Work Text:
The door to the Spider’s Nest swung open quietly and Anna Maria stepped inside. She had no reason in particular to be there, she hadn’t been called to action or anything, but at this point she came and went as she pleased. She liked it here anyway; it was always quiet, far removed from the bustling chaos of the city. Especially now, at night, when the only light came from the lamp on Otto’s workbench, and the small sparks from the robot he was currently fiddling with. He didn’t seem to notice that she’d entered. She stopped at the entrance to the space and knocked gently on the wall to announce her presence without disturbing the peace. He looked up and turned in his seat, taking off his welding goggles. Seeing her brought a small smile to his face.
“Hello.” His voice was mellow, affectionate. She walked up to his spot.
“How are you?”
“I am- fine.” The falter, while ever so slight, did not go unnoticed. Now that she was closer she could see that the smile he gave her seemed… fleeting. It wavered, more polite than natural. Maybe he was just tired. It wouldn’t be unusual.
“Well that’s good. Are you busy?”
“No, not particularly.”
“Great. Because…” She reached into her bag and pulled out a small tupperware full of little balls of cookie dough. “Boom. Cookies.” She placed the container on the desk. “I could’ve finished them at home, but I thought it might be nice to do that here. Then, not only are they warm, but your house smells like cookies. Not really any downside there.” She was expecting a happier reaction, but instead what little was left of Otto’s smile faded, replaced with an apprehensive look. “Is something wrong?”
“No! No, that sounds wonderful, it’s just, um,” he cleared his throat. “You should probably not go in the kitchen right now.”
“Why? Is it messy? Because you and I have pretty different ideas of what constitutes as messy.” She tried to bring a bit of humor to the situation. It didn’t land.
“No, it is not- well, it is, but… There’s a broken plate. Quite broken. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“Oh. What happened, did it just fall?” Judging from the fact that he wouldn’t look her in the eye, she guessed there was a bit more at play.
“No.” Okay, that was still a very vague answer.
“So what happened, then?” A short pause.
“I broke it.”
“On accident? That’s fine-”
“On purpose. Kind of.”
“... Kind of?” Silence. Tension now hung in the air. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Otto, what’s going on?”
“I didn’t mean to,” he blurted. “I don’t… It has been a difficult day, and I suppose everything built up, and-and I was in the kitchen earlier today and one second the plate was in my hands and then I just- threw it at the ground. And now it’s broken.” He took a deep breath to recover from his tangent and rested his face in one hand. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t think I was thinking. So. Don’t go in the kitchen.”
Anna Maria wasn’t quite sure what to say. She knew destructive tendencies stemming from unresolved anger was still something Otto struggled with, but it was so easy to forget that. She kind of got why Otto would’t have wanted to tell her. He didn’t want her to be scared, maybe. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Hey,” she said softly. “It’s okay. It was an accident.” She moved her hand from his shoulder to his head, lightly combing her fingers through his hair. “I can go sweep up the shards if you-”
“No, don’t,” he said, uncovering his face. “I broke the plate, I will clean it up. I just… need a second. I don’t know.”
“Of course.” A few moments passed. She leaned more into Otto. He leaned back. “You know what,” she said, breaking the silence. “We can ignore the kitchen for now. We don’t need it. Because I also got a documentary from the library I was hoping we could watch. It’s about penguins. How does that sound?” Otto looked back up at her. He looked tired, but the smile he gave her this time was genuine. He sighed and leaned over to lay a tender kiss on her lips.
“That sounds wonderful.”