were trying to learn how to kiss?"

"Is that what it's called?" Willie asked. "I did wonder."

Reggie smiled, easing the two of them down on the couch. "Yeah, it's a sign of affection. Usually you kiss someone you care about a lot. For family it's on the cheek or whatnot, lips isi usually reserved for someone you are romantic with."

"Your human customs confuse me sometimes," Willie confessed. "We don't really have family or romance on my planet. I understand the concept, but...what are you to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are we family, like the co-habitants on The Jetsons? Or romantic like the pair in this movie?" Willie asked.

"Well only you get to decide that Willie," Reggie replied. "It all depends on how you feel about me, and how I feel about you."

"Oh." Willie pondered for a second. "I am not sure. I've never felt romantic feelings before-can you describe them?"

Reggie sat back, holding Willie's hand but not really looking at him. "Well you feel happy to be around them, though sometimes you feel nervous or dizzy because they make you feel so much. You want to be around them all the time, even when sometimes they frustrate you. A lot of people want to hug, or kiss, or do more with the person they feel romance towards, and some don't-that's a personal choice."

"There's more?" Willie asked. "Can you teach me that too?"

Reggie blushed, really not ready for that conversation. "Maybe another day. For now I think romance is enough. Did that help?"

"I am unsure," Willie replied. "I like spending time with you, and I have been so happy here at the farm since I decided to stay-and you are a big part of that. You help me, even when it's weird, embarrassing, or unusual. You are always kind, and patient, and from what I've gathered, very handsome by human standards."

"Thanks," Reggie replied. "So what do you think that all means?"

"I think...I think I feel 'the romance' for you," Willie said softly.

"Good, because I've been failing at falling for you since you abducted my cow," Reggie confessed. “Let me teach you what a real kiss is.”

"Okay," WIllie said, his voice small and quiet, but his eyes shining as Reggie cradled his face. He felt his eyes closed, and though that wasn't conducive to retrieving data, he couldn't help the overwhelming rightness of how it felt.

The kiss was sweet, gentle at first, just a press of lips that made WIllie tingle. Then another press, a little harder, a little more open. A catch of lips together, then a swipe of tongue that made Willie gasp. This was much more pleasant than his initial foray into kissing, but perhaps Reggie was an expert and he should have let him teach him his methods instead.

Their kiss was deepening, tongues brushing, and then Reggie was pulling back, pressing another series of gentle kisses before detaching their mouths, both eyes blinking open and smiling as their foreheads resting together.

"Still interesting?' Reggie asked, his voice slightly breathless.

"More experimentation may be needed," Willie replied as he pulled Reggie in for another kiss-still messy and off centre, but Reggie didn't feel like he was going to be devoured, so he let himself be kissed.

Willie has no clue what Valentine's Day is, but for Reggie, he's willing to try.

On AO3!

I saw this prompt about never doing Valentine's Day before and going all out for it and my brain immediately screamed I Am The Willies! So here's a little story about our favourite alien and cowboy. Happy Valentine's Day all!

Just as going into town by himself has become a less scary prospect, Willie gets confused when every storefront seems to be bedecked with hearts and flowers. He’s still learning human symbolism; heck, he had only really mastered basic shapes and behaviours in the fall. But he’s still befuddled by the change in the normal routine. 

“What’s going on?” he asked Miss Ruth. “Why is everything so…pink?” 

“Oh hun, don’t they have Valentine’s Day where you come from? I know Canada is behind the times but still,” she asked. 

This feels like a great Willie and anybody prompt?

While it might not have looked like it, Willie was definitely a homebody. After a rough childhood being shipped around, and then ending up with Caleb who all but raised him at the club, he wasn't big on going out.

His friends sometimes teased him, and more than once had thrown agoraphobia around, but the truth was-Willie really just liked staying home. Home was where his books were, his pet iguana Stinky, and he had everything he needed. Why go out?

"To meet people of course," was the obvious answer. But Willie had tried that, getting his heart broken by Elias, Jared, and Nico. Not an experience he was keen on repeating. He was okay being single a while.

Plus he still had company-Reggie had taken the spare room after he and What's Her Face had broken it off, leaving him temporarily without a place since he had given up his sublet apartment to shack up with her. "It's only for a little while," he had assured WIllie.

"Sparky you can stay for as long as you need as long as you chip in for groceries and don't mind the lizard."

So Reggie stayed-and Willie found it was nice to have someone to come home to, to share a meal or a joke with. Plus if anyone could convince him to get off the couch, it was Reggie, even if they only went to the library, or to go bowling instead of out to a bar or a show. It didn't work every time, and sometimes Reggie had a date-though he never brought them back to their place, something Willie was eternally grateful for.

However, he was a little surprised when he went out to the living room on Valentine's Day to find Reggie already there on the couch. "Hi?"

“Before you say anything about me being at home tonight, I want to remind you that you are too.”

"Yeah, but I'm usually home," Willie said as he sat on the couch, offering Reggie the bowl of popcorn. "I thought you and Freya had plans tonight?"

"Got dumped."

"Ice cold."

Reggie shrugged. "We were only having fun, nothing serious. Doubt we would have done much more than that tonight."

Willie wrinkled his nose. "Well I can't help you there but I can offer companionship and cuddles?"

"I do like cuddles."

Willie opened his arms, letting Reggie snuggle up, the two of them sharing snacks back and forth as they watched awful reality TV, eventually falling asleep together. It wasn't the first time it had happened-the both of them were awful fond of naps and didn't mind taking them together.

Only after that Willie found Reggie home more often than not, and they tended to end up cuddling and napping most nights.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I know I'm a homebody, and I am not complaining about the company, but you're usually out more than this."

Reggie averted his eyes, fingers twirling around each other. "I...I'd rather be here. With you."

"Okay? Like a rebound thing?"

"No!" Reggie protested. "I would never fuck our friendship, and my living situation for some stupid rebound thing. Part of the reason things didn't work out with Freya, or Naomi, or any other girl before them was because my heart wasn't in it. It was...with you."

"Oh," Willie said, sitting down heavy on the couch. "I...I've never really thought about you that way." Which was mostly true, but Willie had started to think about it, but he never wanted to disrupt what they had for what might just be a weird crush thing.

"I know," Reggie said quietly. "I'm not asking you to. I'm fine with the way things are, even if we're never anything more than friends."

"Well maybe we could try?" Willie said. "Take me out on a date, and we'll talk afterwards and see. If we wanna be friends, or more."

"We can do that," Reggie said, smiling despite the way he sniffled. "So, where do you wanna go?"

"How about we go get a pizza and then a walk before we come back here for a cuddle?"

"Sounds like a perfect first date," Reggie said, beaming as Willie pulled him off the couch.

Day 20: Goal + Wiggie <=AO3

Honestly it isn't Christmas without more of my I Am The Willies verse is it?

If you were to ask Willie, his favourite thing on Earth (after Reggie of course), is Christmas. 

He loves the corny specials, the food, the tree, the snow, and most of all, the presents. Not getting them-though he does enjoy that aspect-he loves giving them. 

n = nights; what’s the nighttime routine like when they’re all together?

I think before they get together, Willie usually sleeps in his ship, lets himself return to his natural form, then goes back to human in the morning to bother the cows and avoid the chickens.

However, once they figure themselves out, Willie stays human more often than not-usually only returning to his natural state like once a week because he finds he misses sleeping with Reggie too much-that alien really likes cuddles.

I think when it gets late they go out to do one last check on the animals, makes sure everything is locked down, and only leave a lamp on in the kitchen-because Willie is prone to getting up for a midnight snack. Plus a nightlight in the hall so Reggie doesn't trip over Rose when getting up to go to the bathroom because their dog likes to sleep wherever she likes.

Reggie only has a small vanity, so they play fight for space as they brush their teeth-even if Willie doesn't see the point because his are just a construct and it's not like he can actually get cavities. But he likes the taste of the minty toothpaste, and Reggie likes to kiss him right after, which Willie is always down for.

Reggie falls asleep pretty quick-farmers have long days. Willie stays up a bit longer, he has a pile of books and little fidget toys he can use quietly, as he doesn't need as much sleep. But he eventually puts them down so he can snuggle in, though he usually wakes up at dawn when Reggie does, no matter when he falls asleep.

Reggie never really expected to have a space alien for a roommate, but since Willie abducted his cow, and returned it, well this was his new normal.

It was kind of fun introducing Willie to all the wonders of Earth, like jumping in leaf piles, apple picking, and indoor plumbing.

But what Willie liked most was television. He loved watching different stories play out-regardless of if he had no clue what was going on. He gorged himself on daytime soaps, crime procedurals, sitcoms, and reality TV.

Reggie might worry-his MeeMaw always said too much TV would rot your brain, but if Willie was absorbed in his shows, he was also keeping out of trouble.

"Reggie?" Willie called out one day.

"What's up?" he asked, coming into the living room, still drying his hands from the load of dishes he had done.

"What is that human doing to that other human? Why is he holding her like that? Is he preparing to eat her?" Willie asked.

Reggie glanced at the television and giggled. "It's called a hug."

"Oh...what is it for?"

Reggie hummed, sitting down next to Willie on the couch, tossing the towel in his hands onto the coffee table. "Well it can be for lots of things; to show affection, comfort, it can be used as a gesture of greeting or parting. It feels nice. You don't have hugs in space?"

"Our bodies are made of a gelatinous substance, I do not think hugs would work," Willie replied.

"Well you're pretty human looking right now," Regie stated. "Would you like a hug?"

"Yes." Willie then looked uncertain. "How do I do it?"

Reggie suppressed another giggle, standing them both up. "You open your arms up, and I go into them, then you wrap me up in them. It's also called an embrace."

"I can do that," Willie said, though he looked awkward and uncomfortable as he stood there.

"Relax, it doesn't hurt," Reggie said, watching as Willie sagged a little. Then he entered his arms, wrapping his own around the alien. "Like that, see?"

Willie enveloped him in his arms, holding Reggie tight-but not so tight that he couldn't breathe. HE stood there for a moment, not sure he saw the appeal in hugs. But then he breathed in, and could smell the green apple scent of Reggie's shampoo, and the crisp smell of fall that stuck to his flannel. He could feel Reggie breathing in and out next to him, and his heartbeat, slow and steady.

Oh.

Oh.

Willie fully relaxed into the hug, nestling his face into Reggie's neck. "I think I like hugs."

Reggie smiled at that. "Good. Me too. Anytime you want one, all you have to do is ask."

"Can we keep doing this one for a little while longer?" Willie hummed.

"Sure we can."

Reggie squeezed hima little tighter, and Willie felt... a warmth he had never experienced before. Was this that affection Reggie had spoken about? Willie wasn't used to such feelings, but he found he quite liked them. It felt like slipping into a warm bath after a long day-a recent joy he had discovered. Like...coming home.

Eventually Reggie stepped back, smiling and flushed. "So, was it good for you?"

"Great first hug," Willie said. "Though I may have to keep trying to see if it can be improved."

Reggie laughed at that, shaking his head. "Okay spaceman. I've got to get back to it, supper is not gonna fix itself. You enjoy the rest of your show."

Willie nodded, watching Reggie leave, and turned back to the television, wondering if there were any other programs that showcased hugs-he wanted to see them all, and try them out with Reggie.

For science obviously.