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The time was 6:23am when Karen awoke to the loud tinny wails of a hair dryer ricocheting and bouncing off the Chum Bucket’s walls.
She groaned loudly, turning over and burying her face into the pillow feeling around for her husband despite knowing full well that he was currently the one causing the ruckus.
He had a new scheme.
He only ever gave this level of care and excitement to his morning routine if he had a new scheme planned.
Karen groaned again sitting up in their bed and blearily gazing at the stream of light snaking its way into their room from down the hallway.
She’d known Plankton long enough to recognize this whole elaborate routine of his as a good luck charm for him.
A good luck charm that didn’t work. Not in the slightest.
But a good luck charm nonetheless.
And so without fail once every few days Karen would awaken to the hairdryer and find an empty space where her husband was supposed to lay. And she’d sit there in the quiet darkness of the early morning knowing full well that she’d be the one to comfort him later on when the plan all went wrong.
Hm.
The noise wasn’t going to stop anytime soon and she’d already fully powered on so there really wasn’t any use in attempting to sleep any longer. Karen sighed, arising from her spot in the bed and making her way to the closet in order to don her robe and slippers before making her way down the hallway into the still dark kitchen. She debated for a moment whether or not to turn on the lights before deciding against it. It was still too early in the day for her processors to handle the bright overhead LEDS that usually illuminated the chum bucket and she found herself thanking Plankton for at least having the decency to leave the place dark for her.
The time was 6:30am and Karen was staring absentmindedly into her coffee, watching the creamer swirl around gently. She wondered how far along Plankton was in his hair styling endeavors.
She took a sip from her coffee.
The time was 6:33 am when Karen found herself propped up against the bathroom door as she watched her husband with some degree of fondness as he methodically dried and straightened each section of hair, a little glint of excitement and pride in his eye.
And she knew this was all for nothing. She knew that at the end of the day he was going to inevitably fail just like every other time.
But in that moment, staring at him as pure glee radiated off him in rays, she couldn’t find it within herself to comment.
And perhaps for that moment she felt something genuine for him.
“Do you need a hand?”
Plankton’s eye widened as he visibly startled, looking up at her through her reflection in the mirror.
“Um-”
“You’ve just been at it for a while and I thought it’d be faster for you-”
Plankton seemed to finally comprehend what she was implying and he sturdied himself nodding assuredly. “Of course, took you long enough to ask.”
Karen rolled her eyes contemplating just walking away after that comment but she was feeling forgiving so without further comment she took her position behind him, picking up and dividing his hair into sections with gentle hands.
His face still maintained that cocky guarded look but she could now feel his shoulders relax under her touch and that was enough to reassure her that he wasn’t actually in all that dickish of a mood.
That was enough.
And they stayed like that for a while. Karen methodically brushing and slicking his hair into place while he sat there fiddling with his hands and any small objects he could find.
She’d just moved on to his second braid when he spoke; so quietly she wasn’t entirely sure she had heard it.
“I’ve missed this.”
“Hm?” she hummed, hoping he’d say more. “You’ve missed what?”
“This” He repeated looking almost embarrassed with himself “You doing my hair… it’s nice, feels a bit like the old days..”
Karen froze and for a moment he looked uncharacteristically small and an awful lot like the man she used to know. The one she loved.
“Yeah… I suppose I've missed this too.”
Her reassurance seemed to cause him to gain a bit more confidence as he sat up a bit straighter in his seat, a delighted smile gracing his features.
“We used to do this all the time, remember?”
Karen nodded
“I mean obviously I don’t need your help or anything but you know it’s been… well”
He paused for a moment seemingly trying to gather up the words to say what he wanted.
Karen smiled quietly
“Of course not, I'm sure you did perfectly well on your own.”
He huffed, elbowing her in the stomach to which she responded with a rather hard flick to his temple.
He whimpered looking back at her with great offense “you know domestic abuse is the most common cause of divorce-”
She scoffed at him tugging a bit harder as she moved her way down the braid she was working on.
“Keep that mouth up and you’ll be getting more than just a flick to the head”
He obviously wanted to be angry but settled into a loud “harumph” opting to sulk gloomily in his seat instead.
“Well I suppose what I was meaning to say was… it’s a bit more.. Enjoyable with you.”
His eye was focused determinedly on the floor trying to avoid eye contact with her at all costs, as if he was worried she would reject him or laugh.
She smiled despite herself as she turned him around to face her and tipped his head up.
“I agree. This is more enjoyable with you”
And there it was.
That smitten, lovestruck smile stretching itself across his face despite his best efforts to hide it.
She couldn’t help but be a little bit pleased she was still able to make it appear.
Plankton laughed, his breaths coming with a flustered stutter as he puffed his chest out in a smug fashion.
“Of course it is, why wouldn’t my presence make things all the better-”
And Karen once again found herself rolling her eyes with a certain fondness to her features and a genuine feeling pounding in her chest as she firmly gripped him by the chin.
“Oh shut up Big Guy~”
The time was 7:30am and her lips were happily pressed against his.