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Ahato had been living in Callie’s apartment for two weeks now. Callie loved the time she spent with her, with all the little things that came with it. She was worried about one thing, though. Ahato was the type of person to just… appear in places. In the early mornings, they were already cleaning the office. One time, Callie found her cooking "dinner" at 3 AM.
Does Dedlie sleep at all?
That couldn’t be it. Ahato usually lies down with Callie for bed, but why was she never there when she woke up?
Oh no.
With worry, Callie peeked outside the door of her bedroom and found Ahato putting away a theremin.
“Ahato?” she spoke.
“Callie?” she turned to face her, “What is it?”
“Are you doing okay?” Callie slowly walked out.
“Yes, why?” She chuckled in her monotone voice.
“I was wondering if you got any sleep last night?”
Ahato gritted her teeth. “Oh, that. After the sanitization, I really don’t need to sleep anymore.”
Callie looked at Ahato. Ahato’s head hung low as her posture swayed back and forth.
“Are you sure about that?” Callie questioned as she got closer.
“I’m still standing, aren’t I, Cal?” she assured her. “I’ll be…”
Ahato froze and started to shake. Callie’s instinct instantly kicked in as she moved to catch her before she fell to the floor. Callie held Ahato tightly to her chest as they sat there for what felt like forever.
“Yeah, you’re going to bed.” She pulled up Ahato and started walking to her bedroom.
“I don’t like it, though.”
“Can you try for me?”
“I won’t like it, though.”
It wasn’t a struggle to get to Callie’s bedroom; Callie laid Ahato down and wrapped her arms around her sides. Ahato laid still, as time passed by, and still felt nothing.
“This is the problem,” she complained. “I just sit here, and nothing pushes me to sleep.”
“So, do you just let yourself go on until you collapse?”
A silent beat passed.
“I have a lot of cuts,” Ahato admitted.
Callie frowned, and she pulled herself on top of her to reach her arms around Ahato further.
“Something that helps me go to sleep is to chase your thoughts or the little things. You can try to count to 100, try to recall your daydreams, and if those fail,” Callie readjusted her position. “Try focusing on the weight I’m applying.”
Callie always felt warm all the time. Ahato always seemed to be so cold. She wondered why Callie stuck with her for all this time. She had done little for her, but Callie gave her so much. Callie’s warmth blocked her current train of thought and made her remember the one important fact.
Callie loved her.
She had shown so much care, so instead of shaming herself for it, why not accept it and cherish it with open arms? Ahato moved deeper into Callie’s embrace. She’s so warm. Ahato felt like she could cry. She was. Not sad tears, but-
“Cal, can you move a bit? You’re crushing me.”
“Oh, one second.”
The door to the studio room slowly opened with the tired squid sister walking out. She had just finished recording her podcast with Marie. As she walked to the bedroom, she hoped nothing disturbed Ahato’s sleep, but as the door creaked open, her worries faded away.
Ahato was softly snoring, and grabbed one of the many plushies Callie owned while she was asleep. Callie had never seen her look so soft before. She joined her in bed and put her arms around Ahato again.
“I love you Dedlie.” She gave her a kiss on the cheek.
And she swore she heard a whisper saying, “I love you, too.”