Restless in Hoofington

The school bell rings on a Friday afternoon and students instantly flood out the doors, celebrating their blessed freedom for two whole days. After the initial rush, the calmer students trot out of the main doors, chatting amongst themselves. A particular batpony and a certain unicorn wave goodbye to each other as the latter expresses a need to go help her mother on her busiest day. As Autumn gallops off, Nightshade lets out a sigh, her eyes gazing over the multitudes of other students before shaking her head and starting to walk off by herself.

“Niiiiiiight!” a familiar voice calls from behind her, Alloy trotting quickly over. “Found you!”

The thestral’s ears pop up and her eyes match her bright smile as she spots a friendly face. “Hey Alloy! You were looking for me?”

The pegasus nods happily. “I was thinking we could spend the day together, assuming you’re not busy with something else.”

Shaking her head quickly, Night replies, “No, I’m free. We hardly ever get to hang out outside of school and… after school stuff.”

Alloy laughs lightly. “I know...maybe we could get together over the weekend too. Autumn could join us then.” She looks ahead briefly to make sure they’re not about to bump into any of the other students exiting the area. “Want to head over to my place for the afternoon?”

She nods once more. “Sounds like fun! I don’t think I’ve been to your place yet. I wonder if I can find embarrassing things in your room to tease you about…”

The pegasus bumps her friend playfully. “Don’t go poking through my things. I’ve got my eye on you.” She sticks her tongue out.

Night sticks hers right back at her. “I don’t dig to snoop, I just see things. Besides, like I said, strictly for teasing purposes. You're free to reciprocate of course.”

“Well...feh!” Alloy huffs and looks away, unable to help giggling a bit. “Telling me I can do it back to you makes it less fun, you know.”

As they walk down the street, the other winged mare just giggles more. “Nah, it’s like me telling you I’m gonna do it to you. You know it’s coming, just not when or how. So like… if I secretly found your porn stash, I might bring it up in front of Autumn for maximum embarrassment.”

Alloy’s face reddens and she glares at the thestral. “I don’t even have… don’t say things like that!”

Night smiles apologetically, but tilts her head nonetheless. “Hmm… is that offended anger or defensive anger…” She gently pokes Alloy’s side to see how tense she is. The pegasus responds by lightly swatting her hoof and stepping away. “You know this is part of the teasing, right? I can be all sweet and innocent until we get to your place if you’d prefer that.”

“I know it’s part of the teasing,” Alloy says with slight irritation. “But can you not talk about that sort of thing and then bring Autumn into it?”

“Huh?” The thestral is genuinely confused now. “I just brought her up because she’s the only other friend I have in school, and she’s so innocent she’d probably blush more than you if I did it… is there something I don’t know?”

“Yes...no. Kind of...just don’t joke about that anymore, please. In front of Autumn or not.”

“Ah…” They descend into awkward silence for about a block and a half before Night speaks. “Want to talk about it? We could wait until we get to your house if it’s private.”

Alloy shakes her head. “It’s not really that private. Besides, I doubt anypony who cares would hear us.” She pauses. “Wait...talk about what, exactly?”

The batpony shrugs. “What’s on your mind. I guess I edged close to a nerve there and you sounded annoyed, so... I thought you might want to talk about it.”

“It’s nothing, really...I just don’t want you making jokes like that to Autumn, please?” She sighs. “It’d upset her.”

“Oh… okay… might have restrain myself a little then…” She walks quietly for a few more minutes before speaking again. “How come? Have you tried to make jokes like that before and it didn’t go well? I mean, you guys hang out and joke and stuff like everypony else does… at least, she said ‘nowadays’ you do, which was a little strange wording.”

Alloy sighs again. “Do you want the long, complicated answer, or the short answer?”

“Is there a happy medium? I mean, I might ask for some details, but not all.”

“Tell you what; I’ll give you the short answer, and answer any questions you have.” She clears her throat dramatically. “So Autumn and I have been friends for a couple of years now. But for about seven months, we were...more than that.” She looks down at the ground. “It was almost more like an experiment than anything real...probably why it didn’t work out. In that time, we got a lot closer, made jokes like that ‘porn stash’ comment...now that it’s over, I’m over it, but I don’t think she came out of it completely fine. I don’t want her to get reminders shoved down her throat.”

Night’s ears fold as she walks, her voice quiet. “Oh… she really is an innocent softy, huh?”

Alloy nods. “That’s why I have to really watch my step around her. The fact that she can handle even being around me after all that happened is amazing.”

“...I want to hug her and hold her now,” the batpony says honestly.

The pegasus smiles. “Feel free. She likes hugs. Just don’t tell her I told you any of this, okay?”

“It may come up eventually… but I’m not just gonna blurt it out. Maybe she’ll tell me herself.” Her wings droop slightly. “I feel kinda bummed out now… I need fruit or affection.”

Noticing that they’re coming up to the apartment complex, Alloy nudges the thestral. “Well, we’re here. I can get you fruit from the kitchen, though I’m not sure what you mean by the second one of those.”

Night bumps her lightly with her hip. “It means hug me or give me something juicy to suck on. I need comfort.”

“I’ll hug you when I don’t need my hooves for walking, then. Deal?” She giggles.

“Prepare yourself to be cuddled then.” The batpony nods succinctly as they enter the building.

After closing up shop, Autumn and her mother are more than happy to head straight home. The younger of the two unicorns trots quickly to the door, holding it open as they head inside.

“Thank you, sweetie.” Rune walks inside, sighing in relief, her whole form seeming to relax. “And thank you for your help at the shop today as well. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Autumn closes the door and smiles. “You seem to get by every other Friday just fine, even when I’m not there.”

“Well yes,” Her mother answers as she heads back to her room. Their house isn’t large, but for two ponies living there, it is quite roomy and needing for almost nothing. “But you know what I’m like when I get home after all that. I can barely get out more than a smile without an hour of soaking in the bath to relax.”

“Remind me not to run my own business when I grow up.” The young unicorn giggles a bit. She follows her mother after dropping her saddlebags off in the living room to put away later. “Good thing it’s the weekend now. You can relax all you want.”

“Very true.” Slipping off her bags in her room, the mare stretches much like a cat would. “Of course, the same could be said of you after a long week at school.”

Autumn shrugs a bit. “Yeah...but this week wasn’t so bad. It was cool to meet Nightshade and all that...” She smiles to herself.

“Yes, that is quite the new friend you seem to have made. I like her.” Horn lighting up, Rune floats a few bits of fabric out of her chest of drawers, slipping on her favourite blue ‘hanging out’ socks as she calls them. “Was this the week you were trying out for some after school things?”

Watching her mother pull the socks on, the younger mare nods. “They finally opened sports tryouts...don’t know why they delayed it like they did. I think somepony on the committee was sick or something...” She shakes her head, getting her mind back on track. “Anyway, I tried out for baseball on Monday, and tennis this morning. They’ll let me know next week if I made it onto either team.”

Her mother smiles, straightening up and shaking her mane a bit loose. “Sounds wonderful. I never really got into sports myself, but I am proud of you for trying and I hope you end up liking whatever you get picked for.” Looking back at Autumn, Rune tilts her head. “Hmm… what do you think we should do this afternoon? Obviously something relaxing, but I admit, I’m drawing blanks…”

“Well...” Autumn thinks a bit. “I’d ask you to teach me more runes, but I’m pretty sure you’re tired of dealing with them after today...”

“Only when dealing with customers.” She nuzzles her lovingly. “I’m always more than willing to make time for the most important pony in my life.”

“Mooooom...” the young unicorn whines in embarrassment, but nevertheless returning the nuzzle.

“Autuuuuuuuuumn…” She whines right back in the same tone, giggling.

Autumn starts giggling as well, pulling back from the nuzzle. “You know stuff like that gets me flustered...”

“Stuff like what, sweetie?” Rune asks knowingly as she walks closer. “Stuff like… this?” Suddenly she sweeps her into a hug, smothering her head with playful kisses.

Yelping, the young unicorn wriggles around, trying to get away. “M-Mom! Stop...” She trails off, devolving into a laughing fit.

“You can’t escape the mom love!” The older mare laughs, giving more exaggerated kisses. Smiling slyly, she loosens her grip just a bit.

Worming her way free, Autumn flops onto the floor before jumping onto her hooves. Grinning, she runs out the door. “Escape!”

“Not for long!” Rune pads out after her, her smile wide.

“...you know, you could’ve at least waited until we were done eating,” Alloy deadpans, a mildly annoyed expression on her face as she taps a hoof against the small sandwich in front of her.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Night’s face shows a blissful thestral as she happily munches on a pear. Popping it out of her mouth a moment with a wing, she remarks, “I could have… I didn’t. You know this is nicer than waiting.” She puts the fruit back in her mouth and bites another chunk out of it.

Sighing, Alloy stops her tapping and uses her hoof to rub her temple. “I guess it is...but I kind of need my other hoof to eat, you know. I’m not a unicorn.”

“...fine…” Night reluctantly releases Alloy from her constant hug, waiting until her hoof goes out and grabs her sandwich before hugging her once more, though just around her torso this time. “Better?”

Smiling, the pegasus nods. “Better.” She takes a bite of her sandwich before nuzzling the batpony.

The thestral giggles, nuzzling back as she swallows the last of her snack. “Thanks. You know how much I like my hugs.”

“Oh, I do. And you know how much I like my food.” She takes another large bite, chewing and swallowing before continuing. “So right now, I’d say we’re both happy.”

“Yep!” She waits patiently as her friend eats, musing to herself. “I wonder what we should do next… I keep thinking of things that’d be fun, but they seem like they wouldn’t work tonight…”

Alloy raises an eyebrow. “...what sorts of things are you thinking of, exactly?”

“I dunno… I can only seem to come up with stuff that’s not in your house.” She shrugs. “I keep thinking how fun it’d be to go swimming in the lake, explore the woods, camp out under the stars… maybe make our own secret cave. Lots of things.”

“Hm...” Alloy thinks for a moment as she continues to eat at a slower pace. Once she’s finished off her sandwich, her eyes light up. “Ooh! What if we went on a camping trip over the weekend?”

Night’s ears perk up. “What? Really? We can do that?” Her smile is wide and hopeful. “Wait… can we bring Autumn? I’m sure she’d have fun too!”

The pegasus grins and nods. “Sure! I bet she’d love it! I can ask her later today.” She moves to stand up, but finds herself held in place by the thestral’s hug. “Um...I need to put the plate in the sink, Night...”

She sighs. “Okay… I guess cuddle time is over for now.” She sits properly, watching as Alloy goes over to the sink. “I do need to think of things for us to do tonight, still…”

Once she’s put the dish in the sink with several others, the pegasus trots back over with a smile and nuzzles the batpony. “Why not just hang out and talk? No big plans, just spending time together. We barely get any time together outside of school and...” She hesitates to finish her sentence.

Nodding at the unfinished sentence, Night answers. “Yeah, I guess. I just… I’m not used to just sitting around and talking too much…” Her hooves tap a little nervously. “I mean… do we just sit here in the kitchen and talk about whatever? Because it’ll probably be food if we’re in here.”

“We can move to the bedroom if you want,” Alloy suggests. “More comfortable there, too. An actual bed instead of wooden chairs.”

She narrows her eyes. “You’re not going to trap me in bedsheets, are you?”

“Curses! You’ve tumbled my nefarious plan!” Alloy laughs out loud. “As funny and adorable as it was before, I think we’d both prefer just lying on the bed normally.”

“...can I still get under the covers?” The batpony pouts with wide eyes.

Sighing playfully, the pegasus nods. “Yes, you can get under the covers...if I can as well.”

“Yay!” Nightshade starts skipping toward the room before stopping and looking back. “You know, this would all sound so wrong if we weren’t just good friends.”

Alloy giggles. “Yeah...if anypony heard us right now, they’d probably come to some pretty dumb conclusions.” She follows along for a moment before bursting into a sprint. “Race you!”

“Hey, get back here!” The batpony takes off after her, laughing as the chase begins.

“So, any ideas on what sort of new runes or combinations you wanted to pursue this time?” Rune looks curiously at her daughter, the two in their living room where they cleared a good amount of space for practice. A few glowing symbols etched strategically around them also serve to prevent most accidents from getting out of hoof.

“Well...maybe something that can make air?” Autumn taps her hoof on the floor, trying to figure out how to describe what she means. “Like...something to help dry my mane and tail after showering? That always takes forever.”

“Oh? I generally just use a towel, but something like what you’re asking should be simple enough…” A few runes appears in the air in front of her, as if scribed by a large quill with glowing green ink. “We could… do a concentrated blast of air; we could do a stream of air; we could add heat to the air; we could technically make a spell to draw the moisture out of your mane and tail, but that’s very complicated for something so simple.” More runes appear the more she talks. “Hmm… perhaps a semi permeable magical barrier to run through your mane, letting everything but water pass through so your mane gets dry in a single stroke… wouldn’t be too difficult to adjust from a small shield…”

Autumn’s ears perk up. “I like the sound of that last one.” She smiles. “How does it work?”

Most of the runes wipe away, leaving only a few floating around them. “Well, we covered the runes making up shield spells when you were much younger, just after you got your cutie mark.” A simple circle with a rune on the inside surrounded by three others is formed. “Remember?”

“Mm-hm. It’s easier for me to just make them with regular magic, but I remember the rune way too.” Another circle appears in the air, this one a light blue colour, a copy of the runes quickly being sketched inside. “Like that, right?”

“Perfect, sweetie.” Rune nods. “Now then, what we’re going to do is build off that and add an exception for water, then an inverting sigil so that instead of blocking everything but water, the shield will only block water. Sound right to you?”

Autumn nods. “I think I understand...”

“Okay, so first, let’s starts with this…” A shape not unlike an elongated kite appears on Rune’s circle as she puts it on. “Just shift the rune on the outer circle a little to accommodate…” The three runes move in the outside circle to better equalize space for the shard-like shape. “Then, we scribe the basic water symbol inside.” A symbol that looks like a wave appears inside the shard. “Try it so far, dear.”

Concentrating, Autumn stares at her own floating rune, her own rhombus shape appearing and fitting into her sketch just like her mother’s. After a second of moving the other runes to provide proper spacing, she works on the wave symbol next, which finally appears after some focusing.

“Good, now lets make sure everything is working so far.” Her own circle disappears and a bit of rustling is heard in the kitchen before a wide bowl and a glass of water float in toward them. “So, go ahead and put one of your shields over the top of this bowl with the new exception, and we’ll see how well you did.”

“Alright...” The younger mare’s eyes close for a second as she concentrates, and one of her shields appear above the container. “Like that?”

“Good.” Rune tips over the glass of water, letting it run out. The water smoothly flows out and into the bowl, a few drops even bouncing back and through the shield and back into the bowl. “Perfect, sweetie. You can let it go now; this next part is where you’ll need to focus on the new rune.”

The shield disappears and Autumn sighs, rubbing near the base of her horn. “What’s next…?”

“Next, we add the inverse rune. This one I haven’t shown to you before, so pay close attention.” She lights up her horn and the circle they’ve been working with is scribed again in the air. The written runes in the outer circle shift once more, going closer to the shard as they make room for a new arrival. A strange rune that looks to include a mirror image of itself is slowly drawn in the empty space, glowing more than the runes already present. “Now, be sure to note how the rune is drawn, and put just a bit more power into it than the rest of the formula. It affects all the rest, so it needs a bit more backing.”

“Alright...” After staring at her mother’s example for a few seconds, she begins to slowly copy it into her own sketch in the air, putting as much extra power into it as she thinks necessary. Once she has it finished, she glances to her mother for the next step.

Rune looks at the copy curiously, motioning to the bowl once more. “Alright… try casting.” The shield once again manifests itself over the bowl, slightly shakier than before but staying mostly in place. She pours a bit more of the water out, this time with mixed results. Some of the water does indeed stay above the shield, but about half of it still goes through once enough was on it. “Hmm…” She looks back at the copy. “Try recasting, sharpen the edges of the inverse rune, and put a little more power.”

Groaning a bit, Autumn tries to do as instructed, reworking her rune design slightly before casting the shield again. “There…?”

Rune tests the shield again. This time none of the water goes through, but it seems to never actually touch the shield, always floating above it. “Technically correct, but you can relax, Autumn. You’re putting a bit more magic into it than necessary; you’ll just tire yourself out faster this way.”

The shield dissipates and the water falls into the bowl as Autumn’s horn stops glowing, the light blue runes in the air going with it. She groans again and rubs her head. “Ow...”

“Easy there, don’t want to burn yourself out.” Rune holds up a cautionary hoof. “We don’t need to do this all at once; you do technically know the formula now. You could just write it down and practice at your leisure.”

“R-Right...” Sighing as the pain starts to fade, Autumn lowers her hoof, smiling weakly. “Thanks for the help...”

“Not a problem, sweetie…” The older mare embraces her daughter gently. “Want me to make you some hot cocoa to help you feel better?”

The blue unicorn shakes her head. “No thanks, I’ll be fine...this is already helping enough.” She giggles as she returns the hug.

“That’s my girl…” Rune stays silent a moment before continuing. “So, I was thinking I might make something special for dessert tonight if you’d be willing to help me make it. Feel like another lesson in making my tasty bread pudding?”

Autumn smiles as she nuzzles her mother. “Sounds great to me.”

Night lets out a small growl as she once again catches the large inflatable ball in all four hooves. Acting like she’s running even though she’s on her back, she giggles as she watches the ball spin as she lightly tosses it again. “I don’t know why this is so entertaining, but it is! Is this what cats feel like with yarn?”

“How would I know? I’m not a cat.” Alloy giggles as well from her spot a couple feet away. “But it’s definitely just as entertaining to watch.”

“Want me to toss it to you?” the thestral asks as she looks backwards, seeing her friend as upside down.

Alloy spreads her forelegs wide. “I’m open!”

Bunching up all her legs, the batpony tosses the air-filled ball up and over herself toward the pegasus. “Heads up!”

Reaching for the ball, the filly is disappointed when it bounces off the tips of her hooves. She reaches to the side to try and grab it a second time, only to miss completely and instead fall off the bed onto the floor.

Laughing, Night rolls over and crouches low, preparing herself for her next move as she calls. “Come on, don’t let a ball get the best of you!”

For a moment, nothing happens, until the ball comes flying up onto the bed again, bouncing off her nose. Alloy then stands and hops back up to see her reaction, only the front of her body on the bed.

Rubbing her nose, the batpony looks at her friend with a bemused face. “Oh, we’re playing that game now?”

“Hey, don’t look at me. The ball is what hit you.” She sticks her tongue out. “Don’t let a ball get the best of you.”

“Hmm…” Night slowly backs off the bed until she is in a position mirroring Alloy’s. Picking up the ball with a wing, she suddenly tosses it, watching her friend carefully.

Alloy’s own good wing extends to swat the ball back at her, giggling. “It’s like ping-pong!”

The thestral giggles as well, swatting it back. “I didn’t even think of that. Let’s see who gets a goal…”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” The pegasus jumps to the side and hits it back with her hoof this time. “You have two wings.”

“Well, if that’s what you have a problem with, I won’t use either.” She turns around, swatting the ball with her tail. “Hah! Face my tail!”

“Oh, that I can handle!” Grinning, Alloy turns and uses her own tail as well, hitting the ball again. However, her aim is wild, and it flies off to the side, hitting the wall. “...or not...”

Laughing triumphantly, Night waves her tail in the air. “Praise my superior flank, knave!”

Alloy grumbles. “Not my fault I don’t use it very often...” She walks over to retrieve the ball, tossing it directly at the batpony rather than walking back with it.

Bumping it onto the bed with her rump, the grey filly looks at her friend curiously. “Hey, you’re not mopey, are you? Because I’ll correct it if you are, and you might not like that.”

“Oh? And what’s your plan for that?” Alloy smirks a bit. “I’m curious now.”

“Are you sure you want to know?” Night grins toothily as she starts to prowl around the pegasus.

The young mare starts to look a little nervous. “...not so sure, now...”

“I don’t see a smile~” Her grin doesn’t fade. Alloy tries to smile, but her nervousness shows through. “Drastic measures!” Night soundly pounces onto Alloy, carrying them both onto the bed as she starts to mercilessly tickle her friend with her soft hooves.

Alloy yelps as she gets tackled, quickly transitioning into nonstop laughter from the tickling as she tries to swat away the hooves with her own. “N-Night! N-N-No! Sto-o-op!”

“Not a chance, pinky!” The tickling continues as the batpony runs her hooves up and down her friend’s ribs. “I wanna hear you laugh some more! You aren’t allowed to be mopey!”

“I-I-I’m not mo-o-opey!” the pegasus gets out through her laughs, tears stinging her eyes. “H-Help!”

“No one can save you from me!” Night eases up a little on her hooves as she playfully snaps at the pegasus. “Silly pony.”

Whimpering, Alloy tries to shove her off. “Y-You know I’m t-ticklish...”

“Mmmhmm…” The thestral plops herself down on her friend’s belly, looking at her smugly. “I know that very well.”

The pegasus frowns as she struggles feebly to sit up. “Why do you torture me like this?” She makes a pouty face, eyes going wide.

Leaning down and nuzzling her, Night answers simply. “Because you do cute faces like that.” She follows this statement by lightly booping her on the nose.

Giggling, Alloy reaches up to do the same, but can’t reach and flops back down with a defeated sigh. “My face is not cute...”

“Silly, all of you is cute.” She nuzzles her again. “Just like all of me is cute, and all of Autumn is cute.”

The pegasus nuzzles back. “I can’t tell if you’re just giving a general compliment, or trying to be flirty.”

“I’m just an affectionate pony.” Night smiles, getting comfortable on Alloy. “Even if I am into girls, I don’t really feel that way about you. You’re my friend.”

“Aww...” Alloy groans playfully before sticking her tongue out. “Sooo...what about Autumn, then? You called her cute out of nowhere.”

The thestral blinks her slitted eyes before answering. “I dunno… I mean, I was just saying that in general, but you have to admit she is cute…”

“Hey, I was with her, remember? I know she’s cute.” She pokes the batpony in the belly. “Still find it weird how you just brought her up, though.”

Night giggles, rolling off her friend. “Well, I’m happy to know her. She’s fun, she’s nice, she doesn’t care what we’re like… it’s easy for her to grow on you, you know?”

“Yeah, she’s really something different...” Alloy sits up, stretching, and starts giggling. “Look at us, gossiping about our friend like this.”

“Is there something else we should gossip about?” The emerald-eyed mare tilts her head. “She seems like a good subject to me.”

“Well...isn’t gossiping usually a bad thing? You’d think we’d gossip about ponies we don’t like.” She shrugs. “I guess it’s not a big deal, though...on the topic of Autumn, how’d your day with her go?”

“It was really neat.” She smiles, though it does turn into a frown for a moment. “We did end up popping by the shop we hit, though… but she bought me a peach there, so I guess it was alright.”

Alloy blinks. “The produce shop? You didn’t...let anything slip, did you?”

“Of course not. I kept my mouth stuffed with a fruit to make sure.” She smirks proudly.

“Well, that’s good.” The pegasus sighs in relief. “We ended up walking by the same shop and stopping in for a bit so she could see what was with all the yelling...I didn’t have anything to keep my mouth shut, so I had a bit more trouble keeping quiet.” She rubs her neck. “Hopefully she didn’t notice...”

“I think we’re fine. We keep those lives separate from our normal ones.” Patting her friend reassuringly, Night grabs a pillow and snuggles it. “Hey, what time is it? We don’t want to stay up too late or we’ll be pressed for time when we get ready to camp.”

Glancing out the window, Alloy frowns. “Well, the sun hasn’t set yet, but it’s getting close to starting to...” She sighs. “And I was having fun, too.”

“We… could cuddle more,” Night offers. “It’s conducive to sleep and fun!”

“I don’t think you know what that word means...” The pegasus giggles. “But I’m fine with cuddling...will your dad be fine with you staying the night?”

“I think so.” She shrugs. “He knows you and he knows I liked spending a lot of time with my friends in my old town. I just need to make sure to check in with him tomorrow, or leave a note if he’s asleep.”

Alloy grins. “In that case...” Quickly, she dives under the covers headfirst, only her tail sticking out. Her face peeks out the other side, looking up at the thestral. “Come on, it’s warm!”

Not being one to deny anything comfortable, Night dives in as well. She immediately hugs Alloy, getting cozy. “Yep! Sure is!”

The pegasus hugs back, snuggling against her. “Now this is comfort...it’s like having a big teddy bear.” She nuzzles. “Why do we not do this more often?”

“Because we live in different houses and you never ask.” The thestral nuzzles back. “I’m always up for cuddling.”

“Then consider this an invitation to initiate cuddling sequence whenever you want.” Alloy giggles as she rests her head on her friend’s neck.

“I happily accept your terms. Prepare yourself, for you never know when I might want it.” Night’s wings wrap around them as well, giving them a warm cocoon to sleep in.

“Fine by me.” Snuggling in closer, Alloy closes her eyes, prepared for a comfortable night of rest.