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"Kaladin, no."
"What?"
Adolin stood in the doorway of Kaladin’s room. He was realizing, with some horror, he’d never really had time to check on said room before. He really should have made some time. Because this was unacceptable.
"This is why you never rest properly. You can’t, if you’re sleeping on the floor!” Adolin exclaimed, accompanying his statement with a gesture at the mattress that was on the floor .
"I don’t sleep on the floor.”
Adolin looked at him, disbelieving.
The room was very sparsely decorated: a table, a chair, and a chest along with the aforementioned mattress which had a single, sad pillow on top of it. That was it. Adolin felt depressed just looking at it.
"I don’t sleep on the floor. I sleep on a mattress," Kaladin said, as though he were talking to a child.
"On the floor! "
"I don’t see the problem,” Kaladin said, impatience rising in his voice.
Adolin sighed.
"I’m not some lighteyed princeling who needs a nice fluffy bed to sleep," Kaladin said pointedly.
Or not sleep at all, Adolin thought to himself, barely registering the barb. He had to do something. "Nope, come with me."
"What, why?"
"Come on,” Adolin said, grabbing Kaladin's wrist and pulling him through the door.
Kaladin pulled back for a moment, clearly trying to free himself from Adolin’s grasp, but Adolin didn’t let go.
"Where are we going?" Kaladin asked gruffly.
"My room."
"Why on Ro-?" Kaladin started, pulling back a little harder.
"Just come with me, Bridgeboy,” Adolin interrupted. After a moment he followed with, “I’m not letting go, so you might as well come.”
Kaladin huffed and after a moment he tugged again. “Okay, okay, I’m coming. Just let go of my hand.”
Adolin did, though with a little reluctance. He turned to make sure Kaladin was following. Kaladin rolled his eyes and walked up beside Adolin instead of trailing a step behind. Adolin felt the desire to grab his hand, albeit maybe in a slightly different manner than before. But he knew Kaladin would not appreciate that. Besides, there were more important things to deal with. Like getting Kaladin to sleep.
They made their way up in silence, and in the time it took for them to make it to his room, he could feel Kaladin’s tension growing. This was for Kaladin’s own good, Adolin knew, so he continued on this probably doomed mission.
Adolin opened the door and stepped inside, feeling the familiar sense of comfort from his carefully curated room wash over him. He’d specifically picked out the curtains (a nice soothing shade of rose), the bedding (a pale blue that alway reminded him of clear, open skies) and the pillows (full of the fluffiest material spheres could buy). He felt instantly at ease.
Kaladin, on the other hand, looked decidedly uneasy as he stood in the doorway.
“Here,” Adolin said, pointing to the bed.
“What?”
“See, a nice bed, off the floor. You can sleep here.”
Kaladin fixed him with a flat glare. “Why would I sleep in your bed?”
Adolin bit back the more suggestive remark he might have made with someone else. However, this was Kaladin, and he was already probably one moment away from flying out of the window. It really wasn’t the time.
Adolin sighed and took a slightly more direct approach.
He grabbed Kaladin’s arm and dragged him to the bed.
“What is wrong with you?” Kaladin asked, stumbling slightly.
“Feel the bed,” Adolin said, letting go of Kaladin’s elbow and patting the bed. “Feel how nice it is.”
“And?”
“You need to sleep, so a change of scenery will help. A nice bed that’s not on the floor is just what you need,” Adolin responded.
“It’s your bed.”
“So?”
“I can’t sleep here!”
“Why?”
“Because it’s your bed!”
“That’s not a reason,” Adolin responded.
Kaladin rolled his eyes.
“Would you just lie down?”
“No.”
“Am I going to have to force you to lie down like I had to force you to eat in Shadesmar?” Adolin snapped. A part of him immediately regretted saying it, especially when he was met with Kaladin glaring at him resentfully, but Adolin crossed his arms and jutted out his jaw.
Kaladin sighed deeply. “It’s the middle of the day, and I have things to do, so I’m going to go–”
Adolin quickly stepped between Kaladin and the door. “Kaladin, you look like hell. Your eyes practically look like two bruises. You need sleep. Would it be the worst thing to try and get some rest?”
A moment passed as Kaladin bit his cheek. Finally, he slowly said, “Did Syl put you up to this?”
“What? No. I just had to look at your face.”
Kaladin flushed a little at that. He looked down at bed then back up at Adolin. He ran his fingers through his hair.
Adolin followed the movement of his hand. At the very least, Kaladin seemed slightly less resistant than when they had first walked into the room.
"Please?" Adolin said softly, tilting his head to the side just a little. Maybe it was a gesture of pleading; he didn’t know.
Kaladin raised his eyebrows.
“Fine,” he said at last, but didn’t move.
Adolin gestured vigorously at the bed.
Kaladin finally sat down on it with a huff.
“Boots!” Adolin exclaimed.
“Yeah, yeah,” Kaladin responded before taking them off and sitting there hesitantly.
“The bed isn’t gonna bite you,” Adolin said.
He seemed to consider the bed for a moment before laying down with a roll of his eyes, looking very much put upon. Any softness Adolin had seen in Kaladin’s countenance after his pleading was gone, but he didn’t care. At least Kaladin was finally laying down.
(In all the times Adolin had imagined Kaladin in his bed, this certainly wasn’t in any of the scenarios. Or fantasies, rather, but again, this was not the time.)
“See, isn’t that nice?” Adolin said.
“Don’t condescend, Princeling.”
“You could use it right now, Bridgeboy,” Adolin retorted.
“It’s just a bed,” Kaladin said after a moment.
“Yes, but isn’t the mattress lovely and the pillow nice and soft?”
“These must be things only you lighteyes think about,” Kaladin responded. He moved stiffly on the bed, his limbs moving around like they were foreign to him.
“Are you always this awkward when you lay down? You look like a plank of wood,” Adolin said, his eyes running over the length of Kaladin’s body.
Kaladin huffed and made to get up, muttering something about "not having time for this," but Adolin walked over and pushed him back down.
“Nope, lay down you need rest!”
“I have things to do!”
“Yes, but if you leave I’ll follow you around and annoy you until you sleep.”
"Not if I Lash you to the stupid bed."
Maybe Kaladin should’ve chosen his words more carefully.
This time Adolin couldn’t resist.
"Don’t tempt me with a good time."
Kaladin looked confused for a moment while he parsed Adolin’s words, at which point he coughed and looked away, blushing.
Adolin found himself blushing as well. He cleared his throat and looked away. It very much had not been the time for that comment either, but it had just slipped out. At the very least Kaladin’s embarrassment had finally gotten him to stop talking back for a moment.
“Okay, fine, I’m laying down,” Kaladin said, “See?” He put his hands in the air as if to show off his position.
Adolin hesitated for a moment and then went to lay down on the other side of the bed.
“What are you doing?” Kaladin asked, a slight edge to his voice.
“Showing you how to get comfortable,” Adolin said as he lay down on the bed. It really did feel nice: his soft, cozy bed. But it wasn’t his for now.
Kaladin looked over in disbelief.
“Okay, so you need to squish around.”
“‘Squish around’?” Kaladin repeated.
“Yeah, move around so you make a nice spot for yourself in the bed.” Adolin said before demonstrating by snuggling into the pillow and moving himself against the mattress.
Kaladin grimaced and then followed suit, if only halfheartedly.
“This is stupid,” he declared after a moment.
“Well, we wouldn’t need to do this if you managed to sleep like a normal person,” Adolin said, turning to him, his body facing Kaladin who still lay on his back.
A few moments of silence passed between them. Kaladin’s body had finally settled into something a little more relaxed than a plank of wood.
“I am really tired,” Kaladin said quietly. A confession.
“I know. So rest,” Adolin responded softly, looking at the profile of Kaladin’s face. Maybe he was imagining it, but it looked like there was slightly less tension in his jaw. He hoped, anyway.
“It’s a nice bed,” Kaladin admitted, staring at the ceiling. He took a deep breath, then stifled what was clearly a yawn.
Adolin smiled at that, but didn’t tease. He wanted to stay, to make sure Kaladin slept, but he knew his presence probably wasn't conducive to Kaladin sleeping. Instead, he sat up and pulled the blanket at the foot of the bed over Kaladin’s tall frame.
"You really do want me to sleep here," Kaladin said as he grabbed the blanket with one hand, his voice a little softer, quieter.
"Mmhmm,” Adolin responded.
"You’re insane."
"Maybe."
But Kaladin didn't try to get up. Instead he moved a little further under the blanket, clearly getting more comfortable.
Adolin hovered nearby as Kaladin shifted again, his eyes falling closed for a moment.
A beat of silence.
"Okay. Go away. If I have to do this I can’t sleep with you hovering like that,” Kaladin said, opening his eyes just a little while shooing Adolin with one hand.
"Yeah, yeah. I’m going," Adolin said. “I don't wanna see you until later. After you’ve slept.”
“You don’t have to see me at all if you let me just do what I need to do,” Kaladin responded quietly, his words getting broken as he stifled another yawn.
“That's not what I meant and you know it.”
Kaladin inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. Adolin gave him one last glance before leaving the room, closing the door carefully behind him.
He leaned against the door for a moment, hoping Kaladin would actually get some rest and not just get up and leave in a few minutes. He knew, however, that he couldn't really do anything about that. He had to trust Kaladin to rest now even if only for a short time.
He lightly touched his fingertips to the closed door once then started to walk away.
"Thank you."
Adolin stopped in his tracks, head whipping around at the sound until he saw a familiar tiny blue form hovering nearby.
"Oh, Syl."
"He wouldn't listen to me."
"He can be difficult that way, can't he,” Adolin said as he continued walking.
"He listens to you though."
"Sometimes."
"You take good care of him, Adolin."
Adolin considered her words, then shrugged and gave her an embarrassed half smile before responding, "We both do."
Syl nodded and sat on his shoulder as he kept walking.
"Do you think he'll sneak out?"
"Maybe, but...you did what you could," she responded.
They moved away from Kaladin, hoping he'd get some rest at last.