riverviewlogs | just some cute

who: Ciel & Undertaker
what: cute cuddles and Ciel being unable to sleep alone
when: ~sometime~ during the 12th to 19th
where: floor 2
warnings: none (will adjust accordingly)

The downside of staying with anyone, even Undertaker, was that he kept trying to settle Ciel into his bed at night when he wasn't used to sleeping alone. He and his brother were often found in the morning in the others bed, curled around each other, all their pillows piled up together. However much their parents and Tanaka tried, the boys always ended up sharing a bed again before long.

So each night, before long, Undertaker had the teen climbing out of bed and onto the couch with him. The first night, he'd settled on the floor by the couch, only to have Undertaker pulling him up with him. And he'd objected, saying he'd gotten used to it since he and his brother had been kidnapped, but it hadn't gotten him anywhere. It had seemed like a one time thing...

Until the next night. And every night.

He just couldn't sleep without someone close, someone familiar. And Undertaker made him feel as safe as he brother always had. So, again, Undertaker would have the teen climbing onto the couch with him, laying his head on the morticians arm or chest.

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For what he knew of the boy before this world, before the fire, he could only guess at what his life must have been like, living the plush, comfortable life of a noble's son. Not that any of it had been hard to imagine, especially as close as he and his twin seemed to be, but Undertaker hadn't imagined that the child would take to him so quickly, even being the one face in the city that Ciel was familiar with in all of it. The clinging, the leaning, the need for closeness. All of it was very strange to him, though he permitted it without protest.

The sleeping arrangement had been Ciel would take the bed, he himself would take one of the couches. They were a room apart, and with so many unfamiliar people also resting nearby, and somehow he thought that would be okay for the boy with the reassurances that he had given. He had only just fallen asleep when he heard the little footsteps approaching, felt the cushions shift as Ciel curled himself against the couch on the floor.

No sense in fighting it. He'd given in and let the boy curl on the couch with him. Just for tonight, he had said then. Just for tonight.

Then it had happened the next night. Again, just for tonight, he said. The third night in a row, he'd given it up as a loss and left CIel in his bed again, tucked him in, then went to his couch to sleep and counted the minutes until he heard the little patter of feet over the floor, heading in his direction.

Rather than let him try to curl on the floor again, he lifted a hand when the boy was close enough. Ciel hadn't taken to keeping his head on the other arm of the couch, and really, they would just kick each other awake through the night if he had. He had already taken the opportunity when he laid down that night to stretch out on his back, where they could both fit, and invited the young Earl to use him as a mattress one more time. "Come on, then," he called quietly. "Get comfortable."

His life had been comfortable, he and his twin had never really wanted for anything. Even being sickly, his family and Tanaka had looked out for him and tried to make sure he never felt lesser for his weaker constitution. It meant he'd never been left alone very often either so he never got to adjust to that loneliness.

At first, Ciel had tried to settle down to sleep but without his brother and with strangers around, he just couldn't make his panic subside. He'd even tried curling the blankets into a cocoon around himself to try to block out everything but his own breathing and it still hadn't worked.

And he felt bad every time he curled up with Undertaker, sure he was uncomfortable or inconvenienced by the fact that he had trouble sleeping alone. So each night came with a mumbled "Sorry" before curling up with him.

"What's to be sorry about, hm?" He waited until the boy had settled in, tensing now and then when a particularly bony hip or elbow put a bit too much pressure in one place or another, but it didn't last long. It never did. Ciel tended to be mindful of where he put his limbs and quick to nestle in for rest. "Now at least you'll sleep. Tomorrow, the bed then."

As if it was going to happen. By then, he figured this was going to be a regular thing with them, whether or not he wanted it to be. He could just as easily have said no and send the child back to his bed, but he hadn't had the heart for it. Much as he didn't care for some things - people among them, even - this boy had become an obligation.

"I keep bothering you." He mumbled that as well, carefully settling against Undertaker, head against his shoulder and fingers grasping at his shirt. Less to keep him close and more to constantly reassure himself that he wasn't alone. And that reassurance would keep his nightmares at bay.

He did at least try sleeping in the bed. And had lasted a little longer for the past couple nights but had never quite managed to fall asleep, dear settling heavily on his chest until he went to find Undertaker. Or until he suddenly just found himself there, too tired to remembering climbing out of bed to find him.

A lot bothered him, but the child was the least of it. He decided not to say as much as Ciel curled against him and found a spot that worked for them both, almost identical to how they'd both fallen asleep in nights before. It might have happened to be that Ciel was the most immediate of his concerns, but still quite easy to handle by comparison.

"Never you mind about that. You'll keep yourself awake with it and it's late now." The phone he had been provided lay on the table near his bed, abandoned for the time being, but by his estimates, it had to be almost midnight. Good for them both his shifts at the coffee shop didn't start until later in the morning, and tomorrow was a day off for him.

He nodded against Undertakers shoulder, trying not to think about it. It proved difficult though, even if he didn't voice it. Ciel had been seeking the safety and comfort of Undertaker since he'd woken up confused and alone, in a strange room and a strange city, with comfort the twins hadn't been afforded in a couple weeks.

At least he was warm and knew he was safe. And in the back of his mind, he was already determined to make it up to him for the nights on a couch and being used as a pillow.

"There you are. Just quiet down now and rest. No need to worry here." One arm had been draped up over the arm of the couch, in a comfortable position, but the other he reserved for Ciel's back, to drape over the boy and give him some semblance of a human presence, some sort of contact he knew the twins were so fond of when they had each other. Whether or not he wanted it, he was the temporary surrogate. Lucky for him, it wasn't difficult to manage.

He let his eyes close and his breathing even out, hoping the boy would soon follow suit.

The arms around him was comfortable and, yes, familiar to how he and his brother often slept, but it also gave him the feeling of security he really wanted and kind of needed. Even far away, he was still afraid that they cult would come back for him. They'd marked him as theirs after all.

"Thank you." One last mumble before he fully relaxed, eyes closed, and started to doze off.

That was what he had been waiting on. Even with the weight of the boy resting over his torso, he had been almost used to it by now. Once Ciel had settled, fingers clinging to his shirt, head resting on his shoulder, it hadn't taken long before he'd conked on nights before either. For his thanks, Undertaker gave the thin shoulder a light scritch with his fingernails, then let himself go still.

After Ciel drifted off, it wasn't long before he lost consciousness himself, slipping into a dreamless sleep.

just some cute

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