Work Text:
Awake at 2-something in the morning, Troy couldn't seem to sleep a wink. The good side of his pillow is cold enough and so was his side of the bed, while the other side is occupied by Abed, his husband of nine years. It's not uncommon for Troy to catch or lose some sleep for a night or two, even when it was just getting to the best part, and wake up disoriented.
Back when they were both dating, once or twice a week in the late hours of the night while comfy and cozy in bed, Troy would ask Abed about a lot of things - one of them being why are sites named what they're named, and another as to why people no longer call pancakes flapjacks anymore, and so on.
No matter how tired Abed looked, he'd always entertain Troy's silly but somewhat deep questions as the latter would shift to Troy's side and answer him as best to his logical, sensible ability, leaving the other man's curiosity concerning the topic matter put at ease, knowing that he's not a human dictionary.
But this night, however, had Troy thinking if his questions sounded stupid for Abed to answer to now rather than before, so he decided to find out himself. With a soft, hushed whisper and a few gentle pats to the shoulder of his sound-asleep husband, Troy was able to wake him, the latter replied with a soft sound and a yawn.
Now, Troy questioned his dumbness, as to which Abed assures him he isn't dumb, but just neurotic. In the course of Abed and Troy's relationship, as far as Troy's memory can go, he was not subjected to any hurtful names in asking his other half on any foolish questions. Then the topic switched to opposite nicknames - whenever someone smiles a lot just to be called "smiley", or if somebody's angry, they're called "cranky", "grumpy", so on and so forth.
Abed concurs, but gave his husband a judging look when called "skinny" before going back to sleep, which isn't an opposite nickname. Seeing Abed's judging look, Troy's smile waned away and muttered something unclear to himself before turning back to his side to sleep.