Rough Nights, Late Mornings

Okay Morning

"Fan!"

Huh?

"Fan, wake up!"

What time is it?

Fan slowly opens his eyes, taking in his surroundings, it's much brighter out now than it was before. Standing above him was Test Tube with a look of what he assumed was probably concern, on her face.

"H-Huh... hi..." Fan greeted, sleepily.

"Hello sleepyhead!" Test Tube teases, seemingly a little relieved. "Paintbrush was downstairs and when I asked where you were, they said that the last time they checked, you were still asleep! And well, golly! Here you are!"

Fan smiled, still mentally waking up.

"Do you know what time it is?" The concern had returned, although a bit less strong now.

Fan thought for a second, recalling the last time he had checked to be around 4:45 or something. He looks away at the ground and shakes his head.

"Fan, it's nearly 2PM, it's not healthy to be sleeping in this late!" Test Tube exclaims, the concern in her voice now overtaking the lightheartedness that previously dominated her tone.

Fan returns to attempting to make eye contact, but remains silent.

Test Tube sits down on the edge of the bed, her expression shifting from pure concern to having a little of sympatheticness on it. "Fan, this is the 5th time this week that you've slept in past noon...."

"I know..."

"Please, I'm worried for you, this isn't healthy..."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry!" Test Tube scoots closer, her tone soft and understanding. "There's obviously a cause for your sleeping habits that you have no say in!"

"Really?" Fan sits up, still a bit tired, and slightly dizzy from how quickly he moved.

"Yeah, well I mean there's your mental health issues -which we will be touching on later, don't forget-, there's also a link to neurodivergence and sleep issues, and you can't forget how electronics can set our sleep schedules off!" Test Tube points at Fan's phone at the last point. "There's many things that can play into insomnia which you can't consciously control!"

"I know... but I still feel... guilty?? I don't know... I just don't like how it worries others..." Fan says, laying back down.

"That's okay! Just know: It's not your fault!" Test Tube states, matter-of-factly.

There was a slight silence between the two, before Fan spoke. "I think I may be hungry..."

"Wanna see what the kitchen has?" Test tube offers, standing up and holding out a hand.

"Okay..." Fan accepts, grabbing her hand and getting up.

The two leave the room and make their way to the kitchen. Fan enjoyed the meal. Despite it being just a small bowl of instant ramen, it was still nice to eat something, as he usually gets up too late to eat anything before dinner.

It was nice.

Almost as if nothing happened at all...

That's nice.