March 1, 2013
Gina found Steve in her bathtub one morning, the tub dry and Steve still in the new pajamas she'd bought for him for Christmas. He'd changed into them at dark like clockwork every evening they were together, even when he was just going to get changed again later. "I am in the bathtub." He looked up at her as she pulled aside the shower curtain. "I did not want to frighten you if I caught you unawares. Is it morning?" he asked her. From the look in his eyes and the set to his metal-reinforced spine, there was no sign he'd slept the night before. "I had lost track of the time." He started to get up, careful so that his great weight did not unseat the tub from its foundations.
The truth of the matter was, he hadn't slept a wink that night, despite what had otherwise been a very pleasant evening, or the two nights before, but Steve would no more complain about that than he would have a broken arm.