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"Hey Bub, what's up?" Geoff mumbled tiredly as Awsten crawled into his bunk, Kitty clutched tightly in his hands.
After shuffling enough for them both to be comfortable, they ended up a tangle of limbs, with Awsten half lied on Geoff's chest. Awsten eventually responded.
"Monsters Daddy," he said softly, tugging on the bottom of Geoff's shirt. Awsten was trembling a little.
Geoff thought for a moment, trying to decide the best way to go about things, before settling on assessing just how scared Awsten was.
"Are you sure it's not just Lucas snoring?" He asked, and it was testament to how afraid Awsten was, as he shook his head violently, and Geoff had to put a hand on the back of his head to make sure neither of them got hurt.
"Nu-uh. Real monsters! In t' roof an' t' space b'tween t' bunks!" Awsten insisted, almost in tears, and Geoff was honestly concerned at how afraid Awsten was.
"Well you're very brave for coming to me. Did Kitty protect you?"
Awsten nodded, though the hand on the back of his head meant it wasn't too violent, "bu' Kitty was scawed too! Tha's how scawy t' monsters are!"
Geoff shushed him gently, as his voice stared rising. "Lower your voice a little honey," he said quietly, and Awsten chewed his lip, before whispering, "will you protect me from t' mons'ers Daddy?"
"Of course sweetheart. And tomorrow we'll speak to Lucas about getting some dim lights for the corridor, how about that?"
Awsten nodded, "can they be blue?"
"Sure bubble. But you need to get some sleep now."
Awsten whined softly, "can I stay with you daddy?"
"There's not really enough room for us both to sleep here..." Geoff began protesting, but he made the mistake of looking at Awsten, and was met with tearful, wide, puppy-dog eyes.
Geoff sighed softly, running his fingers through Awsten's hair gently, "fine. But we've gotta shuffle a little, I can't sleep with you on top of me."
Awsten nodded, and let Geoff arrange them so they were facing each other.
Awsten fell asleep in a matter of minutes.