Work Text:
Memories
Marina's phone vibrates against her stomach. She's so cozy right here, right now, curled under the blankets with a backpack like a heater, the soothing sound of someone breathing near her...
It vibrates once more. Marina opens her eyes and squints at her phone. Even at its dimmest setting, 5:05 AM burns her eyes. She closes them. She doesn't wanna get up.
But it'll be worth it. The Memverse should be ready for Eight to betatest soon. Just a couple more tweaks and she can run the alpha version on her laptop before transferring it to the phone.
So the third time the phone buzzes in her hands, Marina lets out the quietest groan she can manage, opens her eyes, and turns off the alarm. Pearl's got her arms around Marina's shoulders, one leg slung over Marina's waist, and she lifts the leg and sets it down on the mattress without even a whisper. Her tentacles work to lift Pearl's arms, careful careful don't wake her, and when Marina slips out of bed she scarce disturbs the blankets. The air outside is cold, and she shivers, starting to wake up properly now.
It'll be worth it.
Their hotel room has two queen beds, a giant window, and the air-conditioning still on blast from when Pearl went to bed. She slips between the other bed and the wall and settles on the floor there with her laptop, as out of view as she can be, and opens the lid. Brightness down as far as it'll go, sound low and bluetoothed into her headphones, Pearl at least can enjoy this day off between concerts.
But Marina's barely got her password in when a blanket lands on her head.
Marina pulls it off and glances up. Pearl's lying across the unused bed, her head dangling down nearly at Rina's level. “Whryngng?”
“Sorry I woke you, Pearlie,” Marina says, slipping off her headphones. “You can go back to bed.”
“M-m.” Pearl crawls forward until she's hanging off the bed, arms dangling and bending under her own weight, and Marina uses a tentacle to prop her up. Pearl rests her chin on Marina's shoulder. “nwout you.”
Despite herself, Marina chuckles. She loves Pearl's sleepytalk. “Yes without me,” she says, looking back at her screen. She opens her memverse program to review the coding she did last time, over a week ago. “I need to finish this.”
“Riiiinaaaaaa...”
“Pearlieeeeeeee.”
Pearl slips further forward, until all that's on the bed is her legs and Marina can't just hold her up with a tentacle, she has to shift further, so Pearl is once more laying on her back and claimed all her tentacles and one of Marina's hands. She's gonna need that back at some point. “We got all day,” Pearl whines. “Ya'ain't'ona lemme sleep on our day off?”
Marina rubs her eyes with her free hand. “I was trying to...”
“But I can't sleep,” Pearl whines. She pushes herself off the bed and Marina can't hold her, so Pearl lands half-on Marina's back and tentacles and slithers all the way to the floor. “Never comfy without you.”
Marina can't help it: she smiles. “All right,” she says. “I suppose ten more minutes wouldn't hurt.” She starts to get up.
Pearl tightens her grip. “Stay,” she says. “Got you and the blanket. We're good.”
Marina laughs and lays down, and Pearl wraps them both. “Okay,” she says. “But just a few minutes.”
She reaches for her phone, to set a new alarm, but can't see it. And Pearl's holding her tight, her breathing already starting to even out by Marina's ear, and she loves the trust Pearl places in her. It really is comfy, lying in a blanket cocoon, on a plush hotel carpet. She can close her eyes. Just for a minute.
And then that minute became more.