Instant Family (SWSH Fanfic)

Wearing the Pants

"Alright bud," Gloria's grip on Allister's ankles tightened as she did her best to stay as steady as possible, "can you reach it?"

Hnnnnggghh, this would've been a lot easier if I had Cheep—

She winced as she felt his feet dig into the tops of her shoulders, the rubber soles of his shoes scraping her skin through her shirt. She looked down to see Bea's poor, exhausted face as she steadied her own grip on her calves. Gloria grunted, sweat dripping down her neck. Allister wobbled a bit as their human tower swayed backward.

"Allie—" Bea's voice filtered through clenched teeth, "—just tell us if you can't reach— we can figure something els—"

"Got it!"

Dust and dirt trickled down, the sound of Allister getting a grip on the lip of the den's entrance echoed down. Gloria and Bea let out a sigh of relief as they looked up at Allister scrambling cutely up the cave wall. The soles of his shoes disappeared into the above-ground. Gloria wobbled a bit on Bea's shoulders as she cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Is it still there?"

Allister peeked his head over the den's entrance adorably and nodded, Gloria looked down at Bea's miserable face and smiled, shooting her a double thumbs-up. She mustered a half smile as she dug her heel into the ground to steady them. Gloria cleared her throat, pointing in the general direction she thought her bag was, "Okay lil dude, grab my backpack— in the very back pocket, there should be some rope. Find something to tie it on so we can get outta here, okay?" Gloria leaned against the rocky wall as Allister nodded at her directions. His face disappeared to go find the bag. Bea's voice wavered slightly from below,

"Hoookay Gloria... I've gotta let you down now—" Gloria looked down to see Bea take her left hand off of her leg to wipe her brow, "—Let's make this nice and—" a bug whizzed past Gloria's ear, causing her to jerk her head backward, swatting wildly around her face instinctively.

Uh-oh.

Her heels slipped off of the front of Bea's shoulders as gravity set out to claim another victim, Gloria squeaked out a girly yelp as Bea yanked her feet forward, bringing Gloria hurtling forward, her crotch slamming into the back of her neck. Gloria felt the wind leave her lungs, her eyes wincing in pain, "FUCK—" Bea tumbled forward, the inertia bringing her knees to the ground. Bea groaned as she collapsed between Gloria's legs, the fall bringing her Gloria down into a convenient standing position. Her voice was tiny and strained,

"—and easy...."

Gloria precariously swung her leg over Bea's head, her hands gingerly hovering over her crotch as she tried to ignore the radiating pain. Her own voice felt strangled in her throat as she crouched down, putting a hand on Bea's back, "Bea—Oh my god— are you okay??"

"I think—" she weakly tilted her head up to look at Gloria through squinted eyes, "I'm gonna take the day off from training with you tomorrow..."

Gloria frowned, the frayed end of her escape rope suddenly landed right before Bea's exhausted face. She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"C-coming back u-up?" Allister's small voice echoed down to the injured duo. They groaned. "Can w-we hurry u-up...? What are w-we having for l-lunch...?"

Allister wriggled the rope annoyingly in front of Bea's face as she let out another long sigh, pushing herself up off of the ground to grab the rope. Gloria examined her face closely. Bea's weak expression from before had changed entirely, her now-determined eyes meeting Allister's. Her arm flexed as she put her free hand above the other, yanking the rope to test for stability. She shot Allister a warm and friendly smile, her voice calling back up to him sweetly,