Chapter Summary: After a very long mission and staying up for days, Kallus goes back to his quarters for sleep. He wakes up to find Zeb waited for him.

After punching in the code to his door, Kallus almost sighed with relief as he heard the familiar shuffling sound of the door opening. After stepping in, Kallus pressed a hand against the wall and felt for the switch to close the door again. While doing so, he turned on one of the lights, grumbling a bit as he squinted his eyes to try and briefly get used to the light, he finally heard the door shut behind him. That sigh of relief actually made it out. The next thing was Kallus holding his hand on the wall beside him to try and keep his balance as he clumsily forced his boots off his feet using his feet.

Finally, looking up Kallus saw the blurry world around him, but recognized his couch not too far in the distance. Perhaps it was good that he turned one of the lights on.

Walking to it, Kallus almost tumbled over something, probably his own shoe, he deducted. However, he managed to get there in one piece. And once he was there, he dropped onto the couch, grunting after he landed before letting out a slight groan. He barely felt the soft cushioning under him, but he moved to curl on the couch anyway, using his folded arm as a pillow. Luckily enough it was long enough to fit him when he bent his legs and he was able to find a comfortable position.

He didn't realize that he had fallen asleep until he heard the faint beeping of someone putting in the code to the door and the slight sound of it opening in the fogginess of his sleepy mind. Kallus didn't know if he decided to stay as he was because he knew the person who opened the door or because at that point he was too tired to care.

Zeb didn't even knock at the door to come in. He knew the code to unlock it and usually came in without any invitation. Kallus didn't mind then and he didn't mind now. He considered this place Zeb's home as well a long time ago from all the times that he visited and stayed overnight.

Kallus barely gave a thought to give a greeting. He was already starting to fall back into his much needed sleep. To his credit, Zeb didn't call out to him either. He usually didn't yell out a greeting when he came in, but he wasn't always quiet either.

In his hazy mind Kallus wasn't sure if he heard Zeb's footsteps walking around the apartment or if it was just his imaginative dreams. Not too many moments later, Kallus felt the soft heaviness of the blanket gently being draped over his body. Already feeling the heat from his body being trapped in by it to keep him warm, Kallus unconsciously snuggled more into the tuck in his arm before falling back into his sleep.

Kallus couldn't remember much after that. His door opening and shutting again a couple of times, movement of footsteps around him, beeping of some machine in his kitchenette area, but it was through the haze of sleep and Kallus barely remembered them by the time that he woke up.

He didn't know how long he was sleeping till, but waking up almost felt worse than when he wanted to go to to sleep. His mind felt heavy and like he was growing a headache by the seconds. Moving on the couch, Kallus forced himself to sit up, though slowly, and felt his bones cracking a couple of times with the movement. Letting out a low groan, Kallus first heard a small laugh.

"I didn't think that would be comfortable," Zeb replied while sitting at the table a little farther back.

Kallus grunted a bit, moving up to sit a bit more before finally opening his eyes and looking around. The one light was still on, creating a soft glow in the quarters. Kallus blinked a couple of times to try and clear his mind, but it seemed to only make things worse.

"What time is it?" Kallus asked him, noticing that Zeb had a holobook out.

"2200," Zeb answered, "or almost there."

Kallus sighed. No wonder his mind felt heavy. He slept for five hours, but knew that his body was aching for more. Rubbing his head, Kallus then brought up his other hand to rub both hands over his eyes. Letting out another sigh, Kallus looked back up, trying to stretch out a bit more on the couch and feeling another crack from his muscles.

"You alright?" Zeb asked. Kallus could hear the slight concern in his voice, though he tried to hide it.

"I'm fine," Kallus confirmed. "Just tired."

"I figured," Zeb agreed. "You only made it to the couch before crashing."

"Barely," Kallus muttered, looking over the back of the couch to see that his shoes were still sprawled everywhere. "I was up for over 36 hours going between bases for different missions or information."

"I heard that you had time spent for the past while," Zeb agreed, turning off the holobook before moving out of the chair, a squeal of the chair legs on the ground made Kallus cringe.

"Not even my personal best record," Kallus muttered, running his hands over his eyes again. Perhaps part of the reason why he felt so still was because he was still in his daytime mission clothing.

Kallus sighed and looked up at Zeb as the Lasat walked to him.

"I hope you weren't waiting for me," Kallus told him. "You could have helped yourself to the bed."

The Lasat just shrugged, stopping at the back of the couch near Kallus's head. He leaned against the couch and crossed his arms as he leaned on it, looking down at the human.

"I thought I could wait. I was reading one of those holobooks you kept talking about," Zeb answered.

The human male snorted, a smile appearing on his face.

"I'm sure that was entertaining for you," Kallus commented. Kallus had always commented to Zeb that he should read more, but he knew that Zeb was not a reader. And Kallus had a particular taste in classical literature that most found harder to read.

But Zeb just shrugged again.

"It kept me interested," Zeb answered before looking over his shoulder. "Do you want anything to eat? I got some food stored in your fridge from when I left to get some."

Kallus shook his head.

"I don't think my body would digest it," Kallus admitted. Even the thoughts of picturing food in his mind was already starting to make him feel nauseous. "I'm still too tired and I've got the worse headache."

The Lasat nodded and gave Kallus a sympathetic smile.

"That mean you're moving to the bed?" Zeb asked.

Kallus nodded, already moving to bring his legs off the side of the couch. His feet were tangled in the blanket slightly before finding their freedom. As Kallus moved off of the bed, he swayed a bit in unbalance before catching it again. The blanket fell off and was crumpled on the floor and when Kallus looked down at it, he saw it was the top blanket from the bed. After picking it up, Kallus felt his brain pounding more from the movement. He closed his eyes and breathed in before feeling Zeb's hand at his shoulder.

"Come on," Zeb told him gently, helping Kallus move and keep his balance as Kallus tried to focus on not walking into everything through a hazed mind.

Setting the blanket on the bed, Kallus then moved past Zeb, a bit more confident on his feet, to the refresher. He could hear Zeb's clothes heaping to the ground before he came back out, already trying his best to get out of his work clothes. His jacket was easy to get off, no matter how slowly Kallus did it. As Kallus took off his next outer shirt, only leaving the under shirt left, he heard slight squeaking in the bed from Zeb getting in it. After loosing his pants Kallus made his way to the bed, only to trip slightly on the shirt he just dropped. After last minute holding balance on the bed before falling, he let out a grumble and heard Zeb laugh lightly, making the whole bed shake.

"Karabast," Kallus grumbled, forcing himself into the bed, the soft bed and moving under the covers of safety where he could not trip over another thing.

Soon finding Zeb's body in the dark, Kallus moved up against him while still feeling the bed moving lightly from the laughs still even though they ended. Moving closer, Kallus felt a shift in the bed as Zeb moved so that it was easier for Kallus to rest up against him under his arm, even if Kallus faced with his back to him so he could sleep on his side, using Zeb's arm slightly as a pillow.

Before Kallus found himself in a completely comfortable position, he was already asleep and barely felt the small hand through his hair; but what he did feel was safe.