Katakuri had put on a movie for the two of you to watch while waiting for Cracker to bring the antique globe over. He griped a bit over the phone when Katakuri asked him to pick it up, but took on the errand anyway. Apparently he had a decent sized  SUV, a much better option than Katakuri's little sporty car for transporting the item.

You were sprawled out in one couch while the crimson haired man sat upright in the other, his eyes glued to the TV. You were half-heartedly watching it, finding it hard to focus on one thing. But from what you could tell it was some movie about cooking and baking. Despite the man's lack of skills in the kitchen, he seemed to love anything and everything involving making food.

Every once in a while you'd take a peek over at him out of curiosity. Each time it was the same, he was completely engrossed in the show. That was until there was a knock on the door followed by Cracker letting himself in.

"I hope you guys aren't doing anything dirty~" he waltzed into the house like he owned the place.

"You can't walk into people's homes like that Cracker." Katakuri's brows furrowed in annoyance. "And no, we weren't doing anything."

Cracker looked over at you and grinned as you waved at him, still layed out comfortably in the couch. "Well you guys are no fun."

"I didn't realize we had to be." You retorted, working your way into an upright position.

"Gotta keep things interesting some how." He shrugged as Katakuri pushed him back out the door, following him to the car.

They both came back after a minute, Katakuri carrying the globe and Cracker plopping into the empty cushion beside you. "So antiquing?"

"Yeah, we got breakfast and decided to check out some stuff near the restaurant. It was something to do."

There was an empty spot against the wall separating the kitchen from the living room that Katakuri decided was a good place to put the globe. It did add a bit of charm to the room and it looked good in the space he picked.

"Sounds fun." Cracker watched his brother disappear into the kitchen momentarily. "So he got that for you, right?" His eyes darted back to you now that the other man was out of view.

"Yeah, I didn't ask for it but I guess it was obvious that I liked it so he decided to get it."

"He's not much of a gift giver, that's surprising."

"Oh yeah," you smiled sheepishly at him. "We had a... disagreement of sorts last night and he said to consider this his apology for it."

Cracker mock gasped, holding a hand over his heart. "A lovers quarrel so early on in the relationship? You two should be getting along better than that!"

You rolled your eyes at him but a smile escaped your lips. "It was nothing like that. We just didn't see eye to eye on something."

He glanced over towards the kitchen, making sure Katakuri was still out of earshot. "You know, something tells me you two haven't spent much time together intimately." He drew out the word, emphasizing it heavily.

A blush crept up your face that was impossible to miss. "That's none of your business Cracker." You snapped.

"You totally haven't." He responded gleefully, ignoring the menacing look you gave him.

"Cracker....." You hissed under your breath as a warning, not wanting Katakuri to catch wind of the conversation as he came back into the room.

He paused before sitting down in the opposite couch, raising an eyebrow at the two of you. Cracker still wore a mischievous grin and you were trying to avoid looking at him. "Did I miss something?" He lowered himself into the seat, crossing one leg over the other.

"I figured (Y/n) here was due for some teasing is all. I doubt you give her much of a hard time and someone ought to." He nudged you with his elbow, sending suggestive looks your way at the same time.

"Didn't you say you had places to be Cracker?" You asked him sweetly.

"Wha? No I-" He frowned as you pushed him out of the couch.

"Sure you did, nice seeing you but you shouldn't stick around too long, don't want to be late!" You shoved the unwilling man out the door and waved a quick goodbye before closing it behind him.

"Did he say something stupid?" Katakuri questioned. "He has a habit of doing that."

"Um, yeah." The blush from before deepened. There was no way Katakuri would have bought your bad acting.

"Do I want to know?"

"Nope." You shook your head and returned to your seat. The now awkward silence was filled with the sounds from the TV as you two continued to watch it. Which was easier said than done as your head was filled with embarrassingly dirty thoughts now thanks to Cracker.

----

Despite you being horribly tired from the day's events, sleep once again eluded you for another night. Try as you might, there was no getting around it. Around 11 at night, you gave up on any attempt to get some sleep and went back downstairs to get some coffee going.

A shiver ran up your spine as your bare feet met the cold tile of the kitchen. It's started to get chilly at night with the winter months fast approaching. It made a hot cup of coffee sound even better than before. As the pot warmed up and began to brew, you stepped back into the carpeted living room and grabbed a blanket from the back of a couch, throwing it over your shoulders to warm back up.

Your pajamas weren't all that warm themselves, mostly because all you had on were a pair of very short shorts and a thin oversized tee shirt that hung off a shoulder. The chill was soon gone though between the blanket and hot coffee. Once you were burrowed into one of the couches you pulled out your phone, intending to scroll through social media and play some games but the book Katakuri had bought earlier caught your eye. It was sitting on the end table by a lamp, upside-down so you couldn't read the title.

Curiosity got the better of you. You reached over and switched on the lamp and grabbed the book. Despite its age, the binding was in good shape and the title was clear enough to read. Grimm's Fairy Tales. You'd read the book once as a child. It was a collection of short little stories, some a little more weird or morbid than others, but you liked it anyway. You settled deeper into the couch and opened the book, slowly flipping through the pages as you read the stories.

You were too engrossed in the book to notice the figure looking over the back of the couch until it obstructed the source of light. You jerked your head up as you let out a gasp. Katakuri was leaned over the back of the couch close enough that his scarf almost tickled your face.

"Jesus you scared me! Stomp when you walk or something next time!" You fought to calm your poor heart. It felt ready to jump out your chest with the fright he gave you.

"Couldn't sleep again?" He eyed your blanketed form, noticing the abandoned cup of coffee beside you and the book in hand. He had completely ignored your complaints.

"No." You scooted away from him, trying to regain some personal space.

"Does this happen a lot?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"I dunno," you huffed. "Sometimes yes sometimes no."

"That's about as vague as an answer can get." He reached over and took the book from you. "You should try to get some rest."

"Gee what an idea, why didn't I think of that?" You said sarcastically. It wouldn't be such an issue if things worked that well after all.

"No need for the attitude, just trying to help." He grumbled, getting a little cranky with you.

"I appreciate the thought, but it's not that easy, as much as I wish it was. I'll probably get some rest before work on Monday so don't worry about it." You tried to take the book back but he lifted it over your head, out of reach. Fucking tall people suck.

"What do you need?" His eyes locked on yours.

"The book would be nice." You pouted.

"No, I mean what can I do to help?"

"It's not the end of the world Katakuri. I'll get some sleep later, there's nothing to help with."

"You've got some shit you're working through, I can tell so don't tell me I'm wrong. This is obviously a part of it. People don't stay awake all night on a regular basis for shits and giggles so what do you need?" His gaze was a little harsh and his words clipped but he was trying his best not to lose it. He wasn't angry with you, it was more with the situation at hand.

It was hard to keep eye contact with him so you didn't. He was the first person to ever suggest trying to actually deal with what plagued you. Even if he was rough about it, you felt a bit of warmth at his actions. Though he was moody, he wasn't as bad of a guy as you thought.

"I haven't figured that out yet." You said. It was true, you never took the time before to find out how to better handle your anxiety. The thought of finding better solutions didn't really cross your mind as stupid as it was.

"Want some company at least then?" He took on a softer tone. "It can't be healthy to spend so much time by yourself like this."

You hesitated but nodded. It couldn't hurt to have someone around for a bit. Maybe you'd stop thinking so much for once.

Katakuri came around the couch and picked your feet up before you could protest. He sat beside you and let your legs fall back to their original position, now across his lap though. He hadn't touched you much in the time you'd know him, but when he did it was usually very quick and nowhere near being considered intimate. This was the most personal he'd gotten with you.

"So what do you usually do when you can't sleep?" He was leaning into the back cushion of the couch, arms thrown across the back.

He was wearing some pajama bottoms but his chest was bare like last night. It was hard to focus on the question without admiring his well toned body. "I uh, read or play phone games to pass the time. There's not much to do this late at night."

He nodded, humming in response. "We could see what's on TV? Reading in this kind of light is bad for your eyes."

The lamp didn't put out much light so you couldn't argue with him there. "Sure."

He put on some sort of late night cooking show but wasn't all that invested in watching it. Instead, he'd ask you simple questions while the TV played, bringing up small talk and easy conversation as the night wore on. Things like where you were from or what your favorite color was. You did the same, both of you learning the little things about each other.

Every time he spoke, his whole chest rumbled against your legs. It was relaxing for some reason, comforting even. He gave off heat like some living furnace and you found it harder and harder to pay attention to what he was saying as your eyelids became heavy. You fell asleep to him saying something, feeling the rumble of his chest one last time for the night.

(A/n)

Took some allergy meds about halfway through writing this and forgot how they make me tired and a little out of it so sorry if something seems a little wacky in this chapter.