I woke up the following morning groggy as fuck. Though I didn't have a headache, my sensitivity to light was a tell-tale sign of the hangover that plauged me. To top it off, I hadn't slept a wink. Hotel rooms, no matter how comfortable they claimed to be, always had a cold and corporate feel. Everything was always so new and...white.

Come to think of it, I don't think I'd ever actually slept soundly in one. Not unless I was exhausted.  "You ready?" Nigel's voice brought me back to reality. "Yeah, whenever you want." I told him, shifting my strap back to the top part of my shoulder. After gathering all his belongings, Nigel shot one last glance at the room before closing the door.

He sighed loudly, the sound exaggerated as we turned away. "Drama queen." I teased to which he retorted by sticking out his tongue. I laughed at the childish gesture, already in a good mood despite the obscene amount of liqour I'd consumed the night prior.

"Man that was the best sleep I've had in weeks. I'm gonna miss that bed." Nigel pouted as we stepped back into the elevator. "I've had better." I challenged, stepping out on the third floor once the doors dinged. "Bull." Nigel remarked as he followed. "Seriously. I'm not a fan of hotels. Regardless of the star count."

"That's blasphemous." He protested. I shrugged. "They're just so corporate and empty. Not homey at all, plus there's strangers everywhere around and the fact that they can enter your room at any moment is terrifying."

"But there's a do not disturb sign you can hang on the door." I rolled my eyes. "If you really think a cheap piece of laminate is gonna physically stop a crazy from entering your room, then you've got another thing comming." I told him as we turned a corner.

"What's on this floor?" Nigel asked as he followed. "This is the third floor pantry. It's where we kept all the non perishables." I explained as we made it to the cage. "Woah..." Nigel mused when he laid eyes on the stacked boxes of chips, crackers, and every type of drink one could imagine. "They have voss? No way!" Nigel enthused as he lowered his duffle and began shoving bottles inside.

"We've also got evian, fiji, and perrier if you're into sparkling water. I personally think it tastes like ass, and not the good kind." I told him as I walked over to the soft drink section and began stocking up on gatorades energy drinks and smart waters.

"So I take it you've tasted a lot of ass?" Nigel remarked with a smirk. "Loads." I assured before turning my attention to the pad-lock that gaurded the candy. It wasn't long till I heard the familiar clicking sound. Once the cage door was open, I made my way inside.

Nigel stood at the entrance, his cerulean orbs scanning the rows of shelved products. "We've got protein bars, chips of every kind, poptarts and every kind of nut. There's teas, jellies and jams, sauces and condiments..." I trailed off as I began to slice open some popcorn boxes with my knife.

"I think I'll have some lucky charms for breakfast. Been a minute since I've had any kind of milk." I admitted as I scanned the sealed bag for rat bites.
"They have powdered milk!? Hell yeah!" He enthused, a tiny box of corn flakes in his hand. "I wasn't too big a fan of the powdered stuff before, but now it seems like a luxury." He chuckled in admittion. I couldn't help the smile that stretched my face at his reaction. "Awsome, cereal it is. Let's go back down to Sapphire, there's sinks and tables down there." Nigel looked at his box of special K, much like a kid looked at an ice cream cone.

"You know, out of all the cereal in this building, I knew you would pick that one?" I admitted, the elevator muzak filling the space while we rode.

"Yeah, yeah. You're psychic, I know." He teased with a playful roll of his eyes. "That's right, so don't test me, or I'll have to hex you." I joked just as the doors dinged open. "Yeah right." He challenged before taking a moment to think about my threat. "Wait, little people can't hex others, can they?" He asked to which I responded with a punch to his arm. "Ow!" He whined in between laughs as we turned the corner.

"So this is the floor with the hot kitchen. It's also got a giant ballroom, ice machines and loads of space for a great breakfast." I informed as I lead us down the corridor and towards the ballroom which had been set up since God knows when. "Go ahead and grab a seat, I'll get us some utensils." I told Nigel, gesturing with my head to the opened door in front.

With a quick nod Nigel turned and did as he was told, his head peeking cautiously from left to right as he entered the carpeted ballroom. I hummed to myself as I gathered a few disposable cups and napkins. I also grabbed a few sweetners in case Nigel requested some.

The song from the night before replayed in my head as I went about my task. I ended up spacing out, humming along to the inaudible tune as my eyes fixed themselves to a box of stevia. I stood frozen as I recalled the moment I'd shared with Nigel in the pool. I swallowed thickly, my pulse speeding up at the memory of his smile, his warmth.

I could feel the blood crawling up to my cheeks at the recollection of his lips just inches away, it clouded my thoughts. Distracted, I turned to make my way into the hall. I nearly lost my balance when I crashed straight into Roland.

"God fuckin' damn it! Why don't you watch where you're walkin', runt?" He growled, his cig already burned more than halfway through.
I glanced down at the paper cups I'd dropped and watched them roll under the coffee machine. "What's the matter? Your boyfriend gave yah brain damage from that rattling last night?" He huffed with a bitter scowl on his face.

"I don't know what you mean." I shot back after pulling another pair of clean cups from the box and pushing my way past the old bigot. "Everything okay?" Nigel asked, his gaze flickering over my shoulder to Roland before coming back to rest on me.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah. Peachy." I assured as I took a seat beside him at the rounded table. "Here." I told him, placing a cup and a set of sealed utensils in front of him. "Uuum, no bowls?" He asked a bit confused. I shook my head. "You don't need one. Check it." I instructed as I took the bag of powdered milk and tore open a corner.

I poured the contents into the stainless steel water pitcher and stirred until it was properly mixed. Then I opened Nigel's box of corn flakes and poured it into the paper cup before topping it off with the freshly mixed milk. "Bon' appetite." I told him as I slipped a clean spoon into the cup.

"Wow. I guess this is more portable than a bowl." Nigel reasoned as he brought the utensil to his mouth and bit into a crunchy spoonful. "Have you always eaten cereal like this?" He asked, cruching away with full cheeks. "Yeah actually. I hated washing dishes so instead I'd put my cereal in a cup. It was way easier to wash and like you said, ten times more portable."

I closed my eyes and let out a happy moan once I bit into my sugary breakfast. God what a treat. Nigel snickered. "Want me to give you and the cereal some privacy?" He teased just as Roland walked over and  took a seat beside me. "Mornin' " Nigel greeted the southerner, who only cared to grunt in acknowledgment.

"Any plans? Aside from heading out at dawn. Your laziness already shot that horse in the face." I furrowed my brows at his comment. "I apologize Roland. Nathan and I stayed up rather late which was the cause of our oversleeping." Roland scoffed. "You don't need to tell me twice. I could already tell from the bags under his eyes that you gave him quite the ride."

I growled under my breath, but Nigel's hand on my knee reminded me to bite my tongue. "I actually slept rather well, and you?" Nigel asked calmly, composed. How the hell he maintained that level of coolness was beyond me. Thanks to his interference and patience, we managed to finish our breakfast without incident.