All nighter - A ficlet as friends

A pink nightmare. 

That as the best way to describe it, his assistant was a pink nightmare.

It was 11 o’clock and here she was in the lab dancing around like no one was watching to so godawful music that if possible was getting progressively worse. Shot he had on pink pajama pants, a hot pink T-shirt, her brown hair in a ponytail covered with a hot pink bandanna the music blasting out of her headphones might as well having been pink too. Archaeologists don’t behave like this way, was his first thought still unable to believe that this woman held the degrees she did. 

Or that he liked her, because he was really starting to like her. 

Their little camping trip had really been the turning point for him, he could talk to her like he had never been able to talk to anyone else before and it wasn’t until he thought he had lost her, until he thought she had died in something stupid like a gas leak that it had finally registered that this woman was special. Truth be told he’d gone to her room first, knocking and getting no answer, knowing for certain that she wouldn’t be asleep at eleven at night. She only seemed to do that when they watched movies together, once falling asleep on his shoulder in front of everyone. That had only been slightly less awkward than when she fell asleep, adjusting in such a way that she had fallen right into his lap, her head thankfully hanging over his leg.

“Hey Indy? Everything ok?” she asked, pulling headphones from her ears, setting down the pictures she had been examining. 

“Yeah,” he replied, shaking his head, “just can’t sleep.” 

“Me neither, there’s too much I wanted to do...” 

“Like?” he asked, debating the coffee machine. 

“Like enough where I could use a cup if you’re offering,” she said with a smile, “Ya game for an all nighter?” 

“Depends...” he was grinning, he knew he was, and he didn't care. Adrienne made all nighters fun. 


“Well we gots ‘bout five MALPS wortha merde ta sort through, well I do, because now I get ta front everyting fa ya,” she let her accent explode, intentionally he could tell just to goof with him. 

Of course he wanted to stay; Adrienne made all nighters fun. 

"I've got a meeting in the morning," and he did, she would know he did, she, after all, kept his schedule.


"It's at 10," she noted as she leaned back against the table, "stay up till 7, crazy power naps and then bammo, like we never did this." 

"Power nap?"

"Yeah, you never did that in grad school???" 

He smiled, chuckling slightly. 

"Of course not..."

"Lyin' tchew..."

"Fine," he relented, standing to make his way to the coffee maker, "IF you think you can handle it..."

"Bring it Indy," she said with a grin, hands on her hips.

*****

His neck hurt. And his cheek, his back, pretty much his entire body was throbbing in pain.

"Oww..." he grumbled, peeking through his lids to see the black surface, the top of his center table.

He'd fallen asleep in the lab.

"Ad?" he asked, trying to sit up, realizing that he couldn't move, that he was pinned to the table. He shoved his glasses the best that he could, peering to his right to see the cause of his plight.

It was a pink nightmare.

Bandana pulled over her eyes, or fallen, either way he couldn't tell, Adrienne was laying on his back, her left arm wrapped around him, her right interwoven with his.

Oh dear lord.

"Ad, wake up, get up, we fell asleep..." he was panicked, there were cameras, why was she attached to him like that, why wouldn't she wake up.

"Five more minutes..."

"Adrienne, get up!" he was pushing her away frantically but she wasn't moving, still asleep, even a little drool coming out of her mouth. Grumbling he shook his head, moving his assistant upright and it worked just a few seconds until she fell forward, right into his lap, her head not on his leg.

"Ad!!"

"What?" she whined, rubbing her face downward, Daniel grabbing her clueless head and pulling up upright.

"Ow! Let go of my head!"

"Then can you get it out of my crotch!" he snapped without thinking, poor Southern Adrienne bolting upright.

"Oh maw gawd, Indee I'mmma so sorry, Imma, lwad, we mussa fallen asleep..."

She was panicked, rambling, a billion cajun phrases pouring out of her mouth as she stood, pushing brown hair from her face, the bandana hitting the floor.

"I 'ad NAW idea Indee I swear!!"

Shaking his head, she hadn't, the woman slept like the dead, Daniel raised his hands, grabbing her shoulder gently.

"No, it's ok, it's fine, I just think, well," he peered over at the clock seeing it was nearly nine in the morning, the last time he remembered looking it was three..."I think we had our power nap..."

Adrienne blushed.

"I probably, should, get a shower," she muttered, a hand wiping drool from her mouth.

"Me too," Daniel choked out at he nodded.

"See ya at the meeting."

"Yeah. See ya."

Adrienne practically tripped over her own feet racing out of the door leaving Daniel standing there, licking his lip nervously, shoving his hands into his pockets.

What was that?

Sure, Adrienne seemed to be able to fall asleep standing up, but he wasn't as fortunate a sleeper and for her to be like that...

Shoving the thoughts aside, Daniel walked over to his desk, shutting the lid to his computer, leaving the files as they were.