//------------------------------// // Snapshots 3: Nighttime // Story: The Limestone City Bat // by Seeking Dusk //------------------------------// Robin was still having issues finding a proper schedule to stick to when it came to sleeping. Being caught between his human habits, the nocturnal tendencies his new body came with and the responsibilities of taking care of Jade left his patterns fragmented. Up odd hours of the night, nodding off at equally odd hours of the day. He had been getting pretty frazzled at times. Case in point; it was near two in the morning and he smothering a yawn yet unable to properly get to sleep. Grumbling slightly, he compared the diagrams in the three books propped open on one side of the table with the collection of electrical parts and equipment on the other, making sure his latest project was, in theory at least, progressing as it should. “Biology… geography… heck; even chemistry,” he sighed around the screwdriver in his mouth. “Electronics aren’t my forte…” “Aaaaaah!” Jade’s scream shattered the stillness of the night. Robin didn’t hesitate, dropping everything and racing off, hooves pounding up the stairs to the bedroom she claimed as her own. Almost taking a tumble, he fumbled to get the door open. “What’s going on? Jade, you okay?” Jade was crying, tears flowing even as she tried to wipe them away, hiccupping occasionally. Rocket was pressed against her side, whimpering, while Dax whined off to the side, offering comfort as best he could. When she realized Robin had come to see what happened, her attempts increased. “Hey Nightwing,” she said weakly. “Sorry, did I wake you up?” “No, I was still up,” Robin reassured her. Unlike him, her issue was that she consistently found it hard to stay up at night, something that irked her, particularly since she had just recently earned the later bedtime. Robin grinned slightly, though still concerned with her obvious distress as he made his way to her bed. Her room wasn’t as bad as his when it came to litter and detritus, but there were still a lot of scattered comics and games strew about. “Are you alright?” “What? No, I’m—” Jade was interrupted with a mingled hiccup and sniff, but she soldiered on, “I’m fine!” “Jade…” Robin’s concerned gaze didn’t ease up. “It’s nothing,” Jade insisted, stubbornly staring at the wall. Robin sighed and climbed up on the bed to sit down beside her. “You know, all the time I’ve known you, I’ve only seen you cry once. And this time is worse. This isn’t ‘nothing.’ Come on Jade; talk to me.” She remained resolutely silent. Robin chewed his lip a bit. “Okay, I’m either going to sit here quietly and wait, tell you about how all my projects are coming, or sing whatever songs I can remember. Either way, I’ll keep it up until you’re ready to talk to me.” He glanced down and noticed Jade’s ear had perked. “Okay… um… Hmm. Well, I don’t sing well, and I’m obviously talking. I’m still trying to figure out how the radio should work, but I think I’m making progress. Hopefully I don’t have to drive as far soon. Oh! I figured out how to get into the power system. The passwords were stuck to the back of one of the cupboards in the office. I got the power off to the residences downtown. That’s one thing I can cross off the wall. So we can hit the supermarket near the Roger’s Center next. If we clear out the meats we can use it to distract the dogs and hit Action Packed, see if they have any comics you like…” Robin rambled on for a few minutes more, until Jade’s tears seemed to have dried up and the dogs had settled down, heads on their paws. “—so that’s how I worked out how to use the sewing machine. Still need a while lot of practice, but I’m getting better.” “But we don’t wear anything,” Jade pointed out. Robin smirked a little. Jade hadn’t spoken up much, so it had mostly been a one sided spiel, but she had made one off comments a few times. “True enough.” Robin granted with a wing shrug. Yes, they had sat down and made that pro/con list Robin had been working on together, and it turned out to be very extensive. “But it can come in useful for other things like bags, shoes and stuff. And don’t forget winter. I don’t know if we’ll get a winter coat or not, but minus twenty is nothing to sneeze at.” “I guess…” Robin nodded a few times and the silence stretched a little more. “So… ready to tell me what happened?” Jade blushed slightly. That was something else that bothered him. How did you blush through fur? Either way, waited for her to speak up. “It was dumb. I just had a bad dream.” “Want to tell me what it was about?” Robin asked. “It was nothing,” Jade tried to evade. “You woke up screaming,” Robin remarked quietly. “That’s not really ‘nothing’.” “I…” Jade trailed off. “Promise you won’t laugh?” “Scout’s honour,” Robin said, raising a wing. “You were you a scout?” Jade asked. “No, but it’s the principle that matters,” Robin responded smugly. Jade looked skeptical, but she didn’t press. “I… it was stupid. I dreamed that I was… I was human again.” “… Oh.” “And when I looked in the mirror I saw myself, pony me,” Jade paused and shot a look at Robin, daring him to interject ‘neptin’. He wisely held his tongue. “I woke up and when I realized I didn’t have fingers I… I panicked… It was stupid.” “No, it’s not,” Robin said firmly. “I don’t see you waking up from nightmares and freaking out,” Jade grumbled. Robin snickered. “Hey, it’s not funny!” “I’m not laughing at you, sorry,” Robin said, waving a hoof at her. “It’s just that I forget you met me a couple days after everything happened.” “So?” Jade frowned. “We both woke up with three extra limbs; a tail and two wings. And missing twenty digits.” Robin cast his arm around Jade and drew her in close. “There’s nothing wrong with it. And don’t think all the stuff I do is because I’m super productive. Part of it is me freaking out too. What? You thought I would give you a hard time because you had a bad dream?” “…maybe,” Jade admitted in embarrassment. “Silly,” Robin laughed, holding her tighter. “What kind of brother would I be if I made fun of that?” “I dunno, a normal one?” Jade shrugged, smiling a little. “Wait, really?” Robin hesitated. “Am I doing this wrong? Should I be a bit more aloof? Should I tease you about it?” “Nightwing! I was kidding, Duh!” “Right, right! Kidding! So was I!” Robin wasn’t exactly the most convincing in his response. “Don’t be a doofus,” Jade punched the part of his arm she could reach. “Um… Nightwing, could you do me a favour?” “Sure, Jade,” Robin said, resting his head on her’s. “C-could you stay a little longer? Just till I fall asleep again?” “Sure, I can do that.” Robin stayed till she fell back asleep, and a little longer, just to be safe, till he too fell asleep. ‘Come on, Nightwing! Use those wings of yours!’ she called down from the clouds they danced among. Nightwing, gliding at a lower altitude than she was, hurried to catch up. It was a good dream.