This was not Craig's idea of a good time. He had no idea how he'd gotten talked into seeing some movie about freak diseases of all things, but here he was, sitting in a crowded theatre with his fingernails digging into Rick's wrist. Through racing thoughts and the ambient sounds of the movie, he heard a soft chuckle and felt his hand pried away from his boyfriend's arm, replaced by his hand instead. Craig nearly protested, but put that hand through a vice grip instead. This was the last time Rick was the one who got to pick out the movie without some thorough research beforehand.
Teasingly, Rick offered the bucket of popcorn; Craig made a disgusted face and waved him off, growling at the following snicker. Did that great, insensitive oaf truly divine some sort of amusement from his discomfort? By the end of the movie, Craig's knees had made their way up to the seat and he'd sunk down into it, peering wide-eyed over his kneecaps when the credits rolled. Rick got up and stretched, but Craig stayed put.
"Y'comin', Peaches?" he turned, offering his hand to help him out of the seat.
Distractedly, shakily, Craig took his hand and Rick pulled him to his feet. The blonde stared at the projector screen like it had personally affronted him while Rick took his shoulders and steered him out of the theatre with an amused shake of the head.
"Move it, darlin', we still gotta walk home," he commanded, but Craig didn't respond until they had gotten away from the raked seats and the smell of old, sticky soda that clung to the floor.
He visibly shuddered when they hit the cool night air; he turned to look at his taller boyfriend with an accusatory glare, "Was it absolutely necessary we see Contagion?" he hissed.
Rick shrugged and looped an arm around Craig's waist to begin their walk home, "I dunno, looked pretty good. Wasn't too bad."
Craig stiffened at the contact, fuming, "Do you know just how likely all that is to happen?"
"Nah, don't really worry 'bout it too much," he said, pulling Craig along as they walked.
"The specifications of the disease were a little bent. There is no way that a disease that deadly could work that rapidly, but regardless, it is still possible if put into more realistic expectations for the virus!" he spouted, waving his hands frantically along with his words, "They didn't explain virus structure very thoroughly, either."
Rick hm'd along with Craig's rant about the movie that the small man continued in earnest, turning them down the street where Craig lived while he continued to compare and contrast the movie to reality. The bigger man just let him rave about whatever he liked; eventually the wild movements of his hands ceased in favor of gripping Rick's hand and similarly wrapping an arm around his waist, too. It wasn't often that Craig got distracted enough that he didn't think twice about the affection he was giving, even if it seemed he was just moving closer because of the slightly chilly night. He stopped in front of the door to his apartment and Craig abruptly stopped his rant with a huff. Rick smiled and tilted the blonde's chin up to give him a gentle peck on the mouth.
"G'night, Peaches," he said, but Craig looped his arms around his neck with a distressed expression.
"You… you aren't leaving… now are you?" he stammered, voice quieter.
"What, did th' movie scare ya?" Rick teased, "Or have ya got somethin' else'n mind…?"
Craig reddened at the implication, but whisked out his keys to let them into the building, "No, don't get any perverted ideas. Be glad I'd prefer your company for a while longer."
Rick chuckled, but followed him up the stairs and to his neat apartment, taking a spot on his sofa while Craig went through his routine he followed when he returned home. Keys went on the key hook, his jacket back into the closet, checking messages, all that; Rick leaned back against the cushions and just watched until Craig came over and sat down next to him, arms crossed.
It was pretty obvious why Craig wanted him to stay. It wasn't anything more than the little guy got freaked out by the movie, Rick thought with a wry smile. He leaned over and pressed a kiss into the blonde's hair and immediately pulled him into his lap. Craig surprisingly didn't even protest and wrapped both arms tightly around the dark-haired man's neck.
"Would you… get the wrong idea if I asked you stay the night?" he asked tentatively.
His big hands moved to the small of his back and rubbed gently, "Nah, I know why. S'okay, sweetheart, I don't mind."
"I'm… I'm not scared, if that's what you think," Craig insisted, but kept his grip around the other man's neck tight.
"Oh then y'won't mind if I make pork chops next time 'm cookin' for ya," he teased.
"NO," Craig cried without hesitation, hugging Rick around the neck hard enough to make it hard to breathe.
"'m kiddin', 'm kiddin! Leggo 'fore y'kill me off instead'a some weird little flu bug!" he gasped, laughing.
Craig loosened his grip and sullenly let Rick arrange them on the couch so the bigger man's back was against the arm and their legs across the rest of the cushions. His head rested on Rick's chest and let his nerves be calmed by the steady, unchanging beat of his heart. Slightly anyway.
"You so much as get a cold to spite me and god help you," Craig mumbled, letting his hands drift past Rick's coat, pressing closer with his arms around his chest.
"Hate bein' sick, Peaches, don'tcha worry," Rick smiled and kissed the top of his head.
Craig mumbled something into the fabric of Rick's shirt, "What was that?" Rick asked, lifting Craig's chin off of his chest.
Craig frowned, face flushed and worried, "I would not want to constantly think about what it might be like to lose you, idiot."
"I ain't goin' out like that," Rick laughed, "Somethin' bigger's more my style."
The blonde's face buried right back into Rick's shirt, "Can we please not discuss this," he deadpanned, voice muffled.
"We kin talk 'bout how 'm still gonna try'n getcha into bed?" he suggested.
"No, privileges revoked," he huffed, breath shaking slightly.
That was the point that was probably taken too far. Rick wrapped his arms around Craig's waist and squeezed to be as comforting as he could manage.
"'m right here, Peaches, I ain't goin' nowhere," he rumbled against his ear, "And neither 'r you."
The gesture was seemingly relaxing to the nervous blonde on top of him. Craig was soon less tense and with Rick's reassuring crooning against his ear, his breathing evened out. He'd fallen asleep. Rick smiled and pulled the blanket hanging on the back of the sofa over them both. The nerves and anxieties that Craig was fighting to hold back were pretty clear on his face just a moment ago. Looked like Rick was going to get asked to stay the night for a while after tonight; he was more than okay with that.