Snow day

[soulmakingsound]

It's still quite early -- a little after seven -- when River comes pounding up the stairs to the attic, enthused by the fresh batch of snow they'd gotten over the course of the night. Kaylee makes a sleepy noise and burrows further into Lloyd's chest. Simon is immediately awake, fearing the worst, but relaxing back against the mattress again when he sees that his sister is smiling from ear to ear.

"You scared me," he mumbles, but accepts his fate when River drapes half on top of him, shaking his shoulder to get him moving again.

"Fresh snow."

Comments

[brandnewkey]

The flurry of sudden movement in the room rouses Willie Nelson first; stirring and awake bedmates might not mean early breakfast but early pets, yes. So his little black socks are padding across the mattress, first in the direction of approaching feet, tail up, then back to the first of the humans in the bed to fully stir, Simon, who would therefore have first duties. Soon the sources of both movements are joined together when River settles near her brother to fully wake him. The fluff finds the nearest open hand and pushes his head into it.

Lloyd opens an eye and is quiet at first, still until his entire body remembers that it is there and needs to stretch. He's sleeping through more nights, and light pouring in through the sheers over the window still catch him off guard.

"Mornin already?"

[soulmakingsound]

River happily gives the fluff the required scratches and Simon checks his watch with a groan. "River, it's very early, still. We don't have to be awake yet."

"Not have to, but could be. Damp snow. Good for packing." She puts her cold hand up the back of Simon's shirt, making him yelp.

Kaylee yawns and stretches a little, but keeps her eyes closed. "Five more minutes?"

[brandnewkey]

Lloyd's eyes adjust to the light slowly but that request for five more minutes might as well just be an invitation to get comfortable and laze a bit more, even if he was partly awake. He jumps, a little more aware when Simon yelps, and he lifts up his head.

"Hi River."

The cat stands on his hind legs to catch River's palm, arching his back upward into it as he passed underneath with a purr.

[soulmakingsound]

The fluff is half on Simon to get to River, and River is half on Simon just to be half on Simon. Which means Simon has no hope of getting back to sleep again. Kaylee huffs a sigh and scrubs at her eyes. "Mornin' River."

"Bright morning. Sunny and good. Come play," she laughs, reaching across Simon to ruffle at Lloyd's hair.

[brandnewkey]

"Play?" A little tired chuckle.

They aren't always getting right to work in the mornings around here, but it's clear that was something he was used to once upright. (Mind, things tended to start much later in Vegas, and the boss had the good sense not to call anything to order early, especially not upstairs; that penthouse was made for night skylines and was a death trap of sunbeams during daylight hours.) But he liked the leisurely pace of things here, too. And waking up in the morning really was a lot easier when you weren't sleeping off something heavy.

They did talk about how it was likely going to snow in the night; he guesses they were right.

[soulmakingsound]

"Yes, play! Men and angels and mighty battles, all in the snow. I tested it, it is perfect for forming all manner of things."

"I noticed. Your hands are freezing," grumbles Simon as River carefully picks the small fluff up to give him a snuggle, ignoring her brother's complaints.

"We did say we'd go out in the snow today," Kaylee reminds the boys. "Just thought it might be after breakfast."

[brandnewkey]

Willie Nelson remains very comfortable with just being handled. In fact he tends to just droop like liquid in whatever arms he is in.

"Well, it might make me less effective an warrior," Lloyd mumbles playfully. "But it'd be nice to go in to something warm right after too, right?"

[soulmakingsound]

"You must first brave the cold and prove your mettle in order to earn the warmth," River says, letting Willie Nelson flop against her shoulder while she pets his back. "Create small companions. Participate in battle. Then we may warm ourselves."

Simon sighs and nuzzles Lloyd's shoulder, not quite wanting to move yet, despite River's excitement to go outside and build things in the snow. "We'll -- yes. We will join you outside, River. But give us a little time to wake up?"

[brandnewkey]

It stops him a moment, to be reminded in more ways than one that he is surrounded by assuring voices, by people. And he kind of wants more than five more minutes.

But what River mentions sounds a little inviting too. "Just a little bit," he negotiates. "Before we head out and get cold all over again."