Work Text:
Wrench sat at her desk, filling out what felt like her millionth piece of paper work of the day. She had been doing this pretty much since her day began, and it was really starting to get to her.
She was pretty sure she hadn't seen a single person all day; everyone seemed to be out on jobs so the yard had seemed almost like a wasteland, and although she wasn't huge on some of its citizens it had been pretty lonely. Normally she would get at least one patient a day, but today was obviously not one of those days.
On the rare occasions like this when she didn't have any appointments booked, at least one person would tend to pop by and see how she was, but considering how everyone was busy there had been nobody around who would be interested in doing such things (Belle tended to be the usual culprit, but even she had been away today). It had been strange feeling so isolated; after moving into this yard with the others she had gotten so used to having so many people around that being alone felt really unsettling.
Wrench signed the last part of the paper work she had been working on with a sigh, laying her chin on her arms which were crossed on the table. She only had a few more hours of this left, she just needed to get through them. She realised that the time seemed to pass a lot slower when not broken up by appointments or other visitors, but it would somehow pass even slower and she would feel a lot more guilty if she just sat here doing nothing.
So, she inhaled and exhaled a deep breath, before getting up the next paper work that needed to be done. She was so focused on this task that she failed to hear the door click open behind her.
Belle came in through the door, wavering on her wheels, and sat on the medical bed next to Wrench, a place that had practically become her second home by now. She gazed at her, smiling with tired eyes as Wrench continued to work, still completely unaware of Belle's presence.
"…Wrench?" Belle finally spoke up, her voice sounding like she could fall asleep at any second. Her words made Wrench finally recognise that she wasn't alone anymore, looking up towards Belle and instantly becoming concerned.
Belle looked like she was practically about to collapse from exhaustion; although she was looking at Wrench directly in the eyes, she looked extremely out of it and unfocused. A few of her outer layer pieces looked dislodged and out of place in ways that would definitely feel uncomfortable, at least in Wrench's opinion. Pieces of her hair were sticking out in every which way, something Wrench was itching to lean forwards and fix but she couldn't just yet.
"Hello Belle," Wrench greeted, trying not to sound as concerned as she felt. "How was your day?"
Belle took a second to react, before her face morphed into an expression that showed exactly how she was feeling, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Horrible," Belle grumbled as Wrench moved off of her chair to sit next to her on the bed, Belle instantly beginning to rest her head on Wrench's shoulder.
"How come?" Wrench asked, tone now fully showing her concern. Belle groaned loudly upon hearing this, lulling more into Wrench's side.
"Don't get me started," she said sternly, but continued to explain anyway. "I swear nobody knows how to listen these days. I had to explain so many times, 'oh, this is a sleeping car, please keep the noise down as there are people who are trying to sleep', you'd think that would be common sense." She looked over at Wrench, who agreed with what she said, before carrying on.
"But apparently some people don't know how to actually acknowledge and listen to instructions, as they kept being loud and disrupting people who were very clearly trying to sleep. If you really want to talk that loud, there's other passenger cars you can do that in, not the single one where people are actually trying to rest."
Wrench nodded along to Belle's ramblings, suddenly feeling very glad that she wasn't on Belle's career path. She'd much rather deal with an annoying patient here and there than multiple annoying passengers at once, it sounded like her very own personal hell if she was being honest.
"That sounds rough," Wrench commented.
"Oh, it was," Belle confirmed, before letting out a particularly deep yawn.
"Sorry, I'm exhausted," Belle sleepily giggled. "It's been a very long day."
"I can tell," Wrench replied slightly humorously, before Belle's comment sparked an idea in her head.
"Would you like to sleep here?" Wrench asked. "I can help you get ready, and I have blankets and pillows so it won't be uncomfortable."
Wrench really hoped she didn't sound too needy, but she really would love having Belle's company, even if she was asleep. It would be nice to just have her nearby, and it would definitely help her feel less isolated.
Belle looked happy at the suggestion and like she wanted to agree, but began to look a little unsure.
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to take up any space, what if someone else needs it?" Belle queried.
"I'm sure." Wrench nodded. "I don't have any appointments booked, but if there's an emergency I have other beds that could be used if necessary."
Belle considered it in her head (Wrench could practically hear the cogs turning in her brain) before nodding slightly.
"Then sure." She smiled. "I'd love to."
Upon Belle's agreement, Wrench instantly shuffled behind her, beginning to take down her hair. She'd done this a few times by now, so she knew exactly how Belle put up her hair and how to take it down in a way that wouldn't make her uncomfortable.
"Thank you for doing this," Belle said wearily. "It means a lot."
"It's no problem," Wrench replied, smiling softly.
Wrench finished taking down Belle's hair, lightly running her fingers through it. Belle made a content noise as she did, seemingly enjoying the sensation as much as Wrench was. She loved how soft Belle was able to keep it, it was one of Wrench's favourite features of her if she was honest.
After a few minutes, she eventually stopped running her fingers through Belle's hair; Belle seemed upset at her stopping but she didn't properly protest, letting Wrench move away to continue getting her ready.
Wrench shuffled back so she was sitting next to Belle again, beginning to remove her now dislodged outer layer pieces so she could sleep more comfortably. Belle helped a little with taking them off completely, but mostly just sat and let Wrench do the majority of it. She sat still and in silence during the whole process, her day undoubtedly taking a toll on her.
Wrench finished taking off the last piece, before kneeling down and storing them in a small drawer just underneath the bed. She made sure to be as careful with them as possible, not wanting to damage them in any way if she could help it. She stood up, looking at Belle who was looking up at her with tired but still shiny eyes.
"The blankets and pillows are in the cupboard over there, I can go and get them," Wrench explained, gesturing to a small cupboard on the other side of the room. "Feel free to lay down and make yourself more comfortable."
"I will," Belle replied.
She smiled up at Wrench, suddenly making her feel a lot warmer. They looked at each other for a few seconds, before Belle began laying down on the bed and adjusting herself to get more comfortable, cuing Wrench to grab the blankets and pillows from the cupboard.
Wrench returned with an armful of various blankets and pillows, collected over time from other citizens of the yard and their kind donations. Belle was laying on her side, curling her knees into her stomach and looking like she was about to fall asleep already, even on the pretty uncomfortable medical bed (Wrench really needed to find comfier mattresses for them).
She started to slide a pillow under Belle's head, making sure to pick one of the more comfortable ones. Belle lifted up her head slightly so it could be fully slid under, laying back down on it with a content sigh. Wrench picked up a particularly thick blanket from the floor, draping it over Belle so her head was pretty much the only part of her that was visible, and leaning over to press a small kiss on her hairline. Belle shuffled around under the blanket slightly, before stopping and looking back up at Wrench.
"Are those good?" Wrench asked.
"Perfect," Belle whispered, beginning to close her eyes. "Thank you, Wrench."
"It's the least I can do," Wrench replied, sitting back down on her desk chair.
She looked at Belle fondly for a second, who was starting to drift off already, before turning back to her work. Having Belle there suddenly made the idea of doing her paper work a lot more bearable, the room now filled with her presence and slow breathing rather than being completely isolated like it had been.
Wrench resumed her paper work, filling the air with the noise of her typing. If Belle was annoyed by this it definitely didn't show, as she continued to sleep softly on the bed, somehow making it look like it was the comfiest place in the world (something Wrench knew wasn't true, she had been in Belle's bed enough times to know that it was definitely a worthier candidate). It was always nice seeing her at ease like this, especially after the rough day she had described.
Wrench continued to work into the last few hours of her shift. She made sure to keep Belle in the side of her vision the whole time, not losing sight of her for even a second.