Why can't Walman ever stay awake during his watch? (Prompt: 007 Relief)

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Second Watch

Something jabbed the bottom of his foot. "Wha — huh?"

Magus kicked at him again. "Walman, can you ever stay awake on watch?"

Still muzzy, he mumbled his answer. "I'm awake."

"Yeah you are now."

"I'd've heard it if something was wrong," he protested. "I wasn't that far asleep."

"Uh-huh," she answered. "Just like you heard me walk up. Well, go ahead. My shift."

He handed her the mag pro and stood up to leave.

"If things were fair," she continued, "you wouldn't sleep a wink the rest of the night."

Shrugging his shoulders, he said good night and went into the bio-dome to get a warm drink before bed. He kept as quiet as he could, also keeping the lumalight turned down to a minimum. With luck, he wouldn't disturb anyone.

Luck wasn't holding tonight: there was a light already on in the main dome. Sighing, he snapped his off and followed it around to find Devon sitting at one of the tables, her dark head bent over charts spread in front of her. "Dev?"

She looked up, blinking. "Oh. Hi."

"It's three o'clock."

"That late already?" She leaned back in the chair, but made no move to get up. "Guess I just got caught up in this."

"Again."

She had the good grace to look embarrassed.

"Third time this week," he observed, keeping his tone light and conversational.

She turned her gaze back down to the charts.

Shaking his head, Walman went into the kitchen and reached for two mugs of Bess' latest coffee substitute, but then stopped with his hand on the warmer lid. That might not be the best idea. Instead, he rooted around in the supplies until he came up some of the leaves they'd found back in autumn, the ones that made a halfway decent — and non-caffeinated — tea.

Devon sniffed the mug when he brought it back to her. "This is different."

"You don't need coffee right now." He reached for the charts, meaning to shut the readers off. "You need rest."

She touched his hand gently, keeping it away from the switch. "I'll go to bed when I'm done with these."

"What are you doing with those maps that can't wait?" He gestured with his mug, letting the frustration show. "Look around, Dev! We're not going anywhere anytime soon! They'll still be here in the morning."

"I ah, I just…" She sighed, and a faint pink showed on her cheeks. "I can't sleep."

At least she was admitting it; that was something new. Deciding that it was a good thing, he sat down in the chair across from her. "What happened now?"

"Haven't you listened to me enough this week?"

He chuckled, softly and ruefully. "Don't worry about it."

"But don't you need sleep?"

"I'm fine." This time, when he moved to shut off the readers, she offered no protest. "Come on, talk to me. You know you won't get to sleep until you do."

"All right." She took a deep breath. "But you can't tell Danziger I talked to you about this."

"Do you really need to say that to me anymore?"

She dropped her eyes again, looking at her hands. "I guess I don't." Then, she started describing her latest argument with the Head of Operations. It was another one of their pointless ones, the kind that tended to leave her frustrated and incredulous and disturbed all at once. Walman just listened, knowing she'd talk it out on her own soon enough. When she did, she would sleep. And so, finally, would he.

If things were fair, Magus had told him, you wouldn't sleep a wink the rest of the night.

Little did she know, he thought. Little did she know.