After the Night She Only Half Watched

Story  ·  Rui  ·  Oct 10, 2026

When her eyes opened, the first thing she saw was a seam in the ceiling.
Then the pale glow of the instruments.
Then, at the edge of her vision, the shadow of a shoulder bag.

"…Yu."

She said the name, and Rui snapped upright.
The ache in her neck told her she had slept in the seat.
Depth gauge, attitude, water temperature, the small green dot of the navigation log.
Her fingers checked each one a little faster than usual.

"Wait, what time is it—"
"…No anomalies."

The breath went out of her, and then something else caught up.
She pressed both hands over her face.

"I was asleep. Wasn't I. I said I'd keep watch…
I'm sorry. You could have woken me."

Through the gap between her fingers, she saw Yu turn back from the window, smiling, unhurried.

"Took me a while to drift off, but I got some. Morning, Rui."

A palm was held out, facing up.
Her half-awake head couldn't work out what was being asked.
Still, she laid her hand in it.
Her fingertips weren't as cold as last night.

"Thank you for watching over Mute while I slept."

The hand in hers went still for a moment.

"…I only watched half."

Her voice was small.
But she couldn't find a reason to lie.

"I don't remember anything from partway through.
I think the one watching was Mute…
and I was just asleep beside it."

Yu said nothing.
Yu only didn't let go.
It took Rui a little while to realize that this silence wasn't the shape of being blamed.

"…But I'm glad you said thank you. I'll take it. Properly."

Outside the window, the ink was loosening into a blue-gray light that lifted the shadows of the city.
The outlines were clearer than at night.
She could even make out the rust on the cooling towers.

"This is what morning looks like, here.
The city feels a little closer than it does at night.
I like this hour too."

After a while, Yu spoke.

"Rui, you haven't actually lain down yet, have you? Go to the bunk."

"But," she began, and searched for the rest.
She wasn't not sleepy.
It was only that she wasn't in the habit of saying I'm going to rest.

"If anything's wrong, I'll call you.
Just tell me what time to wake you."

Only then did it occur to her that she was allowed to ask.

"…Twelve-thirty, please.
Any longer and I go in too deep, and it takes a while to come back."
"Okay."
"If you say my name and I wake the first time, that would be best.
But it'll probably take two or three tries.
If I still don't wake, please tap my shoulder. Don't hold back.
Shaking me is fine too."
"Got it."
"And if the red lamp on the left of the seat comes on,
wake me right away, whatever the time."

As she lined up the instructions, she could feel her own voice settling.
Words that got lost in reports were, now, falling into order.

Her finger was already on the comms switch when she remembered the blanket.

"Oh, the blanket.
There's the one you used last night, and the one you didn't.
I'll take the one you didn't."

Yu laughed.

"Either one's fine. I don't mind.
Unless Rui minds it smelling like me."

"…Smelling like you."

The meaning arrived a beat late.
Her ears went a little warm.

"I don't mind. Probably.
…The smell of the sea is probably stronger."

She couldn't say more than that,
and drew the microphone toward her mouth.

"This is Mute, Rui. Requesting scheduled check-in."

The voice that came back spread low through the vessel, threaded with static.

"Greymar, confirmed. …Rui, you were up? That's rare."
"…Yes. I just woke up."

She answered honestly, then hurried on.
Depth, attitude, water temperature.
Her companion had rested in the nap space and was awake now.
A few Light-Eels. Distances as usual.

"Understood. This morning, keep circling the outer ring of the third layer. No need to force a recovery."
"Understood. …Before that, may I take a short nap?
I'll be back by twelve-thirty."

There was a pause.
Beyond the static, the sound of paper being turned.

"…Sure. If you've got a rider, they're watching, right?"
"Yes."

She decided not to correct what watching meant.
The line closed, and the stillness of the vessel came back.

With her hand on the edge of the curtain, Rui looked back once.
A profile turned toward the window, in blue-gray light.

"Then, just a little.
…I'm counting on you, Yu."

"Sure. Sleep well."

Inside, the blanket smelled of detergent, and of the sea,
and, just faintly, of someone she didn't know.

It wasn't unpleasant.
It didn't take long before her eyes closed.

Outside the vessel, the rust on the cooling towers had deepened a little since a moment ago.
Beyond the curtain, there was the sense of someone awake.
It was, standing at the threshold of sleep, a far gentler weight than she had expected.