Chapter Text
The first night Lighter spends with the Sons of Calydon, sleep almost completely eludes him.
Big Daddy leads him to the bunks at the far back of the Steeltusk and directs him to take a low one by the door. The top bunk isn't occupied at the moment but there are posters absolutely covering the small wall space allotted to it. There isn't much space for Lighter to store anything under the bunk either, not like he really came in with possessions other than the clothes on his back and his blood-soaked hands, although Big Daddy does his best to carve out a place for him.
"I've got some spare storage under my bunk there." He had spoken in that same soft tone back at the arena, like he was talking to a startled cat or wounded dog. Lighter couldn't say he didn't appreciate it—quite the contrary, Big Daddy's care towards him helped him relax. He motions to the largest bed at the back of the room as he speaks so Lighter can at least see where it is, even if he doesn't have anything to put there yet. Then, in immediate contrast to Big Daddy's previous mannerisms, he turns and raises a hand to his mouth before bellowing out towards the rest of the RV and the fire pit beyond.
"Billy! Get in here!"
There's a squeak from somewhere outside. A couple moments later steps come thundering up the ramp. Despite himself, Lighter tenses—he doesn't mean to, but there's a lightness to them that betrays the person's skill level in combat, and it immediately sets him on edge. The guy that runs in... isn't a human at all. He's head to toe made of metal, glass visor protecting bright yellow optics, and snow-white hair that from Lighter's distance doesn't even look synthetic even though each individual strand seems to catch and refract light like glass.
"Yeah Boss!" The guy says. His voice is so loud, and with that static overlay, it sounds like an announcement over a speaker. Lighter isn't at the arena. He still curls in on himself behind Big Daddy's broad frame. He can feel his own shoulders shaking where he clutches at them.
"Shh, it's late, Billy, quiet down a little."
"Oh, right. Sorry."
His voice slips into a whisper. The static becomes a crisp overlay but it softens to something almost analogue, gentle clicks sounding at the end of his words. Before he steps out of the way, Big Daddy glances over his shoulder at Lighter; upon seeing him curled as he is, he reaches out to place a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Gonna be okay, kid?"
"I—mm, yeah. I'm okay."
Lighter breathes a sigh of relief when he meets Big Daddy's eyes and only finds concern in them, not the anger he was expecting.
A moment later he fully turns out of the way to reveal the android still standing in the door. He's tall, almost intimidatingly so, with shoulders broader than Lighter's even. He's curious how those footsteps could have been so light when he must be at least twice as heavy as an average human or Thiren his size. Must be scary in a fight...
Shit, they're talking again, he should listen.
"Billy, this is your new bunk mate, Lighter Lorenz. Make sure you leave enough storage room for him."
"Gotcha! I've been meaning to reorganize my Starlight Knights comic collection again into chronological order so Caesar can borrow them, then my Monica magazines after that..."
"And," Big Daddy goes on, though his voice isn't admonishing of Billy's tangent. It's just firm enough to bring his focus back. "Look out for him. Kid's never been in a Hollow before, he's gonna need to learn how to take care of himself in one. You two can go with Piper once you've settled in." The boar Thiren turns back to Lighter and gives his shoulder another light squeeze. "You're in good hands. Billy's run with us since Caesar was little, he took care of her then and will take care of you now."
"You know it!" The android salutes, then presents his hand to Lighter. He's so energetic—almost too much for Lighter to handle, but it's... refreshing somehow. Startling, sure, but something he could probably get used to. He gingerly shakes Billy's hand.
"I'm Billy Kid, nice t'meet ya! What can I call you?"
"Just Lighter is fine. Nice to meet you, too. Uh, thank you in advance for looking out for me?"
"No problem!" Billy giggles, giving him a firm shake. Lighter's whole right side shakes, making have to brush hair out of his face once he's let go.
"Boss, have you introduced him to Cae and Piper yet? Oh, and how do you feel about nicknames, Lighter? Also, if you're a fan of the Starlight Knights, do not hesitate to talk to me. My collection is extensive—at least as much as it can be, me n' Cae are gonna hit New Eridu together next month when the next drama CD is out to get some of the movies we're missing—and you can borrow anything you want to watch or read! So just let me know—"
"Billy," Big Daddy cuts him off, covering the android's entire face with his hand and earning a small yelp for it. "Let Lighter rest. You can ask all of that tomorrow."
"Ah, right, sorry! Late night, shhh time."
Big Daddy releases his face with a huff that edges closer to a chuckle. Lighter finally comes back to himself when they start leaving the bunks, realizing that he'd just stood there through that entire monologue. It's... a lot of energy. Too much for him right now. Maybe tomorrow or the day after that he can handle it?
As he climbs into bed, despite his overwhelm, he wants to be able to handle that exuberance. It's so nice not to be surrounded by downtrodden, defeated mercenaries fighting for scraps. He hopes he can get used to it. Bask in it for the rest of his life.
It’s not anything like Ember Arena, the Outer Ring. The air is fresh once he's acclimated to the acrid smell of sand and gas—crisp and clean, carrying the gentle perfume of desert flowers. There's no tang of blood, no stench of vomit or sterile medicines. He finds himself antsy because of it.
And the quiet, god, the quiet.
A couple more hours after that intro, the rest of the gang piles into the RV. Billy again is light as a feather scrabbling up the ladder. Big Daddy's steps are slow and heavy, the same weight and pace as one of the girls that comes in with him, though she's practically half his height even though she looks around his age. The last girl that shrugs in has short hair and bright eyes, her steps loud even though she's yawning as she crawls up to her bunk. A round of 'good nights' gets passed between them. Then mere moments after, he already hears soft snoring.
There's no creaking of people going in or out of the room. No yelling from the hallways, no one barging in to wake him, no quiet impacts of fists on a punching bag or another person one room over. There's no buzz of fluorescent lights nor brightness of them peeking from under the door. He doesn't have to cover his ears to anybody trying to pick a fight with him when he's already exhausted after a long day of...
There's only the sound of their breathing. Some kind of cricket outside, and even subtler than that, the whirring of a fan. It should be calming, but Lighter can't relax.
Lighter had nuzzled himself into the bunk and curled up under one of the worn quilts he'd found under Big Daddy's bed. He hadn't quite made it to sleep when they all came in. He shifts to sit up, pausing when the bed creaks in response to him. No one wakes up to admonish him—no one even turns in their bunk—
"Hey," Billy suddenly pops his head down from the top. Lighter almost screams.
"Shh! Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!"
"Well, great job, holy shit," Lighter wheezes. He eases himself down from where he pressed into the wall like a pancake. In the pure darkness of the RV Billy is barely an outline around his optics.
"Couldn't sleep?" the android asks. His voice is probably as close to a whisper as he can get.
Lighter would snap his head up if he wasn’t already looking at him. "How'd you know?"
"Me too, my first night here. You get used to how loud it is outside, then it's silent... dunno, kind of unnerving, right?"
"Not... not exactly... kind of?" Lighter exhales. "Yeah, I guess. I always thought silence would be comfortable."
"If you ever want, Piper's got a tent you could borrow. It's meant for guests but if it helps you get some sleep you could always use it."
"Maybe that wouldn't be too bad. Doesn't it get cold outside though?"
"Maybe for anything other than an android. I think it's nice," Billy giggles, the plates of his face scrunching up in the middle so his optics look like Ns. Or, Us from Lighter’s perspective? Even without a mouth he smiles up to his eyes. "But you can borrow as many blankets as you need."
"You sure?"
"Yup. I don't even use blankets most of the time. Wait, here."
His head disappears. Lighter hears shifting above him, then Billy's leaning back down. This time, he's got something long and red in his hand that he offers out without a shred of hesitance.
"What's this?" Lighter murmurs, taking it. The fabric is worn, and softer than anything he's touched before. There's a couple of crisp places that, in the dark, he can't immediately tell what's caused the damage, but judging by the feel it's some kind of burn?
"My scarf. It's kind of a tradition in the gang that the Champion wears a red scarf so everyone knows who you are. It's real warm as a bonus, and nice n' soft to snuggle into... I don't really need to sleep like you do, but it helps calm me down when things go south. Maybe it'll work the same for you."
Lighter can't help but blink up at Billy. It's been barely hours since they've met, and he's doing something so kind? Lending Lighter a treasured possession like it's an everyday object?
He clutches the scarf close, only realizing he's gripping tightly onto it when the light from Billy's optics dims just a little. The roundness in them stops being so extreme though his voice doesn’t lose that soothing analogue quality at all.
"Wrap up in it or just hold onto it, either way is fine. I don't need it back for a while anyway, so you can borrow it as much as you need if it helps. I'm gonna go back to standby but I'm not hard to wake up if you need anything, mm'kay?"
This is too much. This is too kind. Could every day moving forward really be like this, or is Billy just being nice because Big Daddy told him to? Lighter's only okay at reading people, but he thinks he knows honesty when he sees it. Billy and Big Daddy both have been nothing but gentle with him. If Big Daddy is confident that Billy will look out for him, then surely he can't be hiding some kind of malicious intent, right?
Lighter doesn't want to distrust him already. He gulps down the paranoia when he looks at the scarf in his hands again. Billy could have just let him toss and turn all night, but he offered it over without a second thought. That kind of goodness isn’t be faked easily.
Billy disappears back to the upper bunk again. Him settling kicks Lighter into gear with a gasp, and suddenly he's up on his knees like that will help him twist around to peek at the upper bunk. It doesn't, at all, so he does scrabble out of bed to pop his head up over the guardrail.
"Billy?"
"Yeah, Light?"
"Th-thank you. I'll return it in the morning."
"Sure."
Billy reaches out with one hand to ruffle Lighter's hair. With his bangs mussed up he almost misses the way those optics squish up in the middle again, gentler than before but still in a recreation of a smile nonetheless.
"Get some rest, Light. Me n’ Cae are a real handful, I promise you'll need your energy to keep up with us."
"Okay. I'll try. Uh, good night, Billy."
"G'night~"
Lighter slinks back to his bunk. He lays back, still holding the scarf, trying to work through the way all of that is making him feel. Between everyone sharing things with him and all of their touches being the least threatening things he's ever felt, all the paranoia that keeps trying to rear its head evaporates. There's a lump that gets caught in his throat, as tears gather in his eyes the tighter his grip gets. He bites at his cheek to keep a sob in, but he can't stifle the sniffles that do escape him. Instead of tucking into the scarf like Billy suggested, he wraps it around one of his hands all the way up to his elbow. It is soft, just like Billy said—he does want to cuddle up to it more but he doesn't want to soak it with tears and snot or whatever. Still, even with both ends curled tight in his hands, he still manages to catch a whiff of something fruity off of it around the oil and gunpowder when he rolls onto his side. It's nice. Relaxing. In the silence, he finally manages to slip his eyes closed, his turbulent thoughts and feelings calming enough that he can find peace enough to sleep.
The afternoon sun is high in the sky when Lighter finally drags himself out of the RV. He tries to blink away the gumminess and floaters in his vision and fails miserably. At least no one’s here to see him so messy—
"Mornin'."
He does yelp this time.
"Can you all stop sneaking up on me," he groans, looking down to the source of the voice. She's an older lady with the gentlest crows feet at the edge of her eyes, but her style of clothing fits what he assumes young people wear in the city. She's got a little bit of a dark circle under each eye and a smirk that's definitely more teasing than it has any right to be.
"Sorry 'bout that, lil ol' me just saw you wanderin' lost and thought I should help out. Lookin' for B?"
"B?"
"Billy. Owner of that." She points to the scarf still wrapped around his arm.
"Oh. Uh. Yeah. Was gonna try to find a shower or something first though...?"
"Sure. If ya want, you can just fold it and leave it on his bed before that."
Lighter shuffles his feet, lifting one to scratch at his shin with his heel.
"I was going to wash it first. Is he out right now?"
"With Caesar and Papa, yeah. They'll be back tonight though, so don't worry. Yanno, if you're lookin' for something to do, come find me after you wash up an' I'll put you to work. Shower's that way, water runs pretty cold."
She points to the rest stop attached to the gas station. Two other trucks and various motorcycles are parked around, though he doesn’t see anyone with them.
"Right. Okay, yeah. That’ll be fine. Thank you...?"
"Piper Wheel. I'll be your driver from now on until the old Steeltusk kicks it."
"Piper, got it. I'll try to remember that."
He stumbles off to the showers awkwardly, not really knowing what else to say to her. True to her word, it does run cold, but he's not mad about it. While he's there he makes sure to at least give Billy's scarf a good rinse too. In the daylight he can see the burnt ends now, frayed with wear and having a couple patched holes here and there. It's well worn, but that makes it more charming somehow, that despite all of the damage Billy hasn't replaced it yet. Lighter hadn't noticed the gleaming pin on it either somehow when he was wrapping it up. He makes sure to dry it first so it doesn't rust after being exposed to water.
While he works with Piper on some repairs and cleaning to the massive truck the gang calls a home, he keeps an eye on the scarf where it hangs to dry. In the heat of the afternoon it does so fairly quickly, allowing Lighter to fold it up and lay it back on Billy's pillow like Piper had suggested.
It's not until well after dinner that Billy even remembers it. They spent the time introducing themselves (Caesar and him really were a handful, Billy hadn't been lying) and trying to explain to Lighter the entire plot and timeline of every iteration of Starlight Knights that they can. It all kind of goes in one ear and out the other for him since there's too many names to remember, though trying to keep track of all of it does serve to tire him out.
It's nice, sitting around a fire and listening to two people talk about random things they enjoy.
When they finally turn in for the night, Billy stops halfway up the ladder with a little "oh!"
"You washed it?"
Lighter shrugs. "I felt bad handing it back covered in...” he pauses for a moment, flushing a bit at the thought of admitting how gross his face gets when he cries. Instead he finishes with, “…drool. Yeah."
"You drool when you sleep? Well, it would have been fine, I could have washed it too. Want it again tonight?"
He's already handing it down before Lighter even answers, and there's no hesitance in taking it.
"Honestly you talking about Starlit Kings has already got me tired, but sure. Thanks."
"Uh, it's Starlight Knights, Light," Billy says with a roll of his eyes. Lighter rolls his right back, though the smile peeks through anyway.
"Starlight Knights, close enough. I'll get it next time," he murmurs as he tucks into bed. "G'night, Billy. See you in the morning."
"You better! Sleep well! See you tomorrow!"
This time he does wrap himself up in the scarf. Nuzzling into it really does help him drift off, and for the first time in a long, long while, Lighter actually sleeps straight through the night.