Once upon a time, Plourr would have woken with a start, her fist cocked back and ready to fly. Time is passing, though, and her life isn't what it once was, and so it is that her eyes open slowly. She wades back into consciousness rather than jackknifing, and the first thing that she sees is the pillow.

The second, as she turns her head to the side, is Rial.

One side of her mouth curves, slow and sleepy. "Hey, stranger," she says, her voice low and gravelly and face lined with exhaustion. She rests her hand on his thigh -- the first part of him she can reach -- shifting up in the bed just enough that she can now look up at him with her head on the pillow and her hair pooling around her face. "When'd you get here?"