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Nikolai just had a terrible, rotten, bad day at work, and Kaz can tell because he’s frowning when he comes into the living room where Kaz is reading a book that evening.
He doesn’t typically do that, Kaz thinks as he puts his book down. He’s usually grinning at the mere sight and idea of seeing Kaz after a long day at the office. “Bad day?” he asks.
Nikolai looks over at him dejectedly. “Like you wouldn’t believe,” he mumbles as he lays his briefcase down on the coffee table and slumps down onto the couch across from Kaz.
“What made it a bad day?” Kaz asks as he gets up to sit down next to Nikolai’s slouched body on the same couch. Maybe he needs to go beat some people up for his boyfriend —
“— had to deal with Vasily’s bullshit,” Nikolai looks over at him impassively as he mutters his answer. “And then my father’s even more bullshitty bullshit, and then I had a client who could not be satisfied, and I just wanted to rip my hair out about it.”
“Do you want to relax now?” Kaz asks, mentally making plans to go find and threaten Vasily and Alexander into oblivion about it.
Nikolai’s bright eyes shine with relief. “Yes,” he sighs.
“Do you want me to read to you?” Kaz asks. “Or would you rather watch a show?”
Nikolai thinks about it. “...can we watch Steven Universe?” he asks hopefully through a small frown that seems uneager to be chased away just yet.
Kaz fights not to groan — he’s watched a lot of Steven Universe in the past couple of years of dating Nikolai. “Of course we can,” he says anyway.
Nikolai is still sporting a frown, but he’s speaking softer, less like he’s mad at the entire world. “It always makes me sleepy,” he says in a slightly petulant tone.
Kaz hides a smile. “I know,” he agrees. “But we want that right now, right?”
“Yeah,” Nikolai returns, eyes latching onto where Kaz turns the TV on across the room with the remote.
Kaz gets Steve Universe on the TV at a low volume.
Nikolai watches it silently, but Kaz watches as his tense shoulders start to loosen, and drop lower. His entire body sinks further into the couch cushions.
Kaz knows that Nikolai is getting tired already, because he can see his eyelids drooping slowly. “Lay down,” he orders him.
“Lap?” Nikolai asks in a groggy voice.
Kaz hesitates.
“Or not,” Nikolai amends.
Even sleepy, this man is simply wired to pick up on Kaz’s nonverbal cues, Kaz thinks; god —
“Hip,” Kaz decides.
Nikolai flops down across the couch as the top of his head where his hair can be a barrier between them pushes against the outside of Kaz’s thigh and hip. His feet are up and curled on the rest of the couch. He’s got his arms cuddled up against his slowly breathing chest.
Kaz grabs his own jacket from where he’d tossed it over the back of the couch when he’d gotten home an hour ago. He lays it out over Nikolai’s upper body.
Nikolai grabs the corners of the jacket, snuggling up under it. He inhales one of the sleeves deeply.
“Smells good?” Kaz rasps quietly.
“Smells like you,” Nikolai corrects him in a tired voice.
Kaz pulls up slightly short. “...oh. Good,” he comes up with.
Nikolai’s eyes are fully closed now.
“Hair?” Kaz suggests.
“Yes, please,” Nikolai mumbles into the couch cushion under his mouth.
Kaz starts to play with his hair, breathing through the pressure and feel of Nikolai’s head against his upper leg.
Finally, Kaz scoots slightly right to get Nikolai’s head away from himself.
Nikolai makes a little, needy noise.
Kaz pauses in his playing with Nikolai’s blond, slightly wavy locks of tousled hair.
Nikolai whines.
Kaz resumes playing with his hair until Nikolai hums happily and keeps drifting off.
Kaz turns Steven Universe down even more, but keeps it on the screen.
Nikolai breathes evenly as Kaz idly watches Steven Universe for the 5 millionth time since they became official.
If he’d known just how much, the sheer amount of Steven Universe he would be watching in the years to come back then, he might’ve thought twice about getting with Nikolai.
But he hadn’t, and he didn’t, and he doesn’t think any more than once about it anymore.
It makes a sour, sad Nikolai into a sleepy, happy Nikolai; therefore, it’s worth its own weight in gold.