:(

4 knew something was wrong the moment Ruckus walked in the door. Ruckus always had a routine whenever he came home - he’d say “Hi baby! Hi kids! Hi sweetie!” depending on who is at the door, kick his shoes off in their foyer, set his bag of things on a chair placed near the door, and lumber on in with a chatty attitude. Tonight, 4 almost didn’t realize it was Ruckus who had come home.

4 shuffled with a pan of grilled cheese and a burger in the kitchen until he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He glanced towards the bar behind him, and realized that Ruckus was standing there. Strange. He didn’t hear any hello’s, any flirty remarks, or any other clownery with his kids that were glued to the TV in the other room. 4 could tell immediately that something was wrong.

“What’s up with you?” 4 said, gesturing to him with his spatula. Ruckus rubbed underneath his tired eye, and pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket. By the way it was creased, it looked like the big man had been fumbling with it in his hands and thinking about it all day. He sat it on the counter gingerly, not saying anything. 4 turned the heat a little lower and went to investigate.

It was an old coupon from a year ago, when 4 had no fucking idea what to give him. It was corny shit like ‘i need a date’ or ‘i need a kiss’. It was something simple that he knew Ruckus would appreciate, but he never expected them to be of any use. Ruckus was usually good with his words, and, really, 4 was surprised that Ruckus even kept them. The one that Ruckus sat on the counter was ‘I need a snuggle’. 4 raised his eyebrow.

Well, he was going to ask why the hell he couldn’t ask Player for this, but when he looked back up at his husband he was floored with just how sad he looked. Ruckus’ eyes were sunken in, his back slouched, his tail was dragged on the floor and stagnant. He looked horrible. That soft frown didn’t suit him at all. 4 gave a deep, exasperated sigh.

“Okay. Pull your mane up in a pony tail and you can hug me while I cook. How’s that?” He said. Ruckus didn’t even answer, he just nodded silently and averted his eyes. 4 passed him one of his scrunchies, and Ruckus fumbled it into his hair. When he was all pulled up, Ruckus followed him into the kitchen. 4 took his spot in front of the burners, and Ruckus wrapped his arms around him. He sighed deeply, squeezing 4 tight and breathing into his neck.

There was no pressure for either of them to talk. 4 just continued cooking and occasionally rubbed Ruckus’ arm. When the kids’ dinners were done, 4 had Player dish out their dishes, and he took Ruckus up to his bedroom. Ruckus climbed into his horde, 4 following. He let Ruckus wrap his arms around him again, this time they were face-to-face, and 4 could talk to him properly.

“So.” 4 said, wrapping one of his prosthetics under Ruckus’ shoulder. The big man enjoyed being held. “What’s got you like this?”

Ruckus took a few moments to respond. “I missed you,” He said, squeezing him tighter. “I felt stressed today. I wished I had your voice to tell me It’ll be okay.” 4 sighed, and patted his back softly while he talked. “I missed your face and your voice.” Ruckus continued, his voice soft in his ear. “And how you tell me you love me… I just wanna be next to you for a little while.”

4 knew that wasn’t the whole story, but he really didn’t feel like prying. Maybe Ruckus was just sad. He’s always been clingy when he’s sad. In any case, 4 wrapped his other prosthetic around him, so that they’d be hugging fully. Ruckus sniffed.

“Yeah, yeah.” 4 said, trying to think of the right words to say. He couldn’t find any cure-all statement. Instead, 4 rubbed his husband’s back to soothe him. It worked wonders.

The two of them stayed huddled together like that in Ruckus’ horde for the whole night. It wasn’t 4’s favorite activity, but Ruckus has done the same for him, too. Might as well repay the favor.