3, or when Bunsen learns to show that he cares

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It's been a long time since the last time he dreamed. He usually went to bed very late and woke up with the sun, and considering the fact that his sleep was the way it was because of his constant need to work, he always thought that he would surely dream about it if he had the chance to. But for this specific night, he woke up in the middle of something, like an unclear vision and a little bit disappointed, it took time for him to realize that his arm was pulled from the other side of the bed.

- Beaker ?

His assistant didn't answer, only sobbing miserably and struggling against the cover as if it was an imaginary creature.

Normally, he would have lost his patience and asked him to go back to sleep in the minute, and he nearly did. But something in him didn't want to. Something in him cared about the situation, the fact that his coworker seemed in pain. That and the fact that his arm began to hurt.

- Beaker... Beakie, come on...

Now trying to force his assistant to not move, he pulled an arm, the one he could still move actually, around him and carefully whispered some words to his sleepy assistant.

- Beakie, it's just a bad dream, a trick from your brain. It's not real.

The sudden need to stand up and immediately work on a chasing-nightmares machine came through his mind but, as he had no choice but to stay in bed with the one experimenting the subject, he silently swore to himself that he will give it a try later. He was even distracting himself with some ideas about it when his coworker began to move to sleep closer to him, apparently reassured by his presence. Though they spent most of their time together since he hired him, they never have been so close to each other.

The scientist didn't even know if his laboratory assistant was sleeping or not. Maybe he was awake and aware about everything he could do or say. And that frightened him in some way. A little gesture could make everything different in his job, which could easily be considered as his life itself. But as he couldn't ignore the fact that his assistant was shivering against him, he took the hand which was glued to his own, not saying anything else than some "I'm here" he repeated a couple of time. After a moment, he noticed that Beaker's breath was slowly beginning to come back to normal again. He sighed in relief and, following what seemed to be a good idea, hesitantly slipped his free fingers in the fluffy orange hair.

- Now, please, calm down. Everything is alright.

The other's arm moved on his chest, causing him to stay still for a moment. A long moment until he realized he has been catching his breath all along.

It definitely was something strange, to sleep this close to someone. The warmth, the scent of his coworker, the touch of his hand... It sure was confusing, and so different from what he was used to. And the idea that the person against him was Beaker made things even more disturbing.

Because he always saw him more like a guinea pig than an actual person he could actually take some time with outside of work. Because he always saw him like a small cog of the impressive machinery that was his career. And now that he was stroking his hair with a distracted curiosity, staring at his sleepy face which the shadows in the room couldn't hide.

He was... cute, he dared to think.

His assistant was now slowly snoring, absent-mindedly mumbling some 'meep' between every breath. Fascinating.

Without even thinking about it, he carefully pulled the blanket on them, finding himself surprisingly comfortable enough to sleep this way.

Maybe he could see all of this more like an experiment than a waste of time. Maybe sharing his personal space with his coworker won't be that bad, after all.