Continuity: Chapter 3
#25:Kids

Kris was shocked to learn that it actually got colder in the North than it already was. Apparently winter was just a month away, and one day he and Suho were informed that all the Guardians will need to move into one bedroom for a few days while the Sanctuary walls undergo renovation. Suho looked like he wanted to cry.

“What’s the big deal?” Kris asked. “It’s a big room, we’ll just throw a bunch of mattresses on the floor and be done with it.”

Suho stared at him wide-eyed. “You don’t know, Kris,” he gasped, clinging to Kris’ arm. “You can’t even imagine…”

“Imagine what?” Kris grumbled, trying to wriggle free.

Suho leaned close to Kris’ ear and whispered, “They’ll never go to sleep.”

Kris did know that sometimes it took a while to get the boys to go to bed, that was why it was now a rule that Sehun and Kai weren’t allowed to sleep in the same room unless Lu Han was around to keep the peace. It was difficult to get Chen to sleep in his own bed, and if Chen got to sleep with Kris then Tao would get fussy and demand to be allowed to stay with Kris too. Normally they all managed to work something out though, and Kris thought it would be easier if they were all in the same room. Of course he was very, very wrong.

It started off with an argument over who would sleep next to who. Kai didn’t want to sleep anywhere near Suho, and Suho would not allow Kai to sleep away from him because “That’s how problems start.” Kris decided that he and Suho should sleep on the ends of the room and put the kids in the middle, and Tao had immediately claimed the mattress next to Kris. While they weren’t looking, Chen kept trying to pull his mattress next to Kris’. Chanyeol cried when Baekhyun screamed that he would rather cut his arm off than sleep near him, and Suho had to stop everything and scold Baekhyun for being mean while Kris comforted a now clingy Chanyeol, who kept asking if he was really so awful.

After that Suho threw his hands up and yelled “Free for all everyone grab a mattress and go.”

Sehun grabbed Kai and raced towards the mattress on one end of the room. Tao threw himself across the two next to them, clearly intending to save one for Kris, But Kai leapt up and pushed Chen down next to Tao and sat on him yelling “Maknae’s stick together!” Baekhyun took a mattress in the middle and, possible feeling guilty for his earlier comment, didn’t complain when Chanyeol tentatively sat down next to him.

Everyone who was left didn’t care who they were with. Lu Han suggested that Suho and Kris take the next available beds, close enough to the little ones where they could get to them quickly if anything went wrong.

In the end, the order went Sehun, Kai, Chen, Tao, Kyungsoo, Kris, Suho, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Lay, Xiumin and Lu Han.

Suho was walking around like a zombie and Kris assured him that the worst was over, but again he was wrong.

Once sleeping arrangements were agreed upon, the older kids left to get blankets and things, leaving Baekhyun in charge. That was their biggest mistake, because Baekhyun didn’t care what happened as long as nobody bothered him. So, Kai and Sehun started tickling each other. They quickly rolled onto Tao’s mattress, and when he attempted to push them off they pulled him into the attack. Kai looked up and saw Chen staring at them, so he flung himself on top of Chen and wriggled his fingers under his arms until Chen too was shrieking with laughter. Kyungsoo decided that it looked like fun, so he scampered over to where Chanyeol was still sitting remarkably still and suggested they gang up on Kai and Tao, who were usually the best at tickle fights. Chanyeol leapt up and the two of them raced over.

When the older ones got back, Baekhyun was lying on his mattress reading and there was a mass of shrieking children in one corner.

“You had one job!” Suho yelled, attempting to get Sehun to let go of Kyungsoo’s feet. “One job, Baekhyun!”

“I’m watching them,” Baekhyun said coolly. “Nobody got hurt.”

“But now they’re all riled up,” Xiumin sighed. “They’ll never sleep.”

Kris stepped up and tapped Tao’s shoulder. Immediately Tao let go of Chanyeol’s neck and sat perfectly still, smiling angelically. Chen quickly followed suit, pulling Kyungsoo with him. Chanyeol leaned against the wall trying to catch his breath, and Sehun and Kai laid down on their backs and grinned up at Kris like a pair of Cheshire cats.

“It’s bed time,” Kris said gently. “You’ve had your fun, now go to sleep.”

“We’re not sleepy,” Kai protested.

“We wanna keep up!” Sehun giggled.

“Stay up,” Kyungsoo whispered.

“Stay up!” Sehun parroted.

Kris felt his eye twitch. “We can stay up another day, we have lessons tomorrow.”

“Boo,” Tao whined. “We want to stay up now!”

“Tell us a story,” Chen said quietly.

Kai threw his hands up. “Yes!” he cried, “Tell us a story!”

Chanyeol laughed and leaned over to pat Kai’s head. “Kai, you look like an excited kitten!”

Kai wriggled on his back, pawing the air. “Meow!” He yelled. “Meow, kittens want a story!”

“Meow!” Sehun echoed, pouncing on Kai. “Got your tail!”

Kai yelped and batted at Sehun’s head. “Let go of my tail!”

“I wanna be a kitten!” Tao cried.

“Me too!” Chen said. “I want to play kittens too!”

“I wanna be a puppy!” Chanyeol shouted.

Kai got on all fours and arched his back, pretending to hiss. “I’ll get you, puppy!”

Kris grabbed Kai right before he could launch himself at Chanyeol. “No attack kittens in this room,” he said firmly. Kai pouted a little and squirmed in Kris’ arms.

“Sehun, the cat catcher got me!” He cried.

Sehun scrambled across the mattress and tugged on Kris’ arm. “Bad cat catcher!”

Kris let go of Kai and caught Sehun right as he tripped on the sheets.

“Okay, fun’s over,” Suho cut in. “Somebody is going to get hurt at this rate.”

Kai pouted. “Killjoy,” he muttered under his breath.

“Kai!” Kris and Suho scolded at once. “Don’t talk like that!”

“Where does he learn these words?” Lay asked.

“Not from me,” Baekhyun called.

“That’s enough now,” Lu Han said, “Everybody lay down and go to sleep.”

Kris turned his back for one second and then Chen screamed.

“EW! EW! GROSS, HE ME!”

Chen was rubbing his cheek and pointing at Kai, who smirked. “You said you wanted to play kittens, kittens each other.”

“Puppies do too,” Chanyeol said mischievously.

“Oh my god, no !” Suho screamed. “That is unsanitary!”

Feeling desperate, Kris got up and started lowering all the lights. “It’s getting dark,” he called, “Better get into bed if you don’t want to trip over anything.”

It was a dirty trick, but it worked. Actually nobody cared about tripping, they just didn’t like it to be too dark.

Chen whimpered and wrapped himself up in his blanket, almost covering his face. “Leave one on,” he yelped.

“I will,” Kris promised.

“It’s too bright!” Kai whined, seemingly needing something to complain about, especially where Chen was concerned. “I can’t sleep when it’s too bright!”

“Neither can I,” Baekhyun muttered.

Chanyeol suddenly panicked, sitting up and waving his arms. “Leave it on! I hate the dark too!”

Kris resisted the urge to yell. “I am leaving a light on. Everyone else will just have to deal with it. I can get you some towels and you can put it over your eyes if you don’t like it.”

There was grumbling but nobody seemed to need anything else, so Kris finished turning down the lights and fell into bed.

“Why are you so far away?!” Chen wailed. “I wanna sleep next to Kris, I don’t like this room! It’s too scary!”

Kris sat up again, frowning. “I’m two mattress away from you. If you need me you just have to sit up and whisper my name and I’ll wake up.”

“Why does Tao get to be closer?” Chen whined. “That’s not fair!”

“Life’s not fair,” Tao said primly. “Deal with it.”

Kris gaped at his youngest. “Tao, that was not necessary.”

Kai grabbed Chen’s shoulder and pulled him back down. “If you get scared you can just roll over with me and Sehun. I’ll even hold your hand if you want, I do it for Sehun all the time.”

Nobody saw Lu Han turn his head into his pillow to hide his grin.

“Can we have that story now?” Chanyeol asked, bouncing on his mattress.

Suho lifted his head from his pillow to grumble, “Only if you all lay down and be quiet.”

At once everyone went flat on their mattresses and held their hands over their mouths.

“Not it,” Suho mumbled into his pillow.

Kris sighed and started to tell a story about a litter of kittens who learned to make wings out of plant leaves. He trailed off after about ten minutes and when he heard no complaints decided they were all asleep.

Thirty seconds later Tao sat up. “OH MY GOD, WHO DID THAT?!”

Suho almost had a heart attack. “What happened?!” He gasped.

“Somebody farted!”

“By the Tree,” Kris growled.

“Oh that’s gross!” Chen yelped. “Was that you, Kai?”

“It wasn’t me!” Kai yelled. “Why is everything always automatically my fault?!”

Kris pulled his pillow over his head and closed his eyes. They could sort this out by themselves, he was done.

When Kris woke up in the morning, the kids were miraculously still on their own beds. He considered it a miracle.

The next two nights though Kris wound up squished between Chen and Tao, and Kai and Sehun made their way into Lu Han’s bed, kicking Xiu Min out. Kyungsoo slept across three beds and every time Kris looked at Suho he’d shake his head and say “Nope” over and over again.