#obvi lol

[somethin-needs-to-go-here]

ARE WE FLIRTING OR FIGHTING RN IM SO CONFUSED AHEHFIHIUHEIUHWIHEIFUHISHIHIUHIUHFDUEQW

[0perfectimperfections0]

Flufftober: Day 6 - Late Night Talk

Characters: Lou, Nolan

_________

Nolan should have honestly expected to have to deal with an insomniac in his home because Luckybat had warned him that Lou didn’t sleep. Like an imbecile, Nolan had assumed Lucky was exaggerating. To be honest, it wouldn’t have been the first time Lucky blew things out of proportion. This was probably the first time that Lucky was actually right. Lou legitimately just never slept.

Apparently Lucky had already tried multiple tactics to get Lou’s sleeping habits back to normal, or to normal in general. No one was really certain if Lou had ever had a normal to go back to. Nolan was beginning to lean toward “no” on that thought. Because there was no way Lou could casually go about his day like the rest of them and yet having only sustained on less than an hour every night.

Not that Nolan had helped that, really. The first week of Lou moving in had consisted of them staying up late because it had felt more like a prolonged sleepover than official living arrangements. So Nolan had lined up movies for them to watch, popcorn, food that Mandy had prepared for them because getting situated had been a hassle. And it had been great…and then Nolan had to face the reality of needing sleep.

But seeing a light beneath Lou’s bedroom door had always given Nolan pause on his way to his own room. It was dim. Probably the lamp. Nolan always assumed that maybe Lou was just reading or winding down before bed. But the rare moments, during the second week of living together, when Nolan would find himself waking up to either use the bathroom or get water for a dry throat, the light would still be on.

He ignored it at first. Perhaps Lou just needed a light on when he slept. Nothing too different from Nolan’s own preferences.

And then he noticed the slight, very slight, quirks.

Despite the obvious desensitization his body had to run off of little sleep, he wasn’t immune by any means. Nolan noticed the minute abortions of foot movement whenever Lou realized, almost instinctually, that he was about to turn his foot inward and trip. A quick adjustment and just a second of pause and Lou was back on track. The way Lou’s hand would slightly miss the doorknob, but Lou would turn his head to say something to play it off as though he simply hadn’t been paying any mind.

Which was a lie, because Nolan had seen the way Lou could multitask at the office. Landline phone in one hand, pen in the other, foot tapping in restless antsy, eyes reading an email off the computer screen whilst listening to the speaker on the other line. And even after all of that, Lou could set down his pen, phone in the jux of his chin and shoulder, type out a reply to the email, and still uphold the conversation on the phone without so much as a suggestion that his attention was divided.

And to top it off, he sometimes shared an office space with Ox, so yes, that level of efficiency in the face of distractions was a talent.

Which had Nolan wondering if the lack of sleep had more to do with the fact that Lou was simply used to doing so much that doing nothing at all during sleep was basically impossible for him.

Only one way to find out.

He did it inconspicuously. Nolan walked past Lou’s door at around two in the morning to get water. A good enough excuse, anyhow. He twisted the knob, nudged it, kept walking, and waited to see if Lou responded as a sign of being awake.

“You left the door open.”

Nolan pursed his lips, pausing in his trek and nodding to himself in resignation that Lou was, in fact, wide awake for some reason. Which confirmed his suspicions, but at least he was certain now. The brunette backtracked, opened the door further to peek inside and saw Lou lying on his bed, book held up in his lap and his back against the headboard. “Can’t sleep?” he asked casually, not wanting Lou to get defensive right off the bat.

It worked, because Lou’s expression shifted to something almost abashed and his gaze averted back to the book he’d been reading, fingers fidgeting with the corner of the page. “Not really. I think I’m still adjusting.”

A very valid excuse. It would have passed as sincere if Nolan hadn’t known any better. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, arms wrapping himself. He walked over toward Lou’s bed and sat on the edge. “Lucky told me you had trouble sleeping for a while now.” He spoke carefully, not wanting to let on just how much he actually knew about Lou’s insomnia. The fact that Lou was admitting to not being able to sleep in the first place was already progress that Nolan didn’t want to undo over a stupid, unfiltered slip of the tongue.

“A while?” Lou echoed, arching a brow and finally closing his book and setting it on the nightstand beside the bed. His tone suggested that he could already tell Nolan was treading lightly. Which was ridiculous. He wanted Nolan to be blunt. Not tiptoe around the issue like they were strangers, because they weren’t.

Well, friendship was a two-way street.

“I don’t usually sleep well at night,” Lou continued, not bothering to let Nolan try and respond to that former question. His fingers laced together on his lap, eyes downcasting toward them. “Not really sure why, but Lucky had tried a lot of stuff to help me. Breathing techniques. Different diet. Drinks. Stuff like that. And, well,” he let the sentence hang, shrugging and letting his head roll in a vague direction to refer to their current circumstances.

The extra information was appreciated and Nolan gave a lopsided smile to show as much when it seemed Lou was growing self-conscious over how much he had spilled out. “I think you’re just too used to being busy, honestly,” Nolan spoke softly, leaning back on his hands. “If you relaxed more, you’d probably have an easier time sleeping.”

Lou sarcastically - almost with a sassy air - held up the book in his hand, not looking away from Nolan’s gaze.

The brunette gave him a flat look, took the book, and looked at the cover before returning his unimpressed expression back to Lou. “A business manual?”

“I thought it would bore me to sleep,” Lou spoke indignantly, but the words were pitiful even to his own ears.

Nolan deadpanned and tossed the book haphazardly to the floor. He didn't give time for Lou to let out a protest at the action before crawling up toward the headboard and getting under the covers next to Lou. “New plan: I'm staying with you tonight.”

“I've been staying with you for over a week now-” Lou started, genuinely confused and misinterpreting the wording of Nolan’s statement.

“No, I mean like staying in the same room as you and everything.” Nolan coaxed Lou to actually get situated in the bed with the intent of going to sleep. He wrapped an arm around the blond, arranging the other into a position where Lou’s head rested on his chest, closer to his shoulder. “Maybe you'll sleep better with someone next to you.”

Lou had given a noncommittal hum, not putting too much faith into the idea…

And roughly fifteen minutes later, Nolan felt the movement of Lou’s chest evening out and those pale eyelids didn't open again. He was out.

Nolan scoffed softly under his breath, a mix of smugness and fondness to the sound. “Yeah…that's what I thought.”

[sidsinning]

Who is she

[maleficusbonum]

Scenes in Scooby Doo (2002) that should have been allowed cussing:

Bonus: That whole Haunted Castle scene should have been fair game.

[annabellecanescookbook]

I am once again asking for podcast recommendations 😔

I've listened to Wolf 359, Penumbra, Magnus Archives, Brimstone Valley Mall, and the Left Right Game, I'm not crazy about gaming or rp podcasts though

[blackjacktheboss]

omg this is the first time i haven’t agreed w u on a headcanon... i feel like paul would have a big family (just bc the jackson’s have always been so small and i can see them freaking out inside bc they don’t know how to deal w crazy aunts and grandmas and the whole thing) and i feel like sally’s just the best person ever so she’d have like the few friends she’s had ever since high school who’ve just always had her back and there like such a squad and so much fun so yeah

Well for me it’s this: Percy has never mentioned aunts or uncles who were meaningful to him growing up, or any social network that helped support them. Abusive relationships alienate women from friends/social lives. On top of having a half magical kid who she was worried about being killed. He also never mentioned Paul having a family coming around or having to meet a bunch of new step relatives or coming up with something to tell family memebers about this camp he goes to every summer. How do you explain to extended family that your kid was just casually missing for a few months and you didn’t call the police or anything lol. I just think extended networks would have really complicated their lives so they didn’t have them.

[paladudette]

ah yes, the fourth. the day i remind my friends of our awful past by sending them many pictures of alfred f jones

[ghoulish-fiction]

Horny babble under the cut.

So like which Ghoul's hands do you find yourself staring at while they play wishing they were instead choking you and holding you down while you have the life fucked out of you? For me it's Swiss.