After Dawn, Chapter ??: I'll just have to remind you precisely what you mean to me.
#1 of After Dawn
I can't finish After Dark.
There, I've said it. I'm sorry to all the people I've promised it to.
But that doesn't mean I can't write something.
And like the original after dark, this one starts with an early morning caffeine fuelled quick write- half an hour tops.
I'm not going to promise that this will be a new story. For now I'll leave it stand-alone. If you can't work out something from context, or you're confused by something, leave me a note and I'll explain it. I hope I'm not being too obscure, as is my wont.
But remember, I love you all.
~Tigger.
balthazar~:$ eb4 -rEncryptaBlog VidBlog Version 4.6LTS Video to Text Module, GPLv6 2020-2033Loading default user profile for logged in user(shadow...)Mode: textonly. Initializing Speech Recognition... Initializing vfl3 camera (UVC cam+default mic)... Creating NEW entry @ 2053757120 (2035-01-30-02:05:20 UTC-6)Loading pgp key... enter password: *********************** Files will be encrypted.Ready to record! Hit space to start/stopBegin Recording in 3....2....1....Begin.
I can't sleep.
The war was over ten years ago yesterday. I raised a glass with everyone, but it wasn't the same this year, with one less of us. I at least managed to keep the press out this time. Louis hates being photographed at these things.
*sigh* I used to record these because nobody would listen to my rambling. Now nobody will stop. My campaign tour of the state ends next week. Polling shows that I'm pretty close to where we were this time two years ago, as is my opponent. It's nice to know you can spend a few hundred mil of hard currency on advertising, manage to run a clean campaign against a dirty one, and not convince people more than the margin of error. I guess people are educated enough nowadays that I could probably run without a single shred of advertising and still net a win. Still- I wouldn't chance it.
pause
I still miss her every day. She was always the warmth for us, when we were cold. She made a great fucking secretary. The three people I hired to replace her are barely adequate at the job- and it doesn't FEEL right in my office without knowing she was just on the other side of the door. Louis still can't bear coming to visit me for lunch- He says he can still smell her out there. I can too, but I tell him he's imagining it.
All the advances in medical science, all the new tech, and we still couldn't save her. Louis couldn't save her once her heart quit.
The arraignment for the *unintelligible, Ducking Mass hole?* is next week, and it's likely he'll be mind-wiped. The rougher parts of my nature want to do to him what he did to her, but I persevere. I'll be at the sentencing and hopefully at the execution, if it goes the way the A.G. tells me it will. I know it'll cost me points with some of the voters, but fuck 'em. They didn't have to watch her bleed out on the floor.
I just hope we get out of him why the fuck he did it.
My poor Light. We all know you tried. Even Mary knew it. You'll have to stop torturing yourself soon or we'll lose you too. I don't know what'll happen if I did.
pause
I'll just have to remind you precisely what you mean to me.
I only hope its enough to keep you.
---interrupt caught... saving with end timestamp of 2053758765 (2035-01-30-02:32:45 UTC-6)balthazar~:$ sudo haltShutting down...Killing All Processes... Power Down.
Louis grunted softly as he felt a familiar weight press down on the bed beside him, moving the soft sheets a little bit. He knew when the tiger entered the room, of course, nobody got within twenty feet of him without him knowing it, no matter how silent or hidden they were... but he let himself sleep through the familiar presence as the striped orange cat stalked him. He reached out to snag the cat close and blinked his eyes open as his fingers encountered soft knit fabric rather than the fur he was expecting.
"Ise...?" he said softly, blinking awake as a grin split his lips, the wolf wrapping his fingers in the familiar garment, gently tugging him closer, the cat readily obeying as the wolf wrapped him in a hug, hand reaching down underneath a stripey tail to deliver a gentle pat or three. "Feeling cubby, love?" he asked, the cat's ears folding as they hadn't in a long while, causing the wolf to frown. "Hey, I-..."
"Yes, Daddy." the cat's deep husky voice tight, sounding so very small compared to its normal commanding tone. The wolf wrapped him tighter and delivered a kiss to his neck.
"Don't ever think I've forgotten this, baby boy. You're still my son no matter how many line item vetos you put your name on." A soft rumble made the tiger whimper, pressing his face to the wolf's chest. "Hey... What brought this on?"
Issac looked up, tears in his eyes. "You." he whispered. "Since-... Since it happened, I haven't FELT you.. You've been behind a wall and I-" he broke off, choking back a sob, the powerful feline reduced to a mewling cub as tears welled in the wolf's eyes.
"Oh... baby. I'm-... I'm so sorry." he whispered, his voice choked by the tightness in his throat. "I've been hurting so much I haven't even seen how bad it is for you."
Louis reached down, putting a finger on the tiger's chin to lift his face, kissing him, their tears mingling as they pressed their faces against eachother, the salt water trickling to their mouths as their lips celebrated while their hearts- long broken, slowly mended by their love for eachother.
...
And somewhere on high a human girl who once knew a wolf and a tiger, smiled to see her old friends at last begin to move on together.