kay_brooke (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kay_brooke) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rainbowfic2015-09-23 04:06 pm
kay_brooke) wrote in rainbowfic2015-09-23 04:06 pm
Anise #14, Aurora #7, Blue Opal #9
Name: kay_brooke
Story: The Prime
Colors: Anise #14 (There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each.), Aurora #7 (Terce), Blue Opal #9 (Realism)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Novelty Beads ("Promising and unpromising sources")
Word Count: 1,194
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply.
Summary: Tabitha has a crappy day, and it's not getting any better.
Note: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
Annalise didn’t even look up from her book when Tabitha stumbled into the apartment well after sunrise, her feet unsteady and her hands too cold to even shake. Though she did heave a great sigh when Tabitha peeled off her snow-covered scarf and sent droplets of water falling to the floor.
“Good morning to you, too,” said Tabitha, and it was almost not a snarl. “Are you off today?”
“Have you seen outside?” said Annalise, with an eyeroll just slight enough for Tabitha to catch. “Everything’s closed today. People aren’t even supposed to be on the roads.” Said just a little bit smugly, a little bit accusingly.
“I just got home from work!” Tabitha snapped. “It took me hours. My car broke down on the interstate. I didn’t really have a choice to be on the road.”
Annalise shrugged and turned a page.
Tabitha was exhausted and cold all the way to her bones, so she shrugged off her coat, gloves, and shoes, and left them in a pile on the floor with her scarf before heading down the hallway to her room.
Annalise’s shout of, “You’re not just going to leave all that wet stuff sitting there?” was answered with the slam of Tabitha’s bedroom door.
The one good thing about her current living situation was that her room had its own attached half bath, so she didn’t have to share with her roommate. She only had a shower stall, not a bathtub, but that was okay. A long soak sounded nice, but mostly what she wanted was to get warm, and she’d probably just fall asleep in the bath and drown herself anyway. It had been that kind of day. Night. Two days. She’d gone into work at ten the night before--third shift wasn’t her usual work schedule, but she’d been offering to fill in for people. The holidays were coming, and she desperately needed the money. She’d gotten off at six, as usual, and now here it was almost ten in the morning, a twenty minute commute stretched to four hours because of the awful weather and her piece of shit car.
Tabitha turned on the shower and tried not to think of everything that had gone wrong.
Shower over, she collapsed onto her bed, checked her phone, and out of habit rolled her eyes when she saw Derek had called her about an hour earlier. She went to put the phone down, but thought better of it; she wanted someone to vent to, and Annalise was never going to be that person. So she called her brother back.
“Hey,” she said when he answered. “What’s up?”
“Just wanted to make sure you were okay,” said Derek. “Nasty weather out there.” His voice sounded thick, like she’d just woken him up, which meant he also likely had the day off from work. Tabitha, on the other hand, had to be back at two. Not even weather closed the lab down.
“Yeah, thanks,” she snapped, and in the wounded silence that followed, she sighed and apologized. “I just had a shit night, and I have to be back this afternoon.”
“No one’s supposed to be out on the roads,” said Derek.
“The lab isn’t closed--”
“That doesn’t matter,” he argued. “The whole city is under emergency conditions. The only people who are supposed to be out driving are cops and ambulances.”
“Do you think my boss will care?” Tabitha rubbed at one of her throbbing temples. “We just got a lecture last snow storm when a bunch of people called in. He threatened to fire people who called in without a doctor’s excuse.”
“Your job sucks and you should find another one.”
“You’re so helpful,” said Tabitha, regretting the decision to call him. She could have just gone straight to sleep, and gotten in a couple hours before she had to start getting ready for her next shift. “I’m barely scraping by as it is, and you want me to quit my job? Who knows how long it would take for me to find another one?”
“Anything has to be better than working yourself to death for a boss who doesn’t care about your safety,” Derek argued.
“I’ll take that over homelessness, thanks.”
Derek sighed, his breath loud over the receiver. “I’ve told you before, you can some stay with me, rent-free. I’ll clean out the second bedroom and you can crash there for as long as you need.”
“Are you going to pay my school loans, too?” Tabitha asked. “My car payment? My insurance?”
“I can help you out with those things, if you need it.”
Now it was Tabitha’s turn to sigh loudly. “No. We’ve talked about this before. I don’t want handouts.”
“It’s not a handout!” he said. “It’s just some help until you can find something.”
“I have something!” And now she was shouting, and feeling a bit like crying. “I have a perfectyl good job that lets me cover my rent and bills, and I don’t need your help.” These were the times she hated her brother, the only one of her siblings who’d had his college education completely paid for by their parents, the one who had gone into a lucrative field enough in demand that he’d been able to walk into a high-paying job straight out of school despite mediocre grades. Where did he get off, flashing his money around, rubbing it in her face that he’d made off with the entirety of the college savings her parents had scraped together for all her siblings, leaving the rest of them at a disadvantage from the start?
“This is your problem,” he replied. He didn’t even sound angry, and wasn’t that infuriating. “You’re so concerned about money that you take shitty jobs just so you can scrape together a living, instead of taking the time to actually find something good. You won’t let anyone help you out. You don’t take anyone’s advice.”
“I am an adult and I can take care of myself!” Still shouting.
“No one’s saying you can’t!”
“Every time you try to give me money, or offer me a place to stay, that’s exactly what you’re saying,” said Tabitha, hot tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. “You’re saying I’m not good enough. All you see is your little sister who needs her big, rich brother to take care of her because she’s just not smart enough or grown up enough to do it herself. And I am so sick of being condescended to!”
There was a shocked silence before Derek spluttered out, “That’s not at all what I think. Accepting help isn’t a sign of failure, Tabitha. Everyone needs help sometimes.”
“How would you know?” she spat. “You got your entire life handed to you on a silver platter!”
“Tabitha--”
“I’m tired,” she said, “and I have to be at work in a few hours. So goodbye.” She hung up before her brother could get another word out, threw her phone onto her nightstand, and rolled over. Pulling the covers up over her chin, she tried not to let too many tears fall.
kay_brookeStory: The Prime
Colors: Anise #14 (There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each.), Aurora #7 (Terce), Blue Opal #9 (Realism)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Novelty Beads ("Promising and unpromising sources")
Word Count: 1,194
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply.
Summary: Tabitha has a crappy day, and it's not getting any better.
Note: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
Annalise didn’t even look up from her book when Tabitha stumbled into the apartment well after sunrise, her feet unsteady and her hands too cold to even shake. Though she did heave a great sigh when Tabitha peeled off her snow-covered scarf and sent droplets of water falling to the floor.
“Good morning to you, too,” said Tabitha, and it was almost not a snarl. “Are you off today?”
“Have you seen outside?” said Annalise, with an eyeroll just slight enough for Tabitha to catch. “Everything’s closed today. People aren’t even supposed to be on the roads.” Said just a little bit smugly, a little bit accusingly.
“I just got home from work!” Tabitha snapped. “It took me hours. My car broke down on the interstate. I didn’t really have a choice to be on the road.”
Annalise shrugged and turned a page.
Tabitha was exhausted and cold all the way to her bones, so she shrugged off her coat, gloves, and shoes, and left them in a pile on the floor with her scarf before heading down the hallway to her room.
Annalise’s shout of, “You’re not just going to leave all that wet stuff sitting there?” was answered with the slam of Tabitha’s bedroom door.
The one good thing about her current living situation was that her room had its own attached half bath, so she didn’t have to share with her roommate. She only had a shower stall, not a bathtub, but that was okay. A long soak sounded nice, but mostly what she wanted was to get warm, and she’d probably just fall asleep in the bath and drown herself anyway. It had been that kind of day. Night. Two days. She’d gone into work at ten the night before--third shift wasn’t her usual work schedule, but she’d been offering to fill in for people. The holidays were coming, and she desperately needed the money. She’d gotten off at six, as usual, and now here it was almost ten in the morning, a twenty minute commute stretched to four hours because of the awful weather and her piece of shit car.
Tabitha turned on the shower and tried not to think of everything that had gone wrong.
Shower over, she collapsed onto her bed, checked her phone, and out of habit rolled her eyes when she saw Derek had called her about an hour earlier. She went to put the phone down, but thought better of it; she wanted someone to vent to, and Annalise was never going to be that person. So she called her brother back.
“Hey,” she said when he answered. “What’s up?”
“Just wanted to make sure you were okay,” said Derek. “Nasty weather out there.” His voice sounded thick, like she’d just woken him up, which meant he also likely had the day off from work. Tabitha, on the other hand, had to be back at two. Not even weather closed the lab down.
“Yeah, thanks,” she snapped, and in the wounded silence that followed, she sighed and apologized. “I just had a shit night, and I have to be back this afternoon.”
“No one’s supposed to be out on the roads,” said Derek.
“The lab isn’t closed--”
“That doesn’t matter,” he argued. “The whole city is under emergency conditions. The only people who are supposed to be out driving are cops and ambulances.”
“Do you think my boss will care?” Tabitha rubbed at one of her throbbing temples. “We just got a lecture last snow storm when a bunch of people called in. He threatened to fire people who called in without a doctor’s excuse.”
“Your job sucks and you should find another one.”
“You’re so helpful,” said Tabitha, regretting the decision to call him. She could have just gone straight to sleep, and gotten in a couple hours before she had to start getting ready for her next shift. “I’m barely scraping by as it is, and you want me to quit my job? Who knows how long it would take for me to find another one?”
“Anything has to be better than working yourself to death for a boss who doesn’t care about your safety,” Derek argued.
“I’ll take that over homelessness, thanks.”
Derek sighed, his breath loud over the receiver. “I’ve told you before, you can some stay with me, rent-free. I’ll clean out the second bedroom and you can crash there for as long as you need.”
“Are you going to pay my school loans, too?” Tabitha asked. “My car payment? My insurance?”
“I can help you out with those things, if you need it.”
Now it was Tabitha’s turn to sigh loudly. “No. We’ve talked about this before. I don’t want handouts.”
“It’s not a handout!” he said. “It’s just some help until you can find something.”
“I have something!” And now she was shouting, and feeling a bit like crying. “I have a perfectyl good job that lets me cover my rent and bills, and I don’t need your help.” These were the times she hated her brother, the only one of her siblings who’d had his college education completely paid for by their parents, the one who had gone into a lucrative field enough in demand that he’d been able to walk into a high-paying job straight out of school despite mediocre grades. Where did he get off, flashing his money around, rubbing it in her face that he’d made off with the entirety of the college savings her parents had scraped together for all her siblings, leaving the rest of them at a disadvantage from the start?
“This is your problem,” he replied. He didn’t even sound angry, and wasn’t that infuriating. “You’re so concerned about money that you take shitty jobs just so you can scrape together a living, instead of taking the time to actually find something good. You won’t let anyone help you out. You don’t take anyone’s advice.”
“I am an adult and I can take care of myself!” Still shouting.
“No one’s saying you can’t!”
“Every time you try to give me money, or offer me a place to stay, that’s exactly what you’re saying,” said Tabitha, hot tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. “You’re saying I’m not good enough. All you see is your little sister who needs her big, rich brother to take care of her because she’s just not smart enough or grown up enough to do it herself. And I am so sick of being condescended to!”
There was a shocked silence before Derek spluttered out, “That’s not at all what I think. Accepting help isn’t a sign of failure, Tabitha. Everyone needs help sometimes.”
“How would you know?” she spat. “You got your entire life handed to you on a silver platter!”
“Tabitha--”
“I’m tired,” she said, “and I have to be at work in a few hours. So goodbye.” She hung up before her brother could get another word out, threw her phone onto her nightstand, and rolled over. Pulling the covers up over her chin, she tried not to let too many tears fall.