Work Text:
Knock knock kn- "BLAAAAGH! WHAT. Wha..."
Jean sighed, lifting the latch on Mona's door. The sight beyond the threshold was entirely unsurprising. Mona at her workbench, scanning her surroundings like a startled bird, her hair resembling its nest. Her eyes were bleary, and her face featured a bright red patch smeared with ink from the document it took rest upon until moments ago.
"'I could not sleep,'" Jean intoned in a fair approximation of a certain someone, "'not when so near a breakthrough on a scale unimaginable.' Wasn't that what you said?"
Mona blinked. It did not immediately register that she was being mocked. Time passed. "I... I was not asleep! You startled me, as I had momentarily closed my eyes in order to ponder..."
She trailed off as a perplexing image stole her attention: Jean, tapping her cheek, trying to hide a smirk. Mona touched her own cheek. Her fingers came away black. Groaning, her head hit the workbench, thudding on her arms. "Well, what did you expect? I am a mere mortal. Hours have passed since I last saw you..."
She heard Jean chuckle. "Mona, I've been away twenty minutes at most."
"...oh. Well!"
Mona shot upright in her seat, swaying slightly from the dizziness such a rapid manoeuvre brought on. "This is good then. I haven't lost much time." Her eyes returned to her notes and calculations. The writing refused to come into focus. Most unhelpful. "A brief nap does wonders for the mind. With my wits restored, I may continue-"
THUMP.
Jean dropped something on her workbench. She was standing right next to Mona. When did that happen? She was at the door...
It was a paper bag, square and flat on the table. Grease bled into the paper, dotting it with semi-transparent splotches. Jean took an open edge between thumbs and forefingers and tore the bag, gently, revealing its contents.
Her speciality. Pizza.
Sliced Philanemo mushrooms, bright green bell peppers and tiny flakes of dried Jueyun chilli sank beneath soft, melted cheese. Wholemeal dough puffed up around the edge, browned and crisp. A light mist drifted from its surface. It must've been no more than a few minutes out of the oven.
Mona's eyes were wide. She felt more alert than she'd been since Jean entered, sinuses forced open by the scent of mozzarella. Belatedly, she realised her mouth was hanging open and snapped it shut, lest drool mess up important documents.
"Mona," Jean spoke, softly, "could I steal five minutes of your time? I despair at the idea of separating you from your work, but, well..." Mona felt Jean's hand come to rest on her back, her thumb gently stroking the fuzz at the base of her neck. "...my bedchamber has been a lonely place these last few nights. I've missed you."
Mona's heart ached. Her head swam. She felt resistance escape her like air. "But... but I..."
A violent GWRRGRWGRRRLLL shook the apartment. Mona's stomach. She sighed, defeated. "Very well."
She felt Jean's lips press against her scalp. "Thank you, Mona."
They sat side by side on the floor, underneath a smudged window in need of a cleaning. Dim dawn light crept along the floorboards.
Jean had offered to buy Mona a couch more than once, but Mona insisted such luxuries would only interfere with her focus. It wasn't like she had the space anyway, or willingness to sacrifice any of the astrological equipment that crowded her apartment.
In this particular moment, however, Mona felt even less desire for a couch. Here, her weight against Jean, a slice or so of her pizza warm in her stomach, she was comfortable. Deeply, perfectly comfortable.
Too comfortable, if anything. Fatigue gained on her like a charging boar. Her eyes were half closed, eyelids weighed down with stones as she chewed lazily at her second slice.
Something warm and soft enveloped the tip of her nose. What... It was cheese. She jerked up. She'd nodded off, face sinking into her pizza.
Gentle laughter from the woman at her side. Mona felt an arm slip around her, drawing her closer as another hand took her half-eaten slice from her grip. "Jean, what'reyu doin..." Her speech was slurring.
Mona's head was drawn down, brought to rest against a soft shoulder. "Rest your eyes for a moment. Just for a moment."
"Noooo," Mona whined, "th'pizza'll get cold."
"Hush," Jean whispered. "It's just pizza."
"Bu... but I..." Mona's vision blurred. Fog encroached on the edges of her mind. "...I love 'ur pizza."
Another quiet laugh, felt more than heard. "That's very kind."
The fog grew thick. Mona succumbed, slipping from the world of the conscious. As relaxation spread through her entirety, she felt an urgent pang of gratitude. It had to be expressed, now, before she was gone.
"I'luv you... Jean..."
Something tightened around her, warm and safe. "...love you, too."
Jean carried an unconscious Mona to her bedroom with nary a stumble. Honestly, the girl weighed nothing. She needed to eat more often.
Mona failed to stir as Jean laid her down. She sat on the edge of her bed, tidying Mona's hair. She was dead to the world. Her state might have drawn concern from a stranger, but Jean had seen this before, many times. Mona was relentless, hour upon hour taxing her brain until it resembled a fine paste, requiring sleep so indisturbable it could be mistaken for a coma. Jean felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. Idiot...
As she studied Mona's gentle, dozing face, Jean felt a yawn work its way out of her chest. Her eyes drifted to the space beside Mona. This bed... really was very soft...
The Acting Grand Master flopped onto the bed without ceremony, and was out within seconds. She'd not lied to Mona; Jean's bedchamber had been a lonely place these last few nights. Jean had spent very little time there either.
On a tiny bed, in the tiny bedroom of a tiny apartment, Mona the Idiot and Jean the Hypocrite lightly snored their way through a lovely Mondstadt morning.