Work Text:
Purl-Hew glanced out the window of his room at the rain; thick droplets were rolling down as the smaller droplets coalesced on various parts of the glass. He liked this weather a lot - the cloudy weather was enough to cover up the sun which was easier on his eyes, the gentle sound of the rain itself, the way everything smelled after the initial rainfall and the inevitable end of it… It was his absolute favorite weather despite not being able to endure water for long. He wished he could enjoy it more, but Neon J hadn’t yet developed anything that was completely waterproof and air-tight. For now, he was fine just listening and staring out the window, tracing the lines of water as they fell and very thankful for this moment that he didn’t need to absolutely wear his sunglasses.
He heard the door to his room open. Without even looking, he could tell from the nearly blinding white glow out of the corner of his eyes that it was Rin.
“I knew you’d be in here.” Rin said. Purl-Hew could practically hear the smile in Rin’s voice.
“Mhmm…” Purl-Hew hummed, finally looking away from the window. He squinted at Rin’s general direction, “I’m guessing that Mayday and Zuke are here?” he asked wearily as he reached for his sunglasses.
There was a pause before Rin finally said “You sure you’re up for the collaboration today?” concern radiating from him.
“Yeah. I’m fine.” Purl-Hew responded, shoving his sunglasses back on his face. Much better. “We need all hands on deck anyways, right?”
“I’m sure everyone wouldn’t mind postponing it to later if y-” Rin looked worried, as he was talking. Purl-Hew couldn’t help but feel a bit of annoyance rise to the surface.
“I’m. Fine.” Purl-Hew repeated firmly, moving past his brother. The faster they were able to get this done, the better. He was already feeling drained just thinking about it…
“Alright everyone! Good work. We have a few minutes in the schedule for a break. I expect you back here in no less than 15 minutes.” Neon J stated as they finished one of their many, many takes in the recording booth.
“Yes sir~!” 1010 replied in unison, before immediately heading for the exit. Well, all except Purl-Hew, who lingered for a moment to try to get some peace and quiet.
“Fiiiiinally!” Mayday whined as she got up from her seat and stretched, “I thought my fingers were gonna fall off.”
“Yeah no kidding…” Zuke mumbled as he rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms. Ah, right. People made of flesh and bone tended to not do well with extended recording sessions. Figuring he wouldn’t get the silence he was looking for here, Purl-Hew moved to leave scooting past the duo as quickly as he could.
“I’m gonna go raid their kitchen to see if they have any tasty snacks.” Mayday was saying before Purl-Hew closed the door behind him.
Purl-Hew moved down the halls and made sure to head in the opposite direction of the kitchen they used to entertain their more organic guests. He knew somewhere on this floor was a balcony that had an alcove that overlooked a part of the district that would be far less egregious on his eyes. Both of his eyes felt like they were straining to pop out of their sockets and a pressure around either side of his head was forming. A migraine of sorts that he often got with or without his sunglasses - nothing more than an error that he could work with on most days.
However, today Purl-Hew was just really not feeling all that great. He was irritated, in a slight bit of pain from the - what was it called? Oh right, eye strain -, and frankly he should have taken a break when Rin offered. As the second eldest of five ‘young, impressionable adults’ that he had to set as positive an example as he could. Meaning that the people around him came first, regardless of his own problems. Even if the others were concerned, it’d be selfish and frankly idiotic to set aside something that they had been planning for months on a tight schedule just because Purl-Hew’s head hurt a little bit.
Especially considering that the eldest, Rin, never seemed to set a good example for everyone else and made him wish he really was the eldest so he could potentially set a better and far more firm example for his brothers. But that was an entire set of thoughts that Purl-Hew didn’t want to unpack right this second. It would just make him far more irritated than he already was.
Finally reaching his destination, Purl-Hew could see that the rain was a bit more intense. The raindrops were thicker and far more frequent as they fell. It seemed like a major storm was heading this way. Not unseasonal, but also a bit more than what Purl-Hew was looking forward to. Still, in spite of this he swung open the door and immediately regretted his decision as the noise of the water hitting everything felt nearly deafening. Not wanting to be deterred and wander aimlessly, he forced himself to stand outside, making sure to close the door behind him, and just watch the rain with his sunglasses off.
There were a few agonizing minutes after this decision, which he was starting to regret thoroughly, he heard the door open behind him. Clenching his jaw tightly, he whirled around on his heel to snap at the person behind him.
“I’m not in the mood right now, so why don’t you-” Purl-Hew stopped as instead of being greeted with some sort of bright light of one of his brothers, instead Zuke stood there a little surprised at the outburst. There was a beat of silence.
“I can leave if you want.” Zuke said, taking a cautious step backwards.
“You don’t- I mean- ugh…” Purl-Hew slid his sunglasses back on thoroughly embarrassed and even more irritated than before, this time part of his ire was targeted at himself, “Do whatever. I don’t care.”
He moved to lean over the balcony and try to just focus on the rain, running his hand through his hair as a subconscious move to try and soothe his ever-present headache. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zuke lean over next to him and look out to the city. There was a bit of silence shared between them.
“You suffer from sensory overload, I’m guessing.” Zuke spoke up, far more quiet than before. It took Purl-Hew a second for him to register it over the rain.
“Who knows.” He shrugged, “I just need a moment to think.”
Zuke looked at him. Though his expression would be mostly unreadable to the average person, Purl-Hew could tell with a glance that his poker face wasn’t all that great. There was a light downward twitch to his lips, a furrow of the eyebrows, and the slight movement in the eyes could tell that Zuke was concerned about him. He seemed, however, to get an idea.
“Hey, do you mind closing your eyes for a second?” Zuke asked.
“What? Why?” Purl-Hew frowned. He knew Zuke wasn’t really someone who played pranks, but it was still unusual to suddenly be asked that out of the blue.
Zuke shrugged in response. “Was going to try something that might help, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Purl-Hew huffed, looking back at the door for a second before closing his eyes, still leaning over the balcony. A few seconds later, he felt hands gently cover his ears, muffling the sound around him. It startled him, but after realizing Zuke was just going to keep his hands there, he just… let this happen. Normally he wasn’t much of a touchy person, outside of his family of course, but frankly he’d do anything to get rid of this damn headache. If it didn’t work then whatever, he’d just deal with this later.
A minute or so passed and slowly he felt the pain racketing in his head subside. He moved his arm to indicate that Zuke could stop, opening his eyes. The man did so, and somehow the rain was far more quiet than before despite not having changed in intensity.
“Better?” Zuke asked.
“Yeah, a bit better.” Purl-Hew answered, playing it cool. He wasn’t sure if it was his own pride or his programming that didn’t make him answer directly.
“Cool. Glad it worked.” Zuke smiled at him, a knowing look in his eyes.
Purl-Hew wanted to ask something… but decided against it as he looked at the internal clock, they wouldn’t be late, but Purl-Hew had to be punctual. “We should probably be heading back, time for the break is almost up.”
“I’ll be there in a bit. I want to enjoy the weather a little longer.” Zuke responded, looking back out at the city with a content expression.
Purl-Hew looked over Zuke for a moment before shrugging and heading back to the recording room. He felt a little renewed and looking forward to spending at least a little time with his family and former enemies. At least for a little while, before someone inevitably gave him another migraine.