Work Text:
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BANG
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Zero’s body snaps to awareness in an instant. Combat mode engages immediately, providing multiple battle-ready scenarios that flash through his head in an instant. Zero chooses the response with the best defense, given that he's not currently in armor. He darts out from under the covers, and over the side of the bed, intending to roll behind the desk that he could turn over for quick cover until he can summon his armor. However, decades of combat training, honed reflexes and being a literal combat war machine mean nothing when your foot gets caught up in a twisted blanket. With an embarrassing shout Zero ends up planting face first into the floor with a muffled thud and a groan. The added seconds with his sore cheek on the ground do however allow him a few moments to finally check threat assessment and realize that he and X are not under any threat at all. Actually.
The warbot gets up and kicks away the blanket still around his leg, surveying the room for his husband. If startled awake like that, normally X was right to him, checking to see if he’d had a nightmare and needed some soothing words or a comforting touch. But now, X wasn’t even in the room.
Had X dropped something? What could he be doing to make such a racket? Checking his internal systems, Zero winces at the time. It’s 4 am. Neither of them should be awake with less than half their normal energy levels charged at this point. That doesn't make this situation any better, it even makes him worry for his partner more. He pads out of their room in search of X, not even having to go too far when he hears some muttering from the kitchen, and strangely enough, the sweet smell of cake. He stops at the kitchen doorway though, more than a bit perplexed and worried once he sees what X is doing.
X's stress levels and the ways in which he dealt with them were impressive and creative at their best, and emotionally draining and damaging at their worst. Zero had seen him at both ends of the spectrum and almost knew all of X's tells just as well as his own for when a breakdown was coming.
As far as Zero was aware, baking and cooking was one of X's good outlets for stress. It put the extra energy and focus into something he could do with his hands. It gave him a positive and tangible sense of completion and satisfaction.
This… this was not that. Zero stood in the doorway to the kitchen, looking on as X cleaned up spilled batter from a dropped cake pan. On the counter were four or five cakes in different stages of completion. One was iced and looked half-decorated, while another had a chunk missing like a handful had been grabbed from it. There were two cakes still cooling and various bowls of batter and icing scattered about. The sink was almost literally overflowing with dishes.
This didn't look like or feel like one of X's positive outlets for stress. This looked like a slowly worsening spiral. Zero stepped into the kitchen, he needed to snap X out of this.
"X-"
"OH-!"
X flinched violently. He hadn't even noticed Zero, or passively recognized his presence through his sensors. Just how long had he been zoned out to get to a point that he was subconsciously ignoring some of his most basic system notifications? The bad feeling that Zero had seemed almost tangible as it settled low in his abdomen.
"Oh, Zero, hah, you scared me. I'm sorry, I must have woken you up. Sorry."
"X are you okay?"
"Me? Y-yeah of course I am, I only dropped a pan, I'm more worried about putting a scratch on the floor, you know we only just-"
"X-" Zero goes over to where his husband is, he can see X's hands are shaking, gripped around a washcloth. He kneels down in front of him, avoiding the batter as much as possible. He takes one of X's hands in his own and squeezes gently, hoping to ground him. "It's four AM and there are at least five cakes in our kitchen in different stages of completion. X. Are you okay?"
X keeps his gaze for a second before looking down at the mess he was trying to clean.
"I didn't realize I'd made so much. I, I just- it was only around midnight and I needed to do something so I started cooking, but it wasn't good enough and I had to make it right and then I just, I just couldn't get it right and I didn't want to fail at this, not when nothing else has gone our way this week- not when I've kept failing everyone! I didn't want to stop and think-”
Zero's worry grows when X takes his hand away and starts wringing the cloth in his hands, and his bottom lip trembles a little. "If I stopped, my thoughts would catch up to me and I just don't want to deal with them right now. I'm sorry I dropped the pan and woke you up and made a mess. I- I'm sorry!"
X tries to hold back his tears, but loses when a small cry breaks between his lips. Whatever restraint X had tried to cap on his emotions is suddenly gone, and he lets out deep sobs while large tears fall down his cheeks. Zero shuffles next to X and pulls him into a hug, petting his hair and kissing his head.
"It’s okay X, I’m not upset, you’re not in trouble, I love you. This probably isn't a good push of this outlet X. Come on, you need a moment. I'll make some tea, okay? You don't have to be verbal if you don't want to right now, let me clean up a bit."
X nods along and takes Zero's hand to help stand up. Zero has him sit down at the small kitchen table, while he quickly pulls together a nice, warm cup of tea, with more milk and sugar than necessary. X takes it with a teary smile, and sips while Zero moves about the kitchen with efficiency, covering the iced cakes with bowls for now and wrapping up the rest of the icing and batter with plastic wrap before neatly organizing everything in the fridge. Even just that small bit of cleaning seems to lower the tension in X's posture. Next he moves onto the dishes. He checks the dishwasher to see that it’s already half full. This would take a while. Looking back over his shoulder, X is looking down into his cup, he seems less dissociated but still a little out of it. The mug trembles with his hands, and his breaths are short and a little ragged.
“X, buddy.”
“Mm!”
X’s head snaps up to him, and Zero gives him a smile. He takes a deep breath, motioning with his hands and X follows his lead, taking his own deep breath, they hold it for a few seconds before Zero slowly lowers his hands, signaling for them to exhale. X’s breath is shaky and he starts to cry a bit again, but Zero goes through the breathing motions with him a few more times. Soon, X's breath and systems even out again, and the shaking of his hands has stopped.
Zero briefly thinks back to when X first taught him this. He'd scoffed at the notion that robots and androids should, of all things, worry about how they breathe outside of built-in functions to help with cooling. If he could, Zero thinks he'd like to smack his younger self over the head.
He took so much for granted back then. He promised he'd never do so again in their wedding vows, and now was a small chance to honor them.
Even when X has regained control, Zero has them go through it one more time.
“ -snif- Th-thank you, Zero.”
“Anything for you X. Hey, could you pick out some music for us to listen to? It'd be nice to have some while I do this."
X nods and sets the cup on the table. He moves over to a counter with a slightly newer record player from the late 20XX's that X had somehow managed to salvage with help from other retro enthusiasts. He turns it on and Zero finishes filling their dishwasher to the static hum of the speakers, while X flips through their small collection. X pulls out a “best of” record which means it's either their “Best of Baroque” or”Best of ABBA”. and while Zero wanted his husband to relax and calm down, he doesn't know if ABBA is the best choice for that.
His minute worry is settled when the record static clicks onto the track, and the first notes he hears are not of a synth keyboard.
X sighs as the music plays, and returns to the chair and his tea. Zero begins the task of rinsing off the batter from everything, and stacking it off to the side before he can wash it properly. They settle into the music and the subtle sounds of Zero's cleaning, the strange unmatched calm of the very early morning wrapping them up into a little world for just the two of them in their kitchen.
Zero was rinsing out the sink when he heard X get up and pad over to him. Gentle arms wrap around Zero's waist and slowly he can feel X snuggle into his hair. The overwhelming sensation and presence of X in his proximity sensors causes Zero's systems to momentarily flash warnings to him before recognizing X and relaxes instantly.
“Sleepy?” He asks gently.
“Mm-hmm- but, I wanna, wanna kiss you first…”
Zero turns to face X. An amused smile appears as X sighs at the loss of Zero's paradoxically silky and fluffy hair. X is almost pouting, and Zero can't help the soft chuckle that escapes him. His husband is so cute sometimes. So open and vulnerable to him as well. Zero is honored to be trusted by his partner to see, and feel, and know all these parts of X.
“Alright. Kiss and then bed.”
Zero gently cups one of X’s cheeks, emotions swelling in his ‘heart’ as X nuzzles into it, and leans in to gently press his lips to X’s. Zero will never get over their softness. He kisses X again. And then once more. And then peppers his cheeks with soft kisses that make X laugh gently at the sensation.
Zero takes X's hand and leads them back to their bedroom, where X blinks once at the state of the sheets - almost pulled clean from the bed and hanging off Zero's side in a heap - and lets out an amused huff. They don't say anything as they pull the sheets and quilt back up and remake the bed. X simply pulls back the covers, climbs into bed, and then lifts the sheets for Zero to slide in right next to him. They curl into each other, legs tangling, finding safety and comfort in the others arms. And then, like many nights before, they sync up their breathing, rest their foreheads together, and fall into recharge knowing that the other is beside them.