Steam & Silence

After cleaning the dishes, Audra dried her hands and stepped into the living room. She immediately saw Zephyr sprawled on the couch with his eyes fixed on a book. The lights were dim, casting a warm glow over the room, and the sound of the heater hummed softly in the background.

"Guessing you're done?" he asked, not looking up from the pages.

"Yeah, I finished the dishes. Thanks again for the food."

"Don't mention it. You can watch some TV or something, or if you want to turn in early, you know where the bedroom is. Either way though, you should probably take a shower first. You need it."

"I'll probably call it a night soon, so—Wait a minute. Are you saying I stink?" she demanded, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Let the record show that I never said anything about smell. All I'm suggesting is that a shower is in order," he replied, still not looking up from his reading material. Although Audra did sense a slight snicker.

"…"

In all honesty, she knew he was right, even if she didn't want to admit it. She couldn't remember the last time she had bathed properly. Every 'shower' she had this past week was done using rainwater and paper napkins.

She kicked the carpet a little to dissuade her stinky pride. "Fine. I'll go take a shower, but I hope your water heater works properly. Otherwise, I'll be complaining the whole time."

"I assure you; it works just fine. Just try not to use all of it; it takes a bit for the heater to refresh the supply. Oh, and the towels are in the cabinet next to the door. Use the blue ones. They're clean."

This time, he almost sounded like her mother. She opened her mouth to quip something back but closed it again in better judgment before trudging toward the bathroom.

When would her brain stop doing that?

Once she stepped inside, she tried busying herself by examining the place. It was a simple room that smelled faintly of bleach. It had a toilet and shower on one end and a sink and mirror on the other. The walls were tiled white and blue, there was a thick, plush mat in front of the shower door, and a small potted cactus sat atop a shelf above the toilet. Then, when she flicked a switch, a fan buzzed quietly in the ceiling as it vented the air outside.

Not too shabby for an old-young man.

After locking the door, Audra stared at herself in the mirror. Tangled hair, exhausted amber eyes, a face nearly drained of color—she barely recognized herself.

She sighed before turning on the water and undressing herself, wondering just how long she could loiter without completely draining the heat.

***

Once she was done, Audra stepped into the warm humidity. Her skin was tingling from the heat of the water, and she wrapped a towel around herself before drying her hair and checking over her prosthetics.

Her bionics contained a couple of things for convenience: a small heating element that kept them dry, and a thin waterproof film that protected them from moisture. As a result, most water would immediately drip off and whatever was left would typically evaporate in a few seconds.

She had to admit it was a neat effect to watch sometimes, seeing the water steam off and dissipate into the air.

However, that was the only thing she really liked about her prosthetics aside from their functionality.

Audra leaned back against the wall, looking in the mirror.

She deeply hated how the prosthetics looked on her and the clear divide they created in her physicality. Despite her brain telling her that they were a part of her, her heart would never see it that way. They were foreign, and they made her feel incomplete, like a 3-D puzzle with pieces that didn't fit together quite right.

A bunch of people she knew before saw it like that too.

Her lips scrunched together as she ran her hand through her damp locks. At least her hair and half of her body were still hers. That was better than nothing.

After brushing her teeth and changing into an oversized sweater she'd been saving, she headed out of the bathroom and to the living room. Zeph would probably appreciate her letting him know she was finished so he could hop in next.

"Hey, Zeph, I'm done. There should be hot water left… probably."

However, there was no response from him. Curious, she shuffled across the carpet and toward the couch. He was still sitting upright, so it didn't look like he had fallen asleep.

"Hey, Zeph. Do you copy? Don't tell me that your hearing's shot."

Still nothing. She was in front of him now and she could see that his eyes were open. However, they seemed unfocused. It was almost like his mind was somewhere else entirely, and his eyes were starting to shimmer with tears as he tightly clutched the book in his hands.

"Zeph?" she repeated, louder this time. She reached out and lightly tapped him on the forehead. "Hello? Anyone home in there?"

Despite the contact, he didn't move or react in any way. If his eyes hadn't been wide open, she would've thought he had passed out.

"Zephyr!" she shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. Finally, there was a response; his silver pupils slowly focused back on her before widening slightly.

"Ah!—Oh, sorry. What's wrong?" he asked, blinking rapidly as if trying to reorient himself.

"I should be asking you that. You were completely spaced out just now."

"I was?" He looked puzzled, but then he smiled sheepishly, sniffling a little. "Erm. Sorry about that. Guess I'm more tired than I thought."

"…Are you sure that was it? Do you need a doctor or something?"

He pressed a finger to his temple, as if nursing a headache that wouldn't go away. "N-no, it's alright. Long day, you know?"

Zeph took a couple of seconds before nodding, his gaze intentionally avoided hers. "A-anyways, I'll go take a quick shower, then I'll hit the sack. You should probably do the same. There are extra blankets in the hallway closet, so feel free to help yourself to those."

She squinted at him as he got up. She could tell he was hiding something from her, but with a sigh, she decided to leave it be. She didn't want to force him to explain himself, especially with how accommodating he was being. Plus, he seemed weirdly emotional now.

"Fine. I'll go to bed then. Good night, I suppose."

He nodded almost absently. "Yeah. Good night, Audra."

She watched him disappear down the hallway and into the bathroom. Then, she walked back to her new room, closing the door behind her, grabbing her teddy bear, and climbing into bed.

It was surprisingly comfortable. The mattress was firm but not too hard, and the blankets were soft and cozy as she lay back and stared at the ceiling.

The room was quiet except for the faint noise of the shower running from the next room. The faint scent of laundry detergent and fabric softener wafted through the air, and she found herself gradually relaxing into the bedding.

It almost made her feel like she was back at home and lying in her own bed.

"…"

Except this wasn't home, and she didn't have the luxury of sleeping dreamlessly. Not after everything that happened back home.

Audra rolled over, burying her face into the pillow and squeezing her eyes shut. Crap. She didn't want to think about it anymore, but the memories suddenly came back to her in full force, unbidden and unwelcome.

The rain. The screams. The pain.

The blood.

She shook her head as hard as she could and tried to banish the thoughts, burrowing into the mattress. She took a deep breath and exhaled, repeating the process a few times until she felt the anxiety start to fade away.

It didn't work entirely, but it was enough to shift her focus to something else. This time a different topic popped into her mind. A more recent topic: Zeph.

He was a strange one. However, something told her that he was a good person, at least when compared to most others. After all, he had let her stay here and had fed her—trusted her even. It was more kindness than she had expected.

She didn't know how much of his story she could actually believe, but it didn't really matter at the moment. Maybe tomorrow he'd be willing to answer a few of her questions. If not… well, she would at least have somewhere to stay for the moment.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes again and willed herself to fall asleep. A small part of her wondered how long she would stay here, and a smaller, quieter part wondered what would happen after. But those were questions that could wait another time.

Right now, she just needed to rest.