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Red Guy was laying down in the bed of the truck, Yellow and Duck crowded against him. It made him miss having seperate beds, that way those two would keep off him while he tried to sleep. Red never got sleep anymore because of everything. It could be worse, he figured, they could still be back at the house. Compared to that, living in a truck with two other things was much better.
Duck shifted under his arm, pushing the limb off him like it was a blanket. Red looked down in confusion, he didn't remember putting his arm over Duck. "I thought you were asleep?"
"I just woke up." Duck explained. "The bugs are too loud."
Red strained to hear the noise Duck mentioned. He did pick up on the crickets, but they weren't that noisy. "Yeah, I suppose." Red shrugged.
Duck idly scratched his arm. "Are the crickets keeping you up, too?"
"No, just can't sleep." Red shrugged. "It's hard to with everything going on, you know?"
"Yeah." Duck agreed.
The conversation fell off from there. Red was more then willing to let the conversation die, he wanted to sleep sometime tonight after all, but of course Duck couldn't let it go. "What're you thinking about?"
"Hm?" Red turned to look at him, a thin black eyebrow raised. "Uh, I dunno. Why are you so curious?" He prodded.
"Because there's nothing to talk about." Duck said with a shrug.
"Well why not just say what you're thinking?" Red asked.
"Because then it's not a conversation, it's rambling. I hate rambling." Duck bitterly spat. "So go on, speak." Duck prodded him in the ribs, right under his left chest scar to make him talk.
"Ow- stop that!" Red whisper shouted, swatting his hand away.
"Then talk." Duck implored while he jabbed his chest again.
"Fine, alright! Now stop!" Red swatted his hand again, finally landing a hit. Duck pulled his hand away, shaking off the sting on his appendage while he glared at Red. He didn't say anything though, which was smart on his end.
Red sighed, puffing out a strong enough gust of wind to reveal his teeth. He flinched when the cold night air hit his gums, the chill stinging his mouth. When he opened his eyes, he had rolled over and was stairing at the sky. It was wide, spiraling, stretching beyond what he could see and comprehend. Well, that was a topic he supposed. "Do you ever think about up there?" Red asked, pointing up at the starry sky.
Duck turned to look at the deep dark above, raising an eyebrow at the mention. "What do you mean by that? Like death?"
"No. Well, yes." Red sighed in frustration. "It's hard to say. I mean... it's so much, isn't it? Possibility, infinity, everything. Reminds you how much is out there, how miniscule we are in the grand scheme of things, doesn't it?"
"Uh..." Duck clicked his beak. "It's a bit bleak, isn't it?"
"Isn't everything bleak? We just got out of... whatever that was, so a bleak out look is expected."
"Ah, I get it now." Duck hummed, nodding his head like he'd just figured out a particularly hard crossword puzzle. "That's what you think about, isn't it? Nothing to do with stars, what a load of hog wash." He snorted.
"Hog wash?" Red chuckled. "What are you, eighty?"
"Rude!" Duck sqwaked, slapping his arm. "And stop dodging the question!"
"I'm not dodging anything." Red scoffed.
"So, tell me; do you think bleak things a lot?" Duck pushed.
"Uh, yeah. I suppose I do." Red nodded. Abruptly the weight of his admission dawned on him, sparring the puppet to try to back track. "I mean-"
"Well there's why you can't sleep." Duck rudely interrupted. He reached a hand out and rapped his knuckles against Red's forehead, narrowly avoiding his hand getting smacked away again. "You've gone and bogged up your mind with all that drab-ness. You need to get rid of it!"
"Oh yeah? And how would I do that?" Red hummed in only half interested.
"Stop thinking such bleak thoughts." Duck shrugged.
The suggestion made Red scoff from the absurdity. "It's not that easy."
"Obviously, you need to distract yourself." Duck scoffed back, like Red was the absurd one.
"And how do I do that?"
"Think pleasant thoughts. What do you like?"
"You don't know what I like?"
"I'm not a mind reader!" Duck cried, shrill and loud enough that if Red had ears they'd be ringing. It was a wonder that the other one didn't wake up from it. "So what do you like?" He repeated.
"I dunno..." Red scratched his chin as he thought. As he flicked through his mind, he realized there wasn't much he liked. There were a lot of things he was impartial too, but there was only one thing he'd ever thought of positively. "Chairs?"
"Chairs?" Duck echoed, puzzled. "In general?"
"No, arm chairs." Red elaborated. "Big, comfy ones. The kinds you can really sink into. Get it?"
"I suppose." Duck shrugged. "Think of arm chairs, then."
"Alright." Red sighed, shifting to try and get comfortable to up the chances of this working. He shut his eyes, the clear image of a large, puffy, green arm chair manifesting in his minds eye. Red drew in a deep breath, letting his body go limp to relax as best he could.
"Is it working?" Duck asked.
Red didn't answer, letting the question drop so he could focus on the task at hand instead. He waited and waited, but nothing happened. Red sighed and opened his eyes. "No, not at all. Are you sure this is going to work? It doesn't feel like it will-"
"Of course it'll work!" Duck sqwaked. "I do it every night and I sleep just fine! I think you're the problem here."
"Yeah. Well, maybe I am." Red shrugged.
Shockingly there wasn't a smug comment, no jabs, weirdly Duck went quite at the remark. He just staired at the monster. It made Red deeply uncomfortable. "...I didn't mean to offend you, you know." Duck finally spoke, though he said it quietly.
"Yeah, I know. Why are you suddenly trying to be helpful?" Red questioned.
"What are you saying? I'm always helpful!" Duck argued.
"Not really."
Duck looked away, his bill turned into a frown. "Well you drive the car, and if you fall asleep at the wheel we're all screwed, aren't we?" He bitterly grumbled.
Red nodded and turned his head back to the stars. "Yeah, 'spose you're right. Still odd, though."
"If I'm odd for not wanting to die, then you might as well call the whole world mad." Duck grumbled.
"Alright, I get it." Red sighed. "So you're just doing this out of the kindness of your heart?"
"Yes." Duck crossed his feathery arms, puffing out his cheeks like an upset child. "What, do you not want my help?"
"Eh," Red shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm indifferent."
Duck gasped like Red had burned his house down and killed his children. He'd never seen the duck this upset since he insulted the clipboard, and even then his feathers didn't puff out as much as they were now. "Are you hurt?" Red asked, hovering a mitted hand over him in case Duck admitted that an organ had exploded or something like that and caused his shock.
"Very! Here I am, sacrificing my own sleep to help you, and you say you're indifferent?" He screeched while throwing his arms up. Duck turned his back to Red, curling into a tight ball. "If you want to be that way, then be that way. I don't have to tolerate this." He growled.
Red was weirdly overwhelmed with guilt as he watched Duck curl up in an angry ball. Usually he wouldn't care, but Duck's little rant had struck a cord with him this time. He couldn't quiet place why though. "Mate, c'mon, I'm sorry."
"Hmph." Duck mumbled. He stayed quiet while he thought, really mulling over if he should move on. With one more huff, louder this time, he looked over his shoulder at the monster. "So you apologize?"
"Yeah." Red shrugged.
"Apology accepted, then." Duck nodded. "Now, back to this sleeping business."
"You're still on about that?" Red asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Yes I'm still on about it! I just explained to you why, pay attention." Duck scolded. Red rolled his eyes.
"Alright then, what is it?" Red sighed.
Duck didn't respond. He just raised a hand and started digging through Red's strings. Red flinched and tried to push his hand away. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Stay still." Duck persisted, pushing his hand back in retaliation. "It won't work if you keep squirming!"
"If it's whatever this is, I don't want anything to do with it!" Red protested as he kept trying to push him away.
"Oh, for crying out loud." Duck grabbed a fistful of his yarn and tugged hard enough to sway him to his side and expose half his face.
"Ow! What the fuck are you," Red suddenly went quite when he felt a feathery hand on his neck. He screwed his eyes shut, expecting some brutal move that would pinch or snap his neck. There was no pain though, Duck just kept touching that area.
The feeling was strange, but not bad. Red bet this is what a dog felt like when it was being pet, somewhat anxious but also comforting, especially he was being pet by shockingly soft hands. He found himself relaxing once Duck let go of his hair, which he only did because he was confident Red would stop shoving him. Red's eyes drifted shut as Duck got more specific where he scratched. "See? All that fuss was pointless, wasn't it?"
"Mm." Red hummed, unwilling to inflate Duck's ego any more. If he did the bird would probably explode. "How're your hands so soft?" Red mumbled. "They weren't like that before."
"I snagged a few of those soap bottles from the motel." Duck explained. "I've been sneaking off for days to take a wash, I'm surprised you haven't noticed until now."
"Ah, so that's what you've been doing." Red clicked his tongue as he remembered the dozens of times he'd needed Duck to do something but couldn't find him. "I thought you were sneaking off to avoid work."
"Ah!" Duck sqwaked in offense. "I'm not that lazy!"
"Well how am I supposed to know that?" Red teased, flashing a rooting, toothy smile from under his string.
"You've lived with me for who knows how long, yet you act like we're strangers." Duck scolded, wagging a finger at Red.
"Mm." Red grunted. His smile shifted to a playful smirk as he reached behind Duck's neck and ran his fingers over his nape. "I know one thing about you, though."
Duck arched his neck like a cat, the back of his head pushing Red's hand deeper into the muscle. "Hm, maybe you do." He mumbled.
"Yeah." Red sighed. In the blink of an eye, at least what felt like it, it was hard to judge the passing of time. Red came to when he felt a not so heavy weight on his chest. They were laying down on the truck bed and Duck had rested his head on Red's chest, tucking himself under his chin. They were still petting each other, though.
"And you thought this wouldn't work." Duck remarked, his beak curled in an obnoxiously smug smirk. Red was glad Duck was under his chin so he didn't see him roll his eyes again. "Uhhuh." Was what Red left it off as.
"You know you're a lot less filthier then I thought." Duck remarked.
Red scoffed. "You can never let a nice moment be, can you?"
"What are you blabbering about? The moment is just fine." Duck mumbled into his chest. He punctuated that with a yawn, his beak scrunching in an unnerving manner as he did so.
Red mimed his yawn, his jaw dipping low enough to push against Duck's head. "Mm, sure, whatever." Red drowsily remarked.
"Ah, well it looks like it's working quicker then I expected." Duck clicked, poking his arm for no reason.
"Well not if you keep prodding me." Red mumbled, pushing his hand away. "Why are you so handsy?"
"How am I supposed to explain that? I just am. You weren't complaining earlier." Duck huffed.
"Calm down, there's no need to take it personally." Red sighed. "I prefer not to fight before I sleep."
"Going to bed so soon?" Duck asked in shock.
"Yeah, that's been the whole point of this, hasn't it?" Red asked. He cocked up an eyebrow and smirked, though it wasn't visible. "Unless this is an elaborate rouse to chat."
"Well it isn't; don't flatter yourself." Duck huffed. "I just don't want to die in a car crash."
"Alright, I get it." Red rolled his eyes again and yawned. "Well, night then."
"Good night." Duck bid before falling silent.
Red stilled his hand on Duck's neck but didn't remove it, even as he drifted off to sleep.