Work Text:
Tsubakura knew what they were doing was ridiculous. Maybe even a little bit dirty, although they weren't doing anything that weird. Nevertheless they pulled the purple hoodie a little tighter around themself. It was only a matter of time before Kuroji showed up to get it back. Tsubakura would need to think of a good excuse by then.
They pulled their legs up onto the chair and spun to the desktop, eyes glazing over at the array of tabs, documents, and popups they had been deliberately ignoring. They fingered the snap where the hood clasped to the jacket as they scrolled through the early evening deluge of email updates. Kuroji's hoodie actually fit Tsubakura's slim frame, albeit barely. Tsubakura preferred to simply drape it around their shoulders, it was marginally less intimate that way, particularly as they slumped in front of the monitor.
Tsubakura had swiped it purely on a whim, while passing by Kuroji's unattended workspace. It was terribly childish, they told themself, like a grade-schooler trying to get their crush's attention. This wasn't romantic though, the ever-uptight Kuroji was just an easy target and Tsubakura had been in a pranking mood, and not above displaying a trophy of their little office conquest.
Tsubakura fidgeted with their hoodie-cape and tried to focus.
It was surprisingly soft, broken in from regular wear. They couldn't place the faint scent physically, but it smelled like stability. It felt like protection - no, comfort; like Kuroji's hot-and-cold brand of fussy caring - the kind that had driven them to support a dead-drunk Tsubakura stumbling home after post-work drinking recently. They had rambled the entire time about how sick Tsubakura was making themself, nanites or no, how disgraceful it was for someone of their merit to behave like this, blah blah blah. As content as they were to live and let live, every now and then Tsubakura wondered what Kuroji would be like, loosened up with a little alcohol...
"There you are."
Tsubakura turned just enough to see Kuroji standing in their office doorway. Toned arms folded across their chest in frustration, and their whole look and demeanor embodied "utterly unamused".
"I should have guessed." Kuroji sighed as they strode over and plucked their hoodie from Tsubakura's shoulders. "What did you do to it?"
"I was bored," said Tsubakura. So much for clever excuses.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I kept it warm for you."
Kuroji held their long zip-up at arm's length, turning and inspecting it with suspicious caution.
"That's just like you isn't it, doing weird and pointless things?"
"Hardly pointless. Annoying you is my release valve," said Tsubakura. They stretched languidly and pointed at their desktop. "See this? Now I'm inspired to deal with it!"
"Well I'm honored to have been of assistance." Kuroji spoke curtly and slid into their hoodie. "Now if you'll excuse me, some of us are actually working." And just like that, they left.
Tsubakura sat focused on the door, listening to Kuroji's footsteps down the hall. The whole little adventure had been over just like that. They curled up again, their mind drifting to how secure and right it had all felt. Tsubakura spun around to face the monitor for hopefully the last time. For sure, Kuroji would be a lot less fun if they weren't so serious.
-----
Kuroji flumped into their desk chair, thoughtlessly scanning the piles of documents on their desk and turning over their encounter with Tsubakura. Steal their hoodie to make them come look for it and...feed off their annoyance? How immature. Although, they thought, perhaps it was some quirk of genius they should be happy to be a part of, proud to assist with...wait.
Kuroji sat straight, pulling their jacket tighter around themself.
Tsubakura had been wearing it, albeit loosely. The great Doctor Enraku had worn something of theirs. Did that make this moment a sort of... indirect cuddling? Kuroji felt a flush at the thought, and then dismissed it as absurd as quickly as they could manage.