Sleeping With Sleep

IV

Vessel led me further down the red-lit hallway and into the large backstage area. I feared getting caught by security, even if I was accompanied by Vessel, so I stuck close. We turned a corner to the right and after a few feet there were a set of 5 doors, three of them labeled 'SLEEP TOKEN' with their respective names. Vessel grabbed my hand and peeked through the second door labeled 'II', but found it empty. The first and third doors had the same result. We made it to the fourth door and I could faintly hear hushed voices from inside. I looked up at Vessel nervously, but he just squeezed my hand and nodded.

Vessel cracked the door and poked his head in. I heard the room go silent and another unfamiliar voice ask what happened.

"Just trust me, yeah?" Silence, then a unanimous 'ok'.

Vessel glanced around over his shoulder for any staff and pushed the door open, pulling me along with him. We stepped in and I shyly peeked around his arm at the occupants of the green room.

The room was designed the same as the one we were just in, but there were two other doors at the back wall. I assumed this was a sort of bedroom and bathroom for when performers do multiple shows here. II and IV shared the couch and III had opted for the floor. III offered a small wave, which I returned. IV was on his phone, but glanced up and nodded. II just stared at me in silence, making me feel out of place in the room.

Vessel cleared his throat and wrung his hands for a second, clearly unsure what to say. I nervously introduced myself.

"U-um... I'm y/n... Um... I swear you can trust me... I'm not just some crazy fan or something, heh heh... Ehh... Yeah..." Fuckin' nailed it. III snorted and waved a dismissive hand.

"You're good. If Vessel says it's ok, then I'm not gonna worry. Unless he starts singing Sleep's praises, then I'd have my damn doubts." IV, glancing at III from his phone, let out a short nose laugh.

I felt Vessel's grip on my hand get tighter, so I squeezed back and he loosened up, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand.

II caught the gesture and his scowl softened. Protective, maybe?

Vessel opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. He did this a few times before IV, finally putting his phone down, spoke.

"Man, it's ok. Really. You guys don't have to freak. III may have been joking, but the statement still stands. If you give the green light, then we're good. We trust your judgment. You've come a long way since... You know..." IV turned his gaze to me.

"And you." I gulped and nodded, feeling small.

"You better be prepared for a lot of crazy supernatural shit. There's things we all can do that most regular people would report to the damn government, saying some motherfuckers escaped Area 51. You gotta be able to handle that and not decide one day to go snitch. And... You gotta be able to handle him... He's a big softie, but there's a lot goin' on up there..." IV held eye contact with me for a few solid seconds after, before glancing back at Vessel, then settling back into his phone, scrolling away.

I had no idea how to respond, though it was very sweet what he said about Vessel. By everyone's reactions, it seems IV doesn't say things like that often. Vessel's bottom lip trembled slightly. I smiled up at him and I heard shuffling from the floor. III stood and stretched his lanky legs.

"Well. Now that that's settled, I gotta pass around everyone's shit. Generous crowd tonight!" III took a step over to the vanity that was decently covered in boxes, plastic gift baggies, and other random gifts.

He grabbed the little black box I had handed him and untied the red tulle bow, letting it flutter to the floor. He removed the lid and slid it under the box, pulling out the Zip-Loc bag with individual Jolly Ranchers, Smarties, and those mini bags of Haribo gummy bears. He turned it, looking at each snack, before putting the corner of the zipper between his teeth through the fabric of his mask. He then picked out one of the little felted dolls I had made and looked it over before passing it to IV who set his phone aside to look the doll over. III tossed II his doll, and II looked it over longer than I expected. I noticed he had a small smile on his face. III found his own doll and laughed, turning it over in his hands.

"That's so cute, it's so little!" I couldn't help but smile and let out a soft laugh. III turned back to me.

"You made these?" I nodded, my face heating up as I got shy. III held out the box to Vessel to grab his own, still staring at his doll.

Vessel picked it out of the box and III set the box back onto the vanity. Vessel brought the doll close to his face and I could see he was squinting to see. I assumed it was because of the mesh in the eyes of his mask, so I reached up and unbuckled it for him, gently slipping it off his face. He froze for a second, peeking up at me through his hair. I just beamed at him, letting him know it's alright. He just nodded and looked back at the doll, holding it ever so gently. He didn't have paint on his palms anymore, so he was safe to touch the doll and not get the black paint on it. He ran a gentle finger over the doll's head, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I love it..." I laughed and rested my head on his arm. I looked up from Vessel's hands and back to III, who had already pulled his mask up to snack on the candies I gifted.

What made me freeze was the fact that he had the same extremely sharp teeth as Vessel, but as he was eating, he wouldn't lift his hand to his mouth to put the Smartie into his mouth. His almost 12 inch tongue lazily slithered out and stuck one of the dry candies to it, then pulled all the way back in. I was so enthralled that I didn't realize my mouth was hanging open and I was very clearly staring. I was brought out of it by II cracking up, his wheezy laugh startling us all.

"Damn girl, don't start drooling on our floor! We get charged a cleaning fee just for the paint marks!" Vessel glanced around, taking in the scene and started laughing too. He reached up and pushed my chin up, closing my mouth.

"Y/n, this is our normal. This is what you'll need to get used to. Eventually, anyway." Vessel slipped the doll into his pants pocket and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me to his side and kissing the top of my head. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, bracing myself.

"Ok then... What exactly can you all do, then? Just... get it all out at once? Less surprises in the future." Vessel nodded and ushered me to the makeup chair to our left.

"Good call." He folded his arms and cleared his throat.

"So... the teeth, hands, tongue, that's all unanimous. We can all do that. The um... Vines are just mine... But they have other abilities too. III?" III nodded and rubbed his hands together, excited.