"i imagine that's how it feels when you're living with Norton and he gets hired to work on a mine really far away from home and you have to wait for him to come back,feeling anxious and all that only for him to get back safely and you want to jump him and fill him with smooches and hugs."
WRITE A FANFIC ABOUT THAT RIGHHHTTT NOWWWW 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (please) (if you want)
Anon,you spoil me i love getting more chances to write about norton 😁 i wasn't quite sure how to do this one like "do i write it in my usual headcanon format or should i write more like that one puppy norton fic i wrote for my birthday?" I went with a mix of the two just to be safe but lemme know if you want something else
Hopefully i didn't make this too nortfrank coded since it's mostly based on a fantasy i had in mind when i wrote that but i did try my best to make it at least somewhat relatable and i kinda wanted to get it out before i answered any other request because i took so long to finish it,anyways i hope you enjoy,anon!
being alone while Norton is away usually consists of trying your best to support yourself solely on your own income and trying to fight off any anxiety you might have about him coming back or not.
sure you have a general idea of when he's gonna be back but communication was very,very limited back in the day and being all by yourself waiting for your partner to come back while you have no way to check on him(or at least no way that won't result in you wasting your money getting there and royally piss him off for it) naturally will give you some level of concern.
But all that vanishes when you hear footsteps approaching your door and the sound of keys turning,hopefully it's who you think it is and not you being evicted since you're pretty sure you have no rent due,though you doubt that'd be the case either way considering the late hour.
Luckyly it is exactly who you think it is and as the door creaks opens you see him: Norton! Partially covered in dirt,a heavy looking bag hanging off his left shoulder and his hair messy with his bangs awkwardly swept to the sides for extra visibility,his typical look whenever he gets back home.
And on his right hand was a small basket of bread,with one of them already having a chunk bitten off of it but none of that mattered at the moment as before could even say anything you were already excitedly walking up to him and giving him a big kiss and a tight hug.
The joy of wrapping your arms around him and feeling his dry lips touching yours would be short lived as almost immediately he'd start coughing incontrollably at you,struggling to hold the bread basket as he pushed you away telling you to warn a guy before you kiss him mid-breath and calling you stupid.
Of course,he does say he missed you too once he recomposes himself and giving you a short cheek kiss before putting the basket and bag down and going to the bedroom to change,Norton has this really old tank top and pants inside his closet that he likes to use as pjs,they're really old and have a bunch of holes in them but they're a lot more comfortable than his dirt covered and sweat drenched uniform at the moment so he might as well wear it.
Once he goes in and out of the bathroom he still has that exausted look on his face but he looks overall more relaxed now like a weight was taken off his shoulders for now,literally and figuratively.
You sat down across from him while he ate,occasionally telling you a few bits of what he did while he was away:mostly him complaining about how annoying it was to deal with some coworkers as well as his boss looking at him like he's gonna dig one hole and find them 50 pieces of gold and precious gemstones in 5 minutes or how small and dark the rooms he slept in were and how he could barely sleep in them.
But there were some nice things too,he saw some birds he's never seen before fly over the mining site a couple of times,being a prospector meant he didn't need to go down into the mine itself super often,how he got to play board games with this group of drunkyards and got one of them to pay for his drink off of it and how the drink itself tasted better than the ones he usually got.
But most importantly:he just missed you sleeping next to him,of course he wouldn't put it like that but you're warm and when you're around his night terrors tend to be slightly better and if he wakes up in the middle of the night at least he gets to look at your stupid sleeping face instead of looking at the ceiling contemplating how alone he is and how quickly that takes his mind to some dark places,he might not make it obvious all the time but he does miss you just as much as you miss him he just lacks your energy.
And speaking of which:he's finally not occupied with anything and after one final swallow he looked right back to at you,hesitantly at first but within seconds he is staring right into your eyes and you did the same,at first Norton considered asking you what you were doing but with how tired he was he just settled for staring back since it was plenty relaxing already.
not saying a word but letting your gazes do the talking as if they'd write hundreds of cheesy love letters across the table.
His eyes feel like they stare right into your soul and it makes you feel hot inside but rather than the overwhelming heat it feels more like that feeling when cover yourself in whatever many layers you can during a cold night before sleeping comfortably in bed before waking up to your bed and clothes being all hot in the morning until you're sweating a little but you don't want to get out because it's so cozy and warm compared to the night before.
You feel your lips twitch upwards a little and there it is:your face is growing hot and your excitement grows until you have a full on smile on your face,and Norton picks up on that rather quickly and while his is more subtle he begins to smile fondly before letting out a snort but that's cut short by a series of coughs and he stopped looking at you to cough at his hand.
With the moment ruined Norton tells you he's going to bed now,as bad as it can be to sleep right after eating he's gone a long way from home and you're both too exausted to care.
As mundane as it might be,the walk to your bedroom and the creaking sound when you lied down together was everything you've been wanting ever since he left and just seeing him lying next to you is a sigh that everything is well after all,long gone are the days of hugging and smelling his pillow and pretending it's him while trying to sleep.
And before you could even asked to cuddle he already has his laid down and extended towards you:likely a sigh for you to come closer or to just put your hand over it and chances are his reason for it isn't too different from yours so you lazyly roll over to his side of the bed and he wastes no time pulling you closer to his chest.
But you weren't done yet:pretty much all you've wanted to do for hours now was pamper him with hugs and kisses ever since he came home but you can't ignore how tired the man was so you settled for just placing several short pecks to his cheek.
Norton doesn't show much reaction to them at first but after a while he almost seems to lean into it,so you keep going and sure smooching him like this could probably lead to you feeling thirsty later but it's nothing compared to how touch starved you've felt for days.
While you kissed his cheek you also ran your fingers through his hair,it felt super soft and volumous against your hand and a lot of the time you had to carefully undo some knots as to not pull on it by accident and as you did it Norton kept letting out satisfied "hmm..."s with his eyes closed as if your touch was already sending him into a deep slumber.
In fact,you thought he was already asleep when his grip on you tightenned but no:he actually quickly flippled you two so you were under him and then lazyly laid himself on top of you,despite your size difference he didn't feel heavy and more like a weighted blanket,a really warm weighted blanket.
Then he placed a firm kiss to your forehead and whispered goodnight,finally satisfied with using you as his new bed as he went silent,probably on his way to actually sleeping.
That's when you finally got confirmation through him starting to snore,usually a dreadful sound to anyone trying to sleep but you've slept through worse than this and it's not all bad as mentioned before he is very warm and every time breathe you can smell his neck and a bit of his chest:he smells like cheap soap mixed in with the lingering scent of dirt and it sort of reminds you of that scent you smell everywhere you go when you're outside after heavy rain,not quite like mud or wet dirt but pretty close.
And in the moments where he stops snoring you can hear his heartbeat,your ear is not close enough to his chest be able to hear it clearly but you very much feel it vibrate against you here and there and in the silence of the night,you can even hear the faint and steady sound of it in the background,it's relaxing in it's own way.
and it's not like you're going anywhere anyway:Norton might be malnourished and lanky but he's still pretty heavy and you don't want to wake him up so accept your fate and become his bed for the night,and hopefully for many more nights to come as well.
