Midnight

As movement upon my chest stirs me awake and forces my eyes open, I'm greeted by my room, still bathed in relative darkness. Lying on my side in bed, my eyes have to adjust to make sense of the vague shapes around me, but one already stands out – thanks to the bluish glow of eyes.

Midnight is huddled up next to me in bed – but trying to ease herself out from under the embrace of my left arm. Her eyes migrate up to mine as I am just able to make out her frown. "I was trying not to wake you – I have to use the bathroom," she mumbles. "Sorry."

"Hey, no problem," I reassure her through my sleep-induced fog, lifting up my arm to release her. With that, Midnight slips off the side of the bed with hardly a sound and slinks through the bedroom doorway, only vaguely visible by following her movements until she's out of sight.

I decide to turn and lie on my back while awaiting Midnight's return. I just stare up at the ceiling for now and listen; out of curiosity, I try to make out the sounds of Midnight opening the door or heading down the steps. But as usual, she's uncannily silent – the slightest creak from the kitchen door is all I can make out.

I still don't understand how she can be so quiet with hooves – though it does seem to be something she actively chooses to do. Excitement seems to push her mind away from calculated motions and forces her hooves to emit a familiar clack I would normally expect to hear on concrete, tile, and other hard surfaces.

But in this case, it probably doesn't help that the air conditioner is running with a continuous hum out in the living room. Meanwhile, though there's a slight chance at best of any precipitation, the distant rumble of thunder outside is an audible broadcast to be wary of rainstorms.

While it would be simple enough to turn my head, I'm too damn lazy to check my alarm clock for the time. Since it's still pitch black, it's safe to assume it's the wee hours of the morning – Midnight and I were up a bit later than normal discussing parts and pieces on the Chrysler.

...and it's so weird, now that I think about it. How the hell did we get here? More specifically, how did things lead to my position now, waiting for Midnight to return to bed with me before falling back asleep?

This was a fantasy a month ago, at best. That followed up the amicable coexistence Midnight and I somehow managed to hammer out – because we sure as hell didn't want anything to do with each other at first meeting. She was arrogant and grating at best – but I guess I took pity on her, to an extent.

Midnight saw me as a means to an end, needing a place to stay and lie low out of the public eye. It was an idea she despised, but she needed me.

Now, here we are. In a relationship, enjoying each other's company. I couldn't imagine not being with her at this point. And on the other end – Midnight has become quite the cuddle slut at night. I always wake up to her snuggled up next to me. But I've never noted my observation to her – I'd hate to see the trend come to an end because of self-consciousness on her part.

She would probably deny it anyway, somehow turning it back on me.

"Hey, are you still awake?" I hear Midnight murmur from across the room.

"No."

"Oh, good."

I'm able to hear just enough movement and spy a pair of disembodied blue cat's eyes rushing toward me early enough to brace myself. Midnight lands atop me a split second later – though it's a relatively light impact.

"Oof. You fatass."

I see a flash of her teeth as she gives me a smug grin and a light chuckle, followed by her hoof lightly thumping my chest. "You're fine, pussy," she chides, before rolling off of me and back to my left side.

I take it as a signal to resume my side-laying position I was in when she initially woke me. Once again I lay my arm over her, which coaxes an exhale of content from Midnight. Even so, her eyes begin to study me, while her face grows slightly serious. "What's up with you all of a sudden?" she inquires.

"Hm?"

"I came back and you were just staring up at the ceiling like you might have actually had a thought in your head for once. And you still seem to be... more quiet than I expected."

"No thoughts, just focusing on keeping the air up there contained and secure," I joke back.

"I haven't heard any whistling, so I'd say you're doing a fine job," she comments, continuing with my charade. While I expected something back regarding my quip, I still can't help but exhale through my nose in amusement at what Midnight cooked up. However, silence pervades the room for a spell after that – while Midnight continues to stare at me.

"Just drinking in my features tonight, huh?" I quip.

"Nah. Just wondering what's really on your mind," she answers, cool and calm.

Well, there's really no harm in sharing. "How the hell did we get here," I wonder aloud.

"Well, I'm not really sure about the whole process that it took to create me," she answers, hesitating for just a moment as a smirk starts to form on her muzzle. "I'm sure in your case, your mommy and daddy loved each other very much, and one night—"

"Halt it right there – that's not what I meant, you sicko."

"Exactly. They had really gross old people sex and made you," she makes sure to finish. It makes me pull my arm off of her just to flick her nose in retaliation. Unfortunately, that only garners me another snappy response from her – as she sneezes on me.

"That was pleasant," I lament. Despite not being anything close to a shower, I still take a moment to rub down the lower half of my face of what did manage to land on me.

"I'm not the one who decided irritating my nose would be a brilliant idea," she shoots back. "Deal with it."

Yeah, I know," I concede dismissively. "But what I meant to say is how did we end up like this? You know, sharing a bed now, some... more intimate moments. When you stop and think about it, it just seems sort of surreal with everything we've been through, you know?"

"It's what you wanted though... right?" she asks, the uncertainty in her voice quickly prodding at my heart.

"It is, I didn't mean to make you believe otherwise," I tell her, leaning in and kissing the same snoot I flicked just moments ago. "But you weren't on board with this idea at first. Hell, getting you to like me before that was a struggle in and of itself."

"It wasn't that bad," Midnight scoffs, though her rebuttal dies off for a moment after that feeble excuse. "I didn't have patience. With anyone. I didn't trust anyone. That was hard for me to— let go. Letting go of what I experienced before meeting you."

I certainly understand the patience thing; I've never had much of it with any employees I have hired. Yet despite her volatile temperament, I took it upon myself to work with Midnight and help her improve. There's an argument to be made that I did it for selfish reasons, seeing her unique abilities being a boon for the business – but much of that idea goes out the window with everything that has transpired beyond that initial step.

"You had your issues. It just took a while to get you to tell me what they were," I remind her. "Maybe I sort of sensed that, deep down."

"Quite a statement to make when you had your issues, too," Midnight responds with a hum of amusement, snuggling closer to me. " You didn't want to face the music with what reality had in store for you down the road, preferring to make a joke of everything. I had to dig deeper myself."

"In other words, we're both kinda shitty."

"Mmm – no, just you," she answers, snickering to herself. "I was more... rough around the edges, so to speak."

"Mid, there were no rough edges. It was just a rough sphere with you," I tease.

"Whatever, sit on a dick then," she retorts in mock frustration, sticking her tongue out at me.

"You should know better than to threaten me with a good time."

"Hey, I'm still not wholly convinced there isn't some truth to that, despite what went on between us," Midnight cautions. But neither she nor I can keep going on with a straight face, preferring instead to let out a pair of amused chuckles.

"Anyway, despite all that... here we are," I comment.

"Yeah, somehow we're putting up with each other," Midnight adds.

"Both of us together making this place work, little by little."

"While working on our own project car for fun on the side."

...I feel like that comment is not gonna end at just a passing muse. That being said, I wait until Midnight invariably follows through to break the silence she created. I normally wouldn't mind her questions, but I really am tired and ready to go back to sleep now...

"What's the next focus for the 300C, anyway?" she finally asks. "I know you said you've got to tear the whole engine down to the bare block, but where does that leave me in the meantime?"

Rather than give Midnight an answer, I choose to simply stare at her, offering up just the smallest hint of a grin even as she fidgets and pokes at me for a response.

"What?" she finally spouts, her voice touched by a hint of uneasiness by my relentless silence.

"I was just thinking..."

"Yes?"

"You have the weirdest idea of pillow talk I've ever heard in my life," I finish.

It is a comment that draws a pout from her as anticipation dies away. But it is soon replaced by a mock scowl as she snorts and lightly pushes at my chest with a hoof. "Just shut the hell up, stupid," she mutters.

"Music to my ears, Middie," I cheer, pulling her up tight to me and closing my eyes. "Gnight."

"...well played," Midnight mumbles. I crack open an eye just in time to watch her properly snuggle in with me once again.

I will answer her question tomorrow – I'm just too comfortable to bother right now...