The first thing I thought as I awoke this morning was that either A) Pearl had grown a considerable amount over night or B) The bed had shrunk.

I pondered this thought for a second, my mind still groggy from sleep. When one is only half awake, it seems plausible that a young girl could sprout up so fast. Although it did strike me as bit peculiar, my mind accepted her sudden growth as truth. Oddly, what I wasn't wondering is how in Mana's name Pearl could be sleeping next to me, when she had seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Slowly, I turned over, expecting to be greeted by Pearl's peaceful face. She always seemed quite content when asleep, as Pearl had never been one to be disturbed by such things as unpleasant dreams. I took in the sight, however, not of Pearl sleeping contentedly by my side, but of her.

Now, before I continue, I feel I should point out that I am a man of few words. My words are my sword, my language, my actions. In such a situation as my own, I feel a normal person would have handled it with much more grace. A normal person would have gently coaxed her from sleep and calmly inquired as to why she was in their bed. I, however, am not such a person. My reaction to this problem was simple: I kicked her out of my bed.

Literally.

She fell to the floor with a satisfying THUD! If you can't tell already, I am not a happy person in the morning. Actually, I'm never really a happy person, but doubly so in the morning. The sound of her crashing to the floor was quite gratifying. Look at it as my coffee, if you will. It wakes me up and gets my day off to a good start. What I didn't consider, however, were the consequences of my actions.

"ELAZUL!"

I sighed. Perhaps this morning would not be as great as I had predicted. I glanced over as she sat upwards, expecting a very enraged companion. Instead, it seemed as though I had hurt her feelings. She was wearing that puppy-dog pout she used when she didn't get her way. She knew it made me feel guilty, she knew it! For the moment, though, I put my stubbornness aside and sighed an apology at her.

"Why, dare I ask," I said, when she had crawled back into the bed, "were you sleeping with me?"

Then she smirked.

She smirked.

And not just any smirk. It was one of those creepy I'm-so-right-and-you're-so-wrong kind of smirks. The kind that make you feel humiliated, even though you don't know what you've done wrong.

"Elazul," she replied sweetly, "you were sleeping with me."

"What are you talking about?" I looked around the room, ready to point out her mistake. But, of course, there was my bed, on the other side of the room, the sheets still disheveled and the blanket on the floor. I turned back to her, mouth gaping. An amused expression danced across her face, a smile twitching the edge of her lips.

She opened her mouth to comment, I believe, but I quickly cut her off.

"SLEEPWALKING!" I blurted out suddenly.

She rolled her eyes at me, but the amusement was still there.

"Well," She said, "I'm going back to bed to catch a few more minutes of sleep. Feel free to cuddle up with me again."

Coming from anyone else, this would have seemed like a sarcastic and biting comment, but she said it with a smile splayed across her face and naivety bright in her eyes.

"Hngh," was my response.

I grabbed my things from the other side of the room and tossed my shirt on. Haphazardly, I organized my portion of the room and bolted for the door.

"Elazul?" she asked, her face peeking out from under the covers.

"I'm going for a walk." I mumbled at her and slammed the door shut behind me. It probably hurt her feelings, but it's what she got for being such a brat.

It really wasn't her fault that I wound up in bed with her. It happened, sometimes, when I was with Pearl as well. Somehow, in the middle of the night I would make my way to her bed, and wake up in the morning with Pearl peacefully snuggled against my chest. I wasn't sure what drove me to do it. Possibly nightmares, possibly sleepwalking, but I suppose the reason is irrelevant. What bugged me right that second is that she had to be so damn annoying about it. Even the first night Pearl became my guardian, she never questioned my "sleepwalking." She would simply smile at me with those understanding eyes and let my unspoken reasons fill the silence between us.

It was after I finished that thought that I realized something: I had no clue where I was going. I spun around frantically, trying to place which direction I had come from. Somehow, I had landed myself in some backwater alley in the maze that is Geo. Cities always did puzzle me. I could navigate myself and that troublesome girl through ruins, forests, and caverns alike, but it seemed whenever we found ourselves in a large town, my internal compass went for a lunch break. Mentally, I kicked myself for being so stupid. I knew how much trouble I had navigating through cities, why did I leave the Inn without her? Stupid Elazul, stupid, stupid, stupid!!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The sun had long since set by the time I reached the Inn, and I was still mentally beating the crap out of myself for being such a buffoon. We were supposed to leave for her home that day. We were supposed to have made it to Domina by nightfall. Now, due to my buffoonery, our entire schedule would be thrown off. She'll be fuming mad, I thought as I dragged my feet up the stairs. She'll call me irresponsible and selfish. I couldn't, however, help but find all this a tad ironic. I was constantly calling her irresponsible and selfish. "It seems the tables have been turned," I mumbled with a bit of amusement.

When I got to the door of our room, I fumbled around my pockets for our room key.

And I fumbled some more.

And more fumbling.

And just a wee bit more...

Until I started to mentally kick myself again.

I left the room without our key.

So, these were my options: 1. I bang on the door and wake everybody at the Inn up, then have her dropkick me for being late faster than you can say Hit The Deck.

2. Break down the door and probably have her mistake me for an intruder and dropkick me faster than you can say Hit The Deck

3. Climb in the through the window, have her mistake me for an intruder and dropkick me faster than you can say Hit The Deck.

I opted to go with Option 1. Although I would still get dropkicked, I would know that it was out of concern for my well-being rather than a mistaken assault against an intruder.

I raised my fist and just as I was about to knock on the door, BAM!!!!!!!!!The door collided with my face and I landed on the floor with a THUD! Followed by a concerned "Ohmigoddess!" All I was really aware of at that point is the fact that I had red liquid running down my face and she was carrying me into the room and my thoughts were a jumbled mess and I was trying to say something to her but it came out as a slur that made it sound like I had one too many drinks and she was probably thinking that I was out all day at the pub which meant that she would think I was becoming an alcoholic which is why my words and thoughts were all running together in such a mess and I couldn't even remember what I was trying to say and now she was going to hate, hate, hate me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hnngghh."

Why yes, I did make a noise that sounded like a dying cow. It seemed appropriate, considering that I felt like a dying cow. I wouldn't be surprised if I resembled one, too with the way I was sprawled out on the bed, making dying cow noises and contorting my face as if I had a severe hangover. Now all I needed was a nice, green patch of grass to graze on, and then I could lounge around in the warm sun and take naps and escape the troubles of this world. Maybe I could meet a nice girl cow, and we could go frolicking through the field together and WHAT IN THE NAME OF MANA WAS I THINKING? We were already a whole day behind on our schedule, I had no time to waste on frivolous thoughts of girl cows and merry frolicking. That girl had probably awoken long ago and had already packed her things. I rolled over on my side, preparing to force myself out of bed, when I hit something.

Something warm and soft...

I blinked my eyes open, and lo and behold, what do you think I found?

Ohnooooithappenedagain.

I sat up, hoping I would have the opportunity to sneak away from her bed into mine. There, however, on the other side of the room, was her bed, with the sheets tossed carelessly to the side and the pillows scattered across the mattress.

Which meant that...she was sleeping with me?

I tapped her gently to wake her, and then stubbornly folded my arms against my chest. Her eyes slowly fluttered open to meet mine, and I waited patiently for an explanation.

"Well?" I asked, gesturing to her bed.

She paused for a moment, gazing at me. She did not seemed surprised by the fact that she was here, nor did she seem bothered by the silence that hung over us as I waited for her excuse. She seemed...amused? Curious?

...Happy?

She grinned at me then, and rolled on her side to face me. "Well?" I repeated, feigning impatience.

"I was...sleepwalking."

Her answer did not surprise me. It didn't surprise me when she closed her eyes again, and it did not surprise me when she finally fell asleep.

What did surprise me, however, was the fact that I lied back down with her by my side. We willingly cramped ourselves together in a small bed made for one, and with her curled against my chest and my body twisted in an odd position, I peacefully drifted into a dreamless sleep.

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Mookie: Uhm, I'm not entirely sure what this is. XD I started playing too much LOM again, and I simply had to write an ElazulxHeroine fic. ;~; Probably not the greatest thing I've ever written, but I like it. (: I've been writing this on and off for the last month or two, and I put a lot of effort into it, so I hope you all like it. Reviews are always nice, and construction criticism is welcomed. 8D