[A/N: um um, i'm dry on inspiration. Here's Chowder and Gorgonzola cuddling.

AU where they're adults and married and i'll go into it later.

TW/CW: anger/frustration/stress, work, lifting/carrying someone, changing clothes, bunting/rubbing (like a cat), cute animal behaviors, cuddling (in bed, sfw), comfort]

He approached the man at the desk, who was angry and frustrated and still working here long after the place closed for the day. There wasn't much use trying to do all this now, and he decided that it was time for him to take a break whether he wanted to or not.

Chowder crawled up beside Gorgonzola's desk and glanced at him from the papers. "Are ya almost done??" He asked quietly and innocently.

Gorgonzola sighed with frustration. "No, Chowder, i'm not almost done." He sat upright and fanned his arms out. "I've got about a gazillion pages to go and it's all due tomorrow!" There were almost a dozen stacks of papers next to his desk, all taller than he and Chowder combined. He huffed aloud and went back to scribbling.

Chowder was sad. He hated seeing Gorgonzola be so stressed out like this. He thought silently for a minute, then stood. He stretched his arms out around him and scooped him out of his chair.

"What! Chowder, what are you doing?! Put me down, i gotta work!!!" Gorgonzola tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

"You've been working all day!" He started walking with him out of the room. "I think it's time for a break!"

Gorgonzola grumbled and continued to struggle. "Chowder, i'd really rather go finish all that stupid paperwork now, please!"

Chowder stopped walking. He moved his hands to hold Gorgonzola up from underneath his arms. He locked eyes and looked at him with a gentle-but-stern face. "You're too upset to keep working right now. You need to relax a lil bit." He smiled softly. "I promise that it'll all turn out okay tomorrow."

Gorgonzola scanned his face. After all this time, he still hated to admit how comforting that chubby purple smile was. Plus, he figured that all things had a way of being sorting out when Chowder was around. He breathed deeply once. "Hm, alright." He crossed his arms. "But you gotta be the one that fills it all out in the morning."

"Can do!!" He maneuvered him to be comfortably back in his arms as he made his way to their room.

Gorgonzola sat stiffly in the embrace for a while, his arms still crossed in front of him. After a couple minutes, he turned his head to watch the halls pass them by and thought about where he was right now. He learned early on that Chowder truly cared about him, and that he never minded going out of his way to help him. In the past few years, he discovered that Chowder also didn't mind taking Gorgonzola out of his own way to help him as well, which was very irritating at first. But in retrospect, it usually seemed to turn out for the better by the end. He became okay with it after the first couple dozen times it happened.

Gorgonzola leaned his head against Chowder's chest. He sighed quietly and tried to calm down. Chowder felt this and squeezed him a tiny bit tighter as a hug and grinned happily.

When they got to the room, he set Gorgonzola down on his feet. "Time to get cozy!" He pulled out a hoop with a curtain on it and threw it over his friend. He swiped it back in an instant, and Gorgonzola was redressed in his pajamas like it was a magic trick. Of course, he didn't change pose or grumpy expression. "There we go!"

Chowder picked him up again to sit him on the bed. Gorgonzola moved his eyes to follow him and the way that he scrambled into bed like an idiot. He snaked underneath the covers and scooted up beside him. He stopped as a big lump still completely hidden, then flipped the end of the blanket up onto his head so that he could show his face. He had a little smile.

Gorgonzola kind of grimaced. He was unsure that any amount of these cute things could get him to cheer up straight away, even when he was in a decent mood. Chowder stuck his tongue out a little bit and made a silly face, and Gorgonzola cringed because he didn't want to give in so easily. Chowder knew that it wouldn't take much more to get him malleable.

Chowder pressed his shoulder and head against Gorgonzola's side. He looked up at him again, but he wasn't reacting yet. He did it again, pushing just a little bit more and for longer. He nuzzled his head and made noises in his mouth. "Purrrr, purrrr, purrrr…"

Gorgonzola turned his head and gave him a look. "Why do you even do that?"

He looked up cutely. "Do what?"

Gorgonzola shook his head softly and motioned with a hand. "The purring thing. Can't you actually purr instead of just saying the word???"

"Sure… but i gotta be comfy first!" He leaned his head on his lap. "You can purr, too!"

Gorgonzola cringed and blushed hard. "I thought we said we weren't going to mention that again!!!"

Chowder lifted his head and pressed against his arm. "But it's cuuuute!!!" He turned to look at him. "You're always cute!!!"

Gorgonzola grew less tense, but he was still blushing. He grumbled. Chowder greatly enjoyed the sound of his grumpy, blushy frustrations because it was basically how Gorgonzola told him that he loved him. Chowder used his finger to push the fur on Gorgonzola's hand in little patterns for a few minutes, still leaning against him and moving his head now and then.

Chowder scrunched himself back. He flicked his little tail a couple times and prepared to move again. In one big motion, he pulled up the blanket with his arms and pounced onto Gorgonzola from behind, smothering him in warmth. He yelped and jolted in surprise. "Ahgck! Chowder!! Hey!!!"

He wrassled Gorgonzola until his back was on the mattress and his head was uncovered from the blanket. He popped up beside him and clung to his arm, cuddling his head against Gorgonzola's cheek. He was doing a bad job of resisting the warm-and-fuzzies now. "Chowder! You goof!!" He grinned and nuzzled back.

"Yaayy, big smiles now!" Chowder spoke in a cutesy voice and snuggled even more against Gorgonzola.

He huffed. "Yeah, yeah, 'big smiles.'" He wrapped his arm around Chowder's head and brushed his fur up and down as if he were roughly petting a dog. He pulled him close and nuzzled their foreheads together, and pecked him on the nose. Chowder grinned wide and giggled like a child.

Chowder squirmed underneath the covers so that his body halfway encircled Gorgonzola. He pulled his knees inward so that he could pat at Gorgonzola's feet with his own, like how a cat kicks when it's playing. He chuckled, and collided his ankles with Chowder's. They laughed together and played like this for a few minutes as they held hands, but then realized that they could play this footsie game with their hands as well. They softly swatted at each other, only ever intending to touch or pet the other and not at all do any harm.

After a few minutes of doing this, Chowder reached for Gorgonzola's body again to try and pull him closer for an embrace. Gorgonzola braced his own limbs, trying to keep distance enough to not be crushed in one of Chowder's regular hugs. When he realized that this wasn't the intention, he relaxed a little. Gorgonzola moved his arm up to touch Chowder's big chubby cheek, and he held him still to kiss him again on his snout. Chowder scrunched up his face at the funny feeling, and used it to pull Gorgonzola close again. He didn't smother him because Gorgonzola's limbs were still between them, but he condensed him enough to be able to reach low on his forehead to return the kiss.

Gorgonzola closed his eyes tight at this and had a big smile on his face. He scooted his body closer, straightening his legs and moving his elbows out of the way to lay up against Chowder. He held on to the arm that was resting over him, partway intending to still inhibit Chowder from pulling him in too tight. Gorgonzola cuddled his snout up against Chowder's jaw, enjoying how warm he was in this embrace. He sighed out contentedly, draping his long tail over Chowder's hip and slowly drumming the very end against him.

Chowder snuggled his head against Gorgonzola's. He closed his eyes peacefully, and wrapped the arm that Gorgonzola was laying on around his body and rubbed his hand gently along his back. Gorgonzola rested his head on Chowder's collarbone, and he could feel his steady heartbeat against his skull. Chowder nudged his nose to Gorgonzola's ear and lapped the very edge of it like a cat would, and gummed it with just his lips. Gorgonzola quietly huffed a giggle and squeezed his arm tighter. He breathed in deeply and released the last of the day's stress with a quiet sigh, comfortably relaxing against his favorite big, warm teddy bear.

"I'm glad that you were able to calm down, Gorgonzola." Chowder nuzzled the top of his head. "Sleep well, okay?? I love you."

Gorgonzola smiled. "Yeah, yeah." He snuggled against him and squeezed his arm. "I love you too, Chowder."

[Post A/N: might add more to this idk. I really really like ending fics with "i love you," if you haven't noticed. Here's what i had brainstormed for this AU from back when i wrote the first fic of em:

Chowder and Gorgonzola now run the catering company and incorporate a 'party supply' type thing upstairs for candles and accessories for events. Gorgonzola specializes in making scented candles bc of his sensitive nose. The crew still work at the place, and their apprentices are friends.]