Maru said his goodbyes, first to Lilly and Hanako, and then to Hisao after a wordless trudge up to the dorm rooms. Maru yawned as he laid down in bed, and looked up at the ceiling in the darkness.

Well, that was a day and a half, he thought. Well, what do you suppose the odds of getting to sleep at a timely hour are? Considering we took that nap. He chuckled. Oh well. I suppose it was all worth it in the end. Ahh, chess. It'd been a long while since I played. Well, save for against a computer, but that's tedious. He stretched and closed his eyes. Well, here goes nothing.

Ten minutes later, he rolled on his side with a sigh. Another twenty minutes, and he was on his other side. Five minutes later he sat up and rubbed his eyes, just as alert as he'd been when he laid down. "Ayup," he said to the empty room. "Sucker bet. Well, now what?" He looked around the room with night-adjusted eyes. ...Well, I guess I could read some more, but... He sighed and strapped on his leg before sitting on the edge of his bed, chin rested on his hand.

Well, I guess I could write some. Have had some ideas stirring around, and sleepless nights are as good a time as any to commit them to paper. He blinked. Well, electrons, anyway. He snorted, shuffled over to where he had set up his laptop, and opened it.

The bright screen made his eyes water, and he held his hand in front of his face until he had adjusted to the light. He opened up OpenOffice, took a breath, and started to type.

Fleetlord Atvar's jaw clenched in surprise as the 56th Emperor Jossano, the ship carrying the explosive metal bombs, disappeared suddenly from the tactical screen. "What just happened?!"

"Unknown, superior sir," reported the officer at the terminal. "It could be a communications error."

Atvar

Maru grimaced. Dammit. Typing one handed slows me down too much, I can't get the ideas out in time. He snorted. Of course, that's only a small portion of the problem. Damn idea's nebulous, even after all this time all I have are some disjointed ideas without any meat to hold them together... Not that that's ever stopped me before, but still.

He massaged his temple. Okay, okay, okay... What I need to do is get a voice recorder. Yeah. That way I can speak my idea, then transcribe it. Should be a damn sight faster than this. He blinked. Or, you know, just get a microphone. That's gotta be cheaper. Hmm, maybe try voice-to-text? Ehh... Damn shame the mic in this thing went out, either way... Shitty-ass laptop.

He sighed. Well, fuck it, I'm just gonna go for a walk.

A few minutes later, Maru was in front of the dorms, looking down on a prone, armless form with a paint brush nestled between its toes. Somehow, this doesn't surprise me. "Hey, Rin?"

The form didn't rouse.

"Oi, Rin, that you?" He bent over and shook her shoulder. "Earth to Rin, come in Rin, over?"

"The world is shaking," Rin announced sleepily. "The space whale is having a bad dream."

"Uh," he opined. She began to snore, and he rolled her over slightly until she stopped. "...You know, someone should do something about this, but I don't have a clue what." He scratched his cheek idly for a moment. Eh, fuck it. He cupped his hand around his mouth as best he could. "Rin! Wake up!"

She roused with a testudinate start and looked around. "Oh."

"Oh indeed," Maru replied, and looked at the mural.

"How strange," Rin said. "I just had a dream, and you were in it. At least I think. I seem to remember hearing your voice, and then everything started to shake."

"That would be because I was trying to wake you," he observed.

"Oh." She mulled on this for a few seconds. "Is this why I sometimes have the shaky dream when Emi comes to wake me up sometimes?"

"Seems likely," he said with a shrug.

She nodded and looked over at the mural. "This conversation has been enlightening. But it doesn't solve my current problem."

"Hm." He stroked his chin. "What's your current problem?"

"Light," she replied. "It's too dark to see what I'm painting."

Maru frowned. "Well, I suppose I could snag a flashlight, but it's kind of late."

Rin nodded. "That's exactly the problem. This is very late, I need to get it done now."

"...Well, gimme a few minutes," he replied. "Be right back."

He shuffled back to his room, looked around in a couple of the still un-opened boxes, and pulled out a flashlight. He thumbed the switch and, satisfied that it was still working, turned it back off and shuffled back.

"Right," he said, and showed the light on the mural. "Will this work?"

"Hm," she said. "Maybe. Yes. Hold still." She deftly plunged her brush into one of the assorted paints and began painting.

He held the flashlight steady as she worked.

"Okay, move it this way," she said a few minutes later. "No, the other this way," she said as he moved the flashlight.

"Right, right," he said as he attempted to follow her direction.

"Okay, good," she said. "Hold still."

"Ayup," he replied.

Maru quickly found himself bored to tears, but having agreed to help, he couldn't bring himself to leave Rin without light. His attempts to start a conversation with Rin were cut short each time with a complaint that he was moving too much. With a sigh, he resigned himself to the long haul, and let his imagination loose for the sake of sanity.

The process dragged on for an hour, and then another, interrupted only by the occasional nod to one of the patrolling staff members. As the third hour began to slowly trudge forth, he realized he was starting to feel really sleepy.

"Hey," he said with a yawn. "It's beginning to get really late, now."

"Yes," Rin replied. "But we're almost done."

"I mean late as in, er..." He glanced at his watch.

"You moved," she said.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "But seriously, it's like, nearly two now."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "Two of what?"

"Two of our Earth hours," Maru said. "Past midnight."

"Oh." She blinked. "There are different kinds of hours?"

He opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it again. "I was being sarcastic," he said at last. "My apologies."

She looked at him for a moment, and then yawned. "It's fine. I do that a lot too, but sometimes people can't tell."

"Well, you are quite deadpan," he observed with a shrug.

Rin recoiled slightly. "I am not a dead pan. Am I? I didn't even know pans could die."

"I mean you have a good poker face," Maru said.

She recoiled again. "Are you implying I use my face to poke things?"

His eye twitched. I can't even tell if she's doing this on purpose or not, but either way, that about does it for me tonight. "Rin, I'm going to bed now."

"Oh." She frowned slightly and looked at her mural. "Well I am much further than I was before." She nodded and smiled wanly at Maru. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Maru replied with a yawn. "Night, Rin."

"Goodnight," Rin replied before laying down on the ground.

He raised an eyebrow. "...Are you going to sleep there?"

"I don't see why not," she replied. "Is it a problem?"

He stroked his chin with the flashlight for a moment, and then shrugged. Not as if I can judge. "Eh, suppose not. Still, beds are made for a reason."

"Need to work in the morning," she replied. "Too far. Might forget."

"Ah." He tapped the flashlight on his shoulder idly. "Well, good luck with that, then. Try to avoid being stepped on?"

"Will try," she said. "No guarantees."

He thought about this, then shrugged. "Okay."

Rin didn't respond, so Maru returned to his dorm and, pausing only to set down the flashlight and set his alarm, flopped down into his bed.

The sad thing is, I wrote it and I can't tell if she's being serious or sarcastic. I'm pretty sure she's just messing with Maru's head, though. Pretty sure.

LillyxHisao, MOAR? MOAR. If a bit short. ;) Nightshade McArthur, I have eyes all over this place, man. But yes, I'm doing what I can to not leave anyone out, as it were. :) AwesomeInstead, it has been a while, good to see you! Glad to see you think everything's improving so far! :D mickellala, 'sa right, typos happen. Glad you like it too! ;)