==5:58 AM==

Valon’s dreams of dancing Batmen suddenly faded into the sensation of something poking his shoulder. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and turned toward the poking.

“Mrgl?”

“G’m’rnin’, Sumisu…” Valon yawned, stretched his arms, and tried to get up.

He was halted by an enormous weight.

'Oh. Right.'

Kala lay with her head on his chest, still sound asleep. Her short, brown arms were wrapped around his stomach, and her hair was a complete mess. Valon watched the tattoos on her back rise and fall with each breath, before noticing a discoloration in her hair.

Her dye must be growing out. Valon had learned that Kala dyed her hair long before he’d started dating her; while her natural color was brunette, she thought she looked better with blonde hair. He disagreed, but he didn’t think it was his place to tell someone else what to do with their hair.

He started rubbing her back with one hand. “Hey… wake up, honey…”

She started muttering; while Valon didn’t consider himself fluent in her tongue, he had picked up the basic meaning of a few phrases in Sumerian.

This one, in essence, meant “Five more minutes, Mom…”

Valon grinned and shook his head. Now fully awake, he gave her a light push on the shoulder. “Good morning, beautiful.”

Kala’s eyes were slow to open. “Mmm… Morning, Valon…”

Valon craned his neck forward and kissed her forehead. “What do you think of breakfast pot pie?”

“Soun’s good…” She nodded her head and tried to nestle in his chest again.

“Um… honey? I can’t make breakfast if you’re lying on me.”

“S’rry…” Kala reluctantly sat up and inched back. Black carapace lifted from Valon’s legs, and her four rearmost legs tapped against the floor.

Valon stretched his now-free legs, stood up and adjusted his clothes. 'Freaking hate these stretchy pajama pants, they’re not made for skinny people…' Once he had that situated, he turned to his wife and grinned.

Kala raised an eyebrow. “…what?”

“Oh, just reflecting on just how lucky I am.” He grinned even more widely when she blushed, and breezed past her. It was worth the half-hearted slap on his rear.