First fic for the Pandora Hearts fandom! Please be kind.
I wrote this because I needed to at least write fic for this fandom before Mochizuki-sensei kills all of my favourite characters. Yep.
title: Just Enough
characters/pairings: Gilbert Nightray, Vincent Nightray, Elliot Nightray, Echo, Leo.
rating: K
warnings: uh. unnecessary Gilbert angst?
summary: Gilbert's always had trouble sleeping in his room at the Nightray Manor, it was always too much and never enough.
disclaimer: Nope. Just a poor Biology major.
Unbeta-ed. Mistakes are mine.
Just Enough
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It was exactly fifteen minutes past eleven that evening when the storm started.
Gilbert knows because that was the time when he was finally, finally drifting off to sleep. His eyelids had been on the verge of drooping closed when the first clap of thunder reverberated inside his room in the Nightray Manor, quickly followed by the heavy patter of rain against the rooftops.
The dark-haired man sighs, giving the small clock on top of his desk a tired look. He's been trying to fall asleep for almost an hour now, and when he had finally, finally, managed to dredge up the slightest hint of sleep into his tired bones, it gets chased away by the sound of thunder. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. He's always had trouble sleeping in this room, it was always too cold, too warm, too empty, and occasionally, when Vincent manages to worm his way into Gilbert's room and into his bed, too full. It's one of the main reasons he avoids staying over at the manor if he can help it, that and the cloying feeling that something was missing, something was wrong.
Everything was too much and never enough.
And that thought makes him feel all sorts of horrible because he shouldn't think that way, especially when the Nightrays gave him a roof on top of his head and a warm bed to sleep on, practically presented Raven in a silver platter. Not to mention a little brother who loves Gilbert more than anything in the world. And he knows that he should stop wanting what's already gone in the past, because even though Oz was back, there were just things that can't be brought back.
But still, Gilbert wants and wants and wants because he's a horrible, horrible person.
Gods, I need to sleep.
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At exactly twelve midnight, Gilbert wakes up to see Elliot scowling down at him with the fiercest frown on his face whilst clutching a pillow to his chest, face illuminated by a well-timed lightning strike that elicits an almost imperceptible flinch from the boy. It's a decidedly peculiar sight, something that he hasn't seen ever since Elliot had been eight and wide-eyed and deathly afraid of thunderstorms. And Gilbert just stares blankly back at the boy, countering Elliot's angry glare with a confused squint of his eyes.
They stay like that for a full minute before the cloud of sleep finally clears away from Gilbert's mind and he wordlessly shifts to his right, motioning for Elliot to get in and sleep.
And Elliot, in typical Elliot fashion just glares at him more before gingerly lifting the dark velvet sheets and settling close beside him. The boy then proceeds to throw an arm over Gilbert's waist, glaring up at him as daring him to send Elliot away.
As if Gilbert could.
"Good night, Elliot," he mumbles sleepily into Elliot's hair, left arm cradling the boy into his chest protectively.
"Good night, Gil."
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At one-thirty in the morning, Vincent comes.
He blinks his eyes open to see Vincent scowling at Elliot's sleeping form on Gilbert's side, his little brother looking hopelessly forlorn and Gilbert has the sudden urge to hug Vincent right then and there and never let go. So he reaches out a hand and tugs at Vincent's arm.
"C'mere," he says when Vincent sits uncertainly at his other side, heterochromatic gaze never leaving Elliot. He tugs again at Vincent's arm, pulling his brother into a one-armed hug and tucking the blond into the crook of his neck.
"You're so warm, brother." Vincent sighs, snuggling closer and pressing a soft smile against the exposed skin of Gilbert's neck.
"Go to sleep, Vince."
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Somewhere along the line, Gilbert's lost track of time and can't be bothered to check the clock, Echo enters the room and settles herself on the foot of the bed. She nestles just between Gilbert's feet and gives him a sharp nod before dozing off effortlessly.
"Good night, Echo."
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"Good morning, Leo," Gilbert greets softly before he even opens his eyes; because he knows that Leo will always be there, will always be falling asleep at an awkward position on the plush armchair beside the bed, because that's just how Leo is.
"Morning, Gil." Leo's sleep-addled voice pipes up as if on cue, causing a smile to unfurl on Gilbert's lips.
And he thinks, that maybe, just maybe, this could be enough.
(It already is.)
A/N: I'm sorry, there was supposed to be plot, but I seem to have misplaced it.