The movie night had been somewhat peaceful. Most of the kids were asleep, aside from Peni. Peter B. had dosed off as well, leaving just Ham, Peni, and Noir awake for the movie's ending.
Noir wasn't entirely sure what triggered it, but one moment he was watching the movie, just as the credits began to roll, and the next he couldn't seem to breath. His gloves felt too hot on his hands, the couch was too comfortable, and Porker's usually soft skin burned his somewhat bare arm.
The Detective pushed himself off the couch and stumbled into Aunt May's kitchen. The old woman had long since retired to bed, so she was nowhere to be found in the room; Peter found that he didn't mind.
Noir flinched when his arm brushed against the kitchen table. Everything was far too loud in the normally silent house. The sound of a clock ticking sounded like a bomb about to go off. He could hear Porker's and Peni's concerned muttering in the other room like they were directly in front of him. And oh, how the rain pattering against the windows made him shake. It was just so loud. Why was everything so loud?!
Peter gasped for breath as he sat down and wedged himself in the corner if the kitchen. He shook like a leaf as he tried to cover his ears in a sad attempt to block out all the noise.
Something touched his arm, and Peter jerked it away as though he had been burned. A soft, soothing sound floated through the air, eventually coaxing Peter to open his eyes, though he didn't budge from his spot in the corner.
Porker sat cross-legged in front of him with Peni not far behind. Noir trembled as he slowly reached out a gloved hand towards the pair, wanting so badly to ground himself and stop all the loud noises. He wanted the burning sensation every time he touched something to go away.
Porker carefully touched Peter's gloved finger, watching the man closely to be sure it didn't hurt. When Noir didn't flinch, the pig slowly took off the detective's glove and entwined their hands. Peni took to doing the same thing with his other hand.
Noir let out a ragged breath, finally finding that his breathing wasn't so labored. He shut his eyes for a moment and slowly scooted closer to his friends, bit caring when his glasses slid down his nose and hit the floor. He could grab them later.
It took a while, but Noir was finally able to calm his racing heart. The sounds that had been so loud and grating before had slowly died back down into the background. Peni carefully wedged herself against Noir's exposed side, now that he seemed to be doing better. Porker seemed happy enough to just keep holding onto his hand. It was a nice grounding point anyhow.
"Thank you," Peter whispered so quietly, that he wasn't entirely sure anyone heard him.
"Any time, Petey," Ham whispered back.