Gaz is not a morning person

When I woke up, Gaz was still asleep. With the door slightly ajar, I could hear the soft breathing of someone in a deep sleep. I was glad to hear it. She needed it. At least I thought she did. I mean, I have no idea what benefit, if any, sleep has for her. Every now and then I had to remind myself that Gaz wasn't a human being. She was just so damn convincing. Though maybe I didn't need to remind myself. Maybe it didn't matter.

Regardless, Gaz was asleep when I got my breakfast ready. I was about finished with my cereal when she entered. "Morning...Gaz...?" I began before taking in the sight. Gaz's hair was everywhere, just sticking out at odd angles. Her eye seemed to slowly slide in my direction. "Nngh," was her reply. I had a bit of a habit of leaving cabinet doors open in my kitchen. This saved me the trouble of trying to tell her where the bowls were as she grabbed one for herself. There were plastic spoons on the counter and her hand shot out, snatching three or four. The extras clattered to the floor unheeded as she climbed onto the chair next to me. I say climbed because she was more or less squatting on the chair rather than sitting on it.

I could only watch, dumbfounded, as Gaz grabbed the cereal box and dumped a huge amount into the bowl. Definitely more than could fit in it. Dropping the now empty box, Gaz thrust her spoon into the pile of oats and marshmallows, gathering a portion to shove into her tired maw. I winced as she chewed...on both the cereal and the spoon in her mouth.

"You...uh...want some milk with that?" I asked, unsure what else to say or do. "Mphs." I took that as a "yes". Sighing, I got the carton from the fridge. I knew this was going to make a mess. She reached to grab it from me, but I maneuvered it away from her clumsy grasp. Her brief noise of distress and annoyance was cut off as I poured milk into...and mostly onto...her cereal. As expected, bits of moistened cereal fell onto the kitchen table.

I took it as a sign to stop pouring when she began eating again. I could tell she was waking up by the fact she didn't gnaw on the plastic this time. "You...uh...you good, Gaz?" I asked, patting her head. I was a bit surprised when she leaned into it slightly...almost falling out of the chair. The more I got to know her, the stranger she was.

Still, almost falling out of the chair served to make her more alert. She moved into a proper sitting position on the chair. "Morning, John," she mumbled between bites. Either she forgot she greeted me already or the noise that escaped her after I said good morning wasn't actually a reply. Or at least not a polite one.

"Not a morning person, are you?" I deadpanned. She shook her head. "Not without caffeine," she replied. I clicked my tongue. "Yeah...I don't have any." Gaz's neck made an audible crack as she turned to look at me. I winced slightly under her glare before it died down. "...'kay. C'n we stop for coffee when we go shopping?" Oh yeah....we were going to go shopping today. She needed a LOT of stuff. Clothes and such.

Sitting back in the chair next to her, I shrugged. "Sure, no problem. ...you going to be able to eat all that?" I gestured to the slightly smaller pile of cereal. She regarded it as if seeing it for the first time before snickering, clearly amused by my question. Her actual reply was to start eating faster. Sure enough, she polished the whole thing off. Displaying her usual table manners, she wiped her mouth with her thumb before sucking the milk and crumbs off it. "Well...that answers that," I muttered, getting a grunt in reply.

"Well, your clothes should be dry now. You wanna get ready to go?" I asked. Standing up, Gaz nodded, popping her back. "Coffee. Yes," she replied. After getting her to get dressed...which was more of a hassle than I thought it would be, we left. Soon she was sitting next to me in the car, drinking what had to be the strongest coffee I had ever heard. I didn't even know they made quadruple caff expressos. I swear, her hair got neater as she drank. Her attempt at combing her hair before we left had been half-assed, but now it's almost perfect...and she wasn't done yet.

I shook my head. "You're something else, Gaz." She glanced over at me with one eye open. "And now you're stuck with me," she mused. "...right?" Her confidence in that statement had clearly wavered. "Right," I quickly replied, earning a smile...and a slightly noisy slurp from her drink.