¹wild nights, wild nights // x. thorpe

4. cloudy with a chance of gargoyle

suggested track: bitter water - the oh hellos

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

WHEN I returned to my dorm that first day with Wednesday at Nevermore, I pushed the door open with a slight laziness, leaning against it once it closed behind me.

Carmilla lay on her bed, her socked feet waving in the air. She was hunched over a sketchbook, scribbling something. I crossed the room to peer over her shoulder, tilting my head as I tried to figure out what she was drawing.

"What is it?" I asked. She jumped, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw it was only me.

Turning back to her drawing, she continued to add little details. "It's Sisyphus. See?"

I did see it, now that she said it outright. There was a little shaded stickman, using his little stick arms to push this massive rock up a hill that streaked across the middle of the page.

"It's looking great," I encouraged her, not wasting another breath before I plopped face-first onto her bed.

Her hand moved to stroke my hair, her silky voice posing the question, "You all right, sweets?"

I wasn't. "Yeah, just tired."

"Get some sleep then," she said, moving to slide off the bed, but I reached out to stop her. Her eyes softened, and she laid down beside me, pulling me into her chest so she was sort of spooning me.

There we slept, side by side, still donned in our uniforms.

~~~~

Fencing the next day was its usual rigorous torture. If it was my choice I would have the whole sport eradicated. I would collect all the sabers and masks and drop them into some volcano that I'm sure exists.

But, to my great despair, it was not my choice. Fencing was a required class at Nevermore.

Yippee.

For some ridiculous reason, Carmilla loved fencing. It's probably because she's amazing at it. I often told her to go pair up with someone else rather than me, someone who would actually give her a good fight. She always grinned, poked me with the end of her sword, and shook her head. Then we would fight once more, and I'd land on my rear with my dignity hanging on for dear life.

I wasn't improving either, that much was clear from that day's class.

Let's just say that being advanced upon by a highly competitive vampire is one of the scariest ways to pass time.

I brought my saber blade up to block, but Carmilla's swipes were swift and brisk, her blade not giving me any time to think, let alone keep up long enough to--

My eyes widened, under my mask as my left foot caught under my right. I hit the piste, my spine aching for a break. My sword rolled away from me, coming to a stop right before Carmilla's feet. Traitorous weapon.

Carmilla ripped off her mask, allowing me to see her cheeky grin. "You okay down there?"

Some choice words came to mind, which I choked down. Instead of spitting curses, I settled for a fierce glare that did nothing but make her laugh. She reached down to grab my elbow and hoisted me up. "Don't be a sore loser. Here, let's go again."

She made to pick up my saber, which I did admit was a sweet gesture (she knew well of the back pains I complained about daily), but I jumped to press it back down with the toe of my boot. "Ah-ah. Sorry. I'm taking a break."