pillow kingdom

Breakfast had never in her life met a pillow that she didn’t like. In fact, her tendency to flop herself onto any mattress she came across, be it a stranger’s, her own, or a display mattress at a fancy department store, was so well-known that she’d earned the nickname “pillow princess” from one of her many exes. And yes– that was the only reason she might have acquired such a nickname.

Shibani probably didn’t know that (nor did he need to), but it was simply to stress how perfectly welcome his invitation to leave the Rabbit Hole and see his “pillow pile” was on that particular evening. Partying had its perks, just as napping did, and a good nap following a party was fairly high up there on her list.

“Whoa,” Breakfast said when she finally laid eyes on the exquisite monument to sloth, tossing herself in without a hint of hesitation. Being that the pile she found herself sinking into was entirely made up of pillows, it felt more like being cradled than anything, the indulgent volume of drink she’d consumed earlier in the night making it easy to just close her eyes. “This is the best.”

She felt the pile jostle as Shibani threw himself into the pile beside her. “Mm, isn’t it?” came his lethargic reply, the same sleep she felt behind her eyelids thick in his mumbled words.

“Mind if I spend the night?” she muttered back, like there was any chance of her being able to claw her way out of the hypnotic lull of a bigass pile of pillows now.

Vaguely, she heard Shibani answer that she was welcome, so she let herself completely drift off.

Was it morning when she woke up? Something like that, since Breakfast felt significantly more rested when she creaked open her eyes. Shibani was evidently on the same wavelength, since she saw him in her peripherals rubbing drowsiness from his white-lashed eyes.

“This is like… a pillow kingdom,” Breakfast hummed, remembering the nickname that ex had once graced her with. She certainly had no idea of the connotation when she added, not a hint of malice in her lazy tone, “And that would make you… a pillow prince.”

Shibani sat up a little to look over at Breakfast, just a small crease between his brows as he visibly tried to work out if it was an insult. “Hey… Dan didn’t call me that, right?” he finally asked, tilting his head.

“Oh, no,” Breakfast replied, shaking her head and grinning. She definitely wasn’t letting the dango guy take credit for that one. “That came right off the ol’ Breakfast dome here.” With a hooved paw, she pointed to the side of her head proudly. “I messed around with a guy who called me his pillow princess all the time. It’s kind of cute, isn’t it?”

Shibani blinked once, twice, before a soft, fond smile formed on his lips. He nodded. “It’s a really cute nickname. But…”

“Hm?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t say it too much around other people. They’d start to copy you. Maybe… you should just keep that nickname between you and me.”

Breakfast gasped quietly. She’d never thought about it like that. “You’re absolutely right,” she replied, nodding. “We’ll just keep it between pillow royalty.” She thought to herself that Shibani was quite generous for keeping their adorable nicknames between friends, and she was right, just not for reasons that were clear to her.

“The pillow peasants might get angry if they find out,” he chimed in.

“I just don’t think I’m ready for a pillow revolution.” 

Shibani’s laugh was diminutive. “Mm, one more nap before we think about all that.” It was a good thing Breakfast agreed wholeheartedly, seeing as his eyes were already closing. As things were at peace in the pillow kingdom, she followed his lead in short order.