Work Text:
The minute Pico had left the apartment this morning, he knew a storm was coming. The sky had been overcast and gloomy, and only continued to grow a darker gray as the hours passed. The threat of the sky opening up was a good incentive to get his job done faster, because he knew at home there would be two precious people waiting for him, most likely terrified.
Pico hated thunderstorms. He liked the rain, rain was nice and the smell of it made him happy. He’d bottle that smell up and keep it in a back pocket for emergencies. Thunderstorms, however. In the same vein of Floridians trying to shoot a hurricane, he would attempt to shoot a thunderstorm if it meant it would fuck off. He’d never had a real problem with these storms for awhile, but now that he was with Keith and Cherry? They were his greatest enemy.
His partners were terrified of thunder. It was irrational and they knew realistically the sound couldn’t hurt them- but that was where their minds and bodies disagreed. Pico hated seeing them so upset. Cherry would be paralyzed, eyes filled with tears. Keith would be stuck shaking and unable to speak, fear in his gaze and jaw set so tight his teeth could shatter. Not a single second in these moments where Pico hated the world more watching them be so afraid and he couldn’t do anything to make it go away.
So yes, fuck thunderstorms.
He was going to be too late. Despite the incentive, Pico’s hit had taken a little longer to pull off than he’d wanted. Collecting his money spent extra time he needed to get home faster. By the time he was on his way, a handful of rumbles and booms had already gone off, and a spatter of droplets had begun pelting the street.
“Fuck…” Pico muttered. Money was important, and he didn’t regret going out to a job today. He regretted that he didn’t have Cherry’s teleportation power and that he was stuck power-walking down the sidewalk. He could imagine how well they were fairing already- not well, he assumed. Just a few more minutes and he’d be home. Pico couldn’t make it go away, but he could very much curse out god while comforting his favorite people.
“Biff? Gee?” Pico called the moment he stepped through the door, shoes kicked haphazardly to the side. He could worry about putting them away properly later. “Are you guys alright? I’m so sorry I’m late-”
CRACK-BOOM!
Admittedly, Pico flinched at this one out of surprise. That must have been extremely close for how fast the thunder followed the lightning flash. Fuck. A loud whimper reached his ears and his heart nearly stabbed itself. Cherry was always the one to outwardly cry in fear. He wasn’t sure if Cherry’s sobs or Keith’s silent terror was worse.
Both of them shouldn’t exist, in his opinion.
What was even worse was the sight that greeted Pico when he stepped into the bedroom. The lights were on despite it only being early afternoon, the window covers drawn. The mirror Keith kept to speak with YS was turned around to the wall- Pico assumed it was an attempt to save the silly counterpart (Was that version of Keith scared of thunder too?) from catching a glimpse of this nasty storm. A sweet sentiment soured by uncontrolled fear. Two bodies were clearly huddled together under the bed covers, given away by non-stop shivering from those who hid underneath.
“Oh. Oh, my sweethearts…” Pico rarely used pet names like that. Reserved for times his lovers desperately needed to hear it- the need to make them feel better always bested the emotional hang-ups. “I’m sorry for leaving you both here. I would’ve picked a different day to do the hit if I’d known it would be this bad.”
Quietly moving towards the bed, Pico slid the covers off just enough to be able to see them. Cherry and Keith both trained their teary eyes on him, a death grip on each other’s hands in the space between them reserved for Pico. Without another word, the ginger climbed over the trembling demon and slotted himself in that empty space, paying close attention to not crush their hands with his back.
“I’m here now. I’m sorry.” Pico kept giving apologies when he had never been at fault in the first place. What else could he really do, anyways? He could whisper all the reassurances in the world, hold them as tightly to him as he could, and it still wouldn’t fight away the soul-gripping fear the sounds in the sky created.
He hated hearing Cherry cry. He hated the silence that swept Keith away.
“I love you both so much. I know I don’t say it enough but you always deserve to hear it.” Pico began to ramble, squeezing them in his arms. Distractions were the best he could offer, even with the storm outside throwing more roars. “If I could make it go away then I would in a heartbeat. I love you both so damn much and it kills me that even though I am right here, both of you are still scared and crying. I hate it. I hate that there are things in this world that can make you two scared like this, things that can make you cry. Things that hurt you and I can’t do a single fucking thing to stop it.”
On any other day, he would be giddy and all smiles in the current situation, sandwiched between the two who held his heart. Not today. Their snuggled closeness was out of a sense of desperation, clinging to him like either one of them could die with the next lightning strike. Pico tried his best to ignore the feeling of tears soaking into the sides of his sweater, but he couldn’t. Both Cherry and Keith had their arms wrapped tightly around his, faces shoved into his shoulders. Cherry was brave enough to keep a peeking eye open, watching Pico’s face while he talked. Keith, however, had his eyes shut tight as he shook. Perhaps not being able to see the flash before the sound helped him.
“I know this is probably stupid, but I was thinking of you guys while I was out today.” Pico continued. “Probably not really romantic to think about your lovers while you’re off murdering some other person, but… I don’t know. I’d like to think you guys love knowing how much of my thoughts you occupy.”
He didn’t expect either of them to be strong enough to respond back to him right now. That was okay. Pico knew it might be awhile before they could calm down enough for that, especially since the storm didn’t seem like it would let up very soon. As much it was a little evil to say, not having anyone respond to him emboldened the words he normally couldn’t say.
“Hey. The thunder out there isn’t going to hurt you. I know it’s loud, sudden, and unpredictable. But you know what? I’ve got you. It only lasts for a few seconds each time. I can lie here and hold you two for much longer than that. The storm will pass, and when it does, I will still be here. Even when there is a storm, and everything feels awful like your hearts will burst from the fear, I will be here. I am never the best at saying it, but I will always make sure to show how much I love you. Keith, Cherry. My two beautiful, wonderful partners. The two best people in my life, and I will keep you safe with everything I have in me.”
Pico strained his neck, making sure to give a strong, comforting kiss to each of their foreheads. The shaking from each of his companions was gradually slowing down, only starting back up to speed with the next lightning strike. He couldn’t take the fear away in the moment, but it was clear him being there and talking all sweet to them was helping. Without a thought, Pico decided it wouldn’t hurt to start humming a lullaby. It was a good thing Keith and Cherry were so overly fond of his voice.
The sound of rain hitting the window was starting to lessen. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. Far too slow in his opinion, but just because the rain could stop didn’t mean the thunder would go with it.
Fine by him. He could stay with Keith and Cherry cuddled against him for several more hours yet.