Work Text:
“Where the hell did they even go?!”
Paintbrush had been having a peaceful evening, sketching out the surrounding scenery. It was nice to have some time alone with their art sitting in a sunny spot, but eventually the sun started to drift downward and it was then that Paintbrush realized how cold it was. It made sense giving that it was the beginning of fall, but Paintbrush was having none of it.
So they went inside, assuming it would be easy to grab one of the hoodies from their closet. And now there they were, having spent the last 15 minutes trying to figure out where they even put their hoodies and jackets, because apparently they weren’t in said closet. They knew one of them was probably in test tube’s lab given that test tube, lightbulb, fan and them had hung out there the other night and test tube always keeps it unreasonably cold. As for the other ones, there was no trace anywhere in their room, not in the laundry, the closet, or anywhere.
Paintbrush groaned trying to remember where they could be, only remembering that they let Pepper borrow their jacket yesterday when they were on a date. But it’s not like Pepper managed to nab all of their hoodies. Right? On the other hand, she did have a habit of taking a lot of Paintbrush’s jackets ever since they started dating. But Paintbrush thought they always managed to nab them back from her. Paintbrush got up, determined to find what happened, and made the short walk down to the floor below to Pepper and Salt’s shared room.
They brought their hand up and knocked on the door, “Pepper?”
Paintbrush heard some noises and the door opened to Pepper holding one of her hands out flat and the other one holding the top of a nail polish bottle. She excitedly flung her arms around paintbrush’s shoulders, being careful to not fully put her hand down as to not mess up her painting job. Paintbrush could feel some of their previous annoyance melt away as they hugged her back.
She retreated from the hug with a small peck on their cheek, “Hi babe! Like what’s up?”
She turned back to her bed patting the spot next to her for paintbrush to join but before they could they couldn’t help but notice what she was wearing. A pair of shorts that were almost unnoticeable because of the large, white, paint-stained hoodie that covered them. That was not the hoodie they lent her yesterday.
“Pepper…” Paintbrush said, menacingly standing near Pepper.
Pepper looked up confused, a nervous giggle escaping her lips, “Yeah?”
“Can I have my hoodie back?”
Pepper pouted, “why?”
Paintbrush looked away, knowing they usually could never deny her pouting face, “Because I can’t find any of mine. I know you took them.”
Paintbrush looked back just in time to see the wide eyes pepper had before she threw on a poker face, “Well… I have like this one but I don’t know where your other ones went.”
Paintbrush crossed their arms, quirking a brow, “really?
Pepper gave a sigh and rolled her eyes at the action. Paintbrush shrugged their shoulders and made a move to Pepper’s closet. It was then that they heard Pepper stumble off the bed and felt a pull at their wrist, trying to guide them away from it.
Pepper guilty laughed, “Oh come on, babe, they’re like not that big of a deal.”
Paintbrush turned around smirking at their girlfriend, “What, do you not want me to look in your closet or something?”
“There’s like nothing in there!” Pepper groaned, tugging on paintbrush’s wrist.
Still, they made their way over to the closet. Out of the corner of their eye, they noticed pepper reaching out for their other hand and quickly dodged, bringing their free hand to open the closet doors. There they saw the rest of their hoodies and jackets, sticking out like a sore thumb next to Pepper’s fashionable bright clothing.
Paintbrush turned around to look at Pepper, giving her a look of pride and accomplishment; to which Pepper groaned and moved back to flop on her bed. Watching the overdramatic reaction, paintbrush couldn’t help but smile and admire how extra Pepper was. With a slight laugh, they followed her steps, sitting down next to her.
Pepper glared at her partner, “You’re like the worst.”
Paintbrush gently kicked at her feet with their own, “says the clothing thief.”
“They’re comfy!” pepper defended, “plus it’s not like you don’t like steal my clothes!”
“I borrow a skirt from you now and then,” Paintbrush laughed, bring up a finger to poke at her shoulder, “But I return them and don’t hoard them.”
Pepper rolled her eyes, dragging herself up into the sitting position, just to rest her head against paintbrush’s shoulder. She carefully wriggled her arms to where they were holding onto paintbrush’s arm that was closest to her. Paintbrush could hear a small indignant mumble from her and just sighed in response, resting their head on top of hers.
“You can keep one or two, just not all of them,” Paintbrush laughed, “why did you even want so many?”
Paintbrush could feel Pepper shrug against them as she murmurs, “I don’t know… they just like remind me of you when you’re busy or like if I miss you.”
Paintbrush could feel their heart thumping in the response. They still had some trouble staying calm after hearing such meaningful and praising words coming from someone else, it was hard not to have their heart pumping and their ego boosted.
Pepper repositioned herself so that her a paintbrush were face to face, through a pout she grumbled, “do you like want them all back now?”
Paintbrush knew they should say yes but instead they shrugged. They flopped down to lie on the bed, gently tugging at the back of their, well now it might as well be pepper’s, jacket. She happily followed, lying right down next to paintbrush and curling into them, wrapping her arms around their midsection. They followed suit in returning the motion, gently wrapping their arms around her as well.
“You can keep them for a little bit longer,” they decided, “I think I’d just rather hang out with you right now instead.”
Paintbrush could feel their heart practically burst out of their chest at the overjoyed smile and loving eyes that pepper wore. She giggled before squeezing paintbrush tighter and pressing a light peck to their cheek.
“You’re like the best,” Pepper sighed, “I love you!”
Paintbrush laughed in response, melting further into her hold, “love you too.”