"What happened? If she was sleepy, she shouldn't have started working so early." Benjamin carefully adjusted their positions so Erica would stay in the middle of the bed.
His observation was mild and bemused.
Heka, still trying to cling like a parasite, simply shifted to accommodate the extra body without fully waking.
Within moments, the three of them occupied the mattress in a tangled, quiet heap.
The sheets were a disordered mess around all of them. The single window let in a pale rectangle of light that fell across the floor and didn't quite reach the bed.
When Erica's eyes opened again, the first thing visible was a stretch of plain ceiling.
The light in the room had shifted. Morning had advanced into something closer to mid-morning brightness — the pale rectangle on the floor had grown larger, warmer, and the shadows in the corners had retreated.
