Work Text:
Sleep. It was a peaceful thing, something you aren’t aware of when it happens, but you know it did, like time. Despite the struggles he had with it, Stan loved to sleep. Not only to get away from his problems but also because it made him feel refreshed occasionally. No matter how much he loved to sleep, it was a rare thing now that he was housing an alien.
Kyle didn’t need much sleep depending on his energy output, and seeing how the most he did was fly around Stan’s house- he didn’t put out much. The most he needed was about 2 hours, 4 at most, so he didn’t exactly understand why Stan slept for so long.
Stan figured out that Kyle wouldn’t hesitate to wake him, so he taught the redhead how to use the tv in hopes of keeping him entertained. It seemed to be working too! Well, that was until tonight.
“Stan…! Stan, wake up!” A voice whispered into Stan’s ear. He could hear Kyle hovering over him, and the noirette opened his eyes to see eyes glowing green with a large smile. “You are awake! We must go to the-”
“Kyle, I told you I was tired. Have you gone to bed yet? It’s really late.” Stan asked, pulling the blanket over him and turning around. Kyle followed, lying next to Stan and pulling the blankets excitedly.
If it were anyone else, he’d kill them.
“I know it’s late, but I cannot sleep after what I just saw! You’ve also been asleep for nearly 4 hours!”
“Humans need 7-8 hours of sleep.”
“You’re halfway there! Come take a break so I can show you!”
“No, Kyle,” Stan said and closed his eyes.
The redhead huffed, sitting up and crossing his arms. His freckles glowed in anger as he glared at Stan. The older tried his best to ignore him, but he knew Kyle was there, and he knew he was angry. Stan hated going to bed, knowing others were mad at him. He let out a loud sigh.
“Fine. What is it, Kyle?”
“Oh, it is the most magical thing I have ever seen! Come, please! It is on the television!”
Stan follows Kyle sluggishly, his comforter wrapped around him as he follows Kyle into the living room. The redhead’s smile quickly fades as he looks at the TV. He looked confused, quickly flying over and putting his hands on the screen.
“They’re gone…Where did they go…? I asked them to wait. Did we take too long…?”
“Kyle, it’s a commercial, remember? It changes on its own, and it can’t hear you. If you want it to stay, you have to pause it.” Stan handed Kyle the remote and pointed to the button. “Click it.”
Kyle did, jumping back with a shocked face. “It’s frozen! Did I break it? I’m so sorry, I will fix it-“
“No, no, no! You just paused it. If you press the button again, it will go back to normal.” The blue-eyed male quickly comforted.
“Wow! The technology of your planet is so behind, yet so advanced all at the same time!”
“I won’t take offense to that.”
“But I am still unable to show you the marvelous things I saw.”
“Yes, you can. Here, this is called the rewind button. Click it and then click play when you see what you were looking for.”
Stan laid back on the couch while Kyle hovered over it, intensely watching the tv. Stan began to doze off, nearly fully submerged in sleep once again, when Kyle’s gasps of happiness made him sit back up.
“Look, Stan! Look at them! Aren’t they just the most magnificent creatures you have ever seen? Oh, I want one, the red one, please! Are they pets? May we please get one?” Kyle’s eyes sparkled as he pointed at the screen with so much wonder and excitement. His freckles were glowing brightly as he bounced on the heels of his feet.
Through Stan’s eyes, blurred by the sandman’s spell, he looked at the tv bright and colorful lights and sighed.
It was the fucking M&M’s.
“Kyle, I-“
“Please, I do good taking care of Sparky; why not the M&M’s?”
“Kyle, we can’t keep them as pets.”
“Why not..?”
As much as Stan wanted to tell Kyle they weren’t real, he couldn’t bare the look of disappointment that would be on his face. Similar to when he saw the Geico gecko.
“They’re not pets, sorry.”
“So they’re like bears? They live in the wild?”
“No- they’re-um, they’re just not something you can have.”
“Oh… I see. I apologize for waking you.”
“No, it’s okay. Maybe you should go ahead and go to bed. It’s pretty late.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Good night, Stan!”
Then Kyle flew into the guest room, his smile dim compared to the one he wore earlier. Stan sighed, wrapping his comforter over him tightly as he made his way to his own bed.
_____________________________________
Stan knew from the moment his eyes landed on the tiny bottles in the store he’d have to get it. Kyle was sitting on the couch, happily petting Sparky’s belly, when he walked in with groceries.
“Can I help?” Kyle asked, getting up from the couch and causing Sparky to huff and jump off. Stan shook his head, telling Kyle he had a surprise and not to look inside the bags. Of course, that rule didn’t last either.
Stan came back into his kitchen to find Kyle sneakily peaking into the bags. The blue-eyed male cleared his throat.
“Sorry,” Kyle whispered, floating up and away from the bags. Stan chuckled and pulled out the tube of candy, and handed it to the redhead.
“They’re M&M’s; you eat them.”
Kyle nearly shot through the roof, flying around Stan’s apartment happily, squealing as he held the tube in his hands, shaking it so he could hear the rattling of the candy on the inside. He pointed excitedly at the characters on the bottle as he narrowly avoided hitting a wall.
“Thank you, Stan! Thank you! This is the best gift I’ve ever received in the whole Andromeda galaxy! You truly are amazing! Oh my stars, this is amazing!”
Stan laughed, sitting on the couch and watching Kyle. His life was strange. He lived with an alien who loved chocolate and TV, yet he wasn’t mad at it. The black-haired male closed his eyes, leaning back with a comfortable sigh. Kyle finally came back down and cuddled into his side, something he did to show gratitude.
“I’m going to take a nap. Okay, Kyle?”
“Okay, Stan.”