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Newt heard the sound of heavy breathing and then rustling. He kept his eyes shut since the other shanks moved all the time in their sleep, Gally slept like a damn beached whale and it took forever for him to finally move so he was away from most of the other gladers where they slept. The rustling was then followed by shuffling, then footsteps, soft and obviously attempting to not wake anybody. Most of the shanks slept like logs but Newt has always been an irritatingly light sleeper. It was very inconvenient when you were sleeping in the woods, Newt has mostly gotten used to the outside noises though but he always woke up if there was a new sound or anything that alerted his mind as unfamiliar.
But when he heard the steps get quiet Newt peaked open in eyes, he sat up and glanced around, looking for someone missing. He almost missed it since he wasn’t used to the greenie sleeping in the place yet but he saw that Thomas was gone from his abandoned sleeping bag. Newt looked around and saw no one else had woken up from the soft disruption so Newt supposed it was his job to make sure the greenie didn’t get himself killed somehow. So he slowly got up, stretched for a second and then mimicked the soft footsteps from before. He's been told he’s light on his feet, at least for someone who’s got a limp.
Newt looked for where Thomas was after he was out, it’s not like there were many places to go. Then he noticed him. Sat against the wall of the maze, that was now shut, with his knees drawn up to his chest and his head in his hands. He obviously was troubled. Newt made his way over, trudging along the grass between them until he was close enough to Thomas and far enough away from the hut to announce his presence.
“I couldn’t sleep either my first week.” Newt stated calmly as he slid down the wall to sit beside Thomas who glanced up and over at him before turning to look out at the horizon, not that there was much of one.
“I actually only technically fell asleep because I passed out.” Newt elaborated with amusement, attempting to make Tom feel better for whatever was making it hard to sleep. Newt knew it was hard to sleep with tons of random strangers you’ve just met. But Thomas just nodded, still not looking at him.
Newt wasn’t fully sure what to get from this, Thomas hasn’t been this quiet since he arrived at the glade. He was relatively sociable, something might’ve shaken him… Newt got that, he had nightmares pretty often of what he remembers that maze being like. Newt hummed softly, under his breath in that very… thoughtful way of his.
“Nightmares?” He asked casually glancing at Thomas as he did, Tom flinched a tad and glanced back at Newt again before refusing his eye contact like the plague again. Thomas stayed silent for a while, Newt’s eyes never leaving him, but Tom nodded softly. Newt felt bad, it was never good to have bad sleep in this place, you need to do whatever you can to keep yourself in tip-top shape. ‘Mostly.’ Newt bitterly thought to himself, his leg taunting his subconscious. But Newt didn’t worry about it, he wanted to make sure the greenie felt welcomed and could get a good sleep, the first night was always the hardest. Newt would know, he’s seen many.
“Would you like to talk about it?” Newt asked softly, not pushing or forceful, just curious. Newt assumed what Tom’s answer would be, he was correct, the first shake of his head since Newt started talking at him. ‘No, he does not want to talk about it.’ Newt thought, humming again as he leaned his head on the wall, turning it to look at Tom while keeping the crown of his head still pressed to the wall. Newt tried to think of what could make Tom feel better, even if only a bit…
“Would you like it if I talked?” Newt asked with genuine curiosity, he knew Thomas liked talking to Newt, that much was obvious by how much Tom sticks around him. Thomas didn’t seem to expect the offer, he looked over, then away, ‘predictably’ (Newt’s brain supplied), before nodding and running his hands through his hair. Newt didn’t expect Tom to say yes (or nod it) so he wasn’t fully sure what to talk about…
“I guess I could talk about my first day here… It wasn’t like yours for sure. There were less people of course, just me and Alby. I was scared, so was Alby, but the shank looked so bloody relieved as well. It was the comfort of not being alone, I assume. The sun was blinding and I didn’t run like you did but since it was just Alby it wasn’t as scary as your start was. You may not know much about him yet but that shank is anything but intimidating.” Newt reminisced with a soft chuckle, he hadn’t thought back to that in a while, too much going on to reminisce on a nice time. But when Newt glanced over to Tom he was greeted to a surprising sight, ‘He’s asleep.’ Newt regarded in his mind, staring pretty plainly at Thomas’ sleeping face. ‘Am I that bloody boring?’ Newt questioned in his own head, he knew it was the whole point to help Tom relax but did he really have to fall asleep?
Tom looked peaceful, more calm than he has looked the whole time Newt has seen him since he’s joined the glade. It was a nice change… Newt thought about it for a moment before reaching over and gently coaxing Tom’s head onto his shoulder. The way he fell asleep would hurt his neck. That’s all… ‘He must be a heavy sleeper…’ Newt pondered as he continued to stare at the sleeping beauty’s face. Then Newt got comfortable, he’d probably be here awhile.
At least Tom got to sleep.