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It was late, and it was stupid, but Lizzie couldn't sleep.
It wasn't her fault! It was just that whenever she closed her eyes she was back there, falling through the void endlessly, alone and cold. So there. She just couldn't sleep. It wasn't like she hadn't gone sleepless before, after all.
But she was tired. Well, that's fine. Just great! The one night she needed to stay up, her eyes kept drooping, only to snap open once she heard the wind rushing through her hair.
Maybe, she thought, half-asleep arleady, I should go to the BAMbunker. That was a good idea, she congratulated herself half-heartedly as she stumbled down the ladder to where Jimmy was already asleep in a nest on the floor, made from blankets and pillows from people he loved.
She decided that this was a good place to stay, so she sat right up on the very edge of the nest, trying not to disturb anything in the nest for fear that it might wake Jimmy up. Actually, she grimaced upon hearing his snoring, she shouldn't worry about that.
The nest was surprisingly comfortable, it was clear that Jimmy had put in a lot of work. And once she laid down, curling into a ball, and closed her eyes, she still felt the falling sensation. The void emmcompassed her, and no one even noticed her fall, and-
And Jimmy snored, and she forgot about the void. It seemed familiar, sleeping next to her brother friend in a nest, and she felt safe for a while. At least, long enough for her to fall asleep.
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Scar couldn't sleep. The shadows kept moving on his wall, a wing there, a tail, a halo of thorns, and he was alone with his thoughts. He didn't like being alone very much, not after Secret Life. Not after he won.
It was silly, being afraid of the dark, after all the games, but it was still a fear. And his light had broken yesterday, and he hadn't had time to replace it, and-
It didn't matter now. He was alone, in the dark, and scared. Just like Secret Life. But, he remembered, he had teammates.
The first place he checked was the BAMbunker, it was well-lit so monsters wouldn't spawn and kill a red-life down there, so it would keep the shadows away too. Scar tried to be quiet going down the steps, but luckily Jimmy's snoring drowned out whatever noise he would've made (seriously, that guy was loud)
Well, Jimmy was certainly there. The sight of him sleeping, that he was safe, that Scar wasn't alone anymore, was comforting, but-
wait.
Who else was there?
It was unmistakable. There was someone else there, but it was too dark, and Scar couldn't see, and surely the Shadows wouldn't have followed him, right?
Oh no, oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no. Scar would not let Jimmy die like the others, he couldn't be alone again! Scar momentarily forgot that he was on Wild Life, and the sunflowers that Lizzie had put in the corner ("They make it cheery! It's too dark down here anyhow," she had said) were only making him think of tasks and books and secrets and loneliness.
So he carefully inched closer, he didn't know which Shadow it was, of course. He was too far to make out the shape, but he was jsut hoping it wasn't actively hostile. Or a new Shadow, gods that would be awful. It had taken him months to track the behaviors of all the Shadows, he couldn't do it now with Lizzie and Jimmy on red and-
Lizzie.
All the sudden Scar felt very silly as he stepped up to the nest, still minding to keep his steps quiet as he looked fondly at Lizzie with her head on Jimmy's splayed-out arm and pink hair somehow covering Jimmy's face.
And, well, Scar was tired! You couldn't blame a guy for wanting to nap when there was a perfectly good bed right next to him, and at least he wouldn't be alone this time. He layed down on the other side of the bed, sandwiching Lizzie between him and Jimmy. And if his heart melted a little when she grabbed his arm and pulled it close to her like a stuffed animal, then, well. No one was here to see him smile.
Between Lizzie's heartbeat next to his hand and JImmy's incredibly loud snoring, it was easy to remember that he wasn't alone.
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Jimmy woke up. It wasn't exactly his choice, memories of deaths chasing him in his dreams would definitely do the trick. He was expecting to be alone in his nest in the BAMbunker, but that wasn't the case apperently.
There was Lizzie half-laying across him with her hair in his face (he had to spit some out, because ick), and Scar on her other side, somehow laying both on his back and stomach, head firmly planted into a hand-sewn pillow from Watchers know where.
Well. This was unusual to say the least. It was quiet too, a rarity for this server, but the Wildcard was over and everyone was resting. The only noise was the occasional parrot squawking.
All things considered, Jimmy thought he was in a pretty good spot right now. He was in the corner of the room and could easily look at the ladder and keep watch for anyone coming down, and they were in the BAMbunker so it was unlikely anyone would bother. There wasn't even a Wildcard right now so people would be less dangerous. And even if someone decided to attack, he would hear them coming easily over the light noise of the parrots.
So, he could probably afford to shut his eyes for a while, and if worst came to worst (which it so often did) then he could protect his friends.
And maybe he put a wing over them just to make sure that he would take the brunt of an explosion or stab wound, and not that he wanted his teammates, his BAMboozlers, his sister, to be safe.
Definitely not that.
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Well, Joel thought as he climbed down the ladder to the Bunker, this was not what he was expecting.
He just missed his wife! Was that so much to ask of a man? To see his wife on one of the few days they weren't trying to murder each other?
But well, he couldn't exactly blame her as he snorted at the... predicament she had found herself in.
Sandwiched in between Jimmy and Scar, who was both sideways and had his head on a pillow, she was sleeping quite soundly even through Jimmy's really loud snoring. Jeez, did he snore like that? That would explain Gem's complaining...
Well, snoring dilemma's aside, it was still a cute moment. And Joel just so happened to have a disposable camera on him...
Oh, he was so going to use this for blackmail later.