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There's a gentleness in the way Joel softly traces his fingers over his back that Jimmy could melt into. Fingertips slowly running up and down the fabric of his shirt, so soft it almost tickles, Jim presses his face further against Joel's chest. The mix of quiet breathing and a firm heartbeat was more than enough to lull him into that kind of half sleep where you can hear everything happening around you but you can't quite move unless you're fully woken up again.
Jimmy's glad that his sleepy mumbles aren't commented on — they're incoherent and he really didn't mean to say anything anyway, just unconsciously trying to voice his happy opinions on the matter at hand. No, instead of anyone saying something about it, the fingers running along his back turns into a full hand, flat against him and rubbing in large gentle circles.
He was nearly asleep, mind floating between sleep and his foggy headspace, when a new hand makes it's presence known on his shoulder. Really, it was only a couple fingers, lightly brushing along as if the person was just passing by — just wanting to physically say that they're there.
"How is he?"
Pulled slightly out of his tired spiral towards real sleep, Jimmy can't help but smile at the sound of Grian's voice. It's quiet, and there's an edge of concern where confidence would usually resign.
"Little thing is tired," Joel responds, and his hand is moved away from Jimmy's back to instead lay in his hair.
"Has he—"
"Grian," Joel's voice stays quiet but turns firm, "He's fine. Don't get so worked up."
Jimmy pushes his face a little more against Joel's chest, softly giving a huff of disapproval at the fact that they're having a conversation. His fingers had clenched up around Joel's shirt, softly flexing in the fabric as he tries to work out the restlessness he's suddenly found in his hands.
"It's just been so long since he's —" Grian must be walking around, pacing even, Jimmy thinks, because he can hear the soft creaking of wood planks around him, "I worry something happened."
"I don't think anything happened," Joel says, shifting under Jimmy slightly, "I think he's just feeling extra small tonight. Isn't that right, Jim?"
A soft giggle bubbles up in Jimmy's throat as Joel kisses the top of his head. His hands squeeze a little tighter against the others shirt, and he nuzzles into the warmth under his face before mustering up a short nod.
The cushioning next to him dips, and before he knows it, Joel is shifting him away from the warmth of his chest. With a whine at the loss, Jimmy blinks open his tired eyes in attempt to see what was happening.
Joel says something akin to "Here, take him," as Jimmy is turned to look at Grian.
Only needing a second to see the other man, Jimmy forgets to be upset at Joel for moving him — instead focusing on reaching over and landing face first into Grian's chest instead. The soft red sweater was nice and fuzzy and warm, and it felt nice to press his cheek up on. Not to mention the way the man's arms wrap around him, pulling him into a safe hug; Jimmy curls up to him happily.
A hand makes its way into his hair again, this time softly raking through it and running gentle nails across his scalp. Jimmy wonders what exactly about him being like this can make Grian turn so gentle, so soft with him.
Don't get him wrong, Jim loves it when Grian can throw jokes and pick fun at him, he finds it funny and engaging and keeps him on his toes — but this side of Grian? It's special, it makes him melt and curl in smaller and turn up that fog machine in his brain.
It's the same with Joel, but not as prominent. Him and Joel have a good balance of picking fun and being sweet to each other, so getting a hug or a nice pat on the back isn't unusual from him.
Jimmy loves them both, though. Loves the way they're different and how they treat him well even when to some people it doesn't sound like it. He loves how when Grian hugs him his arms go up and hug towards his shoulders, but when Joel hugs him he hugs around the lower part of his back. He loves how Grian will run his fingers along his scalp and how Joel will trace shapes along his spine. He loves how they show him they love him.
With a quiet noise, something almost adjacent to a whine, Jimmy hugs on tighter to Grian, gripping his sweater between his fingers and just holding on. It's nothing close to being upset, he's just tired and maybe a little needy now that he's thinking so much about the two of them. He wishes Joel was holding him too, but he's still content with Grian.
"Shh," Joel says behind him, one of his hands coming to lay against Jim's back, "You're a sleepy boy, aren't you?"
Jimmy wishes he could verbally tell him yes, yes he's so tired right now but he's not going to sleep unless the both of them are cuddling him first. Alas, he'll have to deal with just pushing his face into Grian's sweater and whining, hoping some kind of point gets across this way.
"Naptime?" Grian presses, never taking away the soft raking motion he was doing through Jim's hair, "Maybe Joel will be a doll and get you your kitty stuffie?"
He huffs quietly, but the hand from his back has already left — Joel presumably to go search for his little white cat plush. During this, Grian is shimmying down further on the bed, helping Jimmy move to what was a completely comfier position to lay in.
It's not long before a soft stuffed animal is tucked underneath his arm, which he quickly hugs closer to himself and smiles from it.
And, as if Joel knew exactly what he had wanted earlier, Jimmy realizes the bed dipping behind him as the other climbs in as well. It's hard to control the happy little squirm he does — oh-so tired but so very excited to have both Joel and Grian cuddling with him for naptime.
An arm rests around his middle, underneath where one of Grian's arms had already taken up on his back, and Jimmy feels himself melting into the embrace. It serves to tug him in deeper into the soft headspace, pushing out any semblance of worry or real thought except for whatever was currently happening.
Jimmy yawns, quietly, against Grian's sweater. It earns him a soft coo from both of them, gentle hands rubbing his back and playing with his hair and keeping him ever floating towards sleep. Jimmy hears Grian's heartbeat in one ear and Joel's steady breathing in his other.
Being so close to both of them like this has him wishing he wasn't so sleepy. He likes to spend time with them when he's feeling small, they're both sweet and funny and they make him feel so safe. Unfortunately, the smaller he feels, the easier he is to succumb to tiredness — or worse, crankiness.
Which, if he feels the tiniest tug of sadness creep into him because he wants to be awake with them instead of sleeping, it's luckily not there for long at all. He's far too content, too comfortable to be upset.
His fingers have relaxed by now, not quite clenched into Grian's sweater. Still, he rubs his thumb along the softness of it, finding it soothing. Grian's mimicking the movement, too, his own thumb rubbing against Jimmy's back in the same way.
Finally drifting off to sleep was a welcomed task. Jimmy was all too tired to stay awake any longer, with the tug of sleep finally pulling him down. If he's lucky, he'll still feel quite small when he wakes up, and the two others will indulge him in some more cuddles. On the chance that he wakes up feeling more like his normal self again, maybe he won't let on about it for a while — instead to just bask in those soft hugs for a little longer than he needs.