"Umm, can I- I feel uncomfortable tonight. Can I-"
"Yes!" Danny said entirely too enthusiastically, "Of course you can come over and stay the night. We have plenty of space at the SumSoc HQ. Do you want me to pick you up?"
"N- no, no. I can manage, I guess. Just be there, okay? See you." Laura hung up.
Danny locked her phone and inaudibly danced on the spot. She's coming over.
In a flash, she realized the only spare bed in the entire HQ was Danny's. And her entire room was a mess. She started panicking. Where are the spare bedsheets? Shit.
She scooped up heaps of dirty laundry from the floor and shoved them into the wardrobe and kicked them under her bed. Alright, my room looks almost presentable now.
Danny looked down on herself and saw she was only wearing a shirt and briefs. Danny's phone vibrated. Laura was here. Damn. She reached under her bed and tried to find a pair of sweatpants. When she finally grabbed a pair, she tried to pull them on while walking down the stairs hastily – with little success. As soon as she finally pulled the pants up she took two steps at a time and almost tripped a couple of times. She ran across the yard, past fellow sisters clad in armor carrying practice weapons.
"Hey," Danny beamed at Laura when she opened the door, a little out of breath.
"What took you so long? Is the HQ that big?" Laura chuckled.
"I live on the fifth floor. Sorry, come on in," Danny rubbed her neck with her hand, "Let me carry this for you." Laura handed her the duffel bag.
"Do you always have an emergency bag ready. Just in case?"
"Just in case, yeah."
They walked side by side. When they reached the training and recreation yard, Laura blurted: "Whoa, you have a- is that a waterfall? Where does the water even come from?! And why are all the girls... naked?"
"Uh, that's the Artemis Fountain. You know that one tale from Greek mythology in which Artemis takes a bath with her hunters and then there's this creep, Actaeon, who's kinda like a Peeping Tom and she turns him into a stag and he is killed by his own dogs. Anyways, after practice, we usually bathe together, since we all practice at the same time. Kinda like a ritual, I guess."
"Pretty cool."
Danny smiled at Laura shyly, squeezing the strap of the duffel bag hard.
"So, um, I thought we had more than one spare bed, but I totally forgot about the exchange students from Delphi, so there's only one bed left. The one... in my room. I hope that's-"
"Oh, Danny. Don't worry. As long as I won't sleep alone tonight. My horrible roommate is out again. Haven't seen her since yesterday," Laura shrugged.
Won't sleep alone tonight. The words echoed in Danny's head and she blushed.
"So, this is my room!"
"You've got your own room?!"
"Well, technically, I'm the captain of the Summer Society."
"What? Why didn't you tell me, Captain Lawrence?"
"Oh, don't do that, Hollis," Danny gently nudged Laura's shoulder.
"So, that's where you'll be sleeping tonight," Danny pointed at the bed.
"There's only... one bed. Where will you sleep?"
"On the floor. It's okay, though. I have a blanket and a spare pillow."
"But, Danny, you don't have to sleep on the floor!"
Dramatically, Laura slumped down on Danny's bed. After all, she was very tired, but with that storm raging outside, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep without someone around.
"Do you want something to drink? Tea? Cocoa?"
"No, I'm fine, thanks. I really need to get some sleep. I'm dead tired."
Danny spread out a yoga mat and put the blanket and her pillow on it.
"Are you really going to sleep over there?" Laura gestured at Danny's makeshift bed under the window.
"It's okay, Laura. Really"
"But it's not okay with me. Come over here. Sleep next to me. This is your bed after all, and I'm not a very tall person, so we'll fit. Alright?"
Danny froze. Sleep next to her?
Laura noticed Danny's hesitation and patted the spot next to her: "Don't be like that."
Danny gulped and, with her pillow and blanket under one arm, she walked over to Laura and awkwardly lay down avoiding any physical contact.
She lay in bed like a log. Wide awake on her back with the tiny Journalism student dozing off next to her. Laura rolled over and put one arm over Danny's stomach. Her whole body tensed again with the sensation of touch.
After hours of lying awake in bed, her body gave in and she fell asleep eventually.
The next morning both were lying on their side. They were spooning.