"Erica, it’s 3am, you are going to make yourself go blind again."

Midori stood over Erica, the former in a silk kimono over a t-top and men’s boxer shorts (also silk) as the latter sat in a lotus position in exercise bra and leggings cradling a bowl shaped like the bottom half of a beach ball full of crispy kale flakes, in a rope-enclosed circle in front of former’s widescreen TV in their equal parts goth, Japanese Bushido, and sciencegasm-themed apartment.

Stacked around Erica were movies of every geeky sort imaginable, plus a half dozen books ranging from applied acoustical physics to Spanish/English dictionaries. Erica looked up at Midori pitifully as the movie credits rolled, her gold-amber eyes carrying a plea of fatigued desperation.

“But Midoriiii! I’m only up to 2011! When I can get to 2012 I can watch THIS…” Her voice devolved into a Smeagel-like impersonation as she picked up the Avengers movie case. “I mean, I’ve listened to it, I’ve heard the action transcription from that one company in New York, but I need to see it…” She gazed almost obsessively at the cover of the movie, and slowly began to stroke it.

“Erica, you’ve barely slept in 2 days-”

“My preciousssssss…”

“-and you need to shower. You smell like you used to when you spared with those werewolves.” Midori slowly began to straighten the disheveled living room.

"Oh! Midori, that reminds me!" Erica began hecticly, never stopping for a breath, "Marisa and Ren are going to come over tonight for some mani pedi mania, do you want in? We’re gonna watch the RiffTrax to the first Twilight movie. But don’t tell her that I’ve been going over to Conor’s Demense to maximize my training contact time with his timey-wimey wibbly wobbly-ness. God he’s hot. Oh and I can read those tomes now! The ones on my back shelf?"

Erica took a breath. “And then maybe some Fringe. Do you think Marissa would be a Fringe girl? Or would she be more of an Alpha’s fan? I can’t decide. Maybe I’ll let her pick. Yeah I’ll do that-”

"Sweetie, since you regained your eyes, you have been pushing yourself to watch every movie and read every book that you can get your hands on." Midori tossed a pair of sweaty shoes into Erica’s open door. "You’ve barely slept. You’ve been surviving on my double expressos and Claret’s homemade No-Doze. You need to sleep please. You are going to wear yourself out and crash-"

She turned around with an armload of Dragon magazines to find Erica face first in her bowl of kale chips, snoring like a dump truck stuck in second gear. Midori clicked her tongue against the back of her front teeth and put down the magazines. She gracefully walked over and gently pulled Erica’s sweaty buttery face out of the bowl, lightly picking the more than a few pieces that had held on. Midori soothingly allowed Erica to recline backward onto the plush carpet, keeping her descent slow and deliberate. Erica remained asleep throughout. Midori nodded to herself as she picked up the gigantic bowl and placed a single bite of crispy kale into her mouth. She nodded again as she noticed that Erica remained in lotus position even laying on her back. She walked quietly to the kitchen and placed the popcorn kale bowl on the counter. Midori then turned and paced back Erica.

Midori bowed deeply as she spoke in Japanese. “Sleep well, Erica-san, I’m very grateful for your new eyesight and your re-doubled endurance for your passions. I hope you will allow me to grant you some security and privacy as you regain your strength.” Midori placed a hand on the ritual rope, muttered quietly to herself in Japanese(#), and a small pop in the air formed around the sleeping Sonomancer. Erica’s snoring dropped dramatically in volume, and the scent of jasmine filled the room. Midori bowed, placing her hands in a a prayer position in front of her face. “And thank you for allowing me to sleep without interruption as well.”

Midori turned the living room light off as she meandered back to her room. From the black on black door nearby came a cry of “Woop!” and a small booming sound, followed by a billow of green smoke that came out the bottom of the dark door. Midori watched with a look of frustrated amusement as the smoke rose naturally into the air and directly into the fire alarm. Midori shook her head as a painfully-loud siren blared out throughout the small apartment. Midori mutters again in Japanese, the song of the people of the smoke alarm came to a whimpering sputtering halt, and Midori retreated wearily into her room.

Erica slept on.