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Al awoke faintly, eyes blinking open in the dark. A glance over showed that they could, in fact, see their clock, and noticed it said 2:30. 2:30 am, they thought, what a time to be awake. In their half-awake state, they shifted slightly, feeling something underneath them. They gave a confused look, even if they weren't looking at anyone. What were they laying on? Al just continued to shift around, trying to figure out just what it was.
Honestly, what could they be on? They always cleaned off their bed before they went to sleep...
A short while later, a whine came from behind them, and Al remembered what exactly they were feeling beneath them. It must've been the Doctor's arm they'd rolled over, or something, all they knew is that he didn't seem too amused with them moving even in the slightest. It caused a little smile to ghost over their expression as the Doctor continued to be fairly clingy. This wasn't anything particularly new--well, maybe not in general, but he rarely slept. So him being this clingy while being half-asleep (or fully asleep, Al didn't understand Time Lords, it could be either) was different. Good different.
They noticed one arm beneath them, holding their waist, the other curled a little awkwardly to cling to the back of their shirt. Al continued to shift, partially because laying on someone's arm the way they were was not very comfortable, and also because they maybe liked hearing the Doctor's little whines. It was cute, honestly, considering the fact he'd never admit to whining when he was awake. No, he'd deny it, no matter how much Al said he did and that it was adorable.
In a way, it reminded Al of how they felt about snoring. They didn't snore, thank you very much, no matter how much the Doctor or their family liked to say that they did. (And, no matter how much the Doctor said that their snoring was cute. Even if they did snore, it wouldn't be cute. Snoring was loud and obnoxious.)
"Al, stop moving..." The Doctor's voice was quiet, a little slurred from sleep, and his accent seemed a little more pronounced, probably also from sleep. Al could hear the pillow shift and knew he was trying to raise his head up to look over them at the clock. "'s too late, go back to sleep."
"I could say the same thing to you, Mr-I-Don't-Need-Sleep." The dumb, proud smile on Al's voice was fairly obvious in their tone. They knew the Doctor wasn't one for sleep, so when he actually slept in any capacity, it was a miracle of some deity. "I was just trying to get comfortable again, but then you started whining and it was cute."
"'m not cute, Al." His voice was dropping off even more, clear signs of him falling back into whatever sleep Time Lords got. Al just quietly laughed, settling back into their own sleep. It didn't take either of them that long to be out like a light again, and neither truly woke up the rest of the night. They both probably needed it, too; life was stressful.
The morning light coming from the window hit Al's eyes just as they blinked awake again, and they huffed softly. Did it have to be morning already? They just wanted to sleep more, but they figured they might as well get up--
--Well, they would get up, had it not been for the arm still tight around their waist. Good lord, the Doctor's grip was oddly strong eve when he was asleep. They wondered if he knew about it, or if this was an unconscious-type-situation. When they were more awake and alert, they'd ask him.
They tried to tug themselves out of the grip, only for it to tighten. The Doctor was probably at least semi-awake himself, if that was the case. Al just sighed, straining their neck to look back at him from their position. "Could'ja maybe let go?"
"Nah." The tone was similar to Al's the previous night; the proud, snarky smile that was probably on his face was obvious. "'s too early still. Stay here."
"Doctor, it's already at least mid-morning. I have work!" They might have sounded like they wanted to get up, but really, Al would stay in bed right then and there all day if they could. But they figured they might as well get up and try to go through their day, the station needed them probably. Well, they were vaguely trying to achieve that, anyway, that was all that mattered.
"It's fine, you can just call in or something, can't you?" The question seemed so obvious Al couldn't figure out why they hadn't thought about it earlier. Before they could get an answer in, the Doctor quickly interjected. "You humans get so sick so easily, you could fake it and they'd probably believe you, Al."
They paused and thought about it for another moment before finally answering. "...I could pretend to have the flu, or something. Yeah, it's September, but it's cold...Is me calling in sick a ploy to get me to stay in bed...Not that I'm complaining, that is."
The Doctor just made a pleased sound, that might have been a 'maybe'. He just pulled Al back closer and hummed, before finally actually replying. "Of course it is. I need the excuse to be, as you like to call it, cuddly."
They just laughed. Of course they'd call it cuddly, that's exactly what he was, but that was just another thing he wouldn't admit to. They'd get him to eventually, though, they'd get him to admit he was adorable in more ways than one.
With the pressure of getting up out of the way, and the general cuddliness, Al found themselves growing tired again. Soon, maybe without realizing it, they fell back asleep. They could always just call the station when they woke back up, of course...
Sleep, for once, was more important, especially at a time like this.