They were all carrying the last of their belongings up the stairs to their new apartment. The walk up to the fourth floor was tiring, and they all no doubt wished that the elevator had not broken down on the day before they got here. It would certainly have made moving everything a lot easier. It also did not help that the stairs sounded like they would fall apart every step they took.
Coming up the last stairs steps was a relief. Now they just had to squeeze through the half open door and find a place to put their stuff. The floor already had boxes after boxes stacking up on one after the other, finding space would not be easy.
Tino and Lukas seemed to notice the empty kitchen table at the same time and both rushed to it and put their belongings on it. With their hands finally free, they took a chair each and sat down to get their breath back.
Chris and Berwald were still looking around in the chaos for a place to put their belongings on. In the end, they both also seemed to land on the same place, the half-constructed couch.
All four of them were tired. They had almost used a whole day to carry boxes and furniture up to their new home, and with almost no breaks. They had gone back and forth with the landlord about the lease and what should be changed in it. They wanted electricity to be included in the rent, warm water and two parking spots as well as other things. In the end had they gotten almost all they wanted, and the landlord had grumpily gone to print out the new lease.
They were all still unsure if this was a good idea. They had all been living alone for years now, that it would be strange to not just move in with one person, but three.
The first time they had spoken to each other was over a chat room for a fantasy game that they all enjoyed playing in their teenage years. They had all been young and not had a care in the world. The four of them connected well in the chatroom, and after a year did they meet in person. It was at a convention for gamers and alike. They choose that place since it would be safe with that many people around. None of them wanting to meet a 40 years old creepy dude who had told them that he was 16. In the end had they all found each other among all the people in the crowd, and they were all 16 or 17 as they had said.
They spent the rest of the Con together, and when it was over did they exchange contact information so that they could keep better in touch.
8 years later, and here they were, all moved together.
Tino had been the one with the idea to actually move together, it was also he who found the apartment.
Tino's previously landlord had been far from the nicest, and 1 week ago had Tino gotten a note saying that he was to move out in one week. He was being kicked out for no apparent reason, and he really did not know what to do. He had stumbled onto the ad for the apartment on accident, but when he saw it, had he gotten an idea.
He knew that they all were struggling when it came to paying bills and having some spare money left. However, if they all moved together, it would become cheaper and they could maybe even save some money.
The night he posted the idea to them, they were all a little hesitant. Some of them lived four hours away from where the apartment was. Which meant it would be a long drive with all of their belongings. It was also the fact that tough they did know each other, had they never really meet that often in person. On two hands could they count the numbers of time they had meet face to face. 9.
But, none of the other three could deny that it was tempting to be able to actually not have to worry about food and even be able to save some money.
Two days before Tino would be kicked out did they all respond that they agreed to the idea to move in together.
Chris was the one who lived farthest away from everyone. So on top of the fact that he had carried boxes with belongings up the stairs and furniture the whole day, had he also woken up at 3Am to be at the apartment at 8 AM.
Lukas and Berwald only lived just under 2 hours away from the new apartment, tough in different towns. Which meant that it had not been as tough on them, as it had been on Chris.
Therefore, no one was surprised when Chris said that he would head to bed. They had luckily carried all the beds into each bedroom, so he just had to lie down and sleep.
The three remaining sat by the kitchen table and caught up with each other.
The evening started to become night. Berwald got up from the chair and said that he would head to bed as well. He looked back at the two remaining.
"Try to get some sleep, okay?" he mumbled out with a knowing look.
The two gave a half-hearted nod.
He seemed pleased enough with that, and went to what had been assigned as his room.
Both Lukas and Tino sat there with half empty mugs. They watched the people outside, how some walked with drunken steps and other trying to rush home, without trying to run.
They had done this for so many years, stayed up together in the night, because neither of them can sleep. Usually they had done so from a screen. Now they could finally actually sit out the night together, in person, seeing the same things and just being together.
"How are you? Sleep wise that is," Lukas asked Tino, bringing his coffee mug up to take a sip.
"Heh. Same as always I guess," he answered and fidget with his own cup, but not seeming to want to drink from it anymore.
"How are you nowadays?" Tino asked with a small smile as he let go of the cup and rather started to fidget with his hands.
"Tired as I always am around this time. Still no explanation for it," Lukas said. Then he got up from his chair, maneuvered himself to the kitchen, and took a new cup out from one of the boxes.
"Is this one good?" he asked and held up a white cup.
"Is there one with colour in there?" Tino asked.
Lukas searched around in the box for some time and then went to a new one. After looking through two more boxes with kitchen utensils and tableware did he find a blue cup. He held it up so that Tino could see it.
"Something like this?" he asked.
"That one will do," Tino confirmed and smiled.
Lukas washed the cup he had found thoroughly and boiled some more water.
He came back with the water boiler and the new cup in hand and sat both down on the table. The boxes having been pushed nearer the edge so that they could look out the window and be able to see each other as well.
"Sorry for being difficult," Tino said looking sad as he made some tea in the new cup.
"You can't help it, and I don't mind," Lukas said as he made coffee for himself.
"Does your dreams have a certain theme nowadays?" he stirred his coffee and looked at the other, trying to get some hints of what was frightening him this time.
Tino, at first did not answer. He was looking around, searching, and trying to deem if everything was safe. His gaze was on the piles of boxes that were everywhere. His look turned to the furniture that were leaning or standing at odd places in the room and then he looked at the bedroom doors. Probably wondering if everything was safe to say or if someone was listening.
Then he turned back to Lukas and smiled a sad smile.
"My dream nowadays have people following me. They try to take my secrets away from me. It seems like they want a certain thing they believe that I have, so I have to run, flee, get away. They never catch me, but that is maybe the scary part. Because I don't know what will happen if they do." He looked away, as Lukas had imagined he would do.
"Well I can't really say that what you do is unhealthy, since we are both avoiding or ignoring our problems. It would be hypocritical of me to judge you." Lukas smiled as he said that, only wanting to lighten the mood.
"But yeah, nightmares do not sound fun to have, tough I would have liked to experience one at least once in my lifetime," Lukas said.
Tino laughed a little, but remembered how late it was, so he tried to no laugh as loud.
"I could never imagen to ever say something like that, wishing for a nightmare," he said with his hand in front of his mouth, still trying to hold his laugh back.
Lukas laid down on the table, resting his head on his arms and looking at the steam from his cup dim down.
"I guess it would be hard for either of us to understand the others problem, except for the fact that we can't sleep," he said with a bitter smile.
"I guess so." Tino smiled bitterly too.
They did what they had always done and talked until the sun started to rise in the horizon. Seeing the sun's first light each morning was their sign to try to get maybe a few hours of sleep, tough they both doubted it each time that sleep wold find them.
When Chris woke that morning, being the first to actually rise up, could he find the remains of the night duo. On Luka's side was there one cup and an empty instant coffee container. On Tino's side was there 5 cups with several different tea bags on a napkin, piled up, much like the boxes in the room.
He sighed as he threw all the tea bags and the empty coffee container in the trash and put the cups in the sink. Their dishwasher was yet to be put in place so they had to hand wash everything until a plumber could get it up and running.
Tough Chris did not mind doing the dishes today. They would probably distribute tasks after they had gotten everything in place.
He had two more cups to wash when he saw Lukas come beside him and put the water boiler back so that he could boil more water.
"Coffee?" Lukas asked.
"Yeah, that would be nice," he said as he went back to the dishes.
"So, how much?" he asked.
Lukas looked at him and then at the water boiler and then back at him again.
"About an hour and half I think…" Lukas said as he went back to the chair he had sat on almost the whole night. He dug around in his box, the last one he had brought up the day previous. He seemed to be pleased with what he found and took it out. It was another cup.
Chris wiped his hand and came to the table as well with one of the cups he had washed.
"The night bring any fun adventures?" he said as he sat down on another chair than what Tino had used.
"We have mostly been catching up and such." Lukas looked to the water boiler as he talked.
A door creaked, and out of it came Berwald, Looking as he always did, grumpy.
"Coffee is in the making, so you can wipe that frown upside down," Chris as usually teased.
Berwald did not even respond to that, but rather went to get a cup of his own.
"He sleeping?" Berwald asked as he came back with one of the washed cups and motioned to Tino's door.
"Think so." Lukas replied.
"How late?" Berwald asked in his mumbled speech.
"Around five I think." Lukas replied again.
The silence dragged on. Chris and Berwald had a harder time when it came to asking about the late night duos condition.
Luckily, did Tino come out of his room as the water boiler gave from it its signal click that it was done boiling. Chris got up and fetched the water for all of them, and Berwald went to get Tino a cup. He held several up until Tino gave an approving nod.
They all sat down at the kitchen table and started to discuss what needed to be done for the day. What they would move and what would be placed where.
This was their new life together. The four of them living under the same roof after being alone for so long. It would be tough, with two of them that almost never slept, one that was hyperactive, and one that shut himself in too much.
But they would make this work. They all needed to save some money, and they all needed a little help from each other.
xxooxxx
So, this is a fic I might do more Chapters to when I feel like adding on the story. If you have any suggestions of what these four people could do together or not together then feel free to suggest. If you want to see especially two, or three of them together doing something too, then don't hesitate. Judging on how the other chapters turn out, we'll see who ends up as pairs and such.
If I ever struggle to know what the next chapter should be I'll make a poll.
Inspiration for this story is from the "Dark Circles Au" ( post/145507240223/dark-circles-au) by auideas on tumblr.
Thanks to BlessYou for beta reading.
Word count: 2322.
Happiness: 9/10
Stress: 3/10
Thanks for reading.