[PORTAL OPENING IN 60 MINUTES]
Alex woke to Sally shaking his shoulder with the manic energy of someone who'd been awake for hours despite it being 5 AM.
"It's almost time," she hissed, trying to be quiet but failing completely. "It's ALMOST TIME. I've been up since three. I couldn't sleep. I tried counting sheep but then I started wondering if the Beast World HAS sheep or if they have like, SHEEP-PEOPLE, and then I couldn't stop thinking about that—"
"Sally," Alex mumbled, still half-asleep against Naga's scales. "It's five in the morning."
"I KNOW. That's basically LATE. We have an hour! ONE HOUR until interdimensional travel! Do you understand how AMAZING that is?!"
Naga lifted his head, serpentine eyes focusing on Sally with the patience of someone who'd dealt with energetic hatchlings before.
"Your sister," he observed, "does not require sleep?."
"She requires sleep," Alex said. "She just refuses to accept that fact when she's excited."
