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Your sleep was interrupted by nothing in particular. One second, you were asleep, drifting in the waves of the unconscious, and the next, the reality had pulled you back gently yet firmly, just enough to make you sigh into the pillow, limbs entangled in the sheets as if you had been wriggling in your sleep.
Sleeping was an activity never encouraged in the TARDIS. You, a human, needed sleep, but the Doctor didn’t make a habit of watching your bedtime. Whenever you felt fatigue catching up, you’d just sneak out to your room (it felt nice, to have your own room in the Doctor’s realm), hit the sack, then get up and rejoin the Doctor like you hadn’t just disappeared for hours. He never acknowledged that, never made a comment. You had no idea if he slept himself, and if he did, there was no telling when. Or where.
You sat up, feeling the drowsiness flee like shadows upon a flicker of the light. What time was it? Was it even night? Your room was dark, but there was no clock – besides, even if you had one, you probably wouldn’t be able to read the time. The next question that popped up in your mind was: the Doctor. Was he asleep? Or would he be doing whatever it is he likes to do if you checked the console room?
Now wide awake, curiosity reaching unbearable levels, you pulled on a sweater over your pyjamas and got up.
The corridor was dim, soft light that seemed to have no source being just enough to guide your way, but not enough to hurt your eyes. Upon reaching the console room, you peeked inside; it was as dim as the rest of the machine, and the Doctor was not there. Familiar buzzing of the TARDIS, albeit somewhat sleepy, indicated that even she was currently resting.
With that, you’d have withdrawn and returned to your room, had it not been for a loud snore that reached your ears in that exact moment.
Your heart leaped. So he did sleep. Or rather, was sleeping.
You couldn’t help it.
Following the snores, you ventured out to the part of the TARDIS you’d never been to before (at least, you thought you hadn’t. The layout of the TARDIS seemed fluid, shifting each time you proceeded further than the console room). It felt like walking through a mystical garden, where wonders and mysteries awaited behind each corner, with the sound of snoring as your only guide.
Eventually, you reached a half-opened door, behind which the snores were rumbling at an unbelievably high volume. You chuckled under your breath; somewhere in another time, such loud noises would annoy you to no end – if only you were trying to sleep like a normal person instead of wandering about, on barefoot at that. But now, generating from the Doctor, they were nothing but plain adorable.
This is when you should have withdrawn, out of simple decency. You really should have. Instead, you allowed your hand to move the door just enough for you to slip inside, and what you saw next made you awestruck.
The Doctor lay in his bed, or rather, on the mattress which seemed to be inside the floor, reminding you of Japanese futon that you were forced to sleep in during one of the travels. Wrapped in crumpled sheets, moptop of dark hair scattered messily on the pillow, he looked so peaceful that you felt absurd fondness growing in your chest. Despite the snores his breathing was calming somehow, and you had to resist the urge to reach out and pet his head.
Why did you even enter his bedroom? It was intrusion, almost like you had forced yourself on something you shouldn’t be seeing…
Perhaps your mind was still drowsy; instead of leaving, you sat down by the wall to keep facing the Doctor. Just for a while longer, you thought. Just five more minutes and I’ll get back to my own bed. He seemed to have a healing effect on you, because sleepiness was starting to kick in. Just a minute longer… just a…
You dreamt, a pair of gentle arms scooping you up to lay on a comfortable surface, then wrapping you in a blanket. It was a nice dream of a warm body resting next to you as if to make sure your sleep wasn’t interrupted. You’d forget the dream in the morning, but your heart would remember the fluffy feeling, making you wonder where it came from.