Work Text:
Usually, on busy mornings, Elizabeth was the first one to leave bed. Grumbled protests from peeled arms before wrapping around another victim. A muffled noise erupts from the sheets before settling into warm arms anyway. The redhead could only smile as watched it unfold everytime, pulling the blanket up just a bit higher or rearranging her pillow to be hugged with everything else in bed.
The second one to leave would be Shiori, who also has to worm away from Nerissa's affectionately suffocating cuddles. The raven already had her phone in her hand, lazily scrolling through social media with the lowest volume setting. Sometimes, it would be easy enough with Elizabeth's help where she calls them both down for breakfast, but most times, Shiori would have to convince her with a small peck.
She'd complain about morning breath, yet do it all the same every time.
Nerissa, being the last out of bed, was usually the one that fixed the sheets. After pointedly borrowing one of Elizabeth's shirts, she pulls on the sheets, folds the blankets and sets the pillows properly against the headrest. She saunters down to the kitchen, and almost always she'll see Shiori on the counter with a bowl of grits and a blanket over her shoulders smiling so fondly at Elizabeth who would have her back turned cooking something up, maybe pancakes or eggs, whichever was easier at the time.
Shiori had a habit of hiding, and sometimes, Nerissa is giddy at being let in on such a secret.
It was routine almost. The smell of coffee and tea mixing up in the kitchen, along with whatever breakfast was. Their turn taking in the shower—unless Nerissa was particularly convincing on saving water that day or the fact that they might be running late. The kisses as they left, with Nerissa driving the car and saying her usual dramatic goodbyes as she drops them off.
On the miraculous days that their rest days aligned without much preamble, the mornings were slower. They could be going to that cafe Elizabeth spotted as they drove by, or go on a grocery trip (they already did that), or go to a fancy restaurant (Shiori almost always calls dibs on not paying), or any other thing at all. Leave the house, be adventurous, do whatever they can't when they're busy.
Except that never happens.
When it was a lazy morning, where no one has to be anywhere, Shiori was almost always the first one awake. Stuck in the middle, with two warm bodies against her, she huffs a breath. She blinks at the ceiling, trying to decipher where her limbs were and where the other two's were. One of Elizabeth's arms was under her head, maybe under even Nerissa's too. Her other arm was resting over Shiori's waist, hand in a surprisingly firm grip. Her leg was sprawled under them, the other folded neatly over their legs. Shiori could feel her breath against her crown, lips against her hair.
Mentally, she's already preparing teasing Elizabeth about her drooling into her hair.
A hum rumbles from the other side. Nerissa's chin pressed lightly against her head, and Shiori leans a little more into the raven's neck with a sigh. Considering her horns and slight irrational fear of finding herself beheaded the next morning, both Shiori and Elizabeth take the chance to lean into her neck. Her wings were slack behind her, resting in a relaxed spread across the bed sheets. Her arms were wrapped tightly around Shiori, legs in a tangled mess with theirs.
Sunlight sneaks in through the curtains on the side, the room brighter than when they left it last night. Way past the hour of when they would usually get up to get ready. Shiori isn't sure on what time it actually is. It isn't warm like noon would be yet, but it isn't chilly like dawn. Perhaps some time between 8 or 9 in the morning.
Shiori sighs, unmoving, not wanting to bother the other two who very much needed the rest. She was the first to get home yesterday, with Nerissa always having a later schedule before her rest days, and Elizabeth taking over someone else's gig shift at the pub she sings at. She took a picture of her perfectly fine dinner—a simple sandwich with whatever was in the fridge—and sent it to their little group chat together. Not before worrying them over an old picture of moldy bread.
Is the bread still okay to eat?
which one?
wait
This one.
[img.]
girl.
What?
Love, don't eat that.
girl the mold??? dont what me
I can cut around it, it's fine.
dont you dare
Shiori, I'll get you bread when I get home.
But I'm hungry now.
Also, the bread is fine, that's an old picture www
???
What the frig
Good luck with overtime, you two www
shiwowiiii (╥﹏╥)
She turns to Elizabeth's side slightly, and she already sees the bags under her eyes.
"Mmh…" Nerissa's voice was lower in the mornings, uncontrolled and hoarse.
"Good morning, Reese." Nerissa snuggled impossibly closer, and Elizabeth shuffles. "You can sleep more."
"Give me a little bit.." Nerissa's words were barely there, still taken over by sleep. "Too much?" Shiori hums, considering the out she was giving her. Elizabeth's arm pulls away, and with that, the archiver knew she too was awake.
"No." An honest answer. "I should be fine." A shiver runs down her back as Elizabeth's warm hand runs under her shirt, her fingertips hot against her colder skin. "You two are warm."
"Not sweating now, are you, love?" Despite the question, despite the fact that Elizabeth can feel and find the answer for herself, the redhead nuzzles closer as well, breath so close into Shiori's ear.
"No."
"What time is it?" Nerissa parts just a tiny bit to grab her phone, squinting at the brightness of her phone screen. "Oh my god, already?"
"What's wrong?"
"It's already almost 10."
Elizabeth grumbles. "Nerissa, you cook today." One thing about Elizabeth on days like these is the fact that she turns into a cuddlebug, unable to leave bed or leave them alone. The flame on her chest flickers like candlelight, wisps kissing Shiori's exposed skin.
"And miss out on cuddles?"
"Let me have the cuddle time."
"Then we'll be watching The Princess Bride later?" They both sigh at Nerissa's request. They've seen this movie a thousand times by now, even more. And yet.
"Do I get a choice in this?" Shiori chirps in, knowing she won't deny them. Can't deny them anything they enjoyed.
"No." And she sighs at their quick and synced reply. She doesn't mind.
"Liz, you're drooling."
"Wha-!" The redhead shoots upright with a hand to her chin. Feeling no dampness, she reaches to cup Shiori's face, runs her fingers through her hair like it's so normal to. It backfires horribly, Shiori thinks as she feels her face redden as Elizabeth, oh so sleepy Elizabeth, squinting at her with such a serious expression is running her fingertips against her hair, grazing against her now flushed ear.
Elizabeth falls back down with a flop as Nerissa gets up.
"Get ready with me, Shiwowi?" Elizabeth's pout was so hard to ignore that Shiori sits up and shuffles to lean on the headrest.
"We'll join you in a bit. You take a while anyway."
"Okay?? Attacking me so early in the morning??" Shiori chuckles as Elizabeth buries her face into her sides, arms wrapped around her hip as they readjusted. Nerissa stands up, picking up a shirt—Shiori's today—and making her way to the bathroom. She tries to hide her grin as she feels their stare as she walked, but her wings fluttering betrays her.
"Liz," Shiori whispers as the raven disappeared into the bathroom. "She'll complain if we take too long."
"I heard that!!"
"I know!"
Elizabeth sighs, getting up not without sneaking a kiss onto Shiori's waist, her pajama lifting up enough just for her. "Tickles." It doesn't stop her, peppering more and sneakily raising her shirt up and off. "You just want me naked."
Elizabeth chuckles, low and rough. "No, I need you to change out of your pj's, love."
"I could've done that later." They both shuffle of the bed, Elizabeth attached to her with her arms around her shoulders as they waddled to the closet. "So? What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Changing?"
"Maybe later." Shiori sighs as Elizabeth finally lets her go, already missing her warmth as colder air touches her skin. She grabs a shirt, whose it is, she isn't sure, and watches the redhead stretch before walking into the bathroom. She takes her time, grabbing a pair of clothes for the two. Shiori feels like being convinced into taking a bath together today.
She opens the door to see Nerissa with a toothbrush in her mouth, trying to put Elizabeth's hair up in a ponytail. She sets the clothes on a rack, and she joins them in their chaos. They moved smoothly through the space, Nerissa handing Shiori her toothbrush, Elizabeth taking out skin care products from the cupboard behind the mirror, Shiori brushing the tangles out of both of their hairs.
They took their time, between kisses—"No more morning breath, huh, Shiori?" "Yeah, yeah. So minty fresh, my girl."—and playful touches, it took actual minutes before they got anything done.
"Do we eat first or take a shower?" Elizabeth asks as she brushes Shiori's hair this time, hands lighter than Shiori ever expects them to be. She's now wearing the pair Shiori brought in. Nerissa hums, still washing her face and applying products Shiori could never memorize.
"We can… shower together." Nerissa's grin was visible even without looking at the mirror, vibrant and expectant and excited all at once.
"Or we can all take a long nice bath later before we sleep." Shiori suggests, earning a gasp from Nerissa.
"Oh my god. Yes, please."
"Do we even fit in the tub?"
"Not like we never tried before." Elizabeth hums, sneaking a kiss to the top of her head as she finished one final brush stroke. Nerissa leans in as well, kissing both of them on the cheek with a bright smile.
"I'll cook something up then. It's close to lunch so, something a little heavier?" Nerissa asks, and they both nod.
"I'll help."
"I'll… just watch you two." They share a laugh as they made their way to the kitchen. Shiori stands in front of the coffee machine, unsure. "Do you want coffee today, Liz?" A hum. Perhaps not.
"No I… I want to rest up today, thank you."
A hum fills the kitchen as Shiori brews some tea for her and Nerissa instead. It's not a song Shiori recognizes, but the both of them seem to know it with Elizabeth joining in with her own tunes. Shiori sits on the counter as she waited, gauging when to set up the table. The two worked around the kitchen well, well enough to keep sneaking kisses with Shiori as they passed her by.
"Most peaceful morning we've had so far." Shiori points out as the silence comfortably settles, earning a laugh from Elizabeth.
"You say that now."
She jumps off the counter, and her foot lands a little skewed, not enough to hurt her too much, but enough to make her stumble. Nerissa catches her in surprise, and she feels herself huff. "So much for no disasters yet."
Time passes by so quickly, especially when they managed to slot between each other in the tub with Elizabeth leaning on one end, Nerissa leaning on her, and Shiori facing the both of them. It was a tight fit, yet no one complained.
Well…
"This is not working." Shiori sounded deadpan, but the redness to her face betrays her as she feels her leg lean on Nerissa's waist and Elizabeth's thigh.
"It's fine, we're all clean already anyway." Elizabeth sighs as she leans back and Nerissa only follows, "We just needed a good soak."
Nerissa's posture was as upright as it usually was, her wing feathers now wet and shaggy. She whines, standing up, not minding the wide eyed stares at her. "I need to dry my feathers. It always takes so long…"
Shiori and Elizabeth share a glance.
"We'll help you dry it."
"We'll even apply that oil you put on." Shiori adds, like Nerissa needed more convincing after the first offer. Nerissa sighs as she grabs the towels. Elizabeth stood to grab stools from under the sink, and Shiori drained the bathtub. Nerissa drops a towel atop both of their heads before sitting down and turning her back against them, pulling hair to the front to dry it herself while the other two did what they could with her wings.
She shivers as she feels soft cotton, her wings a little more sensitive than it naturally was because of the cold air. They were always gentle, but Nerissa could sometimes tell whose hand is whose. Elizabeth's was methodical, one feather after another. Shiori was more curious, but stil reserved, trying to perfectly align the fibers into something less soggy and wild. A full-body shiver runs up her spine as the towels get closer to her lower back, just where feathers met skin.
Shiori would usually take over, hands under a damp towel trying to carefully set the feathers right. Elizabeth would distract Nerissa with kisses along her shoulder blades inbetween drying Shiori's hair beside her.
Elizabeth's long hair would've been dry by the time they finished, her natural warmth making it easier. Instead, Nerissa brushes her hair neat, and braids it into something loose and easy to sleep in.
Elizabeth leaves the bathroom as she finished, probably to get them clothes before they get sick, and Nerissa drags Shiori into her nightly skincare. The archiver grumbles, but never refuses. As compensation, Nerissa sneaks kisses and exaggerated "Mwah!"s in between. Shiori would never admit she liked it.
They simply climbed back into bed after, laptop at the ready, a bowl of popcorn—and plain cereal that Elizabeth added—sat on their laps. Nerissa was in the middle this time, the most excited for the movie. Shiori settles into leaning on the raven's shoulder, her height perfectly aligning for comfort. One of her hands rests behind Nerissa, where Elizabeth could easily reach and play with to keep each other up while the movie played.
Nerissa's fluttering wings could feel everything. She doesn't say anything.
She doesn't want the day to end yet. The credits were rolling and Elizabeth already took the laptop away and Shiori already set the now empty bowl aside. It was back to reality tomorrow, back to work she loved but back to not seeing them for most of the time she's awake. Wordlessly, Shiori gives her a kiss, a rare thing for the archiver to initiate. It makes her want to cry more.
Elizabeth sighs as she wraps her arms around both of them somehow.
"I don't want to sleep yet." Nerissa mutters as Shiori leans into her neck like routine. "I don't want tomorrow to start."
"It's still a rest day for you, no?" Shiori whispers, sleep frankly already overtaking her. The softness of Nerissa's arm under and around her and Elizabeth's warmer legs tangled with hers were already weighing on her eyelids.
"Only the morning. I have to go by the afternoon." Nerissa pouts, and Elizabeth hums beside her.
"Why?"
"Recording I couldn't reschedule."
"I'll be gone by the morning," Elizabeth laments.
The raven whines, "No goodbye kiss?"
"Only if you're awake."
"Then I won't sleep."
"Girl, you need it." Shiori debates on nibbling on Nerissa's neck without wanting to start anything that night. "You two need to sleep. And Liz, you are not going on that morning gig."
"Wha- Why??" She even sat up to ask.
"Because I need to see you still in bed in the morning and I don't trust myself to wake up that early. Now sleep. Besides, you already covered someone else's shift." Shiori commands it like she didn't just admit something new, something vulnerable, something rare. Sleep makes her words spill more than usual, and Elizabeth feels her own stuck in the back of her throat. Nerissa is trying to hold back a squeal.
"Wait, you wake up that much earlier?" Shiori grumbles.
"Questions tomorrow. Sleep now."
"You gotta answer them tomorrow then."
"So, Shiori?"
A loud sip of tea.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
