Chapter 12Below, Wednesday morning, November 1
Gavin woke first.
For a while he just lay there, listening to Torin breathe, wondering what new world waited above them. Different was too small for that world, Gavin thought. He knew the changes had been and would be enormous. But different worked for how he felt as he lay there in bed beside Torin. It wasn’t a feeling he could name more than that or trust, but still, he could feel it: warm, yellow, soft, like cat fur. He sat up, leaned over, stretched out his arm, and lit the lamp. Torin stirred, mumbled in his sleep, and Gavin turned, said his name, touched the almost-gone light shadows on his skin. Torin muttered something and turned on his back, a hand flung over his head, the sheet falling away. The light from the lamp washed over his
