When Violence Ensues: Slenderverse Short Stories.

story eighty three: Sleepless once more.

"Patrick, how come you're still awake?" HABIT murmured, rubbing at his eyes as he stood in the doorway of the blonde's room. Dr Corenthal had adopted the Mining Town Four, and had offered Patrick a place to keep him close to HABIT- Fairmount staff had noticed a dramatic recession in the taller teenager's progress when HABIT had been discharged. It was certainly concerning, the two had come to rely heavily on each other for stability, in a way in which the staff could not explain. The only way to explain it was that Patrick and HABIT experienced withdrawal symptoms when separated, as if they were powerful drugs.

It was highly concerning, and there had been a mutual decision to place Patrick in Dr Corenthal's care.

Patrick turned his head to face the shorter other, a quiet sigh escaping his throat, "For the three days that I have been here, I have gotten two hours of sleep. I just feel as though something is awfully wrong."
In response, HABIT yawned and stepped into the room, letting the door close behind him. Currently, it was four in the morning; a thunderstorm raging outside. The rain was battering the bedroom window, the sound enough to chill Patrick to the bone. Shuddering lightly, the blonde wrapped himself up in his blanket and sat cross legged on his bed, observing with quiet interest as his friend chuckled and motioned toward the door,

"Well, we could always go get hot chocolate. Dr Corenthal can fight me." The dark haired teen mused lightly- earning a giggle from the other. Grinning, Patrick pulled himself out of the bed and wrapped the blanket around himself once more, before following his friend out of the room and down to the kitchen. They were moving as silently as possible, doing their best not to alert the rest of the house.
"Why are you bringing your blanket, you idiot?" HABIT whispered in a teasing tone, as Patrick rolled his eyes,
"I'm cold."
"You're always cold."

Arriving at the kitchen, the two teenagers noticed that the main light was on, and the doctor was sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by files. Raising an eyebrow, HABIT stifled a yawn and leaned against the kitchen counter, "Sorry, are we intruding?"

Glancing up, after tiredly rubbing at his eyes, the doctor sighed and gave a light smile, "No, not at all. What are you boys doing up at this hour?"

"Can't sleep. Resorted to a hot chocolate mission." HABIT responded bluntly, motioning to Patrick- whom of which was clutching his blanket tightly around his tall frame, "This weirdo is cold."

Giving a soft, amused chuckle, Dr.Corenthal shook his head, "You two weirdos are always up to something, hm? Alright, need any help with the hot chocolate?"

The shorter of the teenagers gave a mischievous grin and shook his head, "Nope, we're all good here. What're you readin'?" He questioned, as he happily set about making mugs of hot chocolate for Patrick and himself.  Dr Corenthal was clutching a mug of hot black coffee, as he glanced around the files splayed on the table in front of him,
"Your case files." The glasses-wearing doctor replied; exhausted.
Letting out a low whistle, HABIT grinned and rolled his eyes,
"Interesting late night reading?"
"Horrifying, really." Corenthal pointedly replied, earning a chuckle. Patrick, however, cocked his head to the side and stifled a yawn,

"That is a lot of files for one teenager."
"Yes, well, this teenager has a long history for someone with so little years." The doctor mused, before piling the files up and neatly setting them off to the side- diverting his attention back to the two boys standing in front of him, "Your hot chocolate should be ready."

"Yup, yup." HABIT quipped, as he poured out two mugs of hot chocolate and handed one of the mugs to Patrick- whom of which politely thanked him and shivered lightly as he brought the hot mug to his face and relished in the warmth.

Ever with the endearing qualities, HABIT mused internally.

"You boys really should be getting to bed, to try and rest." Corenthal yawned, before taking a swig of his coffee,
"You're one to talk, doctor." HABIT scoffed, "You need more sleep than we do. We're kinda used to the whole no sleep thing."

The older man shook his head tiredly, stifling another yawn before gesturing to the files, "I have work to do. Reports to complete. Duty calls, HABIT."

Patrick lightly smiled and took a sip of the hot chocolate before speaking, "Yes, but do not sacrifice your health for your work. Do get some rest, doctor." The blonde quietly spoke, as HABIT rolled his eyes and smirked,

"Would suck if you got sick."

"Gee, thanks for the sentiment, HABIT." Corenthal retorted, earning a quiet laugh from both of the teenagers, who then made their way back to the doorway and out into the hall- heading back upstairs. Uttering their 'goodnights' to the doctor, HABIT  and Patrick retreated back to the blonde's room and sat on the floor, closing the door behind them.

"Midnight mission- success!" The dark haired teenager quipped, before happily sipping the hot chocolate and sighing. Patrick copied him, and then set his blanket back onto his bed and made himself comfortable on the floor just in front of his friend,
"Thank you, HABIT. You always do seem to step in when you know something is wrong."

Groaning, the other grimaced and took another swig of the hot chocolate to stall his response, "Stop with the sappy shit, Andersen. I just do stuff."

"Nice stuff."

"I'm not nice!"

"Whatever you say, hero." Patrick teased, before sipping at his own hot chocolate and attempting not to laugh or choke due to the look of pure disdain on his friend's face.
"You look like I just kicked you."

"Don't call me a hero, you asshat. I'm not nice, not a hero. I just fuckin' love hot chocolate."

Patrick grinned, eyes lit up like stars with mischief, he'd hit a nerve,
"Alright, nice person."

"I fucking hate you." The other sighed, while Patrick laughed.

Perhaps sleepless nights were not all bad.

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Hello all!!
I hope you have been well!!
I apologise greatly for the serious lack of uploads. Life has been extremely chaotic, and my family and I are coping with a death in the family.
We are taking it hard, and it's difficult to cope. But it will be okay.

I love you guys!! You mean the world to me, and i seriously hope life has been treating you well.

Until next time!! ♡♡