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When the kitchen/recreational room got introduced, naturally, Yi Sang spent his time there whenever he could.
This means right after the rest of the Sinners retire to bed till dawn cracks.
It's a very old habit, but he has trouble sleeping. So instead of remedying that, he just drinks more tea and eats whatever is in the fridge that day.
However, one day, there comes a disruption in his habitual routine. It's not an unwelcome one, though.
Sinclair walks in while yawning and rubbing his eyes simultaneously, not noticing Yi Sang. Sinclair manages to get to the fridge before realising Yi Sang is there.
But then he notices and slightly jumps in shock. "A-ah! You shocked me Mr. Yi Sang. I didn't expect anyone else to be up at this hour…" Sinclair exclaims.
"At this hour I usually… Hm, I just like staying up more than sleeping. Would you like anything? I'm afraid all the food is gone, but there are some drinks left like water and pop. I can also make coffee or tea, if you'd like." Yi Sang stated.
"Um, I came here for some milk. It's evident I haven't gone to sleep as usual, so I thought some warm milk would help. But I'll just make it myself… So don't worry Mr. Yi Sang!" Sinclair blurts his sentence out nervously, the last part especially so.
However, when Sinclair mentioned warm milk, Yi Sang had already gotten the milk out of the fridge and started the process of boiling it.
Sinclair notices and replies "Or not…" He then sits down on a bar stool and waits.
There's a very clear silence between them. Starting from his last sentence, and lasting through Yi Sang finishing boiling his milk, handing it to Sinclair, Sinclair finishing his milk, and Sinclair leaving the room, the warm milk having helped him achieve his goal.
He doesn't know how to describe the silence but it's…
Welcoming. It's welcoming.
For whatever reason, Sinclair hasn't been able to sleep without the milk, so it becomes a new routine between them. After the fifth time, Yi Sang just puts the warm milk on the kitchen counter, waiting for Sinclair to drink it, finish it, and leave, or even just stay there. They just silently acknowledge each other, but it's more than enough.
Yi Sang normally spent a lot of time like this before joining the company, but Sinclair wasn't really used to it at all, more so preferring the sounds of everything around him.
Even still, that welcoming feeling and comfort was new to the two and their experiences.
But it still feels as if something is… missing.
Don Quixote retires to her room. It's been a terribly exhausting day today, with all the hard fights in the mirror dungeon.
She quickly makes herself some cups of coffee, knowing that she'll definitely need it to maintain her energy tomorrow.
She notices that she only has a couple of days' worth of coffee left, but she doesn't ponder on it, just hoping nobody will be in the kitchen when she needs it. But even if there was, she wouldn't really care as well.
Lately, her nights have been feeling more and more empty, so she thinks that maybe some company wouldn't be bad for her.
After all, they do say "The best drinks are those shared with friends."
One day, another disruption occurs in their routine. An unusually, thoroughly exhausted Don Quixote walks in.
Since seeing the bright, yellow hair, Sinclair braces himself for whatever Don Quixote will say. It's not like he hates her, that isn't the case at all. But she is a bit… too much at times.
However, instead of screaming something like "What art thou two doing here!?!" Don Quixote simply just walked and sat down at one of the bar stools, leaving a one-chair gap between her and Sinclair.
"Would you like anything? I can get you water, pop, or milk. I can also make tea or coffee if you so choose. Or you can just stay here." Yi Sang explained, somehow not being off put by Don Quixote.
"I'll take five coffees. Hm, scratch that, seven coffees."
What? Seven coffees? Seven coffees? Don Quixote has said and done a lot of weird stuff but this has to be in the top ten, no, the top five.
Somehow, Yi Sang does not protest her order and starts working on it immediately.
She then turns to Sinclair and asks him a simple question. "Do you wanna play chess?" However, he wonders if Don Quixote is even Don Quixote. Maybe an ID went rogue… but that wouldn't make sense. But it's not like Don Quixote currently makes sense at all. It's not like she's gone full-on apathetic or something like her 'spark' being missing but it's different. So very different. Her eyes are drooping just enough to be noticeable and she isn't talking like she usually does. It's not like over-energetic people are his favourite, but Don Quixote being quiet is so unusual that it's making him miss her teasing him or something akin to that.
So Sinclair just nods his head, too shocked to say something. Don Quixote then gets up and grabs a chessboard. She quietly sets it up so that she plays black and he white. Also an anomaly considering Don Quixote loves going first and always makes it so that she plays white.
Sinclair plays a standard first play in his favour and waits for Don Quixote's response, chess-wise and personality-wise. Because usually, Don Quixote's first move is moving her knight wherever she wants that day and loudly exclaiming "Me and Rocinante shall win this fight!" But since Don Quixote right now is acting oddly, he doubts that will happen. As predicted, Don Quixote doesn't do that and instead counters his play perfectly.
It seems that Yi Sang has also noticed Don Quixote is also acting weirdly, so he sets Don Quixote's seven coffees near her on the kitchen counter, and sits in between Sinclair and Don Quixote.
Yi Sang quietly observes the two's match. Usually, he would help (read: play for) Don Quixote because her moves pained his heart. However, this time he doesn't even need to say anything because the way Don Quixote is playing right now is unlike anything he's ever seen from her. She seems to be properly playing the game, defending Sinclair's moves with apparent ease while also setting up her attack.
Meanwhile, he also observes Sinclair's face. It's one full of confusion and shock from start to end of the match, and his face particularly looks shocked when Don Quixote wins the match. When Yi Sang didn't help (also read: play for) Don Quixote, she always lost, horrendously. Her moves were random and stupidly reckless, which always guaranteed her a loss.
At this point, Yi Sang and Sinclair didn't even think of what Don Quixote would usually say and instead, they decide to wait for what she does next.
Don Quixote after winning, sets aside the board and just somehow gulps all of one of her cups of coffee down. The boiling, hot, cup of coffee. She then proceeds to do this two more times, until she sets down the third cup and asks a question.
"You've been unusually quiet, Sinclair. I get Yi Sang, but you? Tell me why you're acting weirdly." Don Quixote asks, no old, archaic language to be found in her speech.
Sinclair, fed up, responds to Don Quixote in a confronting way. "Me? Acting weirdly? Me? And not you!? You, who has been acting nothing like before? You, who just drank a cup of boiling. Hot. Coffee. In two seconds. And not just one cup, but three! Three cups of boiling hot coffee in two seconds! That isn't even mentioning how you just won a game of chess or how you aren't speaking like your usual self. I'm not the one acting weirdly, you're the one! So, how about you explain yourself, Don Quixote." He's breathing a bit heavily after it, signalling this outburst definitely isn't a thing Sinclair does often. Yi Sang also curiously looks at Don Quixote, waiting for her answer.
Naturally, maybe the one usual Don Quixote-like thing Don Quixote has done, she completely ignores Sinclair and instead decides to chug the rest of her cups of coffee down. Don Quixote doesn't really care enough to explain it all. She just knows she feels comfortable showing this side to the other two. It's not like the overzealous her is an act or a carefully crafted side. No, she loves fixers and she will never stop loving them. But it isn't a lie when she says that it's an over-exaggeration. She knows she is smart too. She knows she is capable. But she cannot figure out why she over-exaggerates. So until she figures it out, and maybe even beyond, she wants to hope, no, she believes that these two will be with her, side by side.
At this point, it seems as if Sinclair can't even care enough to respond, so he gives up and sips his warm milk. This feeling of the three being together, it reminds him of when he spent time with his family all together. But this time, no matter what happens, he knows he will chase them throughout the world. He will chase and chase until they are all together, together with each other. He doesn't care that Don Quixote's passionate attitude (or sometimes her lack of it) can annoy him. He doesn't care if Yi Sang just observes the world with no words. He knows that he will never leave them.
Yi Sang, too, realises Don Quixote will never respond to that. So he also drinks some more tea. But not without a little smile on his face. Usually, he is the one who witnesses all of these two's antics. Today, however, instead of feeling like an observer, he feels as if he is part of them. He doesn't know how this is going to proceed, considering what happened last time. But, he doesn't want to abandon this, abandon them. Because, even if it breaks all over again, he can find peace in the fact he tried.
There's no noise to be found, nothing that indicates any happenings around them, nothing to find solace in. However, with the three of them, it feels as if nothingness is enough. Because as they all sip their drinks, the three have created a bubble in which leaving seems hellish. So even as Sinclair rubs his eyes, even as Don Quixote yawns, and even as Yi Sang's eyes droop even more than usual, they all decide to stay a little longer, just a little longer. Because, despite all of their different experiences, they all think this is something they can call home, maybe even family.
All of them came into each other's lives without warning. The only thing binding them together is a contract to be employed at LCB. Who knows if they ever would've found each other in different universes? Maybe this was the only one meant for the three being here side by side. But that's okay. Who cares about all three of them in different universes? Being here is more than enough.
Sinclair and Don Quixote slowly start leaning Yi Sang's left and right shoulders respectively. He's a bit shocked, but he lets it happen. He notices that the two have closed their eyes and are sleeping, so he too decides to drift off.
When it was just him and Sinclair, it was enjoyable, yet something was missing. He assumes it was Don Quixote, because this night has made them all remember the warmth that comes with being together with people you will sacrifice the world for.
Dante absolutely has no will to do anything in the morning without a cup of coffee, so they head to the kitchen to make some.
However, they are greeted by something completely unexpected when they enter.
Don Quixote and Sinclair seem to be sleeping on Yi Sang's shoulders. They have no idea how, considering all three could fall at any moment since they aren't on proper seats, but then they also notice something else. There is somehow a smile on all of their faces, a small one on Yi Sang's, a peaceful one on Don Quixote's, and an accepting one on Sinclair's.
They don't want to disturb this scene anymore, so they decide to leave the room and make sure nobody else comes in until they all wake up.