Laura had pulled the headband off her head, fidgeting with it in her hands. She was so tired right now, his soft humming definitely helping with her growing sleepiness. She tried to stay awake despite the pull to just lay down and sleep right then and there.
Ash finished after a short time. He laid Laura down, tucking her in.
"Good night, Laura," he said softly, offering her a smile. He rested his hand on her head a moment, continuing with his soft song.
"Mmm… g'night, sir…" Laura whispered, curling up in the blankets.
"And- um… thank you, sir… for everything you've done." She added before falling asleep, blankets pulled up to her chin.
Ash smiled softly as he watched Laura fell asleep.
"You're welcome, Laura…" He made sure she was secure, before silently getting up from her bed to go to his own room.
(Timeskip?)
(Yup! ^^)
When the sun came up the next morning, Laura was already out of bed, and dressed. Sometime in the middle of the night she had woken up and was never able to fall back to sleep. But being her, she didn't go to wake up Mr. Ash. There wasn't much he would have been able to do, anyways.
As tired as she was, she still managed to get out of bed and get ready for the day. But since it had been so early when she got up, she decided it was best to just wait in her room until she heard Mr. Ash coming to wake her up.
Ash slept until his normal time, smiling softly. He woke up, laying in his bed a moment. He yawned, stretching. Slipping out of bed, he changed, brushing his hair and tail fur before heading out of the room to knock on Laura's door. He opened it, smiling.
"Time to get up, Laura- oh? Ah, you're awake." Ash smiled some.
"Is it alright if I come in?"
Laura looked up at him from her place on the floor, carefully setting up a castle made of cards. She smiled softly, waving a little when he opened the door.
“Good morning.” She hummed a little, cleaning up the deck of cards to put away. She stood up, putting the cards back where she had found them from.
“Yes sir, you can come in.” She hummed a little, adjusting the headband on the top of her head.
Ash came in, smiling some.
"Did you sleep well?" He asked. He didn't know how long Laura had been up, but it couldn't be long, right..?
Laura shrugged, yawning a little as she came up to him.
"I guess so." She mumbled as she held a hand out to him. "Mm, what about you?"
Ash took the hand Laura held out, humming some.
"I slept very well, thank you for asking! How long have you been up?"
"Mm… I think for an hour? Maybe longer…" Laura hummed, holding onto his hand.
"I don't really know." She shrugged a little. Smiling softly, she rocked on her heels with another yawn.
Ash raised a single eyebrow. That was a pretty long time for her.
"Are you sure you got enough sleep last night?" He asked, voice gentle as he reached over his second hand to rest on her head.
Laura shrugged in response, rubbing at her eyes a little.
"Mm… well, I didn't get out of bed until about an hour ago… I think I was awake longer." She mumbled, glancing at the clock. "I dunno what time I woke up."
Ash held back a frown.
"Well, then, it seems you didn't get quite enough sleep. We can take a nap later, then." He offered a smile.
"But for now, are you hungry?"
"Mm, a little bit, sir…" Laura nodded, tiredly smiling up at him. She kept close to him, tucking loose hair back out of her face.
"What are we making for breakfast?"
"Well, we could have most anything. How do eggs sound?" Ash smiled softly, not minding the girl being close to him.
"Mm, they sound yummy." Laura chirped, yawning again as she followed besides him.
"Do you have to work today, sir?" She asked softly. She looked up at him as she wiped the tears from her yawning.
"I do," Ash said after a moment.
"I'm going to have to wait tables today." Ash offered a small smile. "What would you like to do?"
“Umm… I don’t know, sir. I… I don’t think I can go to school.” Laura mumbled, playing with her hair a little.
“I don’t have my things…”
Ash nodded, thinking to himself.
"Ah… We'll have to buy you some supplies later, then. School is important." Ash lightly put his hand on Laura's shoulder again.
"But I don't want to go to school… I like it here, better." Laura mumbled, kicking at the ground.
"I feel safe here…"
Ash was quiet.
"Well, then we could look into home schooling," he said. "Or online school. How does that sound?" Ash wanted Laura to be able to cope at her own speed with this.
Laura looked up at him, a little bit of surprise on her face. She chewed on her lower lip, looking down to the floor.
"You- but… but what about your job? And… I- I didn't mean to complain, sir… You- I'll be fine." She whispered, feeling bad she had even said anything.
"I can still work, Laura. I don't even have to- I just do it to help out around here. I would much rather help you then serve in the diner." Ash stopped walking for a moment, kneeling down.
Laura stopped, hugging her arms. She rubbed them just slightly, looking down at him.
“Y-you’re sure?” She asked softly, fiddling with her hair. “I- I should be fine… you shouldn’t have to.”
"I'm sure. There's a very, very big difference between having to do something and wanting to. I want to do that, Laura." Ash reached over, gently putting his hand on Laura.
Laura looked up at him with tired eyes, rubbing at one of them just a little.
"You're… you're sure? I- I don't want to make things difficult…" She whispered, dropping her hands down to her sides.
"I'm sure. You're not making things harder with this. If anything, it'll help make things easier." Ash offered a smile, holding his arms out some to offer Laura a hug.
Laura hesitated before going in, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. She continually whispered her gratitude towards him, holding on tightly.
"Thank you so much…" She continued to repeat, holding on tightly.
Ash wrapped his arms securely around Laura, holding the child close.
"You're welcome, baby girl," he said, voice soft. The man picked Laura up, holding her right up next to his chest.