Kairi woke, feeling cold and alone. When her eyes finally blinked open, they felt heavy and crusted over from a full night of actual sleep, unaided by medication or intoxication. She glanced around, not finding her recent companion anywhere, but at least seeing Toby curled into a ball on the warm spot left by her detective. She smiled softly and reached out, rubbing along Toby's slack face. His eyes fluttered open slowly and he opened his mouth in a small smile, his tongue darting out to try to lick her while his tail whumped on the bed and shook it.
She giggled slightly and sat up. Terror did not grip her in being alone. She had no fear of Sherlock regretting his decision to spend the night with her. She wasn't surprised by an empty bed, but rather comforted by it. His absence was reminiscent of a time before, when things were somewhat normal. He would wake early, if he slept at all, and she would sleep in and be dead to the world until she had her coffee. He would go about his day, perhaps making her a cup if they were in his home, but at least starting up some experiment she would stumble upon later and ask questions about. It was an easy sort of give and take. She'd dole out compliments when she felt like he might want them, he'd explain things to her without being too patronizing and she'd happily listen. They were well suited for each other in that way and Kairi was anxious to get back to their odd sort of normalcy.
She stood from her bed, taking careful steps as her body stretched and popped with each movement. She felt rested, surprisingly, and relatively aware. Her hair was no doubt a mash around her head and she felt like her legs were made of lead as they guided her from her bedroom, but in the end she still just felt good. Over the last year, the medication needed to help her sleep usually ended up making her feel groggy, confused, and downright irritable. It was a shocking discovery to realize that she had not woken up once, screaming or crying. It was a realization that left a wide smile on her face and added a tiny skip to her step as she walked out to her kitchen to put some coffee on.
Once back in her bedroom, smiling at the blob of black and brown snuggling into her pillows, she checked her phone and saw two messages. One was from Sherlock and one from Molly. She didn't need to open up Sherlock's message as it was only one word: upstairs. She chuckled softly at him, the decency he must have mustered up to send her a single word text had to have been astounding. She opened the text from Molly and saw that the pathologist wanted to come over to check on her and discuss bridesmaid dresses. Kairi replied that she would love her company.
She hopped into the shower to do her usual routine of hair and body maintenance. She felt optimism over her usual dread or emptiness as she hummed to herself while washing her hair. She even began whistling a preferred tune and giggled to herself, at least until she heard the scraping of nails on tile.
"No!" She screeched, but it was too late, Toby hastily clammored up the sides of the tub, clawing his way over the porcelain barrier to join his mistress in the shower. He loved water with a furious passion and the whistle from Kairi had done nothing but assure him that he was definitely invited in.
"Oh Toby!" Kairi said exasperated. Her frustration didn't last long as she was doing her best to stop her laughter from leaking out. He had always tried to join her in the shower and tub when he was tiny, it was only when he had grown to his full size that Kairi had to rectify the mistake of leaving her bathroom door open if she wanted to bathe alone.
This morning she was too preoccupied with her happiness that she forgot to latch the door. She allowed herself a laugh and decided to soap up the mongrel as well. Where Appa used to stare at her or pointedly not stare at her while in the bath, Toby would close his eyes and open his mouth while she rubbed him down with soap. He would bite at water droplets that tickled his nose or chase running suds down the drain. He was a very easy going pup, not that Appa wasn't, but he always had an attitude about certain things. Toby just seemed yo not have a care in the world. He enjoyed life as it came, whether it was lying in the sun that snuck in through the window or splashing in puddles on a rainy day. Kairi desperately wanted to adopt that same kind of persona where life was concerned.
