Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Hey, Bob?"

"Yeah?" Bob didn't even look up, just sat there, flipping through a comic like it was bloody War & Peace or something.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Bob said, still not looking up from the comic in his hands.

"The other night..." Mumbles paused, unsure how to proceed. Unsure what he wanted to ask. And, most importantly, unsure what answer he wanted if he did figure out how to phrase the question.

Finally, Bob glanced up. "Mumbles?"

"Yeah, um..." Another pause, then he took a deep breath. "It was just a cuddle, yeah?"

Bob looked at him. Just sat there and looked at him as the comic was slowly lowered to Bob's lap. Then Bob smiled, slow and lazy and sleek, and that smile made Mumbles swallow hard.

"Yeah, sure, Mumbles," Bob said, going back to his comic, still smiling that smile. "It was just a cuddle."

Part of Mumbles wanted to ask Bob to define cuddle. In fact, it was on the tip of his tongue and his mouth was half-open when he closed it with a click of his teeth. No, don't go there, don't do it.

As Bob sat there reading his comic and smiling, Mumbles was bloody damn positive he didn't want to know Bob's definition of cuddle.