A cold heart will burst

Cindy finally left the bedroom and headed down to the Rectory. She felt so free, it felt weird being able to walk
such long distances without having walls surrounding her. She needed to find Miriam, fast. She ran down the stairs and
head toward the Rectory, when Miriam walked out the door not noticing her.
"Miriam!" Cindy cried, running towards her and holding her hands. "Miriam I need to talk with you."

When Miriam finally returned to the rectory, she didn't have a second to breath before Cinderella bolted in her direction.
She sighed, really just wanting to relax for once in her life, but she knew now she had been naive to think anyone would allow her to rest. At least, she thought, now that Cinderella was out of the bathroom she could finally take a long, well-deserved shower after the talk. What she wanted to talk about she had no idea. She had not even thought Cinderella would talk to her after their last feud when she had paid her a visit.
"What's wrong?" she asked, clearly exhausted, at Cinderella's eagerness. The lack of sleep, the blood, the wound on her arm and the clear red eyes from either lack of sleep, crying or both, must have made her look absolutely terrible in Cinderella's eyes, but she did not care.

She noticed the fatigue in Miriam's eyes, but she knew she had to talk to her immediately. "Look, our last meeting was.. not as I
had hoped.." Cindy said softly. "I wasn't myself, which isn't an excuse but it's something.." She looked down to her feet.
She felt bad for Miriam, the way she had been struggling and Cindy had been complaining over the smallest things. "Can we just- forget it ever happened?" she asked.

She couldn't help but smile amused at her attempt to appologize. She had never thought she would, but she had never particularly cared either. It seemed like an odd thing to ask for forgiveness now when there were so many other things to worry about. Like staying alive.
"It's fine," she said, and waved it off. She had never been mad at Cinderella to begin with, just frustrated with her lack of logic.
"Finally got out huh?" she asked to change the subject over to something other than what had happened between them.

Cindy sighed. "Yes, I managed to convince Frollo that I'm ready.." She said with much confidence.
"How about you? Are things...alright?" Cindy thought about the time she gave Miriam a shirt since hers' was ripped
off. She never really heard the real story on that but she wasn't going to be the first to bring it up.

"Does it matter?" she asked a bit annoyed. Of course things weren't alright, they were never going to be alright. Asking her was pointless.
"Sorry," she muttered once she realized she had been hard on her. She had only come to apologize and look after her, and this was how she treated her back. She still believed being kind would get her nowhere, but being rude sure wouldn't do any good either in this situation.

Cindy clenched her teeth to prevent her from replying with a nasty comment. She cleared her throat and bit her lip.
There was a bit of an awkward pause, when neither Miriam nor Cindy said a word. She didn't know why she even tried.
Cindy tried to reach out to her and apologize, being the bigger person.. But to Miriam it wasn't enough.

She sighed, not knowing what Cinderella was expecting of her. They had never even spoken before the attack, and they had never been friends. Miriam had never been any different from what she was right now, so why would Cinderella assume she'd be any different now? She had even apologized for her rude behavior, which she would never usually do. Shouldn't she be happy with just that?
"I'm sorry, I'm just really tired," she said in an almost harsh voice, though she meant her words. She might seem more aggrivated than usual because of her poor physical state, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"I understand, no need to apologize," Cindy said, trying not to snap at her. She tucked some hair behind her hair.
"Have you um- seen Proteus lately?" she asked curiously. "We spoke not too long ago in the bathroom,
I just want to see him again.." She trailed off.

"He's in the kitchen," she answered flatly. Of course she had wanted to know about Proteus, she had known she would ask the second she saw her coming down the stairs. The question still didn't fail to annoy her though, their whole relationship annoyed her to no ends.
Both of them were people to bond far too easily, and welcoming weaknesses like this one without even thinking it over was so idiotic Miriam couldn't hide her annoyance while she spoke her words. Never would she tie bonds strong enough to get in her way, or get her killed. Didn't any of them see how dangerous this was? For once she couldn't help but agree with Rin, this human emotion she could do without.

"Thank-" Cindy started to say, but something caught her eye. "Is that.. Proteus's jacket you're wearing?" she asked quietly
trying not to make a scene. She stared at her with cold eyes. She felt a heat grow in her that she's never gotten before,
was she.. jealous?

She shrugged, giving Cinderella an odd look. She hardly saw what she was reacting so badly over.
"The top I borrowed from you was..." she started, unsure how to finish her sentence without disturbing her. "Somewhat bloody... and ripped... trust me, you don't want to see me if I take this off," she laughed. She couldn't explain why Proteus had given it to her though, as she didn't even know herself. It had seemed stupid to give away something so essential to someone you barely knew just because she was cold.

"I see," she said efficaciously. She knew she had nothing to worry about.
Proteus loved her and only her right, I mean she was in the bathroom for a few days locked up,
but she trusted him..
Cindy cleared her throat. "Want to borrow a new one?" she asked clenching her teeth.

She raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was serious or not. She had already apologized to her, and even that was more than Miriam had expected from Cinderella. Offering her a second top was far beyond what she could have asked for. Surely she was not serious. She couldn't be.
"Ehmm.. sure," she asked with a strained laugh at the end trying to show gratitude.

Cindy smiled. "Shall we head to my room then?" she asked quietly, not sure what Miriam's response would be.
She knew she should have a good attitude with her but it was nearly impossible.
Their personalities just didn't match.

She nodded and followed Cinderella back up the stairs. She saw no point in uttering another word. They clearly did not like each other, and neither of them were trying to keep that a secret. Cinderella was merely nice to her because she felt like she had to, and Miriam was only going along with it to gain a new top. Maybe she was also partly being nice to her as a favor for Proteus, but she wouldn't admit it.