Work Text:
Following the conclusion of Eddie's interview, he felt exhausted. In the absence of any clocks or daylight, he had no clue how long he'd been awake for, and he felt dead tired. Benny had a point though-he may as well make his potential last break count for something, and have fun.
Subconsciously, he found himself following Benny into the bar. He had evidently already slammed down a few drinks, and was losing at a game of pool with himself. Eddie failed to suppress a smirk at the sight; Benny looked so concentrated, too.
"Eds!" Benny seemed to light up upon noticing Eddie. "Can you come over here and do me a solid?" Can't say no to that. Eddie followed his command and looked over the table. "Pool gets boring quickly without an actual opponent. Think you can raise a challenge?" Benny smirked at Eddie upon concluding his sentence, encouraging him to accept his offer. Eddie, transfixed in the little details of Benny's expression-namely his fangs, which he couldn't deny looked cute on him-had hardly processed the proposition. Once the words settled in his head, he snapped his attention back towards Benny, eyes refocusing. "Well, if anyone here can play pool well, you've found the guy. Give me a moment to set the table back up."
"Aww, why can't I do it?" Eddie wasn't sure if he was actually disappointed, feigning it, or just plain drunk. He thought of a gentle way to tell him he was far too drunk to do it correctly, but the mental effort of wording it politely escaped him in the midst of his exhaustion, so he went about his task wordlessly. Luckily, he'd set up games of pool several times and could do so with little effort put forth.
Eddie stared at the triangle formed by each of the balls, zoning in and out. He swore he could feel himself nodding off, and fought it only by imagining the prospect of bruising his face and failing at his responsibility of remaining presentable. Using that argument, though, he must have awful eyebags already. Maybe they compliment his overall look well enough that he hasn't already faced some sort of punishment. Fuck, what was he doing again?
"Helloooo? Eds?" He jumped at the gloved hand waving in front of his face, settling back into comfort upon seeing familiar dyed-orange hair and fox-like green eyes, which were big and staring right into his. "Uh... yeah. Hey." Eddie knew he was screwed, he could barely keep his eyes open. Benny's familiar smug look upon his face had returned. "Jeez, if anyone could see us right now they'd think you're the drunk one here!" A brief chuckle escaped Eddie before he realized it; it was true, after all. Somehow, through the haze of his exhaustion, he saw Benny soften with the gesture. "Sorry, it's been an exhausting ride here so far. The bed they gave me hardly qualifies as one, and after the interview I'm beat. First thing I'm doing after the next game, if I survive, is taking a nap."
Benny seemed to be considering something, and after a few moments in thought, spoke again. "Depending on what the next game is, you might need the rest in order to strategize properly..." Benny tilted his head. "How about you nap now, and have fun later? After the game?" Eddie found his reasoning surprisingly sound considering his impairment, nodding at Benny. "Good! See, I'm sharper than I look, huh?" A hand rested upon his shoulder with the words, accompanied by a fang-toothed grin, and Eddie let out a contented hum in agreement.
Taking care in preventing Eddie from bumping into something in his daze, Benny guided him to the secluded couch towards the entrance of the bar, seating himself on the half closest to the hallway. He patted the open spot next to him, now more closed-off. If Eddie had half a mind to observe Benny's positioning, he'd compare him to something of a guard dog. What did remain of his mind was listening to Benny's offer, and Eddie took the open seat beside him.
"This is your best bet at a decent nap. You're better off napping where I can see you; the rest of the competition might take advantage of the opportunity to steal your chips while you're busy in dreamland." "Mhmmm." Eddie was already nodding off again, the comfort of the cushions threatening to cut off Benny before the words could reach his conscious mind. He leaned into Benny; it seemed reasonably within the bounds of Benny's offer to let him nap with protection in the first place.
The last thing Eddie clearly observes before giving into his exhaustion is the feeling of Benny's jacket wrapping around him. With it, he fell quickly into a deep sleep.
Benny did not. He instead opted to keep watch and fulfill his self-assigned duty of keeping Eddie safe and sleeping sound.