Aubrey's hand reached up and strainedly searched for purchase on the grassy rise, covered in cool morning dew. Eventually, she settled on a flat but rough rock and began to pull herself up, straining her already firey core closer still to the point of buckling.
Julia's voice came from above, "Everything okay down there? Don't fall again, I'm not keeping you another month!" She said nonchalantly.
Aubrey was pressing her stomach so hard that she could barely breathe through the pain erupting from her mended ribs. Not like she would have dignified her with a response anyway, though.
Julia yawned under the gaze of the morning sunrise, "It really is nice up her, Aubrey, did you risk almost getting eaten by floaters for nothing?"
Aubrey felt like exploding without Julia's input, not to mention the fact that she had broken ribs just a few weeks ago. Before Julia could get another joke in, Aubrey finally pulled herself up enough to get her other hand on the cool, wet grass. She took in a deep breath, then lifted herself all the way up and onto the weathered edge.
Julia sat triumphantly on the other side, posing annoyingly, "Yay, it wasn't a party without you!"
Aubrey fell onto her back, out of breath and so spent that her stomach ached just stretching enough for her to lay on the pastel green grass, "Fuck...you." She said, light-hearted but still vexed. "Why don't you just help me up? Remember the last time? My ribs do."
Aubrey could make out a faint smile on Julia's pale face, even through the dim light and her heavy hood. Julia clearly wanted to forget it, instead, jesturing towards the sunrise,
"Isn't it beautiful? I would die again to see it all the way through. Just once..." She began excitedly, almost brimming with awe, but her voice faded into a sad, wistful mumble.
Aubrey didn't respond, just catching her breath, feeling her back grow colder and colder each time she rasped in a new breath against the clammy grass. Julia laughed, "Okay, maybe I should've waited another day."
She reached an arm to Aubrey, "C'mon, it's a good one this morning." She said warmly.
After another few breaths, Aubrey took Julia's hand and pulled herself up next to her. The sun peeked through the trees already, painting the sky a shining, brilliant spread of reds and pinks.
They sat there a few minutes, although Julia slumped her head half way through, covering her face from the sun.
Aubrey held Julia close; she was colder than the air around them, but Aubrey still wanted to hold her. All this time spent in this graveyard of steel and concrete had fostered a warmth between them that felt stronger than anything else Aubrey felt now. Anything other than pain and fear...
Julia squeezed Aubrey's hand, "What's wrong? You're breathing heavy again. Are you cooling down more?"
Aubrey leaned her head on Julia's, "Just...thinking. Let's pick those flowers, now. I wanna get back inside. I can't believe I miss that old building, now...(Yawn)"
YOU ARE READING
A Frozen Kiss
Romance(This is pretty much deprecated, take a look at Out of the Dark, its reboot/successor) It's been a long time since most ruins from the ancients were beaten to rubble and ground down to dust, but much like the people it sought to destroy, the weapon...
