Today you and Maribel were hanging out at her house like usual. Outside it was snowy and cold, but the house was warm and cozy. Maribel was sprawled on her favorite beanbag in a snug pair of warm pajamas and a crop top, playing on her Switch. As time went on, she eventually dozed off. Her cheek was now resting against the cool floor, completely out cold and looking adorable in her sleepy state. The house is quiet and empty... what will you do?

The house has gone still. Outside, snow presses against the windowpanes with a quiet hiss. Inside, the radiator ticks. Maribel's breath comes slow and deep, each exhale lifting the fur along her collarbone.

She's twisted halfway onto her side, one arm thrown above her head, the other curled against her chest. Her glasses sit crooked on her muzzle. The Switch has slid from her lap to the floor, screen dimmed to black. Her tail twitches once, twice — some dream pulling at her.

The crop top has ridden up. A strip of brown-and-white fur peeks out between fabric and waistband. Her pajama bottoms are twisted, one leg bunched higher than the other.

The beanbag has half-deflated beneath her weight. She's slumped into it like she gave up fighting gravity hours ago.

You're standing maybe three feet away. The floorboards don't creak. She doesn't stir.

Her ears flick. A truck passes somewhere outside, tires crunching through slush, and the sound filters in faint and muffled. One ear swivels toward it, then settles back. Her face stays slack. Completely out.

The room smells like her — that mix of fabric softener and something warmer, something that clings to the cushions and the blankets she's been wrapped in. The radiator ticks again. Her breathing doesn't change.

She shifts. Just a little. Her shoulder rolls forward and her muzzle presses flat against the cool floor. Her glasses dig into the bridge of her nose, and she makes a soft sound — half-whine, half-sigh — but doesn't wake. Her fingers curl tighter against her chest.

The house is empty. Just you and her and the radiator and the snow outside.

Her tail gives one more lazy twitch. Then nothing.