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āI put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.ā
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#BDA0CB ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #F7B3DAć
|| Dear Winter || AJR ||
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#BDA0CB ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #F7B3DAć
|| Dear Winter || AJR ||
They walked in silence for the first few minutes, the East Wing dedicated to the male dorms. Winter wore a face mask outside of Oliver's room, making sure nto to touch any handrails or door handles. "After you," Carter gesutred inside. The halls were empty right now, as it was working hours. Those who were able were designated jobs and given roles in the chain. "Hey, so I was thinking, the Slither's have a movie theater." Carter started, his mask slightly muffling his voice. "A theater?" Winter repeated dumbly as they entered the first dorm. Their key let them into any room they wanted access to. "Yeah, don't tell me you've never been to one?" Winter shook her head, "Maybe once, when I was a little girl, but no, not since then." Carter's eyes widened, did he not forget that she had, had a sheltered upbringing?
"So I was thinking, if we have an off day, maybe we could go?" Winter opened up another door. "I'll ask the others if they want to, but we don't exactly have much time to be going to theaters." Winter responded, checking the next dorm. "No I meant-I meant just us two, a date." She paused, looking at him incredulously. "Why?" He seemed flustered, as though he wasn't prepared for this sort of interogation. He should've known better, of course, as Winter was skeptical of everyone. "Because I like you, you're cool and-" she held up a hand, stopping him there. "Carter, did you not forget that you beat the shit out of me, got me pregnant, broke my spine, and elected to allow the Doc to use my body as your weapon?" Her eyes were cold, "I have been cordial with you because we're supposed to be a team, but a date? Did you really think that was possible?"
"I was following orders!" He bumbled, "what was I supposed to do!" She grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him down to look into her eyes and pulled off her mask. "You were supposed to protect me." Winter pushed him away, Carter stumbling back against a chair. "I messed up, okay! I was following orders, I was trying to think about what would keep me alive from one day to the next-" she whirled around, feeling hot tears well up in her eyes. "And what about me? What did you think was going to happen to me?" Ice began to creep out from underneath her feet. "That I would just die for your cause? That I would look down on you from the Far Shore and forgive everything you've done? You're supposed to look out for your fellow vassals, but the only person you were looking out for was yourself!" Her tears wet her mask. "I hate men like you." She shoved the door open, leaving him.
"Winter! Winter, wait!" Carter ran after her, "Winter, I'm sorry!" She left the East Wing, running. She could hear Carter following her, his footsteps pounding the tiled floor. "Oh, Ms. Matsuri, what are you doing here?" Sir Ender asked, kneeling down. She wiped her eyes quickly, "Nothing, sorry, I was just going back to Oliver's room." He knew she was staying there, Oliver had told him in case he burst in and found Winter sleeping in his son's bed. "Are you alright?" He could see that her eyes were red. "I'm fine-" she tried to walk past him, but he was blocking her path. "Such a nice couple you two would make, the strongest of the vassals, I'm sure your lineage would build a truly historic empire." It took every ounce of self control for Winter not to gag.
"I should go-" she walked around him, her shoulders stiff. They all seemed to forget that Winter was just a child, albeit a mature one. She was just an emotionally-stunted sixteen year old. She couldn't be bothered to think about things like marriage or dating when she knew that she could die on the battlefield, putting her life on the line for the very same people that once called her a monster.