Chapter Text
There were clothes laying around absolutely everywhere. The room was a mess with two people darting between the bathroom and the suitcases. If a casual person saw this mess, they would think there was something insanely wrong with those people.
III and Vessel were very chaotic when it came to packing. And the worst part was that they were also incredible at procrastinating. They'd had the whole morning and the day before to pack everything into their suitcases, but instead, they were too focused on beating a difficult game level. IV had told them before to hurry up and pack, but it clearly didn’t work.
II and IV were curled up in bed, watching their partners in amusement, as they were stumbling on piles of clothes and continuously shouting at each other.
‘’Should we help them?’’ IV asked with a frown, looking at III, who couldn’t decide whether he wanted to bring a green or blue jacket with him. IV and II had packed a long time ago, so they could lay down comfortably.
‘’No way,’’ II stated, a visible wide grin on his face. ‘’It’s too funny to watch, and also, they’ve had enough time.’’
It was quiet for a moment, with III still hovering over his jackets and Vessel nowhere to be found. II stretched his arms and took his phone from the nightstand. He lay down comfortably on IV’s chest and felt the guitarist’s chin on top of his head, and strong arms wrapping around him. He unlocked his phone and checked the site on which they booked a cottage house for a few weeks.
Their last tour ended a while ago and the four of them were incredibly exhausted. The rituals were amazing, but also mentally and physically tiring. Last week, II stumbled across an interesting offer on one of the booking sites. He hadn’t really wanted to go on vacation back then, but he was bored and doomscrolling. That’s how he found the cozy, middle-sized cottage, with four bedrooms and an amazing view over a lake. He joked about going on vacation to get rid of the stress, but soon enough, it became a reality when III said they should rent it.
At first, it was difficult to decide whether they wanted to go or not. A few weeks away from home was a lot for them. They still wanted to make music, and it was almost impossible to take all the instruments with them, especially the drums. Thankfully, the person who was about to rent them the place said that a lot of musicians had used this cottage before. That meant there was an empty room with soundproof walls, which could be made into a temporary studio. They ended up asking Sam to take the drums and transport them safely to the destination. The man wasn’t delighted to hear that, but oh well, he wasn’t their drum tech for nothing, and also, he would do anything for them anyway.
So there they were, the morning before they were supposed to set off. It was already nine in the morning, and mind you, last night they agreed on departing at seven, but all of them knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. Vessel and III said they could manage to pack everything in the morning. They could make it, there aren’t that many things to pack, they said.
II was checking up on the road and possible traffic on the phone, when suddenly Vessel emerged from the bathroom.
‘’Has anybody seen my shampoo?’’ he asked, shooting a piercing gaze at III.
The bassist just shrugged, not even sparing a glance at him. Then, he tossed the blue jacket on top of the clothes in the suitcase, finally deciding which color he prefers.
‘’I’ll lend you mine,’’ II said, not looking up from his phone. After Vessel groaned and left, he turned to III.
Before the drummer could say anything, III concluded: ‘’What? I know you use it too, it smells nice.’’
II had no response to that, so he simply rolled his eyes and decided to focus on checking the traffic.
‘’I’ll help Vessel, otherwise we’ll never leave,’’ IV said as he untangled himself from II and went to the bathroom.
II sighed and lay back on the pillows, still watching III, who was currently fighting with his phone charger. It was going to be a few difficult weeks.
After two more hours, they were finally ready to go. Everything was packed neatly into the car and all set. II was driving, Vessel in the passenger seat, and the other two boys in the back.
Just as they were about to drive away, III suddenly felt a strange presence around him. It was mysterious and unrevealing, a bit eerie at times. Was it Sleep? The God sometimes showed their presence around their vessels, but III couldn’t quite decipher what it was. Were they trying to warn him of something? Were they mad about them leaving the house? Did Sleep even know what a vacation was?
‘’III?’’ IV looked at him with concern, and only then did III realise he was frozen still. The mysterious feeling washed away with IV’s voice. The guitarist didn’t seem to feel the same sensation, and II and Vessel were talking about some shortcuts, so III just shrugged it off and decided he must’ve been seeing things. Or feeling. It’s not like Sleep would just appear out of nowhere for no reason at all, right? He definitely didn’t sleep enough last night and those were surely the consequences of it.
‘’Sorry, I’m okay. Just thinking of anything we might have forgotten,’’ he said and smiled. He didn’t want his partners to worry about whatever weird thing he’d just felt. He wouldn’t ruin this day for them just like that. The other man relaxed in his seat, seemingly convinced. ‘’Don’t worry, your bass is safe with Sam,’’ IV declared, which made III laugh under his breath.
***
After a long ride and a few missed shortcuts, they finally arrived at the cottage. The place was lovely – even better in real life than in the pictures. It was surrounded by a large pine-tree forest and a lake not that far from the house. III could’ve sworn he saw a dock when they were in the car. He couldn’t wait to lie there and possibly throw someone into the warm water on a cozy, chilly evening. He’d have time to think about that later.
After a few minutes of admiring the place and the surroundings, the four of them decided to check out the inside of the house.
It had a cozy vibe, even though the house was pretty big. There were exactly four bedrooms, which was perfect for them. They liked having separate places for each other, even if usually they ended up curled up in one bed anyway.
They looked through almost every room. Vessel was thrilled to see that there was a coffee machine in the kitchen, while III and IV busied themselves with the TV remote. II checked the fridge and was surprised to see his favourite crackers in there. He immediately opened them and thought it was Sam’s doing. The fridge was actually packed, so there was no need to go shopping for groceries, he thought.
Next, they decided to check out the so-called studio. They didn’t know what to expect because the room wasn’t shown in any of the pictures on the booking site.
‘’I hope Sam didn’t mess up my drums, he’s been really quiet for some time now.’’
‘’I mean, he is the drum tech, I would be more anxious about everything else,’’ IV said as he opened the door.
Thankfully, all of their instruments were in one piece. III took his bass and hugged it lovingly, while IV sat on a couch with his guitar. II turned to check his drums and found a note attached to them.
Have fun :*
and get some rest, especially you, Vess
‘’What is it?’’ Vessel asked with a curious look on his face when he saw II smiling.
The drummer showed the others the note. Vessel, more than any of them, was the one who overworked himself the most. Sam knew the singer would stay up late even on vacation, so it was sweet of him to remind the others to look after their partner.
Vessel just huffed in annoyance, turned around on his piano bench and started playing a soft tune.
The others exchanged knowing looks and left him be for now. If they still heard the piano going two hours later, they’d intervene. II sent a short text to Sam, thanking him for everything and stayed in the studio with Vessel.
Meanwhile, III and IV still weren’t done with exploring the place, so they went upstairs. They looked through their rooms and decided who should get which one. Vessel and II would have no objections, probably, so they also picked their rooms for them. They gave Vessel the biggest one, with a large window overlooking the lake. They wanted the singer to actually rest and enjoy his time here. He’s been anxious and visibly stressed from all the touring, so a few weeks away from everything would hopefully cheer him up. The rest of the rooms were more or less the same, so they gave II the room across from Vessel’s, III took the next, and IV got the last one. They thought going along with the numerals would be fun, so they left it at that.
When they entered III’s room, the bassist was immediately pushed into the wall. He didn’t even have time to breathe when a pair of warm lips crushed against his. He smiled into the kiss and put his hands on the other man’s hips. He slowly lowered himself against the wall to match the other’s height. IV licked his lips in a playful manner and slid his fingers into the other’s hair, caressing it as he deepened the kiss. When they parted to catch their breaths, IV pressed their foreheads together and slid his hands down to the back of III’s neck.
‘’Y’know, at first I didn’t like the idea of going on vacation, but this is everything I’ve ever wanted.’’
III closed his eyes and laughed quietly. ‘’I’m glad you like it.’’
Suddenly, III felt the same cold breeze around him, the one he had felt in the car before. It wasn’t as intense as it was back then. He didn’t freeze completely, but instead, he flinched back, earning a confused, worrying look from IV. ‘’III, love?’’ He heard through his forming headache. ‘’Everything okay?’’
‘’Yeah, my head just hurts after the ride.’’ The bassist hated to lie to his partner, but the moment was too perfect to ruin it. ‘’It’s nothing serious, though.’’
IV didn't look convinced this time, but seemed to go along with it.
‘’Tell me if you need any painkillers, I have some in my bag.’’
He cupped his face in his hands and pecked the other’s lips once again, a slow, gentle kiss. IV didn’t want to put pressure on him after hearing about the headache, so he slowed down the pace.
Mere seconds later they heard voices coming from the kitchen. It seemed like II had dragged Vessel out of the studio and started making dinner.
‘’Let’s join them, maybe you’ll feel better after eating,’’ IV said, letting go of III’s face, which made him miss the warmth.
III simply nodded in agreement and followed after the guitarist, who was already on his way down. He turned back to look at the empty hallway and narrowed his eyes. The windows in his room weren’t opened, so where did the strange breeze come from? It was gone for now, but he was sure he felt it. Either way, he decided to shrug it off again and join the others.
Downstairs, they were met with II making dinner and Vessel going in and out, bringing the suitcases from the car.
III decided to help Vessel with unpacking everything. Even despite the mess and occasional chaos caused by the commotion, it was a lovely evening. IV walked up to the counter and started unpacking some bags, being careful not to disturb II’s work.
The rest of the day went rather smoothly. All of their bags and suitcases were inside and waiting to be unpacked. After eating dinner they took care of some of them, but the exhaustion quickly caught up. They settled on unpacking them tomorrow morning. Or evening. Whatever worked, they said. In the meantime, they’ve had an impossible task to convince Vessel not to drink a cup of coffee before bed, which was partly a success. He managed to get a few sips, but III quickly took the drink away from him and poured it down the drain. It resulted in him getting a few annoyed glances from his partner, but he was too tired to fight back.
The sun had already set when they started getting ready for bed. II and IV were the first ones to shower and were currently tidying up the mess in the living room downstairs.
III was almost done with the shower and couldn’t wait to curl up in bed. There were weird things happening in this place, but still, it was a great idea to come here. He could smell the mesmerizing smell of the forest even inside of the house. It was a nice way to get away from their busy schedules and annoying people in the industry. He’d wanted to spend time with his loves like that for as long as he can remember, so he was eager not to ruin anything. After all, it was his idea to come here. He looked at himself in the mirror and ran a hand through his white, wet hair strands. Then, he put on a loose shirt and some comfortable pants to sleep in and walked out of the room.
He was met with Vessel laying in his bed, surrounded by pillows and a blanket on top of him. He was looking at something on his phone and he looked so cute that III couldn’t hide his wide grin.
The bassist made his way to the bed. When Vessel saw him, he stretched out his arms, inviting him to join.
‘’Not mad about the coffee anymore?” III asked teasingly. He lay down next to the other man and let him wrap his arms around him.
“Didn’t say that,” he muttered as he hid his face in the crook of III’s neck. The man relaxed in his arms. III was glad Vessel was finally sleeping after a few difficult weeks. It was a miracle they didn’t need to pull him out of the studio by force, anyway.
After a long while, the singer’s breath was slow and steady, which meant he drifted off to sleep. III’s eyelids were starting to get heavy too. As he was falling asleep he heard the door crack a bit, and then two soft kisses on his forehead, possibly from II and IV. He opened his eyes just as the two were leaving the room and heading to II’s. He shifted to make himself more comfortable and pulled the blanket over himself and Vessel. After a few more minutes, he was fast asleep.