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Out of all the Death P.A.C.T team members, Tree was always the one to initiate physical contact. Usually these were small details to him, like resting his weight on his teammates, which became something he did on a daily basis. Because of this, none of them actually complained or said anything about it, and Tree was thankful they didn’t.
However, since he got stuck on the canal, he felt the overwhelming absence of touch a lot more than he would want to admit. Being alone all the time ーbeside Black Hole occasionally making him some companyー did not help. At all. All this nagging tingle across his skin, the loneliness in crowded places, it frustrated him.
Today wasn’t different. Last night he huddled up to a bunch of pillows and put himself under heavy blankets just to feel something, even if all he could feel was his body burning. And tonight he planned to do the same thing; after a long day, nothing could be a better medicine than to cuddle something and pretend it’s a loved one. Even if the loved ones were still awake. Outside. Ready to be cuddled or anything.
This time, however, he found himself in big trouble trying to fall asleep. Despite the darkness of the apartment, it openly showed a silent emptiness. One Tree got used to since he started going to sleep before everyone else. It didn’t matter, he thought; he would be sleeping in a matter of minutes.
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾
A loud ringtone coming from Tree’s phone startled him and woke him up. He checked who it was and managed to read Gaty’s name. Great.
“Hello?”
“Hey Tree, what’s up?”
“You do know it’s late, right?” He complained.
“Yeah, a tad bit,” Gaty admitted. “Anyways, we’ve been wondering if you wanted to hang out. We’re at the rooftop if you wanna join. Literally everyone’s here, even Robot Flower!”
Even that botanic wannabe?
“That’s… wonderful!” Tree said, grinding his teeth slightly.
“Yeah, we’ll probably be here all night. Fanny’s a night owl, Black Hole doesn’t really get sleepy and Marker’s here too. It’s perfect if you want to hang out with your ‘dpa’ fellas!”
“What did you just say?”
“DPA, Death P.A.C.T Again. Heh, get it? Because, you former dpa teammates are here?”
“Don’t you dare use that tone for that acronym ever again,” Tree deadpanned.
“Sorry. Anyways, see ya!”
And she hung off. What an awkward individual.
Anyways, Black Hole was there, which already gave him a reason to go. With those two newbies, a poser that says to be botanical and Fanny ーdon’t even get him started on herー, there had to be something good in this team. He missed it when he competed by the side of people he could actually get along with. Though, he hated to think like this; these were his teammates at the end of the day, and he should have a better bond with them. Besides, with his internal struggles, these were the only people he had for opening up. Great.
He got up and put on himself a beige trench coat he must have thrown across the bed at some point. After buttoning it, he tied his hair in a loose ponytail and headed upstairs with his remaining energy. There, he found everyone sitting in a deformed circle. Apparently they were going to spend the night here, since everyone brought some snacks and had a few drinks.
“Hi, Tree!” Marker greeted, rushing to crash himself in a tight hug.
After steading himself, Tree hurried in wrapping his arms around the other with all his might. God, he would have stayed like this forever if Marker didn’t let go. He quickly guided the botanist to a place next to Black Hole, which Tree took eagerly.
“Thanks for coming, Tree!” Gaty commented. “Sorry for waking you up though. Did we wake you up?”
“Yeah, you woke me up,” Tree grumbled. “Anyways, what are you guys doing here?”
“We’re making the most of spring and enjoying bonding time!” Pin said, delighted.
“By doing what, exactly…?”
“I borrowed a deck of Uno cards from Two, and we were planning to use them in a bit,” Gaty responded.
“And… what are we waiting for?”
“As you may know, some people here need to learn how to braid hair, so we were using Black Hole’s hair to teach Marker and Fanny,” Pin bothered in explaining. “But, he’s not really fond of getting his hair touched. And Gaty’s hair isn’t long enough for making many braids, so we needed more long-haired folks like you.”
“Are you serious-”
“Do you mind if Black Hole learns with you?” Gaty asked.
“Not like I can say no,” the evergreen grumbled.
“Good to hear,” Pin said before taking the scrunchie out of Tree’s hair.
He didn’t bother to pay attention to whatever they had to say. He could only focus on the way they soothingly combed his hair. It gave him some sort of strange peace to know that it isn’t only Pin, but Black Hole too who’s doing this. Pin said something about dividing a wide lock of hair in three parts and telling Black Hole to do as she did. All of his body relaxed when they supposedly put hands on work and started weaving his hair.
Tree closed his eyes to relish on the moment a little more. The night breeze stroked all his body and put him at ease, despite the people he had around. He heard footsteps from behind and some murmurs from Fanny and Gaty. At any other moment he would have turned around and told them to mind their own business, but this time he couldn’t care less. He mostly focused on what Black Hole’s hands did, even if it was insignificant as doing his hair.
“There we go,” Pin announced, and everyone praised their good job.
“Does it look that nice?”
“Check it out yourself!” Gaty requested, showing him with the camera of her phone.
He analyzed their creation. Two braids dangled down his head, one more solid than the other. He really appreciated their gesture, and he more appreciated how Black Hole still combed his hair for some seconds until he stopped. Everyone went back to their respective places and Gaty took out the deck of cards. But before she started mixing them to sort them with everyone, Tree had to do something first.
“Hey Black Hole?” He whispered.
“Mh?”
“Do you mind if I hold your hand, for a little?”
“Sure.”
Black Hole put on some fingerless gloves he had for touching stuff without sucking it up, and let Tree wrap both hands around his own. He always had cold hands; it wasn’t something that bothered the vortex, but still surprised him.
The warmth of his hand soaking on Tree’s skin made him melt on the inside. He wanted more, no, he needed more. He-
“Alright everyone. Let’s play,” Gaty offered. Everyone took their cards and started playing.
It became uncomfortable for the two of them to play and place the cards with one hand, but Tree didn’t care, and he hoped Black Hole didn’t mind either. While holding his hand, Tree gently thumbed it and occasionally laid one or two pecks. All these small gestures clearly affected Black Hole, who now was holding a stupid smile while checking on his cards and placing them.
“Is there something you’d like to share with the class, Black Hole?” Gaty taunted, placing a skip card right after.
“I hate being skipped!” Fanny groaned.
A few snickers and superficial condolences followed after that, and everyone had their fun mocking the people that had to draw more cards or got skipped. Quickly, Marker was left with one card, to the dismay of everyone else. Pin put on a draw four card, so did Tree and then Black Hole. Unluckily, this doom fell on Gaty, so she cursed before taking a whopping total of twelve cards.
“She’s doomed,” Tree said under his breath, getting a nod from Black Hole.
Quickly enough, Black Hole and Pin finished, getting complaints from everyone.
“With all due respect, how does Black Hole even know how to play?” Robot Flower protested, throwing her cards and stomping downstairs, probably to be with Basketball
“Wait, Robot Flower-! Nevermind, I doubt she hears me,” Pin lamented.
“Nah, let her be. We’re better off like this,” Tree suggested.
“Marker, it’s your turn,” Fanny said.
“Sure thing!” And he proudly laid his red eight. “I won!”
“Great, no third place for me,” Tree huffed.
In a bunch of more eventless rounds, Tree finished, leaving Gaty and Fanny playing against each other for a pathetic fifth place. Maybe this is why Fanny hates things so much. Tree guided Black Hole’s hand into his cheek, making it gently brush over his tired features. All these touches made him so lost in the moment that he almost dozed off right in the place.
"Woah, easy there Tree,” Black Hole muttered with slight concern.
“Sorry.”
“I don’t mind, but you can get hurt falling like that.”
“Yeah, I know…”
Black Hole guided Tree’s head to his shoulder, which the latter didn’t refuse. On the contrary, he highly appreciated it by snuggling closer and wrapping his arms all around his teammate. To this, Black Hole wrapped his arm around his back and played a bit with his hair. He knew how lonely Tree had been these days, so he deserved some comfort and time like this.
“Feeling better?”
“Mhh… sorta.”
“We’ll go back in a bit, don’t worry.”
“Mm-hmm…”
He closed his eyes to savor everything better. His partner’s soft and warm body helped Tree feel at ease and relax faster than he ever did with the blankets. It’s the real deal what he’s feeling on his skin, what he craved and kept him up at night for its absence. A loved one’s touch. Someone to show him that he’s cared and loved. He didn’t want the moment to end. Staying huddled up like this for an eternity became far more desirable than letting go.
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾
“Tree? Tree, hey Tree, wake up.”
Unluckily, Black Hole’s angelic voice took him away from his precious slumber.
“Ughhhh, why…?”
“It’s 3 a.m, we’re going back down.”
“Already?” Tree protested weakly.
“Yeah, already. C’mon, you gotta go to bed.”
“Fiiiine…”
With dizzy movements, Tree finally got up and rubbed his eyes to wake himself up enough and pay proper attention. As both followed the team towards the elevator, he heard Black Hole chuckle.
“What? What’s so funny?” Tree inquired, his speech slurred.
“Nothing, it’s funny when you act like this.”
“‘Like this’. Pssh, you idiot.”
Once the door from the elevator opened, the whole team huddled up into the device and Gaty pressed up the button to go down. For some small instants, the air became hot and everyone shifted uncomfortably to the touch of each other. Tree, on the other hand, found himself in paradise. He pressed himself against Black Hole more, God he could swear he would fall asleep right on the spot if they stayed like this for five more seconds.
The elevator dinged, announcing it arrived at its destination. The door opened and everyone got out, making a beeline towards their apartment. Gaty was already taking out the keys once they arrived at their door. After a few seconds, the door creaked open and everyone crowded inside the apartment. Each and every single one of them hurried into their rooms and tucked into their beds.
Tree did no different; he’s been more tired than everyone in his team. However, he had a different struggle: since they found a way to make Black Hole enter the apartment, which wasn’t long ago, Tree offered him a place in his room. And today wouldn’t have be different if he didn’t forget to tidy up the blankets and pillows for his guest; he didn’t want him to see how messy his room got these last days. He convinced himself he would lay down for a few minutes and would tidy everything up later. However, things don’t always go as planned and he already had Black Hole seeing him this pathetically.
He quickly sat up and pretended nothing even happened, tidying up his hair.
“Oh, there you are! I was wondering why you took so long,” Tree sneered lightly.
Black Hole shook his head. “You sure did. Anyway, do we know where I’m sleeping? Not that I mind sleeping on the floor, but just to know.”
“Yeah, about that, I’ve been wondering…”
The vortex raised an eyebrow to the other’s question and hummed, signaling him to go on.
“Do you mind if we sleep together, just tonight? I- I think I’ve been touch starved lately and I could really use some more touch. If you don’t mind, of course.”
“Oh, alright.”
Thank goodness he agreed.
“Just, lemme tidy this up real quick,” he added.
“Don’t worry, I can help,” Black Hole offered, folding the heaviest bedsheets.
“No, don’t-"
“Just a few more and we can sleep, tonight is gonna get cold anyways.”
“You think so? Good thing we’re cuddling then.”
Black Hole giggled. “Yeah.”
After putting the folded blankets on the wardrobe, Black Hole tidied the rest of them and invited Tree to get inside first, which he did eagerly. Both pulled all the weight of the duvets over them and snuggled up closer to each other, letting the warmth fill them both.
He let himself be held tight as the vortex gently brushed his hair, and couldn’t help but sigh in delight. Knowing he was safe made Tree’s whole body relax and soothingly drift into slumber in peace, he had nothing to fear tonight. And nothing will ever change that, not as long as he’s with Black Hole. Both knew they would have to wake up a few hours later; the hotel schedules became very strict and they had no excuse to stay any longer. But they would figure that out later, now they had the comfort of the blankets and the silence of the night and everything they could ask for right now. Each other
And that was enough.