Work Text:
Tyler looked around the bright courtyard slightly anxiously, his hands pulling at the sleeves of Josh’s hoodie, which had become his hoodie, but he still made Josh wear it about every week or so to keep it smelling like him.
Tyler brought his hand to his face, covering his mouth and nose. The smell of cherry cigarettes and woods and rain and cool glass was faint. Josh would need to wear the hoodie again soon.
It’s soft and navy blue and the low C scale on his piano.
He feels very small.
A child across the courtyard screams and Tyler flinches, shutting his eyes for a few seconds. The one sharp sound had cut into his bubble and now all of the train-scattered-blue-brown noises were pouring into his head. He sighed, pulling the hoodie down over his legs, back up, tapping his feet and looking away from where all the people were, up at the skylight.
His concentration is again broken by the leather and padding of the bench shifting as someone sat next to him. He looked over, startled for a moment before his brain registered that it was only Josh. He shot him a pleading glance and Josh frowned, tilting the drink he’d just gotten so Tyler could take a sip. White-gold-tinsel and razors in his throat. It’s good but it’s too cold and hurts and he shakes his head after the first sip. He doesn’t want more.
Tyler leans on Josh.
He wants to go home.
Josh knows Tyler is in hell, and wants to go home. He can tell this from the way Tyler looks at him, from the way the cold drink seems to hurt him, from the way he curls up against Josh. He leans down and kisses the boy on the forehead, holding his hand. “I got a warm cheese Danish too. Do you want it?”
Really Josh got it for Tyler, a sort of reward for getting out of the house, for putting up with this. He knows it’s hard.
Tyler nods and Josh hands him the Danish, stroking up and down Tyler’s ribs softly. Tyler shivers slightly under the faint touch, a good touch, and takes a bite of the warm, soft Danish. Nice.
A welcome distraction.
He finishes it and moves away slightly from Josh. “Can we please go home?” Pouting slightly; the noise is overwhelming and he’s digging his nails into his palms to keep from reacting worse.
“Can you put up with it for fifteen more minutes? Please, baby boy, I know you can do it. Just breathe and block it out.” Josh thought this exposure was good for Tyler.
Tyler was near tears. He couldn’t block it out. If only he could. Josh could, and Tyler always felt like such a hassle because he couldn’t.
Someone across the mall, a small child, screamed, and that was Tyler’s last straw. He yelped and his hands flew to cover his ears, shutting his eyes. The tears started.
Oh no, Josh had messed up.
It was too much for Tyler.
He grabbed Tyler’s arm and pulled him away, into a bookstore in the mall, where it was quieter. But there was still noise, and it still freaked Tyler out. Josh pulled him into a corner and sat with him on the floor. Out of his bag he grabbed large noise-blocking headphones and a small balloon, filled with sand instead of air. He pulled Tyler’s hands from his ears and the boy tensed, eyes squeezed shut. Josh pushed the balloon into his hands and pulled the headphones over Tyler’s ears. Tyler calmed down visibly - less tense, opening his eyes. He carefully adjusted the headphones, mouthing a thank you to Josh as his fingers made indents in the balloon.
Josh smiled as he watched Tyler calm down, letting out a relieved sigh. Tyler’s therapist had said it would be good for Tyler, getting him used to more stimuli. But that was a hard and long process, and meant Josh had to put his baby boy through hell. He wanted to take Tyler home before it got to be too much, wanted to wrap him up in a soft blanket and make him okay. Who said Tyler needed to function in society? Josh would protect him, provide for him.
He would do anything to make Tyler happy.
Work from home, buy the specific soft lights that didn’t make Tyler dizzy, teach him how to cook, hold him until he stopped shaking when his own thoughts screamed at him.
Josh hesitantly reached out, pulling Tyler into a hug, waiting to see if Tyler resisted the touch. He didn’t, laying his head on Josh’s shoulder. Tyler pulled off one side of the headphones, sighing.
“Can we please go home now?”
“Of course, baby boy. I’ll make tea, too. We’ll stay in the rest of the night. Want to watch a movie?”
He would take care of Tyler.