“Aoi, where should I sleep?”
After putting out the fire and returning to the cabin, Mary called out to me, a single blanket clutched in her hands. It was worn and discolored, but it looked like it had originally been of quite high quality. Was this one of Mary’s few remaining personal belongings?
“I’m accustomed to roughing it, so I could sleep on the floor if need be, but if you do have a mattress to spare, I would be greatly in your debt.”
“Oh, yeah, you’ll need a bed.”
Damn, I’d forgotten to prepare a place for Mary to sleep. The only bed in the cabin was the one Ann and I used. I’d bought a bed for Ann, but she’d insisted we just push the two of them together to make one big bed. There was room for another bed in the cabin, but it would leave things a little cramped. Hmm. I could buy her a mattress stuffed with hay. Those were nice, since you could remove the stuffing and fold them up pretty small when you weren’t using them.
“You should sleep with us, Mary!”
Ann, having just changed into one of my button-down shirts, interrupted my train of thought.
“I-I wouldn’t want to disturb the two of you at your rest, Ann.”
“Nah, the bed’s plenty big. We can all fit in easy.”
Well, she had a point. We’d pushed two beds together, and Ann was pretty tiny, so we probably could fit three people in it.
“...”
While Ann and Mary talked, I reached into my pouch and took out a few dried leaves, which I popped into my mouth. Ah, that familiar, minty taste.
“I want us to sleep together. We can all snuggle up!”
The way she talked about it, it was like a precious experience she’d missed out on. Crowding everyone into one big bed together was a normal enough experience for a young kid in a family. I realized once again that I still didn’t know much about Ann’s past.
“Um. I see. I’m, uh, not so sure.”
Mary gave me a fleeting glance, which told me she was thinking the same thing I was. Her sharing a bed with Ann was one thing, but it would be a bit different for her and me. I was reluctant about the plan as well, but I was staying calm. The way Ann clung tight to me every night was already hard on me, and I figured Mary being around wouldn’t make much of a difference. Most importantly, I had an ally in my nightly struggle: my minty friend.
I checked the stash in my pouch. Hmm, looked like I was running low on herbs. I slid my index finger to the right, and the labyrinth manager menu opened up. I selected the Tundra catalog.
Samathi Herb (Dry; 8 pc. set, 15 g) == 1,800 DL
Seller: Manager, Labyrinth #201
Rating: ★★★★★
Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #16
- A handy herb for when you need to pull all-nighters. Boil the leaves with hot water and you’ll get a relaxing, bittersweet tea. Great for calming your nerves when you’re staying up all night. I ran a few tests to analyze the components, but I didn’t find any addictive agents or anything with harmful side effects. Unfortunately, if you try to extract the active compounds, the nature of the effect changes, so you can’t mass-produce medicine from it.
Rating: ★★★★★
Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #228
- A good friend for those sleepless nights. Pour a little water on it, pop it in your mouth, give it a chew, and it’ll calm you right down. Talk about convenient! I just need to take a bit of it when I’m having trouble sleeping, and boom! I’m out like a light. The taste is all right, and it doesn’t seem to have any side effects. It’s my favorite.
“There’s plenty still in stock, so I should be fine waiting until tomorrow to place another order.”
“It’d really bother you that much to sleep with me, Mary?”
When Ann turned on the puppy dog eyes, I knew the game was up. What was most impressive was that she did that naturally; she wasn’t even trying to be manipulative.
“Of course not! In the military, we used to sleep huddled together from time to time. I don’t mind at all.”
And Mary was down for the count. She didn’t even last through round one.
“All right then, I’m gonna go to bed first!”
Ann skipped over to the bed and plopped down right in the middle.
“I suppose this ship has already sailed, but, Aoi, do you mind me sleeping in the same bed as you?”
“I’m a little worried about it, but it’s fine. If I said I wanted to sleep somewhere else, Ann would throw a fit.”
“Would she now. I see.”
Mary and I shared a whispered conversation. It seemed my answer convinced her.
And so all three of us lay down in bed, with Ann between me and Mary. I’d played 3P scenes like this in visual novels and whatnot, but I sure never expected to get the experience in real life. Ann fell asleep quickly. Long nights playing online games had caught up with her. On the other side of her, Mary was wearing form-fitting pajamas and had her arms wrapped tight around Ann, her face completely red. She’d boldly claimed she would be fine, but sleeping huddled together in the military was a far cry from sharing a bed with someone.
In the end, Ann had successfully convinced both of us, even though we were embarrassed about it. I couldn’t imagine telling her I didn’t want to sleep beside her, and Mary’s clumsy kindness did her in as well. My ears pricked every time Mary took another deep breath. She was clearly still wide awake, and restless. Me, I was already going under. I could feel myself slowly slipping away into the land of dreams, a slight smile on my face. Heh. Just like Ann, I’d also been up late gaming recently. Lack of sleep really came in handy sometimes.