Some Fluffy Among Us Logic One-shots

Before the Christmas Party-Part 2: Engineer

[Synopsis: Sometimes, things aren't as bad as they seem...but when they seem bad, it can give rise to some unnecessary tensions.]

[Location: Gnome and Engineer's house]

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The figure in goggles looked at himself in the mirror, imagining himself in the winter formal wear that was hung up on the closet door behind him. He sighed deeply, then put on the most confident face he could muster as he stared back at his reflection.

"...Gnome," he whispered, now imagining her standing there in place of his own image. "I...I want you to know that...you're amazing. You light up my world like a thousand suns, burning my eyes and..."

He stopped.

"No...No, no, no, that doesn't sound right. Doesn't sound GOOD, even."

Engineer rubbed his hands together anxiously and started over.

"Let's see, ah...Gnome. You're different. I've never met anyone who makes me feel this way, and then you seemed to fly right into my life like..."

Engineer grumbled to himself.

"No, that makes it sound like she was forced into my life without me wanting it..." he said, shaking his head. "Oh God, I'm horrible at this."

He let out another deep sigh, then reached into his pocket and felt the small box resting in there...It'd taken him almost the whole year to be able to afford, but now he finally had it. After so much overtime and so many hours doing extra jobs, he was finally ready to pop the question...At least, if he could think of the right thing to say.

And a time like this would be perfect, too, he thought. I can't botch up something like-

"Engineer!"

...This.

Gnome was calling him...and judging by the tone of her voice, she didn't sound very happy. Not something he wanted to hear.

Oh boy...

"Hang on, Gnomey!"

He hid the box in the pocket of the dress coat hanging from the closet doorknob before leaving the bedroom and meeting a disgruntled Gnome out in the dining room. There were two plates of fried eggs and toast on the table, each paired with a cup of coffee...Whatever was bugging Gnome, it wasn't enough to stop her from making them both breakfast, and he couldn't help but smile a bit at that fact.

"Oh, wow. Looks good, Gnomey," he remarked, hoping to lighten up the situation a bit. "You always find a way to make the mornings bright, y'know?"

"Hmm...well, thank you," she replied. "What took you so long in there?"

"I was just making sure everything was ready for later tonight; you can never be too well prepared ahead of time," he answered her as he sat down. "...What's the matter, babe? You look a little uptight."

"I am," she told him, taking in a deep breath through her nostrils. "...I need to talk to you about a few things."

The purple crewmate tensed up a little bit, slightly fearful of what was on his girlfriend's mind, but he maintained his composure and responded.

"...Alright. What is it we need to talk about?"

"Well...I know you said you had to take up a few other jobs in order to keep up with the bills. And that's fine," she started. "But lately, it seems like we've been having less money to work with, and not more. Even with your extra jobs, we barely go anywhere anymore, or do anything; whenever you're NOT working, you say we don't have the money to do any of the things we want to do together, and most of the time, I'm just...here by myself. Aside from when we're asleep, you're probably only home only three to four hours a day, even on the weekends."