Archive of Our Own ^beta

It had been a normal day in the sky casino, or as normal as a day in a casino floating in the sky can be. It was late at night, which meant all the noises had died down. No one was out anymore. Security was rarely necessary, and Sigma had wanted some time to himself. Especially knowing that the Decay was having a meeting at the casino tomorrow.

Fukuchi was already in a room somewhere, Fyodor would show up the next day and Nikolai... he really didn't want to know. His head already hurt just thinking about the drama the white haired man would cause this time. Or maybe his head just hurt from the lack of sleep.

He flinched when a weight fell upon his shoulders, something covering his eyes. "Quiiiiz timeee! Who am I?" a voice giggled close to his ear, far too happy and excited for this time of night. Sigma winced at the noise, his headache spiking. He hated having to do this, but he had work to do and he felt bad enough already. "Nikolai, please... not today" he begged, and the hands disappeared, leaving him blinking against the harsh neon lights. In seconds, he was spun around by the shoulders and he stumbled, dizzy.

A hand tilted his chin up, this way and that way. "You're pale" Nikolai noted, his voice oddly serious. Sigma attempted to scowl, even as he wanted to back away. He didn't trust Nikolai. The clown's jokes always bordering on dangerous or simply annoying. "I'm pretty sure that I'm European" he countered weakly, and the taller male cracked a smile, before cackling. Sigma winced at the volume, then turned around. "We'll see each other tomorrow" he pointed out, hoping to avoid having the clown tag along, but alas, his hopes were in vain.

"And we're seeing each other today, Siggy~" Nikolai cheerfully hopped along beside him, then skipped happily forward. He sighed, unsure where and when the other came up with that nickname, but decided to accept his fate. Together, they walked down the hallway and into the casino's main area, where a multitude of tables were set up. He checked them over, even though he knew everything like the back of his hand. Nikolai rambled about his latest murder in the background, and the slightly softer noise was almost... comforting.

Although the description was very vivid and disgusting. He was too tired to care, though.

He paused, briefly, when a bout of dizziness swept over him. He held onto one of the blackjack tables for dear life, and pressed a hand to his forehead. He hastily glanced to Nikolai, and sighed in relief when he notices the other was facing away from him, animatedly gesturing with his arms and swinging his cane, barely missing a table in his excitement. Sigma offered a tired smile when the man turned back to him, probably having been asked for his opinion. "Sounds n-nice, N'klai" his voice wavered, and he frowned when Nikolai started to look more like some sort of white and black smudge than a person.

That was precisely the moment he crumples to the ground.

~

"And truly, you should've seen- I know you said you're fine, in a round-about way, but buddy, you don't look fine" Nikolai frowned upon seeing the odd expression on his coworker's face. The other slured something that even Nikolai, who has had to deal with Fukuchi's drunk butt before, barely understood him. And then his coworker of perhaps two years? Yea, two years makes sense- well, he just straight up crumpled to the ground!

Nikolai let out a startled noise that he'd forever deny making and practically scrambled forward, eye widening when Sigma hit his head and arm against the blackjack table on his way down, and the clown wasn't fast enough to catch the younger man. His fingers barely brushed the other's shoulder, a loud "SIGMA!" escaping him, before Sigma's head collided with the ground. The thud sounding far too soft for the startling thing he'd just witnessed.

The jester cursed. In Japanese, in English, even in Russian and Ukrainian. "Siggy- hey, Sigma, c'mon buddy! Wake up" he shook the other by the shoulders, worried. He hated worrying, but when it's the casino manger, he just... he couldn't help himself. The other was barely an adult, in his eyes. His eyes were sometimes still as bright as a kid's when he spotted something new that he hadn't seen before, and his knowledge of the world was so small, yet already tainted by sorrows... Nikolai couldn't help but think of the other as a kid, in a way.

So the fact that he was on the ground, unconscious... well, what's he to do but worry?

Nikolai carefully shook him again, to no avail. The man with the two-toned hair stayed limp. With a deep sigh, the clown of the Decay gathered him in his arms. He frowned upon noting how light the other was. "You need to eat more, kid" he chided, knowing that the other wouldn't hear anyway, and slowly started carrying the other to his own room. He'd been in Sigma's room once or twice, much to the annoyance of the casino-owner, and he'd plainly hated how barren it was. There was literally no personality in the room.

He stopped when he finally arrived just below where he thinks his room should be, and with a swish of his overcoat, the two of them disappeared. For a moment, Nikolai felt weightless, and he held Sigma tightly against his chest. The added weight made him stumble when he had solid ground beneath his feet, but then he hummed when he found himself in the room that he'd taken refuge in inside the casino. All of the Decay had their own room, except for that creepy vampire if he'd had to guess, and so he'd been able to decorate it as he pleased.

Which meant he probably had the comfiest bed, just because he could.

Nikolai truly didn't get why Fukuchi only had a futon and Fyodor... huh, he never did check what bed Fyodor had. Knowing the Russian, he probably hadn't put much thought into his sleeping arrangements. That, or he had a bed comfier than Nikolai's. Either way, all of them must have comfier beds to sleep in than the literal owner of the casino. He still wondered why the other chose to sleep on a couch, of all places. Probably because he seemed to sleep so little anyway.

The clown scowled at that thought, and put the other down on his bed. Rubbed a hand down his face, watched as the casino-owner's face twitched in his sleep. Nikolai chuckled, amused, and reached down to watch the other closely for a moment. He was still far too pale for his liking, but at least he was resting. His gaze went to the bruises, and he sighed. He just hoped the other wouldn't have a concussion. "And you call me bothersome" he mumbled, shaking his head with a sigh. He picked up a stack of cards and threw himself into the armchair in the corner of the room.

For a while, he kept his attention divided between his card tricks and his sleeping coworker, until Sigma shot up with a startled shout. Nikolai let his cards drop to the ground and crossed the room in quick, long strides. "Easy, buddy, easy. I got you" he murmured, steadying the other by grabbing his shoulders, before carefully placing the back of his hand against the other's forehead. Sigma blinked in visible confusion, and the taller winced. Well, the younger man definitely didn't look too well, and going by how he was burning up, he probably wasn't well. "Am I dying?" Sigma croaked, and Nikolai just barely stifled a nervous giggle.

Well, he probably wouldn't die, but the thought did leave the clown uneasy, as much as he disliked it. He was already thinking about killing Fyodor, adding Sigma to that list felt plain wrong when he was barely more than a clueless kid stuck with the wrong crowd. "Don't say that," he answered as lightly as possible in an attempt to cheer the other up, "you'll be fine!" Sigma didn't look convinced, but then again, most people didn't believe Nikolai.

He pet the other's head with a hum. "You need to take better care of yourself, Siggy. You probably got sick because you overworked yourself... when did you last sleep?" he asked, this time a hint more serious, and noted how the other squirmed under his watchful gaze. "I... well... I needed to memorize some guest-names..." the casino-owner trailed off awkwardly, and Nikolai scowled. "Sigma. When did you last sleep?" he repeated his question with a tone that bordered just slightly on threatening.

"Last week..."

Nikolai paused. Blinked and reached into his overcoat, pulling the calendar from the wall. He stared at it, glanced to Sigma and back. The meeting between the members of the Decay was on a Sunday. It was Saturday night, bordering on Sunday morning. He scowled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And people call me mad..." he mumbled, then pushed the other into a laying position. "Sleep, Sigma" he ordered, ignoring all 'but's and 'Nikolai!'s in favor of throwing the blanket over the other. "Close your eyes," Nikolai sighs, shaking his head, "you need the sleep"

Really, it was a wonder the other was still alive at this point. He scooped up the cards on the ground and reclined in his armchair. Giving the other a pointed glare. It took a few more minutes, but finally, the other sighed and turned on his side, facing away from him, and Nikolai hummed, starting up his card tricks again.

And if he stayed up that night to make sure the kid got some sleep? Well, nobody will know.