Work Text:
When Eddie Valiant returned to his apartment that evening and closed the front door behind him, he felt such a sudden exhaustion that he almost fell to the floor.
He leaned against the door behind him and looked around for a moment, taking in the furniture he knew like the back of his hand, the piles of documents still unorganized after Judge Doom's henchmen had turned upside down his office, and his brother's desk, no longer pristine and dusty as it had been the day before.
He couldn't believe that his apartment and his entire life had been turned upside down like that in a single day. Not only that, but when he thought about everything that had happened that night, it seemed so absurd that he wondered if he'd dreamed it.
His aching muscles weren't lying though: Marvin Acme was really dead and Eddie had really solved the mystery of his death and saved Toontown after defeating Judge Morton's henchmen with laughter and fighting the Judge himself.
Judge Doom. A lawyer. A cartoon. A murderer.
Eddie’s gaze fell on his brother's chair. He'd finally caught his murderer. A cartoon who wanted to destroy Toontown, no less.
He should have been happy to have solved that mystery and avenged his brother. Why did he feel so empty instead?
He finally decided to step away from the door and take off his hat, jacket and shoes. He considered for a moment whether to take off his dirty clothes as well before deciding he didn't care. That evening, he didn't care about anything. He just wanted to sleep.
Eddie sighed. He was dead tired, yet his mind couldn't stop and he kept thinking.
He was cold. It wasn’t the temperature in his office that was too low, he was cold inside.
He no longer felt the fire in his veins that had kept him going after his brother's death. And it wasn't just the absence of alcohol in his veins for the first time in years; Eddie no longer felt the hatred that had taken root in his heart after being left alone.
He had hated the toons for what had happened to his brother, after all the time they'd spent helping them. But now it was over, and how could he still hate the toons if his brother's killer wanted to exterminate them all?
Eddie sighed again and went to pull down the bed. With a good night's sleep, everything would be fine again.
He didn't have any specific plans for the following day, other than to invite Dolores out to dinner to thank her for her help and patience with him; after that, his life would start over, perhaps a little more like it had been before the tragedy.
He just had to get through the night.
He'd just pulled down the bed when he heard a knock on the door. He glanced at it and wondered who the hell could be there at two in the morning.
The answer was so obvious that, when he opened the door, he felt like an idiot for even wondering who it could be.
«Eddie! Our savior!» Roger Rabbit exclaimed, jumping into his arms with more energy than Eddie had ever had in his entire life.
«What are you doing here?» he asked, too tired to push him off. He then looked at Jessica Rabbit and corrected himself: «What are you two doing here? I thought you were in Toontown celebrating the finding of Acme's will.»
«We did for a while, but it wasn't the same without you! You saved us!» Roger exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek.
«And we thought you'd be a little lonely tonight and would appreciate some company.» Jessica concluded, entering and closing the door behind her gracefully. Roger finally let him go and nodded vigorously.
Eddie processed those words slowly, his gaze fixed on Roger.
Even if it was Jessica who spoke, Eddie had no doubt it had been his idea to come there. Roger was a cartoon, his purpose was to make people laugh; Eddie was sure he had sensed the emptiness in his heart even before he realized it himself.
He sighed and nodded. He couldn't have chased them away even if he had wanted to.
Roger ran to the bed and threw himself on it with too much force, so much so that the bed bounced back and pinned the screaming rabbit against the wall. Eddie smiled slightly and pulled it back down, then waved a hand to swat away the birds that were flying around Roger's ears.
He threw himself onto the bed next to him with a sigh of pleasure. His body ached, and the next day would be even worse, but lying down meant he could have a break.
«Do you mind if we sleep with you?» Jessica asked in her seductive tone, approaching the bed from the opposite side of Roger.
Eddie propped himself up on his forearms and considered the bed. It was a double bed; they would fit, even if a little tight.
«We should fit. I usually sleep on the left, I can squeeze...» he began, but the words died in his throat when Jessica sat next to him on the bed and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back against the mattress.
«Why on earth would you squeeze yourself? We are the cartoons!» Roger exclaimed from the other side, grabbing his cheeks and stretching them to at least a meter wide. «See? We fit!»
«Roger's right. We're cartoons, we fit everywhere. The only thing you must think about is to be comfortable.» Jessica agreed, lying down next to him. Roger followed suit with more verve, snuggling into Eddie’s right arm.
The detective felt out of place for a moment. He’d already interfered in their marriage two days earlier, and it had been a complete disaster; he didn’t want to create another mess.
But he hadn’t been the one to call them. They’d shown up and asked him to sleep with him, then settled in like this. They wanted to keep him company, they’d made it clear to him. Why should he worry?
He looked at Jessica. Her breasts were against his neck, but to Eddie they were like two extra pillows.
«I’m not bothering you, do I?» he asked just to be sure. He didn’t want to come across as a womanizer again.
«You’re not that kind of person, Eddie Valiant.» she replied simply.
«Yeah, you’re a good person, Eddie! A little sulky, but definitely good!» Roger exclaimed.
Eddie chuckled and closed his eyes. He opened them only a moment, when Jessica slid her arm across his chest to hold Roger's hand, then closed them again.
He fell asleep within minutes, feeling peaceful for the first time in a long time.