Chapter Text
It had been a long day, nothing terribly difficult but enough so that Morgan was glad to finally be in bed. Or at least he had been until his door opened and in walked Alex.
Morgan sat up a little, confusion plastered across his face. Is something wrong with Hawk-? Did Alex forget something in here-? Did I forget something-? Were the first things to jump to his mind upon seeing the other villain… and they were quickly replaced with pure confusion when Alex then closed the door without saying anything. He just wandered over to the nightstand on the far side of Morgan’s bed and started plugging in his phone…
…huh???
Morgan didn’t even know there was a charger over there… so sat all the way up now. He was only able to tell where the other villain was in the inky room due to the soft glow of his vertically slitted eyes. [“Heeeyyyy Alex… why are you in my room so late at night???”
“*Hmmm?*” Alex hummed, as if he had only just realized Morgan was there. “Oh, well, Hawk outgrew it’s room, so I gave it my room.”
“…oh? So are you… moving out?” He asked, it didn’t feel right but he honest to god couldn’t come up with another explanation.
“No.” And even in the dark Morgan could tell Alex had a brow raised, obviously also finding the question ridiculous, “But I need you to move over.”
“…what?”
“I’m moving in here, so scoot your caboose. I wanna go to sleep.”] Alex answered, by now Morgan could sort of see him gesturing to emphasize his words.
Words that Morgan had for sure heard, but somewhere between his ears and the comprehension part of his brain they had lost all meaning. “…what?” Morgan whispered, sounding just as helplessly confused as before.
“Move over.” Alex repeated, and this time Morgan complied but more out of habit than actually understanding. But the second he had done so, Alex… climbed into bed with him.
He wiggled in under the covers, adjusting what Morgan now realized was his pillow— Was that there this whole time??? —before settling down to sleep.
And Morgan could only stare down at him in utter bewilderment.
The silence stretched on for several long moments before Morgan finally managed to use his brain again. “…so is this… a permanent thing now?”
“Yeah, duh.” Alex huffed back, not even bothering to open his eyes.
“But… what about your clothes?” That was actually the last of his concerns, but it was the first thing that came out of his mouth.
“They’re in your closet.” Alex snorted, finally peeking an eye open to look up at the still staggered villain in bed with him.
“Since- since when???” He half demanded, though he was trying to keep his voice down since he now, apparently, shared a wall with his baby bug and not his spouse.
“Pfft, since this morning.” Alex muttered, rolling his eyes a little. “What did you think Hawk and I were doing all day?”
“I- well… You two were up to something and I was working on a puzzle so I… was just letting you two do your own thing.” Morgan replied sheepishly, hand coming up to card through his messy brown hair.
“Well, this was what we were up to.” Alex answered, shaking his head a little, bemusement evident in his tone. “Now go to sleep, Morgan. Hawk needs to be up early for band practice.”
That Morgan had remembered, hence why he was actually in bed at a reasonable hour, so he could take his bioengineered baby to school at the ass-crack of dawn. But he had apparently missed everything else that had happened today.
So… Alex and he were sharing a room now. That was… fine. It really wouldn’t be too much of a change, right? Like he already stole Alex’s clothes from time to time, now that would just be easier. And his sleeping habits had started to normalize over the last seven years, if only because he had needed to keep up with Hawk’s school schedule, so that also shouldn’t be an issue. He and Alex would just… share a space now… Would share a bed now. His brain supplied rather unhelpfully.
And that was the actual problem he was seeing in all this. The sharing a bed part. The sharing a bed permanently part. Because he and Alex had shared a bed dozens of times before, one of them being animal-shaped only like half of those times. That had never been an issue, not really. They’d managed for a few nights. And Morgan hadn’t really mind not getting a lot of sleep some of those times because… because it had just been- been the cost to not sleep on the floor.
But now? Now it would be every night. Every night with Alex only a few inches away…
He had a queen bed so they weren’t squished or anything, but there also wasn’t really any way to put distance between them either. And that was going to be a problem…
Because nearly every single time he and Alex had shared a bed, he’d always woken up in Alex’s arms. They’d be all snuggled together and cozy and warm and—
And that absolutely could not happen now! Not now when- when he knew how Alex felt. Not now when he knew how he felt.
He was in love with Alex… he had been in love with Alex for a very long time, even if he hadn’t really gotten that until recently. And- and walking up in Alex’s arms? Waking up, cozy and warm and safe? —Fuck- No, no no nonononono- No, he definitely could not do that now-! It would kill him for sure-!
Panic, less- solutions, now-! He tried to order his racing thoughts. It didn’t really help, not as his stupid heart galloped in his chest.
He- He need something- anything to keep that from happening. He needed to create a barrier- to make a wall between them so Alex would stay on that side and he would stay on this side and everything would be fine!
Morgan scrambled out of bed, trying not to look panicked as he did so. Luckily Alex had closed his eyes again and the room was dark so hopefully that would hide his expression and the heat practically radiating off his face. He made a b-line for the closet and- yup, there were Alex’s clothes. His closet looked much bigger than it actually was now and Morgan just assumed Alex had warped reality to make all his stuff fit. But Morgan’s side still looked the same and he quickly grabbed down two of his spare pillows.
He walked— do not run- there is no reason to run- everything is fine —back towards… well, now his side of their bed. Alex had opened his eyes again and was watching him as he climbed back in.
“What are those for?” He hummed, clearly sounding sleepy. Alex had the incredible ability to just fall asleep anywhere and everywhere, and Morgan didn’t even think it was a power. No, it was just… Alex.
“Pillow wall.” Morgan whispered back, trying to sound as nonchalant about this as he could, already laying down the two pillows parallel with Alex.
“Seriously?” Alex snorted, “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“It’s just to- to make sure we have our own space.” Morgan tried to explain as he got back into bed, firmly on the other side of the pillow wall.
“Worried that the snuggle radius is gonna get you?” Alex teased, damn near nailing Morgan’s fear on the head.
“No.” Morgan shot back instantly, sounding a little out of breath, so he took a slow breath before replying. “No, I’m not, because the ‘snuggle radius’ isn’t a thing. So these pillows better stay where they are.” He tried to put as much warning in those words as he could, even pressing the pillows down to help separate the covers as best he could.
“M’hmm~ Sure.” Alex chuckled, rolling over and facing away from his ridiculously adorable husband. “Whatever you say~”
Morgan huffed a bit but Alex wasn’t trying anything so… so this should work. He’ll stay on his side and Alex will stay on that side and everything would be fine.
It would be.
Really…
Eventually Morgan managed to make himself believe that enough to fall asleep, despite how close the love of his life was now sleeping next to him because the pillow wall would do it’s job.
…it did not.
Morgan’s alarm was set to vibrate his robotic fingers, a gentle alarm of sorts and had been a kindness he had granted himself after one too many times of being startled awake by a screeching phone. It was easy to shut off too, he just had to tap his thumb against each fingertip in the right pattern… or he could tap them all in order to set a five minute snooze… which he did. And who could blame him?
He had been eased into consciousness surrounded by warm blankets…
His face cradled against the most perfect of pillows…
His hands comfortably curled into the fabric underneath him…
And two arms were wrapped—
Morgan’s eyes popped open, snooze button be damned.
His room was still mostly dark, thick black out curtains doing their job, but despite the lack of light Morgan still knew exactly where he was… He knew it because he had woken up in situations like this hundreds of times due to the ‘snuggle radius’. He was laying on top of Alex- was being cuddled in close by Alex. Two strong arms were holding him in place, hands resting along his back in a way that made his heart both race and slow. The gently lovely reassuring touch- the soft sleepy embrace… it was all just so good…
It was really the very best kind of cuddling…
Morgan felt his fingers automatically start curling into Alex’s shirt— No- No! Stop that-! Bad brain-! You aren’t supposed to be getting more cosy you are supposed to be getting up before Alex wakes up!
Morgan had specifically told Alex no ‘snuggle radius’, the last thing he wanted was for the S-tier villain to wake up and find him- him enjoying it. He was, but- but- but that was besides the point. They shouldn’t be snuggling in the first place, damn it!
So with a kind of will power Morgan severely wished he did not possess, he started to extract himself from his spouse’s embrace. It was a slow process, one that had to be done centimeters at a time lest Alex start to stir and squeeze him back into place. It was also not a particularly graceful process as primarily Morgan had to wiggled down and out of Alex’s hold… while laying on top of him. It was- was definitely an experience that was for sure. Moving and squirming against his partner, slowly inching his way down his torso…
You are taking Hawk to school. You are taking Hawk to school. He reminded himself over and over, desperate to keep his mind from, uh… spiraling south.
However after several painstaking minutes of squirming Morgan managed to free himself, and pushed himself up onto his knees. Only to find that Alex hadn’t been the one to cross the pillow barrier during the night.
He had.
They had both been laying on what was now Alex’s side of their bed, the pillow barricade lay tossed about on his side, a wholly ineffective defense.
Well… shit.
But before he could do much more than turn a few shades pinker, his cybernetic digits began to vibrate again, letting him know his snooze time was up. He needed to get dress so he could get Hawk to school on time.
So with that he purposefully pushed the situation from his mind, before quickly and quietly slipping out of bed. He swapped his pjs for jeans and grabbed his phone, a pair socks, and his shoes before tiptoeing out of the room.
And in his haste, missed the crooked smile plastered across his husband’s face.
The second the door closed, Alex, already awake, rolled over and spread out across the still very warm bed.
Ohhh, he was so going to enjoy this~