Work Text:
Paul was not having a good day. In fact, he was having a
very bad day
. First, he’d woken up from a nightmare, but Emma was already gone for work, so he had to deal with it alone! He was so distracted trying to calm himself down from the nightmare that he didn’t have time to have breakfast. And he forgot to hand in his statistical analyses yesterday, so as soon as he got to work, he was called in to Mr. Davidson’s office and yelled at! Paul was tired and hungry and overwhelmed and he wanted to go home.
To make matters worse, Bill and Charlotte weren’t there today. The only two people at work who knew he regressed and might be able to comfort him
weren’t there
.
...Was he feeling little now?
Maybe.
That’s not good. What was he supposed to do?! He was little
at work
with no caregiver!
Ted looked up from the computer game he was playing instead of doing work, intending to ask Paul a question about the game. He wasn’t sure if Paul has played this game, but—woah. Paul was shaking. He had a faraway look in his eye and he was even hyperventilating. Ted could hear whispered “okay”s from the man.
Normally, Ted would probably tease Paul for, well he teased him for anything he could think of. But this wasn’t the time for teasing. Ted didn’t want to make him even more upset. He hated dealing with people when they were upset. But there was nobody else here who could help Paul, so he would take one for the team and try to help him.
Ted crouched down in front of Paul’s desk, directly in his line of sight.
“Paul? Are you alright, man?”
Paul shook his head. He was absolutely not alright.
“Okay, come with me.”
Paul looked at his colleague warily. Ted rolled his eyes.
“I’m not going to bite you. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”
Finally, Paul stood and followed Ted to an empty conference room. Paul sat in a chair and started to fidget with his hands.
Ted watched the younger man closely. Something was off about Paul. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, though. He was even quieter than usual—which was really saying something. Paul kind of reminded Ted of his younger brother when he was a toddler. He was hesitant to treat Paul like a little kid, and honestly, he felt kind of weird about it, but hey, if it helped it helped. The worst that could happen is Paul yells at him.
“Hey, bud, you’re not doing too good, are you?” Ted asked softly. He just had to pretend he was talking to a much younger Pete. His brother was way too sensitive as a kid, so he’d ended up getting good at the soft baby-talk shit, though he never used it, and refused to baby-talk Paul. A softer voice was alright, though.
Paul quickly shook his head.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on?”
Paul shook his head again.
Okay, not ideal.
Ted was trying to come up with a response to that when he heard Paul’s stomach growl. “Are you hungry?”
A nod.
“Let’s see what the vending machine has. Oh, how about a cookie? Sound good?”
Another nod.
Ted got a chocolate chip cookie and a bottle of apple juice from the vending machine. He opened both without a second thought and put them on the table in front of Paul.
Once he’d eaten, Paul felt a little better. He was still tired and stressed out, but at least he wasn’t hungry.
How else could Ted comfort Paul? Well, he didn’t seem to mind being treated at least somewhat like a kid. What did he do with Pete when he was upset as a kid? They colored a lot.
“Hey, Paul, you wanna color? Look, there’s some markers and paper here.”
Paul looked up and nodded enthusiastically.
“Here ya go.”
Paul took a sheet of paper and a green marker.
Ted sat across from Paul, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. He sat up when he heard something slide across the table. He saw a blank piece of paper.
“Do you want me to draw with you?” Ted asked, confused.
Paul nodded without looking up from his drawing.
Ted picked up a marker and began to draw.
Around half an hour later, Paul set his markers down and looked up from his drawing. He drew Emma on a farm. He’d have to take it home with him to show her.
He was feeling better now. Not hungry or overwhelmed. He was still a little stressed about finishing his work, but he felt like he could handle it now.
Ted noticed Paul looking at him.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“Yes. Uh, thanks by the way. For the snack and coloring with me.” Paul didn’t know if Ted actually understood what was going on, or if he was just being decent for once.
“Sure thing, man. Ready to get back out there?”
Paul nodded and stood up.
“Hey, like my drawing?”
Paul looked at Ted’s drawing. “What...is it?”
“Good question. I think it was supposed to be a bear.”
“It’s...nice.”
Ted rolled his eyes playfully and slapped Paul on the back. “Come on, man. Let’s get back to work before anyone comes looking for us.”
Paul followed Ted back to their office. He was still confused why Ted had helped him, but appreciative. If he couldn’t have Bill or Charlotte at work to help him, Ted was an okay substitute.