prologue
Sam had known Vi for the better part of her life, the two growing quite close after Vander took in the pink haired girl and her blue haired sister, Powder. Vander had taken Sam in too, not even a month earlier, letting her stay in the basement of the last drop along with the two boys already living there, Claggar and Mylo. It was nice having a place to stay, even if it had to be shared with those two.
Sam had just turned eight about a week before when Vander came into the small room in the basement, a girl on each arm, and told the three who were already there that they’d get two more roommates. Both girls had looked scared and tired as the clung onto the large man, tears running down their faces as he sat them down, instructing Sam to take care of the two new members of the group.
It didn’t take long for the two girls, who they soon learned were named Vi, who was the same age as the three, and Powder, who was a couple years younger, to settle in. Powder got Mylo’s old bunk, him moving to the top one, and Vi settling with the couch. Claggar and Sam got to keep their beds, only having to share the two dressers that sat against one of the walls of the room.
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It had been a couple weeks since the new additions to the group, though it felt like the two had been there forever. Powder had taken interest in some of the things Sam had lying around, finding them quite fascinating. Sam had chosen to spend her time teaching Powder about it, even helping the blue haired girl built her own little machines, Powder growing especially attached to a work in progress that the two had called Mouser.
Vi on the other had had not been so interested in this, more curious about going out on jobs for Vander. She had already been introduced to little man down at Benzo’s shop, often coming home with new tips, or a story, and more often than not a little souvenir from a fight.
She had a habit of fighting, which was probably worse for others than herself, seeing as most of the time she won, though almost never unscathed she always managed to make sure the others looked worse. Quite the talent, though one Vander wasn’t always fond of.
Vi and Sam had become close quickly. They were the same age and had similar backstories, both having lost their parents and having been lucky enough for Vander to take them in.
It didn’t take long for vi to abandon her spot on the couch in favor of, the much more comfortable option, Sam’s bed.
Sam never protested, secretly being quite fond of it, finding it nice to fall asleep wrapped up in the warmth of Vi’s arms.
Mylo and Claggar har looked at them a bit weird the first time they saw the two sleepily tangled together, but quickly grew accustomed to it, though keeping up with the teasing comments, that the two girls chose to simply brush off.
Powder, on the other hand, had only smiled when she saw it, finding the fact that her sister had finally found someone she could be soft, and comfortable with to be a pretty endearing thought.
All in all both Vi and Powder were quick to grow attached to the small Sam with her short, dark brown hair and soft blue eyes, Sam growing just as attached to them and just as quickly.
Powder becoming like a sister to her, while Vi became her best friend, which neither of them had had up until now. Not like this anyways - a safe person, someone who’d never judge no matter what. Someone who’d always be there. It was the first time either of the two had ever felt that, and now neither wanted to let go, so they didn’t.
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Vi and Sam were sat beside each other on the couch, Mylo and Claggar sitting in two chair across the table, all four of them holding a set of playing cards in their hands.
Sam was currently in the process of trying to teach the others to play fish, which normally would’ve been easy enough. But this was Mylo. Mylo with his never ending string of quistion that he kept throwing at Sam, some not even having to do with the game, and him not willing to stop before he had almost talked the ears off the others.
Powder had been smart, quick to decline saying she’d rather work on Mouser. Sam, and probably both Vi and Claggar too, was starting to think that Powder definitely had made the wiser choice of keeping both her ears and sanity intact, which none of the others had the luxury of being able to say they had, but not having the heart to tell Mylo to shut up with his questions either.
After what felt like hours of trying to answer alle of Mylo's questions, he had finally resigned and stopped asking in favor for the four finally actually getting to playing, sitting in their spots, two on the couch and two across the table, talking away, Powder speaking up from her spot on her bed every once in a while too. Small laughs and chuckles were exchanged, a quiet, or loud, ‘yes’ depending on which of them was lucky enough to manage to steal a card from one of the others, being said.
They sat around that table for hours, probably for longer than they should've, mainly because Claggar refused to quit before winning, which took way longer than one would expect, but none of the others really wanted to stop either.
Moments of them having fun like this, no disagreements and no arguments weren’t that common. They all had a talent for disagreeing on everything, especially Mylo had that talent, sometimes the only reason for the disagreements being that someone wanted to spite the one of the others, mainly Mylo and Claggar, though it was always just for fun. For the most part at least.
The game went on, Vi yawning slightly in her seat beside Sam, who looked over at the pink haired girl beside her, noticing the tired, yet happy, look on her face and smiling to herself.
“Tired, sleepyhead?” She asked playfully, not managing to hold her slight chuckle as she looked at the annoyed but fond look on Vi’s face as she teased her.
Sam smiled as the only response she got from Vi was her letting her head gently rest on her shoulder, humming softly as she closed her eyes. Sam let her head fall to lay on top of the others, , giggling at the ticklish feeling of the pink hair against the soft skin of her cheek before gently wrapping a thin arm around Vi and pulling her closer.
She closed her eyes as she let her body Relax against Vi’s warmer one, yawning as a wave of sleepiness came over her, slowly dragging her in, cards still in her hands as she drifted to sleep, sitting on the couch. She could faintly hear the two boys talking in the background and Powders smaller voice telling them to shut up.
She felt warm and safe, sitting there half asleep and wrapped up with her best friend, loving the feeling of the warmth enveloping her, slightly blinking more awake as she felt a blanket being laid out over the two, and a small hand taking the cards both of them still held in their hands.
She smiled gently up at Powder, with half lidded eyes, grateful for the younger girls thoughtfulness. She closed her eyes with a small content sigh, the soft smile still on her lips as she felt the strong pair of arms around her tighten, only making her cuddle closer into the warmth of the body beside her.
She felt Vi's soft smile against the skin of her shoulder as the girl snuggled closer, making the smile already on her lips widen slightly, it becoming warmer and more tender at the feeling.
She looked down at the almost asleep girl in her arms, gently nudging her to get her to wake up, whispering softly against the top of Vi's head “c’mon… we should get to bed…”
Sam giggles slightly at the tired groan Vi lets out before she gets up, walking to Sams bed and lying down. Sam looks over with an amused look on her face as the bigger girl opens her arms, jokingly making grabby hands at her, though she doesn’t protest as she crawls into the strong embrace of Vi’s arms. “Bed hogger” she whisper playfully, pulling a carefull chuckle from Vi’s lips, as she settles down, pulling the blanket over them as the two drift off to sleep, the chatter of the others still apparent in the background.
The two lay tangled together, peacefully sleeping throughout the night, small, fond smiles adorning each of their soft faces even in their sleep, the others also having resigned to their beds, the chatter gone silent and having been substituted for light snoring and deep breathing instead.