Instances: A Coalesce Short

(thirteen.)

Lysette accompanies her everywhere on the first morning.

She’s fidgety, still; creaks make her cringe and she jumps violently when people suddenly appear out of nowhere. Aether is frazzled, trembles non-stop; Lysette notices and notices throughout the entire day but stays quiet until they get back to their room. Aether buries herself in bed immediately, shaking and not quite able to stop.

The redhead hesitates until she hears the sounds of sniffing, then sobbing. That’s when she chooses to move and sits by the other’s bed, unable to do anything more than to rub her back. The words ‘it’ll be okay’ sound horrible even to her; all she can manage is a ‘just let it out’. Aether follows and lets it out, screaming into her pillow and crying until her voice is hoarse and her tears have run dry.

Lysette remains, unsure of what to say. After all, she had just arrived yesterday—she remembered Aether’s blank face, tired eyes, how her clothes still smelled of smoke and soot. Biting her lip, she ponders for a moment before standing and starts to move to the door. Tea would help her, she thinks. Tea or water.

But just as she is about to open the door and head downstairs to grab a drink, she hears her roommate speak. It’s faint and nearly undetectable, but Lysette still hears. “…can you stay?”

She immediately disposes all thoughts of water and tea, and instead returns to the other’s bed and sits back down. Aether doesn’t look at her nor does she come out of her position, but she visibly relaxes just a little bit when she feels Lysette back on the bed with her.

Lysette lays a hand on her shoulder.

She flinches—just a little bit—then relaxes.

(fifteen.)

Aether awkwardly sits herself on the stool and looks at Lysette, who shoots a thumbs-up matched with a wide grin. “You look great,” the redhead insists. “Just sit there and smile for most of the time. We can talk, too.”

“I still don’t know what this is for,” Aether mutters.

“It’s for my class, remember? We have to draw a portrait of someone else and color it with either colored pencils or markers. I’d rather paint you—that’s easier—but painting isn’t until next month.” Lysette wrinkles her nose in distaste and flips to a new page of her sketchbook before looking back at her. “You dressed up nicely for this, though. Is that a new dress?”

“This thing?” Aether looks at herself. She’s wearing one of her favorite dresses—one that is deep red and reaches below her knees. She self-consciously crosses her knees and looks back at Lysette, who’s now lifting her pen to start sketching. “I got it a few months ago but never really took it out much. I figured that I’d have to look nice today.”

The smile on Lysette’s face grows slightly. “Well, you do look pretty today.”

“I—t-thanks.” Aether stumbles her words for some reason and turns red; she hears Lysette give a small laugh and she scowls but doesn’t exactly mean any cruel intention behind it. When she’s sure Lysette is off sketching, she looks at herself again and wonders: do I really look nice?

“Hey, A?” Aether looks up. Lysette cocks a brow at her. “I mean it—you look nice and all, but I think you’d look better if you smile. You know,” she waggles her eyebrows suggestively, “Like you do when you see—”

Aether protests loudly and attempts to cover her blushing face, but she’s smiling anyway.

She tries to ignore the flutter that came when Lysette called her pretty.

(seventeen.)

Lysette doesn’t notice Aether staring.

“—honestly, it’s a little frustrating that this kind of shit has to happen,” she rants. Aether listens. “I don’t understand why, honestly—all of this is bullshit.”

“I know it is,” Aether answers quietly. She places her hand on top of Lysette’s and the other’s rants stop at once. She looks at Lystte, “sometimes things don’t turn out the way we want them to turn out. It sucks,” she says a bit more firmly, “but we shouldn’t just keep ranting about it. You know?”

She exhales. “Yeah. I know.” Lysette looks at Aether’s hand and moves hers away, doesn’t notice the mildly hurt look in Aether’s eyes. But it disappears anyway when she takes it into her own, squeezing lightly. “I just don’t like it, you know? And I don’t understand why you can’t stay here with the rest of us.”

Aether gives a sad smile. She’s annoyed, too—she doesn’t like the thought of spending time away from home.

From Lysette.

“I don’t understand either.” She squeezes back, “But that’s the way things have to be sometimes.” Lysette still looks unconvinced, so she tries yet again: “I still have a couple of months left here. You know that. We have lots of time left.”

“I guess we do,” the other replies quietly. Aether wants to speak, to reassure—but nothing feels right. It’s not until Lysette stands does she look at the other, and when she does, the other girl is doing her best to smile. “Let’s go, then.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.” Aether rises to her feet, “Somewhere. I don’t care, okay? I’m willing to go anywhere just as long as it’s with you.”

She finds her breath catching for a moment.

Unable to say anything, she nods.

(eighteen.)

She hides the letter somewhere in their room.

It took her a long time to get the right words; she had spent hours and countless papers just trying to get her thoughts set straight. Aether exhales; she had hidden it somewhere and now she was sitting on her bed, anxiously rubbing her fingers together and trying to calm down before Lysette would come back—

The door opened and Aether jumped.

“Hey!” Lysette dumped her bag onto her study chair and stretched; “You look a little frazzled. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Aether replied, trying to get her heartbeat to calm down. “I just had to—to start clearing my things, you know? I might end up forgetting something important once I board the plane.” Lysette nodded at this absentmindedly, going right to her closet after and rummaging through it. “I organized that for you yesterday,” Aether started, only to stop when Lysette pulled out a green cardigan and slid it on without much trouble. “Where are you going?”

“More like where are we going and why aren’t you dressed up?” Aether looked at herself, seeing her most comfortable pair of sweatpants and the burgundy-colored tank top. “Move, Aether! We’re eating out!”

“But curfew—”

“We’ll be back soon!” Lysette insisted. She reached into Aether’s closet and grabbed the first few things she touched, “Come on, dress up!” Aether stumbled and caught the object, unable to protest as the redhead wheeled her into the bathroom. The door closed and Aether looked at her hands in dread, only to see a normal white dress and a red cardigan. She dressed up as quickly as she could, patting down her hair and attempting at looking better only to give up and come out anyway. Lysette was standing, leaning against the wall only to smile widely and genuinely at the sight of her.

Aether hesitated. “Is—is this good enough?”

“It’s pretty great for me,” she grabs Aether by the hand, “Let’s go!”

(She doesn't see the pink on Aether's cheeks.)