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Baldric finally had time to rest, to be apart from the fools that followed him around and sleep in his own bed. Letting the silence envelope him like his bed as he settled into the warm mattress and thick blanket. His sleepwear was one of his shirts along with a pair of sweatpants he had found at the bottom of his closet. As long as the idiots in his house that refused to leave didn’t bother him then he would probably get the best rest in the century.
Though with the recognizable creak of his door it didn’t seem likely, one of them needed something from him it seemed. With a sigh he sat up, rubbing at his eyes while attempting to avoid his freshly gelled scars. It was Tannhauser at his door, the metal man had his hair in a cap and wore his usual dull red nightgown. The style of it reminded Baldric of those god-awful cartoons he had watched as a child and the cotton nightgowns in them.
“Baldric? I couldn’t sleep…” the metal man whined, closing the door behind him and walking to his side of the bed. Heavy feet surprisingly quiet against the hard wood floors, muffled further by the rug under the bedframe.
“What do you want me to do about it?” The alchemist questioned, watching the cyborg crawl under the sheets beside him. Warm metal pressing against sensitive skin where Tannhauser draped an arm over his middle.
“Shhhut up Baldric.” The other slurred, more focused on getting comfortable then what he was saying. ‘Getting comfortable’ seemed to include holding the other like he was a body pillow, luckily the cyborg didn’t try to throw a leg over him.
After a moment of questioning life decisions, and wondering if he cared enough to kick Tannhauser off his bed, he laid back down. He in fact did not care enough it seemed, at least whatever the other was made of kept him warm.
Though the alchemist laid flat on his back, his new bedmate pressed his face against his shoulder. Hiding away from the outside world with the blanket pulled up to his shoulders. Already the metal man was asleep, his eyes shut and his breathing becoming almost unnoticeable. What was noticeable was how the door creaked again, Vina stood in the doorway, taking a moment to stifle a yawn.
“Can’t have Tannhauser hogging you all to himself,” she mumbled, seemingly not quite awake. Clad in her usual patterned lounge pants and tank top that looked like merch from some kind of band. Alongside that; her hair was down, the low light made it’s shape blend into her vitiligo skin.
“I’d prefer it if you both let me sleep in peace.” He grumbled, but didn’t move when she flopped onto his bed on the side of him that didn’t have Tannhauser. Pulling up his blanket and settling herself beneath in a much more coordinated manner then the metal man.
“Ha ha, you know that’s not happening!” She laughed, patting him once on the chest before turning away from him and settling down. Keeping the blanket at her middle as she was probably more comfortable at a cooler temperature.
Vina and Tannhauser were the more endurable of the group, not that he had any favorites. But at times he was more willing to deal with them then the others, sometimes it was the opposite. Regardless all hopes of sleeping in his own bed undisturbed had gone down the drain. At that point though he had given up caring about who was barging into his room and what they wanted. As long as he wasn’t bothered and could stay laying down and attempting to sleep then he was happy.
Though how his peace had been taken from him was surprising, usually the idiots that had invaded his home weren’t so clingy. That was more of Oran’s thing, the teen wasn’t made for the life he had been thrust into, not that Baldric could do anything about that. And with a creak of the door, said teen entered the room sniveling quietly.
He was dressed in one of his larger hoodies and his usual pair of shorts that he slept in. Where the right sleeve lay flat against his side the alchemist could recognize the lack of prosthetic. The crying took him off guard, but before he could sit up to see what had happened Vina already had. She had always been the best with dealing with the teen so he let her take care of the situation. Nevertheless he paid attention, if there was a problem then he would rather it be fixed.
“What’s wrong bud?” She cooed, motioning for him to come closer as he rubbed the tears out of his eyes. When he walked further into the room, Gorgamungar followed after, the tibetan mastiff pushing the door shut behind him.
“I- I had a nightmare.” The teen sniffled, whatever he had dreamed about had scared him bad enough to have him full blown crying. Vina cooed in sympathy, pulling him onto the bed with her so that he was sitting above the sheets.
“Why don’t you sleep in here with us? Would that help?” She received only a nod in reply, it was enough confirmation and after a bit of shuffling the two of them were curled up together. With Oran pressed up under her chin as she continued facing away from Baldric. Gorgamungar could be heard laying down at the foot of the bed, huffing slightly as he did so.
It felt like a stark contrast, him and Tannhauser compared to her and Oran. It wasn’t as if he hated or even truly disliked them as people, they were more agreeable then most he had met. But he wasn’t one for extreme affections or physical closeness, even if he let the cyborg lay beside him. He couldn’t bring himself to fully reciprocate, something in him simply wasn’t used to it enough.
Vina and Oran in comparison were entwined, too busy taking comfort in each others presence to care about how close they were. They didn’t think about it like he did, instead Vina wrapped her arms around the teen like it was natural. And Oran hooked their legs together as if they had always been that way.
That left the last to join them, and the door did not creak as he entered, as silent as he wanted to be probably. Rehua was an odd one, and most likely he joined them simply because he didn’t want to be left out. It was hard to make out but Baldric could see the man’s silhouette, his dark skin making it hard to pick him out of the shadows.
He wore plaid pants of purple and black with a shirt that the alchemist couldn’t read the words of. Though neither said anything he could tell the other knew he was awake, the faint glow of the anarchist’s eyes locked with his. It was how the other asked for permission when he didn’t think words were necessary, and Baldric gave him the affirmative. Which was to close his eyes and go back to attempting to sleep, leaving Rehua to do as he pleased.
At his side he could feel Tannhauser being moved, the metal man barely even rumbling in his sleep. He was moved next, shuffled closer to Oran and Vina until his shoulder was pressed to the alcoholic’s back. The revolutionist was placed back at his other side, only moving slightly to resume his previous position.
Rehua took Tannhauser’s previous place, once he had gotten comfortable Baldric could hear the shuffle of a book. It’s pages turned periodically to ease the silence, not quite disrupting it but acting as a background noise. Even if he had thought that he would get no rest, it was seeming otherwise. His eyes had become hard to open, and he couldn’t bring himself to attempt to move.
Everything felt almost too calm, too domestic to fit in his crappy little house with it’s shaky roof and patched walls. Rehua reading as they all slept, Tannhauser acting as his personal heater, and Vina with Oran curled up together like cats. It felt odd to be a part of something so vulnerable even in his own home, in his room no less. But he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it.