oblivion [druig]

20

NEW YORK CITY
1975

AURORA

"You're not that good at hiding, you know?" My bored tone rises above the everyday traffic. I look down at my coffee, holding it with both my hands to warm myself up.

So far, the winter here seemed to be rough, but I kind of enjoyed it. I liked dressing in my scarf and my jacket. I liked wearing my gloves and my beanies and watching as the snow coated everything with white. 

I can see from my peripheral vision as she comes out from hiding, her illusion fading away. 

I smile to myself, adjusting my beanie over my loose hair as she comes closer. It made my hair look a nicer shade of brown. Auburn and golden in some places. 

She groans in defeat, shaking her head and finally going to stand beside me. 

"I thought I was getting better at it" 

I hum in amusement, tilting my head to the side as I watch people walk to and from places, all of them with the same New York rush everyone seems to have. 

"Maybe in a couple of hundred years, you'll master it" I note. I finally turn to her, eyebrows creasing. 

"What are you doing here, Sprite?" I finally ask, getting straight to the point. 

She looks up at me. Her nose is bright red from the cold, and she's wrapped in a thick jacket. 

"I heard what happened. Ajak sent me here to check in on you" She explains. 

I nod, rolling my eyes and taking a sip of my drink before staring into a walk. She starts walking beside me, following even though she doesn't even know where we're going. 

"Tell Ajak that I'm fine and that I don't need checking up on" I grumble, my breath vaporizing in front of me. 

"That's not what the Kingo says" She points out. 

I scoff in disbelief. 

"Oh yeah, and what does he say?" I turn to her at a stoplight, lips pursed. 

She looks at me up and down. 

"That you're struggling" She answers. "That you're off the rails and that even he can't keep up with you" 

"He never had to. He's not forced to take care of me. He can leave if he wants" I'm getting tired of her. I appreciated the worry, and why she was doing it, but I was fine. 

As fine as I could be, anyways. 

The team couldn't blame me for the way I'd handled everything. I know Sersi and Ikaris had already broken up, and Sersi had managed it unbelievably well. I was proud of her. 

But I couldn't say the same about myself. I was a mess. I knew it. Everyone knew it. 

Even though I'd wanted to, I couldn't actually bring myself to change. It was nice–not caring. Not expecting anything from anyone. 

New York had given me the comfort I'd deserved, even if it wasn't in a good way. I'd gotten lost in the people. In the enormity of the city. I didn't normally like big cities, but they seemed to fit me now. The city made me feel what I actually was. 

Alone. Heartbroken. Pathetic.

Kingo had been living here for a few years now as a star. Even though he did Bollywood mostly, a lot of his business was based here. He'd introduced me to the entire New York party scene.