#and picked up the razor from my bedside table (that tbh i Mostly use for cutting off stray threads and price tags from clothes)

[barisiscourtroom]

@thejuryisout​ Thanks for the prompt! ♥

Prompt 6 on the prompt list in question is “Doing face masks or other beauty treatments”, and I went with face masks. Kinda. It's mostly just Rafael taking care of a tired Sonny tbh, 2k of fluff. =)

This is also heavily inspired by Sonny's UC at that rapist shelter in 17x19 (Sheltered Outcasts), but I see it as taking place at some vague later time. Sonny is still a detective though, and it all takes place after he’s done.

Not important at all, but I googled “italian restaurants delivery manhattan” for a restaurant name, so that *is* an actual restaurant, but I know absolutely nothing about it more than it's Italian, in Manhattan, and probably delivers.

Big thanks to @novemberhush​ for the beta and all the help with this ♥

I hope you all like it! ♥

To Be Home ao3

2100 words | Gen characters: Sonny Carisi, Rafael Barba tags: Established Relationship, Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, Rafael takes care of Sonny, Tired Sonny, Soft Rafael, Spoiled Sonny, Non-Sexual Nudity

The first thing Rafael did upon seeing Sonny at the precinct after Sonny had been undercover for two weeks was to cup his face between his hands and say, "Oh, baby, you look like shit."

Sonny rolled his eyes and said, "Thanks, I’ve missed you too."

Olivia and the rest of the squad didn’t give them more time than that to catch up before demanding Sonny’s time, and it was nearly four hours before they got home.

Rafael wasn’t wrong, though, Sonny really did look like shit. The bags under his eyes were big and dark, he hadn’t shaved in days, his hair was greasy and messy, his clothes ill-fitting, worn, and had some unpleasant stains. He also had some bruises after getting jumped for being thought to be a rapist a couple of days earlier, but those were all under his clothes.

Thankfully it was Friday, and they both had the weekend off. Sonny would possibly get calls about the case, but Olivia had promised him he wouldn’t have to come in until Monday morning, and even though he wanted to work the case after spending so much time on it, he was looking forward to a nice, relaxing, and most importantly comfortable weekend at home, just him and Rafael and good food and soft sheets and their wonderful shower.

Rafael asked if he wanted to cook when they got home, he knew how much Sonny liked it and how it could be downright therapeutic for him, but he could obviously also see how tired Sonny was.

"Do you want me to order take out tonight, or do you want to cook?" he asked.

Sonny sighed. "Take out," he said regretfully. "I do want to cook, but not today."

"Okay, you can cook tomorrow," Rafael said. "I’ll even help you."

"Oh boy, you have missed me," Sonny teased.

"I have missed you, my Sunshine," Rafael said, squeezing his hand. "It’s been awfully dark around here without you."

"Rafael," Sonny said, a little choked up. Rafael was very good with words when he wanted to be.

But for someone being so good with words, Rafael could sometimes have a hard time admitting things, like that he had missed Sonny, so it meant a lot to Sonny that he said that. He always showed it in other ways though, by being more tactile than usual mostly, but also by taking care of Sonny.

"Let’s go get you cleaned up and into something more comfortable," Rafael said.

"Yeah," Sonny said.

"Shower or bath?" Rafael asked as he led Sonny to their bedroom.

"Shower," Sonny said. He’d just fall asleep in a bath, and their shower really was wonderful, he had missed it.

"Okay, I’ll put out some things for you," Rafael said, opening drawers to get clothes for him.

Sonny slowly stripped his clothes off and put them in the laundry basket, and Rafael went to the bathroom, then Sonny put his phone to charge on his nightstand before joining Rafael. The clothes were in a neat pile on a shelf, a fresh towel hung outside the shower, and Rafael was fiddling with the bottles in the shower.

He turned to Sonny and looked him over when he entered the bathroom, momentarily frowning at his bruises, but then he looked Sonny in the eyes. "Oh my, there’s a naked man in my bathroom, what ever will I do," he said.

"You could kiss him?" Sonny suggested.

Rafael smiled and walked up to him to slide his arms around his waist. "Great idea," he said and tilted his head up for a kiss that Sonny readily gave him. It didn’t last long, but even those few seconds were enough for Sonny to feel some leftover tension in his body dissipate.

"I’ve missed you," he said against Rafael’s lips, and Rafael tightened his grip on him and kissed him again.

When Rafael pulled back, he frowned and gently touched next to one of Sonny’s bruises. "I don’t like this," he muttered quietly.

"It’s not too bad," Sonny said.

Rafael’s face didn’t change as he met Sonny’s eyes. "I still don’t like it," he said.

Sonny smiled. "I know, and I love you for that," he said, and Rafael’s face softened.

He cupped Sonny’s cheek, brushed his thumb over his scruff. "Straight razor tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yes, please," Sonny said, nearly groaning. He had planned on shaving that day, but he loved it when Rafael shaved him with the straight razor, and he could stand being scruffy for another day if it meant he got that.

"Good. Go shower, cariño," Rafael said. "I was going to empty your bag while you do that, is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course, thanks," Sonny said. He pressed a kiss to Rafael’s forehead and stepped into the shower, and Rafael caught his hand on his way to give it a quick squeeze before leaving the bathroom.

The shower was divine, but Sonny didn’t linger. He showered carefully, washed himself meticulously, because he felt filthy and he wanted to get everything from that undercover stint off his body, but while he didn’t hurry, he didn’t stay longer than necessary either.

Once he was done and dry enough, he put on the clothes Rafael had picked for him, underwear, pajama pants, and a soft v-neck, and left the bathroom. His bag was gone from the bedroom, and his phone was still charging, so he left it on the bedside table and went to find Rafael.

"Babe?" he said.

"Yes, cariño?" Rafael said, coming from the kitchen.

Sonny smiled and pulled him in for a hug, nuzzling his face against his neck. "I just missed you," he said.

"I’m right here," Rafael said softly, holding onto him. "I was just preparing for dinner, it’ll be here soon."

"What are we having?" Sonny asked.

"Antonucci," Rafael said, and Sonny groaned, he hadn’t had proper Italian food in two weeks, the closest was mediocre pizza that was only Italian in name. "Figured you’d want some comfort food today."

"You figured right," Sonny said. "Thanks."

Rafael pulled back to cup Sonny’s face between his hands. He smiled and leaned in for a peck on the lips, then he trailed gentle fingers over his face, his forehead and under his eyes. "How about we do some face masks tonight?"

"It’s that bad, huh," Sonny said.

"Well, whatever soap you’ve used hasn’t exactly been kind to your skin. It could use a boost." Rafael said. 

"Face masks tonight, a proper bath together tomorrow?" Sonny suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Rafael said. "I’ll shave you after the bath."

"Great," Sonny said.

More than an hour later, after a slow meal with wine and dessert, Rafael dragged Sonny to the bathroom to get their face masks on. He had a couple of small single-use face packs, and he got one of those for Sonny, and his usual one for himself. Sonny rinsed his face, patted it dry-ish, then Rafael gently spread an immediately soothing gel on his face.

"Oh, that feels good," Sonny said.

"Good, I haven’t tried that one before, but it’s supposed to be good," Rafael said.

"Am I your guinea pig?" Sonny asked, smiling.

"Stop smiling so much, relax your face," Rafael said and rolled his eyes. "And no, my mother swears by it and I trust her, I just haven’t gotten around to trying it myself yet."

"Whatever you say, dear," Sonny said, working hard not to grin.

Rafael huffed, but he was smiling as he finished spreading the gel. "There," he said.

Sonny stayed to watch as Rafael rinsed his own face and applied his usual one, because he liked watching Rafael, then they went to sit in the living room to let their masks do their work for 20 minutes.

"I want to cuddle," Sonny said.

"Okay?" Rafael said.

"Like, put my head on your shoulder and tuck my face against your neck, or put my head on your chest to listen to your heart," Sonny said.

"I think you will survive 20 minutes," Rafael said.

Sonny sighed deeply. "Doubtful," he said, and Rafael laughed quietly. "Stop smiling so much, relax your face."

"Oh, shut up," Rafael said, and Sonny closed his eyes as he leaned back against the couch with a smile on his face. "For being the light of my life, you sure are a nuisance."

"You love me," Sonny said, holding out his hand for Rafael to take, which he did.

"And I have no idea why," he said.

"It’s because I’m tall," Sonny said.

"Or it could be because you’re kind," Rafael said.

"Yeah?" Sonny asked.

"I mean, it doesn’t hurt that you’re tall, but I think there’s something about your face that I like more," Rafael said.

"Really?" Sonny asked. He was probably smiling more than Rafael wanted him to in that mask, but he couldn’t be bothered to try and stifle it.

"It’s a good face, congrats on that, by the way," Rafael said. "I also think it might be because you’re so good and that you make me want to be a better man, that you’re sweet and funny and smart. Or that you’re an SVU detective, that you care so much that you just spent 2 weeks being miserable just to help people."

"Rafael," Sonny said. He turned his head to look at Rafael, found him watching him with a soft smile on his lips. "Come on, don’t make me cry, I have a face mask."

Rafael laughed quietly. "I missed you, Sunshine," he said softly, and Sonny rolled his eyes, which were getting too wet. For Rafael to have said that twice in one day, he must have missed him a lot.

"I said don’t make me cry," Sonny said, but then he squeezed Rafael’s hand. "I missed you too, love."

"I know, and we’ll be clingy and annoying this whole weekend to make up for it," Rafael said.

Sonny sighed happily. "Yeah," he said. "You’ll even help me cook."

"I’ll even help you cook," Rafael agreed. It wasn’t as if he never did, it was more that they were both usually very busy and Rafael wasn’t the biggest fan of cooking, so he tended to take the opportunity to get other things done while Sonny cooked since he didn’t mind doing it on his own.

"Okay, has this been on for 20 minutes yet?" Sonny asked.

"More like five, if even that," Rafael said.

"Oh, come on," Sonny grumbled. "Why did I agree to this today? I’m too cuddly for this."

"We can watch something, take your mind off it for a while?" Rafael suggested.

"Oh, did that Canadian garage guy post anything fun?" Sonny asked, exaggerating the Canadian accent on garage.

"Let’s see," Rafael said, grabbing his laptop from the table.

He had posted, and they watched one of his videos. Sonny would never understand why it was so fun to watch a guy clean a car, but he loved his videos, and while he didn’t think Rafael liked them quite as much as he did, he knew he liked them enough to indulge Sonny and watch some of them with him.

The videos were half an hour long though, and Sonny was far too needy to sit that long without being able to cuddle properly, so twenty minutes into the video he leaned forward to tap the space bar on the laptop, pausing it.

"It’s been 20 minutes," he said.

Rafael laughed quietly and shook his head, but he followed Sonny to the bathroom, where they rinsed their masks off.

"Moisturizer too," Rafael said, taking a pot of moisturizer from the cabinet. Sonny just smiled at him, and Rafael sighed. "You’re milking this."

"Yeah," Sonny said, then closed his eyes as Rafael gently massaged the moisturizer into his skin.

He cupped his chin when he was done and pressed a kiss to Sonny’s lips. "Okay, let’s go see how that filthy car turned out," he said, putting the moisturizer away.

As soon as Rafael sat down, he held his arms out for Sonny, who immediately tucked himself against his side, his head on Rafael’s shoulder, half of his face pressed against his neck. He could barely see the end of the video, but it was worth it, finally getting some proper cuddles.

Rafael held him tight, carding fingers through his hair and touching his face, and once the video was finished, he turned more towards Sonny and wrapped him in his arms.

"It’s good to have you home," he said quietly against Sonny’s hair.

"It’s good to be home," Sonny said.