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To say Otto was exhausted would have been an understatement. It hadn’t even been a particularly long day, but he’d dealt with a couple of sudden issues regarding his latest project, and they wore him down as the day carried on. You knew there was no getting him out of the lab until he’d fixed these mistakes, so you left him to his work and found ways to busy yourself. You were preparing for bed when he finally trudged up the stairs and joined you, quickly undressing himself and all but collapsing on the mattress with a groan.
“Poor thing,” you tease, sitting down next to him. You reach out and rub his back. “You okay?”
“Mhm,” he mumbles.
You chuckle and keep rubbing his back. “Ready for bed?”
“Mhm.”
“Did you eat dinner?”
Silence.
“Otto.”
More silence.
You shake his arm gently. “Otto,” you repeat, more firmly, “Otto you need to eat something.”
He rolls over to face you, eyes half closed. “I can have a big breakfast.” He yawns. “I’m too tired.”
You lean over and press a kiss to his forehead. “Let me go downstairs and get you something. I’ll be right back.”
Just as you begin to slip away, Otto takes your hand in his. “Stay,” he says, clearly drifting off.
You bring his hand to your lips, kissing it briefly before pressing it back against his chest and letting go. “I’ll just be a couple of minutes, I promise.”
True to your word, you were only gone a couple of minutes, but Otto had fallen asleep before you stepped out of the room. You returned to find him lying there still on top of the covers, mouth slightly open, and snoring lightly. He looked peaceful like this. He looked beautiful. He was like a sunset frozen in time, a gorgeous view that you couldn’t stop looking at. You reached out to run the back of your hand across his cheek, desperate to remind yourself how real this all was. No one moved you quite like he did. You wonder if he’s even aware of it.
As much as you hated to wake him, you hated just as much to let him lie there without having had any dinner, so you woke him and managed to convince him into sitting up and taking the food from you. He didn’t require much convincing after that, clearly hungry despite insisting he could wait until breakfast. When he finishes he passes you the plate, and you set it on the nightstand. He’s already out by the time you turn back around.
You chuckle and shake him awake once more so he can finally get settled under the covers. You switch off the light and get into bed, Otto sleepily snuggling against you immediately. You lie there in silence, stroking his hair as you drift off.
“I love you,” you whisper.
He snores softly, so you kiss his head and close your eyes, content to fall asleep without a reply.