I’ve been staring at the ceiling for I don’t even know how long. The guest room they’ve given me is bigger than my entire dorm, and the sheets are the kind of soft that makes you realize your normal sheets have been lying to you all along.
I start counting sheep.
One sheep jumps the fence. Two sheep jumps the fence. Three sheep—
Hmm.
Is itsheeporsheeps?
Because sheep is plural-as-singular, but when you’re counting them one at a time is each one a sheep?
Grammatically this is a nightmare.
Four sheep jumps the fence. Five—
I’ve lost count.
I restart.
One sheep. Two sheep. Three—
Wait.
Was that a floorboard?
Are those footsteps?
Is someone—
Knock.
I’m out of bed before my brain has finished processing the sound, and I’m tripping over my own feet in my haste to reach the door, and when I finally get it open—
There he is.
Arkane.
His lips slowly curve.
“Missed me?”