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He was tired. So tired. Why the hell does he keep doing this to himself?
This is the fourth time that Singed has ignored his body's calls for a nice rest, oddly feeling the need to continue to work even though he had all of tomorrow ahead of him. He was supposed to be in bed an hour ago. This itches concern in the back of his head ー mainly because of Heimerdinger. He didn't want to leave him alone; Singed even promised him that he wouldn't stay up longer past eleven, and yet here he was. Duty calls, he supposed. Nothing can halt the progression of science.
Singed turned his head towards the large window that loomed far beside him. Moonlight poured into the library and it was but the only light source that emulated the whole room besides Singed's mere lantern that he had brought with him. The tables were trashed with papers and books. Singed has spent the rest of his evening studying, pursuing the greater knowledge he wished despite his body shouting heavy signals at him to take care of himself.
'I want to eat! I want to sleep! I should probably take a shower...' is what those signals sounded like to him. Nagging.
Heimerdinger would be so disappointed.
Grabbing the lantern, Singed planned to travel back to the various bookshelves to receive another book for his studies. Something to do with advanced biology of the sort. It would be difficult trying to find it in all of the darkness, since as of right now, it is lights out throughout the whole Academy. Singed wasn't supposed to even be here. Once again, nothing can halt the progression of science
.
With a yawn, Signed dragged his feet towards the section he'd just came from a few hours before. He was so tired that his body was practically screaming at him in agony to just go. to. sleep. He can't right now, if only his own pathetic body could just understand that.
Before he could even reach the many bookshelves, a loud sound emerged from behind him ー a sound of a door. Singed twisted his body towards the only exit behind him to see one of the twin doors to the library be dragged open by a small figure. The hallway lights faintly poured into the room as well and almost blinded Singed, though that didn't completely distract him from whom he knew would be coming in here at this type of hour.
That familiar figure he'd seen all day, every day ever since he stepped foot into the Academy peered into the room. Wild blonde fur and pointy ears being the first things to catch Singed's eyes as he slowly glanced down to see the figure's fuzzy face. With the amount of light they had now, Singed could clearly see that his professor was pissed.
"Singed!" Heimerdinger called, his little voice expressing a tone of crossness. "What in Runeterra are you doing? Do you not know what time it is?"
Singed rubbed his eye with a free hand as he placed his lantern down. He could here the pitter-patter of his professor's footsteps fill the air; they were heavy ー angry sounding ー even for such a small man like him. The sound stopped when Singed could feel the presence of the yordle. He could feel those blue eyes shooting darts at him.
"It's one twenty-one!" Heimerdinger continued. "You said you'll return by eleven! What is going on, my boy?"
"I...apologize, Heimerdinger." Singed replied, his response lingering as he felt another yawn develop. "I had other things to attend to."
"Singed...this is the fourth time this week. Do not think I have not noticed that you've been out with your research later and later." Heimerdinger took a glace at the messy table before them and shook his head. "I know how you get with your experiments, your work but...you can't keep doing this. You know that."
Singed's body has been repeating the same things Heimerdinger had told him. He gets it. He understands but...what about his progress? Sleeping, eating, hygiene ー they all halt his progress! But he knew he couldn't say that to him, not to Heimerdinger. It'd make him more concerned then, and Singed didn't want him to stay awake at night worrying about his well-being.
Singed narrowed his eyes down at the yordle, his expression then morphed from anger to worry. His pulled on his heart. His own actions were making the old man worry, goddamn it.
"What are you doing up at this hour?" Singed inquired, trying to steer the conversation away from the topic of himself. "Wouldn't you...be asleep by now?"
"I was waiting for you!" The yordle exclaimed. "I'm not going to rest knowing that you're locked out there. Especially not after your concerning pattern as of late."
"You don't need...to be worried about me. I'm...fine." Lying through your damn teeth, Singed. You would never lie to him. "Just...give me a few more minutes and I'll come to beー"
Two hands cupped Singed's face and was pulled down, meeting the eyes of his professor. Concern and worry coated the blue planes that peered at him every day and night. This made Singed sick to his stomach; he didn't want to ever see Heimerdinger like that towards him. Not ever.
"Singed, look at yourself," Heimerdinger stated, stern yet delicate. A gloved thumb wiped under one of his eyes, like he were examining a blemish. It felt...comforting despite all of this; the sensation of Heimerdinger's gentle touch. "You're developing bags under your eyes...and..." Blue eyes glanced down and a hand was removed from Singed's face, grabbing one of his own hands instead. Heimerdinger lifted one of Singed's hands up to his own face, showing it off as if it were a paper with a bad score.
"...You're shaking. From lack of rest." Heimerdinger added, and he dropped Singed's hand. "You need to come to bed." The other struggled to maintain eye contact, even despite Heimer trying to get him to match his eyes. He just couldn't.
"I..." Singed struggled to speak. No proper words could form on his tongue, mainly to his mind slipping from sleep deprivation. He couldn't protest, even if he wanted to. Singed's body was slowly winning over him, and Heimerdinger was aiding in this battle. Two against one. "But...Heimerdingerー"
The professor shook his head, tutting to himself. "No 'buts'. You're tired, you cannot fight that anymore. You need your rest this instant."
He was lucky that Singed was so depraved that he could do nothing but quietly agree. The yordle then reached up, and planted a tender kiss on his forehead. The affection tickled Singed's insides warmly ー almost enough to make the man fall asleep in his arms. Oh, how he appreciated the sentiment.
"I care about you, you know." Heimerdinger said, his hands still cupping the man's face. "I will help you get back to your proper place. Just...nothing more of this, alright?"
A small nod was all Singed could muster.
"Good boy."