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"Good morning, Siffrin!" Mira waves.
It's later than usual, today- Mira and Isa probably let Siffrin oversleep… again?
"We made you breakfast!" Isa smiles, and he places a plate on Siffrin's lap.
A stack of pancakes stare back at them, a glistening slice of butter topping a fountain of syrup.
This is the exact same thing he had yesterday.
Those are the exact same things they said yesterday.
… IS HE IN ANOTHER TIME LOOP?!
"… Siffrin?" Mira asks. "Are you ok?"
"Oh, uh, well, I'm-" Siffrin stammers. "I'm fine!"
He should probably tell them. But he doesn't this time- he'll tell them next loop, if he doesn't already figure out how to break this one.
"If you say so…" Mira says. "By the way, do you want to go to the park today?"
Siffrin nods.
He takes a different route this time, going left instead of right.
The experience is totally different as a result- it's almost like it's a entirely new day, really!
Siffrin laughs, and opens his mouth to say. "This is just like yesterday, when-" He pauses.
"We didn't go to the park yesterday, Sif..." Isa says. "... Are you alright?"
He's not, but he fakes a smile and says. "Not yesterday, just... the last time I went to the park, that's all!"
Mira looks at him. She's panting, tired again. She got tired mid-day last loop, didn't she?
"Hey, Mira." Siffrin asks. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She smiles. "I've just been tired lately, that's all... Come on, lets go!"
The night's not quite different, not quite the same. They still curl up together in bed at the end of it, Siffrin sandwiched between Mira and Isa in the same way he was last night. He drifts off...
... and comes to to that same morning.
"Good morning, Siffrin!" Mira waves.
"We made you breakfast!"
"Mira, Isa..." Siffrin says, looking up at the two of them. "I'm in another time loop."
"What?!"
"Siffrin- you're... in another time loop?" Mira gasps. "What number is it? Ten? Twenty? Fifty-?"
"Three." Siffrin says. "This is the third time I've woken up to this morning."
Mira lets out a sigh of relief. "Three..." She smiles. "... If you ever get tired of these pancakes, Siffrin, just tell us, ok?"
"Noted." Siffrin says, reaching out for the delicious pancakes with a look in his eye.
"So where should we go today, Siffrin?" Mira asks. "I know that I was thinking about the park, but..."
The first thing to come to Siffrin's mind is a play- and the three practically beeline to the nearest theater the moment the sentence leaves his mouth.
"Good idea, Siffrin!" Mira says during intermission while the three of them are getting snacks. She looks a little tired.
"Are you alright, Mira?" Siffrin asks, and Mira laughs.
"It's nothing- just a bit out of breath..." She smiles. "That battle was so exciting..."
"Want me to carry your snacks, Mira?" Isa asks. "Fear not! My beefy arms can carry all sorts of foodstuff!" He grins, and Mira snorts.
"Yeah, I'd like that!"
"So what do you think is causing the loops, Siffrin?" Mira asks. "Last time, it was because you wished to stay with us, right?"
"Right..." Siffrin says. "... Last time had a defined endpoint- it was always at the Head Housemaiden..." He pauses. "This time, it's always when I go to sleep at night..."
What if he stayed up? That would work, wouldn't it.
Siffrin yawns, looking up at the night sky. He'd need to try his idea next loop- see what caused the loop to reset.
"You two can go out without me." Siffrin smiles. "I'm going back to sleep."
He sleeps until lunch, makes himself something using what's in the kitchen, and takes a second two-hour nap for good measure. When Mira and Isa come back from hanging out, Siffrin waves them in, and tells them that he's going to go stargazing before bed first.
Then he goes outside and waits.
The stars look nice tonight- little darkless dots shining in the sky without a care in the world.
Siffrin's almost jealous of them in that way.
The air smells faintly of burnt sugar... The scent... is a bit stronger than it was before.
Quickly, Siffrin turns around, running towards Mira and Isa.
He catches a glimpse of them, still sleeping peacefully in their shared bed, Mira relaxed into the bed, before a tug pulls on his stomach and-
"Good morning, Siffrin!"
Siffrin gives their two significant others (both different kinds of significant- Isabeau his to-be-bonded love, Mirabelle a friend he just couldn't live without) a few minutes to bask in the glory of having given their beloved Siffrin a tasty breakfast before he speaks. "I'm in another time loop."
"WHAT?!" They both yell, and Siffrin wondered if their reactions were different because he waited a bit.
"This is the fifth loop." Siffrin says. "Last loop, I took some morning naps so that I could stay up and see if anything happened during the night that'd cause me to loop..."
"Did you see anything?" Mira asks.
"... No." Siffrin sighs. "I smelled it during the night, but when I ran in to see you... nothing looked wrong."
"And you think it has to do with us!?"
"I hope it does... because if it has to do with Odile and Bonnie..." Siffrin shudders. Those two were too far away from the town the trio had settled in- so if it was something about the two of them that caused Siffrin to loop, well...
... He'd be stuck in this day forever, wouldn't he?
He gulps, and Mira pumps her fists. "Don't worry, Siffrin!" Her face shows pure determination. "You have us!"
"Why don't we all stay up with you, Sif?" Isa asks, and Siffrin pauses.
"... You really would...?"
"Of course!" Isa smiles.
The day was spent away with naps, and soon the night came, the same starry view illuminating the skies.
"Gaah..." Mira mumbles. "Even through I've been sleeping all day, I still feel tired..."
"You can sit near me, Mira." Siffrin says, patting the ground near where he's laying.
"... Do we just look at the stars and wait until...?"
Siffrin pauses. Sure, that was his plan, but...
It wouldn't do for Mira and Isa, would it?
"... You can talk to each other if you want. I'll tell you when we should get running." Siffrin smiles.
Mira turns to face Isa, who was standing and looking up at the stars. "Isa... did you have any nice dreams when we were napping?" She asks, and Isa turns to face her.
"I had one about eating Sadnesses." Isa chuckles. "Like- we made sorbet and jello and all sorts of desserts from them!"
"I had one where there was a massive crab in the sky... and I was given a destiny as the one who would take it down for good and even given this..." Mira gestures with her hands. "Sky-piercing rapier..." She pauses. "How did the Sadnesses taste?"
"They actually tasted pretty good!" Isa smiles. "Kinda like slime, but..."
Siffrin listens in to the chattering. It feels nice, like a regular moment of domestic bliss.
His nose twitches.
"Mira, Isa, it's time." He says at once, jumping to his feet. He offers a hand to help Mira up.
"Siffrin..." Mira says- her breath is shaky, her body is shaking, her legs are wobbling as she takes his hand. "Siffrin... I don't feel well..."
"Mira?" The scent's growing stronger now, almost searing Siffrin's nose. Isabeau is frozen in shock as Siffrin grabs Mira's other arm, trying to keep her upright. "Mira, what's going on-?"
"I don't know... I don't..." Mira goes limp in Siffrin's grasp, and the breath he tastes in his mouth is almost like burnt candy.
He feels a tug on his stomach.
"Good morning, Siffr-"
"Mira, you need to go to a doctor." Siffrin says, eye wide. "This is my sixth loop, and hopefully it will be my last loop, too."
"What?" Mira asks, and Isabeau pauses mid-pancakes.
"Mira, if you don't go see a doctor, you'll die tonight." Siffrin says, his eye wide and pleading. "I saw it happen."
"I, um, uh-"
"... Is it safe for you to have breakfast first, Sif? I don't want you to stress out over this on an empty stomach..."
"Good news." The doctor says, smiling. "We caught it early- it could have very well killed Mirabelle tonight if you hadn't rushed her to the hospital."
"Finally..." Siffrin cries, tears of joy falling from his eye.
(He... doesn't want to think about how it'd be once he finally can't prevent their deaths anymore.)
"What was it?" He asks to get his mind off of that previous thought.
"It's quite unexpected for a woman her age, so it might be shocking." The doctor says. "But it was due to..."