"Zzz...zzz...huh? Morning already?", RJ thought as he felt the sun light shining upon his closed eyes.
Last night was arguably the best he had slept in a while, but he wasn't sure why. He also didn't remember ever buying a scented weight pillow to-
"Waitaminute".
It took a few seconds for his brain to boot up, but he eventually remembered that he and Tatterhood were currently sharing a bed...and that she was laying on top of him with his arm wrapped around her, ala, a "Sweetheart's Cradle". It took him about a millisecond after this revelation to realize that the softness pressing against his torso wasn't a pillow.
"It appears that the alphabet has failed me...wait, didn't I set up a barrier of pillows between Tatterhood and-oh there they are".
The night before, RJ had taken the liberty to erect a small pillow "barrier" in order to divide the bed. This was a trick he learned from going to conventions/college and having to occasionally share beds with his friends and/or strangers.
However, he did not account for a surprise goat.
A little pass the foot of his bed, RJ saw that Bellerophon the goat was currently nestled in a little pillow fort made from his pillows and the quilt from last night. How that little bastard managed to sneakily extract the pillows, RJ wouldn't know until much later.
"Alright then, let's just-".
"Mmm"?
As RJ attempted to sneakily extract himself from the situation to get ready for the day, Tatterhood had begun to stir and oh so subtly held herself closer to RJ's chest like he was a teddy bear, muttering some random Norwegian words in her sleep.
At this moment, RJ couldn't help but notice how vulnerable and delicate she seemed.
It wasn't the most shocking revelation in the world, even the most battle-hardened heroes had moments of weakness that they could expose to loved ones or have in times of solitude. Granted, it did cause a bit of cognitive dissonance connecting this moment of vulnerability and trust to a woman he had seen single-handedly throw a wolf-headed giant into a wall and fight a demonic burning rat-man, all in the same day.
As well it was a bit weird connecting this moment of peace to a woman who he had associate with teas-
"Hang on a minute", RJ thought to himself.
"Tatterhood"?
"Mmm, five more minutes...", she muttered.
"Did you remove the pillow barrier I set up last night?", RJ asked point blank.
"Maybe", Tatterhood replied, a little less sleepy sounding. She repositioned her head in order to stare directly at RJ like a troublesome cat.
"May I ask why"?
"Two reasons", she replied with a breezy tone.
"First, Bellerophon needed some extra cushioning. Since you weren't sleeping on those 'barrier pillows', I figured he could use them. Your floor is not exactly the softest place for a young goat to sleep on. It's bad for his legs".
"Meeehhh", Bellerophon bleated. [Translation: Nah bro, she's lying. She just wanted to cuddle].
"And the second reason"?
"I figured you'd find it a lovely surprise to wake up with the beautiful me nestled in your arms like this", she said with a teasing smile, "Was I right"?
"I...uh...you should probably know that I am not used to girls being so blatantly forward like this", RJ said after a moment of stammering and figuring out how to respond.
"I can tell~ Now come on, we have a skeleton to help out", Tatterhood said with a sweet smile as she lifted herself off of RJ and made her way to the bathroom.
RJ couldn't help but watch her walk away. It took him a few moments before
"Meeehhh", Bellerophon bleated.
"Wait, how did you change into a nightie? Where'd your clothes go"?
_________________________________________________
"Good Morning Sergei", Xander said with a yawn, "You made coffee"?
"Mornin and yes'", Sergei replied as he added the finishing touches to a pair of mechanical hoof legs. Connecting a wire, the leg suddenly kicked out before retracting.
"Why are you adding-"
"Amputee".
"Ah".
A few minutes later, Dickie entered the kitchen space looking a bit groggy. Seeing his zombie-esque friend, Xander proceeded to pour two cups of coffee.
"Morning sunshine", Xander commented as he handed Dickie a coffee, "You look like something the cat dragged in and the dog made love to".
"That's because I decided to stream 'Confederacy of Stories' after getting ear blasted last night. Went 0 and 4", Dickie replied with a sour tone before starting to drink his coffee.
"Ouch", Xander replied in shared empathy.
Xander was about to take a sip of his coffee as well, when the door to RJ's room creaked open.
"Good Mor-uhhh", Xander tried to say before getting awestruck. Dickie for his part just sorta went wide-eyed as his coffee mug stayed firmly on his lips. Sergei just went, "Nice".
Walking out of RJ's room was "Tatiana", but not in the manic pixie dream girl get-up from last night.
Instead, she walked out in the quintessential hippie style outfit. A long flowing maxi skirt, a tie dye blouse with a peace symbol on it, fringe vest, headband and pair of purple sunglasses to tie it altogether.
Such a combination would scream out of place and out of touch on most other people, it seemed to fit her like a glove though.
"God Morgen", Tatterhood said as she entered the main area. A few moments behind her, RJ had walked out dressed in a hoodie and a pair of jeans.
"Going somewhere?", Sergei asked.
"Haight-Ashbury", RJ replied while filling a thermos with coffee.
"Hence the outfit"?
"Hence the outfit".
As Tatterhood made her way to the door, Xander and Dickie couldn't help but watch her the whole time like a pair of mooning morons.
Having finished filling up his thermos, RJ made his way over and opened the door for her.
"Adjø", she said with a wave of her hand as she left the room.
"Peace out guys", RJ said while throwing up a peace sign.
Dickie and Xander were a bit stupefied about what just happened while Sergei went back to finishing his work.
A moment later, Xander asked aloud, "Where...did she get the outfit"?