Darkness is all that surrounds me. There is no light to be found as I wallow in my lonesome. The cold, empty space stretches out beyond my line of sight, and even then there would be nothing. I am but a speck, unaffected by everything around me while it gets colder and colder. I am nearly freezing, but by this point I am numb to its effects. No sense in fighting it.
-Brody Sanders
A Umbreon sighed, slumping down hard into his chair upon finishing his writing for the night. Rather than continue the novel he had been working on, the dark type instead wrote a drabble, not feeling that inspired tonight.
Brody huffed, crossing his arms as he let his thoughts simmer. His emerald green eyes drifted off to the side, where he saw the digital clock atop the wooden table he had just been writing on. Adjusting his glasses, he read the time plastered on the machine.
"Nearly 11:30, huh…" he mumbled to himself, shaking his head in disappointment. Brody had spent roughly three hours writing, and he had absolutely nothing to show for it. The cat's ears flicked in annoyance, almost simultaneously with the flicker of his dusty lamp's light. It was quite old, about as old as the Umbreon himself.
Brody sighed, quickly running a paw through the fluff on his head as he sat up in the rickety brown chair he was in. He put the pencil he had been using back in a cup filled with assorted writing utensils, before crumpling the paper he just wrote on, sculpting it into a small ball. He carelessly tossed it into the garbage can that sat next to the table, landing it at the top of a small pile of other crumpled-up papers from the night.
"Can't write for shit it seems," Brody muttered, slowly getting up from his seat after turning the lamp off. He then lumbered out of the small room, shutting the door behind him on his way to the bedroom.
The Umbreon's feet shuffled on the carpet occasionally as he walked down the hallway, with his bedroom being on the other end. He stopped in the middle, gently grazing the picture on the wall, which showed a young Eevee standing happily with a female Leafeon in a park. The picture was taken during the fall, so many orange and red leaves were all over the ground around them, and the two had sweaters on. Brody stroked the Leafeon in the picture's cheek, before continuing on his way to the bedroom.
As he walked up to the door, it opened from the other side, revealing a Jolteon standing there. She meekly smiled, opening the door all the way to let Brody in.
"Hey hon, how was your writing for tonight?" The fox asked, closing the door and watching the Umbreon head straight for the queen-sized bed that they shared.
"Horrible," Brody spat out, sitting on the edge of the bed as the Jolteon joined him, putting a comforting paw on his back.
"Don't worry, you'll write something amazing soon, I just know it."
Brody stared at the Jolteon, with a bit of an angry look on his face.
"Nina, you know that I've been trying for the past few weeks, but nothing has come out of it. Don't try to sugarcoat my failures."
"I'm just trying to support you in the best way I can," Nina responded, frowning a little. "Sorry for upsetting you, hon."
"No, it's just…" Brody sighed, scrunching the bridge of his snout with a paw. "I'm frustrated with myself. A loser writer is all I'll ever be at this rate."
Nina shook her head in disagreement, rubbing her paw up and down the Umbreon's back in an attempt to soothe him.
"You know that's not true, Brody," she gently spoke, her words almost sounding like a whisper. "You're amazing when it comes to writing. The way you have with words is just astounding. Besides, you've written lots of great things, from short stories to opinion pieces."
"Sure, but none of those have ever been as grand or important as what I want this novel to turn out to be. It's all just mini warm-ups to the big thing, and even then I've barely written three chapters so far. I've had the idea for years, and now I can't even perform properly."
The fox shook her head once more, putting her free paw onto Brody's chin, stroking it lovingly.
"If you didn't work up the courage to write that poem for me all those years ago, we wouldn't be here right now. I'd say that, at least, is worthy of being considered important to you… right?"
Brody's ears drooped slightly, as he gave an extremely weak smile to Nina.
"Of course. You're one of the best things that has happened to me, after all."
Nina smiled back warmly, embracing the Umbreon by wrapping her arms around him, putting Brody into a side hug. He partially reciprocated, putting an arm around her.
They stayed silent for a few minutes, before the Jolteon attempted to lighten the mood a little.
"You always seem to be in a crabby mood, huh?" Nina said jokingly, continuing by saying, "This is why we always-"
"Call me 'brooding Brody,' I know," The cat interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Such a clever nickname," he added sarcastically, causing Nina to snicker and cuddle into Brody a little harder.
"It sure is," Nina teased, releasing Brody from her grasp and adjusting a strap of the pink nightgown she had on. "You know what else? You should change into your pajamas, it is pretty late after all. Mama needs her beauty sleep with her man~."
Brody gave a little chuckle, nodding his head as he got up off the edge of their bed, going to his pillow to grab his pajamas from underneath. The cat traded the long-sleeved flannel shirt and navy blue jeans he had on with a plain white t-shirt and camel brown sweatpants. Brody then put the shirt and jeans he was just wearing into a large laundry basket in the corner of the room.
Nina got herself settled into bed, as Brody took off the silver half-rim glasses on his face, putting them into a small black case and setting that down once they were in. His hand quickly glided across the dresser as he walked to the bed, since the Umbreon needed a little guide when walking without his glasses on. He reached for the bed, laying down in it once he found it, with a little support for Nina.
"Good night, my love," Nina whispered, as she reached for the lamp over on a small nightstand on her side of the bed. The fox turned the knob twice to the right, turning the lamp off and darkening the room immediately.
"Night, Nina," Brody whispered back, and the two cuddled until they both fell asleep...