Title: Drawn out
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Rating: General
Length: 360 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: pre-relationship Umi/Clef - technically this is a snippet of Spies!AU but that actually doesn't matter aside from some extra context as to why they're both in an office...?
Summary: The shouting woke Clef up. It was muted, but it was very distinctly Umi shouting at someone, and –



oOo

The shouting woke Clef up. It was muted, but it was very distinctly Umi shouting at someone, and –

And he was on the sofa in his office, the blanket Emeraude would never admit to keeping under her desk draped over him, and he hadn’t had enough sleep for this. His head felt like it was full of grit, his eyes worse, and his stomach clenched the moment he moved.

Swearing under his breath, he shoved off the sofa and stomped over to the door, as much as he could stomp without shoes on. He could sleep through a lot – but not, apparently, that tone in Umi’s voice.

“What,” he snapped, “is going on!”

Outside, Umi was stood with her hands on her hips, facing down Nicky from the labs, who was clutching a laptop and looking indignant.

Umi didn’t even turn to look at him. “We’re ‘discussing’ how this guy is going to leave you alone, you haven’t slept enough in days.” She glanced at him then, eyes narrowed. “Go back to sleep.”

“This is important!” Nicky complained, trying to turn his laptop around and show Clef the screen – only the backlight was so bright it made his head thud; he couldn’t have read what was on it if he wanted to, and he very much didn’t.

He glared, instead. “Then go tell the Director about it,” he ordered. Em had slept yesterday. If it was truly that important, she would wake Clef up herself – but, from the horrified look on Nicky’s face, he was pretty certain it wasn’t anything of the sort.

“But-“

“I’m not here,” Clef said. “Act accordingly.” And then he turned and stomped back into his office, locking the door behind himself, dropping back down into the embrace of the sofa.

Before he fell asleep, his last thought was a distantly amused one – that he was going to point out to Umi that she was the one who’d woken him, at some future moment when he could appreciate the expression she would no doubt pull at that.

Right now, at least she respected people’s need to actually sleep. Even when they were too tired to get themselves home.