Warmth surrounded Weiss's body, seeping deep into her bones and turning her muscles to jelly. Her face was pressed into something soft and she didn't move to fix it, even though a voice in the back of her head told her she should get up. Weiss started sinking deeper and deeper into the calmness, almost losing herself in bliss, but right before she could make the final step a crashing sound came from somewhere far away.
Her eyes started to flutter open, but when she finally managed to crack them everything looked smudged and wrong, like she needed glasses. She saw a bright light ahead of her and movement but that was it.
She huffed trying to move her arms up, wanting to rub the sleep from her eyes, but was surprised to find her arms stuck. She tugged and tugged, only to realize that she was laying on her stomach, and she was the one weighing down her arms.
The cogs in her brain started to spin and she turned onto her back, the movement bringing some life back into her body as she rubbed her eyes like a newborn fawn. The lights she'd seen earlier was the television, which was still playing one of Winters movies, though she couldn't tell you which one.
Weiss knew movie titles as well as she knew engine parts, so not at all. There was a bald man walking over broken glass and grimacing with every step, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him. It was obviously fake, probably just sugar glass and food coloring. But still, every step he took looked so bloody…
Her stomach was in her throat as she sat up with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders. turning away from the screen and ignoring the sound of gunshots as she scanned the living room and kitchen for what had broken.
The room was filled with dim sunlight and long shadows creeping across the walls, slowly replacing the day. The kitchen table was covered in plates from breakfast and take out boxes, the smell of orange chicken and cooked peppers still hung tantalizingly in the air.
As time crawled on, it could've been minutes or seconds, Weiss was too groggy to care, she became less and less sure of what happened. There was no glass on the floor, none on the counter or tables, and there wasn't even anyone in the kitchen to break anything.
Sighing, Weiss turned back to the television and saw the man crawling backwards past the glass that had been shot out, "Am I tired or just stupid?" Weiss asked herself, sighing and falling into the couch, relaxing. "Just a dumb movie,"
Weiss watched the movie for a time, her eyes half open and closing more with every passing scene. Movie cases were scattered around the floor of the living room, some of the discs were still in their homes and others were scattered carelessly around the floor. Well, it wasn't just movies, there were plenty of her CD cases too, taking up just as much space.
Her- Winters, CD player was nowhere to be found, but Weiss wasn't concerned. It was probably under the couch or something like that, but she wasn't jumping to find it. Honestly, she didn't really wanna find it. The bald man jumped across an elevator shaft but Weiss closed her eyes before she saw if he made it. She started sliding back down the couch, but something didn't feel right.
There was something itching in the back of her mind that wouldn't go away. Was it school? No, Winter had called in for her and the woman in the front office, probably Hilda, sounded more excited than concerned. She didn't really have to worry about homework, her grade could take the hit and she'd be fine. It felt wrong to say, but it was true.
She giggled, wondering what Pyrrha would think of her now, sleeping all day instead of going to school… Pyrrha!
Weiss bolted up, suddenly frantically looking for her phone, "How could you forget to text her?" She cried, prying the cushions apart and stuck her hand in every crevice she could find to no avail. She looked down under the couch, only finding dust bunnies and more cases.
She shot to her feet, dancing around the cases towards her room. The door was open and her bottom cabinet looked like it had been raided, which it basically had been, with most of her CDs either out of order or on the floor outside. Her phone was nowhere to be seen.
Her bed was still a disaster from her stress nap yesterday, and she felt a smug grin on her face as she walked by it and towards her nightstand. Her phone was sitting exactly where she'd left it yesterday, only not it was hot to the touch and probably past 100% charge.
It was already six in the afternoon and for the second time her phone was actually full of messages in a group chat.
Pyrrha: Where r u? Sick? Dead? The match's 7, don't miss it!
Penny: Weiss, is everything ok?
Pyrrha: I think she's ignoring us, how rude,
Penny: Maybe she's just ignoring you? We'll be in front of the school at 6:30, if you can't make it that's fine!
Pyrrha: Yeah! But plz make it!
Penny: Plz stop.
Pyrrha: Make me
Weiss smiled, wondering what the two of them had been up to without her. She hadn't been friends with them for long, but it felt weird not seeing them already.
Weiss: I'm not dead, me and my sister spent the day together. I'll see you guys tonight!
"I wonder if this is what most people feel when they make friends?" She asked herself, sitting down on her bed.
But right as she sat down she bolted back up and looked at the time, "Shit, I'm late!" She cried, standing up and jumping to close the door before going for her dresser. In moments, her room was covered in half of the clothes she owned.
Every shirt she looked at seemed like it had something wrong with it and every pair of pants too loose. This kept going until she was mostly happy with her outfit, a light blue t-shirt and a pair of white shorts that fit her well enough, hopefully giving off some impression of hips.
She walked out of her room before thinking about trying on the black shorts, but time was ticking and she still needed the most important thing: a ride. The closer she got to the closed door the slower she got until she was standing outside of it, arms heavy at her side.
It was faint, but Weiss could make out the soft sound of snores coming from inside the room. This might not be a big deal to some people, and it was normal for Winter back at the Manor, but the past few months that noise has been all but gone. The silence was nice for a time, but it stopped being fun when Winters bags started to get worse.
Weiss knocked tepidly, flinching as the noise echoed through the room. Seconds ticked by, but the room was silent except for the snores. Weiss took a step backwards then steeled herself as she thought of Pyrrha and Penny standing there waiting for her to never come.
The handle squealed as she turned it, sounding like the cry of a banshee that was only outdone by the groan of the hinges. All of the lights were off in the room with the only light streaming in through the open window over her sister's head along with the gentle sound of cars zooming by outside.
Winter was curled up in the middle of the bed wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, the only thing sticking out was her face and a black cord that looked all too familiar. It was faint, but Weiss could hear music playing from somewhere inside of the blankets.
The tune was muffled, but when she realized it was a Firestartes song Weiss felt like crying. She knew what these songs meant to her sister, what this band means to her, and it broke her heart seeing her sister listen to something that probably hurts her with every note.
Weiss took a step in the room, the wood floor creaking as she moved. Winters snoring stopped for a moment while Weiss froze, only moving again when the noise started back up. She didn't take another step though, she pulled her foot back through the threshold.
"How about you get some sleep? You've earned it," Weiss whispered to herself, turning away and pulling the door shut.
"How about you learn how to be quiet?" Winter mumbled, the blankets jiggling like jello as she talked.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you! I was just checking to see where you were, I'll leave you be," Weiss said as she quickly started to close the door.
"Weiss, didn't we just talk about this? What's up?" She asked, popping the rest of her head out of the blankets, her eyes half open.
"It's… I sort of promised some friends of mine that I'd go with them to watch this thing at school tonight and I needed a ride. It starts in an hour, but it's not a big deal though, you can go back to sleep," But before she was even done talking her sister was rolling out of bed like a roly poly.
"If my baby sister made a promise then I'm obligated to help you keep it, those are the rules, " Winter yawned, standing up in her pajama pants t-shirt with an outline of some dinosaur bones on it.
"No, you can relax and sleep. Maybe when you get up we could do something?"
"Or you could go hangout with your friends and leave your boring sister at home for once, how does that sound?" Winter asked as she put on a pair of socks, her hair sticking out in all directions.
"It sounds so bad when you put it like that…"
"But accurate. So, what am I taking you to? Basketball game or something?"
"Boxing match," Weiss said, watching Winter freeze, "It wasn't really my first choice, but it's supposed to be a big fight between Yang and someone else, everyone seemed really excited about it,"
"If it's Yang fighting it should be a fun time," Winter chuckled, walking past Weiss and into the hallway.
"Do you wanna go? We could sit in the back and watch,"
"Something tells me that's the last thing Yang wants, especially after she called me a bitch,"
"I don't think she means it, I think she's just mad. I'm not sure why, but I think she'd like it," Weiss said carefully as she chased after her sister. Winter walked to the door without giving the living room a second glance, grabbing her keys from the hook.
"Maybe, but I don't wanna make her mad. She needs to focus today, especially if she's fighting who I think she is. Just tell her I wish her luck? Or maybe don't, whatever you think… I trust you," Winter said, turning and giving a smile that was full of life.
"Thanks," Weiss said simply, smiling.
"Oh, but there's one condition to me taking you,"
"What's that?" Weiss asked, shocked with Winter through the keys at her. She danced around for a moment but managed to keep the keys in her hands.
"You're driving,"