Putting Theory Into Practice: A Coral Drabble
Today is definitely a low spoons day, the first you've had in a long time. In fact, it's the first time you've had fatigue this severe since you adopted your sweet little Coral bitty, the same sweet little Coral bitty who is currently papping your face with his tiny skeleton hands to see if you're alright. He's not used to seeing you camped out under a blanket on the couch, and it obviously worries him.
You explain spoon theory to him in an attempt to ease his mind. Energy is like spoons, you tell him. If you have a lot of spoons, you can use those spoons for whatever you want, but if you are low on spoons, you have to pick and choose how you're going to use them. Today is a low spoons day, so you won't be doing much. You ask him if he understands, and he nods very slowly, though his brows are scrunched in adorable thought.
You make a space for the lamia in your blanket burrito so he can snuggle against you, then you find some video clip shows on TV to play as background noise. The shows don't require much attention, so you're free to doze while your bitty is happily entertained by people falling off of things that they had no business being on in the first place. You're too drowsy to notice that he isn't laughing at the videos. You totally miss his pensiveness. You've fallen quite deeply asleep.
The Coral bitty shifts against you, checking to see if his movements awaken you. You don't stir in the slightest, so he wiggles his way free of the blanket nest and climbs down to the floor. Skull swinging left and right with suspicious glares, he slithers over to the closet where you set up his private nest. Satisfied that he isn't being observed, he slips into the closet to pay a visit to his hoard.
Surely no other Coral in the world is lucky enough to have such a wide array of cubbies to store his pilfered treasures, but the very best items are stashed in the back, in the gap between the cubbies and the wall. These are the oh-so-special shinies that he's searching for. One by one, he drags them from their hiding spot, hauling them across the floor to a new destination.
Your bleary eyes crack open, and the white noise of the television you left on slowly comes into focus. The moment before you shift, you know that you’ll regret sleeping somewhere not meant to be slept on, but you’re entirely unprepared to hear, instead of popping joints, a loud clattering sound. You also hear the pelting of objects hitting the floor. What could have made such a racket?
You toss your blanket aside, and see them scattered everywhere.
Spoons large and small, metal and plastic, elegant and plain litter the couch and floor, creating a very definite trail to your Coral’s closet nest. You even spot a spoon with a bent handle that you are sure you’d put in the trash months ago, and there, in the midst of spoon-mageddon, lays your poor exhausted Coral bitty, face-down, a tiny silver spoon clutched to his chest, a treasure that you recall purchasing for him when he’d fallen in love with it at an antique shop mere days after you adopted him.
You scoop up your little striped lamia and his most treasured possession and carry them to the couch, shaking the rest of the spoons out of the blanket before setting him down on it. He blinks up at you, then holds out the spoon as an offering, tears welling in his sockets.
“ssssorry i took all the sssspoonssss,” he hisses with the most adorable sad sniffle you have ever heard. “i give them back sssso you feel better!” He lifts his beloved spoon higher, waggling it enticingly, and your heart melts.
You rush to reassure him. “Low spoons is just a saying, sweet pea! You don’t have to give up all of your treasures for me, though I appreciate the thought. I just need a rest day, that’s all.” Using your thumb, you brush away his tears. He flops against your hand, too tired to even stay upright, though he manages a small affectionate nuzzle.
You gather the spoons into a pile to put away later, leaving the little antique spoon wrapped securely in your Coral’s arms. You carry the bitty to your bedroom and tuck him into bed beside you for a much needed nap.
When you wake up, you’ll have enough spoons to deal with your over-abundance… of spoons.
More Drabbles | INDEX | Read on AO3
