#yehhhhhh

Mind shut his eyes and slid down, resting on the ground and leaning his head against the wall behind him. It’d been a rough night; Soul had gotten blind drunk and made a mess of the house, leaving Mind to clean it all up and Heart to help him get to bed. A temporary, ice-thin truce had been called as Mind helped Heart drag a babbling Soul into his room. 

“I’ll clean, you get him to sleep.” Mind had muttered, avoiding looking directly at him. 

“Okay.”

Now there was nothing to be done but get to bed himself. Mind wasn’t a big fan of sleep, but he had to admit he was exhausted. 

Standing back up with the counter in front of him for support, Mind started to walk to his bedroom when he saw Heart finally come out of Soul’s room. 

He looked… irritated. As if he was mad at Mind for making him take care of Soul, or for getting him drunk, which he most definitely did not encourage. 

He watched, silent, as Heart stumbled into his room and shut the door behind him. 

“He better not be blaming me for this,” Mind thought, pursing his lips and slipping into his room.

His crown had begun to rest atop his head rather than float above it, one of the physical signs of Mind’s mental state, this time signifying to all the world that Mind was tired. He reached up and gently picked it up, shuffling over to his bed and setting it on a pillow. 

His drumstick necklace came off next, the one he wore daily despite knowing its origin. He hung it on a hook above his desk before switching his clothes out for pajamas.

He was ready to collapse when he was stopped by a sticky note hanging tauntingly over his bed, where the words “IRON SUPPLEMENTS!!” was written in all caps. 

Groaning and cursing his past self for writing that, he stepped out of his room and shambled to the kitchen slowly. 

“Fucking bitchy stupid iron deficiency dumbass,” he muttered sourly, roughly flinging open a cupboard and yanking out his bottle of supplements. He unscrewed the cap and shook out a single blueish pill, staring at it blankly and blinking slowly. 

“Oh, right.” He thought, turning around and flinging open another cupboard to get a cup. “Water.” 

“Why are you being so loud, idiot?” Heart’s voice called out, making Mind jump and nearly drop his glass. “You’re gonna wake Atlas.”

Mind turned and stared at him, who was settled on the couch with a book in his hands and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. His face was turned towards the kitchen, though not quite in Mind’s  exact direction.

“Sorry.” Mind huffed, turning on the tap and sticking the cup under. 

“Are you taking your pills?” Heart asked, his voice still laced with spikes but his question genuine.

“Mm-hm.” Mind hummed, scowling protectively at Heart as he threw the pill in his mouth and washed it down with a sip of water. “What’s it to you?”

Heart turned his face back towards their bedroom doors and he resumed running his fingers over the paper, reading the Braille as well, if not better, as Mind could when reading printed letters. 

“Hm.” Mind thought, opening their dishwasher and setting the glass inside before putting away his medications and leaving the kitchen.

“You going to bed?” Heart questioned just as Mind’s fingertips brushed against the bedroom doorknob.

Mind hesitated. He had to admit, being startled by Heart had jolted him more awake. He did, after all, have somewhat somniphobia. 

“…No.” He finally responded slowly, his tone even. “I’m going to stay up.”

Heart seemed to perk up just a bit, as if the potential at being accompanied by Mind whist reading was somehow appealing to him. “Oh, well. You could, you could grab a book. And, like, read. With me. If you want.”

Mind blinked. “What the hell?” He thought suspiciously. One moment Heart was radiating hatred and the next he’s inviting him to read with him? “He’s so stupidly emotional.”

“Hm. Okay.” Mind mumbled, entering his room and returning moments later with a thick textbook in his arms. 

He stepped around their small, ankle-hazard coffee table and climbed onto their big rocking chair, bringing his legs up to a criss cross and setting his book on his lap.

He had only barely begun to read when Heart introduced another question. “What’re you reading?” His voice was more casual now, less armed, as if he was making a conscious effort to be affable.

“A, uh. A botany. Textbook.” Mind replied choppily. 

“Mm,” Heart turned a page of his own book. “Studying up for your, uh, rose garden?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Cool, cool. Okay.”

The air between them was silent and tense for a spell, with only the repetitive flutter of pages turning and occasional sniff or shuffle to fill the quiet. It was almost nice, being able to just sit in each other’s presence. If it wasn’t for the looming feeling that this was all wrong, they would’ve enjoyed it. Enjoyed the still, the rare peace.

“Do you think it’s our fault?” Heart said gently after a quarter of an hour or so. 

“Hm? For what?” Mind replied without looking up, only half engaged in the question. 

“For, you know. Soul’s addiction and stuff.” Heart elaborated with a guilty sigh. “I feel like it’s our fault.”

Mind closed his book and turned his gaze to Heart, who was curled up in the corner of the couch with his Braille book set beside him. He looked vulnerable, which wasn’t anything new. Mind decided not to trust it. Not yet.

“It was his decision to take it up,” Mind readjusted his position in the rocking chair and set his chin in his left palm. “That’s not really our fault.”

Heart turned onto his stomach and set his head on the side of the couch. “But he wouldn’t have started if we weren’t fighting all the time. It’s always our fault. We’re the worst, and we cause all his problems.” 

Mind wasn’t sure what to say, because Heart was exactly right. It was always their fault, it was always them who drove Soul through the wall, always, every time. Every issue Soul had to deal with was because of them. 

“Yeah.” He finally muttered, closing his book and reaching over to set it on the coffee table. 

Moving without thinking, he slid off the chair and walked over to where Heart was lying on the couch. He peeled Heart’s blanket off of him and sandwiched himself in between the back of the couch and Heart’s back before pulling the blanket back over the both of them.

“What are you doing?” Heart whispered, shifting himself until he was face to face with Mind. 

“I dunno.” Mind admitted. “I’m tired.”

“Me too.” Heart said quietly, reaching out with his hand to feel Mind’s shoulder. “Can I feel your face?”

Mind made a confused sound. “Why?”

“So I can remember it,” Heart explained. “I feel Soul’s every day so I don’t forget, but I haven’t felt yours even once.”

Mind stiffened slightly and sighed. “Sure, okay.” He was already snuggled up beside him, anyway.

Heart smiled and moved his hand to feel Mind’s face, running it over his forehead and rubbing his thumb over the cable running behind his ear that connected to his mechanical voicebox.

“I did that to you, huh?” He muttered, setting his hand back at his side. 

“Yeah.” Mind’s eyes focused on Heart’s blindfold, and he reached out to touch it lightly. “And Soul did that to you, with my encouragement.”

“Yeah.” Heart moved to take off his blindfold, letting Mind see his scarred eyes for the first time since he’d gotten the blindfold. “Do they look bad?”

“Yeah, they look like shit.”

Heart laughed and dropped the blindfold on the floor. “I’m sorry I tried to kill you.” He apologized with a lopsided smile.

Mind’s eyebrows raised. We wasn’t expecting an apology, not tonight, not ever. But here Heart was, smiling and handing out a sorry as if it were nothing. 

“I’m… sorry that I tried to cut you out.” Mind reciprocated slowly.

“Friends?” Heart whispered, his wings fluttering softly behind him. 

“Yeah. Friends.” Mind agreed, pulling the blanket tighter around them. “But I’m tired.”

Heart laughed through his nose and snuggled up to him. “Yeah, me too.”