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“You look like shit, Mike,” Cress said, his eyes locking on Micah as soon as he opened the door.
Micah blinked, and then shook his head. “I’m alright, Cress, dear. It’s nothing. I’ve almost got it figured out.”
Cress looked at the device in Micah’s hands, which Micah was tightening a screw into. His hand slipped as he tried to focus.
“Mm. That’s good,” Cress said, chucking his backpack onto Micah’s bed. It wasn’t really his bed, Cress supposed, but falling asleep in it every night meant it was practically his, at this point.
Cress sat in the chair in the corner, watching Micah bend over the table, fidgeting with the device. Micah rubbed his eyes, and then stifled a yawn. Cress leaned forward.
“Did you sleep last night?” Cress asked.
Micah waved a hand. “Of course I did. The loop reset, did it not?”
Cress rolled his eyes and stood up. He paced over to Micah and grabbed his chin, forcing Micah to look at him. “Not what I meant,” Cress said, examining Micah’s face. “Did you sleep for more than an hour? Did you sleep well?”
Micah pulled away. “Well enough.”
“Bull shit, Mike. You look exhausted. Take a break, or something. A nap, maybe.”
“I’m almost done with the device.”
“Yeah, exactly. Perfect time to sleep.”
“No,” Micah said. “The perfect time to sleep will be when I’ve finished it.”
Cress stood for a moment, watching Micah, who ignored Cress and flipped the device over, pulling at a wire. It sparked, and Micah jumped and pull his hand back. Cress sighed.
Micah looked up, confused, as the door slammed behind Cress as he left, but then shrugged and continued working. Cress was prone to boredom, and spent many of his days wandering. He would probably bring Micah something back later, as a way to show Micah what Cress had done all day.
An hour or so later, the door opened again, and Micah didn’t look up, trying to focus on connecting the two wires correctly. For some reason, Micah’s vision kept wavering, and it was making it difficult to attach them securely and properly. Not even to mention the growing headache that was pulsing at the back of Micah’s head— truly irritating.
The chair that Micah was sitting in got yanked back, suddenly, and Micah yelped, still holding the device. It clattered onto the ground. Micah jumped up and picked it up, looking it over for signs of damage. Then he turned on Cress.
“Why the hell did you do that?” he demanded. “You could have broken this. We could have lost weeks of work!”
Cress shrugged. “We’re gonna lose weeks of work if you keep working on it when you’re this tired. It’s a fire hazard, the way you jam those wires together.”
Micah scowled, and then turned back to the table. “If you’re going to be a menace, please do it somewhere else. I have important work to do.”
“Yeah, so do I.”
Micah reached for the chair again, but Cress moved it out of his reach. “Cress,” Micah said, looking back, annoyed.
“Archibald,” Cress said, mockingly.
Micah glared. Cress grinned.
“Do you want something? Are you that bored?”
“I’ve been that bored, I can handle it,” Cress said. He dug into his bag and pulled out a bottle that seemed to be filled with gummies. The label on it had been removed. “Here. Got something for you.”
Micah took the bottle, suspicious. “What are they?”
“Snack,” Cress said, casually. Too casually.
“What kind of snack? Cress, if this is some sort of drug, I—”
“Oh, don’t be a baby. Do you think I’m gonna poison you, or something?”
Micah gave Cress a pointed look. “You have, in fact, done that before.”
Cress laughed. “I did do that.” He tilted his head. “Are you going to eat some, or should I force a couple down your throat?”
Micah sighed. “Fine. I’ll indulge you, if only so I can get back to work.” He unscrewed the lid and took three gummies out, and then put them in his mouth. Cress watched him intently, and Micah made a show of chewing, swallowing, and then opening his mouth to show Cress that he had eaten them. “There? Are you satisfied? Now, what are these going to do to me?”
Cress nodded. “You’re gonna wanna come lie down, then.”
“What?” Micah rubbed his face. “Can’t I work for a little bit before it kicks in?”
Cress shrugged. “I suppose you could. Might be difficult though. Also, I’m not gonna let you.”
Micah sighed. “Can you please find something better to do tomorrow?”
“You mean today? Yeah, sure. Come lie down, though.”
“No. This needs to be finished.”
Micah turned around and leaned on the desk. Cress grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the bed. Micah, already exhausted, stumbled toward him before pulling back slightly. “Cress.”
“Micah,” Cress said back in the same lilt. Micah pulled back, and then blinked. There was a rope tied around his arm.
“What are you doing?” Micah said, reaching with his free hand for the rope. Cress grabbed that one, too, and tied it firmly to the first.
“You’re going to sleep, if I have to tie you to the bed. Come on. Lay down.”
Micah stared at Cress, mouth agape. “Why are you doing this?” he asked, as Cress slowly tugged him closer to the bed. “Don’t you want me to keep working on the device?”
Cress yanked Micah, harder, making Micah fall forward, barely catching himself before he face planted into the bed. He sat down and glared, then brought his wrists to his mouth and tried to tug on the knot.
Cress smacked the side of his head. “Knock it off. Lay back. Or I’ll force you to lay back. Whichever you prefer.”
Micah scowled at Cress, but, sick of being yanked around by the wrists, lay back. Cress tied his hands to the bars of the headrest, leaning over Micah to do so. Micah glared.
“I’m not going to fall asleep, Cress.”
“Sure you are,” Cress said. “But if you don’t, I’ll just give you more of the gummies.”
Micah closed his eyes briefly, then opened them to glare at Cress some more. “This was your master plan, then?”
Cress flopped down next to Micah and grinned. “Yeah. Go to sleep, dummy. You’ll feel better in the morning.”
“In the morning?” Micah said, aghast. “You plan to make me lose a whole day to this? Sleeping?” He tugged at the ropes. “Are you going to put any of the stuff away, at the very least?”
Cress glanced at the table, and then said, “If you agree to sleep.”
“What? No. Absolutely not. Put the stuff away, and then I’ll go to sleep. If it resets tomorrow because your idiocy, then I—”
“Shush,” Cress said. “Go to sleep, and then I’ll put the stuff away.”
Micah stared at Cress for a moment. Then he yanked harder at the ropes. “You’re insufferable.”
“So I’ve been told,” Cress said. “You’re not gonna be able to undo that knot. I’ve spent a while teaching myself knots, you know. I got bored.”
“Cress!”
“Ugh, fine, whatever. You’re so boring.” Cress crawled over Micah to the table, and shoved all of his stuff into the bag, including the bottle of melatonin gummies. Micah cringed.
“Be careful with that stuff, Cress. That’s our way out.”
“Nah. You’re our way out. You can fix it all tomorrow.”
“It’s going to delay our leaving, though.”
Cress didn’t respond as he shoved the bag into the closet, out of sight of Micah. Then he came back over to the bed, crawled over Micah again, and lay down next to him. “Go to sleep, Mike.”
“I’m not that tired.”
“You are. But even if you weren’t, you will be.”
“If you ever do this again, I’ll—”
“Be incredibly grateful for taking care of you when you refuse to do it yourself? Oh, you’re so sweet, Mike! You’re welcome.”
Micah glared, but couldn’t help but feel the tiredness that had pestered him all day begin to settle on his body. He struggled at the ropes again for a moment, and then said, “Did you have to tie my arms up? It’s a most uncomfortable position to sleep in.”
Cress shrugged. “How else was I gonna attach you to the bed?”
Micah huffed. “If I promise to take a nap, will you undo the ropes?”
Cress made a humming noise. “No.”
Micah glared.
“But I’ll untie you from the bed itself. Here.” Cress undid the knot to the headrest, and let Micah relax his arms for a moment. “You still have to nap, though.”
Cress looped his arm around Micah’s, and then grinned slightly at him. “Good night, Mike!”
Micah made a displeased noise, but felt suddenly really quite sleepy, and settled into the bed, annoyed, but deciding to make the best of the situation.
Cress waited for Micah to fall asleep, and then carefully undid the ropes tying Micah’s hands together. He held up Micah’s hands, making sure that he hadn’t rubbed the skin raw from struggling. Not that it mattered, Cress thought, since tomorrow the skin would be healed.
Satisfied that Micah was fully asleep, and now also comfortable, Cress debated finding something else to do for the rest of day. After a moment, he shrugged, and lay back down next to Micah. Not too close. Micah was a radiator, for some reason, and Cress was already warm enough.
He closed his eyes. When he woke up, he felt strangely cold, despite being wrapped in his own blankets, in his own bed again.