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Part Twenty-Three

   "...are you twelve?"

   "What's a pillow fort?"

   "Oh my god, Sam," Eli broke focus from the two and ran from both couches, starting to hang the blankets around the arms and setting them in place with the heaviest pillows.

   "It's something you would do as a kid. Not a fully grown seventeen year old," Leo explained. "You just set up an overhang of blankets and put pillows underneath and it's sort of like a tunnel."

   "Like a nest?" Sam's face brightened to a noticeable degree.

   "Sure?"

   "I wanna help!" Sam called to Elijah, whose head was entirely submerged under a pile of blanket roofs that he made surprisingly quick.

   When Eli heard, he nearly knocked down the fort in an attempt to rush over and lay a hand in front of Leo's shoulder. "All aboard, my little protege. I'm gonna teach you the best methods in the world of pillow fort-making!"

   Fifteen minutes and a whole lot of trial and error later, the blanket fort was complete and two of the friends were hiding underneath. Leo, the third, refused out of dignity, much to Sam's disbelief.

   "I live and sleep in a pillow fort in your walls, Leo!" He called from atop Elijah's head poking out from the entrance. It was an unconventional way to carry someone of his stature, but Eli's thick head of red hair gave him a good grip and solid foundation to sit in. Plus, it was comfortable as hell. "You think I'm childish?"

   "Yes." Leo said, looking down at him from above. The fort nearly took up the entire living room, and he was convinced it would fall apart the minute it was disturbed.

   "C'mon~," Elijah teased, slowly backing into the entrance. "You're gonna miss out on all the fun Sam and I are having."

   "I'll pass."

   "So stubborn..." Eli whispered up to Sam, both of them fully emerged in the blanket they deemed as the opening. Sam giggled in response and began to lay further into Elijah's nest of soft hair, so incredibly warm that he could've fallen asleep right there. The atmosphere of the hollow tunnel filled with white and brown pillows left him reminded of his home, and of the things he had forgotten about this whole time.

   "Hey Eli...?"

   "Hm?"

   "Take me down before I fall asleep."

   Elijah reached up to pluck Sam off his head, though instead of placing him back on the fluffy ground, he himself flopped to lay down and held Sam firm against his chest.
   "Sleeping sounds like a plan," he said, and situated his legs so they could fit inside the little cave.

   "No! C'mon, I sleep enough, I need to be awake when Skip gets back!" Sam wiggled around, trying to loosen the grip but evidently only wearing himself out with the amount of Strength Eli held over his tiny body. Once again, he was reminded that although he knew his humans would never hurt him, they carried an obscene amount of power. The only difference was now Sam felt less terrified, and more annoyed at the fact that he couldn't leave unless they permitted him.

   "Pillow forts are made for sleeping!" Eli argued, but opened his fingers regardless and let Sam sit upright on his chest. "What do you wanna do, then? We are not letting Leo inside until he says the magic word."

   "What's the magic word?" Sam laughed, finding a steady position to sit on Elijah's chest.

   "Dunno yet, but we'll know it when we hear it."

   "Well, what else are you supposed to do when you make a pillow fort? There's other things besides sleeping, Aren't there?"

   "Sure there are. You eat, watch movies, tell secrets, the basic sleepover things."