Archive of Our Own

“...atch? Scratch!”

Scratch snapped awake with a loud snort, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned, before groggily giving the person who interrupted his nap a grumpy glare.

The person in question? Sir Alister. A ghost that was currently returning his glare and mentally scolding himself for volunteering to stay late and keep an eye on their current chairman.

Letting out an annoyed sigh while turning back to his work, Alister tapped a document that was sitting next to him on the desk, “This document needs your signature, your drowsiness.” he stated.

Scratch grumbled as he got up from his chair and went over to the desk to sign the paper. Once he got up next to Alister, he shot him an unamused look.

“You can’t blame a guy for wanting to take a nap when he’s bored.” Scratch snarked, but when all he got in response was an exaggerated eyeroll, he couldn’t resist continuing, his irritation clear in his voice, “Honestly, you could stand to take a nap every once in a while. Would probably make you less uptight. You wake up on the wrong side of the bed every day or something?”

Alister didn’t bother looking up from what he was writing as he spoke, “I don’t sleep that often, but I assure you I-”

“Wait what? What do you mean?”

Alister looked up from his work, giving Scratch the side-eye and scrunching his nose up in annoyance at the interruption. “I don’t need to sleep like a human does, so I work it into my schedule when I feel it is appropriate. As I was saying, I assure you that I get enough sleep per week.”

“I’m sorry, ‘per week’?” Scratch asked incredulously, not sure what was more baffling; what Alister was saying or his blasé attitude towards this whole thing.

Deciding to just get it all over with so Scratch would stop asking him questions, Alister huffed, “If you must know, I sleep every Saturday for 8 hours.”

“... And?”

Alister groaned, “‘And’ what?” as he finally turned to give Scratch his full attention.

Scratch crossed his arms, looking down at Alister like a parent scolding a child, “And when else are you sleeping?” he asked.

Alister grit his teeth, glaring up at Scratch, “That’s it. If there was more, I would’ve told you.”

Scratch reeled back like Alister had just personally offended him, but Alister didn’t care. It was none of Scratch’s business and, frankly, he didn’t understand why the blue ghost was so invested in this.

In fact, Scratch was so invested that he was actually mentally comparing how Alister had been acting today versus how he was on Sunday. It was currently Thursday, so presumably the green ghost had been up for 5 days straight at this point. Visually, there weren't any obvious changes, except for maybe a deeper frown and being less expressive with his eyes. However, attitude and behaviour wise, the differences were clear.

When he was well rested, Alister was way more smug, sassy, and damn near mischievous when presented with the opportunity to be a bit of a bastard. However, tired Alister was cold, just wanting to get things done as efficiently and cleanly as possible, biting out sharp barbs instead of his witty jabs if he was irritated enough. Scratch couldn’t believe he was thinking it, and he definitely was never going to say it, but he preferred the well-rested version of Alister.

This needed to be fixed. Now.

Meanwhile, Alister let out a long sigh, turning back to his work thinking Scratch would just go back to his chair and sit there. But, this wasn’t the case, as Alister suddenly felt himself being picked up by the underside of his arms.

“Nope. Nuh uh. Work day is over. You’re coming with me.” Scratch stated, shifting Alister to hold him in one arm as he opened a portal.

Alister aggressively wriggled, trying to get Scratch to let go of him, “Scratch! Put me down this instant!” he demanded.

Scratch hissed, “No! Just- Ugh!” he then shapeshifted into his scare form, holding Alister in one of his enlarged claws, his voice booming, “As Chairman, I order you to go to sleep tonight!”

Alister froze. It wasn’t a curse, thankfully, but a direct order from the chairman wasn’t much better for him. Alister’s mouth opened and closed as he floundered for a response, but he didn’t get the chance to piece one together before Scratch spoke again.

“Now, let’s go. I’m not letting you get outta this.” Scratch told him, heading through the portal with Alister in tow.

The portal opened up into Scratch’s bedroom in his dollhouse. Scratch took off his robe and tossed it away, before turning to Alister and pointing at the empty bed. “You. Sleep. Now.”

After a couple seconds of looking between Scratch and the bed, Alister finally snapped out of his stupor. He could feel heat rising to his cheeks, as he sputtered.

“What?! You mean in that bed? Your bed?! Where will you sleep?”

Scratch paused, clearly he hadn’t thought through the implications of what he was demanding, but he quickly recovered. Crossing his arms and looking away with a light blush on his face, “Well… I was gonna stay here. To make sure you, ya know, actually slept.” he then quickly added, holding his hands out defensively, “But then I was gonna leave! I have a hammock I can use, y’know, so it’s not like we’d have to share the bed or anything.”

Alister bristled, all his previous concerns flying out the window, and he decided to follow them. He flew out into the attic, returning to his normal size. “No! I don’t need to go to sleep, and I won’t! I have work to do and-”

He was cut off by Scratch flying out after him and tackling him to the ground. They started wrestling with each other, though it looked more like someone trying to wrangle a feral cat. Alister was trying to shove Scratch away, clawing at the floor, walls, basically anything within reach in an attempt to escape, squawking and hissing the entire time. Meanwhile Scratch was clinging to him as best he could, trying to get the other ghost under control, and yelling at him to chill out. Eventually, Scratch got Alister into a tight hug-hold, pinning his arms to his sides as he tried to wriggle free.

“Stop! The Chairman orders you to stop!”

Obeying the order, Alister stopped his writhing almost immediately, but he still voiced his displeasure. He let out a snake-like hiss, his tongue changing into a snake tongue to match that energy, lashing angrily at Scratch from within a maw of sharp fangs. His eyes glowed bright, and his pupils had narrowed into slits. Even Alister’s ponytail had changed, with the hair after the fancy bow becoming pointy, and making the sound of a rattle snake’s tail as it violently thrashed behind him.

For a brief second, Scratch froze in surprise. Another ghost would’ve probably cut their losses and just let Alister go at this point, but Scratch did not. Whether it was because of the confidence being the Chairman of the Ghost World gave him, or him not realizing that Alister was more than capable of actually hurting him, it was clear that both factors were playing some kind of role here.

Scratch gave Alister a disapproving glare, “Rude.” he bluntly stated.

Then, once he was certain Alister wasn’t going to try to bolt, Scratch let him go with an irritated sigh, putting one hand on his hip while the other pinched the bridge of his nose. Thankfully, his assessment was correct, and the green ghost stayed put, though he was clearly unhappy about it.

“I don’t get it!” Scratch exclaimed, then threw his hands up in indignation, “Why are you so against going to sleep? I’d love it if one of you four had ordered me to take a nap! It would’ve been awesome!”

Alister crossed his arms with a huff as he turned away, “Not everyone finds sleep to be relaxing, Scratch.”

The blue ghost raised an eyebrow at that, “What’re you talkin’ about? The whole point of sleep is that it’s relaxing, Al!”

“Not to me!” Alister snapped, the force of it causing Scratch to shrink back a bit, “Not when the Chairman would drag me out of bed to remind me that he could throw me into the Flow with no trial whenever he felt like it, and would leave me questioning if I was going to be banished until he got bored! When I could have woken up to my friends being gone forever without being allowed to say goodbye! When every. Single. Time. I try to sleep, I risk being forced to relive the worst moments of my life!”

Despite not needing to breathe, Alister’s chest was heaving after his outburst, trying to calm himself down. Scratch stared at him for a moment, processing what he’d just heard until it finally clicked.

This was… way more than just the workaholism he’d been expecting.

As Alister’s breathing began to slow, he seemed to realize what he had just confessed. In an instant, his emotional walls slammed up, his posture stiffening and eyes growing cold. “I should go.” He stated, before turning to do just that.

“Al…” Scratch began, reaching out to grab Alister’s shoulder, causing the green ghost to stop and look at him, somehow getting even more tense than he already was. While Alister’s eyes hardened, Scratch’s softened, and so did his voice, as he released the other ghost to scratch anxiously at his arm while speaking. “I… I, uh, I didn’t…” Scratch let out a small, nervous sigh, “I’m… sorry for pushing it. I just… really don’t think it’s healthy for you.”

Alister let out a sigh of his own, releasing a small amount of tension from his shoulders, turning his gaze to the floor, “...It’s not.” he admitted, so quietly that Scratch almost didn’t hear him, before wrapping his arms around himself.

There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, with Scratch not knowing what to say and Alister feeling like he’d said too much. It was finally broken once a small thought appeared in Scratch’s head, and he worked up the courage to speak it.

“So, uh…” Scratch tapped his fingers together awkwardly as he spoke, prompting Alister to finally look back up at him. “What… What do you- I mean…” He screwed his eyes shut, clenching his fists as he tried to focus on the words he wanted to get out, “What helps you get to sleep when you decide to actually, y’know… get some shut eye?”

“... Usually, I’m tired enough that just laying there for a while does the trick.” Alister stated, looking back down at the floor before continuing, “But, if I wake up and need more sleep, I usually seek out one of my colleagues to rest with. They are usually trying to sleep around the same time as I am, and they appreciate the company. Having someone there is quite… grounding.”

Immediately, Scratch had an idea, one related to something that came up soon after he’d first dragged Alister through the portal. One that made his cheeks feel almost unbearably hot.

But… It was worth a try.

Scratching his arm again, Scratch forced himself to speak. “In that case, would you… Um, heh, would you want to, uh- Argh!” He cut himself off with a noise of frustration, before taking a deep breath in an effort to untangle his tongue, though his cheeks remained very flushed, “Would. You. Like me… to-to sleep with you?” he then rushed to add, “Next to you! No funny business or anything!”

It was Alister’s turn to stare in bewilderment. That… wasn’t what he was expecting. He thought Scratch would actually curse him this time to try to force him to sleep, or ask one of the other members of the Ghost Council to keep him company, or even lend him one of Molly’s many stuffed animals to have as a sleeping partner (which wouldn’t have worked, but he’d still accept it if it meant he’d be allowed to leave). Scratch offering to spend the night with him was one of the last things he thought would happen. But… It wasn’t exactly unwelcome. Besides, his body was starting to feel heavier, and the idea of sleep was becoming more tantalizing by the second.

After a moment of thought, Alister nodded. “Very well.” He stated, “I shall… accept your offer. This time.”

With the agreement made, the two ghosts shrunk down and returned to the dollhouse master bedroom. There was a bit of an awkward pause as they looked between each other and the bed, before Scratch decided to take the lead.

“Welp.” He said, before floating over to one side of the bed and pulled back the covers. Scratch settled in, shapeshifting a sleeping cap while sitting up at the end of the bed. He then hesitantly patted the space next to him, “You comin’ in or what? Don’t worry about crumbs or anything, I just cleaned the sheets, heh.” he joked, trying to lighten the mood and settle his nerves a bit.

Alister let out a brief, breathy chuckle at that, visibly relaxing slightly. It wasn’t much, but it was a start at least.

The green ghost made his way over to the side of the bed opposite to Scratch and joined him, leaving a comfortable amount of space between them. He removed the ribbon from his ponytail to let his hair down, placing it on the nightstand carefully, and ran a hand through his hair to smooth it out. He looked over to Scratch, who quickly turned away and laid down, a faint blush visible only for a fraction of a second.

Deciding to follow the blue ghost’s lead, Alister settled in as well, pulling the blankets up to his chin, and rolling over to face away from Scratch. It didn’t take long for sleep to start creeping in on him, and judging by the snoring he could hear behind him, he wasn’t alone on that front.

And having company, even if that company was Scratch, was more than welcome.

Molly climbs up into her bedroom, cheerfully humming all the way, having completed her bedtime routine. When she hears Scratch snoring away in his dollhouse, she carefully closed the attic hatch to avoid waking him, and then crept closer to his window. He was so cute when he was sleeping, she just had to sneak a peek before bed!

However, this time she was extra lucky, because instead of one ghost sleeping soundly, there were two. The other ghost was… Alister? She thinks? The green ghost with the fancy accent that worked on the Ghost Council. Aka one of the last ghosts she expected to see in this situation.

But the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ didn’t matter to Molly right now, because what she was seeing right now was absolutely ADORABLE!

The two ghosts had cuddled together, with Scratch snoring away with one arm draped over Alister, who had wrapped both his arms around the blue ghost in return, his freed hair a mess and his scowl significantly softer. Alister’s face twisted for a second, letting out a disgruntled sniff, before Scratch unconsciously gave him a light squeeze and nuzzled his cheek, causing a small smile to form on his face as he relaxed again.

Molly had to hold back her squee, settling for a quiet, “Eeee!” instead so she didn’t explode from cuteness. She was definitely going to have to ask Scratch about this! But, that would have to be a conversation for tomorrow because, as much as she wanted to start pelting him with questions immediately, ruining the sweet scene would be a crime that she didn’t want to commit.

Instead, she simply got up and quietly padded over to her own bed, settling in for the night. Molly turned to turn off her lamp, but before she did so, she cast one last glance at the dollhouse, smiling softly. “Goodnight, Scratch.” She whispered, “And goodnight, uh… Alister? Yeah that’s probably it.”

She then turned off the lamp and rolled over, soon drifting off to sleep herself. The room was then filled with the sounds of slumber. Molly’s gentle snoring, Scratch’s loud snoring, and peace.