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If nothing else, mornings at the Manor were usually peaceful. In the absence of humming electronics, distant traffic, or bustling streets, Akira tended to wake up naturally, without a blaring digital alarm warning them that it was time to return to the office. This morning was, blissfully, much the same; Akira drifted awake gradually, sunlight filtering through the curtains and filling the room with a comfortable, clear warmth. They rolled over onto their back and stretched their arms out over their head, arching their back and sighing like a cat awakening from a nap.
"Good sleep?"
Akira's eyes flew open. They scrambled up, narrowly holding back a shriek, clutching their blanket to their chest. It only took a second to find the source of the voice - an amethyst-haired individual curled up on his side on the carpet, knees pulled up towards his chest in a position wholly unbefitting of a grown man, yet somehow still endearing. Usually peaceful, Akira thought, trying to even out their breathing. But then there were mornings like this…
"Murr?" Akira asked, trying to clear the sleep-soft hoarseness of their voice. "Um, good morning, but… what are you doing here?"
Murr propped his head up on one hand, his brilliant cyan eyes crinkling with his delighted smile.
"I was gonna nap! I woke up super early and Shylock told me to let him sleep more, so I looked for other things to do, but everyone is running errands today. So I decided to find a place to nap until people got back with interesting stories!"
As he spoke, Murr rolled onto his back, holding his hands up in the spear of light coming from the crack in the curtains. The sun glittered off the colorful rings adorning Murr's fingers - most were tarnished and scratched where the delicate metal clutched a precious stone, but his magical focus was pristine, the deep and fluctuating violet color seeming to almost trap the light in its dizzying, multifaceted jewel. Akira rubbed at their eyes, edged with sleep and still a bit bleary.
"I see…" Akira sighed. "But aren't there better places for you to sleep? Did something happen to your hammock?" They wouldn't be surprised if Murr had thrown himself into the hammock hard enough to pull one of the anchors loose, or… turned the strings into spaghetti, or some similar chaos. But Murr shook his head, then swiped his thumb over his magical focus and floated into the up off the carpet, rolling over to look down at Akira from where he was now laying in midair.
"My hammock is just fine! But it's full of treasures right now, and I forgot what I was going to do with them all, so I'm letting them stay there until I can remember. There's no room left for me!"
Akira paused, then nodded. Murr's logic was… unique; circuitous and weaving, but often justified, and always explained with such joyful confidence that made Akira want to listen to Murr's dissertations despite barely being able to follow the topics. Even foggy with sleep and still settling down off the adrenaline of being startled, they liked hearing how Murr took joy in the mundane inconvenience of having his bed covered in clutter. Akira glanced at their own bed, simple and bedecked with only the barest comforts. Saku-chan lay curled at Akira's feet, where it usually spent the quiet nights; though its head was down and its eyes closed, its ears were perked up and attentively angled towards Murr, ever aware of its duty.
"If I had a spare blanket and pillow, I would lend it to you… Oh, if you want, we can check one of the lounges for something?" Akira offered, already resigned to not getting much more sleep. They brushed their fingers through their hair in an attempt to soothe the bedhead that they knew was there.
"No need!" Murr chirped. "I'll just sleep with you. <<Eanyu Rambul>>!"
Before Akira could protest, Murr's spell transformed his usual clothes into a delightful set of star-spangled pyjamas, and he floated down to the bed and landed with an oof at Akira's side. Akira laughed, surprised, and tried to shift over to give Murr more space; at the foot of the bed, Saku-chan was now awake and looking rather disheveled, its dizzying dark eyes staring at the source of the sudden jostling. Murr propped himself up to peer at Akira's face - this close, Akira could see the smattering of freckles and moles across Murr's cheeks, the stray violet hairs snagged on his eyelashes. Akira was briefly caught up in the impulse to brush the hairs aside, groom him like a pet, but the immediate heat rising in their cheeks dissuaded them well enough.
"If you don't mind, Master Sage." Murr added. The smile made his eyes crinkle, catlike and childish, and Akira found themselves smiling back.
"That's okay." How could I say no? While Murr was persistent, provocative, and forthright with his inquiries, he was never outright disrespectful, or overly forceful about Akira's boundaries. Akira appreciated that about him; though he could send Akira staggering out of their comfort zone with only a couple effortless words, Akira never felt abandoned or helpless. In his own flighty, convoluted manner, Murr was always at Akira's back, ready to push them forwards towards new experiences of which Akira could never have dreamed. At times it felt unreal, a trembling technicolor version of reality where Akira was surrounded by burgeoning magic and the deafening scream of fireworks. But other times - and this was what underscored the familiar comfort, the reason why Akira was sure Murr would be there whenever they needed him - time spent with Murr was quiet and bare, any words spoken in an inquisitive murmur as they mutually tried to reach across the gap of time and culture and experience that separated them.
Lost in thought, Akira tugged at the blanket Murr was pinning down, and Murr gleefully wriggled around to free it, using a brief flash of magic to straighten it out and tuck the blanket over both of them. Murr put his head on the far edge of Akira's pillow, still beaming up at them.
"If I snore, just kick me, 'kay?" Murr instructs, blowing a stray lock of hair off his face. "And if I sleep-talk, write it down - I wanna know what sleep-me said!"
Akira hummed agreement, nestling back down into the still-warm bed, now almost too warm with the heat radiating off the extra body crammed into the small space. They spent a moment awkwardly shuffling around, hyper-aware of any accidental points of contact. Vaguely, Akira hoped that Murr wouldn't be bothered by any tossing or turning. Akira knew they rolled around while they slept, but with any luck, Murr slept the same way Saku-chan did - only ever half-awake at worst, and not even noticing the occasional jostle or kick.
Sleep was already enticing Akira back into its embrace as soon as they let their head nestle back into the pillow; it was still fairly early, judging by the light, and the warmth of the man at their back was distressingly comfortable. But just as Akira was about to drift off again, Murr shifted, the back of his hand knocking against Akira's shoulder blade in a surprisingly gentle gesture before he loosely nestled his hand in the fabric of Akira's pyjama shirt. Such an innocent, kitten-like thing, to cling onto something warm; it was reassuring, sweet, to think that Murr got the same deep and unspeakable comfort out of Akira's presence as Akira did from Murr.
Their life as the Sage was strange, busy, and overwhelming,but these pockets of peace, the easy things in between, made it all a little easier to shoulder. With Murr's gentle weight on the bed behind them, Akira fell asleep, set adrift into a dream of a sky packed with countless burning stars.