Unpromised Home

night unto dawn

"Are you asleep?"

"Trying to." You groan quietly as America drags you back to being awake. You crankily blink the sleep from your eyes, before glaring at America with a weak snarl on your face.

"Sorry." He sighs, pulling a drawer open, "There's a pillow here if you want it. I doubt sleeping like that is comfortable."

"Why the hell do you have a pillow in your office...?" You mumble, looking at the pillow he was holding over the desk, "Do you live in here or something?"

"No. It's just here in case."

"In case of what...?"

"Listen." America sighs loudly, pulling the pillow back onto the desk, "I don't need nearly as much sleep as you humans do. So most of the time, I just stay here through the night."

"So the pillow is just in case you pass out or something...?"

"Sure." He picks up his pen again, clicking it open, "Do you want this or should I put it away?"

"Yeah, I'll take it." You stand back to your feet. With exhaustion weighing over you like a blanket, you make your way over to the desk, grabbing the pillow. Dangling it above the ground you go back to the window again.

Taking a seat again, you pull the pillow close to your chest. It bends over your knees as you rest your head on them again. You shut your eyes, shifting your body closer to the window.

Your quiet breaths are the only thing you hear for a long while. Slowly your thoughts run into blanks. The cold smoothness of the window is the last thing you register before drifting into sleep for the second time.

.

.

You find yourself awake in what feels like minutes. It has to have been a couple of hours at least, though, evident by the daylight outside. You sit up from your side on the floor, wondering just how you made it to the position you were in. The pillow you had acquired last night was strewn off behind where your head was, nowhere near where it would have to be to actually provide your head comfort.

You rub the back of your neck, attempting to quell the growing feeling of strain. A sigh falls from you as you drop your hand. Your entire body felt stiff and sore. Swinging your arms in front of you, you lace your fingers together. The stretch allows your muscles to relax some and you smile softly in relief.

Glancing around the room you take note of the empty desk. The papers that had been sprawled over it were cleared, put away somewhere out of sight. The only thing you could see on it was the pen that America kept clicking last night.

With a grunt, you rise to your feet. You stretch out your legs quickly before glancing over to the door. Making your way over to the door you push one open.

Peeking out into the hallway you watch as absolutely nothing happens. Outside the office was barren of foot traffic. The only living thing present in the hall was a potted plant that looked like it was moments away from withering into nothing. Incredibly reassuring. Hopefully, the people in the office were treated better than the foliage.

You sigh as your stomach rumbles. You forgot you didn't eat much of anything yesterday. Maybe you should go find yourself some food, and maybe some water for the poor plant.

You hardly make it two steps out of the door before your plan gets derailed. America appears from around the corner. His face contorts into annoyance when he spots you.

"What are you doing?"

"Standing here? What does it look like I'm doing?" You roll your eyes, placing a hand on your hip, "Also, I haven't eaten, since like... I dunno."