"Oh... Ok, well... Thank you for telling me." As Noiz entered the bedroom he heard Aoba speaking and the sound of him ending a call on his coil.

"Aoba?" The boy in question was sitting on the bed shivering, his face buried in his hands. He looked up a moment later, tears streaming from his eyes. Noiz was completely stunned. What was the correct way to deal with such a situation? Any attempts at comforting Aoba would surely result in failure. Aoba would end up angry at him, or even more distressed than he currently was. But he couldn't just do nothing. After some consideration, Noiz took a step toward Aoba instead of a step out the door as he had previously planned. "What's wrong?" he asked sternly, immediately cursing himself for his tone of voice. A few small sobs escaped from the crying boy's lips before his shaky voice began to speak.

"It- It's Granny. She's in the hospital... From a fall... I- I don't know if she'll be ok, I just got the call..." His hand suddenly slammed down on the bed. "If only I had been there for her, this wouldn't have happened!" Noiz was taken aback by Aoba's sudden outburst, and stepped back toward the door again. "I... I'm sorry Noiz, I just... I need some time to think." The tears started coming down more quickly again, and the sobs became louder and more frequent. Noiz looked around desperately, praying for some way to help Aoba. Noiz had never been able to comfort anyone. In his childhood he had tried a few times when his friends were crying, but it never helped. He never knew why his friends were crying. Why did they hurt? It was impossible for Noiz to know. And then it came to the point where he had no friends to comfort, and no will to help anyone anyway. He could understand now why Aoba hurt. Being afraid to lose somebody you love... Blaming yourself for their pain... Being able to understand their pain. But just because Noiz now understood these things didn't mean he knew how to deal with them.

An idea came to him as he spotted the pink headphones on the bedside table. Noiz reached to pick them up, and picked a song from Aoba's library. Turning the volume up, Noiz took a seat beside Aoba and placed the headset over his ears. He sat there and waited until Aoba showed signs that he was calming down.

Quietly, Noiz left the room and headed down toward the dining room.

It didn't feel like enough. He had to do something else to cheer up Aoba. But what? Noiz went through a list of things in his head that he was told could cheer a person up.

Flowers and chocolate were often used as a sign of affection and caring, and to make up after a fight. But Aoba knew Noiz cared about him. And this definitely wasn't a fight.

Cute things often brought joy to people. Even Noiz had to admit he felt something akin to happiness when he saw a rabbit. Plush toys were both cute and soft, so they were good to hug to relieve sadness and stress. Noiz had never seen Aoba with a stuffed animal so it was impossible to tell if a gift like that would help either. Ren was cute and soft, but Noiz had come to learn that Aoba loved Ren for different reasons.

A delicious meal could help solve anything, or so a magazine had said. Even if it were true, it wouldn't help immediately.

Sex? Definitely uplifting for the mood, but no. It was definitely not an appropriate time for anything inappropriate. Sighing, Noiz grabbed his wallet and decided to go to the store. He quickly went back to the bedroom to check on Aoba, and found him sleeping silently, curled up on the bed with his music still playing. Noiz grabbed a blanket and covered the sleeping Aoba before heading out.

Noiz looked around the gift shop, confused and slightly overwhelmed. He had never really bought a gift before. A salesperson must have seen his confused expression and headed over to help him.

"Do you need any help today?" she asked. He thought for a moment.

"No... I have an idea of what I'm looking for."

"Alright. If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you," he responded politely as he went back to looking through the shelves. He didn't want to take too long in case Aoba woke up only to find he was alone. As he walked around the store he picked up an expensive box of chocolates, a fresh red rose, and a small stuffed bear. Noiz paid for his items and left the shop, wanting to hurry back to Aoba. He stopped only briefly to buy a dessert from the bakery on the way back.

Aoba was still sleeping when Noiz returned. He set down the bag on the floor and put the dessert down on the nightstand. He placed the rose in a vase and set it down next to the dessert. He looked over to the bag then back to Aoba. The way he had been crying earlier... He was clearly worried about his grandmother, and although gifts would help express to him Noiz's worry, it wouldn't help the problem. Gently, Noiz sat on the bed and lay down next to Aoba, softly putting on arm around him.

"When you wake up, I'll try to help you. I'll help you through everything," he whispered as he closed his eyes.

Noiz awoke hours later from the feeling of Aoba shifting and sitting up next to him.

"Noiz?"

"Aoba," he stood up quickly and grabbed the chocolates and the bear from the bag, and handed them to Aoba. "These are for you. And, those too," he gestured toward the dessert and the rose on the table.

"Noiz?" Aoba questioned again, still in a half-asleep daze. "What is all this for?"

"Aoba... Let me take you out for dinner tonight. And then after that we can- No, that part wasn't on the list..." he mumbled the last part, shaking his head. In a final effort to help, he wrapped his arms around Aoba, pulling them close together. He rubbed Aoba's back, and whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry I'm failing to comfort you." Aoba gently pushed Noiz back.

"Noiz, you're not failing," he said. "Everything you've done for me... It shows you care, and that you're worried about me. Thank you Noiz. I... I really enjoyed all the things you did for me." He looked a little embarrassed now.

"So... Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. Granny will be fine, I'm sure of it. The fall didn't seem that serious. She's been through a lot worse. The whole thing just got me thinking. Death is inevitable. Everyone dies eventually and we're all just living our lives trying to prolong it for as long as possible. Death is something we all have to face eventually, but it doesn't have to control the way we live. Granny wouldn't want me spend my time worrying about her. She would want me to be happy, living my new life here with you. Noiz, you've helped me realize that too. Thank you for cheering me up."

"Aoba..." Noiz genuinely didn't know what to say. Even though he felt better now, had Aoba always been worrying about such things?

"Talk to me about these things sooner next time. I'm here to lighten your burdens. Don't you know that?"

"Noiz, I... Yes, I know that, and I'm sorry. It's just... You seemed pretty down lately, and I didn't want to make it any worse. It's not that I wanted to face this alone, I was just worried about you too."

"Sorry." Aoba had been worried about him too? "Sorry for making you worry."

"Huh? Don't worry about it, Noiz. Hey!" He exclaimed, changing the subject, "Didn't you say you were going to take me for dinner? Don't take back the offer now, Noiz!" Noiz looked over to the smiling Aoba, and found he was smiling himself.

"Yeah. Let's go."

"Alright!" Aoba said cheerily." And then after we'll do anything you want to do. My treat."

"...Can we go to the pet store and look at the rabbits?"

"Of course." Aoba gave Noiz a quick kiss and stood up. He held out his hand, and Noiz took it.

Originally posted on my tumblr blog aggressionbread as a request. (#fanfic request)

DMMd oneshot requests still open on my blog, so send me an ask (or PM me here)