Early Birds

Sometimes going to school all day and working all night made it hard to relax, for Pipit. He often found himself sleeping through his classes only to fail a quiz later, or to need to get help on his homework from his classmates. It was hard to relax when he was doing so much work. Hard to rest when he knew his mother was wasting money on a house keeper of all things.

But there was one thing that never ceased to cheer him up. It was walking into the academy before the sun was all the way up. It was walking up the stairs slower than he had to, careful not to wake any of the students. They wouldn't be waking up for classes for a few hours yet.

His routine with his girlfriend had been sort of unfortunate. He had hardly any time for her, and she had hardly any time for him. They didn't have time to go on dates. They didn't have time to do any of that mushy gushy stuff.

Pipit walked up those stairs and down that hall. To the room that he knew would be unlocked—regardless of the fact that it was after hours. He turned the knob of the door and opened it as silently as possible, so he wouldn't disturb the red head inside.

Maybe they didn't have time for each other, but they were still a couple. They still cared. They wanted to have that time for one another. She hadn't always left her door unlocked for him. It took a few months of dating before she began to give him that privilege.

And he would never abuse that privilege either. No, when he entered this room he wasn't going to try and make a move on her. He wasn't going to do anything sketchy.

He stripped the sword from his back. He slipped off the boots, and removed the shield.

And just like he did every morning before classes, he walked to her bed and whispered to her. Words that he was present, so she wouldn't be surprised to see him when she woke up. After that he took a seat on the floor beside her bed, leaned his back and head against the wall, and closed his eyes to sleep before classes.

It was the most relaxing thing in the world, sleeping in the same room as her. Even if they didn't share a bed, or even if she was unaware he was there sometimes. She left the door open for him, just for him.

And on the best of mornings he would wake up from his pre-class nap to her climbing out of her bed and sliding down the wall beside him.

And he would rest his head on top of hers as they slept side by side against the wall, thinking about how this was just far more than perfect.