tedbox is my comfort ship pls dont bully me
this was done way faster and it's shorter than i expected,,, if its bad im going to make up for it in like. a week or two with sumn special ;)
no cws lads, just happy + sleepy boys
title from green - cavetown
prompt; "ted is tired and noah's sitting beside him, so he uses noah's lap as a pillow and falls asleep."
final word count; 1.05k
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it's quiet in the lunch club studio.
carson and josh are off somewhere, probably goofing off in a public place like they usually do once they're done recording, schlatt is recording a video of his own with wilbur at the brit's flat, and cooper and travis are napping on the couch, cuddling with each other in a way that makes it seem like there's more to their relationship than they're letting on. charlie didn't show up, he'd called earlier, coughing and sniffling, said he's sick and didn't want to infect them, and that leaves noah and ted.
ted is tired. throughout the night, he'd barely gotten any sleep, too twitchy and keyed up, fingers tapping against his thigh or legs refusing to stay still – it kept him up all night, and then he's been recording with the others most of the day, it's worn him out and all he wants to do is sleep. he's just about to doze off on the couch when noah shows up, sitting down next to him, and he gives noah a tired smile.
"hey, ted." noah says, running a hand through his hair, brushing it out of his face. he's still wearing that stupid green bomber jacket that ted absolutely does not love on him, looking at him with soft brown eyes that makes ted's knees go weak and his heart flutter. it's stupid and cliché – a crush on his coworker? call him cooper. – but he doesn't really care, not anymore. "ted? are you ok?"
"mmhm, yeah, i'm fine, jus' tired." he answers the question, tilting his head back with a deep exhale. noah's expression goes from happy-ish to concerned, sitting up a little and turning to ted, bringing one leg onto the couch and tucking it under his other leg. noah squints at him questioningly, ted chuckles softly in response, "noah, seriously, i just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"seems like you haven't been sleeping well at all this week. you've been severely low-energy, less chaotic than usual, more quiet, the bags under your eyes," noah reaches out, brushes a thumb across ted's eye bags, his other hand caressing ted's cheek, "you should probably take a nap later, ted." noah murmurs, and the concern in his voice – the concern for ted – makes him sniffle subtly.
"yeah," he says stupidly, voice breaking audibly, though he covers it with a cough, covering his mouth so noah can't see the dorky smile on his face. noah's hands are warm and soft and just a smidge bigger than his own, and he wonders how it'd feel like to hold his hand, to intertwine their fingers, let him rub his thumb across his knuckles and study the look of his hand. "yeah, i'll nap." his voice is a little breathless, but noah smiles softly, taking his hands away from ted's face.
"good," he tells ted, shifting slightly on the couch, pulling out his phone and turning his attention to the device in hand. they sit in silence for quite a while, noah scrolling through whatever social media he has open on his phone, and ted is so close to falling asleep. his head drops against his shoulder harshly, he jolts awake and noah looks at him, an amused smile on his face. "you ok there, buddy?"
"mhm," ted mumbles, stretching. he takes a look at noah, half-lidded eyes meet attentive and curious ones, and suddenly, ted gets an idea. he moves further away from noah on the couch, not noticing the way noah's face falls ever-so-slightly, then he leans over, dropping his head on noah's thigh, eyes fluttering shut.
noah blushes, a light pink dusting his cheeks, and he's no clue what to do. theodore nivison is resting his head in noah's lap and he's mildly freaking out about it. it's not a big secret that noah likes ted, it's actually quite obvious – the way he looks at ted, the way he savours every bit of contact between them, the way he enjoys talking with ted more than anyone else, the way he always wants to share everything he finds interesting with him, it's just completely obvious. ted doesn't know noah's in love with him, been in love with him since the day they met, but if he does, noah doesn't think he'd mind it. it wouldn't be a surprise, really.
he doesn't know what to do with his hands, and so he hesitantly begins brushing his fingers through ted's hair, his phone left forgotten as he looks down at the older man, who's blinking in surprise, soft brown eyes peering right up at noah. a tired, lopsided smile spreads across ted's face and he leans into the touch, sighing softly, and then his eyes close and noah mourns the loss of seeing them. nevertheless, he continues to comb his fingers through ted's hair, nails scraping gently across his scalp. ted hums softly in response, tilting his head upwards, letting noah brush the hair from his face.
"'t feels nice," ted murmurs quietly, shifting so his face is pressed against noah's thigh, yawning quietly. he's so close to giving into the urge to sleep, struggling to keep his eyes open, to keep a conversation going. this might be one of the last times they have each other to themselves for a while, since lunch club is always involved in so many different skits that people are needed in elsewhere, and he'd prefer to be conscious whilst laying down in noah's lap (it's a luxury he won't always be able to afford).
"mm, i'm glad it does, ted," noah tells him, continuing the gentle actions, and ted is slowly losing the fight with sleep. he hates how calm and relaxed noah makes him feel, biting down on his knuckles as he yawns again, nuzzling closer to the younger with a small huff. "go to sleep. i'll wake you up when everyone else is back so we can film again, yeah?"
"fine." ted huffs, letting his eyes close and stay close. he's just about to drift off when he feels chapped lips press against his forehead, and he manages a small smile. exhaustion seeps into his bones, he's so tired, and he presses his face back into noah's lap, letting his eyes flutter closed.
the hand in ted's hair starts moving again, gently raking his fingers through ted's brown locks, and ted falls asleep to noah gently whispering, "i love you, theo."