Work Text:
Ash never said he wasn't self aware.
He's fully aware of how bad his sleep schedule is, not even being nocturnal but somewhere in between the two. His paranoia has never been higher since Son’s death, and since paranoia itself was the cause of it it's somehow manifested in even more paranoia. This has led to Ash patrolling the land and boarders of The Regime obsessively, adapting a waking schedule that lets him be awake at the times no one else would be, the opportune time for any attack to happen.
He's not going to think about how this is his way of distracting himself from grieving Son.
This all culminated on one night, with Ash nearing the end of his patrol, weariness creeping in, checking every tree and rock for a bug from the Federation, making his way to the latest expansion of The Regime. around this time it was almost always near silent, with the atmosphere and lack of trees not being a welcoming place for birds and other fauna; a silence that Ash did not like to sit with and often rushed through patrolling this area to avoid doing so.
So the faint buzz and hum Ash heard from inside the building nearby was alarming to him, to say the least.
Immediately assuming a mine was being planted, Ash pulled his sword out, ready to attack, when he walked in and saw his right hand man Tubbo hunched over his desk, mumbling to himself as he worked on upgrades for the train.
Ash had a perfect side view of Tubbo at his desk, and it was clear as day the boy was beyond exhausted. He was leaning on his knuckles as he slowly blinked at the part he was holding, turning it around in his hand as if we wasn't fully sure what it was. His shoulders were slumped and his hair was sticking out in every direction, a little flat on top from the hard hat he used earlier in the day. He moved his hand from under his chin and grabbed a tool, movements slow enough that you could predict what he was going to do full seconds before. He tilted his head to the side as he screwed something in place, as if seeking the relief of laying your head down.
Despite the abnormal amount of noise in comparison to usual, it was not loud, so Tubbo was clearly tired enough that he couldn't hear Ash walk in until he put his sword away, a surprised “oh” as he did so.
“Oh, hey supreme leader,” Tubbo turned his head slightly, enough to show he was talking to Ash, giving a small smile, “working on stuff for the train, I had this great idea on how we can reduce the fuel for the same amount of speed-”
“Young Tobias, why are you awake?” Ash interrupted, confused at how Tubbo can even function in the state he's in.
“well I was just telling you that before you interrupted me,” Tubbo rolled his eyes, turning back to give his full attention on the piece in his hand. he put the previous tool down (some Create tool Ash has never even heard of) and picked up his power drill, turning it on when Ash finally walked up to him instead of standing in the door
“Absolutely not,” Ash appeared at Tubbos side ,“Tubbo you look like you've been awake for the past 24 hours you can't be operating power tools”
“only 22,” Tubbo shrugged, “and a power drill is barely even a power tool it's fine” he dragged out the last word, already screwing something in the piece. the more Ash watched Tubbo work the tenser he got, seeing the boy lazily holding the drill as if it wasn't spinning at high speeds and would definitely cause some damage if slipped up.
“you're one to speak anyways, Mr. Night Patrol”, Tubbo added, no bite behind his words.
“Tobias,” Ash’s voice carried its air of formality it does when he's acting as Supreme Leader, “I believe you when you say this will better the Regime, but I can't risk my right hand man and best engineer getting hurt.” Ash folded his arms as if hardening his stance would harden the words.
Tubbo let out a breath that Ash thinks was supposed to be a laugh. “I've been here a million times, boss, I know what I'm doing,” He continued to work, Ash’s face revealing his unease as his jaw was wide open as he practically flinched at every move Tubbo made.
“Tobias. Tubbo.” Ash started, composing himself quickly,, “I don't care how often you've done this to yourself, I cannot risk you getting injured under my watch,” Ash fully forgot to add this was for the sake of the Regime, and he hoped Tubbo was too tired to notice.
“Ash, I'm not stupid, I know-”
Ash leaned over and grabbed the drill out of Tubbos hand, the machine turning off as the trigger was no longer held down. He help the drill above his head, way out of reach for Tubbo even if he was standing up, staring down at Tubbo.
“What the fuck man?” Tubbo clearly wanted to yell this, but it came out halfheartedly. his hands were up in disbelief as Ash switched hands as if to emphasize how out of reach the drill was.
“Can't work without this, can you?” Ash asked, smirking as if he got Tubbo, but he had no clue if he was right. Tubbos reaction confirmed he was, putting down whatever part he was working on with a huff and crossing his arms.
“What is it then, what are you trying to accomplish,” Tubbo asked annoyed. Ash lowered the arm holding the drill, still holding it away from Tubbo by putting it behind his back. Ash's mouth spoke before he could tell it not to.
“We are going to sleep.”
“We?” Shit.
"Um,” Ash’s demeanor faltered, his left side of his face tingling as the pixels danced around betraying him, “I meant I'm taking you to bed- I’m taking you to your room so you can go to bed,”
Tubbo was smiling tauntingly as Ash flailed around trying to correct himself, though too tired to tease him properly.
“uh huh. OK man” Tubbo got up from his chair almost laboriously, not even reaching for the drill anymore. “This is near the end of your patrol, right?”
Ash blinked at how little of a fight he put up, ready to eat a bolt Tubbo needed or something to convince Tubbo. “Yeah- yeah,” He replied a little late.
“Let's go to sleep then,” Tubbo walked past Ash as his arm finally went slack a little late, putting the drill down and scoffing at Tubbo poking fun at his mix up, walking a little faster to be ahead of him.
-
They walked in silence to the apartment above the main factory Tubbo was living in, and although one was more exhausted than the other they both were clearly very tired, movements lethargic and slow despite the best efforts to get to the comfort of a bed as quickly as possible.
Ash has not been into Tubbos personal home yet, having had no reason to- he had every right to, of course, as Supreme Leader, however he felt his right hand man was one of the few that deserved his own privacy. He was the blood of this dragon that was the Regime, after all.
The nation still being new meant Tubbo didn't have much in his house yet, having barely set up walls outside of the ones necessary; Ash couldn't say anything, he was sleeping on a hammock outside.
Tubbo went to his room, presumably to change into clean sleeping clothes, and Ash let curiosity take over as he had a look around the place before he left since he was already invited in. The main room didn't have much, a few benches where a couch would be (Ash made a note to up the wool production soon), a desk in a corner with rolls of blueprints stacked on top, and a little fireplace on the far wall. Ash was about to call out to let Tubbo know he's leaving as the boy walked back in.
“Perfect timing, I was about to let you know I was heading out-” Ash looked at Tubbos hands, holding a small pile of neatly folded clothes.
“Like hell you are, here, put these on,” Tubbo tossed the clothes at him, Ash fumbling to catch them as he barely processed what he said, let alone he had to catch something. “You can change in my room, let me know when your done.”
Ash blinked at him.
“What?”
“Like you said, we are going to sleep, chop chop, I'm getting tired here” Tubbo answered like it was obvious, clapping as he rushed the other. Ash, still confused, didn't move, looking at Tubbo incredulously. Tubbo sighed a breath that morphed into a yawn. “See, the longer you take the more of those will come,”
Ash didn't move. “What?” He repeated, wondering if this was his sleep deprivation making him hear insane things. Tubbo pushed his shoulder in the direction of his room, pointing.
“You said you're not going to have your top engineer get injured because of sleep deprivation, well I'm not having my Supreme Leader get us into fucking war because of his own sleep deprivation, come on now,” Tubbo, too tired to feign patience, lightly pushed him to start moving to his room, Ash too confused to stop his legs from moving in the direction.
As he made his way in, Tubbo closed the door behind him, letting out a (what was probably) teasing but sleepy “hurry up”.
Huh?
Ash shook his head as if to straighten his mind up, purple particles emitting from him as he did so. Did he not think he had any sleep clothes? He only ever saw him in his official Supreme Leader uniform, obviously, but of course he had sleep clothes too.
He just never slept in them. What if someone attacked the Regime in the middle of the night and assumed him weak?
Ash put the clothes on anyways to appease Tubbo so he could leave, surprised the clothes fit him- well mostly. The pants were short on him hitting mid calf, but despite their height difference Tubbo was a lot more muscular than Ash, making up the difference. Ash walked out of the room as he put his clothes in his backpack, about to attempt to thank Tubbo without getting nauseous when Tubbo stopped him.
“No, I said we are going to sleep, you're not going anywhere.” Tubbo looked annoyed he had to put in effort to argue, tiring himself more.
“Tobias, I have to-”
“Ash, I've seen your dinky-ass hammock, you're sleeping on an actual non-moving surface tonight” Tubbo insisted, taking the bag from Ash, tasting his own medicine as Tubbo held it behind his back.
Betrayal. Betrayed by his own closest ally.
“You made me leave my flow state so I'm fucking up your schedule too,” Tubbo used his spare hand to point a finger at Ash.
And like Tubbo, Ash gave up.
“Fine,” Ash said firmly, as if he was making his own choice and not agreeing to someone else's. “If you don't have any blankets I have one in my bag I can get,” He made his way to the bench and grabbed one of Tubbos throw pillows to use before Tubbo laughed.
“Dude, you think I'm making you sleep on that bench after saying you need to sleep better? no I have a large bed, c’mon” Tubbo put Ash’s bag down next to his desk, shaking his head chuckling like he heard the funniest joke.
“I don't appreciate being ordered-”
“I'm not ordering you, dude, but I am your friend and if you can say I look like shit and need to sleep I'm gonna say the same thing back,” Tubbo rubbed his eye as he sighed, sincerity mixed with annoyance at Ash’s density. “now come on, I know how neurotic you get when you're the last in The Regime to wake up, let's go,” Tubbo made his way to his room, leaving Ash sitting on the bench for a second as he gathered his thoughts.
OK.
Ash was barely in control of his body at this point, on pure autopilot as he walked to Tubbos room again, this time actually looking at the room instead of changing as fast as possible. sure enough, there was a large bed in the middle of the room, and suddenly it became clear where any wool that would be used to make a couch went; dozens of throw pillows and blankets littered the bed, making it out of place with how cozy it looked in the barren apartment in the barren nation.
Ash could’ve drooled at how comfortable it looked.
“I sleep on the left, just don't kick me in the night” Tubbo flicked the lights off, moonlight filling the room instead. He made his way over to his stated side of the bed, and when he saw Ash not moving, he called out a tired “dude, don't be annoying I'm so fucking sleepy," dragging out the end of the word.
“Fine,” Ash muttered, his skin bright and flashing with embarrassment. A Supreme Leader shouldn't be sleeping in his right hand man’s bed, shouldn't be wearing his clothes, shouldn't be ordered around like this.
He got into bed anyways.
He buried himself in one of the seemingly hundred blankets, and turned to face away from Tubbo, not allowing him to see his facade of nonchalance down.
“This bed is comfortable.” He said shortly, the easiest words to say at the moment.
“Most normal people say thank you, you know” Tubbo mumbled back, his voice clearly facing him, as if Tubbo was mocking him and staring into his soul.
“And you're welcome,” his voice was even quieter, already falling asleep “ Good night, Oh Supreme Leader”
Ash doesn't know when he fell asleep, how he managed to quiet the million questions in his mind.
But he knew he had only one when he woke up with his arms around Tubbo, sleeping peacefully through the night for the first time in days.