Madeleine Grows a Pair

12- Not the Only One Who Needs the Sleep

It had been at least an hour past Madeleine waking up. Sleeping in a recliner made him sore, but he had worse issues. With a hairbrush in one hand, he was yanking at his hair, cursing himself for forgetting to braid it before falling asleep. 

It was well into the day, and the daylight was bright enough to give the windows a slight glow, even with the curtains pulled over them. 

Madeleine finally brushed past most of the knotting in his hair, exhaling a sigh of relief. All of that effort had his arms sore. 

He quickly finished the job and set down the hairbrush. He rocked back in his chair and stretched, looking over to Espresso, who was still asleep. His blanket covered his face. 

Madeleine wasn't sure how he could sleep like that, but if it worked, it worked. Without it, he'd probably be awake by now. 

Awake… that gave Madeleine an idea. 

The paladin got up from the rocking chair and moved to the kitchen. Espresso was gonna be in for a surprise. 

It only took a couple minutes, a few curses, and a not-so-preferable spill on the floor, but he finally finished. Madeleine held up a cup of coffee with a proud look on his face. 

Suddenly, there was a thump coming from the living room. 

Madeleine, still with the cup in hand, leaned over the doorway.

Espresso fell off the couch while reaching for his glasses. He lay on the floor unmoving, blanket still half on his form. He groaned.

Madeleine laughed and walked over. He set the cup on the table.

"Espresso?" 

He groaned again. 

"Espresso, you have to get up," Madeleine crouched down.

Espresso looked up with a weary expression. His hair was impossibly ruffled, so much so that calling it a bedhead was an understatement. 

Madeleine held out Espresso's glasses. He snatched them, putting them on as he sat up. 

"Oh, I made some coffee for you," He also handed over the cup, which Espresso wordlessly grabbed. 

"Latte brought over some dinner while you were sleeping. She said it could be breakfast." Madeleine sat down while his friend was staring into the cup absentmindedly. 

Espresso took a sip of the coffee while Madeleine droned on about yesterday. He couldn't hear half of what the loud cookie had to say, most of it filtering through the morning haze, but one thing stuck out to him.

"...so since I'm still trying to figure out the wings, I was thinking maybe we should tell Pure Vanilla Cookie."

Telling Pure Vanilla? Madeleine was actively willing to do that? That was a huge step up from before. 

Espresso sipped his coffee again, "Getting a magical diagnosis would be helpful. Learning how you got your wings might help you with how to get used to them."

"Exactly!" Madeleine looked off to the side, "I still want you to accompany me, though. I don't know why, but thinking about it makes me feel anxious."

Espresso nodded slowly, "Of course. Also- I've been meaning to ask you, is it okay if I write all of this down? About your wings, I mean." 

Madeleine's head tilted in interest, "I don't see why not."

Espresso slammed the cup of coffee on the table and jumped out of the blanket he was in. He looked down at Madeleine embarrassedly, "Sorry, I've been thinking about this for a while."