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the ravenette rolled over in bed, eyes glued to his lap top now in front of him. his shoved his large frames back up and adjusted his headphones. it was another one of those nights were he stayed up against everyone’s advice and got a really bad headache from sleep deprivation. of course there was always the off chance that he’d get a terrible nose bleed as well. he hadn’t gotten one recenely so he just assumed it wouldn’t happen.
so he also assumed that as he felt something wet leak from his nose, it was just snot or something. as he wiped his face and didn’t look back at his hand to check the color of the liquid, he still ignored it. only when he looked down and his keyboard and saw the blood pooling into his sheets did he realized.
“shit.” richie murmured, sitting up in bed. he slammed his lap top and hopped off the bed. hold his nose with one hand, he fumbled around the house in an attempt to find a wet towel or something. he didn’t realize how fast he was moving around the house until he felt his head ache worsen and the darkened room suddenly light up a lot more. his legs trembled on he spot before he collapsed to the ground under him, hands falling to catch himself.
the sound of hurried foot steps let him know that his fall had in fact woken their room mate. there was frantic mumbling around him, but richie continued to lay there, only half conscious of the situation. he felt someone hook an arm under him, pulling him up and pulling his head back. a warm wet towel wrapped around his nose, wiping at the drying blood.
“can you hear me?” it only took a bit for sapnap’s voice to fade back in and richie rejoined reality. the boy looked up with his large green eyes, taking in everything around him before nodding. “what happened buddy?”
“i don’t even know.” he chuckled, leaning foreward to tangle his hands in his messy hair. “god my head hurts.
nick stood. “let me get you something.” he left to find the medicine cabinet and maybe some advil and iron pills. richie looked up to catch the older boy dropping to his knees next to him “do you want some water?” he shook his head, grabbing the meds from his friend’s hand.
“thanks man.” the boy dry swallowed the pills, eyes barely staying open.
“so how’d you get here richie?” sap asked, sitting down on the floor. rich cocked a brow. “dream doesn't let me call him ‘buddy’.” he explained smiling.
he rolled his eyes. “sounds like him. i uh,” he paused, looking around. “i was watching something, then my nose started bleeding and i came in here for a towel and then everything went blurry and i fell.”
“are you alright?” rich nodded.
“just a head ache.” he insisted. nick didn’t try to argue, knowing it probably wouldn’t get him anywhere. he instead stood from where he sat and continued past the boy on the floor to the kitchen. richie rolled over, warm towel still pressed against his nose. “watcha doing?” he asked as nick began prying through the fridge.
“do you wanna eat dream’s ice cream and watch movies?” the brunette asked as he emerged from the freezer with a large tub of ice cream and a smile. the boy on the floor nodded eagerly, only to remind himself how bad his head hurt.
‘you need sleep though.’ slime’s voice called out to him. richie sighed, finger’s adjusting on the towel.
‘later.’ he mumbled back, persistent on not letting the caretaker front and well, do his job of caretaking. slime realized this and decided not to press on. sapnap was a good friend, and for the most part, could talk care of the ravenette if he really needed it.
“can we watch ‘nightmare on elm’s street’ again?” richie asked as he wobbled up from the floor.
“i doesn’t get better the more we watch it ya’know?” sap groaned as he picked up two spoons. the younger scoffed, but he knew it was true. he was a sucker for sucky movies. “if we’re watching elms street again, then we’re also watching ‘poltergeist’.”
“but that one actually sucks.” the teen argued as he threw himself onto the couch. the two argued over which of the movies were good, bad-good, and downright shit; their opinions contradicting on every little idea.
half a tub of ice cream and three movies later, the two had fallen asleep on the couch. snores echoed through the house and the sound of bad quality screams erupted from the television, though woke no one. at some point during the night, richie had allowed himself to slip from the front and get some genuine rest alone in his room in the inner world. maggie noticed this, and took it as an opportunity to take front and clean up the couch and the half melted ice cream. she changed as well, not into something she liked, but into something clean that dream would probably prefer whenever they awoke. she laid down on their bed, enjoying her few moments in front before she too tumbled back to sleep.