Morning
Noun
[ˈmôrniNG]
1. The period of time between midnight and noon, especially from sunrise to noon
“My mornings would be way better if they started with you.”

Keir woke up because he was coughing. He tried sitting up as the fit racked his body, but there was something snaked around his waist, holding him against something warm and solid. Dazed and confused, he sniffled then realized he couldn’t breathe out of his nose at all. It explained why his throat was dry and lips felt chapped. He opened his eyes, but it was pitch black in the room; he could feel cool breath on the back of his neck. He wriggled some, hoping to break free from his constraints. Instead, he was pulled closer, flush against someone’s chest. Annoyed, he huffed and elbowed the person. Hard.

Nyx jolted awake but didn’t make any attempts to move. “What the hell was that for, sunshine?”

“Get off of me.” Keir grumbled, voice stuffy and gross sounding. “What time is it? I want to go home.”

“Uhhh, I dunno.” Nyx’s morning voice was heavenly. It was deep and rough and sent a small shiver down Keir’s spine. He sat up and fumbled for a moment, before the dim light of his phone screen turned on. “Ugh, it’s almost time to wake up anyway. We still have school.”

“Shit. Where’s my phone?” Keir didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that he’d slept in Nyx’s bed last night and cuddled with him, his parents were probably having aneurisms right about now. Nyx turned on the lamp as Keir searched for his phone. He wound up finding it between the bed and the nightstand, completely dead. Well that was great.

“You want me to charge it for you?” Nyx asked, holding out his hand. Keir nodded gratefully and handed it over.

“Thanks.” He hummed and sat on the bed, crossing his legs. He needed to let someone know he was okay before he was reported missing. Keir straightened up, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He wasn’t great at connecting with Birdie telepathically, they’d never really had a reason to strengthen that particular bond, but he figured he could probably get a simple message to her. She’d likely never admit it, but Keir could feel her worry right now, like a thought in the back of his mind. He thought hard about what he wanted to say. It had to be simple, so he went with, “I’m alive, see you after school.” That seemed good enough, so he imagined the words sending through their connection, using what little magic he had left to push it through. He could only hope it worked.

When Keir opened his eyes, feeling exhausted once more, Nyx was studying him closely. His hair was a mess atop his head, but somehow, he made it look good. Jerk. “What are you doing?”

“Sending a message to my familiar. She was worried.” Keir stood up, but his legs were shaky. “Can I use your shower?”

“Sure. Let me get you some clothes.” Nyx stood up and went to his closet. Keir was pretty sure anything that Nyx owned wasn’t going to fit him, but his clothes from yesterday were disgusting. He thrust a wad of clothes in Keir’s grasp. “Hurry up and shower. Unless you need help?” He asked, smirking suggestively.

Keir resisted the urge to punch him in the chest, instead shooting him a glare as his cheeks reddened. “Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah. So what?” He shrugged a bit.

“You’re an awful person.” He grumbled and stood up.

“Well, I am a Necromancer after all.” Nyx began shooing him out of the room. “Bathroom is across the hall. Towels are under the sink.”

Once he was in the bathroom, he turned on the shower and undressed before hopping in quickly. The warm water felt nice, for whatever reason Nyx’s house was freezing. There wasn’t shampoo in the shower just those bottles of 10-in-1 concoctions that absolutely killed one’s hair and smelled of toxic masculinity. Keir sighed and resigned to the fact that he’d smell like a douche for the rest of the day as he squirted a glob into his hand.

He finished his shower quickly, then dried off and dressed in the clothes given to him. Nyx had given him a sweater, thank the gods, that was black and had a skeleton with a lopsided crown stitched into the bottom of it. That paired with the black Adidas joggers that were almost too long for him, pallid complexion, and tired bags under his eyes, he looked like an emo kid. Not his usual aesthetic, but he could deal with it for today.

He ran a hand through his shoulder length locks as he exited the room, jumping when he nearly ran into Silas who was standing right outside the door. He was still in his pajamas, his expressionless eyes staring into Keir. “Did you and my brother do butt stuff?” He asked bluntly, not a hint of shame in his voice.

“I’ll force Stinging Nettle down your throat.” Keir hissed and sniffled, pushing past the younger male. He’d have to ask what was up with him, because that kid had a few screws loose.

As he headed back to Nyx’s room, Silas said, “He’s in the kitchen.”

Keir shot him a glare but went downstairs anyway. Sure enough, the blonde was in the kitchen, already showered and dressed, munching on an apple. “Where’s your parents?” He asked out of curiosity. He’d never seen Mr. and Mrs. Erebus before.

“Asleep. Spirits are most restless at night.” Nyx said in between bites, shrugging. “You look like a smaller version of me.”

“That’s terrifying.”

They left soon for school soon after that, though Silas had to be driven to school as well. It was a bit awkward, but the creepy teenager mostly kept to himself. Keir got a lot of weird looks when he walked into school that day, but it was mostly because Nyx had his arm slung over his shoulder.