ENTR'ACTE

By William "Logan" Jordan & Mathieu Roy

Lora awoke more slowly than she was used to. She hadn't gotten any proper sleep in days before this, and even with her limited need for sleep, she'd been pushing herself too much. Her cyborg body may not have had fatigue poisons to worry about, but her brain needed the rest and the time to dream. The room was quiet, with the pre-dawn glow filtering through the shades and casting a pinkish glow on the ceiling above. She was so comfortable and relaxed that she didn't want to move. She'd rather just stay here under the covers, warm and content, on her side, her legs linked like the fingers of clasped hands with those of the softly snoring person in her arms, the pleasantly solid weight against her chest moving gently with her breathing, and... WHAT?!

Her eyes opened all the way as she came fully awake, but she managed not to start too violently as she looked down at herself. She was still dressed, if you could call a slightly oversized t-shirt and panties dressed, but she was definitely holding someone: Raven was curled in against her, one slack arm thrown over Lora's waist, one side of her face pressed snugly to her chest. She was dressed similarly, in a simple camisole instead of a shirt, though.

Lora started trying to figure out how best to disengage from Raven without waking her up, then reconsidered. What did it hurt? They obviously hadn't -done- anything. They'd just moved together in their sleep to take comfort in each other. Surely they were good enough friends by now for that not to cause awkwardness on waking. And besides - Raven was so calm, so deeply asleep, with a look of such contentment on her face... Lora couldn't bring herself to disturb her.

After a moment of Lora watching her, Raven groaned sleepily, and shifted to a more comfortable position.

Lora smiled and hugged her a little. It was good to be this close to someone again, to touch and be touched, even (especially?) if there was nothing in it but friendship and warmth. She'd had few enough friends in her life. And it had been so long. She hadn't even seen Matthew in person in weeks.

After a few more minutes, Raven's eyes slowly blinked open. *Hmm. That's nice... I think I'm going to be lazy this morning just a little bit more... Hope Auntie won't mind...* She started a bit, suddenly realizing that her head wasn't lying on the pillow's linen, but on white cotton-- Lora's t-shirt, to be precise. Surprised, she groggily looked up.

Lora smiled back at her and chuckled softly, "I think we both got a little cold during the night."

Raven frowned. "Oh, uh... sorry about that. I shoulda stuck to my side."

"No, It's all right," Lora replied quietly. "I don't mind."

"Oh..." Raven's eye took a mischievous twinkle. "In that case..." She snuggled closer and shifted her head to a more comfortable position, and closed her eyes. "Hmm..."

Lora hugged her back and let her mind turn in lazy comfortable circles. After a while just laying there with Raven in her arms, Lora snickered as a thought occurred to her. Raven looked up at her curiously and she said, "Anybody walking in here now is gonna get the _wrong_ idea."

Raven laughed. "Oh, totally. 'Course, if it was Chester, he'd faint dead away." She closed her eyes again and lay against Lora. "Let them though. I'm too lazy to get up."

"Mmmhmm... Sound's like a plan..." Lora agreed. She knew she wouldn't really need to go back to sleep, but she allowed her mind slowly wander into a half-dream state that was very relaxing.

"You know," Raven said, stifling a yawn, "this is really refreshing. To be this comfortable with being this close to someone before and just lying there, know what I mean?" She trailed off, not sure how to express what she meant.

After a few minutes, both of them were asleep again. In a little while, they would both wake up again and get their day started, but for now they shared a brief moment totally relaxed and at peace with their little corner of the world.


Lydia silently closed Raven's bedroom door and smiled to herself, making a mental note to find something for Chester to do so that he wouldn't disturb the two of them.


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