Nightingale - Dreamnotfound

||A Nightingale||

Sapnap had left the apartment just before the already dusty red sky became a dark hue of maroon. Hours had past, and I could count the amount of words I had said within those hours on one hand. Those words being "Goodbye".

No reason for his departure was verbally said, but that was because it didn't have to be. Today was the thirteenth. I knew that, and of course he knew it too.

March thirteenth, I remembered it pretty vividly. Mainly because that was the day where, for the first time in a long time, Sapnap came to me with a wide grin split across his face. He had this glow that only truly radiated out of someone when they could no longer contain it internally. And when I asked why he was so happy, he said it was because Karl had finally agreed to go on a date with him after a month of pursuing.

Of course, though, Karl was still a common. It wouldn't be until the blistering sun became even more blistering did he finally enter training to become a Specialty.

The rule that Specialties and Commons shouldn't date was not just a social decision society one day made. It was a law. And because of this law, they weren't allowed to be close friends let alone boyfriends. They couldn't freely go on dates, and even after Karl officially joined the Specialty, Sapnap was always on a mission with me. I ended up spending more time with Karl's boyfriend than Karl did.

So they made an agreement. The least they'd do together is celebrate their anniversaries. Hence why every thirteenth of the month, I slept alone.

Not tonight, though. Tonight I was not going to go through yet another sleepless night. I had already gone through seven months dreading the thirteenth of every month. I was not going to sleep alone again.

I stepped out of the Apartment building, the wind immediately blowing past me and into the building. I wrapped my thin, worn out baby blue jacket tighter around me as I let the door shut behind me. The moment the door clicked shut, a burst of light appeared behind me, casting my tall shadow ahead of me. When I turned around, Fundy stood before me. His wispy forest of orangey-brown hair mixed with fine gray clumps blew wistfully through the wind, and his dark eyes bored into my light ones.

"Dream? What are you doing here?" He asked, approaching me slowly

I leaned against the door. "Can't sleep. Taking a walk. Can you lower your flashlight?" I lifted my hand to shield my eyes from the blinding light.

"Oh, sorry." He lowered his flashlight and approached me slowly. "Wait, isn't it the thirteenth? Ohh I get it. You can't sleep alone."

I scowled. "Fuck off, yeah I can. I do every month."

He laughed softly, and leaned against the door next to me, staring ahead at the neighborhood across the way. "Look, I get it. I'm afraid of the dark. That's why I don't usually take night shifts. The only reason I'm taking one tonight is because Wilbur forced me to."

"Karl's unavailable, though. Aren't you guys partners?"

"Eret offered to take his place. He's over in Wilbur's neighborhood watching over things there. I'm keeping watch here. Look, if you don't want to be alone, that's fine. I can stay here and talk with you."

"Thanks," I mumbled, glancing over to the direction of the slums. "We haven't really talked in a bit, huh?"

"Yeah," He replied, pointing his flashlight into the neighborhood where Eret was currently keeping watch. "How's the manhunt going?"

I sighed in response, following the light from Fundy's flashlight as it bobbed around aimlessly. "Not going as expected, that's for sure. Honestly, I don't know if I can finish this one."