Blossoms & Illusions: Silly Sleepy Sirens
Sky is meticulously lining up their plushies. Quite a few had fallen off of their bed last night after they tossed and turned a lot throughout the night and early morning before they finally gave up and started their day. Well, kind of, they woke up and paced around the room, and then sat on their bed and rocked back and forth for a bit.
Currently, they blearily glare a bit at their ‘empty’ bed. It wasn’t actually empty last night due to the multitude of plushies of various species, particularly frogs, axolotls, dragons, and rabbits, however, it still feels empty to them as they are used to sharing a bed with at least one other person.
Gathering up the scattered toys, Sky finally arranges them into a comforting formation, seeking solace in the familiar presence and organization. Also, lining up and sorting the things that they enjoyed was always fun, if not emotionally exhausting when they decided to finally donate some of their plushies like twice a year.
Back to the lack of other people sharing their bed with them. Miranda is sleeping over at her house next door to spend more time with her grandmother and her father and Circe is sleeping over at her house to spend more time with her brother and her mother.
They don’t know exactly where Nina, Leslie, Mariah, or Sally are, but if they focus hard enough, and if they’re in the house, they can focus a bit, the wards will trigger and Sky can find them, or they could just text them. The latter makes it so that if they’re doing anything Sky doesn’t want to know about… well they don’t have to KNOW about it, even if it is vague in detail rather than in explicit detail.
They sigh and twirl their head-feathers around one finger as they flinch back from the brightness of their phone screen in the darkness after tapping it, quickly turn it down with their right eye squinted, and rapidly, and somewhat clumsily type in the group chat to all four women. Their claws accidentally clack a bit as they mistype, delete, then retype. Then, they send the message and wait for their friends to respond. They put their phone down on the nightstand which is covered with various figurines and smaller plushies. But they totally miss the surface of the nightstand.
They sigh and run their upper left claws through their crest feathers, which quickly pop back up. They bend over to reach where their phone bounced safely on top of their pile of plushies that are displayed on the floor on various rugs, and they grab it with their hand while remembering that they have telekinesis and could’ve floated it to themselves instead of having to search around their dark room with their mostly numb finger tips. Their claws are careful not to touch anything too harshly as they do not wish to have to expend magic on repairing their plushies again if they accidentally hurt one of their beloved friends.
They curl up in a ball and wait for their phone to light up with a response. Finally, their phone lights up as they tap it, and they watch and wait with a pout as all of the women have said that they are busy in various forms. Mainly, by not responding. Sky groans and starts to head out of their room, giving up on sleeping for tonight for the second time, but then they realize that their arms are empty. Sky turns back around and almost trips over Saphron, who then hops up on the bed, and bends his head in a bid for Sky to pet his head. Sky rubs his velvety fur; they are cautious of their claws and resist the urge to flap those long, tempting, beautiful ears of his.
Their thumb claw rests on their bottom lip as they ponder their next plan of attack. The emptiness gnaws at their insides, an ever-present reminder of their loneliness. Also, they despise changes in routine, especially if they’re not noted in advance. Which the ladies know, but still. Sky reminds themself that they shouldn’t complain, even if it’s only internally. They have literally forever with their friends, but Miranda and Circe only have a finite time with their family members. Sky is lucky that their siblings at least are immortal as well. Although Klaus, Circe’s brother is technically immortal due to being a kirin-satyr.
However, instead of spite of this, they still feel upset and now a bit grateful as well, which is a bizarre mix of emotions that they not actually sure how to parse. Maybe they only feel either of those emotions as that’s what they’re supposed to feel based on these situations. They aren’t sure if they actually feel that way or not. Mostly they feel tired.
Then, they definitely feel bored and Sapphron hops off of their bed with them. Sky waits until they pass a small trash bin on their exit from their room before shaking out the rabbit fur and peafowl feathers from their fingers and they blow a bit of wind to make sure that they actually make it inside the bin this time instead of outside of it like last time. Excess fur and plushies don’t really mix well in their opinion.
Their bunny hops behind them, circling around their talons as Sky’s feet clack across the tile. The rabbit stretches up on his hind legs, periscoping to try to figure out what is going on and why their person’s aura feels off, they can’t seem to reach high enough, almost fall over backwards, and remember that they can fly. Sky stops walking to let him fly up onto their shoulder successfully. They boop their nose with his and he licks their face. Sky lets out a short jab of laughter as a result. Their aura resets and Sapphron starts to chatter his teeth in a happy-bun tooth purr. Sky’s grin remains as their familiar continues to purr.
Sky rolls up onto the “balls” of their feet as best they can with their talons and bounces instead of walking forward and uses one of their upper claws to gently pet Sapphron’s sweet little head. Their talons clack on the white tile under them and they bounce along gently, careful not to harm their precious cargo.
As they walk down the hallway out of their area that leads to their room, they almost, and do actually bump into the walls and the doorframes a few times. Sky senses a presence in front of them. Which is lucky as it’s too dark for them to see and their working eye hasn’t adjusted yet. It’s time for them to rely on their other senses a focus a bit more. A red and orange feeling aura, like that of a comforting campfire on a chilly night is what Sky feels. They pause for a bit, then decide to flatten a bit and pass by Nina’s wheelchair. They just barely clip past Nina’s relaxed flight feathers and squeak out a ‘sorry!’
“Hey! I was just wondering ‘Who’s that crashing into the walls like a light-blinded moth?? And then I realized that it was you Sky and that it wasn’t a moth, but instead a half-blind siren instead!” Nina greets the siren and rabbit familiar pair with good-humor and a chuckle. She runs her fingers through her dark curls, which are bizarrely as well-kempt as usual, seeing as she likely was either just asleep or otherwise laying down on it recently. At least, that’s what Sky has been lead to believe.
Nina’s red eyes pierce through the dark, and her grin falters as she watches Sky flinch back from the light. Oh right, they’re night-blind! At least like what I presume most humans or humanoids with poor night vision are like sight-wise anyway. Nina thinks while patiently waiting for Sky to adjust their vision and respond. She watches and listens as Sky drums a set of their claws on her collar bone and clacks their tongue at the hard palate of their mouth. Always a tactile and auditory seeking one that Sky.
Sky finally processed what Nina said and they giggle momentarily stopping their tongue clicking, but still clacking their claws. “Yup! You know it!! So you’ve stopped being busy now?” They question with a smile, and another claw crawls up to curl a lock of their head-feathers around their pointer finger.
“Yeah I can’t sleep so I left the my girls in our room, they understand I like to walk around when I can’t rest. Or roll as it were at this point. Damn it’s been a rough day.” Nina groans as she rolls her neck and attempts to lessen the tension in her shoulders using one claw to massage the area between her neck and her left one. “But anyway hun, are you okay all alone? I know Miranda and Circe aren’t here to keep you company tonight.”
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From Sky’s right shoulder, Sapphron suddenly decides he’s bored or something and hops off Sky’s shoulder and flaps away behind Nina’s head. Even completely blind he can still navigate the world around him better than Sky as he doesn’t even ruffle Nina’s head-feathers as he leaves the two sirens in the hallway towards the open living room, or something. The actual floor plan of the house is constantly changing due to magic and he honestly could’ve flown to a room that was non-existent until a few seconds ago.
“Okay bye!” Sky chirps at him with a wave of one of their middle hands. “You weird egg-baby.” They emphasize the last two words in their affected self-stimulatory voice. They then turn back to where they feel Nina is located. “I’m sorry to hear that!! Yikes! Also I’m sorry about bumping into your wing! Hope I didn’t jar anything!! And uh, yeah they’re not here? I’m guessing Mariah told you? I’m fine, thanks! I mean I’m a bored insomniac, but what else is new?” I mean I was trying to sleep for a good while, but then I gave up like ten minutes ago!” They verbally barrage Nina with a mix of statements and questions. They bounce closer to fronts of their talons, seemingly hit with another wave of energy. Their eyes dart back and forth until they finally settle back on Nina’s trio of eyes.
You’re far too awake and wired to even have attempted to have been trying to sleep recently you ridiculous creature. You’re definitely exaggerating how long you’ve tried to sleep. Nina thinks to herself about Sky fondly and with a hint of concern. “Absolutely she told me! I can’t believe you were aware of this and yet still didn’t think to ask us to spend time with you earlier! You know, before the other three were asleep. I was actually heading towards your room as that’s where I figured that was where you were when you texted us.” Nina says in a better modulated volume than Sky’s voice. Not all of the people around them are nocturnal, she’d say it’s about under half of the inhabitants in this house turned pocket-dimension that are best characterized as nocturnal, but they usually try to keep it down for the diurnal folks at least. Nina gently drops her top sets of hands on her lap near the other two pairs already resting there. “Also, I texted you back to let know I was on my way, just in case you were worried.”
“I definitely don’t remember seeing that…” Sky trails off in response while they summon their phone into the palm of their hand, fumble with it a bit and nod their head when they see the notification. “Ah okay, yeah you did! You know my phone is always on silent! Sorry about that! Uh, alright, we can head to my room now if you’d like! I’ll have to move a few plushies so they don’t get stuck in your wheels…” They look at Nina and then tilt their head to the side as they think about the set up of their room. “I can’t remember exactly where or what I was thinking uhh…” They mumble as they turn around and start off towards their room.
“Nah you’re fine Sky! I can figure it out when we get there. I know visual spatial things aren’t your strong suit. Even though you have many other lovely qualities!” She says in a hushed voice, she pats Sky’s head lightly as she wheels to follow Sky down the hallway past a few other rooms. She smiles as Sky huffs out a laugh after a beat of an almost imperceptible flinch at the physical contact. They must be exhausted if it’s that noticeable, although Nina has known Sky for so long and she’s very observant about Sky’s body language, Sky is usually very good at masking their unwanted bodily reactions.
The shorter siren appears to mentally shake off whatever they’re mentally stuck on as they take a bit longer to respond than usual. “Yeah you’re not wrong! Sounds good to me!” Sky chirps as they bound into their room ahead of her and deeper into it. They flounce onto their bed and wait for Nina to cross the threshold. They grab an armful of plushies to stroke with all six hands as they wait. “Go for it!” They lift up their chin towards Nina.
“Sky, I’m sure that we’re both tired.” She backs her wheelchair back away from the door pushes up with her top set of hands on her armrests of her chair. “But I just remembered that I can float for short distances without a problem.” She responds. Then she does just that and lands gracefully on top of their bed. She carefully clears a space out for her to sit so she’s not crushing their stuffed animals.
In the meantime, Sky’s leapt off their bed and closed their door as gently as they can and at the last minute it slams shut. Seems they can’t maintain the proper force for long enough and they curse inwardly and jolt a bit even though they’re the one that accidentally slammed the door closed. They flap both their wings and all of their hands while bouncing to get to their bed, where they pause in their tracks and stare for a bit at the side.
Nina has already grabbed one of their pillows, magicked the weighted blankets off to the side away from the wall and spread her leg out in front of her. She gestures encouragingly in front of her to the other siren. She then places another pillow behind her back after spreading her wings out behind her. “What are you waiting for? This is your bed? You don’t need an invitation hun.” Nina asks lightly with a small smile.
“I’m… uh… I’m trying to think of how to get on my bed without jumping on or crawling on carelessly like I normally do so I don’t jostle you?” Sky finally looks up at her as they say this with a little frustration tinging their voice. “I just… how bad has your day been body pain-wise? Or was it mostly fatigue today? Or yesterday I guess? But we, I mean I haven’t slept yet, so I don’t really feel like it’s the next day yet…” Sky rambles and their eyes dart around the room before they seem to remember that they’re supposed to look at people while talking to them. Their golden eyes glow and emphasize their dark under eye circles and they fidget with their oversized t-shirt that they’ve definitely had since at least high school, probably even middle school. They pull a bit at a hole before deciding it’d be best to leave it alone lest they have to throw out this particular shirt. Their wings flare restlessly behind them, agitatedly flaring open and folding closed repeatedly. Their tail droops listlessly behind them.
“Sky, you’re fine! Just come here!” Nina commands gently. “Also, I’m not too painful today. It’s mostly been a fatigued day for me. It’s sweet of you to worry about me! You can touch me though, you’re okay my friend.” She continues while widely gesturing with a set of her claws with her palms up. She re-tidies up her hair and magically straightens up a few of Sky’s fallen stuffed animals into their proper rows as she slumps back a bit and gets more comfortable on their bed.
Nina’s statement spurs Sky into action as they grin and crawl onto their bed. They flop next to Nina and promptly bash the back of their head on the extended shelf on their headboard. Then give a delayed. “Ow. I’m okay! Don’t even worry about it!” They rub the back of their head with an irritated hiss, like having a physical body and hitting it on things is more of an annoying experience to them than a painful one. Which to be fair, based on their pain tolerance, and their history, it really is likely to be more of an irritant than something that actually really hurts them.
Nina believes that they say it more out of habit than anything, basically an I’m acknowledging that I have hit something with my body and now I’m letting you know this rather than a this hurts actually.
Sky giggles as they cautiously slide under the shelf and lie down on their pillow underneath the aforementioned attacking shelf. “That shelf is always jumping out and attacking me!” They joke and grin widely at Nina, who chuckles at that.
They pull a corner of one weighted blanket atop their legs, then repeat that motion, then again, until they have three of them on top of them, including a thin sheet on the bottom with all of the blankets above their hips about their waist. They slide under, realize their tail is getting crushed, wiggle it around until it’s more comfortable, and then flip around to face Nina. They grab an armful of plushies, prominently featuring a beige floppy, well-loved, lop-eared bunny with a crocheted hat that Miranda made them, an extra small dog sweater and dual ear bows. This bunny is Sky’s favorite plush, her name is Shortbread. They also have two of the most depressed-looking frog plushies to ever exist, one in a medium size and one in a small size. They are all variously decorated as well with hair scrunchies on the ankles of each frog.
“I feel like you’re victim-blaming here actually. I believe that you’re the one who always attacks that poor shelf and it’s just defending itself!” Nina jokes as she eyes said shelf, her three eyes landing on the aforementioned shelf that is chock full of rabbits that look a lot like Shortbread of various colors wearing various accessories. She readjusts her raven tail, and for good measure runs a claw through her head-feathers just in case the non-related movement of her tail re-positioned her hair in any way, shape, or form.
Sky places their claws from their left upper hand right above where their chest feathers are and uses the other upper hand to fix their aforementioned chest feathers to lie properly under their shirt. They then let out a scandalized gasp: “How dare you accuse me of such a thing! I’m contacting my lawyer!”
They both laugh at that. Then, Nina wonders: “Do we even have any lawyer or attorney friends?” As she ponders this, she taps her chin with her pointer claw as if in deep thought.
“I don’t think so?”
“Oh! Wait! What about…”
“Oh wait! My cousin! And my aunt was an attorney! And my granddaddy was a judge, but he’s dead now!” Sky interrupts Nina. They curl their legs up under their blankets and then they use their lower hands to snatch their plushies down beneath them from their upper arms, an action that Circe affectionately refers to as ‘bobbit-worming’. “Also I miss him! And Circe, and Miranda! But they’re not dead, just not here right now. They’ve been dead before, but I’m glad that they’re not anymore.” Sky rambles, now staring at the rainforest mural on their wall. Then, their melted gold eyes flit back to Nina. “I’m glad that you’re not dead either Nina!”
Nina, who was nodding along to show that she was listening, suddenly stops and gapes at Sky for a bit before responding. “I love you too Sky, but goodness you can talk a lot when you’re tired!” Nina exclaims with a burst of affectionate confusion. She uses all six of her hands to attempt to cover up a jaw-unhinging yawn. Her lips uncover her sharp set of four pairs of canine teeth before her plump lips cover them again. She places all of her hands back down on her lap and smiles sheepishly at Sky. “And yet somehow you’ve confused me to the point of making me more sleepy?” Nina notes as she stifles another yawn, which Sky copies unintentionally. Nina summons a blanket from the living room, Sky’s blanket with a rabbit pattern on it, and she lies down too after covering herself with this blanket. “Good night Sky.” She whispers blearily.
“Oh, goodnight Nina! Love you miss you nigh night!” They respond despondently.
“Love you miss you nigh night.” Nina mumbles back, the bit of glow from her eyes disappearing as she shuts both pairs of eyelids for all of her eyes.
Sky shuts theirs as well and tosses and turns to get to sleep, eventually they’re successful in at least relaxing more. Finally, their mind slows down and stops conscious thought, and they can hopefully have dreams that aren’t nightmares tonight. And maybe they’ll even feel rested later in the morning. Unlikely, but hopefully possible! They curl up even tighter around their plushies and focus on Nina’s aura in hopes of possibly distracting their mind from its usual anxiety spiral again. And fortunately for them, it works after some time and they fall asleep.