Chapter Text
Before the sun has even come up, Poison is awoken by a quick patpatpat on their face.
They groan and curl unconsciously further into their blanket. Ghoul makes a displeased noise beside them and rolls over, digging his chin into their shoulder before seemingly falling back asleep.
“Party” whispers The Girl, apparently right by their face.
She taps their face again when they make no move to answer her. Poison lets out a frustrated sigh. Can’t they just sleep?
“ ‘s it?” they murmur, too stubborn to open their eyes just yet.
“ ‘arty!” The Girl says again, this time a little louder.
Then she puts her hands on their shoulders and shakes them.
“Fine,” they groan quickly, clumsily shaking off her hands. “Fine, I’m up. I’m up.”
The second Poison opens their eyes they’re met with The Girl’s face less than an inch away, watching them intently. It’s hard to really see her in the pre-dawn light but she doesn’t look upset or anything. Surely if something was wrong she’d be a bit more forceful about waking them. It’s happened plenty enough times by now.
And, clearly, she looks fine as far as they can tell. Maybe she’s just hungry?
“Party,” she says yet again, grabbing their arms and leaning back as if trying to pull them up.
Poison humors her and sits up, swiping their hair out of their eyes and straining to hear if anyone else is awake. Ghoul’s definitely asleep again, snoring rather loudly beside them, and they can hear Jet turn over on his mattress in the next room. Just barely, though the sound of the wind outside and the four year old giggling to herself about their bedhead, Poison can hear the radio. It sounds like it’s coming from the roof. Where Kobra probably is.
They should probably check on him, actually. Now that they think about it. They’d meant to before they’d gone to bed, but had been so tired that they forgot.
Poison mentally scolds themself for forgetting. This is like… the fifth day in a row that Kobra hasn’t slept at all.
They lean over and pick the kid up, adjusting her on their hip before standing with a groan. The week- old laser burn on their side twinges with the strain and they curse lightly under their breath.
“You didn’t hear that,” they warn The Girl once they’re out of the bedroom and standing in the dining area.
Everything’s so quiet, so still right now that every breath Ghoul and Jet take feels loud against the seemingly endless whisper of such an early hour. And, now that they’re directly under where Kobra is sitting, Poison can just barely hear Cherri’s voice flow quietly through the radio’s speakers.
“I heard it” The Girl insists, giving them a look.
Poison knows for a fact that she’ll rat them out to Jet the second she gets the chance. The swear jar is nearly full and most of it is their money, seeing as she always happens to be around when they curse and likes to tattle on them immediately. Little traitor.
They tell her as such and she giggles before squirming her way out of their arms.
She doesn’t like to be held as much anymore. And that’s something that Poison is trying very hard to respect. They know she’s growing up. That she’s almost five now, would be just starting school if she was in the City.
It feels like both an eternity since Ghoul brought her home, and a blink of an eye. But doesn’t every parent think that? That their kid is growing up too fast and how they wish that they’d slow down?
As much as Poison just wants to carry her around everywhere like they did when she was first brought into their lives, they know they have to respect her freedom and independence. Even if that means making sure they don’t baby her anymore.
(It’s worth it for those nights when she decides they’re still cool enough for her to snuggle up with when it’s freezing outside.)
“Wanna go check on Kobes with me?” they ask, putting a hand on their hip as she starts messing with something one of the guys left on the table.
“Yeah,” she agrees enthusiastically, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
She puts the thing- fucking hell is that a wire to one of Ghoul’s projects? They’re gonna kill him when he wakes up. He knows better than to leave that shit out.
The Girl thankfully cooperates and, for the most part, Poison is able to seamlessly get her into her jacket and shoes. With the sun not up yet, it’s too cold for her to go outside without them. Though, she’s probably gonna kick off the shoes the second they turn their back.
Once they’re certain that she’s warm enough, Poison leads her out the front door, around the right side of the building to the stairs that lead up to the roof.
Well, to call them stairs would be an overstatement. The “stairs” are actually wooden crates and boxes that Ghoul reinforced before nailing them to the side of the building. But, it’s sturdy enough and Ghoul keeps a pretty good eye out for any repairs. So Poison tries to not worry about either of them falling.
They succeed in only worrying a little as they follow The Girl up. Though Poison does make sure she’s in front so if she does fall, they’ll be able to catch her. Hopefully.
Cherri’s broadcast gets more clear the closer they get to the top and Poison begins listening in. It’s no wonder why so many people tune in to his broadcasts. He just has a voice that’s so… comforting.
It’s not monotone exactly, but it’s easy and soft as he reads random bits of poetry or passages from books. And it’s exactly what you need when the nights grow to be too much, too long. He’s company, another soul to fight off the loneliness.
Poison can understand why Kobra listens to these broadcasts. In fact, they’re incredibly thankful for Cherri just being there. Keeping their brother company.
“Kobra,” The Girl exclaims as she makes it to the top, Poison only a step or two behind.
They’re on the last step when the roof of the diner comes into view.
The Girl is already hugging Kobra, cuddling into his nest of blankets like this was her intention all long. Maybe it was.
Kobra, for his part, looks exhausted but otherwise alright. He offers Poison a short dip of his head in greeting but doesn’t make a sound. They’re still not sure how bad tonight is.
The Girl, either oblivious or plotting something, motions for Poison to come over and join their cuddle pile. Gladly, cross the roof and sink in on Kobra’s other side.
He’s colder than he should be with all of these blankets, but Poison won’t mention it. They discreetly pull one a little higher up on him and lean ever so slightly against him.
Their crew can’t afford anyone getting sick right now, but it’s also more than that. Poison hopes Kobra hasn’t been out here, been this cold, all night. It can’t be good for his health. Mental or physical.
“Can we watch th’ sun come up?” The Girl asks, craning her head back to look up at Kobra.
He blinks, as if coming out of a trance, but nods slowly. The Girl beams and pulls a blanket up to her chest.
Poison gazes out past the edge of the diner’s roof, past the scrap cars littered about out front, beyond the line of Joshua trees, out towards where the pavement of Guano meets the horizon. Most everything is bathed in shadows but, just on the ends of the earth, they can see the beginnings of the sunrise washing over the grey of the sky. Another half hour, maybe more, and the sun will be up and they’ll have to go inside before they die of heatstroke.
But, for now, Poison burrows a little more into the blankets as well. Their side hurts a bit from moving so much, like it’s been doing since they got hit.
They ignore it. Instead, they try to figure out what’s going on in Kobra’s head.
He may be their brother but sometimes what’s in his head is a mystery to everyone but Kobra himself.
Trying to be inconspicuous, they give him a once over out of the corner of their eye. He’s definitely sleep deprived, they can tell from how dark the bags are under his eyes. How he gazes out at nothing for long moments before blinking and coming back to the present.
Poison wants to ask what’s wrong.
If it’s a vision, then they can work through it together. Figure out how probable it is, how to avoid it. It’s not an exact science but most of the really bad stuff he Sees can be easily thrown off course.
Example A: Poison shouldn’t have gone on that run last week. Kobra told them not to, that he had a bad feeling. But they’re an idiot. And they all needed food. So, Poison went.
And they came back with a hole in their side.
They really should listen to Kobra more.
But would talking about what’s wrong, if it even is a vision, help at all? Or would it just make things worse? There’s always a fine line there.
Some of the stuff he’s Seen… about them, it’s honestly jarring. To know that they're so many ways that they could die in a day. It’s terrifying and a part of them- a very selfish part- is glad that they don’t have to See it like Kobra does. Because it’s just torture at that point.
But, the larger part of them. The part of Poison that’s an older sibling who’s way over protective. That’s the part of them that knows the second the sunrise is over and they all go back inside, they’re going to try and talk to their brother. To figure out what’s wrong.
He can’t go many more days without sleeping, not with how badly his visions affect him sometimes. Maybe they could even get Jet to look him over? Do the weird sleep-thing?
“Guys look!”
Poison follows The Girl’s finger to the first little sliver of orange sunrise streaking across the distant horizon. They let their worries float down. not forgotten, just postponed as they watch the sun burn a yellow/ orange streak through the sand.