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A wave of wind makes a stick fly up in the air, and crash onto the outside of the tent Cuphead and Mugman are sleeping in. The sudden sound woke Cuphead from his sleep. He turns his head to see that Mugman is still asleep.
Usually, Cuphead has a hard time falling asleep. He’s annoyed, because he has to try and sleep again. There’s no reason to stay awake at this time.
The cup lowers his back, and rolls deeper inside his sleeping bag. He looks up to the ceiling of the tent, trying to come up with something in his mind. A little story or something else to think about, to forget the fact that he’s awake. This is his method of sleeping. It sure does take a while to actually fall asleep, but it does the job.
It’s cold outside and inside. Bendy is tucked inside his sleeping bag with his arms inside, trying to sleep, but the intense cold he’s feeling is making it impossible for him to fall asleep.
He’s lying face-down on his pillow. His arms are tangled into each other to his torso to hold warmth, but that doesn’t work well when your body is already cold to begin with.
The sleeping bag next to him is empty. It’s Boris’s sleeping bag. He's gone off to find branches to be used to make a campfire. Boris is more of a night-owl, so he has the energy to go do that. Maybe when he’s back, Bendy can help Boris build the campfire, and they can sit by the fire together to warm up.
He hears the sounds of leaves getting crushed and crunched outside of his tent. The tent is closed, so he can’t see what’s happening around him. Could someone be approaching the demon’s tent?
The rustling stopped. It’s silent again.
Suddenly, the tent is being unzipped. The sounds of unzipping pause as the zipper gets stuck a few times before it fully opens. Someone is trying to let themself inside the tent.
Bendy whispered loudly:
“What the fuck?! You’re letting all the cold air in, I’m freezing!”
“My bad, let me close this then.”
Bendy lifts his head up from his pillow to see who the pesky intruder was.
“Cuphead? What do you want, why are you here??”
“You know— you’ve got your condition and you could be dying... I gotta check up on you every now and then.”
“Cuphead I’m fine, Don’t worry about me please.”
“Me and Mugman are contractually obligated to protect and save you if you’re having another blot attack.”
Bendy lets out a short, annoyed sigh. He plops his face back into his pillow and curls back up into his sleeping bag. He felt even colder than before, after the cold air was let inside. Cuphead notices this and remembers Bendy mentioning that he was freezing.
“Are you doing alright? You said you were freezing?”
“Yeah, I’m doing just fine. Thank you for opening the tent. That really helped.”, Bendy says in a sarcastic, slightly angry tone.
“Wow, you must be freezing then.”, Cuphead chuckled.
The cup slides next to Bendy and sits cross-legged on the empty sleeping bag next to him.
Cuphead gently places his hand on the parts of the demon’s head that stick out of the sleeping bag, as an attempt to check his temperature. The tops of his head feel cold and the inky texture it usually has feels more solid now, due to the cold.
Bendy slowly shifts his head’s weight onto Cuphead's arm— treating it like a pillow. The cup’s arm felt warm for Bendy. It was the only thing he could feel that was warm, like a flashlight’s faint light in a pitch-dark room.
He looks kind of adorable like that.
Cuphead remembers the time. He doesn’t know the time, but he knows it’s very late and he needs to get back to his tent before Mugman finds out he’s gone. He’ll think he’s gone missing.
“I think I’m going now, I’m going to bed.”
“Your arm— It’s so warm”, Bendy said with his eyes closed, still resting his head on Cuphead’s arm. “Don’t go yet.”
Cuphead heard that phrase. His cheeks turned a little red at those words.
“Oh alright, I’ll stay by you if you need me so bad~” Cuphead said jokingly, with a grin on his face.
Cuphead thought that Bendy would’ve punched him for saying something stupid like that, but he won’t. Looks like Bendy’s too tired to defend himself against Cuphead’s stupid joke flirts.
The cup lies down on the sleeping bag he was sitting on, and scoots closer to Bendy. He wraps his hands around Bendy’s shoulders, almost hugging him, to warm him up. Bendy shifts closer to him.
“Does this help?”
“Yeah.”, Bendy mumbled, succumbing himself to his warmth and shifting even closer to his torso.
Bendy feels like he’s a burden. He’s vulnerable, with a life-threatening disease that can trigger any time. He feels like he’s annoying to deal with. Cuphead and Mugman always need to check up on him, to stay close and give him the appropriate medicine when he’s having another blot attack.
That medical dip is extremely scarce and valuable, as he’s not the only one with the blot’s curse. There have been many cases, and those usually get to die. Bendy is extremely lucky to still be alive, and to have their support
But he is grateful nonetheless. Grateful that he still gets to experience life, still gets to see Boris and his other pals, still gets to feel love and warmth and not the icky, horrible, burning pain of melting away into a disgusting puddle of ink.
The demon subconsciously grips the cup harder, due to him spiraling away into his own thoughts. Cuphead responds to this by pulling in closer. Their heads are touching each other.
Bendy gets caught off guard, and his face flushed red. His face is too close to his.
Bendy jerks and lets go of Cuphead. His face turned red because of the embarrassment, or is he craving more of his touch? Why is he feeling like this?
“Woah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you off like that.”
“Oh, uh, it’s okay.” Bendy says nervously, still shocked in a possibly good way.
“Do you still want to…”
“Yes- uh, sure. I mean… if you don’t mind”
“I don’t mind.”
Bendy shifts closer to Cuphead, embracing each other again. This time, feeling safer. He loves being close to him. He loves the feeling of being nestled to his friend.
Cuphead notices that Bendy is still shivering. His arms are still cold to the touch.
He gently caresses his arms, then the curves of the back of his head. Fingertips softly gliding from his head to the back of his neck.
The demon swings his arms up, wrapping them around the cup’s waist. His head is still resting on the cup’s torso. Cuphead continues his motions. The silence is comforting. There’s no rush, or something to worry about.
Bendy starts slowly replicating Cuphead’s motions on his back, on his waist. His shivering is reduced by a lot, and his arms feel warmer too.
The two stay in this position— laying, kind of cuddling each other, with Bendy resting in Cuphead’s warm embrace. Cuphead wanted to go back to his own tent, but now he wants to stay by Bendy’s side for a little longer. It’s silent— the only thing you can hear is the wind softly brushing against the walls of the tent, and their breathing. It’s peaceful.
The night flew by swiftly, but Cuphead didn’t go back to his tent.
Boris found the perfect branches for the fire. After 10 minutes of walking, he arrived back at camp. He notices that nobody’s outside. Everyone must be inside their tents, sleeping. It’s probably best if he sets up the campfire tomorrow. He needs to get some sleep. The sky is completely dark and it’s hard to see. Good thing he has his flashlight.
He walks around, looking for the tent he shares with Bendy with his flashlight in his hand. He approaches the tent. He pulls the zipper gently and slowly, to not wake Bendy up.
He’s met with his brother and that psychopath that tried to kill him sleeping together.
“I’m too tired for this shit”