The air has a slight chill to it, while the noise that usually characterizes the day has yet to rise. I open my eyes slowly, and blink to let my mind ground itself a little further in reality.
The room is dim, and with a slight warmth that keeps the receding night chill at bay. The blanket that has done its job to the best of its ability has slid down closer to my waist, leaving my upper body to count only on the warmth from the soft body below me to feel comfortable.
I can't see much, but my booting brain can't miss the piece of flesh on my mouth, the snack I always wake up with whenever possible.
I bite on it slightly, and suck. I'm like a newborn chick that doesn't need to leave the nest to get fed. The milky flavor of the white liquid that has been replenished throughout the night gush into my mouth. It activates my body through my digestive system, starting by amping up my saliva production.
I move to clutch the production factory of my first bout of nutrition of the day, and squeeze it to make the flow match my speed. Despite everything however, I'm careful not to disturb Liz.
She has become used to what I'm doing that she doesn't wake up, not even when I pull her nightgown toward me to free her other breast, and continue pursuing satiety. Though her body reacts automatically with her nipples turning erect, I don't do anything more.
I pull her nightgown up to push her soft breasts back under its protection, before I finally turn my clear eyes to the surroundings.
As always, it is in Liz's room that we are. And except for when I receive my red-haired friend at home, my room is increasingly becoming more of a storage room for my things and a little space for retreat.
I leave the bed careful of waking up my sister with any abrupt movement, then I tuck her in. She seems to feel the emptiness beside her, because she turns to the side and searches for me before going back into deeper sleep.
I let out a smile, adjust the curtains to only let soft rays in when the sun will climb up, and walk out of the room.
Feeling full enough given how early it is, I let out a yawn while smiling at the aftertaste on my mouth, and stretching myself, before going to the bathroom.
I don't even need to drink the water advised to be drunk after waking up every day. I used to have breakfast before brushing my teeth after waking, given that I always brush them before sleeping, but since breakfast has coincided with waking up, I do it immediately.
I tuck my short hair behind my ear, and look at myself in the mirror. My hand automatically moves in the rhythm that has become something like a reflex. Meanwhile, I feel like I have changed slightly.
I didn't notice it before, but I think I had some gloom around myself before. Despite my efforts to adjust myself to the best of my abilities to my new reality after only Liz and I remained, traces remained on me… inside me.
But now I feel like I have become brighter, even if only slightly more. I have lost my innocence and the little bit of childhood I had to spend carefree, but the month, almost two, that have passed have done their job.
Time is really impossible to defend against. No amount of resistance, whether conscious or not, can change anything. It can dull and sharpen to its whims.
Looking at the wide t-shirt I have on top that basically hides the small shorts I'm wearing below, I don't feel any strangeness. That is myself, not someone else.
A normal sentence, but whose meaning not many will be able to get.
*Splat*
I spit out the foam from the toothpaste and rinse my mouth. I keep my hair in place to avoid dirtying it. After I'm done, I dry myself and go to my room. There, I take off the clothes I have slept with to change into something else. A sports crop top along with different shorts.
While changing, I don't feel self-conscious, but I can't help but notice the growth on my chest. When the size is small, any difference, no matter how minimal, cannot be missed with a careful look.
I adjust the crop top to find my breasts comfortable positions, before leaving the room to go downstairs. Throughout all of that, I only ever turned on the lights in the bathroom. I use the dim light of the dawn sky to help me navigate the rest of the way.
As for why I woke up so early, that is because of the change I have decided to be serious about. Even though Tyne has become a thing of the past, the feeling of weakness I used to have is something I don't want to let come back.
Enough exercise has made me aware of my muscles, and helped me strengthen them enough that I don't feel like a soft bag of flesh anymore.
Going to the side where mom used to practice yoga, sometimes along with Liz, even rarer, with me too, I start with stretches. Then, I feel warm enough to move onto flexibility exercises, which I have found myself enjoying more than the rest.
Arching my back and pushing my chest forward. Making a split and pushing my chest against my leg while feeling the tendons at my crotch warming up. I enjoy both how flexible I can be and how I can feel pressure leaving my joints.
I continue on to different exercises after that. Push-ups, squats, sit-ups and so on. I don't push for any limit, but by the time I'm done, the mat has become wet, and the sun has started peeking out from the horizon.
I take my rope outside, and in the morning air, start skipping it.
Half an hour later, I exhale and return inside while feeling like I expended all the energy from the breakfast.
I clean the mat and the sweat I have shed in the living room, and can't help but admire my growing abs in the mirror. I don't even need to diet to have the shape other girls can only envy.
I smile at myself, and return to the bedroom where I have spent the night to take my toiletries. The rays of the sun have started coming in. They stir Liz out of her sleep, though the first thing she sleepily says almost makes me explode with laughter.
"Max, it's the morning, wake up~."