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Tom sat at the edge of Star’s bed, so tired he could sleep in his armor. Marco just flopped face first into the bed, long hair tumbling after him. Star closed her door then turned around and leaned against it, sliding down until she was sitting on the floor with her legs splayed.
Star blinked sleepily in Tom’s direction, and Tom just stared back. With a jerk of his head that seemed to sap up the little energy he had left, Tom gestured at the bathroom. Star nodded at him in reluctant agreement and then continued nodding, slowly nodding off. Sighing, Tom carefully used some fire to push her off the floor before nearly collapsing onto himself.
“Tom!” Star’s voice roused Marco, who looked up blinking slowly and turned his head to observe what was going on. Tom supposed he must look as worn out as he felt, because as soon as Marco saw his face, he sat up and mimicked Star.
“Tom!”
“Right, magical exhaustion. I forgot about that.” Tom managed to breathe out before he actually collapsed onto himself and slid off the edge of the bed.
“TOM!” Star’s and Marco’s voices blended together. Tom blinked his eyes open. Did I pass out?
Apparently the answer was yes as Star and Marco were now kneeling by his side, frantically calling out his name. When they saw he was awake, Star heaved a sigh of relief, but Marco still looked worriedly into his face.
“I’m fine, just tired.” Marco just frowned harder. Star suddenly gasped and looked back at Tom, worried look marring her face again.
“Is your head okay?”
Marco looked at her, alarmed.
“What happened to his head?”
“He was thrown into the wall so hard he fell unconscious.”
Marco’s eyes widened and he looked back at Tom.
“Guys, it’s fine, I promise. I just have some bruises and scrapes,” that hurt a lot, but saying so wasn’t likely to calm his partners down. “And some magical exhaustion but that’s it. You already checked me for injuries, remember?”
This didn’t dissuade Star from brushing her fingers down the side of his face or Marco from carefully sliding his fingers through Tom’s hair. The gestures did not help with his sleepiness, making him feel safe and warm and so very tired.
He jerked up and now Star and Marco were untying his armor. He tried to help them, but they just gently pushed away his hands and continued. Once they managed to get him out of his armor and loosened his hair, Star turned to Marco, carefully removing his hair ribbon and pulling off his dress. Tom mustered the strength to help, ignoring Marco’s feeble protests.
“Sorry Marco, I don’t think I have the energy to undo your long hair right now.”
“That’s fine Star. At least I still look good” Tom thought Marco looked unfairly attractive with long hair. And short hair. And in general. Marco blinked at him, and his cheeks turned a little red. Star looked like she was trying to figure out if she wanted to smile or look confused. Expressing multiple emotions would probably take too much effort at the moment.
Tom blinked blearily, too tired to be embarrassed about his slip of tongue.
“Your turn,” Tom said quietly. Together, he and Star managed to get her down to her undershirt and pants. Rather belatedly, Tom then realized Marco was missing.
“Marco?” Star said, subconsciously pouting. They looked around and sighed before leaning their heads against the side of the bed.
Before their eyes could slide shut completely, the bathroom door opened and the sound of running water hit their ears. Marco’s tired face peeked out at them and beckoned them over. Tom tried to get to his feet. It didn’t work. Marco walked over and helped Tom up, draping his arm over his shoulder.
They stumbled over to the bathroom, where Marco left Tom beside one of the bathtubs. After turning their backs to each other, Tom undressed, not bothering with the separating curtains, especially since he’d rather have the option to quickly turn to his partners just in case. Tom let his eyes flutter shut as he sank into the warm water, hearing soft sighs behind him. Steam and quiet murmuring filled the air, and Tom finally began to feel not just tired, but relaxed. His mind slowly drifted...
***
Tom couldn’t believe that they hadn’t drowned in the baths given how tired they were after both the battle and the aftermath. Luckily, Marco had had the forethought to set an alarm in case they fell asleep (wasn’t his boy friend so smart?)
At this point, they had all changed into the spare pajamas Star kept in her bedroom. None of them even bothered to suggest bringing out additional cots, both because it was too much effort and because they each wanted to keep the others close by. At least, Tom felt that way, and he was pretty sure Star and Marco did too.
The light was finally off, and all three of them were snuggled up under Star’s incredibly soft covers. Tom took the middle spot, ready to be smothered in heat from the Mewmin and the human.
As his eyes were finally allowed to slip shut, Tom couldn’t help but sink into the care and affection of his partners. He loved them both so much.