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Another restless night spent locked out of his office... The sense of defeat overwhelmed Nightko and he had enough of sitting out in the dark hallway. He wasn't getting back in there any time tonight, Dawktrap was out cold at the desk. Clutching his teddy, Nightko got up from the floor and wandered around the dimly lit house until he made it to the prize corner decorated area.
Spotting a familiar purple-and-cyan box against the wall, he wasted no time in pulling the top open and climbing down the ladder into darkness. His feet hit the soft floor and he was encased in the pitch black of the puppet box, bringing about a discomfort to him. He didn't have his light. And he hated the dark.
"Po?" he weakly called out, unable to see around the small room.
There was no response. His heart hammered against his ribcage.
"Poko? Poopet?" he called out again, desperation present in his voice.
This time, there was a response. But not from the person he needed.
"Put two and two together, Nighty; they're not here. If they were, he would have jumped up the first time."
Nightko froze like a deer in headlights as the one lamp in the room flickered to life. Darko rubbed at an eye as he sat up in bed, pulling his hand away from the light source before bringing his Foxy plushie close to him. As his head peaked out from the lower bunk, he glared at his older brother
"I... Um... I'll just g-go—"
"Nah. Let me guess, Ol' Glitchy locked you out again, yeah?"
Nightko nodded his head, his words getting caught in his throat. The half-puppet sighed, shaking his head.
"Absolute prick he is. Since Po's not here you could just sleep in his bunk, I doubt they'd care given the situation."
Nightko took a step forward, hugging his teddy to his chest. But he just couldn't bring himself to take another step, frozen in place.
"M-My heart is racing. I need Poko... he can calm me down... I..."
Darko watched as Nightko bit his lip, trembling in place and unable to move any further. Although Darko didn't understand why Nightko was so scared, he did wanna go back to lying in the dark quickly so with hesitancy, he pulled the covers off himself and stood up.
Nightko flinched at the sudden movement as though expecting an attack, watching the half-puppet with fearful eyes. Darko moved closer to him before wrapping his arms around his older brother, pulling him into a tight embrace.
"Sorry I'm colder and I don't have that mystical calming aura Po does... but I think a hug in general can help you. Hate to admit it but they're... regulating." he said.
The tension in Nightko's body drastically decreased and his muscles practically unlocked. Bringing his own arms up, he placed them around his younger brother and closed his eyes momentarily.
"Pretend I'm Poopet." Darko joked.
The two stayed together for a few minutes until Nightko pulled away, quietly thanking him for the action. It was a little surprising that Darko of all egos had done that but Nightko chose to believe it was Poko's good behavior rubbing off on the younger half-puppet after all this time.
Darko got back into the lower bunk and waited for Nightko to climb up into the empty top bunk before shutting the light off. It wasn't long before Nightko's snores from above filled the room as Darko continued to lay wide awake in the dark, just as he always did...
Maybe Poko would be proud of what he had done.