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The Definition of "Doll"

The first time he called her "Doll" she didn't think much of it.

Perhaps that was ignorance on Fiona's part. She hadn't known Quigley very well at the time, and was still getting used to him. She assumed this was something he did casually. It wasn't a term she hadn't heard before. Though she had to admit, she didn't know what it meant.

After the first couple weeks of him doing this, she finally decided to look it up. However, this backfired as the first definition for the word she was able to find, excluding toys, was:

"A pretty but often empty-headed young woman."

Was he calling her stupid?!

Quigley had been perfectly nice to her since the day she was introduced to the Quagmires! How could he start insulting her so casually? What a jerk!

Klaus, being Fiona's best friend, noticed her not being as comfortable around Quigley anymore and got worried that he did something inappropriate to her. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility for Quigley, Klaus was aware of his troubled dating history and was intent on keeping him from hurting his sensitive mycologist friend.

So upon asking, Fiona explained what had been going on and how it started. Klaus told her he'd never heard Quigley call someone Doll before, not even his girlfriends; it occurred to Fiona then that Quigley had only been doing this when they were alone together.

"Perhaps he doesn't want you to hear him insulting me..." She had said dejectedly.

Klaus was confused by this statement and explained that "Doll" was actually a compliment. He even got out a dictionary for clarification.

"You didn't keep reading," He said, "It also means darling, sweetheart, or an attractive person. Quigley knows you're a hell of a lot smarter than him so there's no way he was using that first definition."

Fiona stared at the page in shock unable to respond to this revelation.

"He's flirting with you. Quigley likes you. I mean I don't know how you feel about him, but it's better than what you thought it was!"

Fiona had simply ignored Klaus as she processed this information. She didn't even notice him leaving the room on the promise that he was "going to let her think it over."

It took her several minutes to realize that she felt uncomfortably warm. Did she like Quigley that way? Did she even realize it? She hadn't thought of the possibility. Though she would have been flat out lying if she said he wasn't cute. His shaggy hair that somehow always looked so soft, wide green eyes, handsome features, charming smile; she could see why so many girls thought he was appealing. Not to mention he was quite funny and fun to be around which only added to his attractiveness. As a result her low self-esteem made it hard for her to accept that a boy so handsome and charming saw her that way at all.

Also...

With the Baudelaires having accepted her back as a close personal friend, she was rather interested in staying away from drama. She extended this practice to "the dating of people they knew;" not that she got to date at all otherwise, even on shore leave. She was not good with boys, and was busy keeping to herself most of the time.

Wait... Was she smiling? She didn't even notice that she'd started smiling... Perhaps she wasn't as smart after all if she can't even notice her own reactions to things! But who cares?

She briefly remembered all the times Quigley had called her Doll. These times now left her with a pleasant warm feeling instead of indifference. Perhaps she did like Quigley Quagmire that way all along and was so bent on not causing drama that she didn't even recognize her own feelings until she had to think about it.

Of course the hard part came now: What to DO about these feelings? Approaching Quigley directly was a bad idea. She'd get too flustered to say anything clearly and make a fool of herself. He was the more forward of the two of them.

~

It didn't end up mattering how this was done, since the next day Quigley showed up at her hotel room door with a bouquet of white orchids, somehow learning her favorite flowers, and asked her out himself.

Fiona said yes and from that first date onward, she was not only happy to be called "Doll," she was even more happy to be "his Doll."

The same couldn't be said for Quigley since her choice of pet name for him was "Quiggles." 😊