Only If For a Night(MxM)

After Dark

"Will you stop floppin' like a dyin' fish, please? I wanna go to sleep," Jet chastised after Zuko tossed over for the seventh time in five minutes.

"Sorry. I have a hard time sleeping in new places," he grumbled back, burrowing under the covers deeper only to kick them off almost immediately after.

"I'm going to sit on you if you don't hold still," Jet growled.

"Looks like going to a different country didn't outrun my insomnia," he joked dryly, sitting up.

"How much sleep do you get in a week? Be honest," Jet didn't sit up too but watched him as he scrubbed a hand through his wild hair.

"Maybe like, sixteen hours a week, if I'm lucky."

"Jesus, kid. How do you hold down a full-time job?" Jet marveled.

"I have fantastic hair. They can't fire me. It would be a sin," he sighed.

Jet fought the chuckle but lost.

~0~

Jet was never one to struggle to fall asleep anywhere; he didn't have to be lying down. He dozed in and out of consciousness for an hour. They had alarms and cameras and buzzers all over the cabin to let them know if anything walked through the doors or windows. He sort of hoped that there weren't mice because the system was so sensitive that it might trigger the sensors if a wayward rodent was to scamper too zealously across the kitchen. Even with all these precautions, his mind wouldn't let him sleep any more in-depth than a snooze.

So when Zuko got out of bed and padded his feet quietly across the room and stood at the side of Jet's bed and deliberated for a few seconds, he was wide awake but kept his eyes closed. He was curious about what was going to happen.

Zuko stopped his nervous fidgeting and seemed to steel himself before climbing under the covers.

Okay, so that is not what he thought was going to happen.

His warm body wormed under as quietly as he could, laying like a ramrod on the precipice, a millimeter away from the edge.

He was acting like a dog that knew he wasn't allowed on the bed but couldn't help himself, so he was ready to jump off at the sound of trouble.

"What are you, doin'?" Jet asked, amused. Even in the limited light, he could see how the blush that was traveling at furious speeds across Zuko's face.

"I can't sleep," he mumbled, pulling the covers tighter up against his neck, hiding his face.

"You can't fall asleep," Jet repeated, rolling on his side to face him. He wasn't getting up. This was going to be too much fun.

"No," he squeaked.

"Last time you couldn't sleep, you called me from across the ocean during a war, and now you're crawling into bed with me? Do you like me or somethin'?" He teased.

Zuko started to slip out of bed to hide in his own, but Jet caught his wrist, laughing.

"I'm kiddin'; you can stay," Not entirely sure he had meant it until it came out of his mouth, but he didn't want to pull the words back in.

"Maybe a little bit," Zuko said gently after a moment of silence. Jet kept his fingers laced around his wrist.

"What?"

"Maybe I like you a little bit," Zuko sighed.

Jet grinned and scooted closer, close enough that he slid his leg between Zuko's. The way that he inhaled flipped his stomach.