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Ritsuka stared at his ceiling.
He rolled over.
Stared at his wall.
He rolled over.
Stared at the door.
Goddammit
He glances at his watch.
4:07...
AM.
Enough!
He gets up, his sore muscles whining in protest as he moves to the door, not even bothering to flick on the light as he shoves it open, only to wince.
Chaldea's florescent lights in the hallways were always on. On the best of days they were an eyesore, but after so long without decent sleep just opening the door sent a stabbing pain through his eye deep into his brain. Instinctively his hand shot to his eye and he growled in pain.
Ok.
It was gonna be one of those days.
He manages halfway to the cafeteria before he gives up and lays on the floor.
It's cold and hard and perfect.
He won't sleep here, not with the glaring, too bright lights and the unforgiving floor.
He sighs and closes his eyes.
He's in his comfy clothes, the ones he sleeps in, hoodie and baggy shorts, bare feet, the floor is still cold, but not that cold.
The people who coined the phrase "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" was a fucking liar.
Nightmares.
Bad enough he had a fucked up childhood, but on-top of that he shares memories with a shit ton of servants, most of whom didn't become heroes by living happy lives, and his adventures in the singularities made him overly familiar with people suffering and dying amongst other things.
The meds are very hit or miss, and truth be told he hasn't bothered with them for a couple months, ever since-
Since Babylon, he's been grinding out materials, leveling up servants, collecting new ones, all in preparation for the mage King. He doesn't have time to sleep.
Maybe he doesn't want to.
He doesn't know.
Now is the perfect time really, 4am, the Chaldea shift change in two hours, night owls were in bed, morning birds were asleep.
He sighs.
Perfect.
He hears the rustling of fabric, the click of shoes and scrunches his face, trying to think who it could be. Romani, walking back to the control room with a coffee to burn through the midnight oil? Servants didn't technically need to sleep but he didn't know any who didn't like a good 8 hours.
"Well if it isn't the Master of Chaldea!"
He let out a long slow breath and cracked his eyes open to stare at Merlin smiling pleasantly down at him, leaning over him, blocking the light.
"Mornin' Merlin!" Dammit. Merlin didn't sleep, and he was new enough Ritsuka hadn't accounted for him.
"Well 'morning' is a strong word, you're technically correct but I don't know anyone who considers this truly morning."
Ritsuka feels like his face will crack with how hard he's forcing his smile. He's too tired and in too much pain to deal with technicalities.
"Haha yeah, you got me."
"Now if I recall humans need sleep, what are you doing at this hour?"
"Uhh…" he sits up, too fast, blacking out a moment before he catches himself, head spinning. "You know me! There's always work to be done! Ha… ha…"
"You have a penchant for tea don't you? Let's go get something from the cafeteria." Merlin holds out his hand.
Ritsuka glances between Merlin's face and his hand, trying hard to think of a reason to say no.
Fuck it.
He could do with some caffeine anyway.
"Sure!"
He grabs his hand and with surprising strength Merlin hauls him upright easily.
He white-knuckles Merlin's hand as he tries to stop from fainting before he pulls away. "Thanks! So how are you liking Chaldea?"
"Oh it's wonderful!"
They exchange small talk about servants and missions, how Merlin is adjusting and who he's been getting along with until they get to the cafeteria.
"What do you think you're doing?" Merlin interrupts as soon as Ritsuka touches the espresso machine. "Don't you think it's a touch early for espresso?"
Ritsuka bites back a snarl. "Yeh, but I can't sleep now. " He says voice breezy, smiling to appear embarrassed.
"I know exactly what you need, go sit down! I'll make it for you."
Ritsuka frowns. "Do you know how I take my tea?"
"Of course, we lived together in Babylon, didn't we?"
He can't argue with that.
He sits down and lets his head fall onto his hand with a sigh. The cafeteria lights are as bad as the hallway lights and he rubs a palm hard against his eyeballs.
"Here we go, you'll love this." Merlin says, the clack of a cup being set down dragging Ritsuka's eyes up.
He sniffs it. "Chamomile? Merlin I won't sleep again tonight, this is a sleepy tea."
"Oh don't be like that," he chides, "I'm the mage of flowers, you wouldn't turn down a flower tea from me , would you?"
Ritsuka deadpans him.
"What?" Merlin asks a little too innocently.
Ritsuka doesn't say anything, just sips his tea and tries to hide his wince; there's no honey, as he prefers in his herbal teas.
"Oh, how silly of me! I forgot the honey! Let me get it." He's up before Ritsuka can protest.
He groans and glares at his watch.
4:18am.
Ok.
He can do this.
Just drink his tea and he can go try to figure out something to do.
He jumps a little as Merlin leans over him, touching his shoulder as he holds the container of honey.
"Here we go-"
And then Ritsuka hears a snap of fingers.
And he falls asleep instantly.
***
Merlin catches Ritsuka's head before it hits the table, honestly someone needs to take care of the kid and it isn't Romani or Da Vinci.
He shifts him into his arms, bridal style, leaving the mug and honey on the table and heads towards the sleeping quarters.
He hadn't slept a full night since Merlin was summoned a few months ago, a habit he would have maintained in the singularity if Merlin hadn't made a point to put him to sleep with magic as often as he could.
He ate dreams, yes, and Ritsuka's were particularly delicious, always explicitly vivid and filled to the brim with emotions.
The problem was what filled those dreams.
Pain, suffering, death, gore, and other things Merlin found nigh unmentionable.
Everyone has bad dreams sometimes, but Ritsuka seemed to have no other type, and instead of talking with people, or asking for help, he just decided to push his body to the limit, avoiding sleep like the plague and only sleeping when he couldn't think straight.
Honestly it was irresponsible for Romani to let it go on as long as it had, though the other man also seemed to have his hands full with the end of the world and everything.
He knocks on the door and waits patiently, certain he's waking it's occupant.
"Yes? Oh Merl- SENPAI!" Mash flaps her hands uselessly over him. "Is he ok!?"
"He's fine, just getting some much needed rest, may I?"
Mash moves out of his way as he sets Ritsuka on her bed.
"He'll wake up in 12 hours or so. Whenever he's ready."
"12 hours? But humans only need 7-9 hours, and it's 4am, hasn't he just woke up?"
"Correct Mash, humans only need about 8 hours, assuming they get consistent rest, but our Master here hasn't slept a full night since Babylon."
"What!? That was months ago!"
"Indeed." Merlin says flipping his hair. "Now I'm off to harass Romani and see if any of the servants have a solution for nightmares, take care of him and don't let anyone wake him." He turns.
"Ahh! Merlin, where am I going to sleep!? He's in my bed!" Mash is bright red and flapping her hands awkwardly.
"You can sleep next to him! There's room! Don't worry, Ritsuka won't mind, trust me!" He waves and winks and with that he leaves, leaving Mash sputtering.
Really, if the Chaldea staff wasn't going to deal with the situation, Merlin would.