Indigo (NaNoWriMo13)

Chapter 37 - Breaking Point

Dedicated to FallenMidnightAngel ~ CHIBI ZOE/THIRA <3

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Chapter 37 - Breaking Point

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After Discord and his posse of Elites had been 'kicked to the curb' as Kione kept saying, Athira retreated to her room to mediate and get her colour back to a level where it wasn't trying to lift the couch off the floor when she walked by. 

She went into meditation with something like hope, only to have it crushed. Talon remained missing. She couldn't find a single quill of evidence anywhere, despite her certainty he was nearby more than once. She wandered the mindscape, calling for him... but he never showed. 

Talon wasn't the only one missing from the picture. Rathe was also nowhere to be seen. Though it was something, it was poor compensation for her friend's absence. By the time she resigned herself to lulling her colour to a controllable level, despair gripped her. She started wondering if Talon would even consider her a friend anymore. She missed him more than she cared to admit. 

What did I do to him?

The thought weighed heavier than anything gravity could claim as she returned to the physical world. Athira couldn't find the will to stand up, let alone move, so she sat there, hoping that Talon would somehow surface in her thoughts if she waited long enough. 

That was when Zoe had taken matters into her own hands and dragged Athira into the kitchen for adventures in cookie experimentation. 

Zoe could be stubborn sometimes.  Athira had just forgotten how much so. 

Sitting on the floor now in Zoe's colourfully decorated room, under strict orders from the woman herself not to move unless she wanted her hair dyed pink, Athira was grateful for Zoe's stubbornness. 'No' or 'leave me alone' hadn't been an acceptable answer for Zoe... even if that box she'd produced containing various ribbons and clips was making Athira regret not resisting harder. 

The threat of pink hair kept her in place as Zoe scooted over, pulling the box with her. 

"Any preferences?" asked Zoe. 

Athira really didn't like the look of that box. "Preferences for... what, exactly?" 

Zoe ran her fingers through the contents of the box, letting them trickle through in a disorganised rainbow of colour. "Ribbons, clips? Any colour?" Seeing Athira's blank look, she added, "I'm doing your hair, Thira. No refusals!" 

Athira lifted a hand to touch her hair, pulling a strand or two taut. As far as she was concerned, it was fine just the way it was. Clean and devoid of the multicoloured ribbons Zoe was eyeing. 

She sighed and dropped the hand into her lap. She knew how this discussion was going to end. "As long as you're not actually going to dye it pink."

"Only if you resist me!" said Zoe happily, bundling up Athira's cloak and banishing it to the corner. 

Athira held the shins of her crossed legs as Zoe set to work with the brush. 

At least mine's short, Athira thought, eyeing Zoe's platinum lengths. If it was as long as Zoe's, we'd be here all week. 

"So," said Zoe. From the corner of her eye, Athira saw her bite her bottom lip before a smile broke the hold. "You and Shift, hey?" 

Athira considered sinking into the ground before she imagined pink locks edging her vision. "No idea what you're talking about. I just needed his help because he could borrow my colour."