Sands Of Time

Break Time

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that there was a small weight on my chest. It was soft, small...and was snoring gently. I peeked my eyes open to see a little grey lump sleeping softly on me. If I remembered correctly, the lump's name was Nikki. I shifted to pull my hand out from under the blanket, and it startled her awake. A tiny squeak came from her, but she didn't run away. I tilted my head, and watched as she mimicked the gesture. I smiled at her, and slowly she walked up and nuzzled herself up under my chin. Her soft fur tickled, and made me giggle.

"Finally awake I see." I looked up to see Bruno standing in the doorway. I felt Nikki jump, but she didn't run away when she saw who it was. He was back in his usual attire, complete with his oversized green ruana. "Looks like you had a snooze buddy, too." He walked over, and held his hand out to Nikki. She didn't immediately run over, but looked back at me first. With a squeak, her little feet scampered over my chest, climbed her way up his arm, and settled into Bruno's shoulder. "Did you make a new friend?" He asked the sweet little rat. Nikki peeked her tiny black eyes up at him, and it almost looked like she smiled. Cautiously, I sat up, and pushed the blanket off of myself.

"Yeah, she was snoring on my chest when I woke up." I looked around, realizing there were no windows in the room to tell the time of day by. "What time is it?" I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I yawned.

"You've been asleep for 3 days." His expression was completely serious.

"What?" I exclaimed as I shifted to get out of the hammock. I managed to stand up without falling on my face, though not without flailing around to keep balance in the process. I stood up, and looked Bruno in the eyes, and that's when his demeanor broke. A snort of laughter forced its way from his nose before his face cracked into a wide playful grin. The sound of his laugh, despite it being at my expense, pulled a small laugh out of me.

"Not funny." I said through my giggles as I poked him in the center of his chest.

"It's-it's a little funny. You're laughing." Bruno took a breath to calm himself. "Heh, but really though, it's about mid-day. Everyone is in town right now, and Julieta set a plate of food aside for you." He leaned in, and pressed his lips to mine in a simple, yet sweet kiss. When he stood back he watched his own hand as it combed through my bed ragged hair. Unlike usual when I get up, my hair didn't seem to house nearly as many knots as it normally did. Was it the way I slept? Maybe it was Bruno's shampoo? "I'll let you get dressed, mí amor, and I'll meet you over by the bridge." With one more peck on my lips, he walked out of the room. I moved to the dresser, and hurriedly put on the clothing waiting for me. Bruno had picked out my veridian green skirt, and my pale yellow blouse, not a bad combination if I was honest. It was then that I remembered that I would have to make it down a lot of stairs just to get to the bathroom. Now that I was decent, I stepped quickly out of the room, and over to him. Bruno held my hand as we descended.

Once I had finished in the bathroom, I rejoined Bruno in the kitchen, where he was pouring some fresh coffee into a cup. I walked up beside him, and I saw his eyes flicker over to me for a moment, before settling back on his task at hand; a smile now on his lips. "Do you like it with sugar and cream? ...Or do you take it straight..." My hand had reached for the sugar jar as he spoke, "ah, just like me, I see." He chuckled, and reached over to pull the towel off a plate. I could see hourglasses and green flora painted around the edge, and realized that Julieta had used her brother's plate for this. Bruno picked it up to take over to the dining table, and I followed him with the coffee; sipping at it as we walked over.

"So," I started as I sat down, "We aren't worried about your mother pitching a fit about me being in the house?" Bruno sat down where Agustín had sat when we came in last night.