“Shawn, are you dead?”

In reply, the scholar merely groaned and rolled over. The worn springs underneath his bed roared in a choir of protest, but he didn’t care. With a huff, Shawn pulled the covers over his head.

“Shawn! Come oooon! Wake up!” Ivy jumped up onto the bed, placing a single bare foot on her guardian’s midsection. Shawn didn’t move. “Get…UP!” As she said this, Ivy jumped on top of Shawn, eliciting a small groan and a quick puff of breath. “Get… Up! Get up, get up, get up, get…UUUUUPPPP!” She emphasized her words by bouncing Shawn as much as she could, slamming her feet into the bed repeatedly.

Fed up, Shawn finally sat straight up. Green eyes glassy and blood shot, he glared hard at the small girl looking at him expectantly.

“Ivy,” he said rigidly. “I swear. To God. If you do not leave this room in the next five seconds, I will throw you out a window.”

Ivy didn’t budge, and instead crossed her arms. “Shawny, nobody can do anything in five seconds.”