Guardian

two, I guess

It is still dark, and it is still raining. Erwin rolls over and looks at the clock on the table next to the bed. It's five exactly. He finds that he can't sleep in, even on days off. He rubs is face and feels the stubble on his chin. Erwin hates the feeling of facial hair. He drops his hands to his sides and listens to the world around him. The house is still silent, so he assumes Mia is still sleeping. Sighing, he sits up and stretches, making his way to the bathroom.

After washing his face and brushing his teeth he reaches for his shaving cream. He shakes the can, but nothing comes out. 'I just bought this last week, where did it go?' He thinks to himself. After looking everywhere else, Erwin decides to check the shower. He finds shaving cream spread on all over the walls. His shoulders drop. Mia used it all. He decides he'll just go to the store later. He heads downstairs to have some coffee and read the paper.

In Erwin's room, Mia wakes up suddenly, sitting up as she kicks off all the blankets. Her face feels like its burning and everything else feels like its 100 degrees. She has to freeze for a moment to remind herself where she is. Glancing around the still dark room she notices the clock on the bedside table, it was almost six. She sits still for a moment, listening to the sounds of the house. She can hear movement downstairs and assumes Erwin is awake. She goes to hop off the tall bed but misjudges the distance and falls on her knees.

"Ow..." She hears the movement downstairs stop for a second before she hears the sound of the stairs creaking. She scrambles to get up and opens the door to see Erwin halfway up the stairs.

"Oh good, I thought you fell out of the bed."

"Nope, I didn't fall. I'm not an idiot."

He smiles, "Of course you're not. There's a toothbrush on the counter for you. Come down when you're done, and I'll make you some breakfast."

Mia can feel her stomach grumble at the thought of a meal. She rushes into the bathroom, pushing up the sleeves of his big jacket to be able to grab the toothbrush package. She pulls out a new purple toothbrush and brushes her teeth aggressively. When she finishes, she very carefully walks down the stairs, extra careful not to fall, and she notices the smell of coffee. Mia has always thought coffee smelled like shit. She crinkles her nose at the smell and endures the stench. She sees Erwin sitting at the dining table by the window, reading the newspaper. Mia hates newspapers too. The words are too tiny to see, the paper falls apart easily, and she can't read it. She laughs internally because yesterday, he said he wasn't that old yet here he is, wearing glasses and reading the newspaper with a cup of poop juice. She can see Erwin watching her too, he figures she's moving slowly to not fall like she did earlier this morning. He notices that she looks like a little baby. Her hair is messy, her cheeks are pink from the heat of his bed and her eyes are still sleepy looking. He sees she is still wearing his jacket and thinks maybe he should just let her keep it if she likes it that much.

"Come sit," he says as she seemed hesitant to go near him. She pulls out the chair across from him and plops down lazily. Erwin removes his glasses and sets the paper down, giving her his full attention. Mia is staring at him. He has the feeling she's about to say something rude....

"Why does your face look like that?" There it is.

"Like what?"

"Like THAT." she said firmly, "Scratchy and crusty. It didn't look like that yesterday."

"Oh, I see. Well for some reason all of my shaving cream was gone this morning," she froze, and her eyes widened.

"I'm not sure where it went, but I will have to go to the store later today to get some more."

She stayed still for a couple more seconds; her reaction was amusing to him.

"That's really weird, I wonder where it went." She replies awkwardly, averting her enlarged eyes.