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Usually the Abbey being so big was nice–it meant that everyone had a good amount of space, no one was bunched up together unless they wanted to be–but right now it was a nightmare. You were sleepily staggering through the halls, trying to remember which way to go. You had been cooped up in the library doing homework for Lucifer knows how long, only stopping when the words blended together and your eyelids refused to stay open long enough to process what you were doing.
When you finally looked at the time, it was 1 in the morning. You were just surprised no one came along to oust you from your corner of the library.
It also didn’t help that you were still learning where to go. You weren’t incredibly new, per se, but you hadn’t been in the ministry long enough to know how to navigate in the near darkness. Everything looked the same, all the corridors leading to somewhere that looked like your dorm, just for you to hit a dead end or another set of hallways.
Finally you came across a common room. This had to be it. You sauntered inside, rubbing at your eyes as you tried your best to stay quiet and not disturb anyone in their rooms. You got to the edge of the couch and flopped onto it, feet dangling over the arm as you sighed into the cool leather cushion. You closed your eyes, mentally telling yourself you would move in a minute, you just needed a second to recuperate from the long study session you had finished.
Your moment of rest was cut short by a hand slithering up the couch and grabbing your leg, your eyes flying open as you scrambled up, a small wail of panic erupting from your lungs as you searched in the dark for what had grabbed you.
A lamp was flicked on, eight pairs of eyes looking at you in confusion, a few tails whipping around in annoyance at being disturbed. You sighed in relief, heart still jackhammering away in your chest as you processed the ghouls laying in a pile on the floor. You had gone into the wrong common room and one of them had tried to pull you down into their cuddle pile, probably assuming you were a sibling in need of comfort or something else.
“Sorry,” you muttered, collecting yourself, “wrong common room. I didn’t mean to wake anyone.”
Mountain shrugged, giving you a sleepy smile, “it’s okay, kid. We didn’t mean to scare you by grabbing you. I thought you wanted in the pile but didn’t want to ask.”
You shook your head, rubbing at your eyes in exhaustion, “no, no. I got lost, that’s all. I’ll go back to my dorm and let you guys sleep.” You yelped again when a clawed hand curled around your ankle, gently yanking you from the couch and into a warm pile of blankets and pillows and ghouls.
“Not so fast,” Swiss chuckled, shifting to pull you closer to him and ensuring you couldn’t escape the pile, “we caught you, which means you have to stay. That’s the rules.”
“He’s right,” Rain piped up from somewhere.
“You didn’t catch me,” you argued, trying to prop yourself up so you could turn and look Swiss in the face, “I fell asleep on the wrong couch and you scared me!”
“Yeah but then he pulled you down in the pile, and that means we caught you,” Aether argued from his spot in front of you, a tired Dewdrop half-asleep on top of him.
Swiss nodded, humming a small ‘mhm’, “and that means you don’t leave the pile until we’re done cuddling you. Might as well accept it, it’s the rules.” Swiss pulled you back down when you tried to prop yourself up again, an arm curling around your torso, pulling you back into his chest. You could feel two tails wrapping around your legs to stop you from going anywhere, although at this point you were already committed to staying, finding the warmth too ensnaring to leave.
A few blankets and pillows were shifted around as everyone settled back in, the lamp flicked off so darkness could spread throughout the room once more, hiding the pile of ghouls in front of the couch. Aether had tossed a blanket over you, his arm acting as a pillow under your head while Dewdrop was still on top of him, now fully asleep and acting as a small space heater.
You fought sleep for a while, trying to enjoy the warmth and just relax while your mind was still going, thoughts never ceasing. It was like the ghouls could sense it, the tips of claws scratching gently at your scalp, subtle purrs lulling you to sleep.
Eventually you drifted off, clutching at Swiss’s arm like a stuffed animal and refusing to let go. Your last thought was how happy you were about getting lost as you fell asleep in a warm pile of cuddly ghouls.