Work Text:
Breeze drifted through the curtains, letting them flow gently while the air was filled with the soft hums of whatever had been playing on the radio. Something Italian, based on the lyrics. A portly chef was sat on the sofa, staring idly at the wall as he listened. Occasionally, he would hum quietly along to the tunes, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. He had been living there for a while, a small place above his pizzeria, kept warm by the heat of the kitchen below long after things had been turned off for the night. Of course, he didn't live there alone, there was usually another resident of the apartment but he hadn’t gotten home yet. Thus, Peppito could enjoy some of the peace.
Talking of said other resident, things wouldn't be quiet for long. The door gets thrown open, a short figure darts inside and quickly slams it closed, before hurrying over to the sofa and hopping up onto it. He barely avoids the man who was already there, but closes the gap anyway as he chooses to cuddle up. The tail under his cape sways gently, and he stares up at the human. "Hiiii, Peppito! I'm back from work, how are you? Good, yes?" Right... The cat-gremlin, Noise, also had work. What he did was always very vague, but it seemed to be something related to TV, based on the fact that he had his own Studio and occasionally he would appear in commercials and the like. "It's-a good to see you so happy, mio amico," Peppito wasn't sure what it was, but he couldn't ever dislike the gremlin, "Shall I get to work on dinner?"
“Oh, please do! I’ve been soooo hungry,” the gremlin gives him an innocent smile.
“Sure, that’s-a what the wildlife population would-a say,” Peppito didn’t really mind, he knew that being part-cat meant that Noise acted like a cat. From the cute parts to the hunting instincts. Many times he had seen him chasing after small rodents, and eating all sorts of things that someone probably shouldn’t eat. “How about-a… Pizza?” He chuckles at the expression the gremlin gave him, one of disgust, they’ve known each other for so long that this was never a serious comment. But it was fun to tease the gremlin anyway.
Noise decides to hop up off of the sofa, following after Peppito quite closely. He liked being around people, and he liked receiving attention. It was fun to act all cute and innocent sometimes. Of course, the chef always saw through his sweet act, but he didn’t really care. “I’m-a not going to pet you,” Noise avoids the motion made to shoo him away, giving an innocent look, “Why don’t you-a get changed? Let me talk to-a Theodore?” Peppino didn’t usually have a bias towards one or the other, but sometimes after a long day he preferred the more relaxed Theo to the chaotic nature of Noise. He watches carefully as the gremlin runs off, before returning to what he had been doing. Yes, he really didn’t want to have to feel like he was dealing with a child after work today.
Not even five minutes later, the gremlin was back in the kitchen, head tilted slightly as he watched the Italian work with curiosity. Theo was normally the more anxious one, but being around people he trusted helped him to relax a bit. Outside of the music still playing from the radio, and the sounds of food being prepared, the kitchen was quiet. The cat-gremlin’s ears would occasionally twitch, and his tail would sway gently, but he didn’t need to talk. And, likewise, the chef would give him the occasional glance and make some hand motions, but he didn’t have anything to say out loud. They knew the meanings already.
—------------------------------
“Here you-a go, Theo,” Peppito places two plates on the table. One for him, one for Theodore. And, predictably, it wasn’t pizza either. The chef raises an eyebrow as he watches the short man pull his chair close and grab the fork, letting his gaze linger as he watched him eat. Maybe he WAS really hungry, after all? Of course, not that Peppito could judge, since he was used to not eating for hours himself whenever he had to work busy shifts at the Pizzeria. Neither man was great at taking care of themselves, which was perhaps why they had each other.
“... I know I’m cute, but are ya not gonna eat?” Theo speaking up was enough to snap Peppito out of his trance, he hadn’t even realised he had been staring, whoops. But, well, that just proved his point. They WOULD be worse off alone. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can I-a not be happy about-a my boyfriend?”
“Pfft- You’re so soft,” the soft smile Theo shares shows he wasn’t serious, “Such a… Squishy guy. My squishy guy”
“I’ll show-a you squishy!” The Italian reaches over and pokes Theo’s nose, making him giggle. They both finish eating quite quickly after that, and then the gremlin bobs his head as he watches the human tidy the table and leave the plates in the sink. “Those-a can be washed tomorrow”
Peppito knew what Theo was like, as he casually strolls over and picks him up with ease. He squirms a little, probably to get comfortable, before essentially melting into his arms. Purring quietly, as his tail sways gently. “It’s-a bedtime now, I hope you can-a settle down and sleep”
“Mhm… You know it, Peppi,” Theo ends up mumbling some things in Spanish, and Peppino responds in Italian. It’s soft, quiet, more tender than they’d show in public. The radio continued to hum quietly in the background as they made their way upstairs to sleep.
—---------------------------------------------
Theodore seemed to have an acute sense for telling when things were wrong.
He shot up during the night, spinning around, before focusing his gaze on where his partner lay. Though he had been lying at the foot of the bed, he knew the signs of nightmares from experience. Crawling along, being as quiet as possible, he deliberately places his entire weight across Peppito’s chest. Having to suppress his own panic to avoid making this situation worse.
The breathing was heavy. Sharp. He didn’t need an extra set of ears to hear the heart rate spike. Theo was always terrified whenever this happened, he felt small and useless, but even if all he could do was purr then by God he’d do it. Anything to help Peppino feel better. He knew he was trembling a bit, honestly he was absolutely terrified, there would always be that feeling of “You’re not doing enough” even if he did all he could.
He wasn’t sure how long he lay there for, but he did give a quiet yelp when he got grabbed. It was a sign that the Italian had finally awoken, and honestly Theo was so relieved that he felt he could cry. Sure, he was being crushed slightly, and he didn’t understand a lick of Italian, but that didn’t matter! His tail sways as he vaguely hugs Peppito, mumbling something completely incoherent. The two of them lay this way for a little while.
Peppito had to take some time blinking the tiredness away, registering that in his arms was the gremlin and… From the darkness in the room, it wasn’t morning yet. He’d had another nightmare, the thoughts still lingered in his mind, pulling at him gently. Threatening his mental state. “My, Theo… Era solo un sogno. I’ll-a tell you in the morning…”
The two of them lay together like that for a while, both were a mess but they could still comfort each other. And, eventually, they managed to fall asleep again, this time with more peaceful dreams. It was a good night in the end.
—---------------------------------------------
PeppiNoise my beloved 💖
