Weight of the World-p.r.s

11-talks and peppermint coffee

Looping around to the backside of Little Cloaks, Brooke took the rickety staircase that led to the second story slowly. Her ankle throbbed in tune with the beating of her heart- but she pushed that aside. Reaching the landing, Brooke raised her fist to the door and knocked.

Rap, rap, rap. The wooden door quickly opened, and Mary's green eyes widened slightly when she saw Brooke standing at the door. She only smiled weakly- and Mary noticed her niece's tired expression.

"Brooke, what're you doing here?" Mary questioned, her voice filled with concern as Brooke walked into the apartment. "Shouldn't you be asleep? Or at least at the Shiba House?"

Brooke shrugged off her leather jacket and hung it on the hook near the door. "I probably should, but I can't really sleep, and I didn't feel like dealing with the others right now." She replied, sitting on the couch that was in the main room of the apartment, Mary shadowing her.

"Dealing with the others?" Mary echoed, taking a seat on the ottoman near the couch, pushing some of her light brown hair out of her face.

Brooke nodded, laughing weakly. "A lotta shit came up, and the team's- they're looking at Red and I like we're martyrs of some sort. I think Red left last night honestly," She explained, playing with the edge of the tassel throw blanket that was on the couch. Just the smell of the apartment was comforting, and Brooke felt some of the tension leave her body with the smell of cinnamon. "Battle went south yesterday, and it's become a clusterfuck."

"I understand you coming here, but you should at least sleep, Brooke. You can't function on little sleep- and it seems like Jayden's not a good example right now." Mary chided, and Brooke shot her aunt an exasperated look.

"I'm trying, Mary, it's just been hard. I've been having these weird dreams, I wake up in pain. It's hard to sleep when that comes up, and-" Brooke hesitated, deciding to leave the part out that she usually only felt safe enough to sleep in Jayden's arms. That wasn't important. "It's- it's just exhausting. All of it. I know it's important, but I'm tired." The silver ranger confessed, eyes flashing and claws growing in. Talking about her feelings wasn't really her go-to, but she knew that she at least had to let some of it out. The weight on her shoulders seemed to be getting heavier every day- with the looming threat of Deker, the cage symbol, and whatever nighlok that appeared, it was almost unbearable at some points.

Mary knit her brows, looking at Brooke quizzically. "Pain? What kind of pain?" The older woman asked, and Brooke ran a clawed hand over her face.

"It's like it's in my bloodstream- hey, why do you look so scared?" Brooke cut herself off, noticing how Mary had paled slightly. Before her aunt could reply with "it's nothing", Brooke spoke again, her eyes landing on a mixture of grey and gold. "Mary, is there something you're not telling me? You look like I've said something horrible." She questioned, crossing her leg over her knee.

"Brooke, it's not important- Trust me," Mary pleaded when Brooke gave her a deadpan expression. "You're fine. Continue." The older woman urged, and Brooke pursed her lips slightly, raising her brows. Mary knew that expression, it was when Brooke knew somebody was lying, the silver ranger silently calling bullshit.

Still, Brooke knew that she wasn't going to get a straight answer, and that was frustrating. So, she just switched topics. "I think- this is gonna sound fucking stupid as hell given my current situation, but I, uh, have feelings for Red?" She confessed, her voice rising in pitch as she cringed at the words coming from her mouth. Still, she also knew she needed to talk to someone about that, as she realized that Jayden was now a consistent presence in her life, and she wanted him around constantly. It was… strange, and Brooke didn't want to go to Mia and Emily about it, because while she cared about the two rangers deeply, she knew that they would probably set up some weird matchmaking thing. And Casper, Brooke made sure not to talk about her romantic feelings towards anyone with him, because she felt like it was a kind of insignificant thing. So, Mary was all the silver ranger had.