Work Text:
Kian’s weight made the couch creak as she sat down, clad in a fresh pair of pyjamas and a bowl of ice cream in her hand. The sound of the shower in the next room over served as domestic background noise, layered over the noises of Rand flipping through the TV channels.
“Anything good on tonight?” She said, taking an absurdly large spoonful of ice cream and bringing it to her mouth. Rand gave a noncommittal grunt, flipping for a couple more moments before he settled on some tame nature documentary.
The blonde scooted closer, ducking herself under Rand’s arm and leaning against him as they often did to get comfortable. She noticed that Rand was sitting stiff, as well as still wearing his jeans from the day; her hand subconsciously ran down the denim fabric to his knee.
“You’re still in your day clothes babe, do you want me to grab you some sweatpants and a tank?” She offered.
Rand’s eyes reflected his mild surprise. “You don’t have to do that, you just sat down.”
“I know,” she shrugged, placing her bowl of ice cream precariously in his lap. “But I like seeing you comfy, dude. Remember our therapist said changing into pyjamas might help your anxiety?”
Rand rolled his eyes, but she saw straight through that bluff as feeling appreciated and not knowing how to express it. “Yeah, you’re right I guess.” He sighed, and she smiled softly.
She returned a couple of minutes later with sweatpants and a tank top in her hands, setting them beside him and ruffling his already tussled hair.
“Thanks dude,” he muttered quietly, noticeably sleepier then when she was there a couple minutes ago. The bowl of ice cream was set on the coffee table, and Kian returned to her place beside him.
He peeled off his shirt, keeping it close to his chest as he twisted his arms to put the softer, looser ones on. As he got his arms through the holes he realized Kian’s hands were on his belt, nimbly undoing and pulling the buckles out for him.
He couldn’t help but smile and feel an obnoxious surge of warmth in his chest, she never forgot that comment he’d made about how much he hated the process of fiddling with his belt buckle to get it off after his painful hand tremors had worsened.
She slid it off easily, and they both couldn’t help but also giggle at how goofy Rand looked with his hands still feeling for the holes in the shirt and his pants half-slid off.
Luckily he found them quickly, pulling his arms through and pulling the shirt down to no longer expose his hairy midriff. He bent his legs to make it easier for Kian to shimmy his pants off, leaving him in his boxers.
Their position was undeniably intimate in nature, Kian sat between Rand’s outstretched legs on either side of his helping him pull his clothing off. Giggles escaped them every couple of moments throughout the process, as they often did.
Kian in previous years had spent a lot of time undressing people, and he considered himself a bit of a pro. This was different though, there was no hungry rush to feel the planes of his his body when he already had them memorized.
This came from a different place, one that they giggled at because if they didn’t giggle they’d have to sit in silence and acknowledge that Rand’s back had been damaged severely enough that he often had trouble bending far enough to get his pants off without a considerable amount of pain. He joked about it a lot, talking about how he was thirty-seven going on eighty-three or how he was going to be the hottest bear in the retirement home, but both of his partners saw through the fear. Through the loss of control and autonomy one does not expect to lose when they are so young in a perfectly healthy body.
Kian gently rubbed up and down Rand’s leg, his soft leg hair catching pleasantly between the spaces of her fingers. She read his expression carefully, searching for any of the signs of excessive pain.
He reveled in the caring touch for a moment, twisting as carefully as possible to grab the sweatpants and silently communicate to Kian that her help was appreciated getting them on.
So that’s what they did, Kian helped hold each leg open and pull them up over his calves until he could grab the waistband and pull it over his thighs. When they were secured in their place he let out a sleepy sigh, tipping his head back and exhaling.
He bent his legs and put them back on the floor, as much as he hated admitting it feeling a lot comfier. Kian smiled when she saw it, returning to her position under his arm and rubbing his chest as she kissed his cheek.
Rand huffed a laugh, the drastic shadows of their living room only illuminated by the TV and a single warm lap optimistically hiding the red tint to his cheeks.
“You act like I deserve a medal of valour, all I did was put my fuckin’ pants on.” He grumbled, leaning into the affection regardless of what he said.
Kian snorted between cheek kisses, peppering his jaw at a languid pace. “Proud of you anyway, I know it’s not as easy as it looks.”
And she was right, to an outsider it was the simplest task in the world. One pair of clothes comes off, another comes on; but Rand didn’t get the luxury of simplicity, or a life without paranoia or nerves that weren’t shot to hell and back from a literal monster tearing straight through them. Which is why he was so damn lucky to have found two people that didn’t give a shit for doing things the easy way around on the first try.
Sleep was coming to take him at a rapid pace, and with the warmth of Kian’s body at his side it was easy to let his eyes get heavy and the tension stubbornly ease out of his shoulders.
Before they both knew it Rand was half-slumped against the armrest, Kian to his left sandwiched between his square frame and the soft couch cushions. Both men were exhausted, but comfortable in each other's company.
Before Rand fully succumbed to his urge to rest he rubbed Kian’s shoulder, getting a soft ‘hrmmm?’ out of her. “Do you think Rolan’s gonna be pissed if we fall asleep on the couch again when he gets out of the shower?”
Kian yawned, burying her face in Rand’s broad and well-padded chest. “Maybe a little, but I think he’ll just join us either way.”
Rand smiled, too tired to laugh but in agreement. He drifted off to sleep soon after, one of his loves curled up at his side and his back only mildly dull with its ache.