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“Edge, I-”
“Nope.”
“Edge, please, I really need to-”
“Nope.”
“Edge.” Faize narrowed his eyes at the owner of the irritatingly heavy legs that were sprawled across his lap, trying to hide how much they were making him sink into the perfectly soft couch that someone on the crew had bought, the fact that only two people had been in the room when he’d remarked that the color scheme wasn’t half bad eliminating the infinitely small chance that it’s arrival had been a complete coincidence, no matter what both of those people said on the matter.
“Faize.”
Faize opened his mouth, then shut it, glaring peevishly as the television in front of them in what was apparently now their permanent quarters continued to chatter in the background.
The door behind them whooshed open, the other suspect in the couch mystery’s soft footsteps changing in sound as she crossed from the cold metal floor to the new rug in the center of the room. The footsteps trailed over to the end of the couch away from Edge, making Faize turn his head to see.
Reimi stood with one hand resting on the arm of the couch, ignoring the scene on the television with a blond girl in a white… sailor suit? Humans had some very strange terminology. Her other hand was blocked from view by the couch arm, but the way she held it suggested that she was holding something just out of view.
Noticing his curious glance, she smiled innocently, immediately making him wary.
“Well, if Faize really wants to go…”
“What? Reimi, c’mon-”
Edge’s burst of indignant betrayal stopped as Reimi reached over and dropped the large tub of cookies on Edge’s legs over Faize’s lap.
“Buuuut it would really be a shame if we had to eat these without him.” Not waiting for Faize’s answer, she swung herself over the couch arm and next to Faize, slipping under Edge’s legs so that his calves rested on her lap. “I bribed Arumat, he’ll sub in for you if something comes up with coordinating the search for the other refugee ships. And you know very well he’s perfectly competent, so that’s no excuse.”
Surrounded by large, heavy humans that were always 5 steps ahead of him and with the tempting box sitting on his lap, Faize resigned himself to his fate, letting himself lean against Reimi’s shoulder as she put an arm around his. At least for a little while. If anything, letting the human ship captains deal with Arumat for a while would mean they’d be much more appreciative for him and cooperative when he went back.
Faize’s eyes opened drowsily to find the lights turned down and the show still playing, albeit with the volume much decreased. Had he really let himself doze off? Being trapped between Edge and Reimi was somewhere that he could admit to himself he’d like to stay for years and years to come, but there was so much work to do, so much to make up for…
….That wasn’t just the weight of Edge’s legs on him anymore. Lym had wedged herself into the space between Edge and the back of the couch, and pushed aside Edge’s legs just enough to rest her head on his lap while cuddling Faize’s arm.
And she wasn’t the only one, he saw. Meracle had taken on her small, furry form and was curled up on Edge and Lym, Sarah was at the far end of the couch, perching in a way that curled her wings around Reimi and Myuria, Baccus was seated on the floor but leaning back against the couch, with even Crowe sitting next to him with his head leaning back onto Edge at what looked like a very uncomfortable angle. And while he wasn’t in the massive group pile, Arumat was perched in a nearby chair, poking away at a dimly glowing portable computer.
“...Give up, boy. Once that crew grabs onto someone, there’s no escape.”
The other Eldarian didn’t raise his gaze as he spoke, giving no other indication that he was aware of Faize’s awakening.
“...Yes. They truly are remarkable people, aren’t they. And I suppose… to allow oneself to keep walking forward, one has to let themselves stop and rest once in awhile.”
A growl. “If I hear that flowery drama one more time I’m going to sign you brats up for a marathon.”
“So says Death, hmm?”
“......”
“Well, if it’s with them, I don’t think I would mind much.”
“...You’re disgustingly sappy.”
Faize chuckled, and let himself relax back into the pile of crew members. “You’ll be in here eventually, Arumat. Just give it time.” Arumat’s growled response was lost as Faize let his senses fall away, enveloped by the warmth of his friends.