Work Text:
Some days it felt like you were an alien. A being not created on Earth, but sent there to co-mingle with humans anyway. Like you weren’t born to survive the problems of the average person. Somehow you knew you weren’t the only person to feel that way, millions likely felt like they weren’t equipped to handle what life could throw at them, and yet they pressed on. In spite of or maybe even embracing the difficulty that is the average human’s existence, everyone marches forward.
It was one of those days, or maybe more accurately, one of those weeks. Every single thing that could go wrong, did, and it seemed to make everything else crumble as well. You were on your third day of calling out of work and you knew you would have to go in tomorrow or risk being fired, but you were getting dangerously close to not giving a single fuck. Being out of a job would be very bad and yet you dreamt of it and fantasized about it. You were even among the few that could say they actually liked their job, it was just the ownership and the management that really ruined it for you. For the most part, though, you love what you do and would be heartbroken to actually lose it.
Pulling you out of your barely conscious state was a key in the lock, which made your head instantly perk up at. Eddie was supposed to be at work right now, he’d left like an hour ago, but it was very obviously him at the door. You could tell because even from your bedroom you could hear music blasting from the headphones he wore around his neck. A slow smile crept onto your face at hearing him sing along in gibberish to whatever song he was listening to. As he got closer the music and his singing stopped and you heard him turn the headphones off as he entered the room.
“Hey baby,” He murmured, quickly shutting the door to not let too much light into the room. You had made him leave the curtains shut when he woke up, even though he normally opened them to help get you out of bed with the sun. The chains on his jeans tinkled quietly as he walked over to the bed until he was seated on the side. His warm hand dropped onto your bare shoulder, making you hum in reply.
“What are you doing?” You asked in lieu of greeting him.
“‘M taking care of you, duh.” He grinned wide before leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to your temple.
“Eddieeee,” You whined, aggressively rubbing your face against the fluff of your pillow. “You don’t have to do that, I-I’m just tired. I need one more day of rest and then I’ll be back to normal.”
“I know you will.” He shrugged, his lips brushing against your skin as he spoke before he pulled back. You turned more onto your side so you could see him better, rather than just getting a glimpse through your peripheral. “Please let me take care of you? I brought you some of Wayne’s homemade chicken wild rice soup, and he’d be real upset if I didn’t feed it to you while it was hot and fresh.” He told you, gesturing to the brown paper bag he had set down on the nightstand.
“ Wayne made me soup!?” You asked, your eyes widening as you moved to sit up more. Tears were already starting to form in your eyes.
“He also made you a loaf of sourdough.” He added, digging in the bag for the loaf and then standing up.
“Where are you going!?” You reached out for his wrist, stopping him from taking another step.
“ Baby, ” Eddie chuckled, shaking his head. “I have to go cut some slices. We’re not barbarians.”
“Aw, come on.” You pleaded, clasping your hands together and holding them underneath your chin. “I think Wayne would be tickled by the fact that we love his bread so much we tore into it like savages.” You punctuated your statement with a playful growl, baring your teeth up at your boyfriend.
“Promise to do that again for a picture, and I’m in.” Eddie offered, raising an eyebrow as he waited for your response.
“Deal.” You snorted, reaching your hand out for the loaf which he easily handed over before returning to sit on the side of the bed. Then he grabbed the bag again and took out the two servings of soup Wayne had sent with him along with the two spoons he had grabbed from the kitchen. He opened your container and set it back down onto the nightstand before opening his and dropping both tops into the bag to be dealt with later.
“You gonna do the honors?” Eddie asked you as he balanced his bowl of soup in his lap with one hand and held his other out for a piece of bread.
“Oh… You sure?” You asked, gesturing to yourself and then him with the bread in your hands.
“Yeah, I wanna see you do it. What with those claws and all.” He nodded his head toward the acrylics on your fingers.
You could feel your cheeks heat up with a blush but you nodded your head and tapped your fingernails against the hard outer crust of the bread. It was still quite warm even though it had to be driven back home from Wayne’s farm to the apartment you and Eddie shared in the city. “I can’t believe it’s still so warm.”
“The soups probably helped.” He nodded his head in agreement. “Go on, rip into it!” He cheered you on.
“Fine!” You huffed, shaking your head to yourself before looking down at it. You thought about it for maybe a second and then you dug your fingers into it and pulled it apart. The halves were not equal in any shape or form, yet he still dutifully grabbed the smaller piece from you. “You could take the bigger one!” You held it out for him to trade.
“Nope. I chose this one and now I’m attached to it.” Eddie shrugged and scooted back until his back was pressed to the footboard so the two of you were sitting opposite each other. For a few minutes the room was filled with gross slurps and obnoxious chomps as you ate your soup and bread until he spoke up again. “What’d work say?”
You sighed loudly as soon as he finished his question. He knew how precarious the situation with work could be. They were like an insecure lover. They acted caring and affectionate one second, and then the next they were all “you know the rules”, “figure it out”. As if their work was even remotely important or necessary. They could never cut you some slack or be flexible. You were convinced it would kill them if they did, that’s how much they avoided it.
“You know, the usual.” You muttered, swirling your spoon through the thick liquid in your bowl. “If I don’t come in tomorrow, that's another write-up and I’ve already got one. ‘Get a third, and you’re out!’” You imitated the owner, gesturing your pointer finger in the air. The voice you exaggerated, like always. Giving Gary a weird voice made you feel somewhat better, though.
He snorted loudly, shaking his head. “You know they’d be lost without you.”
“I know!” You agreed, launching your hand out in a gesture as if to say “duh!” and let it fall back down to your lap. “Which is fine, though, like I said. Just one more day of wallowing in self-pity, and then I will be back to my regularly scheduled programming.” You told him matter-of-factly before bringing another bite of soup to your mouth. “What about you?” You asked, gesturing towards him with the hand holding the bowl.
He shrugged and took another bite. “No one cares if we don’t have practice or record today, so we’re all taking it off.” He finally said, speaking faster than normal. He hated when he got to talk about how lucky he was and how great the job of being in a band was and then you had to think of the borderline emotional abuse that your own job has lobbed at you.
“Babe, you know you don’t have to feel guilt for having a great career.” You told him seriously as you shuffled around, folding your legs in front of you and leaning back against the headboard.
“Logically, yes.” He agreed, setting his bowl down in his lap to tear his chunk of bread up into bite size pieces. “Come on, eat up. After this, we’re taking a bath.”
“We?” You asked, eyebrow raised as you began to tear your own piece of bread into tinier chunks.
“You heard me.” Eddie chuckled, throwing a wink at you before tossing a couple pieces of bread into the soup and picking the bowl back up to eat.
You did the same, the both of you pausing every so often just to exclaim how good of a cook Wayne was and agreeing that you needed to get the recipe from him. Somehow you both had managed to finish your entire portions and the bread, a feat you’re not sure you should have made it to, but it was too late now.
“Alright, you stay right there and I’m going to go get the bath started after I put these in the sink.” He announced as he stood up and grabbed the two bowls and the paper bag.
Normally you would argue and offer to take the dishes out to the kitchen, but you were headed straight for food coma territory so instead you just agreed and sunk back down into the bed. The next thing you knew, you were slowly blinking your eyes open to him kneeling on the floor next to your bed as he gently shook you awake.
“There she is.” He cooed as he leaned up and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “The bath is ready, come on.” He smiled before standing up and holding his hand out for you.
“Uuuuugh,” You groaned as you slowly sat up and swung your legs over the side of the bed. Then you flopped your hand into his and let him pull you up and towards the bathroom. Before you could even move he began taking off your clothes, folding up each article of clothing and dropping them in a pile on the counter. He knew you showered already this morning and would likely be putting those pj’s back on again.
“In you go.” He grunted as he grasped both of your forearms in his hands and lowered you down into the tub. “How is it?” He asked after dropping into a crouch next to it.
“Almost perfect.” You hummed, tipping your head back to rest on the lip of the tub.
“Almost!?” He asked incredulously, chuckling at the grin on your face.
“Well you’re not in it yet, so it can’t be perfect.” You told him. Opening one of your eyes briefly to look him over.
“Ohh I see.” He tipped his head back in a laugh before he stood back up. He then quickly tugged off all of his clothes and dropped them in a heap on the tile floor. You rolled your eyes at how differently he handled your possessions, but the thought also made a warmth spread across your chest.
Eddie treated you like you were precious and fragile. He treated your belongings much the same way and yet he treated his own things like they were just things. They could never hold nearly as much value as you did to him. Once he was undressed, you scooted forward without being told and he climbed into the tub behind you. Once he was settled he pulled your body back against his, making you practically melt into him.
“Hey Siri,” Eddie paused, waiting for the AI to start listening. “Dim the lights in the bathroom, please.” As the lights dimmed he chirped out a quieter, “thank you.”
You hummed in delight at the formality of his request. You loved when he said please and thank you to inanimate objects, it was endlessly charming. As you relaxed in the warm bathroom against his warm chest you again somehow started to doze. Even after sleeping for what felt like an eternity already, you were still able to fall asleep. You knew what depression was like, what it felt like, and yet every time like this one, you struggled to accept just how much rest your body and mind needed.
“After this,” His voice slowly filtered back into your brain, his lips pressed close and vibrating against your ear as he spoke. “We’ll get back into some pj’s and get right back in that bed.”
“And cuddle?” You asked, your voice quiet and small as you squeezed your eyes closed, fresh tears prickling at the corners without your permission.
“Mhm.” He agreed, pressing a chaste kiss to your head, just behind your ear.
“You spoil me, Eddie Munson.” You hummed, clasping your hands around the arm that he had draped across your chest and leaning your head back onto his shoulder.
“Because I love you.” Eddie replied, leaning further to trail kisses down your neck and across your shoulder. “And you deserve it.” He added, nibbling gently on the skin where your neck met your shoulder until he was sure a small mark would bloom there.
Once the water had begun to grow cold for the third time, he decided it was time for the both of you to get out. Your fingers and toes were looking like prunes and he figured there was no sense adding more water again when you were so heavy against him with sleep. He roused you awake as he was managing to get you out of the tub without either of you slipping and you stayed as conscious as you could as you swayed back and forth while he dried you off with a fluffy black towel. It was your favorite one that he always designated as the towel specifically for these baths.
After you were back in your clothes he led you back into your bedroom and had you get back into bed. The room was still dark save for the one light he’d asked Siri to turn on. He got you all tucked in and then went back into the bathroom to turn on the fan and the nightlight, closing the door almost all the way, but just enough so both the sound and the light wafted gently into the room. He then pulled on a pair of boxers and climbed into bed beside you before tugging you against him.
You were already as good as asleep tucked against his chest, but you were still able to feel as he wrapped his arm around your body and began to run his fingers softly up and down your back. He hummed for a while. It wasn’t a song you instantly recognized, but the further and further you fell into unconsciousness you could feel the name of the song on the tip of your tongue. It was begging to be said out loud, but you’d just have to hope you remembered tomorrow to finally ask if he had finished the song he had been working on for months now.
It was a song that he had, of course, dedicated to you and the love you shared. No matter how many times he did that with the songs he wrote, it never got old. You would never get tired of seeing your name on the “dedicated to” line on his songs. It was never your actual name, though. It was always something sickeningly sweet like “my baby” or “my princess” and it never failed to make you blush and fall in love all over again.
His arms wrapped tighter around your body as he finished the song and pulled you tighter into his embrace. You hummed and pressed a soft kiss to his throat. “Thought you were asleep, angel?” Eddie chuckled lowly, his laugh vibrating against your lips on his skin.
“I am.” You murmured quietly against his skin, your lips barely moving.
“Okay, baby.” He laughed breathily, pressing a long kiss to your hair before pulling back to get comfy again. “Sweet dreams.” He whispered as you were already tumbling back down into a beautiful dreamless sleep. Something you only achieved when you were in his arms.