voidgates | IC Inbox

[ They have kept their voices down quite well. It's not them that wakes G'raha up, but the need to use the restroom. He carefully moves the Wind-up Mystel aside, and heads out to relieve himself.

The light catches his eyes on the way to the bathroom, and once he's finished and washed his hands, he heads out in order to get some water. When he spots Summer and Ezar, his ears raise up.

He looks sleep rumpled, his shirt covered in wrinkles, his hair sticking out in several directions. He blinks a little bit and his tail waves. ]

Oh, hello. [ He smiles at both of them, smothering a yawn. ] What are you two doing up?

[There's a distinct difference between the footfalls of a grown man and the lighter skitter (or squish, in Ultros's case) of one of her mammets, so between the soft pad of feet on floorboards and the creak of the bedroom door opening in the otherwise silent apartment, it doesn't come entirely as a surprise when G'raha eventually makes his way into the kitchen. But it's not as though Summer's moved an ilm to accommodate his arrival, either — still tucked snugly in Ezar's lap, wrapped up in his hold, two different shades of red hair mingling and bleeding into each other where they're leaned together.

At the sound of his greeting, however, she picks her head up to look in G'raha's direction, already smiling without even meaning to — like the very sight and sound of him is more than enough to bring it out on her features.]

Hello, sleepyhead.

[It's good to see you awake, she almost says, but keeps it to herself like a private joke.]

Rolanberry bought too much ice cream and wanted to borrow my appetite.

[ Ezar had heard G'raha get up to use the bathroom, and then his approach, the same as Summer. As ill composed as he already is--though he does at least feel no trepidation about the fact that he's clinging to Summer like he is, since it's not as if that's ever bothered G'raha before--he is not in the slightest prepared for how dear the man looks, all rumpled and sleepy and smiling sweetly.

At Summer, is mind supplies. But he doesn't believe that, not really. It's at both of them. And it's a... nice thought. A warm one. Don't overthink it.

Twelve bless Summer for speaking up, because he's just been staring. Though he recognizes his cue to say something. He doesn't bother putting the Lominsan accent back on; the thought of offering that to Summer and then not G'raha feels deeply ridiculous. ]

Yeah.

There's enough for you, too. If you want. It's got chocolate and marshmallow and moonberries.

[ It's a rather large container. And even with two spoons sticking out of it, there's still a lot left. Summer did most of the eating; Ezar hadn't really wanted ice cream when he picked it up. ]

Edited 2022-07-03 16:29 (UTC)

Hmmm.

[ G'raha at least moves to hunt down his desired mug of water - grabbing two more, filling them, and hooking his fingers through all three cups to bring them to the table. Then, he settles himself behind Ezar - leaning up against him, hooking his chin over his shoulder and reaching past them both to snag someone's spoon to steal a taste.

It's nice, cold ice cream, sweet and with the texture of the fruit and marshmallow. But he only takes one bite before he returns the spoon to the container. ]

Delicious. Though more than I need at this hour.

[ He stifles another yawn into Ezar's hair, and mumbles. ]

Will I be going back to sleep alone or will you two be joining me?

Look at you. I daresay if we don't decide in a hurry, you'll be back to sleep as it is, right there where you stand.

[She slips an arm free and reaches it up and around Ezar, carding her fingers through G'raha's sleep-rumpled hair. And she lets his question linger for a moment as she pets him, rubbing her thumb lightly against the furred edge of his ear — giving Ezar time to startle if he needs to and settle again after before addressing him softly: ]

I can find you something to wear to sleep in, if you'd like to stay.

Edited 2022-07-03 22:28 (UTC)

[ Summer and G'raha both acting like this is all perfectly normal makes it feel less alien to him. As if it's just as all right and natural to have G'raha's chin resting on his shoulder than it is to be holding on to Summer the way he has been. Ezar leans back into him, just a bit, turns his head enough to rest his cheek against the side of G'raha's head, and finds that feels good as well.

Still, he's glad to be addressed as part of a unit rather than singled out, as if it's natural that he would come with Summer rather than the question being entirely his.

One step at a time.

And what kind of choice is it, really? To stay and have their company as he did on the island, though it feels far more intimate simply because it's their apartment and it's not as if they're huddling together for warmth and safety while exposed to the elements. But his alternative is to go back to the silent apartment and the nightmares haunting it that had driven him here in the first place.

Put like that, it's simple indeed. Though he still sounds a bit uncertain. ]

All right.

I'm... pretty tired.

[ He can only hope that being around other people will let him sleep quietly, so he doesn't disturb them. ]

Edited (I used the word 'quiet' so many fucking times) 2022-07-03 23:54 (UTC)

[ G'raha's tail picks up a little when Ezar agrees but, mercifully, he doesn't otherwise make a big showing of his joy at Ezar's acceptance. Instead, he rubs his cheek against Ezar's a little, before he straightens up again to not yawn directly into his face. ]

You're not wrong. I feel like I could sleep for another seven bells.

[ Don't ask how long he'd been up researching! ]

Mm, let me move Mystel somewhere out of the way while you get the shirt?

[ He seems disinclined to untangle himself, but he will when he gets given the go ahead. ]

Mmhmmm. And Rolanberry can put the ice cream away in the meantime. I doubt either of the other two have figured out how to get into the freezer. Or would want to, for that matter.

[Imagine opening the freezer and there's a wind-up octopus quite literally chilling inside. Madness.]

...Or, if you do nod off, I'll get Mystel and the shirt both, and he can carry you back to bed. Sleepy.

Yeah, I can do that. [ He wrinkles his nose at her. ] If I find any surprises in your freezer, I don't think I can pin it shut with a knife anyway.

[ He's not that mighty.

He nudges G'raha lightly with his shoulder, unwinding his arm from around Summer so she can get up. ]

And he can't be heavier than carrying someone in full armor.

... I don't wear armor...

[ Guess who drifted back down and is drifting off on Ezar's shoulder? Despite the fact that he'd stood up, his weight is starting to lean more heavily on Ezar, his eyes already closed again. ]

Of course you don't.

[She says, as she slides deftly out of Ezar's hold and lap both, and starts briskly packing up the ice cream to shove in the freezer. The spoons go into the mug of water G'raha brought back for her to the table, ostensibly to soak because she's not bothering with cleaning them up at the moment, and when that chore is done she pauses again at Ezar's side, lingering.]

Bring him, will you? Just give me a bit of a head start to clear the room for you.

[The look she gives Ezar, however, is more questioning. There's an implicit check-in, an are you all right with that, bundled up in the rest of it.]

Of course you don't.

[ Almost at the same time as Summer, in echo. Feeling G'raha's weight starting to lean on him more, he hastens to make sure G'raha's arms are looped over his shoulders so he can hold onto his wrists with one hand, just to keep him from falling over.

He looks over at Summer at the question, catching the look, and reaches over with his other hand to find one of hers, lightly squeeze it. ]

Go. I'll keep him from falling over.

[ He leans his head against G'raha's lightly. This, G'raha so relaxed and sweet and quietly trusting, is very different from anything he had in the past. Nothing is being asked of him but to be still and physically supportive, and he has confidence he can do that as well.

He gives Summer a good head start, silently listening to G'raha's contented, dozing breath, his eyes half closed as he leans back against the man to hold him up. I could really like this, he finds himself thinking. For the moment, at least, being so trusted doesn't feel like a frightening burden. This is a task he's equal to.

After enough time, he takes a better hold on G'raha's arms and leans forward to shift the weight of him more onto his back. It's a little awkward to work around the chair, but not that hard. He still remembers carrying his siblings like this many times when they were even more limp with trusting sleep, and over much longer distances than from the kitchen to the bedroom. He gets his hands under G'raha's legs, hitches him a bit higher on his back, and carries him easily all the way to his bed. It's even more simple to transfer him onto the mattress.

His smiling when he straightens back up, his hair falling into his eyes, an expression soft and small and wholly unnoticed. ]

Edited 2022-07-04 09:06 (UTC)

[In almost the exact same moment that Ezar is lifting up G'raha in the kitchen, Summer is in the darkened bedroom scooping up his tiny Mystel counterpart, sprawled out and snoozing comfortably among the disheveled blankets. She almost hates to move him, really, for all that he's just a little clockwork thing and technically doesn't have feelings to begin with. Still, she's careful not to disturb his artificial slumber as she lifts him up and transfers him over to one of the bureau drawers, making a little nest of the clothes inside before easing Wind-Up Mystel down into it.

(Who knows where the other two might have gotten off to at this hour; that's a problem for another time and place, hopefully.)

She's digging through another of the drawers when Ezar's footsteps start to sound softly in the hall, and by the time he and G'raha have made their way to the bed, she's dug up a pair of possibilities to offer to Ezar, and steps over to stand at his side with the both of them dangling from her hand.]

He was sound asleep before you even had him out of the chair, wasn't he.

[She says, low and warm and terribly fond.]

That he was.

[ He lightly nudges her shoulder, then takes the clothes from her hand, guessing correctly that they're for him. ]

I'll go put these on.

[ He knows where the bathroom is already, and heads there. It feels odd to be almost body-shy, but these are different circumstances than his normal ones... by quite a bit. And, as he strips off his extremely rumpled shirt to get changed and catches sight of himself in the bathroom mirror, he's reminded of the array of new scars he's sporting, still fresh and angry red, which he doesn't particularly want to show off around Summer and G'raha either.

Don't overthink it. That's a problem for some other time. He slips on the t-shirt and shorts--the shirt somehow too big, the shorts extremely short on him--leaves his regular clothes neatly folded on the back of the couch, and returns to the bedroom, steps slowing a little as he approaches and wonders if he ought to offer to sleep on he couch... but G'raha had meant them both, and Summer had seemed to agree, so that must be all right. ]

Just tell me where to be so I won't bother either of you.

Mm. Worry more about yourself; if you're on my side I'll end up putting my cold feet on you, likely.

[Even as she says it, she's carefully rearranging the pillows, pushing G'raha up enough to wrangle one beneath his head, untucking the folds of covers where they've gotten trapped and smoothing them out for a better fit.

But then, gradually, she slows and looks at Ezar, a little thoughtfully.]

...No. I'll take the middle and leave you the side, I think. You'll have a smoother...escape, that way, if something happens and you think you need a moment.

[An out, free for the taking, if he needs it. One that he can use anytime. Free to stay, safe to distance — wherever his changing level of comfort might fall at any moment.]

[ He nudges his shoulder lightly against hers. ] I've had a lot worse than cold feet.

[ And her idea for arranging things is wise, ultimately. He's going to be more comfortable near her, on the side that also smells more like her, and... he's already admitted he's up because of his night terrors. If he awakens as a sweating, gasping wreck again, better for him to be on a side where he can scramble free and find air without accidentally lashing out at either of them.

He sits on the edge of the bed and unties his braid, the movement of his fingers habitual as he unravels the strands, then collects the length of his hair back in to twist it into a loose knot that he ties on top of his head. ]

If I snore in your ear or something, don't feel bad about kicking me.

But never my cold feet.

[As though she is in a class all her own, which is probably not the case, but still. She yawns, brushing a few stray wisps of G'raha's hair back into place from where it'd fallen loose while arranging him, then rolls her shoulders in one final stretch before crawling back up onto the mattress herself to join them.

She's taller than G'raha by an ilm, yes, but in terms of build she's still debatably the slightest of the three of them, and like any proper cat has an inherent knack for making herself as expansive or as small as she pleases, depending on her whim of the moment. With three in the bed, it's simply not feasible for them to end up not touching each other in at least some capacity, but there's at least enough leeway remaining for Ezar to decide between a range of options from minimal contact to full-out canoodling.

But before she fully settles, she mumbles something too low to distinguish, and rearranges her hand just the slightest fraction — an almost imperceptible shift of a thing whose only purpose seems to be to ensure that there's some part of G'raha beneath her fingertips, for all that the positioning has them in contact in other ways.]

Mmmm. Sweet dreams, Rolanberry.

You too, love.

[ He stays sitting on the edge of the bed until Summer's fully settled, then a bit longer, feeling more and more like an intruder with how comfortable they look. They already strike him as a complete picture, of themselves.

Stop overthinking it. His choices are to lay down or steal away to the couch; the latter feels too cowardly after having been invited, and after agreeing.

He finally settles on the very edge of the mattress, taking up as little space as possible, one hand lightly against Summer's back. To calm himself and try to empty his head, he listens to the both of them breathing and tries to find a harmony with it. As exhausted as he already is, sleep comes for him quickly after that.

And no longer overthinking things by grace of sleep, he soon migrates over to being curled around Summer, his nose in her hair, one arm draped over her waist so his hand, too, rests on G'raha. ]

IC Inbox | noctiumrp

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject