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Dimple didn’t care for nighttime.
It was just plain ol’ boring. As a spirit, there really wasn’t much point in sleeping. He got no extra energy or power from it, so why even bother? That’s just wasted time, and he had already wasted plenty of time in his life before.
Except there was one downside to not sleeping. Everyone else does . And then there’s no one to bother.
So Dimple found nighttime to be pretty boring. There weren’t even that many spirits to hang out around or to eat because they were all ‘keeping themselves safe from being eaten.’ And the ones that Dimple DID run across during the night, well, he can’t afford to die three times.
So instead of wandering around being bored, Dimple decided to keep tabs on his buddies! His pals! Because seriously if he did nothing he would probably fade away out of self-preservation!
Dimple hovered above Shigeo’s face and narrowed his eyes at the boy.
For as straight as Shigeo was when he was awake and walking around, he was always annoyingly expressive in his sleep. Tossing and turning, whether his dream was good or bad. Often his pillow was targeted in the night. Either his face was stuffed into it (which would make for an extremely interesting hairstyle in the morning) or he was hugging it so hard that Dimple was sure it would explode and feathers would go flying everywhere.
Shigeo was always like that. Sure, back when he was actively shoving all of his emotions down, it was a little more toned down, but he would still move around a lot and make plenty of facial expressions.
Some nights, Shigeo would be smiling at some unknown thing. Even giggle under his breath. When Dimple would ask in the morning what was so funny, Shigeo would look at him strangely and say that he didn’t have any dreams.
However, more often than not, Shigeo’s dreams were riddled with things that he wouldn’t explain when he woke up. He’d be clutching his pillow like if he let go he’d fall into an unknown abyss, whimpering and making hushed noises in his sleep.
If it got too bad, Dimple had learned to silently possess the young esper to relieve him of whatever nightmares were plaguing his mind. It was just cruel to let him cry in his sleep, mumbling for his friends and parents.
But tonight Shigeo was sleeping peacefully. That soft smile was pulling on his lips, his eyes crinkled as he twisted around in his bed.
“Freaking boring,” Dimple grumbled over Shigeo’s head before floating out of his room.
Another person he’d visit was Ritsu. He was normally the second visit of his night, since he was literally a wall away from Shigeo.
At first, Dimple had made it his second goal in the afterlife to scare Ritsu. He’d come through the walls at different angles, trying to find a way to make the kid jump and mess up whatever he was working on.
Except the dumb kid liked to sleep, so he almost never got the chance.
And tonight was another one of those nights. Ritsu was tucked away neatly under his covers, his breathing barely making a sound.
“Ughh, seriously?” Dimple groaned loudly as he floated over towards Ritsu’s sleeping head.
Ritsu was so put together during the day that it translated into his sleep. Most of the time, he was laying on his back, head rested neatly on top of his pillow with the comforter pulled up to his chin. Like the perfect goody-two-shoes he was.
Overall, he just wasn’t an interesting sleeper. About as dead to the world as Dimple himself was.
So, with a heavy sigh, Dimple left the Kageyama house to go find someone else to annoy.
His options left were Reigen, Shou, Serizawa or Hanzawa. Dimple had learned his lesson the hard way to not even bother visiting Tome.
The first and last time he rolled up into her home, she started throwing things towards him, screaming about how he was ‘the most perverted ghost ever to exist,’ and how he was ‘never ever allowed into a lady’s room again,’ and how ‘just because he never got to visit a woman’s room when he was alive didn’t mean he got to visit one when he was dead,’ ‘especially not one who is underaged,’ and that he should ‘f off.’
So no visiting Tome.
Shou was risky too. He was fun when he was awake, but kid was so jumpy there was a 50/50 chance of being blasted if he even made the slightest noise. And tonight, Dimple didn’t really feel like seeing how many more brushes with death he could get.
According to Shigeo and Ritsu, the Hanazawa kid was super sick. Like red faced, sweating, barely able to move, sick.
Ew.
No Hanazawa for tonight.
So he’d go for his favorite person to annoy!
“Guess who’s coming to town, Arataka,” Dimple chuckled to himself as he floated across the dark town.
Dimple cast his eyes around suspiciously as he sped around corners, keeping an eye out for potential snacks or potential enemies. Part of him thought it would be nice to get into some sort of fight. Maybe a brush with death would be a good idea. It would help make him appreciate his boredom more.
But until that happened, Dimple was content with being upset with his boredom.
Reigen’s apartment was lit— a good sign!
Reigen was always good for keeping Dimple entertained. The man had the absolute worst sleep schedule, shifting almost constantly and never getting more than six hours of sleep a night. So there was a high chance that Reigen would be awake and they could toss some banter around for a little bit.
And holy crap would Dimple like that. If he had to be all alone for a little bit longer he might actually TRY to go to sleep.
Dimple flickered into his ‘invisibility mode’ before shifting through Reigen’s door with a hidden grin on his face. He thought about trying to scare the man because there was no downside to it. It never got old, scaring the crap out of Reigen! Something was just so rejuvenating about hearing the man’s voice go up seven octaves and watching him spill his tea all over himself.
So the disappointment that Dimple felt when there was no one in the living room was immeasurable.
Dimple furrowed his eyebrows before floating around the room and glancing at his surroundings. There was a bowl of ramen sitting on the coffee table, its steam drifting off into the air. The tv was turned on and jeopardy played quietly in the background, the sound filling the empty apartment space. And yet no Reigen on the couch.
“Huh.” Dimple floated into the man’s bedroom, expecting to see him asleep in there, but still no sign of the conman. He even checked the bathroom to make sure he didn’t have an Elvis-style death.
But of all the places Dimple would’ve expected to find Reigen, it wouldn’t have been shoved into the corner of his kitchen, asleep.
His chin was resting against his chest as he stood, both hands dangerously wrapped around a mug full of tea. He snored softly, his elbows pulled in and his bare feet barely able to help keep him standing. In a few more minutes, Dimple wouldn’t have been surprised if he fell over.
That would’ve been absolutely hilarious . The look of defeat on his face after he spilt his burning hot tea on him and conked his head on the counter before hitting the ground— comedy gold! It’d be nice to see the man get humbled! Again.
Though… he did look exhausted. Dimple shifted closer to his face and rubbed his chin, trying to decide how cruel he wanted to be.
Dark bags were hanging underneath Reigen’s eyes, his skin pale. His dry lips were slightly parted as he snored, the noise being washed out by the sound of jeopardy.
So Reigen was asleep.
Boring.
But he could slip and fall!
Not boring!
But…well, Dimple would feel kind of bad if that happened. To be fair to Reigen, he was an ok guy. Sometimes. And if he was to get permanent brain damage, Shigeo would be so upset he’d probably level the whole town.
Dimple debated in his head before he decided to be a good dead person and help the man get a win.
“Reigen,” Dimple said quietly, crossing his arms and peering up into the sleeping man’s face. “You wanna wake up or sleep out here in the kitchen?”
Reigen snored.
“I really don’t want to listen to you complain about how your back hurts because you fell asleep standing.”
He snored again.
Dimple rolled his eyes before carefully slipping into Reigen’s head.
Possession was harder for some people than others. Psychics were impossible unless the spirit was given permission, but humans could have varying levels of difficulty. Reigen was a human who had a fairly hard mind-shell to crack— When he was awake, at least.
Dimple was kind of surprised at how easily he was able to slip into the man’s body. He felt Reigen’s consciousness shift slightly, but not react as he took over. It just slid over to the side, letting Dimple take control.
Suddenly, Dimple's eyes were closed and feeling rushed into new arms and legs. He could feel the cold of the tile stinging his feet, the way Reigen’s criminally ugly and comfortable sweater rubbed against his skin. His elbows were tucked into his side and dug into his ribcage, while the warmth from the mug spread in his hands. He could feel the pain blossoming in the man’s neck and trailing down his shoulders, running like a river vein.
Dimple flicked open Reigen’s eyes and glanced around before straightening and setting the glass down. He stretched and yawned loudly in Reigen’s voice before scratching at his mop of caramel-toned hair.
It didn’t take long for Dimple to take care of the man's apartment. He kept the food out since that wouldn’t be much of a problem in the morning, but he did turn off the lights and the tv. That way the power bill wouldn’t kick Reigen in the butt.
And then Dimple waltzed Reigen into his bed, laid him down, got the covers over him and comfortably situated, before leaving the man’s body.
Dimple watched from above Reigen’s head as his snoring returned and he immediately curled into his cheap mattress. He pulled the blanket up close and shoved his nose into it, shivering slightly before snoring again.
“Boring,” Dimple grumbled before leaving Reigen’s home through the ceiling.
Somehow that had only taken thirty minutes.
Next on the list was Dimple’s favorite insomniac, Serizawa.
Dimple wasn’t really close with Serizawa. It wasn’t like with Reigen where they could throw insults at each other 24/7. Anything Dimple would tell Serizawa, whether the insult was really an insult or not, the man would take it to heart and it’d practically shatter him. It was kind of sad.
But Dimple was able to recognize that teasing wasn’t for everyone, it just meant he wouldn’t visit Serizawa unless he was really bored.
And yet, most of the nights that Dimple would visit on, Serizawa was still awake and was willing to chat. Even if Dimple couldn’t toss any comments his way, Serizawa was still an enjoyable person to talk to. He knew a lot about random subjects and also was willing to indulge Dimple’s grandiose dreams of taking over the world— even though he wasn’t really planning on doing that anymore.
One night, Dimple had asked why Serizawa was always still awake at ungodly hours of the night. He was obviously tired, with drooping eyes and yawns punctuating the air every few minutes, but he just wouldn’t go to sleep.
Serizawa had admitted that sometimes his anxiety was so bad that the idea of sleeping scared him too much. He himself wasn’t always sure what he was worried about, but he just wouldn’t let himself sleep. Whether it be he was afraid of a recurring nightmare or an ex-member of Claw coming after him for some sort of a revenge, or not wanting to let himself rest after an unproductive day, he just wouldn’t sleep.
Dimple kind of felt bad for the man. He’d sit on the pillow next to him and kick his feet as he watched Serizawa play a video game and listen to him explain all the ins-and-outs of it. All while his head would roll forward as he struggled to keep it up.
One night, Dimple got tired of watching the man torture himself. It would be better for Dimple to be bored than to feel bad about him. So he told Serizawa to just lay down and talk about something and Dimple would listen.
So Dimple hung around Serizawa’s apartment that night and listened to him explain all of his worries. He didn’t understand how Serizawa could take one small thing and have it all spiral into something so huge. It must suck living like that. But Dimple would listen and ask questions, letting Serizawa work things out outloud. Sometimes it really would help him!
Eventually, Serizawa had solved all of his problems on his own and thought out ways to deal with them in the morning— after a full night of sleep. And when he still couldn’t drift off, Dimple continued to listen to Serizawa talk about things he liked until he fell asleep, wrapped up in his comforter like a burrito and inhaling deeply.
Dimple would be fine with spending his evening like that tonight! 12:41 and he was still bored out of his mind, so why not?
Except when Dimple made his way into Serizawa’s apartment, he found the man curled up and sleeping silently with soft rain noises playing in the background.
“Ugh, you’re so boring ,” Dimple groaned loudly to himself as he left Serizawa’s room with his arms crossed. “Where’s a spirit supposed to get good entertainment around here?”
Nights like this one were when Dimple thought he might as well try to sleep. He could go back to Shigeo’s and try to settle next to his head and just hope that he wouldn’t be kicked out of the bed. But really, what was the point of even trying?
The night really did suck.
Dimple floated back up into the night sky and looked around Serizawa’s neighborhood before deciding that he’d give Hanazawa a chance. Just to see if the kid was still alive. Ritsu said he looked pretty nasty, so maybe he could at least get a kick out of it.
-
Teru’s head felt like someone had wrapped a hundred rubber bands around his skull and was just waiting for it to explode and spew brains everywhere. His nose was stuffed like one of those thanksgiving turkeys, and yet was still leaking snot everywhere! His throat was practically sandpaper, and at this point he was pretty sure he rivaled the sun in terms of heat.
He kicked off his blankets and sheets, letting himself sprawl on top of his bed as the glorious cold air of his apartment rolled across his skin.
But wait— now he’s cold.
There really is no happy middle ground when you’re sick.
Teru grumbled to himself and sat up, scrubbing at his eyes before throwing an arm out to try and find his tissues. Sadly, he misjudged and smacked the box off of his night stand and winced as it clattered to the ground.
He whined loudly before twisting around and slamming his face into his pillow, not even bothering to telekeneisis the tissues to him.
He was absolutely and utterly defeated by a tissue box.
Ughhh, he just wanted to be healthy. Teru swore to himself that he’d never take advantage of being able to breathe out of both nostrils at the same time again.
But that’s what he said last time, so maybe he needed to work on his promise keeping abilities.
He threw his foot around a few times before he hooked it on his blanket and pulled it back up to his chin, unable to stand the cold anymore. After a few seconds of calculation, he realized he’d have about three minutes before he’d get too hot and would have to kick it off again. So he was going to make use of the three minutes of comforting heat.
Teru rolled onto his side and glared at his empty apartment. Part of him wanted to turn on his tv to just have something on in the background, but the remote was by the tv. And as soon as he got sick, the normally comforting tingle of using his powers turned into just another rubber band wrapped around his head. So he could survive without the noise.
His apartment really was dark though…
Teru shifted slightly, bringing his blanket up to his ears and glaring at his opened window. He really, really should’ve closed the blinds. Or turned on a light. He couldn’t see anything outside of it. For all he knew, someone could be standing out there, watching, waiting, lurking. Waiting for the moment Teru melted into his bed before breaking in, scooping him up, and then slopping him into a bucket.
Yeah, he should’ve turned on a light.
But then a light did turn on!
A sickening, gross, green light from outside of the window!
How terrifying!
Teru’s stomach twisted and he shrunk under his covers, eyes wide as he watched the glow come closer and closer. This would be a terrible time to have to deal with the unknown. The back of his neck prickled and he could feel his face flush, the three minutes rapidly shortening as his stress levels grew.
And then Dimple popped through the window.
Teru locked eyes with the spirit as he froze in the air, raising his eyebrows at Teru with the perfect amount of grossed-out-ness for the situation. “Yo.”
Teru blinked at him before rolling onto his back and groaning softly. “…why?” He croaked, the words grating across his throat.
Dimple floated closer to Teru’s face and the boy squinted, the light suddenly reminding him why he had turned off the lights in the room. “Shigeo said you were sick,” Dimple explained, furrowing his brows at Teru before tilting his whole body to match up with the tilt of Teru’s head. “And I wanted to see if it’s as gross as Ritsu said it was.”
Teru inhaled deeply, trying to push back the headache growing behind his eyes from Dimple’s unwelcome light. His three minutes of being cold were now dangerously close to being done, and he could feel his body turning back into a furnace.
Hey…spirits are cold, right?
“And gotta hand it to him,” Dimple continued, grinning. “You do look pretty nasty—“
Teru threw his hand out of the blanket and grabbed Dimple’s face, cutting off his comment.
“—Oh.” Teru felt Dimple’s face squish beneath his hand and briefly was confused about why Dimple had let himself become corporeal before the spirit's chilly body sent shivers up Teru’s burning arm.
“What’re ya doin, kid?” Dimple asked, laughing nervously. “I’d prefer not to be blasted—“
Teru yanked his arm back and twisted, shoving Dimple right next to his face and smushing his cheek against the spirit’s.
“H-hey now—“ Dimple sputtered, shifting from underneath Teru’s grip. “What’s the plan here?”
Teru closed his eyes tightly and nuzzled his cheek into Dimple. The cold emanating from the surprisingly soft surface was heavenly , washing over his face and skin, the deep chill fighting back against the heat of his sickness. “Cold,” Teru mumbled with a sigh.
“Yeah, and you’re freaking hot,” Dimple said quietly, the usual bite in his voice backing off.
Teru pulled Dimple away from his face before hugging him close to his chest, shivering at the change in temperature. His clothes felt like they stuck to him a little less and he could actually hear his thoughts again once the burning heat settled back.
“Geez, you’re gonna get me sick,” Dimple grumbled, shifting in Teru’s arms.
Teru felt small hands do their best to hug him back and the boy smiled softly before giggles spilled out of his mouth. “We’ll match,” he wheezed, his eyes shut as he deliriously patted the top of Dimple’s head.
“Please no.”
-
Dimple hadn’t expected to become a teenage boy's ice pack that night, but Teru looked so miserable that Dimple couldn’t say no.
And now that he was wrapped in Teru’s arms as the boy snored loudly through his stuffed nose, Dimple felt…content.
Besides, he was warm. Dimple hadn’t realized how cold he was until he was pressed against the boy’s face. So at least it went both ways.
If Reigen knew about this, he’d find a way to capitalize off of it. ‘Teru and Dimple’s Air Conditioning and Heating Company!’ Except he would never put their names in it. He’d find some way to spin it back around to only supporting his own business.
As Dimple laid in the boy’s grasp, he let his eyes wander. He really didn’t have much to do now that he was here. And he felt kind of bad leaving.
…maybe he could give sleeping a try?
There wasn’t really a downside to it. He could just skip the last boring bit of the night, right? Not too awful of a deal, and he wouldn't have to upset Teru.
Dimple shot a look in Teru’s direction as he snored loudly before rolling his eyes and shifting further into Teru’s grasp and wrapping his small hands around Teru’s arms.
Sleeping couldn’t be too bad. Maybe he’d even dream.
That sounded…kind of ok.
Dimple inhaled deeply before he let his eyes shut and drifted off to the steady rise of Teru’s stomach and the sound of the boy's obnoxious snores.