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He woke up with a furry foot in his face.

Startled, Julian nearly jumped out of his skin for a moment before realizing it was just Staccato's foot, and the dog had managed to wiggle himself into a furry pretzel. The chocolate labradoodle's head was near the foot of the bed, facing the opposite direction of his feet, which were pressed into Julian's face. As soon as the young man began to move, the dog was awake and excited for breakfast.

But it was a Sunday, and Julian was still tired from all that adrenaline and running from the horrific monster spiders the night before. Roddy had offered to have all of them sleep in his bed for comfort, but Julian refused. He thought, as an adult, he needed to learn to master his own fear. Once, he was a predator. Now he was prey, and vulnerable, and full of blood and fleshy organs that he did not possess a few months ago.

The room was darkened and the shades were drawn, and with Staccato bounding around, Julian realized he'd have to get up whether he wanted to or not - nature was calling. That was new, to him. Having to worry about where he was when his new body demanded attention was something Julian had to learn to get used to. Now he actually paid attention to the placement of bathrooms in public. Number One wasn't so bad, but Number Two? He could do without that.

Slipping out from under the plush covers and placing his squishy feet on soft carpet, Julian made to stand up slowly. It was usually a struggle not to stumble just a little when first getting up in the morning, for his brain wasn't fully engaged and nearly five years of muscle memory had to be relearned. More than once, Roddy had gently chastised the young man not to walk on the balls of his feet - Julian having done so without even realizing it.

Roddy had given him a great deal of things - a roof over his head, blankets, some clothing (that was much too big, but Julian didn't mind - clothing was clothing!), even Staccato's company. Bleary-eyed, he stumbled into the bathroom and bumped into the molded threshold of the door on his way to the toilet. "...num... 'scuse me..." came the mumble as he went about doing his business - the business of humanity, which made things a bit easier to get used to. That was one thing, and perhaps the only thing he missed about being a youma. One hundred percent efficiency. Showers were nice, though. Julian really did like showers. He smiled while getting a closer look at the cheerful yellow shower curtain Roddy had mentioned his sister bought for the house.

After washing up and yawning, Julian had to debate whether to feed Staccato and stay up, or feed Staccato and go back to bed. The food was downstairs and despite his best efforts, going down the stairs properly was difficult. The urge to stand on his tiptoes made balancing difficult on human knees, and Roddy had caught him mid-stumble a few times.

"...feh... don't wanna..." he mumbled again, blowing a lock of his powdery blue hair from his eyes.

There was a small clock hanging on the wall between the two bedrooms, and its rhythmic ticking sound help keep Julian asleep. This was one of the reasons Julian always had his bedroom door open. 7:10 AM

The sun would rise soon.

Julian often internally kicked himself for sleeping through so many sunrises. The sun was a blessed thing to him, a special thing, and watching it as it peeked over the horizon was something he wasn't able to do often. Sleep kept him firm in its grasp most of the time, as human activities were still quite exhausting. But this time? This time, he wouldn't miss it. With a burst of excitement, Julian trotted over to Roddy's doorframe, nearly tripping over Staccato in the process. Both boy and dog stumbled into Roddy's bedroom with Staccato sailing through the air onto his owner's bed, and Julian trying to remain composed while buzzing with anticipation.

"Roddy! Roddy! Wake up, the sun is rising! Roddy! Roddy! Wake up, please!"

Julian seemed perplexed, but still quite anxious with a grip on the blankets Roddy had strewn about the large bed. "Fishing? O-oh, no, Roddy, I'm sorry. Not fishing, but... the sun is coming up soon! I usually sleep through it, but... I don't want to miss it this time. W-would you mind, if... if Staccato and I sat on the balcony and watched it? I can't see it from my room, and... and I didn't want to scare you and use the balcony without your permission..."

The young man fidgeted and kept looking over his shoulder to the balcony, its door closed and curtains draw. No light was peeking through just yet, but soon. Julian knew the sun was very close to rising - something he'd only ever seen one other time: his birthday.

Staccato seemed content to halfway sit on the larger man, his best friend in the whole wide world, and shower him in kisses.

"W-would that be okay? Then I'll go make you breakfast, to apologize for... waking you up like this. I know you usually sleep in on Sundays, I just... Staccato woke me up, and I went to the bathroom, and then the little clock in the hallway told me what time it was, and I was reminded, you know... of my birthday, and the sunrise..."

Julian was incredibly grateful that Roddy hadn't been upset by the request, and even offered to go outside on the balcony with them! The blanket wrapped around his shoulders for warmth was just icing on the cake, though Julian seemed upset by the fact that Roddy was offering to give up his room. "N-no! You can't do that! It's your house, and you're kind enough to let me stay here at all. I won't take your room, it's your room. I'm very appreciative of having a room at all. I wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor, really. It's better than... other places."

The larger man had herded the Dynamic Duo out onto the balcony, pulling the curtains back and opening the door for them. Staccato quickly trotted out and found a comfortable spot to lay down, fluffy tail making a soft whap whap whap sound against the flooring.

"I'm so excited! Thank you for this, Roddy, really." came a warm reply as they shuffled into a comfortable position to watch the sunrise. The sky was turning warm shades of red and pink in anticipation of the coming sun and Julian's grip on the blanket around his shoulders tightened. Julian was so focused on watching for the sun, not wishing to blink for fear of missing its brilliance peeking over the horizon, that he did not notice Roddy or Staccato moving around him.

And there it was.

Just a few moments after settling down, the brilliant radiance of warm golden light began to rise above the curvature of the Earth. Just a sliver at first, then slowly it rose higher and higher, bathing the world below in its incandescence. Julian couldn't help but smile, reaching a shaking hand out to it, as if to greet the sun he so adored and could not see just months before. She was beautiful, breathtaking, blessed. Tears slowly rolled down his cheeks as Julian's breath quickened, in awed silence of such a natural, everyday occurrence. Millions of people took this for granted, and perhaps Julian would have too, were he not granted salvation and cast from the darkness.

He knew what a sunless life was. He knew only the light of the moon, and the frigidity of night.

"It's..." He could not form the words eloquently, to describe the overwhelming gratitude of the simple, natural phenomenon before him, and Roddy's patience in allowing him witness to it. "...it's so... so beautiful, Roddy..." Julian's voice was just a whisper, a quivering and quiet sound against the coming of the dawn.

It was almost as if Julian was so enchanted with the sunrise, the beautiful dawn painting the sky a multitude of warm colors, that he did not register Roddy's arm and warmth immediately. Blinking once he'd been settled into the larger man's side, Julian seemed to come alive again. He sniffed with an embarrassed smile, rubbing his tears with the heel of his hand. "A-haha... s-sorry, Roddy. I guess I... just got a little... overwhelmed."

Sometimes he felt very self-conscious, knowing his reactions were not normal for an adult, or someone his age. In many ways, Julian was still a child, or someone rediscovering what it meant to truly live. He couldn't remember a time before the darkness, though Roddy and the others had mentioned such a thing. Julian knew he had to be patient with himself and take his time, as he'd been reborn at a disadvantage. That was okay with him, though. The blessing of an extensive family and the ability to eat real food and sleep without nightmares in a warm bed were more than enough. He couldn't complain.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it? For forever, all I could see was the moon. And.. the moon is beautiful, in its own way, but it's cold. And having to return to the dark every time... I'm glad... I'm really glad I can go to bed in a real house now, and not have to worry about when I'd need to crawl back into that cave..."

With a deep sigh, the young man leaned heavily on Roddy, leeching warmth from the larger form unintentionally. Julian always seemed to run on the cold side. "...are you hungry, Roddy?" he asked with a smile, looking up into those jolly green eyes. "I promised you breakfast!"

"Hnn... you're right, I woke you up, didn't I? Usually, you sleep in later."

Julian hung his head guiltily, knowing that waking Roddy to see the sunrise was a selfish thing to do. Roddy worked so hard at the shop at least five days a week, and sometimes on Saturday. He needed all the sleep he could get. How could he make it up to the larger man? Fidgeting, Julian truly hoped his idea would be enough to repent for waking Roddy too early on a Sunday. "You should go back to sleep, then. I'll tuck you in, and then... make you breakfast! How does that sound? What would you like? You've worked so hard this week... we have some... let's see..."

Holding his hand out before him, Julian wiggled his pinkie finger. That never got old - having extra fingers. Perhaps Roddy would understand, perhaps not. Perhaps he would just thing Julian was being silly, marveling at a fourth finger. "...we have, umm... Some bacon, and turkey bacon, sausage, some waffle mix.. onions... Oh, I could make you an omelette! Those are very good for breakfast, but... so are waffles." With a short laugh, Julian smiled. "Honestly, all food is pretty good, if you ask me, but... you didn't ask me, so..." Yawn.

Roderick was right in his observation - the poofy-haired youth was often working himself to exhaustion in an effort to repent for his previous life. He stayed up too late cleaning and got up too early to cook. Roddy was usually very soft in his chastising, however. "...does any of that sound good? I'll cook while you sleep, okay?"

Julian couldn't help but squeak at being carried, with Staccato giving soft ruffs as the dog trotted back inside. The youth did his best to give Roddy the most disgruntled face he could think of (ಠ╭╮ಠ) but it was to no avail. The bigger man's warmth and gentle chastising meant no breakfast for a least another few hours. Staccato piling on top of him and being warm and soft sealed the deal. Julian's consciousness was already starting to slip after being tucked into bed like a burrito or a warm cocoon. Maybe this was revenge for hiding all the Cheetos after the Big House Cleanup when he first moved in?

"Hnn... sl... sleep's... pretty good, I guess..." came a half-yawned reply, and before long, Julian was out like a light. His soft breathing moved Staccato's body up and down only slightly, as the dog leaned heavily on the young man's back. With the lot of them in a warm pile, Julian was off to a peaceful slumber in no time flat.