Vexx felt tender, inside and out. Even opening his eyes was an ordeal, especially since it meant the light could sting through his eyelids and go straight to his migraine. The green furred rodent clung tighter to his clammy sheets. No music, no stimulation, just the sound of his ringing ears and his throbbing headache. He quietly prayed for an end to the whole thing - or, at least, a chance to get back to sleep.
Ding-Dong.
``Oh, now what...?''
The doorbell was too far away to irritate his hearing, at least. He presumed whoever was at the door was planning to try and sell him something. No chance of that happening. He was going to stay put right where he was.
Ding-Dong.
``Persistent, aren't we...?'' Vexx sighed, grabbing his pillow and jamming it over his head.
By the fifth ding-dong, it became clear that whoever it was wasn't planning on leaving.
From his bedroom window, Vexx could see that it was drizzling rain outside. This persistent salesperson was probably getting soaked. The least courtesy he could do was go down, and tell them to move along.
He couldn't keep the groans from oozing out of his throat. Every step felt like a herculean effort. He wrapped his dressing gown around himself and slowly trudged his way out of the bedroom, down the creaking stairs, and towards the door.
One more Ding-Dong hit him like a rock to the back of the head. He winced and sighed, bracing himself for a conversation with an annoyingly insistent salesperson.
Instead, when he opened the door, he was met with...
Pretty colours.
Orange and yellow ripples, pouring from a familiar pair of eyes.
It should have made his vision hurt - it was far brighter than the dim lights in his bedroom. But it didn't. He had the opposite sensation, a familiar sense of treacle-thick calm, like the contented tiredness that descended upon him just before he fell into a deep sleep.
He suddenly felt like he was very far away... far away from his body, not to mention all the aches and pains. His vision swum and melted into those same colours. The grey overcast sky, the pattering rain on the cracked street... all of it was gone, pushed away by a halo of hypnotic light. It framed the face of the grinning wolfdog with the pretty eyes and the widening smile.
This is just a preview; the full story will go live next month, but if that's simply too long to wait, head over to my Subscribestar to read it, and other stories like it, before everyone else~!
![Shasha's Slumber [Commission]](https://va.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5015/5015109_leembeam_shasha_s_slumber.jpg "Shasha's Slumber [Commission]")
![[SNEAK PEEK]Aiding and Abetting](https://va.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5263/5263461_leembeam_aiding_and_abetting_sneak_peek.jpg "[SNEAK PEEK]Aiding and Abetting")
