#moontyn

It's three AM when Martyn wakes up to a knock on his door. Well, it's more like the third knock on his door. It took him a bit to wake up, okay? He valued his beauty sleep and all that jazz.

Besides, he already knows who's at the door. She's used to him being a heavy sleeper and knows to wait on him. She's the only one who ever knocks on his door at night, after all.

He opens the front door of his base and is met with a disheveled looking Pearl. Her hoodies wrapped around her waist for a change, and Tilly wasn't loyally standing at her side. A strange sight indeed.

It was a strange sight indeed, but one Martyn’s familiar with. He's the only one who ever gets to see it.

Martyn lets her in without a word. Pearl doesn't try to say anything to him, either, and throws her hoodie somewhere on the floor. Martyn doesn't see where. He just shuts the door again and follows her towards the bedroom. They'll find the hoodie in the morning rather easily. It's not like Martyn’s base is particularly big or filled to them brim with stuff.

She always throws her hoodie to floor when she visits, discarding it haphazardly; like it's not a part of her whole brand this season. And they always find it easily in the morning, even with the Bastion's walls being just as red as the jacket is. As Pearl is.

They get together like this fairly often, whenever one of them needs it. Usually, it's Pearl coming over to his for an impromptu sleepover; just like she had done tonight. Very rarely was Martyn the one knocking on her door, only doing so in his absolute worst nights when he couldn't stand to be jn the Bastion anymore. It had only happened twice before now. Who knows how many times it would happen again, after this.

Martyn knows why he had agreed to this arrangement. Normally, at this point in the game, he would be sticking close to Ren. But this time, Ren had a boyfriend. And Ren, unlike BigB and Grian, wasn't going to be cheating on anybody. He was actually a loyal boyfriend. Which meant Martyn had no Ren, and no Ren meant none of their usual death game romance. Or any romance for him at all.

With him and Cleo barely on speaking terms, Pearl was bascially the only one who would take him. And, well, that was good enough for now. It had to be.

He'd asked Pearl why she'd started knocking on his door a few weeks back; curiosity having gotten the better of him. Her awnser? That being lonely and insane all the time was exhausting, and Martyn was bascially the only one who would take her. Because if Scott and Cleo, the only allies she'd ever had, wouldn't take her, then who would?

And that's how they ended up here, Pearl flopping on his bed like she owned it and Martyn letting her. She spreads out like a starfish, her limbs taking up over half the bed. Martyn rolls his eyes, and starts nudging her off his side of the bed. They can't share it if she takes up the whole damn thing.

She reaches up, grabbing part of his sleep shirt and tugging. Martyn lets himself be dragged down onto the bed, flopping onto the mattress a little more gracefully (and a little less starfish-y) than Pearl had. Once he's joined her on the bed, Pearl tugs him even closer, with no intention of letting him go. (Thankfully, Martyn has long since grown used to the cuddling. He enjoys it, even, not that he would ever say that aloud...)

Pearl lays her head on his chest, Martyn wrapping his arms around her as soon as she's in reacj. He pulls her close, and kisses the top of her head gently. Pearl makes a pleased sound and snuggles even closer to him. Martyn fights back a smile, burying his face in her hair. It is nice spending a night with someone, he has to admit. It's certainly better than spending the nights cold and alone.

(He's been spending a lot of nights cold and alone lately...)

Martyn mentally shoves those thoughts away, and holds Pearl just a little tighter. Her breathings evened out, he notices. She's asleep within two minutes, just like she always is when she stays over. And maybe, tonight, Martyn will be soon to follow.

He wonders if Pearl spends her nights cold and alone, just like he does when she's not here, and drifts off to sleep.

___________________________________

The next morning, he wakes up with Pearl’s entire face buried in his chest. It's not an uncommon occurrence, not anymore. Pearl tended to be quite the cuddler once she was comfortable with you. (The knowledge that Pearl was comfortable with Martyn, in a way she was with nobody else, was something he actively decided not to think about. He doesn't want to think about what all that means.)

The sun's already shining through his base's few windows, morning light falling over them. They better get up then, if Pearl wants to be gone before anyone comes looking for her. Martyn really doesn't want Scott or Cleo or anyone else to find them, and then have to explain himself. He really doesn't want to explain....whatever they are.

That is only for him and Pearl to know. No one else could understand anyways, even if they tried.

"Pearl," He mumbles, lightly shaking his friends arm and his voice groggy with sleep. Martyn winces at how gravely he sounds. Lord, he does not have a good morning voice, and he will not be convinced of that. No matter how many times Pearl tells him its attractive. "Pearl wake up."

"Five more minutes." She mumbles, hiding her face further in his shirt. Normally, under any circumstances, this would be cute. Endearing even. Unfortunately, they are cuddling under these really specific circumstances. It is not cute, or endearing. Martyn wants her out of the Bastion before anyone even knows she left the tower.

"You say that everytime." Martyn replies, sitting up slowly. It jostles her, which is the intention, and Pearl starts sleepily glaring daggers at him. Martyn just jostles her again, and doesn't care that he's annoying her first thing in the morning. She's the craziest person on the server, yeah, but they're broken-heart buddies or whatever. Pearl's not gonna turn on her only sleeping partner.

"And I mean it everytime." Pearl rolls off him with a huff, taking up the rest of the bed once again. It's a good thing Martyn’s getting up, since she's starfishing her limbs out again. This time, be wouldn't have been so nice about nudgering her aside, the bloody bed hoarder.

Martyn stretches, ignoring how well rested he feels. He doesn't normally feel this well rested, only when Pearl's over. He ignores that too, and listens to the sounds of a mattress creaking and sheets being moved as Pearl finally stops stealing his bed gets up for the day. Took her long enough. Martyn tries not to think about Pearl, laying in his like she owns it, and looks around the room for something else. He does this everytime she comes over, and doesn't think he'll stop. He spots a bundle of bright red on the floor, a little ways away, and slowly makes his way over to it. Well. They found where Pearl's hoodie had landed. Just like they always did. Again, not like Martyn places was very big, or cluttered. Or that her jacket ever went very far from the bed.

"Here's your hoodie." Martyn says, picking the thing up and throwing it over his shoulder. He doesn't look where he throws it, nor does he practically care. He has other things to worry about, like what they're having for breakfeast, and shooing Pearl out the door as soon as humanly possible.

He's still gonna give her breakfast though, because he has manners. And because he's a good cuddle partner. The best even, some would argue.

"Thanks." Pearl says, supposedly catching her hoodie. Martyn mumbles a your welcome, and starts moving towards his chests. He knows he has food in there somewhere, more than what's in his inventory. And if he's gonna spend the day wrangling Pearl and being a nuisance, he's gonna need food to keep himself going. Cleo will not be happy if he kills them again.

Pearl stands there for a second, next to his bed, red eyes following Martyn as he moved away. Like she's studying him. And, yeah, she probably is. He's a very interesting, good looking guy to study.

But, the feeling of eyes burning into his very soul mean Pearl's probably not checking him out. Bummer for her, really. Martyn’s better when you don't delve into all the feelings and the caring about people stuff. In his opinion, anyways.

"Why are you so antsy when we sleep together?" Pearl asks, pulling her hoodie back on. She's stopped standing and staring, now following Martyn as he makes his way towards the front of the Bastion, pulling the hood over her head as she walks. She keeps pace with him. Martyn almost doesn't want her too."Don't phrase it like that." There's an edge in Martyn’s voice when he responds, and he gives his friend a quick look. They're not sleeping together, not in that sense. And that's not a subject he wants to start thinking about, especially this early in the morning.

"But it's what we're doing." Pearl shrugs, barely hidding the smirk on her face. She'd phrased it like that just to mess with him, because of course she had. He's going to ignore that look, actually, and find some breakfeast for them in his chests. "And don't avoid the question."

A moment later, Martyn throws her half a stack of bread, and takes the other half for himself. He probably shouldn't be giving so much of his food away, but whatever. If he needs more, he'll just go kill one of Jimmy’s cows or something. "I'm not antsy I just.....don't want anyone to know."

"Why? Who cares if anyone knows about our sleepovers." Pearl shrugs again, taking a bit out of her breakfast. Martyn doesn't respond, mouth to full of bread, but he does give her a look again. The smirk still hasn't left Pearl's face..

"I do." He mutters, finishing up the bread. So what if he doesn’t want Scott and Cleo to know? They don't deserve to know anything about either of them, anyways. Especially not after the morning axe crits they started up. As if ditching two people over a nether trip wasn't already bad enough...

"For some stupid reason." Pearl takes another bite of her bread. Martyn can't help but wonder why she's asking this now, of all times, during a comfortable spot in the game and their routine. He wonders why she even cares in the first place. "It's not because of our soulmates is it?"

Martyn’s reply is quick, and more incriminating than it is helpful. He knew that the moment it came out of his mouth, but he couldn't help it. "No, it's not!"

"It is." Pearl smirks again, finishing one of the breads he'd handed her. The rest presumably disappear into her inventory, to be used and eaten later. Martyn does the same to his own food, yet another look on his face.

Martyn pinches the bridge of his nose, holding back a frustrated sound. He wasn't fond of people doing that. When they got so close they could see through the facade, no matter how well maintained, and read him lile a book. It was cute when Ren did it, back in the day. He can't belive he let Pearl get so near. "When did you get so good at reading me?"

As they were talking, Pearl had been steadily moving closer. Now, the two of them were face to face. Martyn wanted her closer, and as far away from him as possible all at the same time. He feels like former option is more likley to happen here, if the glint in her eyes says anything.

"When we started sharing a bed." Pearl shrugs for a third time this conversation, leaning in close. She's still smirking, annoying as that is. Pearl's gaze moves down for just a second, before going right back up. There's something shining in her eyes, something dangerous. Martyn’s going to follow it anyways. "And when we started kissing."

She puts a hand on his cheek, pausing. An opportunity for him to pull away, if he wants. Martyn just rolls his eyes, again, and places his own hands over top of hers. Pearl's eyes practically light up at the action.

Martyn mumbles something under his breath, something fond, and lets her press their lips together. Kissing Pearl isn't bad, not at all. Martyn would even call it fun. Sure, she's not Ren or Mumbo, and kissing her isn't the same as them; but Martyn’s not complaining.

It's a short kiss, Pearl moving away first. She was usually the one to hold on the longest, wanting to take as much as he could give her. Expect for this morning, apparently. Martyn’s almost the one pulling her back in and asking for another. But he stops himself. Not right now. They have other things to do.

Pearl leaves right after that, heading to the door with her hoodie back on and thirty five of his bread in her pocket. Martyn follows to see her out. He pulls back at the last minute, right before she leaves. They're standing relatively in the open now, half way in and half way out of his door frame, but he barely gives a damn. Maybe because it's Pearl, maybe because he's crazy, Martyn barely gives a damn in those few seconds.

"Be careful on your way back, okay?" He says, grabbing her hand and lacing their fingers together. For all the cuddling they do, the two of them rarely hold hands. It feels soft, special. Part of him never wants to let go.

Pearl looks down at their hands, a hit mesmerized. She gives his hand a small, experimental squeeze. Martyn squeezes back. "Fine."

"I mean it!" He huffs holding her hand tighter. He holds back the urge to grab her other one, and drag her back inside with him. He never wants Pearl to leave when she goes, not really. Almost as much as he doesn't want their soulamtes to find out. It's maddening. It's why he keeps letting her in his foor at ungodly hours of the morning. Martyn wouldn't have it any other way.

"I know." Pearl looks up from their hands, a smile on her face. She starts tugging hers away, and Martyn lets it go reluctantly. He bites his lip to stop himself from saying anything dumb, or sappy. He feels like he's going to let something slip if he doesn't, something he doesn't wanf to let out.

"When did you get so protective of me?" Pearl asks, hovering even after he lets her go. Like she doesn't want to leave. Like her dogs and her stupid tower aren't more important than him. Like they're more than just cuddle buddies. Marytn almost wants to throw up at the thought.

"When we started sharing a bed and kissing." Martyn hums, and gives her a quick goodbye kiss. Pearl's suprised, but kisses him back anyways. He considers this a make up kiss, for that strangely short one earlier. It's not like them to leave things half finished, after all.

They move from each other slowly, reluctant to break away. But they do, eventually. Pearl looks at him, eyes wide. She looks a little flustered. It's a cute look on her. "Touché" she mumbles, and then stops hovering in his doorway. She mumbles one last word, and then she's gone, heading back out of the ravine his Bastion is in, and back towards her own base. Before anyone even knew she was gone.