Work Text:
“Morning Bert! Whatcha makin’?”
The mentioned man continues to cook, the soft sizzling of the bacon adding to the cozy atmosphere of the home. “Good morning, Ernie. I’m making breakfast for us.”
Ernie walks over, a gentle bounce to his steps as he rests his head on Bert’s shoulder. The taller man hums in response, a smile tugging at his lips as his eyebrow loosens, face and body calm. He glances at Ernie with a softness in his eyes that he isn’t quite sure if it’s adoration for the other man, or gratefulness for the other man’s calm behavior. Most likely, it is both.
“You’re up early, I see.”
Ernie snickers, placing his nose at the bottom of Bert’s neck, wrapping his arms around the taller man’s shoulders. “Of course I am; I heard you in here and it wouldn’t be very fun to stay in bed when I could be with my best bud instead!”
“Are you sure it wasn’t just to bother me?”
“Oh, gee Bert!”
Ernie lifts his head, pecking Bert’s forehead before resting his chin back on his shoulder.
“I would have told you if I was gonna bother you!”
Bert’s eyebrow raises as his cheeks burn, fighting and failing to repress a grin at the other’s antics.
~~~
Bert waves goodbye to Big Bird, a polite smile on his face as he does so. He slides on his coat, opening the door and feeling the chill of the crisp Autumn air against his cheeks and nose.
He places his hands in his pockets, walking down the steps and onto the sidewalk, heading back towards home. The wind runs through his hair and the trees, a pleasant rustling sound accompanying the fall of leaves and the crunch of them beneath Bert’s boots.
“I wonder if Ernie got our groceries, we’re out of flour.”
Bert furrows his brow. Pretty unlikely, Ernie does tend to forget.
Sighing, Bert walks up the steps to the building, shifting his hand and wrapping his fingers around his key. He walks inside, nodding to another person in the building before he heads up the stairs, finally reaching the apartment and smiling with relief. He slides his key into the lock, twisting it the wrong way twice and getting confused before twisting it the right way. He removes the key and gently pushes open the door, the hinges squeaking softly.
The smell of something savory greets him, along with his roommate.
“Bert! Oh, Ol’ Buddy Bert, I’m so glad you’re home!”
Ernie runs up to Bert giddily, hugging him tight and kissing his cheeks. Bert hugs him back, confused by the repeated kisses. Bert’s hands lower down to the middle of Ernie’s back.
“I’m glad to see you too, Ernie, what’s the matter? I was only gone for a few hours!”
Snickering under his breath, Ernie places the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically, falling backwards. Bert’s eyebrow shoots up and his eyes widen as he quickly lifts one of his hands to Ernie’s upper back, catching him.
“Oh, but Bert, I was so lonely~!”
A sigh leaves Bert’s lips as he shakes his head.
“Ernie, must you be so dramatic?”
Ernie laughs, leaning back up and pecking Bert on the cheek again.
“Yep. Anddddd I made dinner!”
The smell of something burning suddenly catches Bert’s attention.
“You what.”
Ernie sniffs, turning around and sprinting off, causing Bert to fall to the floor.
“Ernie!!”
“I said that I made dinner Bert, I didn’t say that I finished it!”
Ernie snickers right after as Bert shakes his head again.
~~~
After quickly salvaging the food and insisting that he set up the table, Ernie walks out of the kitchen with two steaming bowls of tomato soup on plates with… for lack of a better word, charred cheeses.
Bert, who had left the room for a moment, comes back and freezes for a second, staring in disbelief at the food on the table and the man responsible. “Ernie…”
Ernie runs over, dramatically taking Bert’s hand in his own and giving it a kiss with an exaggerated “Mwah!” For fun.
Ernie tugs on Bert’s arm, letting him go and then lifting him up for a second by his waist, setting him down on a chair and pushing it in for him.
“Dig in, Bert!”
“Oh, Ernie.”
~~~
Ernie, while Bert does the dishes, stands in the living room with his hands on his hips. “Hmm… aha!”
He runs over to his loveseat, stretching his arms out while cracking his knuckles before he wiggles his fingers and crouches down, pushing his loveseat next to Bert’s so that the armrests are touching. Over the squeaking of the chair against the floor, Ernie does not hear Bert come in.
“ERNIE!!”
The scraping sound of the floor stops, and Ernie turns his head to see a bewildered Bert in the entryway of their living room.
“Wha- What are you doing?!”
“I’m pushing our chairs together, Bert!”
“Why are you pushing our chairs together?”
“I wanted to watch a movie tonight with you, Bert!”
“Ernie.. did you want to cuddle while we watch a movie?”
“Yep!”
“Ernie… if you want to cuddle while we watch a movie, we have a couch.”
Bert motions to the couch in the room, big enough for them both to lay comfortably.
“Oh. Oh right.”
“We- we’ve had this for years Ernie-“
“Yea- yes we have, haven’t we?”
“Ernie you picked this couch.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
~~~
After working together to lift and move the chair back to its original place, Bert sits down on the couch, holding Ernie close as Ernie excitedly flips through movie options.
“Ooo what about this one, Bert?”
“Ernie, we watched that one yesterday!”
“But Bert, we can watch it again!”
Bert sighs.
“Oh, fine.”
“Yay!”
Ernie leans up from Bert’s chest, quickly kissing his nose before leaning back down, causing Bert to tense up slightly. Ernie leans over, placing the remote down before leaning back and turning his head to Bert.
“Uhh- you alright Bert?”
“Uh- of course Ernie, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, you’re really tense here.” Ernie pokes Bert’s shoulder. “Poke.”
Bert’s cheeks warm from embarrassment.
“Ern- Why do you keep kissing me?”
“Whatd’ya talkin’ about, Bert?”
“You’ve been kissing me all day! Why do you keep doing that?”
Ernie sits up, saddened by Bert’s tone, which sounds quite irritated or annoyed. Perhaps both?
“Well, I.. I just thought it’d be nice to do somethin’ new.”
“What?”
“I give you a kiss goodnight and a kiss good morning, but I never give you a kiss hello or a kiss goodbye!”
Ernie looks down, embarrassed and sad.
Bert blinks, almost too surprised to speak.
“You… just wanted to kiss me more often?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh.”
Bert’s eyebrow furrows seeing Ernie so woebegone. The man sighs, moving his hand up to cup Ernie’s cheek, which makes Ernie look back up at Bert.
“Ernie, I’m not mad.”
“You’re not?”
“No! You just surprised me, that’s all!”
“So… you like when I kiss you?”
“Of course I do, Ernie!”
Ernie’s eyes light up with pure joy as Bert’s widen in surprise. “You mean it Bert?!”
Bert only manages a slow nod.
Ernie grins, leaning forwards and cupping Bert’s cheeks with both hands, pressing a big kiss to the top of his head, causing Bert to let out a small yell.
Ernie pulls back, turning his head to the side.
“What’s wrong Bert?”
“Well- Well Ernie, I want to kiss you too!”
“Why don’t you?”
Bert’s face burns up, and he can’t meet Ernie’s gaze. “Lo-Logically, If I kiss you once, I’ll want to kiss you twice, an- and if I kiss you twice, I won’t be able to stop.”
At that, Ernie smiles even wider, resting his chin on Bert’s chest, looking up at him with some of the most convincing pleading puppy eyes that Bert has ever seen in his life. “Pleasee Bert?”
“I- Oh, alright. But only because you said it was okay!”
Bert places his hands on Ernie’s cheeks, leaning forwards and kissing him softly on the lips.
Ernie leans in after the initial surprise, cheeks beginning to grow sore from how much he smiles.
They pull back, only for Ernie to smirk and Bert to roll his eyes and lean back in, peppering Ernie’s face with kisses and causing Ernie to laugh, leaving the movie ignored.