There was something Gibson noticed as the years went on.
Astral and Emerald were a lot better during the night. Anything they did or created was better and more efficient.
It made Gibson think of Otto. Otto would sometimes work into the night and his work ended up being much better than it was during the day. Gibson often envied him, even if he didn't stay up late into the night as much as he used to.
All three typically got up in the day, even if Otto stayed up late into the night or Emerald stayed up a few hours later than usual with Peridot. They were allowed to be up as late as they wanted—Emerald and Astral were old enough now and nobody needed to worry about their sleep too much anymore—but they figured it was better if they slept around the same time.
They had more time to spend as a family and, for the Hyperforce, a team.
Well, Gibson tried to, anyway. Old habits die hard as there were still nights Gibson stayed up pretty late, even if he didn't have much of a need anymore. Masking for so long made it feel more natural to stay up as late as he did.
It was only recently that he realized something.
There was one thing in common between the three; they were all autistic.
Gibson had wondered if there was a connection between them being autistic and their circadian rhythms being more attuned to the night, or if it was just those three.
It could go either way. It wasn't to say only autistic people were night owls, there were plenty of individuals who were night owls like how The Alchemist and Diamond were, but it was something that caught his attention.
Gibson made an offhand comment about it, but not everyone was sure of it. Understandably so, since not even Gibson was sure how true it was yet.
Antauri and Sprx thought it made sense, everyone else thought it was interesting but weren't sold on it.
Gibson even said as much that he would have to look into it. He simply figured it was interesting to mention what he noticed.
While research was put on the back burner, not seeing it as a priority, it did come to mind every now and then.
One of those times being when he checked up on the kids before he returned to the lab.
It was a little past two when he went to Peridot's room. She was asleep at her little desk and Emerald was partially on her lap. Emerald was curled up in a little ball, comfortable on her. They were sound asleep.
Gibson smiled. He took a blanket nearby and draped it over the two. He noticed something Emerald was working on and he bent down to look at it.
Otto was more knowledgeable in mechanics, but it seemed like she was working on it for a few hours; she probably started on it tonight. It appeared to be high quality like her other night works. He at least knew how her good quality ones were and separate them from her best quality ones.
It didn't mean he wasn't proud of her regardless though.
Emerald could've easily stayed up all night, but Gibson knew she fell asleep around the time Peridot did. Wanted to be awake when she was, he supposed.
He kissed their heads and left the room. He checked on Diamond, she wasn't in her study anymore so she must've went to bed.
Gibson went back to his lab and picked up something to read, having nothing to work on at that moment.
Maybe they should let some of the kids stay up as long as they want, just as long as they got some sleep.
They might perform their best that way.
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