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When Zam woke up there was a lavender shirt in his face and a pair of arms wrapped tightly around him. Briefly startled, Zam quickly made a mental list of what had happened the previous day. Right, he joined the Eclipse Federation, cried just a little bit, and then fell asleep with Subz.
Subz, who was currently gently cradling Zam in his arms with his brown hair tickling Zam’s nose. Zam offhandedly realized that he had never been this close to someone with straight hair. Subz’s hair felt a little more bristly than what Zam was used to, but not in a bad way. His hair was just long enough to reach Zam’s face from where his head was tucked firmly under Subz’s chin, just strong enough to be comforting, but not panic inducing. Zam decided he liked waking up with Subz there.
Zam hadn’t woken up being held like this since he and Pangi were together during season three. They were close then, really close. The PrinceZam empire was warm most of the time, but they still found excuses to tangle their bodies together, even if that meant they slept without blankets.
His old normal arrangement with Pangi was actually pretty similar to how he and Subz laid now. There were plenty of blankets on the bed, all of which were scrambled into some sort of nest. “Bed” was actually a really loose term to refer to where Zam was currently laying. It was more of an oblong mattress covered in blankets, raised about a foot or so off the ground. Definitely Vitalasy’s doing, Zam decided.
Speaking of Vitalasy, he seemed to have made it to bed sometime in the night. From behind Subz, Zam could just make out the orange tips of his hair. And with the absence of any background noise, he could hear Vitalasy’s soft snores just fine. Snoring was also something Zam hadn't experienced before from someone who he shared a bed with, though Vitalasy’s snores were very cute. Vitalasy snuffled a little and tightened his arms around Subz fractionally. He had managed to worm his arms all the way around Subz, effectively spooning him, which pressed Subz between the two of them. It wasn’t a position Zam would have guessed that Subz would like to be in, but for some reason Subz’s body temperature was really low though, so Zam could tell he needed it. From Subz’s relaxed state, Zam could tell that being cuddled by Vitalasy was a normal occurrence for him.
Zam didn’t quite know Vitalasy that well, as Subz had been the one to recruit him and do most of the talking. Zam was sure he would gain a closer relationship with Vitalasy soon, but for now he was still a question mark on Zam’s list. Things between them were definitely about to change though as soon as they woke up in the same bed. Zam wondered if Vitalasy was a morning person, would Zam still even be in bed by the time he woke up?
Zam’s thoughts were interrupted when Subz began to stir. A rumble sounded from his throat for just a second before his chin pressed down on the crown of Zam’s head and his arms shifted. After a second to stillness, Zam felt Subz loosen his arms and turn his head. He must have also experienced the “where am I” feeling, especially since Zam being here was a new development. For someone who was used to waking up to dark purple hair, neon yellow has got to be a dramatic change. Zam scooted back just a little to look Subz in the eye, letting him know that yesterday wasn’t a dream.
“Hi Subz. Good morning,” Zam greeted, voice at a low level to not wake Vitalasy.
“Hi Zam,” Subz yawned and rubbed his eyes with the hand not trapped under Zam.
“Oh, hold on,” Zam quickly lifted his side off the bed and pulled Subz’s arm out from under him. He really didn’t mean to trap it there, but he guessed when you put your arm under an entire human being, it’s going to stay there.
“Sorry about that,” he smiled and gave Subz’s arm back to him.
“Don’t worry about it,” Subz reassured him. “This idiot does it all the time.”
He was referencing Vitalasy of course, who still had Subz locked in a tight embrace. From where Zam had put a bit of distance between him and Subz, he could now see that Vitalasy’s arms nearly went all the way around Subz’s middle. One of his hands was fisted in the fabric of Subz’s shirt while the other lay relaxed on the bed. Subz grabbed the relaxed hand and tossed it over his body in an attempt to free himself from Vitalasy’s grasp.
“Vitalasy!” Subz elbowed Vitalasy as best he could. “Vitalasy! Vi! V- I swear to god…“ Subz rolled them both to their backs, then flipped himself onto his stomach, throwing Vitalasy’s arms off as he did.
“Vi. Vitalasy, Vitalasy,” Subz propped himself up on Vitalasy’s chest with one hand and poked him in the face with the other. Vitalasy must be a damn heavy sleeper if that didn’t wake him up, either that or he was used to Subz waking him up that way. Eventually Vitalasy’s face scrunched up and he cracked his eyes open fractionally.
“Wha..?” Vitalasy muttered, eyes barely staying open for half a second before sliding closed again. One of his hands slid over Subz’s back to hold him against his body.
“Did you make the fire res pots last night?” Subz asked, batting Vitalasy’s arms off him and somehow managing to stay upright at the same time.
“Umm yeah, they’re in the… in the place,” Vitalasy yawned, still trying to hook an arm around Subz and failing.
“Thanks, that's really specific,” Subz deadpanned.
“It’s just the-”
“I’ll find them, I’ll find them,” Subz rolled his eyes and slid off the bed, giving Vitalasy a quick kiss on the cheek as he went. Vitalasy whined and tried to grab him back, met once again with Subz swatting his hands away.
“Go cuddle with Zam,” Subz told him. “I’m not staying in bed with you again.”
Oh, that’s right, Zam was still here. In the haze of sleep he had forgotten that this was a real thing that was happening and not some weird dream about his new teammates.
In front of him Vitalasy gasped excitedly and flipped himself over with more speed than Zam thought was possible given his previous sluggish state.
“Hi Zam!” Vitalasy greeted, inches away from Zam’s face. He had respectfully kept his arms to himself, but Zam could tell he was itching to hug him.
“Oh, wow, your hair is like, yellow yellow,” Vitalasy observed, eyes trailing over Zam’s hair. Zam normally kept it in a ponytail or braid, but when he slept he liked his hair loose. Faint memories from last night of Subz’s fingers running through his hair surfaced in his mind.
“Yeah,” Zam laughed. “It’s not exactly a natural color.”
Vitalasy nodded and yawned, and his eyes slid closed. Watching him, Zam felt himself get tired too. But before he could fall completely asleep he was interrupted by Subz speaking from across the room.
“Put your head on his chest,” Subz suggested as he tugged on his boots. “When he breathes he like,” Subz waved a hand around while he tried to think of the right word, “vibrates?”
On cue, Vitalasy flipped to his back and opened his arms towards Zam, a sleepy smile on his face. After a bit of hesitation, Zam arranged himself half on top of Vitalasy, head on his chest like Subz recommended. One of his arms crossed Vitalasy’s body to rest near his head, not quite starfish style, but close enough.
After a few seconds of waiting for the blood to stop rushing in his ears, Zam was able to focus on Vitalasy. At first he didn’t feel it, but then Vitalasy took a deep breath out and Zam gasped. Under him Vitalasy laughed a little at his reaction. Subz was actually right, there was a faint rumble coming from Vitalasy that was just detectable when Zam was right on top of him. It was ridiculously relaxing, thrumming through Zam’s skull.
“Right?” Zam could practically hear Subz smiling. “I think someone knocked one of his ribs loose and now his lungs are broken.” Vitalasy gasped in fake shock at Subz’s words.
“Hey!” Vitalasy defended himself. “My internal organs are fine!” Subz answered in the loud tone of voice that he used whenever he was arguing with Vitalasy and Zam slowly drifted back asleep. The two of them continued bickering about whatever and Zam was unintentionally tuning them out. He did want to hear, these were specifics of Vitalasy and Subz’s relationship that most members of Lifesteal wondered about, but the hum coming from Vitalasy was just so relaxing.
Sometime in the past two minutes Vitalasy had raised his arms around Zam and asked a quiet “can I…?” Before he even finished Zam had nodded and done his best to murmur an answer. Now with Vitalasy’s arms gently wrapped around his back and the quiet background noise of Vitalasy and Subz talking, Zam fell fully asleep again.
“Zam,” Vitalasy woke Zam up from his doze with a tap on his shoulder. “Zam, did you know that Subz can purr?”
“Hey! Whoa, whoa, maybe we dont tell him that,” Subz yelped, still inside the room, just with significantly more armor on.
“Wait, are you serious?” Zam asked, instantly interested. He remembered hearing something akin to a purr when Subz originally woke up, but had written it off as nothing.
Vitalasy started to explain but was quickly silenced by Subz throwing a leather boot at him. “Stop! Stop, stop, stop,” Subz glared at Vitalasy with narrowed eyes and pointed a finger as a warning. He then turned on his heel and left the room.
Not a second after he left Zam conspiratorially whispered to Vitalasy, “I think I heard him do it right when he woke up…”
“Really?” Vitalasy sounded excited. “I’m never awake before him! He always does it when he falls asleep though.”
Zam made a noise of acknowledgement and then fell silent. Now Vitalasy and Zam were alone, Zam didn’t know what to do. He was practically asleep on this guy, but had little to no connection with him. He had felt perfectly comfortable sleeping next to Subz, but Vitalasy a little less.
Luckily, Vitalasy seemed comfortable enough. He was playing with the tips of Zam’s hair, probably thinking that Zam couldn’t feel it. After a few seconds he started talking again. This time at full volume, definitely trying to bother Subz in the other room by telling Zam something he shouldn’t.
“Did you know that Subz likes to be ca-“
“VITALASY” Subz shouted from nearby. “I can literally hear you! Stop telling Zam things!” Zam couldn’t help but laugh, this was somehow exactly the conversation he expected to be exposed to when joining the Eclipse Federation.
“Oh yeah?” Vitalasy shouted back, raising an eyebrow at Zam. “Then what did I tell him?” He pointedly looked towards the door with an exaggerated expectant look on his face, making Zam laugh again.
“Something you shouldn’t be telling him,” came Subz’s answer after a few beats.
“That means he doesn’t know,” Vitalasy mock whispered to Zam. They both dissolved into giggles at the two’s antics.
After a few seconds Vitalasy decided to finish what he was previously going to tell Zam and got closer, pressing his face into Zam’s hair. His voice was barely above a whisper when he murmured, “Subz likes to be carried.” He said it like it was one of his biggest secrets, which, considering this was about Subz and that did not fit with his personality at all, it probably was.
“What.” Zam asked in disbelief. “There’s no way. What?” He lifted himself up slightly to look Vitalasy in the eyes, similar to how Subz laid on him previously.
“Yeah! Yeah,” Vitalasy said excitedly. Somewhere off to Zam’s right, he heard Vitalasy’s tail thump the bed a couple of times as it wagged. “He’ll flail around a bit but once you get him to stop he gets all floppy. It’s so cute.” Vitalasy’s eyes unfocused a little and a sappy smile crept onto his face.
“That makes no sense but also so much sense,” Zam told him, snapping Vitalasy’s attention back to him. Suddenly Zam realized just how close their faces were to each other and quickly moved his head back down. It wasn’t like they weren’t already in a horribly intimate position, but being close enough to Vitatalsy’s face to count his freckles made Zam’s face burn.
Luckily, Vitalasy hadn’t noticed Zam’s reaction. “Yeah! You just never know with him!” Vitalasy answered Zam’s previous statement. He began excitedly rambling about this and that, starting with things about Subz and quickly getting derailed. Zam tried to nod and produce answers to most of what he said, but he felt his eyes closing again. The soft rumble from Vitalasy’s chest, plus his voice was completely campfire-affecting Zam, and with the added knowledge that Subz was less than a couple blocks away, Zam comfortably drifted back to sleep.