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It was just a nice spot in the grass, in the courtyard outside ZPA. There were plenty others like it, where other students were reading, or having lunch, or playing games.
Normally, Zill would have been with his friends, but he needed to avoid distractions if he wanted to catch up on his homework.
But the sun was so warm today, and he was so tired from how late he’d stayed up the night before… he was only partially reptilian, but all his instincts were telling him to lie down and recharge.
Almost as soon as he sat down, he found himself stretching out on the grass like a cat and closing his eyes.
Damn you, lizard instincts, he thought as he fell asleep.
When Jack found Zill sleeping on the grass, he almost wanted to laugh. He’d seen this happen before — his friend sometimes acted just like a cat.
Currently, he was laying out in a stretch that would make Vanexa proud.
He sat down on the grass beside him, partially blocking the light, and heard Zill mumble something.
“What’s that?” He leaned down to hear better. Maybe his friend wasn’t actually asleep.
Nope. Without waking up, Zill wrapped his arms around Jack and dragged him down.
The way he was lying down beside his friend was uncomfortable, but Jack had to smile. They hadn’t cuddled together like this since they were little kids, and he had to admit that he’d been kind of disappointed when they grew out of it.
So, resigning himself to his fate, he twisted around in Zill’s grip to get more comfortable, and fell asleep too.
Kayla found the two of them together and didn’t even hesitate. She lay down on Zill’s other side and leaned into his back, hugging him with one arm.
She had never been able to sleep in the middle of the day before — she always had too much energy — but this was just so relaxing. Zill’s scales were warm from absorbing the sunlight for a while, and the rhythmic sounds of his and Jack’s breathing were enough to make her doze off.
She was probably going to miss her fencing practice because of this, but at the moment she didn’t really care.
Spam bounded over and beamed when he saw the three of them. He could never resist the chance to cuddle with someone.
He found a comfy place to curl up by Kayla’s upper back and waited.
Vanexa almost turned and walked away, but instead she stopped. Looked back at the empty spot on the grass beside Spam.
Then she sighed and took her place there.
She thought that Spam was sleeping like the rest, but then he opened one eye and draped his tail over hers.
Vanexa leaned in and rested her head on his chest. He’s comfortable enough as a pillow, I guess, she thought.
Damian floated over looking for Jack, and he did find him.
Only problem was, he was asleep on the ground in a group of his friends.
They looked so cozy. Damian just couldn’t resist joining in. He picked a spot beside Jack and curled up there, with his and his cousin’s fur pressing up against each other.
Addison wandered by and chuckled at how innocent Damian looked when he was asleep. He lay down on Damian’s other side.
Sahara made herself comfortable on top of them both.
Lenny and Vinny arrived as a pair and found a spot beside Spam and Vanexa.
MacKenzie curled up a few inches from Kayla’s feet, not touching anyone, before Kayla’s tail twitched in her sleep and swept her closer to the group.
Autumn found them while he was in his deer form and lay down near Addison’s head.
Rusty shot glares at everyone before resting his head on Autumn’s back.
A while later, Zill woke up in a state of confusion.
Actually, in a physical sense, he felt a lot better. He wasn’t exhausted anymore, and he felt like he had plenty of energy.
It was just that… he could have sworn that he was alone when he fell asleep, but now on one side, he was Kayla’s little spoon to her big one, and on the other, he was holding Jack as if his friend were a body pillow.
Also, like, half his class was napping on the grass around them.
He asked himself a question out loud that made twelve pairs of eyes pop open.
“What the hell happened here?”