somnolescent

hour seven - elyshia and salvator eat ice cream while it snows

"Have you ever spent days and days and days making up flavors of ice cream that no one's ever eaten before? Like chicken and telepone ice cream? Green mouse ice cream was the worst. I didn't like that at all." - Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 7: Brief Lives

☾☆☽

"elyshia?" that wasn't the normal voice she usually heard in her nightmares. that wasn't her mother's voice, or her father's for that matter... "elyshia, we're here."

elyshia felt her eyes slowly open. the first thing she saw was salvator's gentle smile as he hovered over her. then she noticed the bus was no longer moving.

"rise and shine, sleeping beauty, we're back in town," he said with a quiet laugh. "do you feel slightly better?"

surprisingly, she did. she slowly sat up, rubbing her sore neck and unintentionally breaking contact with salvator's hand. her hand was clammy and hot. melt-the-snow kind of hot. "yeah, i do. thanks, salvator."

"it was nothing," he assured her with a broader smile. " and um, ely? you have bedhead." his smile turned into a smirk.

she groaned, red splotches appearing on her cheek as she desperately tried to comb out her hair. it was, unfortunately, tangled beyond taming. "this is all your fault," she declared as she took a dizzy step up and nearly fell back down. she completely forgot how disoriented sleeping made her because she rarely slept.

"my fault?" he repeated, amused, catching her by the waist before she toppled over. "and how is this my fault, sleeping beauty?"

"one, don't call me that," she said sharply, but her mind was protesting. she liked his terms of endearment towards her, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity. "two, it's your fault because i fell asleep, and my back aches, my neck aches, my hair is a mess, my hand is hot and sweaty, and i'm dizzier than a hurricane."

with his arms still around her waist, he slowly guided her towards the front of the bus. his voice made elyshia's back vibrate. it felt a tad bit like a miniature massage for her sore back. "well, you didn't get any nightmares, and you said you felt better. also, i think you're quite beautiful even with bedhead and a hot, sweaty hand... sleeping beauty."

elyshia could picture his mischievous grin and she rolled her eyes but allowed the subject to drop. "where are we going now? what time is it?"

"it's twelve ten in the morning, ely," answered carl at the driver's seat as salvator gently guided her down the steps.

"already? alright, thanks for the ride, carl," elyshia said to him with a groggy smile. she was still a bit disoriented. "how long did it take to get the bus fixed?"

"twenty minutes, maybe?" he shrugged. "turns out this old thing just needed a jump start. it was the cold. i might end up moving to florida because of this shitty weather." he glanced at us with an embarrassed expression. "right, so um... see you kids."

with a friendly wave, carl closed the bus doors and was off, once again leaving behind hot air (thank goodness) and the repugnant smell of exhaust (unfortunately). unfortunately, the hot air didn't last long. it wasn't snowing yet, not technically, just tiny little flakes fluttering everywhere like a bird's feather in the spring breeze. but because it was snowing (not technically), it was also freezing cold outside and elyshia couldn't help but shiver a little. the arms around her waist tightened.

"we'd better find some place to go," he said.

"i'm not taking you to my apartment," elyshia retorted, through slightly clenched teeth in an effort to stay even slightly warm. "for all you know, you could be a rapist." she highly doubted a charismatic, charming, sweet boy like salvator saxon could be a rapist, but of course she wasn't going to take any chances.