skephalo: a story

chapter 1

It's 1:36am when Zak picks up his phone for at least the tenth time since he first tried to go to sleep. He's physically drained and yet the second he shuts his eyes in an attempt to get some sleep, he can't; far too many things floating around his mind for him to just shut off. He scrolls through his notifications - nothing of interest - and sighs, trying to think of something interesting to do. He stops himself from opening up his laptop, knowing he'll end up on Skywars until sunrise, and sighs. If only there was someone there to comfort him; talk to him or play with his hair until he falls asleep.

Mindlessly scrolling through his phone, he realises the solution. Before he even fully registers what he's doing, Darryl's name is on his screen, a ringing tone emitting from the phone. One, two, three rings - Zak realises it's a stupid idea, that his friend's going to be asleep, it's the middle of the night. Four, five, six rings - but God, he wants to hear his voice. At the seventh ring, Zak sighs, moving to end the call and just let the other sleep. As he is about to press the button, the call connects.

"Hey," Darryl starts, his words paused by a yawn, "you okay? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?" he says. Zak's heart aches as he notes the slight tone of worry in his voice.

"Yeah, I just.. wanted someone to talk to" he replies honestly.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"I can't sleep," he whines, "can you talk to me until I fall asleep?"

"Of course!" Darryl responds quickly, but then pauses, "But why'd you call me? Why not someone else who's not asleep? Isn't it, like, morning for a6d or something?"

"But you're my favourite, I wanted to talk to you." he says, resting his phone on the pillow next to his head as he tries to get comfortable in his bed once again.

"Aww! You're so sweet!" Darryl coos, though a hint of joking comes through.

"Shut up!" Zak grins.

There's silence for a few moments and Zak closes his eyes.

"What'd you want to talk about?" Darryl questions.

"I don't know, can't you just talk to me? Tell me a story or something? What did you do today?"

"Okay. Well, this morning I went to the store, and some muffin came and snatched my pizza out of my basket-" he begins. Zak smiles as Darryl continues his story. He loves how passionate the older one is about everything.

Darryl's nearly finished his story when he hears faint snoring from the other end. He smiles, imagining Zak falling asleep whilst holding onto his phone, listening to Darryl's voice. He decides to end the call soon so he can go back to sleep, but waits a few moments, listening to Zak's breathing.

"Night, Zak," he says, earning a sleepy mumble in response. "Love you." he continues, slightly quieter.

He swears he hears a muffled and half-asleep "love you" just before he ends the call.