Work Text:
“Did you want a map of the island? Because if you hadn’t noticed, I can’t exactly draw one.”
Mephone sat on the edge of his bed as The Floor settled on the yarn carpet below it. He watched as the newly appointed assistant shuffled back and forth, as if pacing. It wasn’t really clear, since he didn’t have any legs.
Eventually, The Floor settled on— “We might have to do this reverse pictionary style.”
Which in Mephone’s opinion, was a horrible idea. Funny to imagine, but a horrible idea nonetheless.
“We are not doing that.” He said sternly, which earned a groan from Floory, who was probably trying to trick him into playing games. The cheeky idiot. That fact became even more apparent when The Floor pouted and sank slightly into the carpet, leaving only his head and the very top of his shoulders, his yarn hair bunching around him.
“You’re a killjoy.” The Floor said dryly.
“You’re childish.” He snapped back.
They stared at each other for a second. Floory broke eye contact first, staring off to the side. “Well, you should still actually have some sort of navigation tool. And you should probably tell me about stuff like what kind of challenges you have planned. I still want to do karaoke, but I also get to participate.”
Mephone looked at The Floor’s smiling face, slightly baffled but also not surprised in the slightest. Not after he almost erupted the volcano and single handedly killed them all. He sighed. To be entirely honest, he couldn’t really be bothered, at least not tonight.
“Look, can we just talk about this tomorrow? It’s getting late.” He muttered, the comment earned a chuckle from Floory, who had since straightened up to about his waist.
“Oh Mephone, mate.” He started, leaning slightly back with his usual carefree grin, looking smug. “And I thought I was the slacker.”
Mephone glared at him, crossing his arms. “Hey, I didn’t ask you to show up at my doorstep this evening. You chose to do that on your own accord.”
“And YOU let me in.” Floory replied instantly. Mephone was sure that if he had arms, they would also be crossed to reflect his own. “So really you let this happen.”
Touché
A few quiet seconds went by, and Mephone looked down at The Floor, who eventually noticed him staring and stared back without a word. In this moment of silence, he started thinking. About the things that happened today, and how calm everything was now compared to a few hours ago. Mephone cleared his throat. “So what, are you planning to stay here or something?”
Floory squinted at him. “Yes, did today mean nothing—”
“No, I meant here as in here in this room.”
Mephone could see Floory physically perked up in interest, and Mephone immediately had to dismiss this… feeling he suddenly got. He wasn’t even sure where it just came from, he just knew it was bad news. Nope, not today, satan.
“…Is that an invitation?” Floory asked, and god damn it, does Mephone want to say no. Say no, Mephone. Say—
“Do you…want it to be?”
That is NOT a no.
“Awe, Mephone!” The Floor practically lights up, a large grin on his face. “I’d love to be sleepover buddies! We get to do this again too, right?”
Mephone had to bite back a smile. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Just me letting you in today was a privilege no one else has, alright? Don’t expect this all the time.”
“Hooray!” Floory cheered, he then popped away from the light blue carpet and next to him on his bed, which then changed his composition to reflect the soft, fuzzy blanket. Most notably was his hair, which changed from the long yarn to a messy, fluffy looking fuzz that just reached his shoulders.
Mephone kind of wants to touch it.
Thank god for his restraint.
Mephone flinched as Floory leaned forward and turned his head, staring at his face. He knew if he could blush he probably would’ve.
That was when it hit him.
Oh no.
Before he could let his thoughts run further, Floory gave him the same sly grin he’s seen multiple times throughout the course of the competition. Either oblivious to Mephone’s silent dilemma or having caught on immediately, honestly he couldn’t tell but he hoped it’s the former.
“I guess you did end up giving me special treatment.”
It was so smug that Mephone almost felt indignant, but alas, he didn’t have the energy to. Instead, he looked at him straight in the face and on impulse, he—
“Yeah, well, maybe I like giving you special treatment, how about that!?”
Oh.
Oh my god.
Why did he say that?
Mephone watched as Floory’s face shifted between emotions, from surprise to confusion. He felt equal parts embarrassed and proud when Floory’s face turned tinted pink, which he didn’t even realize was a thing that could happen.
“Ah.” The Floor said simply, after a few seconds of not knowing what to respond to that disaster of a conversation. Floory then moved away from his face and sunk further into the blanket, eyes averted. “If— If you say so…”
The room went quiet, neither of them knew how to break the silence, which certainly wasn’t anything new for Mephone, but he internally noted that it was odd for The Floor, who always seemed willing to speak if no one else would. It made Mephone a little worried. Did he cross a line? Did he just ruin this when nothing even happened yet?
His train of thought came to a halt when he felt a nudge against his arm. Mephone looked down to see Floory resting his head on his arm, not being tall enough to reach his shoulder. As he expected, the ‘hair’ on his head was the same soft material that made the blanket, and therefore so was the rest of him.
Floory was only turned enough so Mephone could meet his eyes. “Are you gonna go to bed now? That’s not much of a sleepover.”
“You’re over, and we’d be sleeping. That’s a sleepover.”
The Floor frowned, and suddenly his willingness to be stubborn dissipated. Mephone sighed, rolling his eyes, and finally relented. “Okay, fine, you can come back tomorrow for a proper sleepover. If you want. But we’re sleeping tonight!”
Floory smiled, exclaiming a very enthusiastic— “Yay! That’s a deal!”
With that, Mephone allowed himself to smile back, small but genuine, and properly got in his bed. He then pulled on the blanket, forgetting that Floory was literally attached to it and inadvertently dragging him along.
“Ah, hey! Careful! I can move off myself.” The Floor huffed in mild annoyance before he popped away and down at the carpet he was previously on, still smiling as brightly as the sun. “I’ve already been tossed around all day, yeah?”
“Sorry.” Mephone said quickly, he wasn’t sure if he was sorry for the blanket or trying to forcibly remove him from the island earlier today, maybe a little bit of both. He didn’t elaborate though, and instead chose to look at Floory making himself comfortable on the carpet. “Do you usually sleep on the floor or what?”
“It’s in the name, isn’t it?” The Floor joked, raising a brow. “But actually, it depends. When I was competing I’d sometimes sleep on the bed, on the carpet. If I felt like it I’d sleep on the grass outside too. Wherever it is, I’d just sink into the surface and sleep.”
“Isn’t that uncomfortable?”
“Not especially.” He explained, tilting his head to the side. “Different surfaces do feel a little, well— different, but those ones I’ve already gotten used to. Maybe just a tad cold, no big deal.”
Mephone would feel skeptical, but The Floor is practically an enigma. Despite being a pretty friendly, open guy, Mephone still wasn't sure what he could do. If today was anything to go by, he’s clearly capable of a lot that he typically doesn’t show. So who was he to cast doubt?
“I guess.” Was Mephone’s curt reply, but watching the Floor shuffle on the ground didn’t feel right.
Now, Mephone knew what he wanted to offer, but he ended up biting his tongue. No, Mephone. Restraint, remember? It was far too soon, especially after he tried to kick Floory out of his own home.
“Hey, Floory.”
“Mmm?”
“I’m—” Mephone stuttered, much to Floory’s curiosity. He sighed, finally pushing his ego aside. “I’m sorry, for sending everyone after you today. I really wanted everything to go right, and in my mind, you were messing things up. You weren’t, you were just trying to stay here. Stay home. And I was going to take that away for this competition that I’m not even sure will be worth it.”
When The Floor remained silent, he continued.
“I didn’t know what to do when you refused to leave, so I just lashed out. Paintbrush even told me it was wrong and I brushed them off.” Mephone stared down, his own hands fidgeting nervously. The silence was starting to get to him. He spoke faster.
“Listen, I don’t have the best track record with assistants.” Mephone paused, shaking his head. He looked up, finding the little last bit of courage he has to meet Floory’s eyes. He stood up from the bed and walked over, blanket in hand, kneeling next to Floory. “I know I messed up plenty of times, I’m not exactly delicate or considerate, but I want to make it up to you. So if you would give me a chance, I’ll try to do my best.”
Floory’s eyes followed his hands as Mephone reached around and draped the blanket over Floory’s shoulders. “Have the blanket, it’ll keep you warmer.”
Before he was going to stand back up, The Floor finally spoke.
“Mephone, wait—”
Mephone halted all of his actions, letting Floory look around and rise up from the carpet a little more, to about his torso. The Floor blinked once, twice, and smiled.
“Hug me?”
“Wh—”
“Hug me.” He insisted. “Please?”
Mephone relented, sat down, and hugged him as best he could. For some reason, reasons he didn’t want to acknowledge just yet, he didn’t want to let go, even if it was awkward to be sitting and hugging someone much shorter, if you could even call it that.
“It’s okay, I forgive you. We’ll do fine, you’ll do fine.” Floory mumbled, burying his face in his shoulders. “I trust you.”
Mephone knew there was so much Floory doesn't know, he couldn’t possibly know, but in some odd way, he felt a little better. He stayed like that for god knows how long, but he was comfortable, he was calm.
Eventually though, Mephone had to let go. The Floor still had his smile, his optimism shined through. “Do you feel better now?”
Mephone returned the smile with a small nod.
“Good!” Floory chimed happily. “Now get back to bed, silly. Didn’t you say you were tired?”
“Yeah, well, you distracted me.”
“No, you just wanted to talk.” He mused, settling down, the blanket still over his shoulders. “Turn off the lights and go to bed already.”
Mephone sighed overdramatically, standing up and turning off the lights before wandering over to his bed, finally settling in, feeling like he could finally relax. He looked over at the spot on the carpet The Floor was inhabiting.
“Good night.”
“G’night.”
Mephone got good sleep that night.