Fire and Rain [🗸]

17. morning zahra and providence

ok so i had 2 things to say ! 

first thing was that u should check out the pinterest for f&r bc i'm essentially obsessed with it ! 

2 - the plan for my next book (somewhere in the far future) is elliot and kieran and yes i alr have a pinterest board for them. and it's going to be v rad + swaggerific so check it out ! 

i also want to write abt myles at some point bc he deserves a place in the hlu so yeah !!

***

THE SCENT OF EIGHT AM is Ronya's cooking.

As I sit up in the bed that Zahra and I halfheartedly made a pillow-border in, everything hits different. It reminds me of the mornings after sleepovers at Zahra's place. 

There'd be something good coming down from the kitchen, Zahra would be asleep because she's always had an aversion to waking up early—and her standards for what counts as "early" are different, to say the least.

Still, it reminds me of that. There's a certain feeling in the air, some sort of comfort. I'm here at this moment in this time, in an overly spacious apartment in Providence.  There's something assuring about that.

From next to me, Zahra's still asleep, gusts of air leaving her lips. Her hair's a mess, falling over her eyes, and her side rises up before falling down. A half-grin appears on my lips as I rise to my feet.

There's a shower just below the attic that Zahra showed me earlier, so I grab my towel and head into the place with all my shit. I'm in the shower not too long after, the water raining down on me. The heat is near the maximum, like it usually is whenever I shower.

I don't know why, really. Maybe I want to see what hell is like, see if I can handle the flames. Maybe it's just about fire, drowning everything else out until there's just me and steam and the hot rain hitting the shower floor.

When I'm done, I pull on a t-shirt and shorts, pulling my hair back into a curly bun before wading back into the attic. Zahra's still in bed, and she doesn't seem to be any closer to waking up. I don't want to wake her up, but I also don't want to venture downstairs without her.

I give her a little nudge with my hand. A whisper escapes my lips, "Hey, I think it's time for breakfast." 

Zahra buries her head into the mattress, exhaling a groan. "Alright." She holds her blanket closer, eyes still shut. "I'll be right there."

 She doesn't look like she'll be right there anytime soon, but the cat—the lion is bound to jump out if anyone tries to drag her out of bed. With that, I exhale a breath, but leave the room, gently closing the door behind me.

I make my way downstairs, hand slowly travelling down the rails. The scent grows stronger as I make my way down to the main floor of the apartment.