ᴄʜᴇᴍɪᴄᴀʟ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ - ᴀʟʙᴇᴅᴏ x ᴏᴄ

Chapter 38 - Pressure

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Sleep... Sleep was refreshing. Her exhaustion had exceeded her desire to dream of a world filled with a million suns to keep her warm, endless rolling hills to run on, and a partner who would never leave her. In the real world, she at least had the last one. But none of those things came to her while she slept. Everything was black behind her eyelids.

The warmth at her back was not from several sources of heat in the sky, but from one man who hadn't left her side since she first fell asleep. His body heat was constant, and while she was deep in sleep, she could always feel it. Had he eaten since the day before? When was the last time he was able to work on his studies?

She drew in a sharp breath, shrugging one of her shoulders to shift into a more comfortable position. Her previous slumber was fading away, leaving her with mere fragments of unconsciousness she could no longer cling to like she had several hours ago. It was time to wake up, no matter how badly she wanted five more minutes.

Melanie cracked open an eyelid, peeking out at the world. Her arms extended forward, and her back arched in a cat-like stretch, only while lying on her side rather than standing up. The man at her back retracted his arm and wiggled away to give her room.

"Humph, what time is it?" she asked wearily, opening both of her eyes through squinting eyelids. She curled back into a tight ball, but fought to keep herself from returning to her unconscious state. Sleep kept calling, but consciousness wanted to answer first.

Albedo propped himself on his elbow, looking down at her with a warm smile. His bags were less evident, but the faint rumbling in his stomach suggested he had slept rather than taken care of himself like she wanted him to. Nonetheless, pure joy lit up his face, if the smile didn't do that already.

"It's the next morning; day 13, to be more specific. How'd you sleep?" he asked her kindly, rolling her onto her back.

A beam of light shone over the futon onto the ceiling. The white light wasn't blinding for someone who had been awake for several hours, but she had only been up for barely a few minutes. She squinted her eyes again, rubbing them with her hands and yawning.

Melanie suppressed a groan at being moved. "Already? I just want to sleep for another day or two..." Her eyes slowly drooped close.

He shook her roughly, jolting her awake. Melanie sat up, scratching her head and yawning once more. "I'm awake, I'm awake!" she groaned even though her eyes were still closed. "I haven't slept that well in eons..."

"Eons?" he chuckled, tilting his head and switching his smile to a smirk. "And how old would that make you?"

Quickly, she snatched the pillow from behind her and whacked in the general direction his voice was coming from. She opened her eyes to check if she hit him, only to find that he was holding the pillow in his hands. He placed it back behind her, fluffing it slightly as he did so.

"I'm glad you slept well." Albedo rolled himself into a sitting position, standing up and cracking his back with two twists from left to right. "I'd like to talk to you about something while I'm making breakfast, if that's alright."

Melanie leaned back into the futon, pulling the blanket back over her and burying half of her face in the pillow. One eye was left peeking over the fluffiness of the cushion, just so she could keep an eye on him and verify she was still awake. "Breakfast in bed?" she mumbled.

He nodded, laughing softly to himself. "Pancakes are simple enough, don't you think?"

An audible grumble from her stomach was enough of an answer for him. Albedo set to work with the pancake batter and a small basket of yellow berries. When did those show up? He washed them in some cooled water taken from the large pot and chilled in the snow.