Nebula Star Chapter One

[nevermoreraven]

Fandom: X-Files Superhero AU
Rating: Teen
DISCLAIMER: I own Moonlight and Delphi Solea.
Summary: ...Mulder has an interesting roommate.  And is also still stubborn.  Who would've guessed?

Delphi Solea, Nebula Star’s Apartment

At a touch, the door opened.  Nebula staggered in, barely conscious.  These 45 hour workdays were a killer, and he knew he had no one but himself to blame.  Dedicated to work as he was, days like this melted his brain, and if he ended up dead one of these days because he was sleep deprived…

Mrowing met him, as Moonlight wandered into the foyer, concerned about him.  “I’m all right,” he reassured her, “…but I may sleep for two days or so.”

The cat rubbed against his leg, trying to make him relax.

He smiled, just enough to let her know that her efforts were not totally wasted.  “How’s your life been?”  She hissed.

“That bad, huh?”  He snorted.  “At least you get to take cat naps.”

She made a chuffing noise, which was her species’ form of laughter.

“Yeah, I know, my sense of humor is getting worse.  That’s what happens when I’m tired-can’t think clearly.”

Only his hand on the wall kept him upright, and even that was shaky and uncertain.  He could barely walk, and it was sheer stubbornness that stopped him from falling over at the entrance. Although he’d pulled many stunts like this in his career before, he’d never (as far as he could remember) been this exhausted.  His eyesight kept going out on him, only to reappear a couple seconds later-probably his mind hard at work keeping everything together.

He noticed that for once Moonlight kept from under his feet, trotting along at a distance, keeping an eye on him but keeping away-so she could tell that he was about to collapse.  Sometimes, it wasn’t that obvious that she wasn’t a normal cat, and sometimes he wondered how he could have ever thought her to be an Earth feline.

He didn’t quite make it into bed.  He opened the door to his room, and he fell as if the strings keeping him upright had been cut.  He already began sinking into oblivion, and only found the strength to open his eyes again when he felt the furball pushing against him with all her strength. He actually moved, a reminder that she was stronger than any cat he’d ever known either.  “Yeah, yeah, sorry,” he muttered, gathering the strength to pull himself into bed.  “G’night, Moonlight,” he added, once he was actually off the ground and felt safe drifting off.  He didn’t feel the feline yank the covers over him and mrow softly as she hopped off the bed and headed back into the living room.