This Broken City Sky

Dylan propped her feet up on the window sill and cradled the cup of cold water in her hands carefully. Outside, thick flakes were beginning to float down from the misty grey clouds yet again, and stick to everything. She was sick of the snow; they all sort of were. They were over the whole "winter" thing, and the snow. Now that the New Year was looming in their midst, the refugees felt a little anxious. The morning was still early, though everyone was up and about.

"Morning." Frank mumbled to Dylan as he dragged himself over to the gurgling coffee pot.

"Morning." Dylan replied lightly, and took another sip of her water as Frank poured himself a cup of black coffee. Packaged creamer had run out long ago, they were all just focused on the caffiene and the basic taste of the grounds. Dylan watched Frank blow on the steaming liquid, before taking a sip and running his fingers through his messy black hair. It was slightly longer than it had been nearly three months ago, and she noticed.

"Cold?" He asked, picking up his mug, and sitting himself down in the chair across from Dylan. She shrugged lightly; sliding down in her chair a littlemore, and tucked her chin into the edge of her warm scarf. There were few days she'd taken it off since Christmas, and those were usually to shower or something of the sort.

"You need to cut your hair." Dylan smiled furtively at Frank, as she observed the way the cold grey light that filtered in through the window illuminated his eyes. Frank raised his eyebrows at Dylan slightly, and took a large gulp of the hot coffee. He coughed a little, sputtering, and set his mug on the sill next to Dylan's booted feet. She laughed at him silently.

"You think?" He croaked, still smiling when he looked up at Dylan. She nodded affirmatively, with a small grin of her own. Frank sighed deeply, to cool his burned mouth, then rested back in his chair, his hand laying on his chest.

"I could cut it," Dylan raised her eyebrows a little as she looked sidelong out the window, and took another drink. Frank snorted, and chuckled lowly at her then shook his head subtly. He didn't really know what to say, and in the pit of his stomach he just wanted to say yes, "I've been cutting my own hair since I was in like, eighth grade." She said with a small shrug. Frank scoffed a laugh.

"I can tell," He pressed his lips together and continued to snigger at his little joke. Dylan simply raised her eyebrows slightly as she placed her cold cup on the window sill, then crossed her arms over her chest. She resumed frowning at the blizzard-like weather, as Frank looked on, "I'm sorry I was j-"

"Don't worry I wasn't offended," Dylan said cooly, "Just at a loss of things to say back to you, you know. Guess my sense of humor is waning." She muttered before yawning widely. With a sigh, Frank gazed down into the dark liquid in his cup that shook slightly from his every movement. Neither of them said a word for a good long time, so instead they both watched the little frozen flakes dance through the air on their way to the cement below.

"Alright," Frank said firmly, nodding for what appeared to be no reason, "Let's cut my hair-..Er, you can I mean." One corner of his mouth pulled up in what he hoped was a mildly comforting smile. Dylan licked her lips, then chewed on the bottom one, feeling it's cracked, dry skin.

"'Kay," She replied with a tired voice, and pushed herself up from her seat, "I have to go find scissors." Dylan added, as she passed Frank, and padded over the carpet to the door leading to 413. She peeked her head in, leaning her hand on the door frame. Inside, Kat was laying in bed, mostly swathed in the blankets they had accumulated, Johnny was having coffee, and looking through Mikey's copy of Watchmen, while Gerard sat at the window, scribbling in his notebook.

"I gotta go find scissors," Dylan said, nodding at Kat, "Wanna come with me?" She raised her eyebrows a little, hoping to hint to Kat that this was a good opportunity to discuss the Christmas/Gerard thing. Kat simply sighed, and blinked at Dylan.

"...Do I have to get out of bed?" She muttered, snuggling into the pillows a bit more.

"Come on." Dylan smiled a little, though it didn't suit her at the moment. Kat sighed heavily, and rolled her eyes dramatically as she tossed the covers away from her body in one swift movement. Dylan retreated to her own room to find some shoes.

"Why do you need scissors any how?" Kat called from her room, as Dylan slid on some shoes, just because. Then she returned to the doorway between rooms.

"Gunna give Frank a hair cut." She said simply, and watched as Kat shrugged on a big black sweatshirt, and zipped it up the front. Ray looked up from his Christmas present, with a shocked expression.

"Can you give me one too?" He asked, a faint smile playing on his lips, and his eyes wide. Dylan shrugged as Kat rounded the end of her bed.

"Yeah. 'Spose I could," Dylan gave Ray a nod, before following Kat toward the door of 415, "Be back in a bit," She murmured, as Kat slipped out the door, and she did the same. When it closed, Dylan stuck her hand in her pocket to retrieve the master key she had knicked from Lily while Kat paced slowly down the hall, "Alright, now what the hell happened? You two have been all...Furtive and decent to one another." Dylan asked, though Kat had her back facing Dylan. Kat sighed heavily, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"We uh.." She paused for a second, looking at the floor as Dylan caught up to her, "May or may not have kissed..A little bit." Kat supressed a smile that would have easily grown wider, had she not pressed her lips together. Dylan's mouth dropped open a little, and she too grinned.

"Well I never," She teased, waggling her head a bit. Kat just looked over her shoulder at the brunette, and stopped when they reached the doors of 425 and 427, "Really?" Dylan asked and slipped the master key into the small lock slot of 425.

"Really." Kat said cooly, and nodded at Dylan, who tossed back the door then stepped inside. This room had yet to be ransacked, oddly enough, thus why they chose it. Dylan flipped on the light in the bathroom, and quickly looked on the counter. A pink striped toiletries bag sat there next to some discarded toothbrushes, so Dylan stepped over to it.

"Why, though? I mean..like...what...what the fuck prompted that?" She raised her voice enough so Kat could hear her, though she was unzipping the suitcases by the beds. Dylan pushed around the makeup compacts, and other girly items, before giving up, and pushing the little bag away. She walked out of the bathroom, just as Kat tossed a men's toiletry bag on one of the beds.

"He asked me how I knew he was an artist," She said simply, and shrugged her shoulders, "I told him I just knew, and he got kinda pissy with me, as per usual, so I explained," She rolled her hand in a circle, as Dylan rifled through the bad, and retrieved a small pair of scissors, "Then we kissed and made up." She grinned and Dylan, who laughed a little, spinning the scissors around her index finger.

"At least you two can keep yourselves entertained, then." Dylan raised her eyebrows and smiled slyly, before walking back toward the entrance to the room. Kat scoffed a little, and followed along back to the rooms.

"Alright who's first?" Dylan asked as she walked over to where Ray and Frank were sitting near the window. Instantly Frank stood up, and pushed his chair back just a little.

"Me, it was my idea." He said, looking at Dylan with a subtle grin. She simply nodded in reply.

"Bring that chair." She muttered, turning on her heel to walk over to the bathroom. Frank picked up his chair quickly, and towed it over to the bathroom awkwardly. He pushed it inside onto the tiled floor as Dylan wrapped her hair up into a messy bun and pulled off her sweatshirt. But not her scarf. Then she nodded at the chair, signaling Frank to sit down. Again he did as told, as Dylan grabbed a small towel that she wrapped around his neck.

"Just, short on the sides 'n' stuff?" She asked quietly, running her fingers through his hair at the back of his neck a little. Frank nodded at her in the mirror, feeling goosebumps rise on his skin at the light contact. Dylan nodded in acknowledgement, and slipped the scissors out of her pocket again before reaching for the small black comb that rested on the counter. Then she resumed her place behind Frank, and began combing through his hair a little.

Mostly, Frank stayed quiet because he could tell Dylan was in a 'mood', and didn't want to upset her, or make her cut out an awkward chunk of his hair. So he kept the conversation sparse as she snipped away at his black hair. He watched her face in the mirror, and the constant frown her expression was bent into as she concentrated. Once in a while, to Frank's utter delight, Dylan would stop, and run her fingers through his hair, messing it up a little before smoothing it into place to see how it looked. He later smiled at how deeply focused she was, and how serious she took this minor task.

"Alright, I think you're done," Dylan sighed a little once she had finished, and pulled the towel away from Frank's neck, scattering the little pieces of black hair over the floor, "Looks good." She added lightly when Frank stood up, and ran his hand over his hair.

"Yeah thanks," He mumbled, turning his head to and fro in the mirror, "You did a good job." Frank turned around, and smiled at Dylan genially. She was inspecting her jeans, making sure no hair had stuck to them.

"Thank you. Happy New Year." She replied once she looked up at Frank again with a light smile. He raised his eyebrows, and looked at his shiny black watch.

"Shit...Yeah I didn't even think about that...." He sighed, noting the time of 2:30ish. His watch didn't have definite numbers, just little silver dots and he hated it, "Seems weird huh?" He asked, feeling a little awkward. Dylan stepped toward the door, though Frank was in her path. She crossed her arms over her chest as they stared at one another.

"Hopefully we'll be out of here soon." She commented softly, and cast her eyes down to gaze at the tile. An uneasy silence fell over the two of them, so Frank inhaled deeply. Then, taking a step closer to Dylan so they were only a few inches apart, he reached his hand up to her's and pulled it away, causing her arms to fall back down to her sides. Dylan looked up at him immediately, lost for words with just a confused expression on her face. She watched Frank's eyes flicker to her lips very quickly, then back to hers. Just as Dylan's fingers curled around Frank's very sublty, and he shuffled forward again so their bodies nearly touched, Ray appeared in the doorway.

"Is it my turn yet-oh....uhh.." He looked, wide-eyed at the two of them who stared back light two deer in his headlights.

"No, yeah uhh-Yeah dude, you're up, go ahead." Frank said in a startled breath, and pulled his hand away from Dylan's. Ray nodded, and stepped between the two of them to get to the chair. Frank gave Dylan one awkward look, before shifting his eyes to the floor, and walking out. Dylan just looked after him for a moment, then shook her head slightly.