22 - Mild Comforts
Distant loud sounds sent a jolt down Cinder's spine that made her freeze in place. The source of them was unknown but she knew they meant something bad. They held a familiar tone but she couldn't place it, and she didn't know why they made her panic. She glanced around the room only to see wispy smoke limbs creeping under the door, scratching and clawing and the floor and door frame and the gentle glow of mist leaking in. Her room may not have had much in it, but it was her only space in the world and it was going to be consumed by something otherworldly and unknown. Memories of her skin bubbling and peeling, splitting and burning, made her panic harder as one claw from an arm caught her leg.
Think, Cinder. Think. She looked out the only window in her room and saw the drop down to the ground below. Was it always this high up? Moonlight illuminated the jagged rocks below, showing each and every way it would be devastating and potentially deadly to call on them, but when one of the arms barely missed grasping at Cinder's leg, she didn't care. Plans already began to form in her head as she struggled to open the window. The latch got stuck and she couldn't unfasten it with only one hand. The brass looked soldered shut, or was it a trick of the light?
Shit.
Something heavy to break the window. That's what she needed. Anything. She looked around the room in a hurry. Nothing? Shit.
Cinder turned back to see the carpet beginning to melt and bubble, more thick fog filling the room. She began to cough and grabbed the closest thing to her, a plastic fan, and slammed it against the window only to have the casing for it begin to crack and break. Why wasn't this working? She slammed it again and saw the glass start to crack, but the fan broke into pieces. A glance over her shoulder let her see a smoky head emerge from under the door, eyes aflame, mouth agape in a rumbling, and gravelly yell.
More fog filled the room and even the walls began to bubble and pop, clawed hands emerging from the burst bubbles. She was desperate and panicked. Cinder slammed her shoulder into the glass of the window and the crack grew larger. Again. She did it again and again and finally, the glass gave way, the sudden influx of oxygen making the creatures crawling in agitated and more desperate to get her. She looked out the window to see no help coming and the distance to the ground below gradually getting larger and larger. The only option seemed clear. Cinder needed to jump.
With her lungs burning, coughing uncontrollably, Cinder crawled out the window, through the broken glass, and plummeted to the rocky ground outside. Right when she was about to hit the jagged rocks below-
Cinder jolted awake with a scream, sitting up and jumping out of bed only to fall on the floor, coughing and hyperventilating. She glanced around the room, everything unfamiliar but also very familiar. The door burst open and Yang ran in. The light from the hall illuminated Cinder's body curled on the floor. Soon after, Ruby rushed in as well, only slowed by her crutches.
The nightmares, while not super common, happened enough that both sisters knew what to do when they occurred. Yang knelt down and tried to soothe Cinder. "Everything's okay. You're safe." Ruby moved to the nightstand and turned on the lamp while Yang did her best to block the sudden change in light from Cinder. Within moments there was recognition in Cinder's eyes and she looked between Ruby and Yang, wide-eyed and full of fear still.
"They-" she coughed out, gasping for air. "Under- under the door-" She coughed again and again.
"Shhh, just breathe."
"Can't- the window! Have to get- window…" Cinder kept coughing and trying to talk.
"Slow, deep breaths now. Breathe in with me," Yang continued and took a slow breath in. "And out," she said and breathed out just as slow. She repeated the pattern a couple more times until Cinder started focusing on her and repeating it. Ruby shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, looking concerned and worried.
"Let's get you out of the floor, alright? Keep doing the breaths." Yang said and paused to see if there were any objections from Cinder. There wasn't. She was lifted and set on the bed next to Ruby who raised a hand to rub circles over her back.
"I'll go get some water," Yang told Ruby and nodded to the door. Ruby gave a single nod in response before turning back to her girlfriend.
Cinder squeezed her eyes shut a moment and rubbed at them before opening them to let her eyes adjust to the light. The sights of the room, not filled with mist or smoke or any sort of clawed appendage calmed her a little. Her heart was still racing when the thought occurred to her that whatever the thing was that tried getting in had clawed her leg. She bolted upright and pat down her leg, trying to look, only to find it still wrapped in the compression garment and not in pain.
When Yang came back in with a cold bottle of water, she twisted the cap off and offered it to Cinder who grabbed it with her shaky hand and took a sip. Yang left the room again only to emerge a minute later with Ruby's phone and handed it to her. Ruby mouthed 'thank you' and set it next to her on the bed.
"Alright, I'm gonna head back to bed. Wake me if you need me, but try and get some more sleep if you can," Yang said as she left the room and flipped the hall light off.
"S-sorry," Cinder mumbled and leaned against Ruby only to get a head shake and tight hug in reply. "What about 'thank you' instead?"
Ruby nodded and hugged her tighter, only letting go to reach for her phone. 'Let's get comfy, okay?' Cinder read the message and shifted to climb further on the bed and make room for both of them.
'Did you want the lamp on still?'
"Yes please," Cinder said softly and adjusted the pillows so they could both sit up and lean against the headboard comfortably. "Can we sit here for a bit? I don't want to sleep again yet."
'Of course' Ruby set her phone on the nightstand and scooted next to Cinder to get comfortable. Cinder could tell her girlfriend was tired and wasn't surprised to see her dozing off soon after. She pulled a blanket over both of them and listening to the soft breaths of Ruby.
On her way to work in the morning, Yang saw both her sister and Cinder asleep sitting up in the guest bed. The sight made her smile and she pulled the guest room door partly closed as she passed. At least they had gotten some more sleep, she thought to herself. She'd have to remember to message dad to bring them to the shop later.
Her morning commute was uneventful. With the season changing, the sun was rising later and later making her morning drives darker and darker, but when she got to the shop it was always beginning to brighten outside. While it was nice to have more sunshine in the spring and summer, the fall and winter let her see more sunrises, and something about the first coffee in the morning with the sunrise made the coffee that little bit better.
Not long into the day, Yang's phone went off with a message from Winter. 'It's been a bit. Would you mind if we got dinner later?'
Yang had to think about it. It really had been a while since the two had done anything. All of the trips to bars stopped after Yang got frustrated about having to find a way for her truck to be brought home. Or, more specifically, about Winter having Yang's truck driven home. And the dinners seemed to only happen every other week.
'We can do that.'
'Great. Let's go to the taco place we went to a few weeks ago. 8 sound alright?'
'Yeah. 8 will work.'
"Look, you paid for the burgers. It's my turn," Winter insisted as she handed her card over while frowning at Yang who only shook her head in disbelief.
"Not even my own food?"
"Not this time, no," Winter answered matter-of-factly.
Yang rolled her eyes as the waiter awkwardly smiled. Winter's card was shoved into his hand and he bowed his head. "I'll be right back."
"This was more for me, anyway. My gym got bought out and shut down to make room for some new business the owners wanted to put in. I haven't been able to work out my frustrations in a couple of weeks now." Winter flopped back against her chair, leaning it back on two legs and using her knees under the table edge to keep balance.
"Sucks," Yang muttered. "But buying me cheap tacos helps how?" She leaned back in her chair and finished her soda.
"Gives me an excuse to not go home yet. I can't deal with father right now. He is driving me insane, and I don't even live at the family home anymore. I've got no clue how mother puts up with him. If it's not him sending down invoices twenty times a day at the office, he's calling to try and insult-praise me for crap from years ago."
"I'm sorry, but… Insult-praise?" Yang laughed.
Winter groaned. "It's almost like the opposite of a backhanded compliment. He'll call to yell at me for doing something right. All of his compliments sound like insulting lectures. I just can't deal with it anymore." She raised her hands and shook them in a strangling motion to emphasize her point. "Guuuuhhhhhh."
"Why not just find a new gym?"
"I'm going to have to soon, but only after sorting out what we're going to do with father. Mother still seems convinced she can get through to him and keeps shooting down my idea of forcing a vote. At this rate, I'm half tempted to just walk out." She rolled her head back and groaned.
"Well, why don't you?"
Winter sat back up and lowered her chair. "Hmm? The vote or the walking out? Because one of those is more ridiculous than the other."
"Would leaving be such a bad thing? It's not like you're unqualified for other jobs elsewhere." Yang shrugged. "Seems pretty simple to me."
"There are so many hoops to jump through for me to leave that I'm not sure it's even an option. It's… complicated." The waiter brought back Winter's card and receipt for her to sign. She quickly scribbled out her signature and handed it back and slipped her card back in her wallet. "Still nice to think about, though."
"And forcing a vote won't work because…?"
"Because there's a lot of politics in both the Schnee family and business. I told you before, it's all a mess. I'm almost envious of how simple running your shop must be in comparison."
Yang half shrugged. "We should probably leave, yeah? This place closes in like twenty minutes anyway."
Winter glanced at her phone and saw the time. "Oh, shoot, yeah. I need to stop by the store still on the way home." She stood up from the chair and grabbed her cup, draining it in the last drink, and set it down to grab her handbag. "Mm, thanks for doing this. I know you hate me, but it means a lot," she teased with a wink.
Yang rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Oh, whatever. Only a little bit."
The two left, Yang holding the door open for Winter who gave her shoulder a playful shove. "I'll see you later, then," she called and headed to her car. Yang gave a quiet wave of her hand and got in her truck.