Work Text:
“Bobby, sweetheart, are you okay?”
The voice of his concerned wife is what compels him to pull his head back up from the cool countertop with a reluctant sigh. He misses the relief immediately, but tries to put his best smile on before he turns to face his wife.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m great, Athena, just tired.”
“Are you sure? Because you look a little…” she pauses that train of thought, taking a few steps towards him with a pout on her lips before she continues speaking, “...flushed. Do you feel like you might have a fever?”
He shakes his head no, but of course he’s met with the adorable (though he could never say it out loud without getting in trouble with her) sight of his wife getting up on her tiptoes to be able to feel his forehead with her hand. She brings her hand back away for a second before placing it back on his forehead, then pulling it back for real and relaxing back on her heels with a confused look on her face.
“You don’t feel warm, could’ve sworn you would’ve from your face.”
“...Thank you?” he teases, before frowning when he says the concern in his wife’s eyes, “I’m fine, Athena, I’m not sick sick, it was just so hot today and we were outside for a lot of it because of a car wreck. Just need to be in the air conditioning for a while longer and then I’ll be good as new.”
“Did you drink a lot of water?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Did you actually drink enough water or are you trying to placate me?”
“I wouldn’t lie to a police officer.”
“Bobby,” she groans, folding her arms over her chest with her best unamused expression on her face but unless he’s overheated to the point of hallucination, he’s pretty sure the left corner of her mouth is twitching up, desperate to crack a smile.
“Yes, I had enough water today. The two paramedics on our team made sure everyone did because, and I quote the great Henrietta Wilson, if anyone passes out that means more work for me and Chimney.”
“Sounds like Hen, and fair enough,” Athena muses, before she’s tugging on his sleeve hard enough that he knows she means business so he follows her over to the couch without complaint, “sit.”
“Athena, really I’m--”
“If you say you’re fine to me before I’m 100% sure then you are? Well, I’m not sure I’d legally be responsible for the consequences.”
“...I’m dying, I’m not fine, I’m the furthest thing from it…”
“Oh, don’t be a smartass,” she laughs, hitting him gently with a throw pillow, “Michael and I already have Harry for that; I don’t need it from you, too.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll behave.”
She nods, before she takes a step back and looks him up and down in a way that would feel rather… optimistic about what might potentially come, if she wasn’t noticeably concerned about his health.
“Why are you wearing a long sleeve button up in the summer anyway,” she huffs frustratedly, quickly getting to work on unbuttoning him, “maybe that worked over in Minnesota but it’s actually hot here sometimes.”
He thinks about opening his mouth to tell her that it actually does get quite hot in the summer in Minnesota, but he figures that if wants to stay in his wife’s tentative good graces, he should shut up. She’s currently a woman on a mission and he’s learned to rarely try and get in the way of that.
“There, off,” she says, a satisfied smirk on her lips, “now take the tank top off, too.”
“Umm, what?”
“You’re going shirtless until you’re all the way cooled down,” she says casually, before she’s narrowing her eyes again with complete authoritative determination, “I said take it off. Do I have to ask you again?”
“Well there’s a joke I could make right now but considering I don’t want to die, I won’t make it.”
“Saying that is essentially making the joke, Bobby,” Athena rolls her eyes, “I of course know where that was going.”
“I--”
“Bobby? Mom?”
“It’s not what it looks like!” come the panicked words out of his mouth, which apparently does little to actually convince May that it’s not what it looks like as her eyes skirt between the two of them with a terrified look on her face.
“What your stepfather was trying to say,” Athena huffs, “is that he was out too long in the heat today and looked a little overheated to me, so I had him take his shirt off until he was fully cooled down.”
“So… you two aren’t…”
“No, we’re not, May,” Athena says exasperatedly, “do you really think we would be… that I would be engaging in THAT with your stepfather out on the couch when--”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” May yelps, covering her ears, “I’m going to go hide in my room now, bye!”
“May, wait-- oh, she’s definitely gone,” Bobby laughs, face now completely red out of embarrassment instead of the sun, “Athena, I think we traumatized your daughter.”
“May’s a drama queen, I wasn’t even touching you,” Athena insists, “sure, your shirt was off but I was just standing in front of you.”
“Well, she doesn’t see her stepdad shirtless on the couch everywhere,” Bobby reasons, biting his lip to keep from completely dissolving into laughter, “we’ll apologize later and she’ll get over it. It’ll be fine.”
“Apologize for what? Me telling you to take your shirt off for your own health?”
“Apologize for the misunderstanding,” Bobby checks her correctly, “but uh, I feel all better now, so can I put the shirt back on in case Harry or Michael decide to come strolling in here?”