Eclipse's eyes opened, sending a soft orange glow washing over Cadence's sleeping form. He looked at the small alarm clock on her bedside table, seeing it was 3 AM. His skin crawled, the darkness uncomfortable as he felt the urge to eat.
His eyes wandered down to her form, her back to him as she was curled up on her belly. His lower left hand wandered up from her hip to her shoulder, gently tilting her so he could get a better look at her front.
He had never really thought about it, but she did have rather large breasts. He was just so used to being around so many species that it slipped his mind that humans are known to have the capacity to have large breasts compared to their body.
He looked up, seeing Lunelle's light blue eyes peeking over the edge of the bed, his thin pupils looking at her.
Eclipse's rays flared, glowing a soft orange as he asked telepathically, 'What do you think you are doing, Lunar?'
Lunelle's nightcap glowed softly, replying in a soft and high-pitched childish voice, 'She's so pretty! And she's really nice. A lot prettier than most of my fellow classmates.'
Eclipse rolled his eyes as he replied, 'So you decided to watch her sleep?'
'It's so strange, it's like she's in stasis, but she isn't traveling long distances in the cold expanses of space,' Lunelle replied, tilting his head, 'Just lying there, waiting for the start of her day.'
'How did you get in?' Eclipse asked, tilting his head, 'You don't have electricity manipulation like me, and Cadence hasn't given you entering access.'
'Moon helped me in,' Lunelle replied, smiling.
Eclipse rolled his eyes, slowly getting up and moving away from Cadence's sleeping form. She looked annoyed when Eclipse's warmth left her presence, and Eclipse draped the blanket over her before scooping Lunelle into his arms and cradling him.
'Come on, now. Let's get something to eat,' Eclipse said, leaving the room with Lunelle in his arms.
Lunelle nodded happily, clapping his hands as Eclipse walked to the cafeteria. 'Ooh! Do you think they might have some of those small blue candies?' Lunelle asked excitedly.
'If it isn't here, we can just order it,' Eclipse replied, his rays pulsing softly with each syllable he telepathically communicated.
'I like human food,' Lunelle communicated, smiling happily as they approached a simple Food Ordering Station. Lunelle reached out, and Eclipse moved his baby brother closer to the screen, letting Lunelle order some food first.
Lunelle got some blueberry pancakes and a raspberry lollipop, and Eclipse got himself a nice blue rare steak with mashed potatoes. They waited a couple minutes for their food to be ready, then they collected their food and sat down.
Eclipse sat down, his plate in front of him as Lunelle was set on his lap, and Lunelle happily started digging in with a fork while Eclipse cut his steak into slightly smaller pieces.
Lunelle wiggled happily, his small tail waggling back and forth as he ate the delicious blueberry pancakes with syrup. Lunelle opened his eyes, looking at Eclipse's plate, and finished his bite before softly asking, "Can I try some?"
Eclipse chuckled, getting a small forkful of his mashed potatoes and feeding it to Lunelle. Lunelle tasted the mashed potatoes, his hands clapping happily as he nodded his head. Eclipse smiled softly, a soft side of him that was rarely seen by most coming out in this quiet moment with his energetic baby brother.
"I like this! What is it?" Lunelle said once he was done with his bite, light blue eyes glowing brighter as he looked up at his brother.
"Mashed potatoes. A quite common dish in human culture that can be quite popular during a holiday called Thanksgiving," Eclipse replied, taking another bite of his steak.
Lunella pointed at the steak as he asked, "And what's that?"
Eclipse chuckled, getting a tiny bite of the steak and offering it to Lunelle, who gladly ate it. "This is steak. Meat. I like my meat blue rare or bloody raw, but you can form your own opinion of how you like it," Eclipse said softly, smiling when Lunelle's face scrunched up and he stuck his tongue out.
Lunelle shook his head, spitting out the chewed piece of meat onto his plate and taking a bite of his pancakes. He shook his head as he said, "I don't like blue rare steak."
Eclipse chuckled, patting Lunelle's head as he replied, "That's ok. It doesn't taste good to you, just like how tofu doesn't taste good to me. Maybe later, I can introduce you to some new foods you wouldn't mind back home."
Lunelle nodded eagerly, smiling up at his big brother. "Oh, yes, please! These pan-caaayyyks are really good!" Lunelle said, having a moment of struggling to pronounce the word.
"It's pronounced pancakes," Eclipse gently corrected, and Lunelle nodded as he started repeating the word over and over to get the pronunciation correct.
"I like pancaykes!" Lunelle said happily, and Eclipse shook his head with a chuckle, patting Lunelle's head.
"You'll get it eventually," Eclipse said, and Lunelle nodded happily.
Once they were both done with their meals, Lunelle jumped up and collected their dishes, cutely running over and dispensing the plates into the designated box. Lunelle came running back, jumping up into Eclipse's arms when the bigger of the two opened their arms and crouched down.
"Come on, now, it's time you went to sleep," Eclipse said softly as Lunelle's arms wrapped around his neck, and Eclipse gently rocked Lunelle as he walked, making his way back to their room.
Lunelle whined softly as he replied, "But I don't want to!"
"Growing boys like you need their sleep," Eclipse said softly, "You aren't like me, who doesn't need sleep. And you aren't staying in Cadence's room, either."
"But she's so pretty..." Lunelle complained, sounding sleepy as Eclipse gently bounced him in his arms.
"Yes, she is," Eclipse agreed, entering the doors to enter their living room.
He went to his room, where his mother was currently sleeping on his bed. Eclipse went over and gently set Lunelle down on the bed, patting his baby brother's head before turning and quietly leaving.
Eclipse returned to Cadence's room, crawling back under the covers to spoon her again. She squirmed around, turning to face him in her sleepy state, wrapping her limbs around him and clinging to him like a cold kitten.
Eclipse chucked, wrapping his arms around her as his upper left hand gently stroked her head.
It was moments like these that he got to take a glimpse into her unguarded soft side, a side she wouldn't show anyone. He knew all too well that everyone had a side to them that they would rather not share for fear of being ostracized or judged.
She leaned into his touch, and he smirked wryly as he thought about his mother's words from a couple hours ago. She was right, Cadence is touch-starved.
But Eclipse knew that Cadence was too proud to show something about her that she considered 'weak'. She tried hard to hide it, but he could tell that she enjoyed all the attention they lavished on her.
One of these days, she's going to wake up tied up like a pretty present, and Eclipse and his brothers will lavish all their attention on her.
She's a sweet little kitten on the inside, acting like a big scary tiger on the outside.
Eclipse's smirk turned into a grin, his grip on her tightening ever so slightly.
Oh, how delicious it would be to take her down a peg... Or maybe a few.
He chuckled, shaking his head as he licked a hot stripe up her neck, savoring her unique taste before he nuzzled her head, falling back asleep and feeling much better than when he woke up.