In which you find a nice, cozy place to keep your sleeping friend.
You look down at your tiny friend, currently cuddled up in your lap, with your hand curled around them as they’ve dozed off, the show you were watching quickly becoming background noise as your focus shifts. You knew they would fall asleep, even though they insisted that they wouldn’t. You huff quietly to yourself in amusement, seeing their arms draped over the side of your hand, and reach your thumb in to give them a gentle prod to their side. You’re met with a mumble as they wave you off, and you sigh as you gently gather their sleeping form into your hands.
You think briefly about putting them to bed. It’s still hours before you’re ready to sleep yourself, otherwise you’d just hold them as usual, but after a moment you realize you don’t want them to wake up from their nap confused and disoriented by themselves. You decide to pocket them instead, letting them sleep but keeping them close.
Before tucking them away, however, you stand and cradle them to your chest as you head for your room. With one hand bracing them close, you use your other to open their drawer, a space dedicated to them for privacy, and pull their blanket from their bed. You then sit down on your bed, bringing your hands together to make sure your friend is cozy first. You loosely drape their blanket around them, making sure they’re wrapped up comfortably, but not at risk of accidentally being stuck in the blanket when they wake up, not that you wouldn’t immediately help them anyway.
Most of your shirts have deep pockets these days, and the one you’re wearing is no different. You hold your hands to your chest, using one to carefully hold their limp, bundled body while the other widens the pocket opening. With care and attention to how their limbs are bending, you gently slide them in, making sure that their arms and legs are securely in place and oriented properly, with the blanket covering them, not suffocating them. You watch them curl inward as they settle in, as if they know where they are even in their sleep, their arms tucking the blanket around themselves as they wriggle around until they’re comfortable.
Once you see that they’ve settled in, you stand to your feet and grab a light sweater from your closet, putting it on and zipping it up most of the way. It’s closed enough to offer a comforting sense of pressure and darkness, but loose enough to allow for proper airflow. Now that you’ve made sure they’re secure and in a cozy environment, you take a moment to focus on their weight, or lack thereof. It’s a constant reminder of just how tiny they are, despite what their personality would lead you to believe if you didn’t know them in person.
That being said, you’ve been around them long enough that you can feel their weight, your body having become hypersensitive to it in order to accommodate them more effectively. More important, however, is the emotional weight that you feel when you carry them. You know they can take care of themselves, but more often than not they simply opt to keep close to you anyway. The weight of their trust in you is far heavier than their physical weight could ever account for, and you feel heartened each time something like this happens. They trust you when they’re at their most vulnerable, and that is something you don’t take for granted, no matter how comfortable the two of you are interacting with each other.
You know you’re a comforting presence to them, but they’re a comforting presence for you, too. Their presence and perspective helps to keep you grounded at all times. Any challenges you may face on a daily basis feel trivial compared to what your tiny friend would experience without you, and it’s a relief to focus on them instead when things get difficult. If there’s a raging storm out, you’re less concerned about the potential damage being done than you are holding your friend close because they’re terrified by storms, and rightfully so at their size.
You feel them shifting about slightly, pulling back your sweater to peek into your pocket. They’ve wrapped themselves up further in the blanket, fully snuggled in as they sleep with a peaceful expression. You smile and leave them be, feeling a flutter in your chest as you settle yourself down on the couch again. Leaning back, you feel their weight shift to lean slightly against you, and if you focus just enough, you can feel their tiny breaths as they sleep, slowed as they slip from a light nap to a deep slumber.
You put on some soft music, lifting a hand to rest it over the small lump they form beneath your sweater, your thumb beginning to idly stroke them as you relax. You close your eyes, finding yourself at peace knowing they’re so close. Even if they aren’t awake, even if you can’t immediately see them, you know you’re not alone.
You’ve got them, they’re safe.