pink nights / sally face

the cabin (pt. 2)

falling asleep in ash's guest bedroom was honestly kind of spooky. like, of course the wind would pick up at night causing nearby tree branches to scratch the the window. and of course the window looked out into a dark void of nothing. that definitely made me feel safer. (no it didn't.) but the bed was comfortable and the shower felt nice. so i guess there wasn't much to complain about. besides the creepy noises and my loneliness.

when i ventured downstairs, the smell of pancakes and syrup hugged my nose. "oh yum, what's this?"

larry deadpans from the stove. "pancakes, y/n. have you never seen pancakes?"

"someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." i buff and sit down at the empty kitchen table.

he rolls his eyes and continues flipping. "so," ash starts, "i was thinking we could go sledding today!"

i perk up, "oh! i've never been!"

"well add that to the list of never's." larry snorts.

ash sets a plate in front of me and whispers, "he's grumpy this morning."

i nod taking a big forkful of pancakes.

"ah, there you are," ash loads up another plate before setting it down in front of sal who's now sat next to me.

he thanks ash and lifts his mask up from the bottom just enough to take a bite of food. "how'd you sleep?"

i shrug, "okay. the wind last night kind of kept me up."

he laughs under his breath, "yeah, me too." his voice is raspy and i can tell he's tired.

ash sits with her own plate heavily weighed down from a stack of pancakes. "well you guys are gonna have to suck it up and find the energy for sledding!"

______________

sledding was fun but i had to admit, i definitely was feeling the effects of my lousy night's sleep. walking up and down a snow covered hill wore me out more than i imagined, which i imagined would be a lot. with that in mind, i was near exhausted. and sore.

"holy shit, ash." i lugged my sled from the trunk of her car, "that was fun but i'm so glad we're back."

"fuck! me too." sal threw his sled into the shed with the others and quickly wrapped his arms around his shaking body. "it's so fucking cold." the sun was beginning to set and the temperature was dropping. as if it could get any colder.

ash shut the shed door and led us back inside, "you guys act like i can control the weather! and the earth's curvature! it's not my fault winter and hills exist!"

"maybe," larry huffed throwing himself onto the couch.

"hey, if you guys keep it up then we're not getting in the hot tub." she flicked on the fireplace and took a seat next to larry who shot up with urgency.

"oh, let's not get too serious here. we actually are so grateful you took us sledding." he looks over at sal with wide eyes, "right, guys?"

sal nods, "oh yeah! i, uh, i had so much fun! you just didn't see me smiling cuz of the mask. you know that!"

ash rolls her eyes, "yeah yeah, you know i'm gonna let you guys use it."

sal's eyes dart over to me. he's not smiling but something about the way he's looking at me tells me he's excited.

"uh ... well ... what about like, now?" larry looks at sal and i as if to ask, "you wanna?"