By Chance (WARNING: CONTAINS EXTREME LEVELS OF G/T FLUFF)

Better Than a Good Morning

Augustus awoke in the early hours of the morning with a splitting headache. He groaned softly, burying his face into the soft fabric of his pillow and cuddling little Marble closer to his chest. He yawned, eyes fluttering open and closed repeatedly.

Marble was, at this time, still in a deeper sleep, curled up like a hedgehog. It was only when she sensed movement that she began to stir, still keeping her tiny body bunched up in the oversized hoodie. She mumbled something incoherent that sounded like "It wasn't me, it was the doggo," shifting a bit. She slowly ran a delicate hand through her already messy hair, which now resembled a bird's nest that had been dragged through a violent storm.

Auggie mumbled something ineligible, twisting and turning. Somehow, Marble ended up atop his chest. He didn't fully wake up until later on, closer to the afternoon. Thankfully, his headache had gone.

Marble had also woken up by this point, but she was in that blurry state when nothing makes any sense at all. She sat up and turned over only to scream and fall off his chest, flailing as she hit the bed with a bounce. The confused girl laid there for a moment, puzzling over where she was as she slowly put the events of yesterday back together.

Augustus jolted awake, looking around wildly before his gaze fell upon the puzzled girl. "W-What's wrong?!" He asked, panicking for a moment before realizing that everything was fine. He took a deep breath of relief.

Marble giggled sluggishly, obviously still not fully awake. "Did I scare 'ya? I made you jump, silly child," she teased, trying to stand up but falling back on her butt. Opting to roll instead, she rolled until she hit his side, which she promptly hugged. "I'm sorryyyyy, but you looked funny."

"It's fine," Auggie mumbled, voice thick and raspy with sleep. He looked exhausted, but gradually began to wake up as time passed. Eventually, he found the strength to sit up and did so.

Marble's sleep high eventually slowed after a few random laughs into a groan and a series of eye rubs. "How'd you sleep?" she asked, covering her eyes from the bright sunlight streaming through the window. She had curled up again, trying to bury herself into the sheets.

"I slept fine," Auggie mumbled, rubbing his droopy eyes in a feeble attempt to wake himself up a tad bit more so that he wasn't dead on his feet. "What about you? Did ya' sleep good?" He used a small bit of the thin blanket to cover the miniscule girl, blocking her from the brightly shimmering rays of the golden sun outside the window.

"Not enough, urrrgh stupid night terrors," she grumbled, rubbing her sleep-crusted eyes. She'd dreamed of a strange, red-eyed shadow chasing her. That hadn't the worst part, however. The worst part was the fact that in her dream, it had gone after Auggie. Being extremely undersized, she was powerless to do anything as it hurt one of the closest friends she had. She tried, but it never worked, and it made her want to scream and cry and-well, to say the least, it was absolutely terrifying to the young girl. Suddenly, she sat up with saddened eyes and made grabby hands, like a toddler asking to be picked up.

Auggie's eyes softened. With a faint giggle, he reached down and curled both hands around the miniscule girl. He lifted her up to eye-level, then nuzzled her playfully. "We should get something to eat," The young boy muttered, having to squirm and stretch his legs down as far as he could to shimmy off the king-sized bed that was nearly two feet off the ground. He cupped Marble against his chest affectionately, twirling a finger through her messy bedhead as he walked downstairs and made his way into the kitchen.

Marble giggled quietly and nodded, leaning her head against the boy's chest to listen to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, running a small, delicate hand over the leathery surface of his thumb, confirming he was actually there. The feeling of him toying with her messy locks reassured her that this was not, in fact, a dream. "Hey Auggie, can I ask you a question?" she asked, looking up into the crystal depths of his eyes. "Besides the one I just did, obviously," the girl added, grinning.