Gumi feels like she totally has become what most of her protagonists usually were like at the beginning of their stories.
Her eyesight is probably going to fail completely before she turns thirty; through her glasses she squints at her screen. She sits hunched over notepads and notepads of words and highlighted words, typing everything she's reading through on her desktop computer. Her eyes travel to the A5 notepads in the far corner of her desk and she can feel her lips curling into a smile in satisfaction as her hands type away at her keyboard, swiftly, wordlessly.
Those notebooks have already been copied out onto her word document; she's gotten so much done way quicker than usual. And it's only - Gumi peers at the desk clock - two in the morning. She could type up another book...or two. Yet as soon as she thinks so, she feels her hands cramp up and her vision blurs. She perserveres. Then she yawns a few minutes later.
Perhaps...a nap would do...
Gumi thinks she should fix up her sleeping pattern, maybe go and sleep now and get up in a couple hours and finish up with her latest work. She had another day from now before the deadline.
Then again, she can sleep plenty when she's done.
"Mreh." Gumi croaks - it's the first thing she's said in hours - and stretches instead, feeling her shoulder muscles loosen. Gosh that felt good - she blinks sleepily. She's in the middle of yawning when the tree branches outside slam against the windows with a menace, the thin panes rattling under the shock. It takes her a while to process that the window was indeed still (barely) durable and wasn't broken, no matter how ear-piercing the sound was. She resumes typing.
The storm outside seems to have taken on a life of its own. Even with the dim light of her still-running desktop computer from the living room, Gumi could hear the rain battering against the roof. The wind was a mournful howl, with only an occasionally flickering streetlight for company outside.
Its around a quarter to three when the relentless pelting of raindrops subsides into light showers of precipitation. Its rather quiet now, the soft pitter-patter of raindrops against the window was almost soothing to Gumi's ears. At this moment, Gumi's eyes droop shut without her permission, and her hands freeze while pressing into keys. She shakes her head and blinks multiple times, highlighting the string of Ks and Bs and erasing them from her page with the press of a single button. It is pretty late, and the idea of having a full five hour snooze or even more sounds tempting at this point. She continues to consider this as she walks out of the living room and stops in the middle of the hallway, in between the bedroom and her kitchen.
Sleep is important, Gumi knows that ("sleep is for the week," she'd say). What's stopping her from diving under the covers is that nagging feeling of leaving her work unfinished. Somehow she just knows it'd keep her awake until she went back to it.
Coffee, she thinks while turning away from the bedroom, sauntering to the kitchen instead. She ruffles her disheveled jade strands as her other hand reaches for the fridge and pulls out the litre of milk. The cold of the carton against her hand wakes her up enough to grab a cup, but she's not bothered to reach up for anything else, so she settles for pouring herself a glass of milk. She downs it in two gulps, making a breathy "paaaaahhhh" in satisfaction. She felt alot more alert now.
Gumi returns to her spot in the living room, to her notebooks and her words and her computer. She types more until she hears a door open and shut, to which she halts her movements. There's a shuffling of footsteps so quiet that Gumi has to strain her ears. Perhaps she was too loud when she ventured to the kitchen.
"Gumi?" A quiet murmur followed by a yawn. Gumi looks up toward the source of the voice and her breath gets caught in her throat.
Yuma peeks his head through from the giant bookshelf beside the desktop gazing sleepily at her with topaz orbs. His pink hair looks just as chaotic as Gumi's, strands pointing in multiple different directions.
Gumi smiles as he waddles from the bookshelf, in his Spiderman pyjama shorts and his grey, long sleeved v-neck. A grey blanket rests over his shoulders and he's got a pillow under one arm, which he clutches tighter as he yawns again. His free hand rubs at his eyes in a curled fist, like a cat.
Gumi doesn't know how or when she was capable of having such an adorable giant as a boyfriend, but its not like she's complaining...
Yuma catches her staring (a lot), blinks multiple times at her and tilts his head to the side, letting out a small "Hm?" in confusion. She just smiles wider and then turns back to the desktop, grabbing another notepad and flipping to the back of the book.
"What's up?" Gumi asks, her eyes not moving from her desktop. In her peripheral vision she sees Yuma moving closer until he takes the chair on the left side of her and rests his head ontop of the desk.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" His cheek is smushed against the oakwood as he looks up at Gumi. Gumi takes one hand off the keyboard and ruffles Yuma's hair, giggling when he lets out a sigh and his eyes flutter close in contentment. She's still smiling when she runs her hand through his hair once before before going back to typing.
"I have to type out what I've got in those notepads." She answers simply, turning the page and transcribing her chicken-scratch writing.
"You're tired though." Gumi shakes her head without looking at Yuma.
"I'm alright. All-nighters ain't got nothing on me." As soon as she says that she yawns. She can feel her boyfriend's eyes boring into her side, amused. Before Yuma can say anything she mutters "I'm not tired trust me," There's a new feeling of determination welling inside of her and she picks up the pace with her typing, pretending to ignore how Yuma is smirking at her.
"Alrighty, whatever you say," Yuma places his pillow on the table, carefully so that he doesn't knock any of Gumi's books over, and soon falls asleep to the sound of keyboard clicks.
About an hour later Gumi closes one of the few notepads left and places it ontop of the rising tower at the corner of her desk. It's freezing all of a sudden and she really wants to grab a pair of socks from the laundry, so she does. She finds one of Yuma's hoodies and puts that on too, snickering as she notices how long the sleeves are on her. Gumi entertains herself for a few moments by waving her arms up and down like a bird struggling to fly before she clears her throat and walks back to the living room sheepishly. She tiptoes across the wooden floor, trying not to step on any loose boards while she pulls the sleeves of her hoodie up.
Yuma's still fast asleep with his cheek against his pillow facing Gumi, eyebrows furrowed. He's got goosebumps on his arms and the blanket he'd been using has been collecting dust in a pile on the floor. Gumi picks up the blanket and is about to wrap it around his shoulders again when she notices how uncomfortable his sleeping position looks. She hadn't really left him much arm space, what with all of her books lying around on her desk, so he had put his arms under his pillow and slept on top of them. Yuma's back is hunched over, like a bridge between the desk and his lower half; his legs are crossed on the seat of the chair, curled up into his torso since the space under the desk is way too small for his long legs.
"Yuma," Gumi whispers, patting the sleeping giant's shoulder lightly. "Yuma," she repeats when he doesn't move. Her hands run through his hair a couple of times and he stirs, humming before his eyes open. He's pouting, whether he knows it or not, and when he sits up, his hair is sticking up wildly. He looks around, dazed and he scratches his head. Gumi can't help but think how cute he's being without even knowing.
"What's up?" he asks, his voice hoarse and his mind seemingly elsewhere; his eyes are unfocused.
"Sleeping on a desk like you did isn't the greatest thing for your back. You, sir, are going to bed." Yuma, half-asleep and baffled, shakes his head.
"Nope." he manages before yawning. "I'm staying here."
"Ahahah no you aren't," Gumi stands up and places her hands on her hips, hiding a smile as she looks at her boyfriend trying to stay awake. "No need to be stubborn, I know you want to sleep."
"Nah-uh," Yuma's face is buried in his pillow. Gumi doesn't respond, just crosses her arms and stares at him until he lifts his head up, trying to blink away his fatigue. Gumi allows herself to smile as she kneels down to his level, mimicking how Yuma has his chin resting on his crossed arms.
"Yuma," Gumi pokes one of his arms before ruffling his hair, messing it up even more. "Please go to sleep. It's Monday and you have work." Gumi's voice is softer than it was before, and she's staring directly at Yuma. There's a few moments of silence before Yuma breaks eye contact first, staring down at his sleeves and, albeit reluctantly, nods.
It's when they're in the hallway that Yuma speaks again. "Are you going to sleep too?" Gumi wonders if its just her or if Yuma sounds...hopeful?
"Nah, I have a few more books to go. I'll be fine though." Gumi hears Yuma's weak protests as she guides him to the bedroom and places his pillow down and wraps the grey blanket around him. He slides under the covers and Gumi tries really hard not to laugh because of how co-operative he's being.
She's about to pull the covers over him when he sits up suddenly and lifts her up by her waist. Letting out a confused "Ngaah," Gumi finds herself in Yuma's arms and under the covers with him.
"H-hey..." Gumi tries sitting up but Yuma's arms just wrap themselves around her waist and pull her closer to him. "Lemme go. I need to get back to work."
"No." His voice is deep and firm. "You need to sleep."
"I'm not tired though..." her palms are pressed into his shoulders. She tries to push herself away lightly, but freezes when Yuma lets out a tired whine.
"You need to sleep." Yuma's grip on her tightens and he buries his face into her neck. "Please?" Gumi's eyes are wide and her cheeks could probably melt ice.
Since when was he capable of being so damn adorable? This fact doesn't bode well for her sanity.
Am I actually already asleep and I'm just dreaming all of this up? Is this a prank? What-
"Shhhhhhhh," Gumi feels a hand in her hair, fingers playing with the strands. "I can hear you thinking." Yuma's other hand is still at her waist, drawing little circles into her skin. She shudders and Gumi feels Yuma smile against her neck. "Please, you need to rest."
"But I'm fiiine." Gumi drawls. She's frowning when Yuma loosens his grip and looks at her.
Yuma's actions are distracting her from her need to do her work and technically that's a good thing since, well, she can't remember when she had more than three hours of sleep. But the impulsive need to leave things completed lingers in her mind. She feels like her mind is having a tug-of-war to decide what to do. She must have made some sort of face that reflected upon her inner conflict because Yuma is just looking at her, concerned. He hasn't blinked for a solid minute.
"What's wrong?" Gumi shakes her head and gives him a small smile, but the frown returns as she weighs out the pros and cons of not sleeping properly for another night. When she looks up at him again there's a thoughtful look on his face before he rests his head on the crook of her neck again.
Gumi can't help but snicker when Yuma moves his head and his hair tickles her neck. Yuma finds this amusing; Gumi is aware of that judging by how he immediately draws a line down her back and chuckles when she flails uselessly in his grip. That's what he was doing; he was getting her to smile.
"You look prettier when you smile." He says simply, returning one of his own. Gumi's eyes are downcast and she smiles shyly.
"I don't, trust me. Your brain's 3AM setting is messing with how you perceive things." Yuma laughs at her outright. Gumi furrows her eyebrows, wondering if there was anything she'd said that was actually funny. She gets distracted again, by the hand at her waist pressing into her ribs. She gufffaws and squirms. "Yuma," she half whines, half giggles. Gumi doesn't know why she feels terrified when she sees a mischievous glint in his eyes despite his passive expression. He lightly presses her fingertips into her side, once, twice, and maybe a few more times until Gumi wheezes and pleads for Yuma to stop making her laugh like an idiot.
"You know," Yuma has one hand in her hair now, and he's lightly combing it, the other around her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. Gumi's cheeks flush bright red as he moves lose to her ear. "It's Sunday." She can feel him smiling and can't help but smile too, sheepishly. She grins to herself and sighs exasperatedly; "Just because my sense of time is, at this point, mothertruckin' stuffed, it does not mean that I'm tired."
"Damn, Gumi, you're very stubborn when you're tired," The male teases.
"Nah-uh. Not tired," Gumi rubs at her eyes.
"Sure you are,"
"I'm not." Dammit, bantering with Yuma was actually tiring her.
"Your eyes are practically shutting right now." Indeed they are, just as Gumi lets out another yawn and finds being in Yuma's arms is incredibly comfortable...
But your work...
"It's okay Gumi. You have the rest of today." So now mind-reading's a thing. What the truck? Gumi finds herself being lulled by his hand running through her hair. She has no idea why, but she thinks it feels really nice. "Please, go to sleep."
"Y'know, ya sound a bit like a polite ermm..." Gumi feels how her muscles loosen and her grip on Yuma's shirt sleeve slacken, but she doesn't pay attention to it. She was more focused on trying to speak. "...like a polite Jeff the Killer." The male chuckles and holds Gumi tighter, a hand still running through her dishevled strands gently, lovingly.
"You are really cute, you know that." Yuma sounds thoughtful. Gumi doesn't bother checking his expression, because she has allowed her eyes to close, and they definitely aren't opening.
"I'm not..." Gumi mumbles, before letting her arms wrap around Yuma, turning him into a pillow of sorts. "Dass more like youuu..."
"Right, right." Gumi can hear how Yuma is smiling down at her. "Good night," he whispers.
"Izzz mornin'," Gumi helpfully supplies as she feels her mind almost go blank. But not before she hears her boyfriend speak once more.
"Love you," and with that Gumi drifts off with a small smile on her face.
Fluffy fluff~ Lots of fluffy fluff~
Gonna go puke a rainbow now.
- Jae