Ahiru yawned again, causing Fakir to yawn too even though he wasn't tired. It was only just barely ten past six but the little forest spirit seemed barely able to keep her eyes open. "Why don't you just go to sleep?"
She looked up at him from where her head was resting on his desk, her eyes only half open. "But I want to stay up with you."
"All I'm doing is writing, moron," he replied affectionately, "It's really quite boring."
"It's not boring, and I want to he-" Ahiru s sentence was interrupted by another yawn. Fakir simply raised an eyebrow at her. She responded by pouting, "I still don't understand how humans can stay up so late all the time, the sun has been down for a while already."
"There are lots of animals that stay up at night, like owls. Just go to sleep, you can use the bed and I will see you in the morning." Ahiru finally gave in and wobbled her way out of the room.
Several hours and two pots of tea later, Fakir was ready to admit he was too tired to keep going. He put the papers and his pen away, grabbed his candle, and headed to his bedroom. It wasn't comfortable, but he could wrap himself up in the spare quilt and curl up next to Ahiru without any issues. It was certainly better than trying to sleep in one of the chairs.
On arriving to his bedroom Fakir was met with an unpleasant surprise. His lone bed was covered in a pile of forest spirits, he recognized most of them as friends of Ahiru whom he had been introduced to earlier. There were even the annoyingly loud blond and brunette she seemed particularly close to on the rug next to the bed, it seems they had run out of room. Ahiru was there on the floor with them, presumably she hadn't bothered trying to get on the bed.
Fakir dragged his hand through his hair, what could he even possibly do in this situation? Well, first things first, he wasn't going to sleep in his clothes. He pulled his pajamas out and went into the next room to change into them. Then he looked around his room again, scratched his head, and decided there was nothing for it. He pulled out the spare pillow, a purchase he had to make last winter out of desperation, then he simply lay down next to Ahiru and her friends.
This one was suggested by a friend on Tumblr, Sariana, who was in love with an illustration I did for the story. Who can resist cuddle piles?