Chapter Text
You were sat at your desk, blearily staring at your computer screen, when you were supposed to be working. But that proved to be impossible with the pounding in your head and constantly running nose. You were sick, but showed up to the warehouse regardless. Not even the bad weather could stop you because staying home for the last four days with nothing to do had driven you slightly mad, you just needed to do something with your time.
“What’s a corpse doing in here?” A low voice came from the door.
You looked over to see Rich standing in the hallway, blinking his narrow eyes at you.
“You’re supposed to be home, to rest.”
“I got bored.”
“So bored you showed up to work?”
“‘s hardly work, but yes.”
He sighed, scratching his temple. “You still look bored.”
You nodded sluggishly, wiping your nose.
He looked you over, the way you were curled up on your chair beneath a felt blanket.
“You’re not gonna leave, even if I tell you to, huh?”
You nodded weakly.
He reciprocated the nod communicating that he knew arguing was futile. “I’ll be in the screening room.” He trotted off, and after another minute of doing absolutely nothing you joined him.
There was a stack of VHS tapes on the coffee table and there was some sort of instructional video playing on the TV. “Screening some stuff?” You asked as you settled down next to him on the red couch, wrapping the blanket tightly around yourself.
“M’yeah, I’m going through some black spines… this one’s not even funny, it’s just vacuum cleaners.”
You huffed, looking over at Rich who, despite evidently being bored out of his mind, looked rather cozy. He was leaned up against the arm rest and held his head up with his hand, a zip up hoodie hanging from his shoulders.
Eyes flicked to yours, noticing that you were staring at him. “You’re not entertained either, huh?”
You shook your head “No, it’s boring and loud.”
“Yeah… this one’s getting tossed.” He stood up and removed the tape from the VCR grabbing another and putting it in instead.
You took the opportunity to shuffle a little closer to where he was sitting, boredom wasn’t the only symptom of being locked up, there was also this nagging need for attention and affection. He returned to his spot and the tape started, it was a recording of some cooking show hosted by a middle aged man who was explaining how to cook goulash.
“I like goulash…” you mused.
“Better take notes then.” Glancing over at you, he smiled softly.
Over the course of the tape you cracked some jokes back and forth, nothing to guffaw at, just some giggle worthy remarks. You also tactically shuffled closer inch by inch, so that when the tape ended you were basically shoulder to shoulder.
“That wasn’t that funny…” Rich concluded.
“Yup… I mean it’s a cooking show, I never really got those in the first place. Why the hell would you want to sit in the studio audience for that? You’d just be hungry as hell after.”
He giggled slightly. “If I was there I would’ve ran on stage and gotten myself a plate, that looked delicious.”
You echoed his infectious laughter, snuggling into yourself a little more while you looked at him. He slightly raised a brow “Something wrong?” His voice was smooth and gentle.
“No.” You squeaked.
He blinked and tilted his head. “Want something?” He asked softly
You knew what you wanted, it was the only thing on your mind, but asking for it directly like this made you feel pathetic. Your gut contorted as awkward silence settled into the small space between you two, your throat feeling tight all of a sudden.
“Hug?” He asked as if it was the most natural thing in the world, you suppose it was for you. You didn’t keep your affinity towards physical affection a secret from your friends, especially not when the drinks started flowing.
“You’ll get sick…” your rationality spoke.
“I’ll live, I’m young and in good shape.” He lifted his arm, inviting you to lean into him, and you did.
You laid your head on his chest, throwing a bit of your blanket over his lap as you wrapped an arm around his midsection. He in turn draped his arm over your shoulders and gave you a gentle squeeze that you reciprocated. After letting it linger for a second he lifted his arm, allowing you to pull away.
When you nuzzled into him further instead, he ruffled your hair “I gotta change the tape.” He mumbled.
You grumbled but pulled back to let him go, he got up and put the next tape in. “I don’t think we’re gonna keep this though.” he sighed, grabbing the next tape and pressing play.
He returned to his spot and embraced you once more, his slender fingers carding through your hair as you snuggled up to him. The tape was an animated show, that had a beautiful hand drawn look to it, the intro depicted a flourishing landscape throughout the seasons and soft female vocals sang:
“At the edge of a meadow stands a crimson house
That's where Pettersson and Findus live year in, year out
They've got hens in their hen house
They have have fun on the farm, adventures every day, by day
And it's Pettersson and Findus asking us to stay”
The show was about an older man living together with a humanoid cat in the countryside, not that you were paying attention to what was happening, you were busy soaking up the affection that you were currently being showered with. The solid warm body underneath you, his arms that were softly wrapped around you and the slight bit of rain that could be heard bouncing off the roof all helped to create a sense of calm that quickly lulled you to sleep. You could feel Rich’s breath stutter as he presumably giggled at how quickly you were falling asleep on him but that didn’t disrupt you. Soon consciousness slipped away and was replaced only by a warm and soft feeling.