[Closed] Ashes ashes in the air

[belligerentwarrior]

WHO: Freya and Lucy, Minako later
WHERE: Their apartment
WHEN: Saturday Evening
WHAT: Someone takes a hallucinomemory very poorly
WARNINGS: None at the moment

[When the first major vision struck her, a few months ago, it left Freya shaken and fearful down to her core. Even though she knew (believed) it wasn't grounded in reality, she couldn't help suspicious glances at the too-normal moon at night—even though it was ludicrous for some giant, flying metal creature to live behind it. Time had tempered the vision's intensity, making it feel like some old, faded, but still chilling nightmare.]

[A nightmare she assumed done. Freya knew she was wrong when that shock of terror returned, causing the glass in her fingers to slip and shatter across the kitchen floor, not unlike the phantom rain of stone and rubble that overwhelmed her senses.]

[When it was over, with that thing departing into the sky with land and ore in its colossal hands, the terror was gone; grief and seething hatred wholly replaced it.]

[And Freya knew, deep down, inexplicably, that her family was dead.]

[She tried to reject it. Freya pulled out her phone with trembling hands that felt too large and like they should've been battered and bruised. She had parents. She remembered them raising her. They lived in the same damn part of the city as her. Still, she couldn't steady her fingers; she kept hitting the wrong app and contact and closing the wrong screen and—the frustration of failing to make a simple phone call was too much, on top of everything else. Freya wheeled about pitched her phone at the window with a furious shout, but she couldn't even take satisfaction in the way the device or the pane cracked.]

[Freya leaned over the countertop, eyes screwed shut, trying to ground herself. The emotions were overwhelming, too vivid, and squeezed her chest as a vice would. It was hard to breathe.]

Comments

[long_live_the_queen]

[Work had been exhausting today. Normal hours, sure, but there was an awful lot of running back and forth moving product around the warehouse while orders and orders flooded in for the upcoming holiday. Lucy had flopped over onto the couch almost immediately, kicking off her shoes and lapsing into a half-doze for a hazy length of time. Fang had curled up on her stomach in the meantime, contentedly purring. All was well.

Then glass shattered in the kitchen, and Lucy's eyes blinked open. Who else was home...? Her roommates didn't really drop things, and she didn't hear Freya's cursing or Minako's startled shouts. She rubbed at her eyes without sitting up; she didn't want to dislodge the cat.

Suddenly, something smashed into the kitchen window—not quite more shattering, but far louder than just a bird making a terrible mistake. And Freya shouted, wordless, angry, loud, and startled the cat awake. He launched off of Lucy in a panic, vanishing into another part of the apartment with his back and tail bottlebrushed out. She made an 'oof' when the cat kicked off of her like that—he was heavy—but not any more recognizable words.

Was someone breaking in? Was Freya in trouble? The teenager scrambled up, tumbled over the couch and towards the front door first—to grab one of the baseball bats there. By the time she stumbled into the kitchen it was already raised to her shoulder, though she stopped suddenly at the glitter of glass on the floor.]

Freya?!

[belligerentwarrior]

[It hadn't occurred to her that someone might be home. It hadn't mattered, in the moment; she was distraught enough that it still didn't matter.]

[Freya wasn't in the mood to deal with Lucy's vitriolic attitude. She stopped herself short of telling Lucy to get back to whatever she'd been doing before; Freya's phone was probably in pieces right now, or non-functional even if it wasn't. What had that little tantrum accomplished?]

I need your phone. [She muttered quietly, still huddled against the countertop, not looking up.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[There was just Freya in here, and the broken glass—and a cracked window. But it didn't look like someone had tried to force their way in, more like something had hit it. From the inside.]

Why, yours broken or— [oh. There it was, on the floor.

...that screen didn't look very intact. Yikes.]

...I'll get a broom. Too. [Lucy added, baseball bat dropping away from her shoulder as she shuffled off. She leaned the bat against a potted plant as she passed by; she'd get it later, right now she needed to get other things.

When Lucy returned, she had the phone in question, along with a long handled broom and a set of cheap sandals. The teenager gingerly picked her way through the broken glass, stopping in place near Freya's elbow expectantly.]

[belligerentwarrior]

[A surprisingly considerate answer from her ill-tempered roommate; it's a shame Freya wasn't thinking clearly enough to appreciate it.]

[She breathed deeply a few more times, but it still felt inadequate for her racing heart and her pulse refused to settle. Freya had to blink a few times when she opened her eyes; when had they teared up?]

[The hand that Freya held out was steadier than it had been before Lucy rushed in, but still remarkably unsteady considering it was Freya's. The thoughts just wouldn't leave, edging in on every other rational thought. They'll get what's coming. I'll destroy them. ...But who was "them?"]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy blinked, suddenly not sure she had even woken up. Freya didn't drop things. Freya didn't cry. What was going on?

She stayed frozen, as if moving would cause this surreal scene to shatter too.]

...you sick, or something?

[belligerentwarrior]

[Irritation quickly sparked into that knee-jerk urge to lash out again.]

Yeah. I'm sick. [Her words were bitter and sharply punctuated.] That's what's wrong. [And just as sarcastic. Freya looked over her shoulder into order snatch the device out of Lucy's hands. This was important; quit delaying her. She had to call and check—make sure they was okay.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy was probably one of the worst people in the city at conflict deescalation. She wasn't angry before, but Freya's response blew those coals alight all the same. She didn't snatch her phone back, but her bewildered expression readily changed to something agitated.]

The fuck is your problem?

[belligerentwarrior]

Rack off!

[Freya set the phone on the countertop after opening the dialer to keep it still. She had a better control of her breathing and her trembling had lessened, but it still took effort and concentration to accurately tap out the number she knew by heart.]

[Keeping her voice even was going to be another challenge altogether, but it was what it was. The recipient answered just as she'd pressed the phone to her ear.] Hey, Dad.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Her immediate impulse was to snap back, or smack Freya with the broom. Then Freya looked away from her, and extinguished her anger just enough that the crunch of broken glass under her shoes reasserted itself. If they were going to fight in the kitchen, broken glass on the floor would make everything astronomically worse.

So Lucy started sweeping up the fragments of glass. Angrily.]

[belligerentwarrior]

[Even hearing one half of the conversation, it's easy for Lucy to tell it devolved into concerned questioning over the state of Freya's voice and speech. It's not a long one, though.]

No, I'm fine. Promise. Just—calling to make sure you two are alright. Nightmare. That's all.

[She muttered a quick right, love you and closed the call, setting Lucy's phone down. The taller woman's silent—then strikes the countertop with her fist. The pain's both refreshing, in a way, a respite from the grief and the anger, and a further annoyance.]

[She's never experienced anything like this before. She had to do something with that rage coiling in her chest; Freya knew she couldn't just keep breaking things. That didn't help anything.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy gathered up the bits and shards with short, agitated strokes, listening despite herself. It...made her feel jealous, hearing someone talk to family like that.

Hearing Freya slam her hand down made her jump, though, and Lucy glanced over her shoulder irritably.]

Done yet?

[belligerentwarrior]

[Freya sucked in a wavering breath (it still didn't feel like enough air) and straightened up, turning to look (glare, nearly) at Lucy.]

Why [her voice is rough again, but with far less of the explosive anger from earlier,] does everything that falls out of your mouth try to pick a fight? Get it through your head right now that I don't have the patience today.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy's first snap was immediate, a piece of glass skittering away across the floor tiles as her next sweep of the broom was just as agitated.]

Because—

[She was like that. She'd always been like that, since she was small; it was how she survived, how she was listened to, and so what if people didn't want to talk to her again? It's not like anyone—

...said as much, to her? Confronted that anger, and threw it back into her face?

The irritation on Lucy's face wavered and she looked away, brows still furrowed and shoulders still tense. She didn't finish the sentence.]

june 21st;

[complementing]

[The woods expedition went as well as it could have. Nobody died! Big achievement. Nobody got mauled by monsters or attacked by spirits, either. The only thing is, Minako isn't really sure if they learned anything of importance with this trip-- it didn't really feel like it, even though Sorey had assured her that he'd learned something new from the last time he'd been in the woods.

She's mulling the thought over as she waters the echo plant in its pot. She has an appointment to take it to Rosalind in the afternoon, but other than that she's taking some well-deserved rest and wondering why Freya had seemed so sullen earlier in the morning on the walk back to the apartment.]

I should ask her about it...

Ask her about it, [The echo flower demands, and Minako groans.]

I can't wait to get rid of you.

[belligerentwarrior]

[It has, admittedly, been quite difficult to ask Freya about it. She's been scarce since the trip, leaving almost immediately after their return for work and mumbling something about getting drinks after. She didn't come home that night, and popped in Tuesday to grab her gym stuff before dashing out again. She returned again, sometime around ass o'clock in the morning and turning in to sleep immediately.]

[Freya shuffles out of her room while Minako's watering the plants, blearily murmuring a greeting (the flower blearily murmurs it back) as she passes, shoving her hair out of her face and poking her face into fridge. Even though the sun's well up, it looks like she's just rolled out of bed.]

[For the little that she's been around, her mood has seemed to have sharply improved in the last day or two, even if she hasn't been sleeping that well.]

[complementing]

[Minako watches Freya from behind the plant, tilting her head. Well, here's the perfect opportunity to ask Freya, but she isn't sure if she should, with her looking so tired...

Hm, food always makes things better. Maybe Freya will perk up once she's eaten.]

Want me to make an omelette for you?

[belligerentwarrior]

[There's a snort from behind the fridge door before she reemerges with the juice and a few eggs.]

'ppreciate it, but you don't gotta do that. Feels like I haven't cooked my own food in weeks. [Between Minako, Pen, and take-out, there's a distinct possibility it has been well over a week since she's cooked.]

[complementing]

Then hopefully you don't mind if me and Echo here hang out with you?

[Because Minako knows to usually leave Freya alone when she's this exhausted, but she's usually not this coherent when she's exhausted, so it's a fifty-fifty chance at this point.]

[belligerentwarrior]

[Coherent, yes, but she's still not quite enunciating her words sharply.] Knock yourself out. Want anything?

[I mean she's not a huge fan of the flower, but if Minako's apparently bonded with it...]

[complementing]

[She hasn't bonded with it, she just has to keep it alive until she pawns it off on her professor. There's a difference!]

I'm good! I already had breakfast.

[So now she's just going to watch Freya cook like the weird roommate she is, waiting for the right moment to ask her questions.]

[belligerentwarrior]

["Just keeping it alive" doesn't involve including it in your daily activities, Mina.]

[A shrug.] Suit yourself.

[And so she goes about her cooking. It's just scrambled eggs, so it's not all that complicated. Even though Minako denied anything, Freya still sets a half-glass of juice in front of her roommate when she gets around to pouring herself a cup.]

[complementing]

[Minako murmurs a soft thank you, but doesn't take a drink, only watching Freya as she steps away. Well, here goes nothing.]

...have you not been sleeping well, lately?

[belligerentwarrior]

[Her attention stays on the pan, and her response is not immediate. Her tone remains casual, though.]

Not really. Those [vague handwave as her drowsy brain comes up with the word,] hallucinomemories've been screwing with my head a bit.

[Read: nightmares.]

[complementing]

[She makes a soft sound of understanding, doing her best not to stare a hole into Freya's back but unable to help herself.]

Do you want to talk about it?

[belligerentwarrior]

[She didn't particularly want to talk about it. Bad dreams aside, it's been getting more manageable, especially after her talk with Penelope—almost like the memories were getting older in her mind, years at a time as days went by.]

[It wasn't necessarily easier, though, even if the associated emotions didn't send Freya off the rails anymore.]

Sure, if you wanna know. It's not a short chat. [She taps the spatula on the pan a few times before turning off the heat and plating her eggs, oblivious to Minako's gaze.]