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"fort" night at mike's.
fandom: five nights at freddy's (movie)
w/c: 843
summary: mike and vanessa are sleep deprived. they want to help each other.
a/n: i thought the movie was really cute! it wasn't something to take completely seriously. also, i am conforming with the masses because josh hutcherson is 😻.
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This was their best work yet, not including the one they made with the help of creepy possessed robots. The fort in the living room was the largest it’s ever been, stretching spaciously from the couch to the television. The TV was tucked inside the fort by blankets to ensure they had entertainment alongside maximum coziness.
Mike, Vanessa, and Abby laid in the fort, heads pointing toward each other in a triangular shape. It was reaching the witching hour. Abby had fallen asleep twenty minutes after the construction of the fort. She had done most of the work, after all. It tuckered her out. Mike and Vanessa, on the other hand, found sleep a difficult thing to achieve recently. Not that it had never been easy to do anyway.
Mike stared enviously at the blanket-ceiling, listening to the peaceful sounds his sister made in her sleep. They should've gotten pillows before they laid down to prevent snoring. It would’ve made falling asleep easier, too.
“Vanessa,” he whispered.
“Yeah, Mike?”
“Not asleep?”
“Not yet.”
He knew there was no way she could sleep decently for a long time. The first night out of the hospital, he had offered to let her stay in their home. That night he found her sat cross-legged on the couch, wide eyed and tired. She confessed to him the last thing she saw before falling into her coma was the murderous rage in her father’s eyes. The same eyes at least five other children saw in their own last moments. The same eyes she saw in her nightmares every second she spent in the coma.
“Give me your arm.” He said. She stuck her arm out toward Mike, who reached up and began to stroke gently with his nails. It was somewhat awkward, but he tried his best not to halter.
“Used to do this for Abby when, um…”
“When your mom died?” She asked, bluntly.
“Yeah. It took her hours to fall asleep the first few days. She wouldn’t let me stop the entire night. Eventually it took less and less time to get her down. Quickest was two minutes.”
She smiled. He was offering to stay up all night to help her sleep. She allowed herself to enjoy the feeling, letting it soothe and distract her mind.
“I should be doing this for you. You're the bigger insomniac.” she said.
“Doesn't have the same effect on me. It’s the opposite of relaxing, actually.”
“Don’t like to be touched in your sleep?” she asked, carefully trying to learn his boundaries. Trying to learn everything about him.
“No, nothing like that. It just tickles.” He confessed. Vanessa giggled.
“When's the last time you've tried?”
“Aw, geez. I dunno, seven? I remember it was my mom. I got jealous seeing her do it to the baby to get him to fall asleep.”
“And you don’t think you've grown out of the ticklishness by now?” She stopped his stroking by grasping his wrist firmly. He tugged without much real effort.
“Ahh, don't think it's a good idea to find out. For you to find out.”
They played a friendly tug-of-war with each other’s wrists, stopping only when Abby shifted around in her sleep, disturbed by the motion.
“Just let me try. You never know. It might help you sleep now that you're older.” Vanessa insisted. Mike sighed, relaxing his body. He gave her his arm.
She rolled over onto her stomach, laying on her elbows to get a better look at both his arm and face. He closed his eyes, face schooled neutrally.
With one finger, she stroked up and down his wrist and forearm.
His eyes creased tighter, lips wobbling to fight against a small smile. He pursed them out like a duck to keep it from twitching.
“Really? Just this?” She teased. She pulled away for a second, before waggling her three middle fingers over the inside of his bicep.
He tittered, immediately pulling his arm in and shrugging up.
Mike opened his eyes to see Vanessa staring at him in such a way it made him blush. He looked at the blanket-ceiling with a frown.
“You didn’t grow out of it.” She deduced.
“Right, thank you.”
“It’s alright, you can stick to your whale sounds.”
“Will do.”
“No more pills, though.”
“Yeah.”
Without any warning Abby huffed up, startling Mike and Vanessa. She sat straight, her eyebrows angry. She crawled out of the fort.
“Where are you going?” Mike called out to her.
“My room! Flirt without me next time.” She sassed with a hint of disgust laced in her voice. She stomped to her room and shut the door with displeasure.
Mike, floored once again, stared speechlessly up at a stitch in the fabric.
Vanessa shrugged it off. She laid back down on her back, shifting around comfortably before sticking her arm back toward Mike. He shyly obliged, continuing the earlier ministrations.
“It felt nice, actually." he said. "It tickled, but I probably would have fallen asleep eventually.”
“Oh, good. Let’s try it tomorrow. Tonight’s my turn.” she said languidly. Mike smiled, happy she was receptive to his help without protesting.
“Okay.”