fell asleep on

[chatona]

SWEET DREAMS.

Someone, whether it be a friend or a total stranger, has fallen asleep on you wherever you happen to be; you are a rather comfortable pillow to them. What do you do?

Comments

oops i'm just gonna hang out here first

[tryout]

( glee club. cheerios practices. ap english, calculus, physics. every. single. day.

thinking about it too much almost gives mason a headache, and he knows that madison feels the same way. but they both joined glee, hearing stories about the new directions' former glory, and wanting to restore said glory to mckinley high, despite the challenge the twins knew it would pose to their already busy lives.

and then, bearing the shining, heavenly light of someone who had accomplished all of that and then some, sauntered quinn fabray, famed former cheerio captain, right into the choir room on day one with her boyfriend in tow. it's as if the twins' prayers had been answered in one fell swoop.

that's how mason found himself sitting in the choir room with quinn fabray herself one day after school, though he's without the ever-comforting presence of madison next to him, as she had to leave early for a doctor's appointment -- a pulled muscle in her calf, hopefully nothing too serious. he listens, initially rapt with attention, as she details her foolproof methods of time management not only back in high school, but to this day. he asks for advice on song selections (and, of course, choreography), sheet music scattered on the floor in front of them, asks for ways to keep energized through the vigors of what the cheerios delightfully call hell week, which is coming up way too soon. mason even asks, in a roundabout way, how to ask a girl out on a date. (he won't directly admit just yet how much he likes jane -- how he thinks she's so completely beautiful, and her voice...)

quinn's recounting the tale of new directions' first visit to nationals in new york city when, before mason even realizes it, his eyes are drooping closed though he tries to fight it, uniform-clad body slumping lower in his chair, until his curly hair is pressed against his sort-of mentor's shoulder, drifting off into peaceful sleep. )

[ambitious]

( mckinley high has been home to some of quinn fabray's darkest moments, but as promised all those years ago, nobody seems to remember the failures. the wins outshine everything in the end.

while she's happy to come home to support the glee club and the unconventional little family they managed to forge together, the real reason she comes back to lima with no questions asked is for moments like this. because there is no greater feeling in the world than striding back into the place that tried so desperately to tear her down with her head held high, seeing people's faces light up and knowing that this is finally the adoration she always wanted.

so maybe it isn't exactly a cheering crowd, but this is also a newer, (slightly) more humble quinn fabray. as the youngest ever cheerios captain, kitty still worships the ground she walks on, and these new ones, the twins, don't seem to be much different. and they seem less likely to try to use her advice to sabotage anyone else, and that seems like a step up for her at this point.

this whole thing is an ego boost of the highest order and so she gives him that overbright cheerios smile that she's rehearsed so much it's become a reflex. answers every question he asks in nearly excruciating detail because he doesn't seem to get tired of it, and she has never once gotten tired of anyone showing some sort of interest in her, even if it's mostly past glories she's reliving. because even their disastrous first trip to nationals seems dazzling when she tells the story. carefully edited to leave out her own breakdown and touching only briefly on the kiss that ultimately brought them all down.

inter-choir backstabbing and treachery is all brought to a grinding halt when she finally realizes that his silence isn't the result of her riveting storytelling. glancing down at the mop of dark hair on her shoulder, she starts to carefully shift away, realizing quickly that there's no good way to do it without letting him slump onto the linoleum. briefly she thinks about waking him up. it's strange, this boy she barely knows, but the feeling isn't unfamiliar. how many times in high school had she fallen asleep with her head pressed into a textbook, waking up with a red crease running down her cheek only to see that it was already past midnight and her homework still wasn't done.

she decides to let him sleep, at least for a little bit, even if it means she's trapped here and almost half hoping that somebody will wander in and wake him up so she doesn't have to do it herself. for now she settles on grabbing whatever sheet music happens to be closest to her chair ('one fine day') and humming along softly. )

[tryout]

( the sleep is much needed -- it's easy for him to drift off like this, head on her shoulder, as quinn is just about as tall as mads is and mason usually has no trouble managing to use her as a pillow, despite his height. he makes himself right at home.

it's the humming that wakes him after a little while, his brain being all musically inclined and all that, but it's a slow awakening. there's a bump of his nose against her arm to let mads know that he's alive and functioning again, thankfully feeling awfully refreshed, except when he slowly lifts his head up, green eyes blinking open to peer up through his eyelashes, he doesn't find the dark, perfectly bouncing ponytail that he's expecting. he finds a shock of light blonde hair: quinn fabray.

mason instantly snaps to attention, righting himself straight up in his seat, trying desperately to ignore the heat that creeps up his neck and onto his cheeks. words don't come so easily. ) Oh -- Gosh, Quinn, I'm so sorry. It's -- I'm such a jerk.

( mortified doesn't even begin to cover it. quinn's gonna think that he wasn't interested in her stories, or worse -- that she bored him to sleep, which absolutely is not the case. madison isn't here for him to use as his safety blanket, but he finds his fingers grazing against the hard plastic of the side of his chair as though he might find some comfort there in her stead. but if mads were here, this wouldn't even have happened in the first place. could this get any worse? )

[ambitious]

( while he's been sleeping, quinn has managed to run through 'one fine day' at least three times, enough that she doesn't need to so much as glance at the music anymore, and has moved on to 'it's too late'. undoubtedly it feels like a lot longer than it's really been, and she's cursing herself for leaving her cell phone on top of the piano. at least it would have been a distraction.

the rustling and shifting at her side is, at first, slight enough that she can easily overlook it, too caught up in the song and a mental checklist of everything that needs to be done before she goes back to new haven.

when he finally jolts upright, it's sudden enough that she nearly slides right off her own chair with a startled jerk. )

No, no. That's fine. It's not- ( she laughs softly and without meaning to, presses her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound because his apologies are just so earnest it's hard to believe he'd only been sleeping. ) It's really not a big deal. I know what it's like, remember?

( well. ) Maybe not falling asleep on a near stranger, but I get it. ( a sympathetic little smile, a quick nod. he already knows, of course. he didn't sleep through all her stories, right? ....right? )

Does Coach Sylvester still have you running practice before and after school?

[tryout]

( quinn has that kind of soothing voice that's already bringing down his nerves considerably, though the hint of pink remains on his cheeks. mason nods gratefully at her understanding words, glad he didn't royally eff things up with quinn before madison even got a shot to really sit down and talk with her, too.

a deep exhale leaves him as he rubs his eyes. ) Yeah. Six to eight, then three to six. Kind of a bummer.

Most of it's Coach Roz nowadays, though. Next week's quote unquote "hell week" and everyone who was on the team last year says that we're having practices every weekday from five to eight and then three to nine, and then doing two-a-days on the weekend. I don't even think the football players have ever done two-a-days? Apparently Coach Roz says that she didn't win her Olympic bronze and have a threesome with Michael Phelps by being a lazy baby and that this is what it takes to be national champions.

( it all comes out in kind of a rushed jumble as he tries to fully get himself back together, though his words begin to slur together a bit at the end there. mostly, he just resembles a newborn kitten that's trying desperately to stand up and show off how awake it is while its eyes close of their own accord and its legs wobble uselessly.

... nope, nope, he's good. he's awake. it's fine. mason will just -- yawn deeply, shake his head a little to clear out some of this post-nap haze. )

-- And I don't mean to sound ungrateful! ( that's definitely important for quinn to know. ) Me and Mads are super excited to be here at McKinley and everything and we're, like ... totes ready to do whatever it takes to win. Both with the Cheerios and New Directions.

[ambitious]

Right. ( of course. it's principal sylvester now. ) That's going to take a lot of getting used to.

( the image of coach sylvester watching, tall and imposing, from the bleachers while they ran through drill after drill, an ever present sneer on her face and bullhorn in hand just waiting for the tiniest slip up, is indelibly imprinted on her mind. the kind of thing that will rise back to the forefront of her mind, completely unbidden, when she's on her deathbed. which is probably exactly what sue was going for from the very beginning. traumatize them while they're young and you'll live forever in their subconscious.

without meaning too, quinn sort of checks out a little while he's talking. it's not that she doesn't like him. he seems sweet, if a little strange, and she actually does manage to catch every third word or so. it's like a rachel created pavolovian response. if somebody's been talking for more than a minute and it's not about anything important, she starts to drift. lips quirked into a placating mask and a faint jerk of her head that serves as a nod. )

Coach Sylvester used to threaten to waterboard us if we didn't get things right. ( and nobody quit the squad after that. such was their loyalty, sheer terror. ) I'm pretty sure she would have been fired if she tried it, but Figgins let her get away with a lot. ( maybe not as much as now, but... ) None of us wanted to be the one to find out if she'd really go through with it or not.

( his assurance and search for approval is kind of adorable, like a puppy dog looking for attention, and she stands a little straighter. more than a little pleased by all the attention. ) You two are going to do great, I'm sure. The hardest part is just trying to find a balance between the two. Kurt was on the Cheerios for a while too, so I'd be willing to bet that if there's ever any problem, he'll work with you guys to figure it out.

( not that the fighting between the two fledgling glee instructors is confidence inspiring. she heaves a heavy sigh even as she fights not to roll her eyes. )( character growth: it no longer physically hurts her to admit that. )