Norman and Otto are settling in for the night.
Ever since returning to their own universe and clearing their names, they have fallen into a comfortable routine. Otto has taken residency in Norman’s penthouse, but if anybody asked, he would say it was a ‘temporary living arrangement’, even though everybody knows he and Norman are basically just roommates now. Though, fewer people know that he and Norman had chosen to pursue a relationship with one another, keeping themselves hidden, only really being affectionate with one another around those who know.
It has been about two years since the whole strange magic incident, two years since Otto and Norman had returned, two years since Otto and Norman had gotten together. It’s bliss, and Otto would not exchange it for the world. As of now, he is brushing his teeth as Norman is running a bath they are planning on sharing. They had shared showers together, but never a bath. Norman’s bathtub is absurdly large, but Otto’s actuators are not 100% waterproof. Still, they both think it will be a good idea to test out, so they do it.
As the tub is nearly full to the brim with water, Otto spits out the toothpaste in his mouth, cleans the toothbrush, then rids the toothpaste from his mouth. “Otto,” Norman calls, Otto hearing his voice as well as the gentle sloshing of the water in the bathtub. “Do you need help taking off your clothes?”
“Just my shirt.” Otto responds, turning from the sink and walking closer to Norman, who stands from sitting on the outer edge of the tub. The two of them meet in the middle, Norman’s bony fingers instantly grabbing for Otto’s shirt with a carefulness he always seems to possess. Otto raises his arms over his head, and Norman gently tugs his shirt off from there. Once the shirt is off of Otto, Norman walks around to his partner’s back, carefully slipping all four actuators from the holes at the back of Otto’s shirt. All of them chitter softly, their closed tips nuzzling against Norman, who smiles and pets them in response.
Norman gives the actuators gentle pets, and as he is doing that, Otto strips himself of his boxers, the only other thing he had on. “Do you want help getting undressed as well, Norman?” Otto asks, looking over his shoulder at his partner.
“Well, if you’re offering.” Norman smiles, then gives the actuators a few final pets before returning to his boyfriend’s side. When Norman stops moving, Otto carefully strips the man of his clothes, tossing them onto the floor to be picked up later. Norman helps where it is needed, but lets Otto do the majority of the work. While undressing him, Otto admires Norman’s form, and he is sure Norman is doing the same to him. Norman’s skin has wrinkled in his old age, and more freckles dot his skin in places they have not before. Otto remembers Norman being scarily thin, and now, the man has made it to a healthy weight, a bit of new pudge on his stomach and his hips.
While Otto undresses him, Norman ogles the man in front of him. Sure, they’re together, but Norman feels like falling in love again every time he sees his partner. The belt around his stomach to support the actuators temporarily has been removed, and the younger Peter from the other universe had found a way to make them lighter on Otto’s back, as well as make them able to slide in and out of their ports whenever needed. Though, as a result, Otto is heavily scarred, but Norman finds them undeniably beautiful. Otto has also filled out nicely, and despite him having a larger figure for the majority of his life, his skin no longer has that sickly appearance to it, being replaced with a healthy glow.
“You’re staring.” Otto states, making Norman smile.
“So are you.” Norman responds, grabbing Otto’s hands in his as he walks backwards towards the tub, leading Otto to it. Otto follows with a smile on his face, stopping when Norman stops in front of the tub. Before he goes in, Norman leans up to place a soft kiss on Otto’s lips. Otto sighs into the kiss, reciprocating easily. The two stay like that for a few moments before parting, Norman placing one last kiss to Otto’s neck before parting from him. Otto frowns at the loss of warmth next to him, but knows the bath water will be warm, so he does not pout for too long, watching Norman get in.
When Norman settles into the bath, he looks up at Otto, gesturing for him to come and join him, and he does so. However, the second he places his foot into the water, something feels off. His next breath is hitched, and his body feels suddenly frozen in place. Otto is simply standing there, one foot in the water and the rest of his body out of it. An odd ringing penetrates his ears, and his face is twisted in confusion and fear. His chest and lungs are twitching, and when he looks down, his vision is too blurry and he feels like he can’t see. Otto can hear the muffled call of his name, but it gets drowned out by the ringing in his ears.
It quickly becomes apparent to Otto that he can’t breathe. Any air that comes into his lungs is scattered and not enough, and he wants to bring his hands to claw at his neck to do something, but he can’t bring himself to. There’s someone still calling his name, but all he can hear is the rough sloshing of water around him. Even though the room is fairly warm, he feels cold, and he still can’t breathe because now it feels like if he opens his airways water will get into his lungs and he’ll drown.
It’s almost instinctive, but Otto angles his head upwards, and it feels like everything just became worse. He cannot see anything except for a blinding yellow light, and despite the rational part of him knowing his machine is long gone, another, louder part inside of him tells him that’s it. He’s in the water again with his machine, and this is it for him. He never got that second chance, he just drowned in the river in 2004 and everything after was just a crazy fever dream his oxygen-deprived brain had created for him in his time of death.
Suddenly, Otto feels pressure against him, and he lets out a choked gasp in response. It’s getting harder and harder to hold his breath, but he doesn’t want to drown. Otto can still hear the water sloshing and feel it all around him. Something still calls for him, but the ever-constant ringing in his ears makes it difficult to make out. His actuators are heavy on his back, a dead weight that is just dragging him down.
Otto doesn’t know how long he stays in this state. The light that he is looking at is starting to fade, but he feels something grabbing at him. Small, bony hands grab at his arms and shoulders, blunt nails digging into his skin. Suddenly, he feels something cold against his back and rear, and then feels something pleasantly warm against his face. “Otto! Otto!” A voice calls, and it is full of worry and fear. Once more, Otto tries to look around and raise his hands to his neck, but the second his head makes contact with the tile underneath him, something inside of him seems to click, and he gasps, taking in a huge breath of air as the world slowly and suddenly comes back to him.
Otto is now on the bathroom floor and gasping for air, coughing somewhat as he does so. The lights of the bathroom are shining down on him, too bright for his sensitive eyes. The ringing in his ears is still apparent, but now less so, and the actuator arms are no longer in their ports, sprawled out around him and lying motionless on the floor. As his vision comes back into focus, he can make out Norman’s form hovering over him, hands on his twitching chest and face looking at him with concern and fear.
Otto wants to speak, to ask Norman what the hell had just happened, but he cannot find the words to do so. Even when he does, he can’t seem to open his mouth. He’s overwhelmed, and simply keeps his eyes on Norman, who has gotten up to grab a towel to wrap Otto up in. “Here we go,” Norman mumbles, wrapping Otto securely in the towel as he helps him sit up, the actuators still a dead weight on his back, twitching as they slowly start to whirr to life once again. “Are you feeling alright? Can I get you anything?”
As his answer, Otto simply rests against Norman, placing his head on his shoulder. It had been two years since he returned to his home universe, and that had been the first time anything from his past came to haunt him like that. Yes, he gets nightmares, but nothing like that. Otto oddly remembers when he first returned, he had some trouble swallowing different liquids, especially when they were cold and / or he did not have a straw, but it had been so miniscule that he pushed past it and assumed it was a side effect of sudden universe hopping. Though, now, the pieces are slowly starting to connect in his mind.
Otto had drowned twice, and only once was he actually saved. He drowned in the river with his machine, then he nearly drowned in the same river when coming back from the dead after the young Peter had fixed him, and it’s only now that the fear is starting to show itself. It makes sense, as he had not been near any bodies of water to trigger that response. Reasonably, he avoided the river, and he had always preferred showers over baths. He never went to the pool or anything like it, so he deduces that contact with a deeper body of water after all this time had activated something he had long forgotten about, even if the bathtub was not that deep compared to the river.
Using Norman’s body to shield himself from the bright lights of the bathroom, Otto feels himself relax. His heartbeat, which was so fast he could barely feel, has slowed down. His breathing slowly evens out, and he can feel Norman’s hands in his hair, an attempt to calm him down, which is working. “Sorry,” Otto chokes out, pushing past how difficult it seems to speak.
“Don’t apologize, honey,” Norman says, leaning down to press a reassuring kiss to Otto’s forehead. “Do you think you can tell me what happened?”
It’s a struggle to form the words he needs. Otto is still overwhelmed, despite him being calmer than he was before. However, he pushes past that feeling. “I don’t- I don’t really know,” Otto breathes, pressing himself impossibly closer to Norman, and the feeling of the towel around him is starting to become oddly suffocating and itchy. “I think I just… The water, it reminded me of- of when I drowned my machine, and I went with it.”
Norman nods, listening to Otto’s explanation while giving him gentle kisses to reassure him. “Did you feel like you were back there? In the water, I mean.”
Otto nods, a small noise coming from his throat. “Can I just… take a shower? By myself?” He mumbles, leaning away from Norman. Everything seems like too much for him, and he just needs some time alone. Norman nods, moving to help Otto stand on his own two feet. He is wobbly, legs shaking still as he stands. He and Norman part reluctantly, Otto moving to sit on the closed lid of the toilet seat, while Norman drains the bath, and once the bath is drained, he starts the shower. When the shower comes on, Norman moves to kiss Otto on the forehead, then makes his way out of the bathroom, leaving Otto by himself.
The second Norman leaves, Otto stands to get under the hot spray of the shower. He feels odd, he feels unclean. He feels like there is still river water on him, and he has to wash it off. The actuators have since gone back into their ports, but he can still feel the phantom pains of them there. The scars that were left from the metal band around his stomach feel like something more, like the band is actually there. Otto breathes heavily, unable to get his mind off of nearly drowning. He tells himself he should get over it, that it happened two years ago and he should not be so hung up over it.
Though, the wound feels fresh, and he can’t stop it from bleeding out.
Otto cleans himself while his mind is buzzing. He wishes Norman was here, wishes that he did not push him out, but the thought of being next to him right now scares him. Either way, he scrubs off the nonexistent river water, washing himself thoroughly, and he doesn’t even notice that he is crying until he is finishing up rinsing his hair, sniffling loudly, followed by a hiccup.
Otto stays in the shower for longer than he should, even if he is finished cleaning himself up.
—
Before Otto gets out of the shower, he washes himself again, still feeling like there is river water on him.
When he gets out of the shower and dries himself with a nearby towel, his skin is more red than it should be. The whole bathroom is full of steam, the mirrors fogged so he can barely see himself. Otto does not bother trying to wipe away the fog, simply stepping out of the bathroom and into his and Norman’s bedroom. When he enters, he sees Norman already on his side of the bed, reading a book he has been working on for the past week, and dressed in his pajamas with his hair slightly damp.
“Did you use the other shower?” Otto asks, and watches as Norman sets down the book at the sound of his voice.
“Yeah.” Norman answers, watching as Otto spots the pajamas he had set out for him on the bed. Taking off the towel, Otto gets dressed silently. The clothes are soft against his skin, soaking up whatever droplets of water the towel did not get. Once he is dressed, Otto tosses the towel into the hamper in the corner of their room, then crawls into bed with Norman, snuggling up under the covers. “Are you feeling better?” As he speaks, Norman turns to face Otto, who is getting himself comfortable, but nothing really seems to be working for him.
Otto shrugs, hoping Norman sees his response. As he tries his best to get comfortable, he feels Norman start to lay down in bed, shuffling closer to him. “Otto,” Norman coos, his voice calm and steady and full of something warm that Otto cannot place. His hand once more comes to his head, fingers combing through damp hair and massaging his scalp. At that, Otto seems to let down some of his walls, and shuffles closer to Norman, taking the man in his arms and dragging him closer, their bodies pressing against one another, Otto bumping his forehead against Norman’s, who smiles.
Norman’s and Otto’s legs quickly become tangled with one another, arms wrapping around each other’s bodies. Otto is uncharacteristically warm due to his shower, and Norman can see how red the man’s skin is. As they lay together, Norman feels as Otto’s hand slips itself underneath his sleep shirt, fingers tracing along his hips and ribs. Norman’s skin is rough, and the feeling of it oddly grounds Otto, the feeling of his partner calming him down.
“It felt like I was there again,” Otto whispers, hearing a hitch in Norman’s breath when he starts to speak. “I couldn’t see myself, all I saw was the light. I felt the water around me and it felt like I couldn’t breathe.”
Otto feels Norman raise a hand upwards, the pad of his thumb coming up to trace lightly over the scars near his eyes from when the actuator arms initially got fused to him. “It- It felt like I was back in the river, Norman.”
Norman hears Otto taking shaky breaths, and in response, he leans in to press his lips just under his eye, trailing kisses across his partner’s face. “You’re safe now, Otto,” Norman mutters against his skin, making sure the man hears him as he speaks. “I’ve got you. You’re safe, you’re not going back there.”
In response, Otto simply lets out a soft noise, pressing himself impossibly closer to Norman. As he speaks, Otto chooses to bury his head near the man’s chest, able to hear his heartbeat and feel the vibrations of his vocal chords as he talks. Otto knows this accidental discovery of a past wound that has gone unchecked is just the tip of the iceberg, and he knows it will take a bit to heal. Though, he just has to take it one step at a time.
For now, he cuddles with Norman, who is soothing him with gentle reassurances. As he does so, Otto places soft kisses to the man’s neck and what is exposed of his upper chest, holding the man close like a child would to a stuffed animal or pillow. Norman also presses his fair share of kisses to what he can reach of Otto’s face and head, holding him close as well.
“Thank you,” Otto mumbles, voice heavy with the threat of sleep. “I love you, Norman.” As he speaks, he nuzzles himself closer to Norman.
“I love you too, Otto. We can talk more in the morning.” At that, Otto nods, feeling Norman curl himself around his body more, forming a protective little bubble around him. Despite the fear from earlier, Otto feels calmer, the presence of his partner soothing him. Eventually, both Otto’s and Norman’s breathing evens out as they fall into a peaceful sleep for the night.