Work Text:
Belle had noticed something about Wrench recently. It wasn't the usual, like maybe a cute habit she had picked up on, but rather something a lot more worrying. It wasn't anything life threatening, thankfully, but it wouldn't benefit either of them if it was left alone.
As a sleeping car, Belle knew a thing or two about sleep. It was pretty much the basis of her whole job, and something she had gotten pretty good at over the years was noticing if someone had or hadn't been getting enough sleep. She was able to pick up on small details that would probably go unnoticed to the average train, and it was something she had been able to help others with a lot in the past.
It was exactly what she had picked up on in Wrench.
She noticed it in the way Wrench wavered on her wheels, how she never seemed fully awake, how she was clearly not thinking straight despite usually being so on it all of the time. Belle didn't know how long this had all been going on for, but from what she could tell it seemed consistent, rather than just a one off bad night. This was all concerning enough, but what felt even worse was that Wrench had been trying to hide it all.
Belle knew Wrench didn't talk about her emotions a lot. It was something she had always struggled with, even before they had known each other. Belle had gotten better at noticing if something was playing on Wrench's mind, and even better at helping her work through it. It was something that she had started to pride herself on, and it was exactly what she was going to do to help. She just needed to find a time to bring it up, and luckily the opportunity arose without her having to try too hard.
It was a cool and quiet evening, most citizens of the yard in their respective sheds and spending it however they saw fit. Wrench had a pretty busy schedule earlier on in the day, but it had eased up once the day had started coming to an end. Similarly, Belle had also had a pretty busy day, but she had no evening journeys planned so she was thankfully free. Given this lucky coincidence, the two of them had decided to spend the evening together (something that had become a lot more frequent the longer their relationship went on).
They had ended up curled up on the sofa, Wrench leaning slightly on top of Belle. They were watching some movie that none of them could actually put a name to (it seemed decent though, at least from what Belle could tell). Belle hadn't exactly been fully focused, her mind still full of worry about Wrench's sleeping issues. Throughout the whole of the movie, Wrench had almost fallen asleep multiple times, leaning more heavily on Belle at certain points but bringing herself back. Belle needed to bring this up with her soon, she knew that already, and now seemed as good a time as any.
A few minutes later, the credits rolled on the movie, name after name scrolling down the screen. Belle took in a slow breath, and paused the screen. After realising what had happened, Wrench looked up at her with confusion in her eyes.
"Wrench, I have a question for you. You have to promise not to lie, okay?" Belle asked Wrench, squeezing her hand. Wrench still looked confused, but answered anyways.
"What is it?" Wrench replied, giving Belle her cue to continue.
"How have you been sleeping lately?"
Wrench looked pretty taken aback by the question, and Belle could practically hear the cogs turning in her brain to think of a response. She looked like she was going to lie and pretend she was okay for a second, but seemingly gave in, sighing and looking away.
"…Not well," she muttered, sounding and looking slightly embarassed as her cheeks were brushed with a very light shade of red. Belle felt pretty proud of herself for a second for figuring it out, but that soon got replaced with a feeling of concern.
"Wrench," Belle said sternly, though still with a hint of care. Wrench looked like she was trying to brace herself for what was to come, so Belle wrapped her arms around her, pulling her even closer. Wrench relaxed a little, leaning more into the touch.
"You didn't need to hide this from me. I'm a sleeping car, out of everything you go through I'm able to help with this the most," Belle said, gesturing to herself.
"I know. I just-" Wrench paused for a second. "I didn't want you to worry."
"Wrench," Belle said her name again, in a tone that even surprised herself. It looked like it took Wrench by surprise as well, with the way she flinched slightly. "I worry more when you don't say anything. I don't want you to feel guilty or bad or anything, I just want you to know that I'll always want to help, especially with things like this. You help everyone else so much, it's only right that you get some in return."
"You're right, I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner." Wrench looked away, expression morphing into guilt. Belle ran her fingers through Wrench's hair, pressing a small kiss to the top of her head.
"Hey. You have nothing to apologise for," Belle assured her, continuing to run her fingers through Wrench's hair.
"How long have you been having issues with your sleep then?" Belle continued.
"It's just something that comes and goes. Most nights I'll be fine, but some nights sleeping almost feels impossible. This is the first time in a while where it's been more consistent," Wrench explained. This made Belle feel better in a way; at least now she knew that Wrench had been dealing with this for a while and that it hadn't just appeared out of the blue. It didn't mean she wasn't still concerned though.
"Oh, do you have anything you usually do to help with it?"
"Usually it just goes away. Like I said, this is the first time in a while where it's gone on for multiple days at a time." She curled a little more into Belle, lulling into her.
"Do you know if there's anything that might've caused it? Any extra stress?" Wrench thought for a second, but shook her head.
"Nothing I can think of. It's just something that I go through sometimes, I just need to work through it. I'll be fine." It was now Belle's turn to disagree, shaking her head like Wrench just did.
"Wrench, you can't expect me not to want to help. I'm a sleeping car, it's my whole job. Not to mention I care about you, I wouldn't just leave you to deal with this on your own."
"…You're right. Thank you, Belle." Wrench wrapped her arms around Belle more, holding her tighter.
"Anytime," Belle replied, kissing Wrench's head again. Belle looked out the window into the dark night sky, and then the clock.
"It's getting late, do you want to stay here?" Belle questioned. "I can try and help you sleep too, if you want."
"That would be nice, thank you." Wrench smiled.
Slowly, the two of them rose up from the sofa, Belle turning off the paused TV as they did. She dropped the remote softly onto the pillows, and the two of them made their way down the hall towards Belle's room, Wrench leaning ever so slightly on Belle as they did.
They got to Belle's room in a few seconds. As soon as they stepped in, Belle helped Wrench take off her armour pieces to no protest, leaving her in her under layer. Belle took off her outer layer as well as Wrench slowly climbed into Belle's bed, moving around to get comfortable. Belle soon joined her in bed, carefully taking Wrench into her arms.
"You comfortable?" Belle asked quietly, and Wrench nodded.
"Good," Belle continued, holding Wrench tightly in her arms. She could already feel Wrench drifting off a little, bringing her a lot of relief.
"I'll stay awake until you're asleep," Belle assured her. "Don't worry about me, as soon as you're asleep I'll do the same."
"Thank you," Wrench murmured, almost completely inaudible. "It means a lot."
"Anytime," Belle promised again.
The two of them soon fell into a rhythm of slow and quiet breathing. Belle fought to stay awake, just until Wrench was able to get to sleep. She'd promised her that, it was the least she could do. She wanted Wrench to be happy.
Soon, Wrench's breath slowed down and her heart beat soon followed suit. She was asleep. Belle was extremely happy, partially because she was able to sleep but mostly because she was able to help Wrench. Considering how much Wrench helped her and everyone else in the yard, it was very rewarding to be able to do something for her in return.
Belle let herself drift off to sleep, not letting go of Wrench for a second.