Work Text:
The Doctor laid an arm over his head and sighed. Sleep was a vanishing spirit he chased around the woods to no avail. The way his routine of sleep circled in cycles of bad habits was finicky.
He sat up on his bed and looked down at his mattress in slight annoyance. For something that was supposed to induce sleep, it was horrible at its job.
The Doctor circled his hand around the blanket of his bed and pulled it over himself in a futile attempt to sleep again, but a few more minutes of tossing and turning only added to the stress gathering amid his chest.
He threw the blanket away from his body and lay in the stunning silence that enveloped his room before rolling out of bed in reluctance. If he wasn't going to do anything productive, he might as well try to sway his emotions in the right direction by doing something that'll head start their day and take a nap during the afternoon if he got sleepy.
The Doctor slowly made his way to his door after gulping a cup of water down to wake himself up and quietly opened it. He peeked around just in case he alerted any nocturnal operators, though he doubted it since he was careful with the sounds he produced.
The Doctor sneakily made his way to his office and unlocked the door before stepping inside and flicking the lights on to survey the room.
Nothing had changed, and he was glad his assistant didn't mind the small mess he created over time as weeks went by before she finally infiltrated his continually growing mess of recruitment files, battle plans, mission schedules, and reports by tidying them up a bit. To his surprise, he didn't think she would be the one to clean up after him or not even utter a complaint about his slightly messy lifestyle.
Of course, there were some downsides to her cleaning up after him since she organized it too neatly on the surface when important papers could be thrown around carelessly, but she quickly learned to adapt to his needs.
He wouldn't be anywhere without Margaret Nearl. She lifted his quality of life to a survivable situation where he could breathe instead of drowning in paperwork or other concerning matters.
The Doctor looked back at his finger resting on the light switch and turned it off. If anyone saw the light flooding out of his room, he felt it wouldn't bode well for the others when he should be sleeping.
He stumbled through the darkness until he reached his desk and flicked the switch for a little lamp to target its brightness in the necessary areas he needed it to.
He sat down in his chair and rested for a few seconds before rummaging through his drawers to grab a snack he enjoyed. If he was going to stay up for a while, he might as well relish the time instead of moping around about his lack of sleep.
He picked up his pen and began ruffling his hands through the papers lying dormant on his desk. He fanned them out to his liking and went through each one, scribbling around the blanks that needed to be filled.
It was a boring job that he usually handed to Margaret Nearl, but it didn't hurt to catch up with some incomplete paperwork.
The Doctor lost track of time as he concentrated all his effort on filling out papers and thinking a lot about what the rest of the day had planned for him.
Only when the Doctor heard the door opening did he snap out of his workaholic state of mind. He recognized immediately that he had forgotten to lock the door after himself.
Margaret Nearl stood at the door, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she tried to grasp the situation unfolding before her. Surprised, the Doctor put his pen down and looked at her.
She wore a pair of fuzzy yellow pajamas with white ducks scattered throughout the silky material. It made her stand out despite the meager source of light generated by the lamp. It fit her perfectly.
"Margaret, what are you doing here?" The Doctor asked, slightly stunned by how soft she looked at the moment. Her tail wrapping around her body made him want to snuggle up with her and go straight to sleep, but he kept his composure straight. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I could say the same thing about you, Doctor... You need to get some quality rest to function throughout the day." Margaret responded.
"I doubt it since I pulled a few all-nighters..." The Doctor muttered under his breath.
"Did you say something, Doctor?" Margaret asked as she made her way over to the bookshelves lining his office. She gently touched the spines of the books, carefully selecting what textbook or novel to read.
"No, I just coughed." The Doctor quickly replied, eyeing her actions with interest before a question bubbled up to the surface. "But I have to ask, how did you know I was awake at this time?"
Margaret stopped, pulling her fingers back by an inch away from the books, and looked at him. "Well, it would be weird if I didn't know something about you after spending all this time as your assistant. I just figured you would be awake considering you took a nap in the middle of the day and I noticed you have a habit of working at night during those times."
"Wait, how did you know I had a habit of working at night when this is the first time we met during the night?" The Doctor inquired, hoping to push some buttons to tease her. "Were you stalking me?"
And push the right buttons the Doctor did. Margaret blushed at his questions as the embarrassment dispersed from her face as steam.
A puff of steam that developed into a minor storm that clouded her mouth from delivering a proper response. "Um... Doctor, I didn't mean to... I just wanted to make sure you were safe... If anything were to happen to you, I would feel at fault since I am the one blessed to be by your side most of the time." She nervously shuffled around a bit, which warmed the Doctor's heart from her bashful behavior.
He could always trust Margaret Nearl to be there when he needed her, especially in his office, though there wasn't much for her to do other than handle papers here, papers there, and papers everywhere. But just her presence was enough to put his heart at ease when the burden got too heavy for his shoulders to bear, even if she was technically stalking him at the moment.
"Well, I'll continue working. If you need something, just ask me." The Doctor commented as he relished her flustered expression and kept it as a memory for his brain to store in his mind forever.
Margaret cooled herself down by continuing to drag her fingers over the books before finding one she thought was quite interesting to use as a joke. "Actually, Doctor… Could we read a book together?" She asked, pulling it out from the shelf and holding it next to her head with an inviting, yet playful smile.
The Doctor looked up at her and tilted his head in confusion. "Margaret, that's a book about neurology..."
"I know, but the amount of information that is hidden within this book could be immense! And it'll be an excellent remedy for sleeplessness! You know what they say when you can't sleep, a good book can solve it!" Margaret exclaimed, her face shining with a radiance of excitement. "And it even has a hardback cover!"
The Doctor found it amusing that a book could incite such a rich reaction from Margaret, who seemed a bit reserved until it came to something she was passionate about. "And what should we do about the paperwork?"
"I'll handle it tomorrow, Doctor. As your trusty assistant, you can always count on me to pave the way for your success." Margaret put the informational textbook on neurology back on the shelf before picking up another book that was much thinner than the last. An entertaining story more accustomed to what she read during her free time.
The Doctor watched as Margaret sat down in the middle of the room where a table was with a few chairs surrounding it. She beckoned with her hand to invite him over to share an adventure with him through the story.
The Doctor listened to her eager offer and sat down next to her after he turned on a lamp next to them so they could see the text clearly. She scooted the chair closer to him until their shoulders touched and opened the book up while propping it up on her tail, lying on her lap.
From it, a jungle of imagination and colors sprouted from the pages and swirled throughout the air as it seemed to manifest itself into the real world. Page after page of the delicate portrayal of the story painted their minds with vibrant imagery much like an artist would draw on a canvas with different hues to create something divine.
Eventually, the Doctor noticed the pace of how they consumed the book slow down. He noted the way Margaret's fingers slipped down and curled in on themselves.
The Doctor glanced over to gauge Margaret's condition. Her head bobbed up and down as she struggled to stay awake with a sleepy expression adorning her face. It wasn't until she realized his attention was focused on her did she perk up again with a tired smile.
"I'm fine, Doctor... I'll stay awake as long as you need me to," Margaret assured, her ears flickering around cutely as if to accentuate her fight with the oncoming onslaught of drowsiness.
"Thank you." He said, knowing full well she was going to fall asleep before he did.
By the time the book began falling out of her hands, the Doctor had taken ownership of holding it while the tail adjusted over to his lap so that he could rest his arms on it.
And within a few minutes, Margaret had fallen asleep with her body slumped over in his direction and her head resting against his shoulder.
The Doctor gently closed the book and rested his hands against her tail. It was soft and fluffy like he expected it to be, and even if it was tempting to snuggle up with it, he restrained himself for the second time that night.
It would be quite a disturbance if he woke Margaret up just because he wanted to play with her tail. And he wasn't a child.
Observing her for a few more moments, the way her chest rose and fell with every breath was an excellent indicator of how peaceful she was currently. And so was the way she completely trusted him to fall asleep on his shoulder, but he wouldn't delve so deep as to call it anything other than gaining the radiant knight's trust. Though he also wasn't completely sure about her feelings.
The Doctor sat with her in the same position while continuing his trek through the journey the book took him on until a nocturnal operator showed up to check on him by peeking in through the doors of his office.
The Doctor pointed at the sleeping Margaret Nearl and the operator nodded her head before entering the office to aid the Doctor by acting as a support for the sleepy knight, who woke up to accept their help as they guided Margaret to her room.
Once Margaret stood outside the door to her room, she turned around to face the Doctor and smiled. "Thank you, Doctor. You're too kind to me."
"And thank you for staying up with me for about an hour. I'll be going back to work now, but see you tomorrow morning."
The nocturnal operator glanced at both of them before walking away to tend to her own business. There was no point in staying around if her service wasn't required any longer.
"I'll be there as always." Margaret Nearl said before entering her room to collapse on her bed with a soft, content sigh.
The Doctor closed the door for her and walked back to his own office before sitting down at his desk alone. It felt like something was missing, even though he usually spent his all-nighters alone.
And he knew exactly what the problem was. It was because Margaret Nearl wasn't in the same room as him.
The Doctor sighed and leaned back in his chair while it squeaked in protest. It was funny how relying on a single person could change his world for the better and in the best way possible. Luckily, he got to see her in the morning, so all he had to do was wait. In the meantime, paperwork called his name.