'in which snow falls'
You sat hovering over your warm cup. The steam catches itself on your face as you stare down at the brown liquid. Vivian shoves you lightly in the shoulder.
"What? You think it's going to explode or something?"
"No, of course not." You roll your eyes at her teasing as she takes a sip from her own glass. Following a moment more of contemplation, you take a sip of the drink as well. It did not explode, if anyone was wondering.
Vivian hums, leaning back in her chair. You follow her eye line to the window. Small, gentle flakes of snow pass by slowly. They dance about in the frigid air before settling down on the ground.
Your hands cup the ceramic mug, relishing in the small amount of warmth it gave you. The hot chocolate in the mug was a bit sweet for your liking, but who were you to deny hot chocolate? Especially when Vivian went out of her way to make it for you, even if you weren't too sure where she got it from.
It had been a quiet morning, the surprise snowfall definitely adding to the sluggish aura surrounding the house. Justin was off in the early morning for work, Vivian was home for the weekend and you, of course, still didn't have a whole lot to do. You've been trying to develop some form of hobby in the last month that could ease your ever-growing boredom, but sadly, you've had little luck.
A yawn falls from Vivian's lips, followed by an annoyed groan. You follow suit, catching the bug. Laying your head on the cool tabletop hour you let out a sigh. If the past wouldn't kill you, your boredom was definitely picking up the slack.
"We should do something."
"But what, Vi?" You question, your words muffling from your proximity to the table.
"I was hoping you would know." The both of you sigh in conjunction. You stare blankly across the kitchen, laying on your cheek. It was definitely a kitchen. Not much going on.
Sitting up you take another drink of hot chocolate. The little liquid that remained ripples in the bottom of the mug as you set it down. It splashes lightly up the sides of the white mug, the small drops that catch on the surface slowly dripping down to rejoin the rest. You take the last drink.
Rising to your feet, you walk over to the sink. Setting the mug in the sink with a slight ting you turn the water on, allowing you to rinse and wash the slight staining from the inside of the mug. After rinsing off the little soap you used, you grab the black tea towel off the oven handle drying the mug, before putting it away in the cupboard.
With a slight squeak of the chair on the floor you return to the table. Leaning back in the chair you stare upwards, taking in the incredibly ceiling. It was quite the viewing experience. Plain white, flat, and with a light hanging above the table that you may have temporarily blinded yourself with by staring at it for a few seconds too long.
Covering your eyes with your hands you let out a mildly agonized groan. Vivian chuckles softly before shifting into a sigh. Parting your fingers over your eyes you stare blankly ahead at the wall. You drag your hands down your face, pulling the flesh around your mouth down before it pops back up as your hands fall into your lap.
"We could..." Vivian sets her glass down on the table with a light thud, "Go for a walk?"
"In the snow?" You roll your eyes, resting your forehead on the table.
"Really? Like a little bit of snow is going to hurt you."
"But it's cold." She scoffs, pushing backwards in her chair with a shrill squeak.
"But it's cold. I didn't take you for such a baby."
"Excuse me?" You sit up, an eyebrow raised at her amused expression.
"You heard me." She crosses her arms, fighting a burgeoning smile, "I guess we don't have to go, if your going to be such a baby about a little bit of snow." You stand to your feet, the chair you were previously in falling backwards from the force. Vivian stares at you, before bursting out into laughter. You join her quickly, the teasing quickly being forgotten. Once you collect yourselves, you right the chair and head to the door with Vivian at your heels.
"Where are we even going to go?" You question as you slide your jacket on over your arms. Vivian hums in thought as she pulls her shoe on over her heel.
"Around?" She finally states, resting a hand on her hip as she stands unevenly, "There's a park... Or something like that close to here I think. We could go look for it." Your eyes light up at the mention of the park.
"I think I might know where you're talking about."
"Really?" Vivian stumbles as she puts on her other shoe, her skirt flowing sporadically as she attempts to catch her balance.
"Yeah." You connect the bottom of your coat's zipper, pulling it all the way up, "I was wandering around on a walk and stumbled across it accidentally."
"Really?" She questions again putting her own jacket on, as you slide your shoes on. You hum in agreeance, shoving your hands in your jacket pockets.
"Do you remember how to get there?"
"Probably not." She sighs dramatically, as you rock back and forth on your feet, a smug grin forming on your face, "But it can't be that hard to find it again."
"I guess not." She shakes her head, opening the door, letting a burst of cold air into the small hallway. You follow her out, shutting the door tightly behind you.
Vivian watches you carefully as you glance up and down the street attempting to get your bearings. Deciding the right seemed like a reasonable direction you begin walking. Vivian takes a place at your left shoulder as you walk in quiet unison.
The flakes of snow gently drift through the air, melting on your exposed face as they land. You rub a hand over top of your hair. Immediately regretting your decision you shake the water off your hand.
"Ugh..." Vivian laughs quietly at your misery as you keep shaking your hand. You glare at her, before walking off ahead, your feet squishing in the wet snow.
"Hey~!" She calls, running up behind you, "Don't leave me back here." You roll your eyes, before stopping in your tracks. Vivian stares at you, confusion on her face. With a small smile on your face, you approach her. She takes a few steps back. With a quick jump forward you wipe your soggy hand on the shoulder of her jacket. At her yell of surprise, you dash off down the sidewalk.
You laugh as you run, dodging the few other pedestrians who are scattered on the sidewalk. Swinging around a corner you yelp slightly as you slip, slamming your knee onto the sidewalk. As Vivian catches up with you you stagger back to your feet, a pained grimace on your face.
"Are you okay [Name]?"
"Yeah..." You rub over your knee, wincing as your touch sends a spike of pain through your knee, "Definitely going to bruise though."
"Are you... Are you sure?" She stares at you with worry on her face, "Should we go back home?"
"Nah, it's okay." You place your hands on your hips, shifting your weight off of your knee, "Let's keep going." Vivian lets out a sigh.
"Alright." The rest of your walk goes off without a hitch. It ended up quite meandering and long. You walked through Knoxville, talking about anything and everything as you wander around, the quest to find the park nothing but a side note.
During your exploration, the two of you come across a handful of stores that catch your eyes. Vivian was immediately was drawn to a clothing store with a dark blue dress advertised in the window that she fell desperately in love with from the moment she laid her eyes on it. To her great disappointment, however, she didn't have nearly enough to pay for it. Begrudgingly, she continues walking, dragging her feet through the wet snow as she goes.
With the dress in the past, your window shopping continues. You passed by a bookstore, a florist and a hairdresser in a short distance from the clothing store. As the two of you pass by the hairdresser, Vivian laments about the split ends forming in her hair. She sighs, drama on her tone as she complains about the skyrocketing prices of just about everything.
Following a great struggle on your part, you finally manage to get Vivian back on track. As you walk, the snow begins to lighten in its weight, slowly receding to a stop. Vivian holds a hand out in front of her, smiling softly as her hand comes up blank.
"[Name]?" She suddenly speaks up, making eye contact with you through the corners of her eyes.
"Yeah?" A sigh, and a brief silence follow your prompting. Vivian hums, kicking some snow into the air. She crosses her arms behind her, stopping in her tracks.
"What did you think of Roling?" You turn to look at her from a few paces ahead.
"Uh..." Your words stumble in your brain as you scramble for an answer, "I mean... I wasn't there for long... So, I don't really know."
"I guess that makes sense." Her mumble is almost inaudible as she passes by you. You stare at her retreating back for a few moments. She almost rounds the corner before you finally run to catch up with her.
"Do you miss it?" You ask as you catch up. She glances briefly over her shoulder, her brown hair falling over her back. A section of it lumps awkwardly in the collar of her jacket.
"Yeah." She finally relents, rubbing her hands over her arms, "I do."
"What about it?" Vivian glances upwards. The clouds were a pale gray, blocking the sun. The shadows that cast on the ground were pale, not made any more visible by the coat of snow on the ground.
"I don't know." Her voice cracks, "All of it I guess? It was my normal for so long. All of the routines that I made there, they can't exactly carry over very well to a way larger city. I have to make new routines, but I haven't had the time to do that yet, with all my coursework and whatnot.
"And don't even get me started on Justin being around," Her voice suddenly contained a vitriolic wrath, catching you off guard, "I'm just so used to him hardly being around, it's weird having him, around all the time. I act like it doesn't bother me, but it does. He just walked back into my life, acting as though he had always been there, but he wasn't."
"Vivian..."
"Just call me Vi." She interrupts you, stopping in her tracks, "You being here... Not that it's a bad thing, has just been..."
"A mess?"
"No!" She pinches the bridge of her nose, squinting her eyes shut, "Everything has just... Changed so fast. It's caught me off guard, and I guess the hairdresser and the dress just made me think too hard about it." She digs her toes into the concrete sidewalk, moving the snow into a small pile. A huff falls from her mouth as she balls her hands into fists.
A tear drips slowly down her cheek. You stare at her blankly, shifting your gaze from her to the ground. You sigh, gritting your teeth.
You wrap your arms around Vivian in a tight embrace. Her muscles go slack as you hold onto her. Her body quivers slightly. You take it as a sign to let go, but you find yourself stopping as Vivian's head buries itself in your shoulder, her arms linking around your backside.
She hiccups as more tears fall down her face. Her anxieties had been building like this for months and you failed to notice. Your own tears well in the corners of your eyes. Fiddling with the ends of her hair you sigh quietly.
"You want to go home?"
"Yeah..." A mumble met by a quieter mumble. The embrace breaks, and you both stand stiffly across from each other. Vivian rubs her cheeks dry, taking a few steps forward. You follow slowly behind her, drifting tiredly across the dirty snow.
You pressed a hand to your eye, rubbing it raw as you remove your tears. Your breath hitches as you breathe out, your hand shaking at your side.
This really was so different. You were a time traveller way out of your depth, hiding out in some city in Tennessee hoping that someday you'll get sent back to the future. Hopefully not as abruptly as you came. Vivian was a girl from a small town with who you assume is an alcoholic father, attending university to become a doctor on the dawn of the 1940s.
At least you have each other right? At this point, the chance of anything tearing apart your friendship is slim to none, and that's the way you hope to keep it.