A Collection Of Oneshots

Chapter 8-Overworked

"Hey, Alma." You greeted the woman and walked right by without allowing her to respond, you didn't even look up from the law book you had in your hands. Alma sighed at this but knew it was just something you did. You'd found the loop a few months ago, and liked to visit daily. But it often cut into your study time, so you'd just study there. You wanted to be a lawyer in the modern world, and would refuse to let anything stand in the way of that goal.

Alma had always been happy to have you visit. But she grew more and more upset every time she saw you, though you never seemed to notice, always having your nose in a book. Whenever you were over Alma made you food as she did everyone else, and even occasionally made your favorites in hopes you'd stay or put your book down and eat. But more often then not you said you'd just eat later and kept reading. She knew very well that whenever you said that you never ended up eating.

It upset her that you always came to her house, let yourself into her house, and then didn't say a word to the occupants other than a short greeting. You just sat on their couch and read your law books until you either finished one or left. And half the time you didn't even say goodbye. Oftentimes you read late into the night, hardly noticing the darkening of the sky outside.

The children were also upset when you continuously refused to play with them. Apparently 'next time' meant not ever. Claire invited you to every tea party she held. Bronwyn asked you multiple times to show you how many boulders she could hold at once. Horace only tried once to ask if you'd help him taler a suit, but gave up when you said no. Enoch never bothered. And the rest of the children never stopped pestering you. Well, until you told them off and they eventually all gave up.

Alma eventually had enough. She sat down beside you, stealing the book from your hands, marking the page, and tossing it aside. "Hey! Alma, what the heck?!" She grabbed you by the arms and made you look at her. You just glared back. "What?" You hissed, annoyed she'd interrupted your reading.

"You need to stop this."

"Stop what?" You scowled.

"Studying every moment of every day. The children miss you. I miss you." She wrapped her arms around you, pulling you closer to her. "We wish you'd talk to us more instead of ignoring us the entire time you're here. Maybe actually sit down and eat with us for once?"

"You're exaggerating. I don't study that much."

"You do." She insisted. "Can you even name three times you've held a conversation with one of us this week?" You were silent for a long moment. "Exactly. I want to talk with you, and hug you without being glared at for making you pause your reading for two damn seconds!" She sighed, exasperated, and leaned her head against your shoulder.

"You could've just told me you felt that way sooner." You said, in an attempt not to anger her more, and just said whatever you hoped would get her to stop bothering you the soonest. You wanted to go back to reading. She pulled away for a moment and noticed you eyeing your law book.

"You're kidding me." Alma seemed disappointed and pulled further away from you so she no longer made any contact with you. "I cannot believe you. This isn't healthy, Y/n!" She avoided your eyes as she continued to scold you. "When's the last time you ate? An actual meal, not just the occasional snack. Or got a proper nights sleep if any at all? You're overworking yourself."

You were silent and sat staring out the window. So she continued, hoping you were still listening. "Have you any idea how exhausting this is? Not just for you, but for me too. I worry about you constantly, and whenever you're not in the house I'm anxious. What if something happened to you? Did you pass out and end up in the hospital because of your unhealthy habits? Or are you just reading as always? Not a care in the world, and certainly not giving a second thought to me." She paused for a moment but you had nothing to say to fill the silence. "When you're here I try my hardest to get you to set down whatever you're reading and come eat with us, even if it's just for ten minutes. And after reset I beg you to go to bed, and you say you will. But I know you don't. Your eye bags are proof enough of that." She sighed again and stood up. "Thanks for listening. For once." Alma then left the room and whipped her eyes before the tears that lingered there could dare try and fall down her face.

You watched her leave and hated yourself for not saying anything. How could you be so stupid? You hadn't known how much she worried about you. Or how much she missed the conversations you used to have that now only happened on occasion.

You looked back at your book for a moment and stood to pick it up. You glared at the cover then threw the damn thing into the corner of the room. You couldn't believe yourself. You left the room and went to go find Alma. She was in the kitchen, preparing dinner. You wrapped your arms around her waist and rested your head on her shoulder. She tensed for a moment but relaxed when she realized it was just you. "And what about your reading?"

"It's not as important. I'm so sorry I made you worry about me, and that I prioritized my studies over you. It wasn't worth making you so upset."

"It's alright. Just please never do that again. You can study, but never put it over sleep and food. Or the people who care about you."

"I won't."

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Could relate, decided to write about it