These are early dating days for Makroh, still post s4 of TLoK though.
Mako collapsed on his boyfriend's couch one day after a particularly trying day at work. As a police officer Mako saw a lot of things that were really hard, but the ones that reminded him of his own story were particularly difficult.
Iroh II came into the apartment, a cheerful quip prepared to greet Mako, until he saw him on the couch. In lieu of a greeting, Mako grunted into the sofa cushion, turning to face Iroh's general direction. Iroh finished hanging his jacket and then wandered into the kitchen to think about dinner. Pulling out the scarce ingredients he had, he opted to try for soup—something his mom always made for him when he wasn't feeling great.
Fully aware of Iroh's movements around the apartment, Mako dragged himself up, and padded over to the bedroom where he changed into some of Iroh's more comfortable clothes, fully prepared to lay on the couch for the rest of the evening.
Leaving the soup on to simmer, Iroh wandered back into the living room to find his boyfriend lounging on the couch. Never really the type to unwind fully, Iroh took a small victory in this; maybe Mako was getting more comfortable with Iroh's apartment.
Instinctively Mako shifted to make room for Iroh. Oblivious, Iroh instead opted for the chair. Iroh favored the "talking it out" method rather than snuggle it out. Mako subtly curled into himself further.
"What happened?" Iroh prodded gently, gazing at Mako, trying to meet his eyes. Mako grumbled again, not really sure how to articulate it. Filling the silence further, Iroh offers, "We were going to go out, but I started soup." Mako mumbled a thanks.
Iroh offhandedly rambled about his day, or at least the non-classified parts of his day. But eventually Iroh ran out of things to say and the timer went off for the soup. Iroh and Mako rose, mechanically falling into their routine for dinner; Mako setting the table and Iroh serving the into Iroh's soup, a heavy blanket of silence settled between the clinking of silverware. Iroh could tell something was off, but he knew Mako would come to him about it in his own time.
Mako sat poking his food, mostly full. Peering down into the bowl there wasn't much left anyways, but he swished it around the bowl nonetheless, before deciding to just drink the rest. "Thanks." Mako's voice came out dry and flat, breaking the silence.
"It was my turn for dinner anyways; it is my apartment after all," Iroh attempted to joke as he stood up to clear the table. With the dishes safely in the sink, Iroh ran the sink in preparation to wash them. Mako idled in the kitchen, before deciding to stand beside Iroh as he did the dishes. Misinterpreting Mako, Iroh nodded to dishes and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
"I know."
Methodically drying everything Iroh washed, Mako put everything back. Dinner complete, Mako and Iroh retired to the living room. Iroh seated himself closest to the lamp by the sofa to continue reading his book. Mako soon followed, sitting as closes as possible to Iroh, leaning his head on Iroh's shoulder.
"Everything okay?"
"Can I just... be here with you?" Mako asked tentatively, drawing his legs under him.
"Umm, I'm going to read my book, but sure." Flicking on the lamp and opening to the correct page, Iroh zoned out to the pressure of his boyfriend's head against his shoulder. The two men stayed that way for a long time, until Iroh reached the end of the chapter. Mako watched as Iroh closed the book and settled back into the sofa, before resuming his position against Iroh's shoulder.
"Today was hard." Mako said, lifting his head from his partner's shoulder to stare into the spot on the wall.
Just a drabble really. I'm vaguely following the prompt/question from axispowersshella on tumblr, specifically, the question about the cuddler. If I continue in this story, they will probably be just unrelated one-shots.
Reviews appreciated but by no means obligated./p