Work Text:
Alhaitham had agreed to meet Layla for a study date to assist her with the structuring and drafting of her research paper. She had been unable to make any progress on her own, struggling with translating her thoughts into words in manner that was satisfactory. To help ease some of her stress, as well as squeeze in a bit of quality time together, the two of them set up a time to converse on the subject.
Of course, nothing ever got done on these little dates, much to Layla’s dismay. This time, however, was going to be different. For sure. Layla was going to stay entirely conscious and rely only on the help of Alhaitham for assistance. None of that “blessing of the stars” nonsense.
Or, that was the plan at least.
Layla always fell asleep shortly after Alhaitham would arrive. Unfortunately, because of her seeking outside assistance, the stars would deem her unworthy of their blessing, so she never woke up to find any of her projects magically done. In a way, she viewed that man as a setback to her academic future.
It was why that more than ever, Layla needed to remain awake. She was going to make considerable progress, whether she liked it or not, and Alhaitham was going to help make sure of it.
She organized what she could ahead of time, categorizing her notes into somewhat sensible groups and laying out disappointingly empty pieces of paper in front of her. Her eyes were weighing heavy with sleep deprivation, blankly staring at the page hoping for words to magically manifest before her. Unfortunately, that was not how writing worked, despite the endless wishes of countless drained Sumeru scholars echoing into the night. Layla could manage to write down a few words, usually constructing sentences that sounded as if they were strung together by a young child who had just found a dictionary. Before she would even be able to finish a paragraph, she would hate herself for the results of her nowhere near completed rough draft, then crumple up the page and toss it off to the side.
Alhaitham was greeted by the usual distressed Layla, surrounded by scrapped ideas and careless ink stains. Unlike a certain architect that constantly burdened him on a daily basis, Alhaitham was confident in Layla’s skills and value as a person. He always thought highly of her being a hard worker, perhaps too hard of a worker. Alhaitham at least knew how to pace himself, but Layla didn’t know when to allow herself a break.
Because of this, these little study dates of theirs were a cover-up for a larger plot of Alhaitham’s to allow for Layla to get the one thing she desperately needed; a well-deserved rest. Did it result in Layla hating herself for allowing herself to doze off? Perhaps, but it was a sacrifice that had to be made for the betterment of her health.
Alhaitham quietly made her aware of his presence, making sure as to not startle her out of her skin. He was greeted by her usual sleepy, half aware gaze, though her face lit up with a subconscious smile at the sight of him. Layla allowed for Alhaitham to take a seat next to her, practically taking up the entirety of the seat itself. There was just enough room for Layla to comfortably nestle herself between the arm of the chair and Alhaitham’s body.
He instructed for her to show him the notes that she had accumulated over time, pleasantly surprised with the amount of effort she managed to put into the organization. For someone who spent the majority of her life walking the boundary between the waking world and the dreaming stars, he was quite impressed at the coherent organization and reasoning of her gathered ideas.
Despite how much effort she had forced herself into preparing for their little date, Layla was fighting a losing battle from the start. Alhaitham’s presence was simply too much for her drained body, making the act of resisting sleep a near impossible task. A mere blink felt like agony to her, with each second of shut-eye causing Layla to crave longer and longer periods of restful darkness.
At this point in time, Layla’s accumulated hours of sleep likely totaled to less than ten for the entire week, and her lack of energy was causing her to fall further and further behind. To her sleepy, spaced-out mind, Alhaitham practically felt like a giant pillow, comforting the entirety of her body and drawing her in for a restful night’s sleep.
She wanted to fight it off. She knew she was better than this.
Alhaitham refused to show any mercy to her poor, drained soul. Without so much as bothering to brush over the unfinished work that lay before him, he lifted his arm to wrap around Layla’s body. He pulled her in as close to his body as he possibly could, careful as to not forcefully restrain her, but just enough for Layla to become engulfed with the strength of his body.
Layla couldn’t help but allow herself to relax under the gentle pressure of Alhaitham’s hold. She leaned her head against his chest, sinking into the muscle mass that she now claimed as her pillow. His steady heartbeat soothed Layla, who was already in a weak position from neglecting her sleep schedule for such a long time. Sleep was quickly beginning to conquer her.
A few minutes wouldn’t hurt, she would think to herself. Surely, after hours of staring at what felt like the same combination of five different constellation related words, she deserved a brief moment of shut-eye to refresh herself, right?
Alhaitham knew that he was successful in getting to her. He shifted his body ever so slightly so that Layla would be able to fall into him and drift off to sleep without the effort of keeping herself upright. Within moments, she was out cold for what he assumed was the first time all week.
With Layla now asleep, Alhaitham tightened his grip on her body ever so slightly so that her workaholic alter ego would be unable to wake and write the entire course of an essay in the span of an hour. He imagined that any attempts by her to break free would be met with such great resistance from Alhaitham that she would deem the effort not worth it and simply pass out in his arms once more. Strangely enough, this never once happened, as Layla peacefully slept through the entire evening. No disturbances, no restlessness, nothing.
It was a simple, yet effective plan for him to coax his beloved into taking care of herself. Alhaitham often wondered if Layla ever caught on, as she was no easy woman to fool herself. Perhaps she simply allowed him to constantly do this, yet refused to admit that she knew all along.
Regardless, it also provided Alhaitham with an excuse to hold her so close to himself, although, he wasn’t entirely immune to his own devious scheme. He would have nothing to occupy himself with for the duration of their “study session,” as he would be unable to move without the fear of disturbing Layla’s rare period of uninterrupted slumber. Plus, having her so close was quite comforting to him.
Compared to Alhaitham, Layla was quite small, yet his heart was struck in a certain way by gently holding her frail body ever so close. It was like cradling a baby bird, filling his normally lone heart with a happiness that could only be explained with the definition of love. Eventually, with a gentle smile on his face, Alhaitham would too, drift off to sleep.
Nothing would be accomplished that evening. No discussion, drafting, anything that could make as much as an ounce of progress. In fact, not a single word was ever exchanged between Alhaitham and Layla, but the two had the mutual understanding to where words need not be thrown about.