A/N: Just some completely shameless friendship fluff. Really. There's no point to this other than fluffiness. Gotta love it.

Words: 538
Characters: Numair, Daine
Time: Around Wild Magic/Wolf-Speaker timeframe
Genre: Friendship

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce, not me.

The sunset glowed bright even through his closed eyelids. The warmth could have been a distraction, making him want to look up, but Numair was lost in the depth of meditation. He was convinced that very little could disrupt his concentration now. His connection to his Gift was just too strong, too practiced.

Suddenly he felt a soft weight leaning into his shoulder. Its presence touched something deep inside him, deeper even than his calm consciousness. Slowly Numair opened his eyes.

Daine, meditating so close beside him that their knees were almost touching, had fallen asleep.

Numair smiled. He should have known. Meditating was never Daine's favorite part of her magical education, and she'd had a very long day. The trip to his tower was a long one, especially since she had been working with the Riders since before dawn and studying with Numair until supper. Full of food and surrounded by the summer air, it was no wonder she had dozed off. For a moment, Numair didn't dare to move, tickled by her gentle sleeping face.

Then her head began to slide away from his shoulder. Should he lift it back into place before she woke with a jerk? But even as her head fell all the way to his lap, she didn't wake up. She just curled into a more comfortable position, using Numair's folded legs as her pillow. Daine slumbered on as the sun sank fully beneath the horizon, beautiful and red over the sea and the cliffs. It was rather peaceful, Numair thought. More peaceful than meditating. He simply touched her hair and listened to the sounds of the night around him, the whispers of leaves and songs of crickets. This is something Daine would do… Just listen to the world, the animals, all of nature.

Though she never believed it when he told her, Numair knew he was learning just as much from her as she was from him. It was astonishing, really, he reflected. How close they had become in so short a time, how much she knew about her People, how much she loved them. Already he didn't think he could imagine ever not knowing her. What a lucky thing it was that she met Onua on the road that day.

Once the stars began to appear, Numair decided that he had better get her inside before it started to cool off. Carefully, so as not to disturb her, Numair picked her up and cradled her in his arms as comfortably as he could. She deserved the rest, after all. Her head was pressed against his chest, lips slightly parted, her hands in loose little fists above his heart. She looked even younger in sleep.

Silently Numair picked his way through his messy tower to the room he'd set aside for her. He'd even cleaned it up before she came; he knew she would fuss at him if he didn't. As smoothly as possible, he laid her down on the bed, took off her boots, and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders. I never thought she'd sleep so soundly, Numair thought.

"Goodnight, magelet," he murmured, running his hand over her hair one last time before heading off to sleep himself.