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Moving apartments sucked, the trio quickly found out. They’d actually managed to find one that they could all pool money in to afford together, with enough space and not too far from where they’d been previously living around. Signing the lease was actually the fun part. Moving all their stuff from one place to another was not. Unfortunately for them, none of their friends were available to help, and Cherry “would rather shoot herself with Pico’s Uzi” than ask her parents for help. So that left only the three of them to get everything done. Someone had to, of course, but it would’ve been far easier with extra help.
“This shit sucks, oh my god. Can we never do this again?” Came Keith’s whining voice, body toppled over on a big moving box. “We have fake ass friends, and it’s like two in the morning, can we just pause for the night? I don’t even care anymore, this seems like a future us problem.”
“Yeah… I’m tapping out. We should not have tried starting this as late as we did. We have to unpack at some point but with how tired we are, it’s going to end badly. Especially with fragile items.” Pico agreed.
None of them even were dressed for this; along with the poor choice to start unpacking things in the wee hours of the morning, all of them were in their sleepwear outfits already. In all honesty, they should have all been in bed hours ago, but the sight of their shared room having nothing but a mattress on the floor had been enough to make them try to get some more out of boxes. Clearly, it was not going well.
Cherry huffed, fanning her face with a hand. “Screw it, the bedroom can wait a day to be furnished. This is stupid. Floor mattresses aren’t that bad, people start like that all the time. I’m not even sure which box has the bedframe in it anyways.”
“There was absolutely no future where we: one, find the bedframe, and two: put that shit together when it’s this late and all of our brain cells are gone.
I
don't even have them anymore. I’m just fuckin’ tired.” The ginger complained, wiping his forehead with the top of his sleep shirt. “The temperature here is freezing but I’m sweating from this. That’s several levels of fucked up.”
Keith frowned. “Aren’t you literally a hitman? I feel like you’ve had to work through more taxing things than moving random items out of boxes.”
“I also don’t go into my jobs tired as hell at stupid hours of the night. I’m built to kill people, not decorate an apartment. I would be an interior designer instead of a murderer if it was the case.”
“Guys, let’s just leave it.” Cherry cut in, “The boxes aren’t going to grow legs and walk away while we’re asleep. I am too tired for banter arguments.”
“True! One problem, though. We don’t have any blankets unpacked yet, or our pillows. Literally just the mattress and the basic sheets. Pico is right, this place is freezing. I’m not going to be able to sleep if I’m turning into a blue-haired popsicle.”
Cherry pulled a mischievous face. “You’re forgetting that I’m a walking heater. No blankets needed!”
“...You just want an easy excuse to get Keith and I to be your teddy bears again.” Seeing right through her was a skill of Pico’s.
“Aww, but you guys looooove cuddling with me. I always hear those happy little noises you two make when you think I can’t, trying to snuggle as close as possible. You’re both so fucking cute!”
“I am going to blow up.”
Their sleeping arrangements had slowly been getting more and more attached. At the start they kept Pico and Keith’s separate apartments just in case things didn’t work out so well but it was quickly obvious the three were attached to each other at the hip. Even on the days they didn’t actually see each other due to other plans or responsibilities, the next time they did see each other always started with ‘I missed you’. Now that they’d moved in together, it was easier to spend at least a little time together.
The apartment the trio had chosen had more than one bedroom as an added precaution. But for the most part, it was expected that they’d all pile into the same bed. Because yeah, they could sleep on their own, but why would they?
Tonight it would be Cherry in the middle, with Keith and Pico on either side. They would swap who went where sometimes, depending on mood and how hot or cold the day had been. None of them were used to the temperature of the new place, so Cherry being the heater in the middle was the best option.
“We’re going to change the temperature eventually, right? I don’t think I’m going to be able to live in an apartment this cold all the time.” Pico asked as they began to settle.
“Less words, more sleep. Also, maybe if you put socks on like a normal person it wouldn’t be this much of a problem.” Keith’s retort was muffled while he was face first into the mattress.
Silliness aside, Cherry turned the light off before joining her boys in bed. The sudden darkness left them all trying to adjust while scrambling to get comfortable.
“...I think we might regret this in the morning when we wake up with sore necks.”
“Oh my god, Cherry, smother him. Shut him up before I crawl over you and do it myself and permanently.”
“HOW IS ME POINTING OUT THE OBVIOUS ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU MURDEROUS?”
Cherry groaned, looping her arms under both boys’ heads and pushing them into either side of her. “Shut upppp. Please. Just go to bed. Use my arms as pillows, it’s still better than nothing. If it really ends up that bad I’ll treat you both to nice messages in the morning, okay? Sleep time.”
The three fell into a silence again, interrupted only by shifting positions and deeper breaths. A small amount of light from the street filtered in through the window, along with the distant hum of cars passing by on the road below. None of them could really sleep without at least a little bit of noise coming from somewhere- silence set them on edge.
Despite this, only two of the three actually managed to drift off to sleep. Keith was comforted by the rhythmic rise and fall of Cherry’s chest, and the soft snores from Pico- a telltale sign he was too smooshed up against her. He was glad they were getting the rest they needed, so why couldn’t he fall asleep?
“Screw this…” He muttered to himself after a few more minutes of failing. Tossing and turning would only wake his partners up, and he didn’t want to do that. He instead carefully removed himself from the cuddle pile and walked to the window. It was a fire exit window, so it could be pushed open with a small balcony and stairs next to it. He could spare a few minutes in the night breeze.
He probably shouldn’t be climbing out a window while it was nearing 3AM now, but it was too late. Keith managed to get the window open without any noise so he was counting that as a win. It was nice to just relax for a little bit. Being out on a clear night just hit different , but he didn’t get to do it often. This was nice. The world was terrifying and dangerous for him, but sitting here in peace, knowing the two loves of his life were also at peace right behind him? It made everything worth it. Being out here was doing him a lot of good he hadn't realized he needed until then.
Keith lingered out there for a few minutes more, the serenity of the scene bleeding into his body as more sleepiness. He crawled back into the apartment before he fell asleep outside, giving a silent wish that all of his ‘selves’ out there were having a calm night like him. The apartment was still freezing despite having left the window open. Keith laughed quietly to himself noticing his partners had somehow cuddled closer in the short time he was gone.
“You’re both so adorable. I am so in love.” He whispered, leaning over to kiss both of their foreheads. Neither woke from their slumber.
Settling back into his side of the bed, Keith kept his head close to Cherry’s heart so he could listen to it while he drifted off to sleep. Reaching a hand over her stomach to hold one of Pico’s, he let out a content sigh, closing his eyes and joining the two in dreamland.