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Cale had assumed he would be sleeping just with the children tonight as he did most nights, but a large portion of his collection of followers that he begrudgingly accepted allegiance from had filed in one by one as the night wore on. War was hell and the group had watched Cale almost die that day, so he only acknowledged the annoyance with a sigh each time he was awoken by another warm body.
Choi Han, of course, had been the first. He’d slipped into the room at the beginning of the night followed shortly by Toonka, the latter of which had yawned and ignored the glare leveled his way. Cale hadn’t known whether to laugh or cry as Toonka plopped onto the bed he absolutely had not been invited into and promptly started snoring. In the end, Cale had shuffled over and patted the bed. It was big enough and Choi Han would get better rest if he slept in a bed; Cale knew Choi Han would probably spend the whole night awake in a chair if left to his own devices and a rested warrior lived much longer than a sleep-deprived one.
The six had fallen asleep easily enough; the kittens curling into Cale’s chest just above where Toonka buried his head into Cale’s stomach, drooling slightly in his sleep, while Cale slept on his side, nestled neatly into Choi Han, and Raon curled into the pillow next to Cale’s hair. However, it hadn’t taken long until Choi Han and Cale were woken by the door squeaking open. They opened their eyes to watch Alberu slink into the room with a muttered “Couldn’t sleep.” It looked true enough, Alberu seemingly buzzed and sleep-deprived. He settled into the bed uninvited, as well, laying as far into the edge of the bed as he could, his back shown to Cale and company. Cale huffed his acknowledgement and fell back asleep to the sound of Toonka snoring into his stomach.
Eventually, Cale woke up to Beacrox’s hands fisted into his shirt, the man’s arms reached over from behind Choi Han and Alberu pressed as close as he could be, a leg thrown over Toonka’s chest and foot pressed into Cale’s thigh. Choi Han and Beacrox protectively strengthened their grips on Cale as Cale looked toward the door, finding an awkward Paseton. He sighed, nodding to the bed and whispering a welcome. Paseton settled into the bed, anxiously laying on his stomach and reaching out his arm to grab Cale’s hand from its position around Alberu’s shoulders. The four whispered their goodnights and Paseton his apologies for the intrusion before falling into rest.
The night passed, Cale waking up to the sun shining directly into his eyes, Choi Han sitting on the floor with On and Hong and Beacrox preparing breakfast on the room’s table. Paseton sat in the middle of the room, reading a book to Raon as the little dragon tore into a ham leg. Cale huffed a laugh, stretching slightly to prepare for getting up to eat. Finally, he could go back to his routine of waking up to eat and then drowsily moving back to his bed. The only problem with that plan right now was the two extremely attached sleeping bodies holding him to the bed. He yawned, settling back into the bed, deciding he’d deal with breakfast later.