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Lucius slips quietly in between the space Fang and Izzy leave between themselves. Izzy is a fucking furnace, which is perfect for Lucius, especially right now. He sidles up behind him, snuggling into the smell of burning logs and spices he can never place. He’s comforted almost instantly, his nerves slipping from their tightness.
Izzy stirs, humming as he stretches out a leg, “get out of my fucking bed.” His voice is thick and sleepy.
Nightmares have always been a staple in the hellscape of Lucius’s brain and tonight is no different. They’ve changed over the years, from silly vampires to werewolves skinning him alive to far more sinister dreams of lover’s rejection or god forbid, his own murder. The only thing that seems to calm those dreams is sleeping next to someone else, and Pete’s visiting his family for his grandpa’s sister’s cousin’s dog’s funeral or something.
“Please,” he whispers against the back of Izzy’s neck. The smaller man turns carefully, mattress squeaking in protest, “I told you I shouldn't watch Jaws.”
In the pale light coming from the window, Lucius can see that Izzy hasn't even opened his eyes as he wraps his arms around him. He pulls him in, and the pieces fall into place. Safety.
“You're an adult. Could just…leave the room.” But there's no heat, just sleepiness. Izzy’s hands idly stroke Lucius’s back. The bed shifts again, but this time from the opposite side, where Fang is now wrapping his arms around both of them. Or what he can get, anyway.
Lucius allows himself to be overcome, the fear of his latest dream still gripping him like a vice. Being swallowed up, chewed raw and spat out by a shark could turn anyone's blood cold but watching it happen to someone you love? It felt so real, watching a massive beast consume Izzy only to spit him out on the sidewalk like it had just had a cigarette.
“It's okay,” Fang soothes behind him, nuzzling up into the space between his neck and shoulder. “When will Pete be back?” He yawns into the snuggle.
“Two more days,” Lucius whines, twisting in between them to face Fang instead. Izzy repositions himself, arms wrapping tightly around Lucius’s midsection. He picks up where Fang left off, snuggling into his neck.
“Can you both shut the fuck up?” He grumbles, “I have meetings all day tomorrow.”
When Lucius wakes up in the morning, he's alone. He blinks back his cowardice from the night before and gets ready for his day as slowly as possible. He doesn't want to face Fang and Izzy. This was the third time in their relationship that he's shown up in their room in the middle of the night for something that wasn't even close to being sexy. It’s embarrassing, and he wants nothing to do with it.
When he reaches the landing of the stairs, he can already hear Izzy and Fang in the kitchen. Maybe if he moves fast enough, he can avoid any awkward conversations. He pauses a moment, listening to their chatter, though he's pleased to find it’s mostly talk of their day ahead of them. With a big breath, he quickly enters and cuts right to the pot of coffee waiting for him.
“Morning, love!” Fang greets. Izzy stays stuck in his cup of coffee and Lucius assumes that's just as well.
“Mornin’,” he attempts happily. He's tired; they all are.
“I made pancakes.” There's a scrap of a chair behind him as Fang shuffled around the kitchen, “I'll make you a plate.”
“Ah, I really gotta catch the bus, babe.” He pours sugar into the brown liquid swirling in his mug. Fang is unmoving.
“I'll drive you today. Sit.” The command is airy in tone, but Lucius knows the cut underneath. He sighs, taking a seat at the table next to where Fang was sitting. He looks between Izzy and Fang respectively.
“Listen, I'm really sorry about last night. It won't happen again, I'm all better now.” His apology hangs in the air, thick and pathetic as a plate full of food is set in front of him. He's not very hungry, but he knows Fang won't take no for an answer so he bites into a piece of bacon.
“We think you should sleep with us until Pete comes back.”
Lucius isn't expecting that, and he's definitely not expecting the flash of anger that runs through him. He's not a fucking baby; it was only one nightmare. He didn't need to be coddled or have his hand held through bedtime.
“Excuse me?”
Fang covers his hand with his own, “I know how bad your nightmares get. I think it would make you more comfortable.”
“And stop you from waking me up in the middle of the fucking night.”
“Thank you for your charitable donation, Izzy, but it was one night.” Sitting at the table doesn’t last for long as he pushes back in his chair.
“You can be embarrassed all you want to, but don't take that shit out on me,” Izzy mumbles calmly. “We’re just trying to help.”
“So you talk about me behind my back and make decisions about me without my consent? That's help?” He rolls his eyes, grabbing a pancake from his plate and turning on his heels. He has to go to work, he doesn't have time for this. Fang gets up next, Lucius only knows that because he hears him as he leaves.
“Thanks for your help, Israel.”
The bed is cool when Lucius slides underneath the blanket. It feels good against his warm skin, calming him down just enough to feel sleepy again.
“Did you pee?”
Lucius sighs, adjusting his pillow with a slap, “yes, dad.”
“I don't have time to be turned on,” Izzy lifts his corner of the blanket. “I have–”
“Meetings all day tomorrow, yes. I'm well aware.”
Fang slowly creeps into his side, sitting against the headboard. Apparently he likes to take his sweet time before bed, putting on lotion or reading a chapter of the book he has dog eared. It feels very domestic to be between them during their before bed rituals for the first time. Sure, he's slept with both of them in this same bed before, but usually it was spicy before they fell asleep.
“Are you still mad about this morning?” Izzy is already curling up against Lucius’s back, warmth radiating off of him. Despite himself, he pushes back into him, chasing the heat, “grow up. We have love for you, fucking twat.”
“Sorry for brooding too loud,” Lucius rolls his eyes, “but it’s a little much needing to sleep between mommy and daddy at age thirty.”
“And yet you're the only one judging what happened. Fang and I don't give a shit.”
Lucius goes quiet. It's true that he was the one making the situation something it shouldn't be, but who could blame him? He couldn't even last in his own bed alone for a few days, even if it wasn't his fault it happened.
“Which one of us is the mommy?” Fang asks quietly.
Izzy opens his eyes, looking Fang up and down. He has his glasses at the tip of his nose, his book open in his lap and the smell of lavender lotion wafting from his skin, “I don't know, Mrs. Cleaver. Now will you both shut up so I can get some sleep.”
This time, in the middle of the night, the only reason Lucius wakes up is because of something hard pressed against his ass.