It was a different experience, waking up in a lovepile of your nine alternate personalities. Light uncomfortably flooded through the window, waking only herself and Seven, who growled and promptly flopped back onto the bed, sending Nine a few inches into the air and back. Surprisingly, the deliver failed to rouse any of the others, and Gumi could breathe a sigh of relief. She picked herself off the bed and rounded the large comforter to tap Seven on the shoulder. A distant Two let out a sad sigh and continued to curl around Five. Seven swatted away her hand, the sheen of her spiked collar now capturing the rogue beam of sunlight perfectly.
"Seven. Seven, come on."
An animalistic growl met Gumi from the smothered covers.
"Seven, I thought we could make some pancakes for everyone else. Before they got up. Please? I'm going to need some help."
"Um…" Two struggled from the arms of Five, and looked up shyly. Gumi's shifting about had woken up the light sleeper. She rubbed her eyes. "You don't need to trouble yourself...I'm sure that I can make some…"
"Great!" Gumi beamed. Two turned bright red, embarrassed by the praise, but her face was soon lost under a flurry of arms. Nine had been awoken as well, and promptly started cheering like a maniac. Her arms moved sporadically and without destination, finally delivering a clear blow to Eight's face.
"Yay! One's gonna make us pancakes!" She grabbed Eight's arms, who was still struggling with the last remnants of a fast fading dream, and promptly hoisted her into the air, skyrocketing herself into a highflying jump along the way. The morning adrenaline forced her into makeshift pattern into a dizzying pattern of spins and twirls, like a child imitating an Olympic skater. This woke up mostly everyone, introducing a new palette of reactions in the unorthodox bedroom. Eight, introduced to a cruel conscience, squirrelled out of Nine's hands. But with a characteristic mischievous grin, she grabbed her companion and forced her into a Spanish samba, the force of their feet eliciting a flurry of claps from an aroused Three. The two pulled up their flatterer and joined hands, jumping up and down in a hysterical game. Five laughed lightly and politely, pulling an unamused Four under her arm and administering a small kiss to her head. It didn't make the sudden wake-up any better, but it certainly didn't hurt, Four grudgingly admitted as she forced herself further into the slip of Five's arm.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Gumi was joined by Six, Two, and Ten, all of whom had been put in charge of their respective pans. Hilarity ensued as Six dropped three eggs on the floor, sliding on them and landing in a perfect – but painless – split. Even the normally withdrawn Ten had a good laugh at this. The floor was alive with the trio's bustles as they dove for the fridge in search of more fixings and add-ons. The pancakes suffered through dollops of strawberries and chocolate chips as the impulsive Six kept filling hers with every ingredient within two inches of her hands. Gumi continued to whip pancake batter into submission, and a curious Five had about three good innuendo jokes to make about this before being asked to set the table by an uncomfortable Ten. Eventually, the rest of the personalities leaked out of the bedroom into their respective seats, some choosing to help the kitchen goers and other making small talk about the weather and the strange looks the mail man gave them whenever he had to ask for a package signature.
"Maybe he's jealous", Eight offered as she dug into the first pancake. Everyone looked at her hungrily, awaiting their turns with great impatience.
"Why?" a curious Two asked, too polite to stare at Eight's food and too innocent to realize that most Japanese couples were comprised of a man and a woman, not ten lesbians in an apartment flat.
"Don't worry about it, Two." Five shook her head. She didn't know if the worker stared because of the polygamous bit or because of that time Seven nearly bit his leg off. Literally.
Their conversation stopped abruptly when a plate of fifty or so pancakes with legs emerged from the kitchen. Inching carefully toward the table and aided by a strained Six, the plate finally arrived with a dangerous clank as it hit the hard mahogany table with a stern impact. Cheers erupted from all corners as One emerged from behind the enormous platter, followed by Six and flustered Ten.
As the table enjoyed the fruits of their efforts, Gumi sat back and observed her lovers. They had worked hard for this house, scrapping money from all ten of their varying jobs to ensure that their future abode would have just enough room for all ten of them and their varying interests. Their apartment had proved to be unusually large enough for this very purpose, and though the landlord had run through a personal course of ethical and institutional morality inside of his head, he decided not to argue with their good money. She watched as her fellow extensions tore away at their pancakes with eager (except Five, who was on a strict diet but had taken a complementary bite to show gratitude and had then migrated to her wheat toast), and smiled. It didn't matter what any one mailman thought. It didn't even matter what that one boy long ago had said, once all ten had delivered their ultimatum – they would not be bickering among themselves for him, but were choosing one another instead. As long as they had each other, even simple moments like these were worth everything. In an hour or so, they would be scrambling off to work, saying their goodbyes, and be separate for the day. But until then, here they were, content and free. She leaned back in her chair, and took a bite of pancake.
Delicious.