July 19th

I'm writing this on my laptop, early morning, sitting on a train.

I'm not alone on the train. Well, obviously there are several other passengers in general, but I mean I have direct company.

Tara called me yesterday, apparently she has a very sick family member in Chicago that she needs to visit, possibly for the last time, and she wanted a few close companions to come as emotional support.

So, right now, we're sitting at a table in the cafe car. Tara is sitting next to me, close to me, holding my arm and watching me type. She's nervous, she tries to hide it but her eyes betray her. I periodically stop typing and wrap my arm around her, embracing for a moment.

"You really don't have to do this." She had said yesterday when she asked me to come. "I know it's short notice, and we haven't known each other that long, and..."

"It's okay" I said. "Really." It really was. I genuinely didn't mind. "I wanna support you in this, however I can."

Tara smiled warmly, looking me in the eyes. She held the warm smile and eye contact for a solid three seconds before turning away, a new record for her. Now that I think about it, maybe a new record for me too, at least recently.

"And I mean, there will be other people you know too."

I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I didn't bother asking at the time. Now, we were sitting at the cafe car in the train, and across from us sat Winter and Cadence.

"We're just leaving Minnesota." Winter said, staring out the window. "On the last leg of the trip now."

Cadence smiled. "Winter has family in Chicago too, so this trip is pretty familiar to her."

Tara smiled and nodded. She hasn't been very talkative during this trip, which I can't really blame her for. At this point, I don't actually know much about her family situation, so I don't know how close she is to... well, whoever is sick. I realize I don't actually know all that much about her in general, aside from basic preferences like her favorite drink, favorite hangout spots, favorite knots and how she takes her coffee.

As I was typing, I felt Tara push against me a little, squeezing my arm tighter. I'm taking this as a signal to stop typing and give her more direct attention. I won't deny, she's proven to be a good bit needier on this trip than she usually is... admittedly though, I actually like it.

I'm writing again a few hours later. We're still at the cafe car, it's more comfortable than you would think and the view can't be beaten. I don't think you're supposed to sleep in the cafe car, but most of the crew of the train seems to know Winter by name, and so we seem to get some leeway.

Tara is now sleeping, her resting on my lap, arms wrapped around my leg. It's actually very cute. We've come a long way since sharing cigarettes and mystery wine under the bridge.

Across the table, Cadence is asleep as well, her head rested against Winter's chest. I hadn't thought to mention it sooner, but there was a pretty large size difference between Cadence and Winter. Winter was probably at least a head taller than her wife. Winter is very tall in general, I think around 6'2" if I remember right. Her height was probably quite validating to the biases of a certain kind of person, but those biases would then be challenged when they met Winter's cis mother, who was almost almost exactly Winter's height.

I shook my head. I really didn't want to be thinking about Winter's mother while a pretty woman roughly my own age was asleep on my lap. Back across the table, Winter is still staring out the window, her hand periodically stroking her sleeping wife's hair. She did not seem terribly interested in talking, but to be fair, she rarely did.

I think I've technically known Winter longer than I've known anyone else here. We went to school together, though Winter was a couple of grades above me. Other than Yunie, she was the only member of my general social circle other than me who actually grew up in Last Light. Azura had moved to town about two years ago, and Tara I think three years? I don't remember exactly, I didn't know her well back then. I don't know Cadence's backstory that well, but I remember she moved to town like, ten years ago or so.

Now I'm writing this another few hours later. We're getting close to Chicago now, but there was a small event I needed to make note of. As much as I was enjoying being Tara's pillow, my legs were cramping up like crazy, so I gently snuck out, leaving her resting on an actual pillow. I popped up to the observation car, and paced back and forth in front of the wide viewing window. Wisconsin was a lot more beautiful than I thought it would be... or were we in Wyoming? I got those two mixed up a lot.

After staring out of the window for a while, I eventually turned to notice Cadence standing near me, also taking in the view. "It's been a while since I made this trip." She said.

"Oh yeah, for Winter's family right?"

She nodded. "Winter's father... well, her parents didn't get along. Her father lived in Chicago, mostly estranged. When Winter's mom died, she sort of clung to her father, tried to rebuild that bridge.

I stared for a moment, caught off guard. I feel like Cadence and I talked fairly often, but she so rarely talked about her past, and even more rarely talked about Winter's. "How did that go?" I asked, unsure what else to say.

Cadence frowned, still staring out of the window. "Some bridges are better left burnt..."

I nodded. I knew the feeling, I just wasn't sure what else to say. Finally, Cadence turned to face me. "I said you shouldn't call Tara. I warned you away from her... do you understand why?"

"Yes."

"Are you gonna prove me wrong?"

I didn't say anything, but I nodded confidently. I was confident. Well, at least, in that moment I was confident. She smiled and turned back to the window, staying quiet for a long stretch. "I hope it doesn't rain today." She finally said.

It was such a surreal encounter with Cadence that I felt the need to scamper back down and write this out. I'm used to be being grilled, and vaguely threatened, by Winter. That's just what Winter does. It's so much more unsettling when it's Cadence, because she's so bubbly normally...

I sat down next to Tara, careful not to disturb her or her pillow. After I sat down, she crawled back into my lap anyway, wrapping her arm around my waist. Even when she's sleeping she's cute enough to keep me thoroughly distracted from Cadence's threats.