The Human Experiment (bxbxb)

Color Me Red

****

Rolland knew this was going to be mean, but he just couldn't deal with Dartanian being there right now. So, with a shaky breath, he looked over his shoulder and spoke in a near-mute whisper.

"D-Dart, get out."

It was really dark in his room, but his eyes had adjusted enough to see the shocked look on Dart's face. Rolland knew he was seriously surprised because Dartanian literally started spewing excuses at him, then realized after a minute that he was still deaf.

"You better go, Dart. You did punch him."

Dartanian glanced at Bryce before he started talking quickly.

"But you didn't even stop me! If you thought he wasn't with another guy, then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I wasn't sure, and you're a pain in the ass to try to get through to when you're pissed."

Dart bristled more, but Rolland just sunk into Bryce's arms and glared. "Get out."

Dart's gaze returned to him, all the anger he had just directed toward his brother draining before he dragged himself up. It was still too dark for Rolland to see hand signals well so Dartanian just ran a hand through his messy hair and walked out, shutting the door behind him. It was a few minutes later when Bryce got up, easily lifting him in his strong arms and climbing into his bed with him.

Not so fast. I'm not an idiot.

"Bryce, you aren't sleeping with me."

Bryce's eyes went wide as he paused midway to leaning over to kiss Rolland.

"I know you could have stopped him, but you didn't. And you didn't even help me up."

Pursing his lips, Bryce sat back on his heels on Rolland's bed, obviously knowing that he was right. He wasn't as mad at him as he was Dart, but he definitely wasn't going to be cuddling with any Rolland tonight. With a determined look, Rolland turned, leaning on his right arm, and pointed to the spare bed.

"If you want to sleep in here, you'll do it on that bed. And if I wake up and sense any indication that either of you have been in my bed, I'm going to ignore you for a week."

Bryce slowly bobbed his head, then slid from Rolland's bed to walk over to the spare one. Rolland made his way to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, then grabbed a spare blanket for Bryce. He wasn't going to be sleeping with him, but Rolland wasn't just going to let him sleep on a bed with nothing. He set the blanket on the edge and then walked back to his bed and flopped over.

His dreams had been pretty bad recently, so it wasn't a surprise when he jolted up in bed three times during the night. The last one had been particularly bad and left him shaky and sweating. After all the nights he had spent with the brothers, Rolland figured they'd be next to him by now, but the door was still closed with no Dart, and Bryce, while he was sitting up in bed and staring at him, was staying where he was. Rolland really wanted to go crawl into his arms but he held himself back. He was punishing them. They were in time-out for being mean. Especially Dart.

With a determined grunt, he flopped back down and tried to go back to sleep... but before he knew it, the sun was rising beyond his window and he hadn't even closed his eyes again.

Just great.

Deciding that his chances to rest were close to zero then, Rolland climbed out of bed and hobbled into the bathroom, having to step over a passed-out Dyce on the way there. After taking a quick pee, he showered and got a towel wrapped around his waist so he could walk out without giving Bryce a show. He moved over to his dresser and tugged on a pair of black boxers, then added some tan cargo shorts and a white jersey with black stitching. After slipping on his sneakers, without socks, he grabbed Dyce's leash and headed for the door with him. Dyce jumped when Rolland opened it because Dartanian flopped down on his back, obviously having been leaning against it. He was still wearing the same clothing from yesterday and looked like he hadn't slept much. Rolland glared at him and stepped over his body, tugging Dyce over while ignoring Dart's puppy eyes.