Work Text:
“Nursey? What are you doing in my room? Is everything okay?”
“Shit – I, sorry, Chowder,” Nursey says, voice slightly muffled by being pressed into the floor of Chowder’s room. It’s slightly uncomfortable, what with being cold and hard wood, but right now it seems like the best place in the world to be and never move.
“Hey, no need to apologise!” Nursey heards the thunk of Chowder’s teal backpack hitting the floor, and then a slightly smaller thunk as Chowder himself hits the floor, sprawling with his chest on Nursey’s back. “This okay?” Chowder asks, moving slightly to make himself comfortable laying on Nursey.
“Yeah, it’s fine, but what are you doing, C?”
“Oh! Well, you seem really stressed, and I don’t know how much I can offer actual solutions, especially if it’s about that poetry workshop you were talking about, but Cait said that Jess from the volleyball team uses a weighted blanket when she gets stressed.”
“That’s, ...really thoughtful, actually. Thanks, C. But uhh, now that I’m a little less dead to the outside world, this floor is a bit uncomfortable to lay on.”
“Oh! Yeah, we can go do that somewhere else.” And then Chowder’s getting up and offering a hand to pull Nursey to his feet.
As Nursey gets up, Chowder eyes him critically. “Go change out of those jeans. Did you come straight from class?” Nursey blinks at the barrage of demands and questions, and then remembers that questions are supposed to be answered, so he nods. “Okay, so you haven’t eaten anything since lunch. Okay. I’ll go get something and meet you here, ‘kay?”
“C, you don’t have to do this, I know you were thinking of going to get froyo with Farmer, and I know you and Dex have a shit ton of work for that data structures class.” It’s not that Nursey doesn’t appreciate it, he really does, but really he could just go sleep for fifteen hours and hopefully feel a bit better afterwards.
“Nursey! Hey, look at me.” Chowder waits until Nursey lifts his eyes, then puts a hand on his shoulder. “I am your friend, and I want to help you feel better, because that’s what friends do. I can reschedule with Farmer, and who’s to say I can’t do my work laying on top of you if that’s what it takes. And besides, I can totally get those problem sets done on the bus this weekend.”
Nursey just smiles in thanks, too grateful and frankly, exhausted to explain how happy he is to have a friend like Chowder. “I – yeah, thanks man. I’ll meet you here.”
_X_
Later, when they’ve drunk herbal tea and eaten grilled cheese and they’re just laying on top of Chowder’s teal bedspread, Nursey lets out a contented sigh. “Thanks, Chowder.” Chowder pauses his typing on the laptop balanced on Nursey’s upper back, and just as he’s about to respond, Nursey continues. “I’m really glad to be friends with you. Promise that if you need someone to make you food and lay on top of you, you call me?”
Chowder laughs and moves the laptop aside. He leans his whole body on Nursey’s spreading his arms in an attempt at a hug and says: “Of course, Nursey. I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine, yeah?”
Instead of a response, Nursey just wiggles himself loose so he can wrap his best friend up in a proper hug.