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Nico sat in the dark of the living room. He didn’t want to turn on the lights, knowing that would signal to Pickles that he was still up. Nico had been an insomniac for most of his life at this point. He’d started experiencing it in high school and just hadn’t been able to fall into a good coping pattern to counteract it. He’d tried melatonin before and it did almost nothing for him. Nico was about done with his insomnia and the concept of sleep altogether.
Nico sighed, looking down at his hand where his vape was tucked neatly between his first and middle fingers as he twirled it naturally. He looked up, out the window where the lights of the city seeped through into their apartment. He looked back down at his vape before he brought it to his mouth, inhaling the grape flavor slowly. He exhaled, resting his elbow on the arm rest, placing his head in his hand as he stared out the window.
A lamp behind him turned on and Nico looked over. Pickles was rubbing his eyes, walking to sit beside Nico. Nico sighed, scooting over as Pickles sat down beside him, resting his head against his chest in a sleepy way. Nico kissed the top of his head, brushing down his messy chestnut hair as Pickles mumbled something that Nico couldn’t make out. He took another draw from his vape, staring up at the night sky.
“Why are you awake?” Pickles’s words slurred together as he struggled to speak clearly.
“Insomniac,” Nico reminded him before tapping his own forehead as if to indicate what he meant, “Why are you up?”
“Uhm,” Pickles tried to remember, opening his eyes weakly as he looked up at Nico, “I felt around for my husband and he was gone. So I rolled out of bed to find him. Mmm, I guess I found him.”
“I guess you did,” Nico smiled, setting his vape down, “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.”
“Ngh, no,” Pickles protested, wrapping his arms around Nico as he puffed out his bottom lip in a pout, “Because you’re going to come back out here and sit on the couch.”
“There’s no point for me to lay in bed wide awake, babe,” Nico reasoned, prying Pickles off of him as he stood up, helping Pickles to his feet, “Let’s go tuck you back in.”
Pickles leaned on Nico as the pair walked back to the bedroom. Nico walked him to his side of the bed, getting him to sit down. Pickles rubbed his eyes as he climbed under the covers again, refusing to lay down. Nico pulled the covers up farther over his husband. Sitting on the bedside as he scratched his neck. Pickles leaned forward, resting his chin on Nico’s shoulder. Nico looked over at Pickles, rolling his eyes as he cracked a smile.
“Sleep, silly goose,” Nico smiled, “You have to open the restaurant tomorrow.”
“You gotta sleep too,” Pickles replied, trying to pull Nico into the bed with him. Nico pulled away, standing up. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep, there was no point in trying to. Nico knew he was too far in at this point. Pickles grumbled under his breath, nestling down into the bed as he started to drift off again. Nico sighed, smiling.
“Good night, Pickles,” Nico whispered as he started to leave.
“I had a bad dream,” Pickles muttered, “That’s why I was looking for you.”
Nico blinked, hesitating. He resigned, walking to his own side of the bed, climbing into it as he laid down beside Pickles. Pickles quickly wrapped his arms around Nico, holding him tightly. Nico sighed, running his hand through Pickles’s hair gently. He kissed the line cook’s forehead, pulling the blanket over the both of them.
As Nico laid there, listening to Pickles snoring softly, he started to feel his own eyelids get heavy. He yawned, burying his face into Pickles’s chest. Pickles’s breath hitched before returning to normal, wrapping his arms around the dark skinned man, running his fingers down his spine slowly and gently. Pickles kissed Nico’s forehead, humming happily as Nico smiled, burying himself into Pickles more. Nico could feel himself starting to fall asleep as Pickles played with a few of his dreads.
“Wanna know a secret?” Pickles whispered.
“Hmm?” Nico responded on autopilot.
“I lied about the nightmare,” Pickles muttered.
“You’re a fucking asshole,” Nico’s words slurred together as he slipped into the clutches of sleep.