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Warriors woke slowly, taking a deep breath in through his nose. Groggily, he opened his eyes to a violet midnight and as he shed his sleep, he took a moment to reorient himself. Thousands, millions of stars above, glittering in a clear moonless night. The soft crackle of a gentle fire burning at the center of camp. And, Warriors realized, he was trapped beneath something heavy.
He drew his brow in mild confusion, quietly drawing his hands upwards. He shimmied his shoulders, freeing his arms from the dead weight on top of him and then as he tried to push that same weight off, he found his fingers in soft hair. Warriors paused, raising his head.
Twilight slept soundly, draped entirely across the captain. His head lay on Warriors’ collarbone, one arm tucked beneath the captain’s and the other splayed out with a lazy fistful of blanket in hand. One knee was drawn up to Warriors’ hip, his other leg laying in between the captain’s. Draped over Twilight was one of his wool blankets, though it only covered his back and most of it lay on the ground next to the men.
Warriors rubbed his face with a bleary sigh. “Rancher,” he murmured.
Twilight didn’t stir.
The captain picked sleep from his eyes. He turned his head, setting his sights on the fire. Time sat on watch, his back to Warriors. Warriors hummed softly, trying to drag himself from beneath Twilight. Instead, the rancher fussed, curling tighter into his brother.
“Twi,” Warriors sighed, shaking Twilight’s shoulder.
Twilight’s face pinched in sleepy annoyance. He mumbled something incoherent, drawing himself around the captain in a drowsy embrace.
“Seriously,” the captain groaned. “You’re too heavy, Twilight.”
The rancher only buried his face in Warriors’ chest.
“Time,” Warriors called softly. “A hand?”
Time glanced over his shoulder, slight concern in his face. He paused, his frown curling into a humored smile. The eldest hero chuckled, standing with a lazy stretch and sauntering over. He sat beside his boys, jabbing his finger into the captain’s cheek.
“ I’m not waking the beast,” Time said.
Warriors rolled his eyes. “You’re supposed to be a hero of courage, aren’t you?”
“Even heroes can draw the line somewhere. Why don’t you wake him?”
Warriors frowned, swatting at Time unseriously. “He’s on top of me, Sprite,” Warriors argued. “If I wake him, he’ll bite my nose off.”
“I think you’d look nice without a nose.”
“Oh would I,” Warriors drawled. He squirmed beneath Twilight, trying and failing to pull himself from beneath the rancher’s weight. “Goddesses, he can’t weigh this much.”
Time shrugged, folding his arms casually. “Seems as though you need to do more push-ups, Captain.”
Warriors stuck his tongue out at Time. The eldest only returned the gesture.
“I’ll relieve your watch,” Warriors said, reaching up to muss Time’s hair.
“I’m fine,” Time denied, bowing his head to make Warriors’ reach easier.
“You need your rest too. What time is it, anyway?”
Time shrugged, searching the stars. “It’s not time for you to be up yet, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
The captain returned a flat scowl. “That’s not what I asked.”
“You’ve been pushing yourself,” Time sighed warmly. “Get some sleep, Captain.”
“I can handle a shift—”
“I know,” Time leveled, pushing his hand into the captain’s hair. Time smiled, rolling his thumb across Warriors’ hairline. “I never said you couldn’t. I’m only saying you don’t need to. Besides, you’re keeping Twilight down.”
Warriors frowned, trying not to seem as though he enjoyed Time’s doting. “Did he have trouble falling asleep?”
Time shrugged. “As much as usual, though, he had a nightmare. He didn’t explain himself, only moved his things to sleep next to you.”
Warriors nodded, brushing his fingers through the rancher’s curls. “I see,” he sighed.
The rancher was often a heavy sleeper, though his nightmares were vicious just as all his brothers’ were. In Warriors’ experience, Twilight needed someone nearby to sleep well, otherwise he tossed and turned and stayed on guard all night. Often, he curled himself around Wild or the younger heroes and kept them safe and warm. If they woke from their own bad dreams, Twilight would quickly soothe them back to sleep. When the rancher slept with one of the older heroes, it was because he needed that comfort.
The captain found he couldn’t complain too much. Part of him was proud that Twilight sought out his comfort, and it warmed Warriors’ heart to see the rancher let his guard down every so often. Besides, Twilight was warm and heavy and even when he slept, maintained a comforting presence. The rancher was safe, Warriors knew, and that meant that the captain was safe too.
Warriors glanced at Time, searching his sprite’s face. Time was so much older now, having grown up somewhere—some when —the captain couldn’t watch. His royal terror had grown into a reserved, carefully guarded man but a good one all the same. And beneath that cool mask, Warriors knew that mischievous brat still dwelled.
“Sprite,” Warriors said, opening his arm, “will you lay down for a while?”
Time raised a brow. “I’m on watch.”
“We can be on watch together.”
Time smiled softly, conceding with a nod.
The eldest hero lay himself down beside the captain. As he did, he took Twilight’s blanket to tuck both himself and the rancher in. Twilight squirmed, weighing himself down over Time as well, and the eldest hero found himself similarly trapped to the captain but he didn’t mind. He felt one of Warriors’ hands in his hair, pulling through those straight locks the same as he’d done so many years before, and Time felt infinitely younger then.
As the minutes passed, Warriors’ hand began to slow, his fingers growing heavy and brushing growing lazier and lazier. Time turned his head at the sound of a soft sigh. Beside him, Warriors slipped back into a peaceful sleep. Time smiled, nestling himself closer into the captain’s side. He drew Warriors’ hand to his head, leaving the captain’s fingers in his hair, and Time closed his eyes for a while.