Chapter Text
Renny was up before Stub, Netty and even Mono got up which wasn’t a big surprise considering the boy’s track record with getting up at the crack of dawn to go for supply runs with his two brothers. Even with the horrible bathroom break last night, the boy smiled happily as he got up from his bed, made his bed and walked over to Netty’s bed to check on his little brother. To no one’s surprise, both Mono and Netty were still fast asleep on the latter’s bed with Netty still asleep on his bare chest, underneath the warm blanket the eldest brother had tucked them both in.
Neither Netty and Mono had moved an inch the rest of the night and judging by the peaceful expression still on Netty’s face, no nightmares had assaulted his young, broken mind and that obviously thanks to the Boss. Renny’s smile widened as he approached his sleeping brother’s bed, he rested a hand on Netty’s head, running it through his still messy hair, being careful not to disturb him from his fitful slumber not yet. This was the first time in days that their younger brother had gotten a sweet fitful sleep, it seemed rather rude to wake him when he was sleeping.
Renny tried to suppress a squeal as he brushed some of his little brother’s hair out of his shut eyes so he could lay a small kiss on Netty’s forehead, not to wake him up but leave a small lingering of his brotherly affection on him. Renny sighed softly as his hand returned to stroking Netty’s hair, the eldest brother’s fingers gently grazing the youngest’s scalp.
As he did this, a slight feeling of longing started forming in his chest, Renny knew what this feeling was and he had to struggle to suppress the urge to pick Netty off Mono’s bare chest and cuddle him close to his chest much like he did countless times when Netty was a baby/toddler and much more of a little cuddle monster.
It was hard but Renny managed it and started going about his day as normal, or at least as normally as he could. Cuz’ everytime his brain was assaulted by the image of his youngest brother sleeping so peacefully, he found himself squealing silently. Back in the other bedroom where Renny and Stub slept, the middle brother shifted slightly underneath his blanket, head and face buried deep in his pillow as he snored loudly. Eventually, Stub let out a yawn as his internal alarm clock went off, he sat up in bed in a sitting position and stretched out his tired limbs to help him wake up further.
Once he finished that, Stub got dressed into his clothes then headed downstairs to find both Mono, his boss and his younger brother, Netty, still passed out on the older boy’s chest with his thumb in his mouth, something that he usually did when he was a baby. Stub gave a little chuckle at the sight, standing by his sleeping brother’s bed and ran his fingers through Netty’s auburn hair, trying to smooth it down from its feral state which obviously wasn’t going to happen. He felt his younger brother shift slightly beneath his touch, a cute yawn escaping his lips as he rolled onto his back, stretching out his limbs and arching his back, getting the tired kinks out of his body.
Stub felt a mischievous grin form on his face as he reached his hands out toward the blanket covering both Mono and Netty, pulled it down a little and gave his little brother’s tummy a few quick tickles making the latter squeak and giggle in his sleep. Stub couldn’t contain a gentle smile at Netty’s reaction and at how cute Netty still was even after ten years and after Lez had betrayed New Dream, manipulated Netty into helping him and getting exiled.
Even with Netty being asleep, he managed to figure out he was being tickled by one of his brothers and quickly rolled onto his stomach to protect himself against his brother’s fingers, letting out another yawn as he cuddled more into Mono’s chest, arms cushioning his head. At that point, Mono let out a long yawn as he finally woke up from his deep sleep, sitting himself into a sitting position on Netty’s bed, arms still wrapped around the youngest brother’s frame.
He carefully pulled Netty away from his chest so he could stretch out his tired limbs. When both his arms were awake, he stuck both his strong hands under his paper bag mask to rub his tired eyes to get the sleep out of them. When he felt more awake, Mono blinked open his eyes, scooped Netty back against his chest and nearly jumped out of his skin when his wandering eyes met Stub’s as he set his hands on his hips and smiled down at him.
“Morning Boss,” Stub said cheerfully, a little more than what Mono was expecting, seems like he was in a good mood. “Huh? Stub, oh morning. Oh did I fall asleep on Netty’s bed, I’m sorry, how rude of me,” Mono said quickly, rubbing one of his eyes that was trying to fall back asleep with one of his hands. “It’s not a problem, boss,” Stub replied kindly, giving the bag headed teenager a kind, reassuring smile making the leader of New Dream relax slightly as he stretched out his tired muscles. “Me and Renny could see that you were exhausted from whatever you were doing in the night when we got back to our hut.”
“Actually, I wasn’t doing much,” Mono replied, form slumping over slightly on Netty’s bed, the thing creaking a little as he moved, the blanket on his body falling from his body but Netty stayed in place on his chest thanks to the grip the Boss had on the younger boy. “Just going back to my tent after a quick bathroom break, passing by your hut when I heard Netty screaming…”
Mono’s voice trailed off as his head lowered, eyes darting down to Netty who was still fast asleep on his chest though signs of the little boy stirring were starting to show in his movements. “So I came in and comforted him till he fell asleep, he didn’t talk about what his nightmare was about, but based on the words he cried out in his sleep, it’s related to Lez.”
Mono wasn’t looking down at Netty when he said that final sentence but he felt a shiver of terror run through his arms at the mere mention of Lez’s name and a hand reached out and grab some of his skin on his chest close to one of Mono’s nipples, much tighter then the grip Netty had on his skin last night almost like Netty was afraid the kind, caring boss wasn’t holding him in his arms.
Mono sighed sadly as his eyes darted down to Netty despite the awkwardness of the small hand near one of his more sensitive parts, who was now clenching him tightly, face burying itself into his chest as he began to whimper softly in his sleep once again. Stub frowned as he approached his little brother’s bed, Mono noticed this and scooted over to give the middle brother room to sit on the bed.
The bed creaked under Stub’s weight as the boy sat down but he paid zero attention to that, not when Netty possibly needed his comfort. By this point, Mono rested a hand on the younger brother’s back and started rubbing it gently in hopes of calming the boy in his own mind. Stub followed in his boss’ footsteps and gently rubbed his brother’s back, sneaking his hand under Netty’s shirt sometimes to stroke his bare back.
The gentle motions both boys gave Netty caused the little boy to relax underneath Mono’s arms, his head tilted to the side and rested his head softly against the boss’ chest, a soft smile appeared on his face and his grip on Mono’s skin eased till he finally let go and his arms wrapped his neck. Mono smiled down at the young boy still planted on his chest in a peaceful sleep, one hand reaching up to the boy’s head to stroke his hair gently.
Stub watched the scene as he rubbed Netty’s back, giving the boss a smile as Mono looked up into the middle brother’s eyes. “Like that?” Stub asked, pointing at both his boss and his little brother. “Yup, like this,” came Mono’s reply, hand gently caressing Netty’s cheek. “He calmed down and suddenly became a little cuddle monster. And he wanted me to stay a little bit, so I did, and I don’t know what happened, I just fell asleep on his bed.”
Mono smiled sheepishly under his mask as he brought a hand to the back of his neck to scratch it lightly, Stub snorted with laughter despite himself as he placed a hand against his stomach, his wider form stumping forward on Netty’s bed, the thing loudly creaking with his movements. At that sound, Netty gave a loud yawn as he finally woke up from his deep and comforting sleep.
He pulled his head away from Mono’s chest, sitting up on his bed and stretching out his tired limbs, arching his back out before slumping forward. He let out another yawn, much shorter than the last one, as he brought both hands up to his face to rub his eyes free from sleep. “What’s going on?” Netty asked in a rather cute, sleepy voice, opening his orange eyes to look around the hut.
“Morning Netty,” Mono and Stub both said in unison, catching the other boy’s attention and nearly causing him to jump a little. “Huh? Oh, good morning, big brother and Boss,” the little boy said with a tired smile, eying both his brother and boss as they smiled back at him. “Seems like you slept well,” Stub commented, gently reaching over to stroke his brother’s cheek, the latter of which leaned into his brother’s touch. “Yup, I had the best sleep of my life,” Netty replied, his smile becoming wider as he stretched out his arms. “And it was all thanks to the boss!”
Mono’s lips moved underneath his mask as he prepared to speak, however he was interrupted when Netty suddenly crashed into his arms, hugging the older boy tightly. “Woah Netty!” Mono cried out in surprise, the impact Netty made into his chest causing him to fall backwards onto the latter’s bed, the thing nearly collapsing under both their weight. “Thank Boss for comforting me after I had a nightmare,” Netty exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Mono’s neck, face burying itself into the boss’ warm chest.
Despite nearly losing his paper bag from the unexpected movement, Mono’s surprised gaze broke into a wide smile as he wrapped his arms around Netty and hugged him back just as tightly. “You’re welcome Netty,” Mono said kindly, using his elbows to prop himself onto Netty’s bed, bare feet propping themselves onto the floor, toes curling at the affection the little boy showed him.
When Mono properly readjusted himself on Netty’s bed, he hugged Netty back with everything good in his body, tears of joy filled his eyes and they trembled down his cheeks till they hit the fabric of his pants. Even with his attempts to stay quiet, Mono started to sob softly which was something that both Netty and Stub didn’t miss. “Boss? Are you okay?” Netty and Stub asked at the same time, cheery tones being reduced to concerned facial expressions and voices. “Mono, why are you crying? I didn’t say anything bad, did I?”
“No, no, it’s just that I’m very happy,” Mono replied reassuringly, pulling both Netty and Stub into a tight hug, tears running down his cheeks that he struggled to wipe away with his hands. “I’m so very happy to have friends like you, I love you all.” At those words, both Netty and Stub eyed each other for a few seconds before they smiled brightly and hugged their boss back, all three of them curled up and gave each other affection that warmed all their hearts.
At this moment, Renny returned back to their hut and instead of questioning what the hell was going on, he quickly jumped into the group hug as well, grateful and happy that Mono was the boss of New Dream while Mono was grateful/happy that he had friends who cared about him.