17
STUDY
Lar didn't wake quickly, with his soul still fighting the command to sleep. However, as he did waken, consciousness came piecemeal, in the same fashion as he had been dismantled, bit by painful bit. At first, he felt a dull ache every time he so much as thought about moving. He took a deliberately deep breath and felt a weight held him down, making each column of air heavy as a tombstone. Then he recognized he felt warm and comfortable, a rarity for him. Usually, he only felt this comfort when he was with Liri.
Slowly sensation returned and Lar recognized that Liri indeed snuggled up close to him. Her head rested on his shoulder, and it was her warm hand over his heart that made him recognize he was breathing at all. He couldn't hear yet, or there wasn't anything to hear wherev
