Blind Voices (g/t)

Four

Slow, loud, deep breathing shook the air. From his bed, Elias slept soundly, oblivious to the world. The bright morning sun had been beating down on him for quite some time, but he had remained quite unbothered, his head turned away from the light.

Aerin watched him as he slept, her head resting against a large book. They hadn't spoken since he'd so rudely brushed her off the night before, mostly due to the fact that he'd fallen sound asleep shortly after his return. She wondered what exactly had happened downstairs to make him so upset.

Realizing that watching him would reveal no answers, she stood and turned on her heel. Perhaps she could utilize the morning by scavenging the massive kitchen below.

She jogged back into her home to get her gear before turning to travel down the dusty passageway in the wall. The kitchen was quite a distance for someone of her size, but that certainly hadn't stopped her from getting the supplies she needed. The passage ended abruptly, but Aerin, knowing the way and all its twists and turns, had already leapt and caught a hold of the red string dangling into the dark abyss below. There was a ladder fashioned from staples next to it, but she found it was much quicker to use the string.

With homemade gloves covering her small hands, she slid down the length of the string, only slowing herself once she saw light once more. With a soft thump, Aerin was on the ground again. She jogged along the inner wall, reaching her destination within minutes.

It didn't take her long to identify the hiding spots of everything she needed. The only problem would be getting to them. But, as she had done this many times before, she was able to complete her task within record time, even adding a large square of Kleenex tissue to her collection.

This ought to last me a little while, she thought to herself while packing up the tissue, along with some random pieces of cereal and other assorted scraps. Cereal and other such fallen and forgotten crumbs had been the most easily accessible food for quite a while, so it wasn't much of a surprise that she'd be living off the minuscule scraps once more.

Finally packed and ready to head back, Aerin hoisted the bag on her shoulders. It took some effort for her to heave herself and all of the supplies up back through the wall, up the ladder, and into the remaining passage. As soon as she reached the top of the ladder, though, she noticed noise coming from Elias's room. How long had she been gone? Was he awake? It sounded like he was speaking.

The moment she was close enough to  her home, she could make out what he was saying.

"Aerin? Please, I'm sorry about last night, please just come back. I won't do it again, I was rude, I'm sorry.." He was distraught, pleading with the bookshelf. His hands rested on the wood, leaning as far as he dared.

"Please..." His head lowered slightly, discouraged.

She quickly dropped her bag on her bed, running to the entrance.

"I-I'm here!" Her voice called, wavering. His giant head perked up, startling her.

"Aerin!" A grin covered his face, but it fled quickly. He looked guilty once more. "Look, I'm really sorry-"

"Don't be." Aerin cut him off. "It's ok, I wasn't gone because of you, I just had to do some stuff."

"Some stuff..?"

"Don't worry about it." She smiled, despite knowing he couldn't see it. She wasn't about to let on what she was doing; it would be too obvious.

"Fine." He sighed. "I'm just glad you're back."

She fidgeted awkwardly. "So.. do you want to tell me what happened yesterday?"

He withered slightly. "Not really.."