COMPLETED | Take Me Down The Rabbit Hole (BDSM | 18+)

LIX

"I'd love to say I haven't been making a habit out of sleeping in places that aren't beds, but that'd be a lie."
"But I'd be amiss not to take opportunities where they present themselves, wouldn't you agree?"

"Aspen!"
Someone had grabbed Aspen's shoulder and shaken him awake. He let out a groan and sat up, his sight still blurry.
"Good evening, sleeping beauty," Thea mused, and put a bowl of brown sauce on the table.
Aspen blinked, still somewhat disoriented. "Smells good."
"Mole," Thea explained. "Leo's favorite."
"It's slightly sweet like I like my coffee," Leo added, and Aspen noticed that he'd once again shed his suit for a pair of grey sweatpants and a henley.
He made quite the eye candy if one allowed himself to think that far.
Leo reached across the table and offered Aspen a plate of tortillas. "Try it. You need to eat a few bites before you play Prince and the pea again, pet."
Aspen reached for a tortilla, tore off a piece, and dunked it in the sauce. "I don't know what's up with me these days," he mumbled, more to himself, and then stuffed the sauced piece in his mouth.
"Fuck, that is so good."
Leo laughed. Aspen had never quite heard a sound like that, and for a split second he'd wondered if Alan had heard it often, and if he missed it.
"A man after my own taste," Leo commented. — And Thea responded by smacking him in the back of the head with a kitchen towel. "Get in line," they huffed.
Aspen couldn't help but smile. "You look cute when you're jealous, Your Majesty."
"I'll give you jealous," Thea quipped.
"Ohhhhh," Leo whooped. "Can I join in?"
"You can get out of my face."
"That's not a no," Leo mumbled and shrugged his shoulders, before he, once again, reached across the table for Aspen's plate and piled black beans, rice, and a few tortillas on it before he ladelled sauce on top. "Here, this will fuel you up for more displays of jealousy."
Thea mumbled something in Spanish, but they sat to Aspen's left and helped themselves to food without really paying mind to Leo's quips.
"Maybe you should try a sleepy time tea before you go to bed," they finally spoke up after Aspen had cleared half of his plate, "and no, I don't think it's a good idea for us to play if you're almost asleep sitting."

Hours later, Aspen was lying in bed, and he was toying with the idea to go see if Thea was still awake — even if they didn't let him into the room anyway — but before he could've gotten up to do that, the door opened, unceremoniously, and Leo walked in, holding a steaming cup.
"Hello," he said as if he hadn't blatantly flirted with Aspen over dinner. "Here's some more horchata for you."
"Stop flirting with me."
"No. May I?"
Leo didn't wait for an answer, he merely put the cup down on the nightstand and squeezed himself onto the tiny bit of mattress between the edge of the bed and Aspen.
Aspen didn't move, but Leo didn't move either. He began picking invisible pieces of lint from his shirt.
"Are you going to say something?" Aspen asked after five minutes of torturous silence.
"I could," Leo responded easily. "What would you like me to say?"
"Tell me why you've decided to waltz into my room at god knows when with a cup of horchata and are now in my bed."
"If you weren't here right now, this'd be my bed."
"So this is about the bed?"
"No."
Aspen glanced at Leo and then ran a hand through his hair. "You're infuriating."
Leo nodded, and then he twisted in his position and grabbed the cup. "Drink."
If Aspen had been any more agitated, he would have dumped the cup on Leo's head — but the cup was still warm and the comforting aroma of the drink wafted into his nose, almost putting him right to sleep.
"I haven't always been an insomniac."
"But?"
"But ever since I spent a night cuddled into Alan's arms I haven't been able to—"
Aspen didn't finish the sentence, but Leo nodded. "My sibling, bless their heart, is a bit of a recluse when it comes to sharing their bed with someone. They don't like it."
"So this is about the bed after all!?"
Leo laughed. "In a way. You can tell me to leave and I'll go back to the couch, but the offer stands."
"You came in here to cuddle me to sleep?"
"Yes," Leo finally admitted.
"Why didn't you just say that?"
Leo shrugged. "But anyway, if you are having trouble sleeping, you should look into weighted blankets... Or those weighted stuffies they market to children. Some of those you can put in the microwave to warm up, too."
"Or," Aspen started, taking another sip of his horchata, "you could stop being weird, stay here in New York for a little longer, cuddle me to sleep every night, and rekindle your relationship with Alan while you're at it."
Leo stayed silent, and it turned the atmosphere in the room back to awkward, so Aspen shut his mouth too and kept drinking his horchata until the drink had eventually run out.

As soon as the cup was empty, Leo took it from him. "Good boy," he mumbled tenderly. "Time to sleep now."
Aspen didn't know if it was the drink or the cadence of Leo's voice that made warmth spread in his stomach, but he nodded and finally moved so Leo could have more space in the bed.
"Alarm all set?" Leo inquired.
"Yep. Unfortunately."
"Good. I'm assuming you want to be the little spoon, hm?"
Aspen flushed.
"Don't worry," Leo chuckled, "I'll keep myself in check."
"Yeah, you did so well with that all the other times since we first met."
"Careful, Aspen. If you don't watch your tongue, I'll serve you a spanking for breakfast tomorrow instead of eggs."
"You'll serve me breakfast? Oh, how the tables have turned."
Leo responded by giving Aspen a shove so he'd roll over on his side and gently wrapped his right arm around Aspen. "That's enough now. Buenas noches."