[ReaperJoe]

Lucas was staring at his screen, doing his best to resist the urge to drum his fingers on his desk. It was already past midnight, and his room was already filled with the sounds of his sleeping teammates. He was sure the glare from the backlight of his monitor was already enough to disturb their sleep, seeing as how it was enough to keep his own night vision from coming into focus. Anything beyond that and the typing of his keyboard was sure to earn a pillow thrown at him...or perhaps even a fist. Yeah, it was probably best to keep extraneous noise to a minimum.

Still, he was getting nowhere on his assignment, and the more he stared at the screen, the more he wanted to shout at himself for not getting started on it sooner. Sure, he has until the next evening to finish, but he had entire week to do it. Despite that, he's only managed to write a single word:

"The"

It's not that he has writer's block, per se. He knows what he wants to write, to the point that he knows the direction his entire assignment will take, including which citations he'll need. Unfortunately, since the work is done already in his head, his body is refusing to take the next step and put the words to paper. Hence, Lucas isn't staring at a blank screen because he doesn't know what to write, but because he's too bored to actually write. And yet, if he doesn't, his grade will tank, and that's something he can't afford to have happen. Thus, Lucas chains himself to his seat in a vain effort to sit down and actually do the thing he's supposed to have done ages ago.

The drive to procrastinate is strong, though, and in a matter of minutes Lucas is back up, grabbing a book out of his bag to "review" (at this point, he's practically memorized the passage that he needs, save for the page number, and he's really just trying to get his mind to focus). He steps towards the room door to "study" in peace when he spies an empty bed. Since he's up and about still, it would be practical to assume it's his, but it's not. Lucas's bed sheets are tossed all about, almost as disheveled as he currently is. This bed belongs to Prism, the crisp, tucked-in bed sheets almost as strong a tell as the nameplate.

Where could she be at such a late hour? Well, it's not really any of Lucas's business what she did in her free time. So long as she kept up her part of the team's assignments, he had no complaints. With that in mind, Lucas stepped out of his team's dormitory and started wondering down the halls, trying to force his mind to focus on more important things.

[Moth]

Somewhere past the thirty-six hour mark was the sweet-spot of sleep deprivation. Her thought pattern would be scattered enough that any memories that bothered to resurface would just drift past like a fading dream; but she still retained enough lucidity to stay focused on the task in front of her. It got pretty hard to focus, and occasionally the world would shift a little bit underneath her boots -- but as long as she kept ingesting caffeine, she'd be fine.

That's why she's memorized the path to her favorite vending machine, the one down the hallway right past her team's room. A hundred and sixty-two steps from the common room, two left turns. Tucked into a tiny nook next to the water fountain. If she hip-checked the machine at the same moment her drink dropped from the top shelf, it'd take out a bag of fritos on the way down.

She's so preoccupied with counting steps and hallucinating the taste of fritos she doesn't notice the quiet click of a bedroom door, the sound of footsteps other than her own on crushed velvet.

Prism walks straight into Lucas, crushing her nose against his chest. It takes her a second to process the collision, but she steps back after a long moment with a rising flush. "...hey, Lucas."

[ReaperJoe]

Lucas was more or less absent-mindedly wandering the halls, his eyes on the open book in his hands but not reading the words. He didn't need to, he'd already read them. Really, this was just an excuse to not sit in front of his screen, and his legs would likely take him to a nearby vending machine. If he wants to get this assignment done tonight, he's almost certainly going to need the caffeine. He did have change on him, right?

No sooner had he thought that when he felt a bump against his chest. Instinctively, he looked up from his book, and was a little bit confused to find nobody there. He was starting to think he reallly did need to go to sleep, but then he heard a voice coming from beneath his book.

Lifting it awkwardly above his head, he looked down to find Prism looking almost as delirious as he felt. "Oh, that's where you were," he said matter-of-factly. "What are you doing up--you know what? Nevermind, forget I said anything," he continued, realizing how hypocritical it would be to ask why she's up so late mid-sentence. Instead, Lucas pivots subjects, saying, ""I wouldn't recommend heading back to the dorm right now. Cloe and Juno are asleep, but probably just barely. Pretty sure if you go back now, you'll get a pillow to the face--or worse."

Lucas stepped up to the nearby vending machine and deposited his change, which just so happened to be the right amount for a soda. "I'm heading into one of the study rooms for a bit. You can join me if you want. It's probably better than wandering the halls and bumping into even more random strangers."

[Moth]

Prism distantly blinks up at the surprised sight of her teammate, trying to process his sudden appearance. She was the only one still awake, last she checked. "...You know how it goes. Couldn't sleep, tried to be productive instead, ended up wandering the halls." She eventually provides, stepping back to give Lucas access to the vending machine.

It's bit disconcerting to bump into one of her teammates this late at night. After all her hours, just. Laying awake at night, she'd been pretty sure she was the only consistent night owl on the team. At least, the only one who had a good reason to needlessly stay awake at night.

(At least, she hopes she's the only one.)

So where'd Lucas come from?

Right, he's talking to her.

"...Thanks for the warning?" She tries. After he's done, the hummingbird drops in her own change and punches in the code for the row of energy drinks along the top shelf. "I've noticed Cloe uh, tends to get..." She trails off, nose scrunching as she searches for the right words to describe the... pecularities, of their tea. "...grumpy, if she doesn't get her beauty sleep in. Not to mention Varia's stink-eye. I'll join you, it'd be easier than dealing with them in the morning."

Normally, she'd be a little more hesitant to talk badly about her team leader and their resident bad-boy behind their backs, but Lucas lived with them too. If anybody understood, it'd be him.

[ReaperJoe]

"Yeah, I figured it was something like that. It's pretty much the same thing for me," Lucas admitted, before adding," "Not that I'm getting much done. Pretty sure my mind wants to do anything but work, right now. Picking up his drink, he waits by the door and holds it for Prism as they enter the study room.

Taking the very first seat available, Lucas sits down unceremoniously and holds his book out in front of him, continuing trying to convince himself that he's actually reading, and responds to Prism's comments about the team, "Ya know, you say that, but I didn't think it was possible to say 'good morning' every morning until I met Cloe. Like seriously, how is that girl so full of energy from minute one? And as far as Juno's concerned, I can ignore the stink eye. It's when he decides to be 'direct' about solving his problems. Remember that time in the cafeteria when they got his order wrong?" It seems Lucas has no qualms bad-mouthing his teammates. Perhaps it was because he was speaking to Prism, who was also a member of his team. Or perhaps he was just too tired to really care.

Leaning back in his chair, Lucas changed the subject, asking, "Anyways, you said something about being productive, right? What're you working on this late?"