Arthur woke up to the blaring of his alarm clock feeling surprisingly well rested.

He jumped out of bed and rushed to the shower. Technically, today was his day to shower first and Tom should be making breakfast today, but he wouldn’t put it past his friend to rush the shower after the stressful day they’d had yesterday.

Thankfully, the shower was vacant, and Arthur heard another blaring alarm through the wall right as he turned the faucet to begin his shower.

Just a bit too late Tom

Ten minutes later, Arthur arrived in the living room hoping to silence. No breakfast on the table or Tom standing helm at the oven making weak puns.

A quick peek into Tom’s room revealed an amorphous blob of sheets likely containing his friend who had snoozed his alarm.

“We have to go in like thirty minutes you know.”

Tom’s reply was not in English and consisted of some mix between a grunt and a growl.

Arthur closed the door, assuming he’d gotten his message across.

Heading over to the kitchen, he pulled out a bowl and prepared to fill it with cold boring cereal.

It had been Tom’s turn to make breakfast.

Settling in at the table with his impromptu breakfast, Arthur muttered, “I’m hiding the maple syrup from him when I make pancakes tomorrow.”

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Ez walked out from his room and began preparing a bowl of cereal of his own.

Arthur looked from his own bowl of cereal to Ez’s and felt an idea brewing.

“Hey Ez,” said Arthur, “I know we’ve only known you for a few days now, but what do you say to joining the breakfast rotation that Tom and I have going?”

He continued, “We usually alternate every few days where someone gets up a bit earlier than normal to make a hot meal for everyone.”

“I mean I’m ok with cereal, but I won’t say no to some extra variety. When do I start boss?”

Arthur smiled, “We can have you go after me this time. I have the next two days. Look forward to pancakes tomorrow.”

“Do you guys have any other things set ups? Like doing the dishes or cleaning?”

“Usually just clean up after yourself dish or mess wise. If something gets really bad like we need to go through the fridge, we can try to all work on it together.”

“Sounds good,” Ez said before taking a bite of cereal.

Tom exited his room still looking half asleep, before crashing into the third chair sitting around the table and putting his head down.

“Did you not sleep well? You still seem pretty tired,” Arthur asked while crunching on his breakfast.

With his head still down on the table, Tom responded, “I think I’m ok. I just kept dreaming we were back on that plateau, getting chased by the bear. I knew it wasn’t real but the thoughts just kept coming.”

Hearing this, Arthur immediately felt bad for being annoyed about the cereal. He made a mental note to make Tom extra-large pancakes tomorrow with plenty of syrup.

“Sorry you couldn’t sleep. I think it’s normal for the stress to stick to us a bit. Just give it time and I’m sure you’ll be back to normal soon.”

Tom torso slowly slipped off the table as he moved over to the kitchen. Arthur heard the clinking of cereal hitting a bowl once again.

Tom returned and the trio found themselves all crunching through breakfast together.

“Sorry I forget to make breakfast Arthur,” Tom said.

“Don’t sweat it. You owe us extra next time it’s your turn though.”

“Us?”

“I recruited Ez to the lineup to cover for your slacking.”

Ez nodded in confirmation with a mock solute, spoon still sticking out of his mouth.

“It’s about time. I'm sick and tired of you making pancakes at least three times a week."

Arthur suddenly didn't regret his prettiness from earlier anymore.

Maybe he could hide the maple syrup behind the flour in the cupboard...