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There were few moments the Winnebago got this quiet.
Even to get a pause on the constant chaos was unbelievably rare (or believably, when you consider it’s inhabitants.) From fight to fight to Dakota slowly destroying everyone’s sanity, there wasn’t quite a moment where everyone would fall to a lull all at the same time, with even sleep interrupted by Bobo running about to cause a ruckus, or Dakota and Vyncent’s overly loud snores leaving William to hide under his pillow and grit his teeth until either he slept or the sun rose.
Not that he’d been sleeping recently, what with the whole being dead thing.
That’s why William was reasonably worried when he got back from a grocery trip to a totally silent van, a soft glow intermittently making its way through the side window with a pulse that suggested they were probably watching something. The Winnebago wasn’t particularly soundproof itself, so the fact that there were definitely people inside with no noise caused William’s hair to stand on edge as he went on alert, placing down his bags as he crept to the door, fiddling with the lock for a moment as the key jammed in his haste to get the door open.
Not even a second through the door and he knew if he’d still been holding those groceries, he would’ve dropped them in shock. The Winnebago was actually clean. The usual mess William never had time to clear had been sorted away, dishes washed, bins taken out, even the dusty surfaces were pretty much gone, replaced with a faint smell of lemon and chemicals. In the center, the couch had been pulled out to the bed form that was rarely used, blankets William didn’t remember buying in a pile covering the two inhabitants curled around each other, watching some movie William didn’t recognise. Vyncent was clearly out cold, lain over Dakota’s chest as he ran his fingers through Vyncent’s hair gently, a soft purr echoing in the metal. At the loud clang of the door opening, Dakota whipped round and tensed, relaxing again as he saw William standing there staring at him.
“He’s been asleep for a while.” Dakota whispered, soft and quieter than William had ever heard. His hair had clearly just dried after a shower, frizzy and fluffy with the curls running down to his shoulders. He head been growing out his hair for a few months, and it suited him in a way that made William blush a little more than he’d like to admit, but hey, it’s hot in the Winnebago, that was the heat riding on his face.
Yeah.
Sure.
William made the mental effort not to whisper as he replied, aware he would be inaudible if he did so. “You cleaned up? I’m shocked, is there a special occasion or what?”
Dakota beamed. “It was fun! When you went out we got bored so we decided to try it and now-” he punched his fist, unable to get up with stirring Vyncent, and raised his voice as much as he could. I am the Cleaning Champion! That’s what Vynce called it anyway. Are you proud of me?” He looked at William with adorably triumphant puppy eyes he probably wasn’t consciously doing, but it was just way too cute, watching him get so excited over such as small thing that it made William’s cold, unbeating heart flutter a little.
William smiled back, trying not to visibly melt. ‘Yeah, Kota, you did great.’ He started towards the couch, pausing with wide eyes as he moved back to the open the door. ‘One second, Dakota, I think the groceries are still out there. Make some room for me, will you?’
He didn’t wait for an answer before running outside, crouching low to the ground next to the bags, curling over himself as he tried to calm down. What was he thinking? ‘Make some room for me’?! He’d said it so confidently, leaning against the wall, like not even death would dare touch him (again). Something about Dakota made him just want to seem cooler than he was, to seem cool enough… for him.
William knew, he knew what was going on. At the end of the day, the feeling wasn’t the first of its kind. Admiration turned to affection turned to a deep longing to be seen in a similar light, leading eventually to the inevitable disappointment and painful awkwardness of folding back into the shell he had long outgrown. It was a painful reality, but yet a reality all the same.
And yet, that hope burned far too brightly in his chest to be comfortable. It was unrealistic, he knew, but all he could seem to do was temporarily dampen the flame, just until the wind blew it out in the most painful way possible.
He had to be ready for that.
Steeling himself, he grabbed what he had come for and marched back towards the light, swinging the bags a little too harshly for what he was doing. He gritted his teeth to try and convince himself he had even a chance of making it through the night without falling apart. He stepped up to the raised entrance and- ok, wow, he’s weak.
He’d clearly put a lot of care into moving Vyncent, with the elf still fast asleep but on his own pile of pillows on the side of the couch. It wasn’t big to begin with, barely enough to fit them all normally, but it was clear Dakota had made the effort, squeezed up by Vyncent’s side in the middle of the cushions to allow William on. Looking closer he could see the tiredness being pushed away with his infinite positivity, the seemingly unending beam of light striking William into feeling almost lighter, and certainly happier to be in the state he was seconds before.
No words were passed, they weren’t needed. William just sat, stuff as a board trying to give Dakota as much room as possible under the mountain of blankets, until Dakota practically threw himself at William with a gusto to say how late it was and how much he’d been doing all day. To say they’d both been doing chores all day, William getting supplies and Dakota cleaning and doing whatever else the pair had gotten up to in his absence, Dakota seemed to just never run out of energy.
He squeezed him tightly, waiting for William to loosen up (which was pretty unlikely, as his head was sprinting through his various emotions from the circumstances), face pressed into his cold shoulder with a smile William could feel imprinting on his collarbone.
They froze suddenly, feeling a shuffle and hearing a murmuring from a disturbed Vyncent half awoken by the sudden movement. They waited with bated breath for the consequences of their actions (neither dared wake up a sleeping Vyncent since one of the first nights in the Winnebago, leaving Dakota with a few small but prevalent new scars dotting his arms), relaxing with a joint sigh as he shifted with a incomprehensible muttering before slumping back into his curled position, now half on the armrest with his tail lazily flicking at a steady pace, soft snores confirming their success. Dakota looked up from William shoulders as they giggled quietly, laying back so William could wrap his arms around Dakota as he curled up on William’s chest. It was similar in a way to what William had first walked in on, but looking down to see Dakota’s hair ticking his face, bodies intertwined comfortably in a position William would before have not expected to be so, it felt so different. The gentle pressure of the small body resting over him reminded him of his old weighted blanket in the base, a remnant of the fire which had not survived as far as he knew, a comforting reminder of the past.
Though this was for sure better than a blanket.
He felt no need to move Dakota, who had quickly began to doze off after a brief confirmation that he was ok to stay there, William just taking up a hand to brush his fingers through his tangled strawberry hair, twirling around the gentle curls and loosening knots as Dakota hummed with his face against William’s stomach, the vibrations running through his abdomen in a spark of electricity that only served to further melt William, who stared at what little he could see of the face below, who looked so much small than the larger than life persona he typically tried to embody.
He was just… so tiny, so adorable as his hums slowly fell to rhythmic breathing and snoring similar to Vyncent, who thankfully had not woken up and was likely to stay that way until morning.
And as William felt himself drift off too, hand firmly planted in Dakota’s hair, a true and intense calm washed over him as he watched over the form rising and falling over him, the light of the screen in front of him blinking through his eyes that had unknowingly slipped closed with a sigh.
He knew, in the back of his floating mind, that he had found his family.
He was home.