hello this is stupid and dumb and baddhkdnxksnm

it is also not edited. this is just a stupid scene from a stupid au i came up with from fixations trying to mangle each other lmao.

this is an enstars x dr stone au and this drabble/one shot is natsume & wataru centric (platonic)

natsume take the role of senku;
wataru with gen;
(implied) leo with chrome;
(implied) and nagisa with tsukasa.

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Natsume tossed and turned in his scrappy sleeping bag on the floor of the observatory. Usually, Leo would be asleep in his own sleeping bag next to him but he had run off earlier to forage for materials and wouldn't be returning to the village too soon.

Usually, Natsume didn't have too much trouble falling asleep. Mostly from wearing himself ragged working during the day.

Tonight seemed to be an exception, unfortunately. The floorboards felt hard and uncomfortable against his side and his thoughts kept pulling at him, pulling him out of sleep. Anxiety poked at his skin and Natsume tried to shove them down as far as he could, to no avail.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard and soft tick-a-tack knock from the observatory's entrance. The redhead grumpily turned over and looked over to see who it was.

"...What...?" he mumbled out.

"It's me," said whoever it was, poking their head into the entrance. "May I come in?"

Natsume grumbled out something vaguely resembling "sure".

The other person stepped into the room, two toned hair still visible in the moonlight. Half of his stupidly long hair was a striking white while the other was a bright baby blue. He walked over and sat next to Natsume.

"Can't sleep?" Wataru asked, fiddling with the purple sleeves of his overcoat. The younger mumbled a response into the floor.

The pair sat in silence for a while, room only filled with noises from shuffling cloth.

Natsume blinked his eyes open again, sighing, before finally sitting up. He refused to look at the other, simply pulling his knees close to his chest and staring at the floor.

"Is something on your mind, Sakasaki?" Wataru asked gently.

"...It's... nothing."

It wasn't nothing. He blinked away the tears that tried to gather on his eyes.

"...You can't lie to a mentalist like me," the older chuckled lightly. "If there's anything nothing you, your Hibiki Wataru is here♪"

Natsume fiddled with the leather of his collar. Quiet fell over the room again.

"...I'm... scared..." he whispered. "...I miss my mom... I'm scared to have to fight Nagisa...

"I-It's so stupid... I-I...

He curled in on himself, desperately trying to shove down the tears. Why did he feel like this? He was the chief of Sakasaki Village and his own Kingdom of Science! Someone like him was supposed to be fearless, smart, and strong... right?

Natsume felt arms gently wrap around him as he tried to muffle his own sobs. He didn't fight them. The younger boy buried his face in Wataru's shoulder and clung to him for dear life. Choked cries, softened by purple cloth.

Wataru hugged him back. As much of a psychologist as he was, comforting wasn't quite his strong suit. He tried his best, though, rubbing circles into the other's back and whispering what was hopefully comfort.

They were both equally helpless at this but equally okay with it.

The redhead pulled away from the older, face red with embarrassment.

"...I... th-thank you... Wataru-niisan..."

Wataru blinked in surprise. "'Wataru-niisan'...?" he parroted.

Natsume's face grew redder and hid inside his sleeping bag. He groaned.

The older laughed softly. "I didn't know you saw me like a brother♪ I'm honored," he teased lightly as the heavy air from earlier dispersed.

"...S-Shut up, mentalist," his muffled voice stuttered out.

"Whatever you say so, little sorcerer♪"