Work Text:
Work absolutely sucked. Sucked in a literal and metaphorical sense, as it felt like even the life force was sapped out of the poor sap that trotted back into his home. There his lovely girlfriend was, eyeing through a cookbook that was thicker than her skull while occasionally sipping on a steaming cuppa joe.
Coffee, this late at night? Theodore shakes his head in momentary endearment. Hazel was strange and he loved her just the way she was.
Though enamored with his girlfriend's eccentricity, the memories of work quickly seep back into his mind, dampening his mood yet again. He wished he could get today out of his mind by any means necessary. Just thinking about how everything managed to go wrong all at once put him in a sad, bitter trance. He felt like he didn't want to talk to anyone, deciding to simmer in his anger until it went away.
Shaking his coat off, Noisette's ears perk up when she hears the distinct rustle of clothing. She looks behind her and over the couch for a moment, seeing her beloved with a mean scowl on his face.
She watches with a soft smile as he trudges to the couch, closing the cookbook and setting it to the side. He seems to take it as an invitation and flops onto her lap in a depressed daze. Crawling closer and closer to rest on her chest, he grumbles while burying his face into her pajama shirt.
"Welcome home, hun..." she kisses his nose that was just barely exposed. "How was work today?"
Her smile was bright as ever. It almost made Theo guilty if he told the truth. He tries to break eye contact, looking literally anywhere else in the room, but she insisted on meeting his gaze. He grimaced, wondering how she can be this unaware when he's clearly upset.
"I-it was alright, sweetheart. Don't worry 'bout it," he mumbles.
"It doesn't sound alright, what happened?" her huge doe-eyes stared back into his own, cupping his cheeks until she brought his face out from hiding. Already having slung the tattered coat over the peg of the coat rack earlier, he reaches for his mask until Noisette snakes her fingers underneath to push it off his face. Even while she's being so careful, his face scrunched up like a dog on a leash. He takes the mask from the top of his head and bitterly throws it to the side.
He grumbles when he shakes off his character, the prominent eye bags and 5 o'clock shadow making themselves known. Slowly, she trailed her thumb underneath his eye and along his cheek. Noise can't help but shut his eyes and lean into it, mumbling more.
A pair of lips pressed against his cheek. She repeats her question, this time in a whisper. Noise sighs, setting his cheek against her chest while she caresses the other.
"It was a complete disastah. Every single trick blew up right in my face," he leans against her soothing touch. The soft palms of her hands acted as a balm to his soul. "'Skateboard split in half during a practice run of today's show. 'Was a mess."
Noisette hums in sympathy, rubbing his cheek in small circles with her thumb, never looking away from him. Occasionally, she'll move her hand back to brush his hair. She laces her fingers through his unkempt bangs as he speaks. Having to wiggle her fingers a bit to free herself from a knot or two was a non-issue, so she continues her slow descent down the back of his head.
Neither of them say anything for a moment. They opt to stay there in peace, no complaints or words spoken. But Noisette wasn't about to let her sweetheart wallow in his sadness, she wanted to help! He looked so sad and lost to her, the way he presses his ear to her chest to listen to her heart, to remind him he's home and made it through an awful day.
"Well, look on the bright side! Maybe you can still use some stuff you filmed?"
He digs his face into her torso as he shakes his head with fervor. "Nothing was usable, we had to scrap everything."
Noisette looks on at him with pity, only letting out a small sound of dismay. She wasn't sure much of what she could say that could make everything better and from the looks of it, Noise wanted to sulk no matter what. Her pajamas were pulled taut while he grasps his hand around the hem absent-mindedly. His fingers trail around the delicate stitching while he tosses and turns all over her, too upset and too stubborn to decide on how he even wants to lay.
A dozen huffs, groans, and sighs later, the actor finds himself most comfortable nestled under his beloved's arm. There, she used the arm that he lie on to rub circles into his back to let him brood in silence. Though she felt powerless to quell his sour mood, she knew she could only do so much when he gets like this. Braving a storm was daunting and she'd be his rock for the time being.
As the barista looks down, she reaches her free hand to brush his hair back again. He looks up for another moment, his expression looking like a sick, helpless animal off the side of the road. The same pitiful look he made whenever he got ill and had to come to terms with the fact he couldn't go run around and pants unsuspecting strangers. Also the same pitiful look he made when he realized Noisette would have to nurse him back to health. He loves her to death, but her "secret family recipes"? Not so much.
Though he couldn't deny the cuddles were helping just a little. He nestles his face into the pit of her arm, trying his damndest to be even closer to her than he already was. No matter what he did, nothing was enough. Maybe that's the stubbornness talking, though.
"Is there anything I can do to help, honey?" The words danced around Noise's head while he struggled to find an answer. He was mad, irritated, mentally exhausted. He didn't want to think of solutions, they should know what he wants and just do it. But to expect that of his dear Hazel would be cruel. She's asking for a reason.
"I guess you can...uh..." he struggles. Opening and closing his mouth, mumbling out nothing words while he tries to grasp onto something he can think that he wants. "I mean, I guess you could...hmm..."
The way Noisette scritches his hair all the while doesn't help. It makes his mind blank, soothing him momentarily when he's trying to use what's left of his brain to think. Taking him back to simpler times, where he was a rambunctious little gremlin, only having to worry about having fun and avoiding vegetables like the plague. Mama Noise would soothe him the same way Noisette was doing now, hugging him and nuzzling his favorite stuffies against him to help make the sadness go away.
The feeling of plush against his cheek became one he knew he craved. It helped him when nothing else could. But those days are in the past, the only few plushies they owned were in the bedroom on Noisette's side, all of her pink bunnies with their button eyes and floppy ears. Even if they have bared their hearts to each other countless times, it felt embarrassing to ask for.
But Noise did know a workaround. He suddenly scrambles up, eyeing her hastily and grabbing her arms.
"Do the thing" is all he says. His eyes trace hers while his throat hangs dry, hoping that she understands. When he sees the excited smile on her face, he sighs in relief before falling flat onto the sofa when she tumbles out from underneath.
After a sequence of watching her focus some kind of energy, excitedly tapping her feet on the ground, then exploding into a puff of smoke, what was left of Noisette was a life-sized pink rabbit with her face and her pajamas falling to the floor. Her beady eyes light up when the dust clears and she hops back onto the couch to flop onto her side. After shimmying enough into the space between her honey and the couch, she feels him wrap his arms around her rotund state.
It was a strange form, a weird quirk she had that she could just do on command. Peculiar but not unwelcome, as even Noise enjoyed its presence at times. He pressed himself into her silky-smooth fur, feeling just like a plush toy he could swear he owned at some point, burying his nose in the bright pink until it filled his vision. She had all the mannerisms and oddities of a real rabbit, binkies and all. Suddenly, he squeezes his arms around her tighter just remembering that; he would prefer to have her stay in place just this one time.
And stay in place she did. Noisette lie still as she felt Noise trace his hands up, down, and through her fur. It was therapeutic for both parties and she was happy that she could finally help him wind down. He surrendered to her softness, the fur between her paws, her little tail that wagged in delight as it pounded against the sofa. She was adorable to him, a sight for sore eyes.
Noise sighs into his favorite pink void, and Noisette in turn rubs her chin all across his head. She purrs and grinds her teeth in glee and the vibrations reverberate throughout his body. Occasionally giving him tiny kisses on his face, alternating between "I love you" and "please feel better" quietly to show her affection in her funny bunny way.
At one point, Noise sighs happily, holding her tighter while also mindful not to squeeze the daylights out of her. He enjoyed her rapid bunny kisses and watching her nose and whiskers twitch every so often. He loved her weird quirks just like she loved his, all while appreciating her efforts to help him feel better after a bad day. Feeling a bit guilty for not being as concrete with his needs at first, but Noise quickly cast it aside as another dozen kisses and licks hit his cheek. He chuckles and pets her face, brushing her ears back until they droop down past her face.
"Heeeey, I'm not a lop bunny..." she pouts, reaching up to fix her ears despite her stubby paws.
"But ya look really cute with floppy ears, see?" He brings the other ear down, staring as they fall to the sides of her face. He feels the distinct kick of one leg against the cushion below, she's thumping now? Adorable. "Hey now, no being bratty with me! Only I'm allowed to be the grumpy one tonight!"
She thumps her hind paw against the cushion again with no real anger behind it. She just wants to be silly to coax more of those smiles out of him. Their playful back-and-forth between lop ears versus uppy ears plays out, neither admitting defeat over which option was cuter.
Things gradually fell back into routine for Noise. Gone were the grueling hours of his day gone wrong, now he could sit and relax in the paws of his beloved, arguing over trivial things that didn't really matter. And they had fun doing it. They always did. Hopefully tomorrow would be better, but right now, he's feeling good.