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II was currently preparing breakfast, so the task of waking the other two fell upon IV. He quietly opens the door to III’s bedroom, after finding Vessel’s empty with the bed unmade. There's a heap of blankets around someone’s form and another body beside it on the further side of the bed, near the wall. Walking closer, he spots a pair of feet wearing badger-patterned socks at the foot of the bed, uncovered, and finds III awake, trying to shrink into himself to fit under half of a blanket, pulling on it gently to no avail. The other half is somewhere over or under Vessel, who is still sleeping, curled up with his back to IV, enveloped in what looks like at least three blankets, clutching some of them against his chest. IV sits down behind him and gently rubs his frame through the layers until he stirs awake, looking over his shoulder to see who woke him.
“Vessel, darling, why is III currently freezing to death in his own bed?” Vessel looks to his partner just as III answers from his spot.
“Because he’s a cuddle bug and hogs all the blankets.” III tries unsuccessfully to pull on the corner of the blanket he has over him in the hopes of retrieving it from his partner now that he’s awake.
“’m not.” Vessel grumbles, reaching down to get the blanket untangled from his foot so III can have it. He has to admit, it isn’t the most convincing argument, not with a duvet and two – now only one - thinner blankets around him, only his head peeking out from under the covers, with an expression that is equal parts grumpy and sleepy.
“Oh, so you climbed into my bed in the middle of the night to cling to me so tight that you almost didn’t let me go to the bathroom” III lifted a finger and looked to IV for emphasis, “telling me, and I quote ‘But it’s so cozy’, because you’re not a blanket-hogger, huh, love?”
Vessel’s answer is a mock-offended grunt, and a muttered ‘Slander’, which makes IV snicker. They know Vessel likes to be warm, but he sometimes wriggles out of their embraces in his sleep and ends up stealing shared blankets. His partners have to pull him close and maneuver around a bit to have him back in their arms and be covered by blankets again, Vessel being none the wiser or waking up only to snuggle close to his other with a content hum. For this very reason, there are plenty of blankets in each of their beds and sometimes Vessel even brings his own for their cuddle sessions, usually his favorite, a simple light gray fuzzy one, littered with stars and planets that glow in the dark.
IV stands up and pats III’s leg still peeking out from under the small blanket, “Breakfast’s almost ready” and walks out of the room, leaving the door open, just as the faint smell of pancakes reaches Vessel. He sits up and starts untangling himself, leaning over to where III is watching him - waiting to climb out of bed once Vessel is done - and kisses him softly, as if in apology, a small, silent one for the thing he knows he doesn’t have to be sorry for, but still wants to let his partner know. III just smiles into the kiss. Vessel is sleepwarm against him and III almost tackles him back to bed to cuddle just a little longer, but the other’s stomach growls, ruling in favor of breakfast.
“C’mon, bug. Pancake time.” III pats Vessel’s cheek lightly when he pulls back, who simply scoffs at the nickname, suppressing a smile.
“Was he being a snuggle bug again?” II asks as III walks into the kitchen after having changed, checking the underside of the pancake in the pan on the stove. Vessel tries and fails to look annoyed at the question from his seat at the table and ignores II’s teasing smile when he lays a fresh pancake onto the plate in front of him after hearing III and IV’s sounds of agreement.