Sadde wakes up very soon after that. "'Morning."

"Morning. You want food?"

He stretches and sits up. "Yeah, food sounds good." He sniffs. "Smells good."

"Cool, whaddaya want on your pancakes?"

"Uh, not really picky, surprise me."

And he eats those! "So, uh, how're you?"

"I'm okay, you?"

"Mostly okay, too. Psion took away the nightmares a while ago, sleep is now mostly a good thing."

"Mostly?"

"I didn't exactly sign up for losing a third of my life unconscious, I'd prefer not needing sleep. Being able to sleep on a strictly voluntary basis might be good, but being completely incapable of sleeping would be a strict improvement over being completely incapable of being alive without it."

"Illegal science experiment," mutters Alex, flipping pancakes with chocolate chips in them.

He giggles. "I heard that!"

"Heard what?" asks Isabella, coming down the stairs. She receives chocolate chip pancakes and Alex starts another batch.

"He called me an illegal science experiment again. Good morning, ma'am."

"Morning, pet." Kiss. "Do you mind that he calls you an illegal science experiment?"

"Nope, I actually kinda like it."

"Good." More kiss. And pancakes.

"It's basically external validation that I'm good for you."

"You are, pet. What was it this time?"

"Talking about what a waste of time sleep is."

"Well it is," he insists.

"It is. I will learn to do without it one day."

"Is that a thing mages can do, too? I never looked it up, but it sounds like mages could do it."

"Hasn't been done. I imagine you could keep going when you'd usually be physically exhausted? Psions who don't sleep do still have to lie down and rest, they can just be awake thinking about magic or reading or something while they do it."