Xenotober Day 2. Duty (Also, Stargazing)

Melia's friends feel she needs a little break from her duties and take her stargazing.

Enjoy!

Day 2. Duty

"Melia? Are you awake?"

Melia is startled awake by a sudden voice from the entrance to the house, accompanied by some knocking.

She had not intended to fall asleep, but obviously she had, as she lifts her head from where it had been resting on top of the pile of paperwork she had been working her way through. She had meant to work through those today, but apparently her body had different ideas. The table has not been as very comfortable place to sleep; her neck is sore, and she's slept on one of her wings, which is bent at an odd angle, and it aches as she tries to massage it back to something resembling normal.

And she has visitors too, apparently. She stumbles up from the chair, towards the front door. On the way, she notices the time. Well past midnight. It makes her wonder who exactly would be visiting her at this time of the night. She makes her way to the front door, smoothing out her clothes, hoping it's not someone important, or some kind of emergency. She takes a deep breath and opens the door.

Standing there are Fiora, Sharla and Riki. They're all wearing warm sweaters and Fiora is carrying a large basket of some kind. They're all smiling, and Riki is practically vibrating with what seems to be excitement. It's been a while since she's seen them, having been busy with her duties. It suddenly occurs to her she's being quite rude, just standing in the doorway staring at them.

"Hello, everyone," she greets them with a small smile. It is good to see them again. "It's nice to see you all again." Though she is still a bit confused as to why they're visiting in the middle of the night.

"Hello, Melia," Fiora is the first to greet her. "Sorry to show up so late unannounced." She shifts the basket to the other hand as she talks, out of Riki's reach, as he was just about to peek inside it.

"That's quite alright," Melia assures her. "I was just catching up on some paperwork." It's not really a lie, as she was doing paperwork before they arrived. She just happened to fall asleep for a bit in between.

"You mean sleeping on your paperwork?" Sharla asks and, at Melia's confused look, scratches her own cheek in indication "There's ink on your face."

"Oh." She quickly rubs her cheek, hoping to get rid of the ink smudge. "I apologize. I suppose I got a little tired."

"Don't worry about it," Fiora tells her. "You have been working really hard, so it's not exactly a surprise."

"That's actually why we're here," Sharla informs her, crossing her arms. "You need to take a break."

"E- Excuse me?" Melia's first instinctive reaction is to protest against this. "I am perfectly fine! And I have a duty to the remaining High Entia. I cannot simply take a break whenever I feel like it." Even though she knows it's not what they mean, she feels almost insulted by the idea of simply taking off and leaving the High Entia to fend for themselves because she needs to take a break.

"But you also have a duty to take care of yourself," Sharla informs her, not budging on the subject. "You cannot take care of your duties if you don't take care of yourself first. And-" she continues pointedly as Melia opens her mouth to interrupt her. "As your friends, it's our duty to help you, in whatever way we can."

"Don't worry," Fiora tells her, touching her arm gently, giving her a kind smile. "We've already handled things. You only need to take a small break for one day, get some rest, so you can then focus better on your work."

"Melly work very hard," Riki chimes in, looking up at her with large eyes. "Harder than anyone. So Melly deserve to take a break to feel better. Riki worries Melly work too much. Not good for Melly to work too much."

"I... Understand you reasoning," Melia admits. She also understands that her friends must have been worried about her, and that this must be their plan to help her. "Very well. I will take your advice and take a break."

"Yay! Riki happy Melly take care of herself too!" Riki starts jumping with happiness, causing the three of them to smile at his antics. "Melly always take care of everyone else, so it good Melly take care of Melly sometimes!"

"And that starts right now!" Fiora declares, shifting her hold on the basket so she's now holding it with both hands. "We're going to go do some stargazing! The weather is clear, there's a full moon, and there will even be a meteor shower later. It's perfect!"

"Fiora planned it all out," Sharla says. "Packed a blanket and some snacks, too. Even Riki brought some with him."

"Yup, yup!" Riki looks very proud of himself as he says this. "When Riki find out from Sharla and Fiora about cheering up Melly, Riki want to come too. Then Oka tell Riki to bring some cake for Melly, because cake make everything better!"

"That's very nice of you, Riki," Melia thanks him with a smile. The Nopon has always been a good friend. "Please thank Oka for me as well when you go back home to her."

"Riki will!" Riki promises, jumping around, flapping his wings and arms together.

"Remember to grab some warm clothes," Sharla mentions to Melia as she's getting ready to leave. "It gets a little chilly at night." Melia takes the advice and grabs a warm coat, pulling it on. It would not do to get cold, and maybe even sick after a simple night out.

"It's just the four of us, then?" she asks as they make their way to wherever it is the best place for stargazing is. Somehow, it's only now occurred to her that Shulk, Reyn and Dunban are not here.

"Yeah," Fiora answers her question as she steps over a tree branch, turning to look at Melia. "Shulk has gotten some idea for a new project and pretty much shut himself in the lab. Reyn offered to take over the job of making sure he remembers to do things like eat and sleep. And Dunban actually decided to go to bed at a reasonable hour. He's been working almost as hard as you."

"I see," Melia replies. It occurs to her that it's been a while since she's had the time to visit her friends and makes a mental note to try to make more time for them. If their duty as her friends is to make sure she's doing alright, it's also her duty as their friend to make some time for them now and then, even with all the work she has to do.

It's what friends do, after all, she thinks as she sits down on the blanket and watches the stars with said friends, explaining some of the constellations to Riki, and enjoying the delicious snacks, as well as the company of the Nopon and the two women. Just for a little bit, she can put her duties and responsibilities aside to relax and enjoy her time with her friends.