It is currently 19:03 Pacific Time on Tue Jan 13 2004.
Currently the moon is in the waning Half Moon phase (56% full).
Cockroach Mansion -- Tower
Unlike the rest of the mansion, the interior of the four-story-tall tower has a
rough and almost medieval feel to it. It's all concrete and stone and
exposed lightbulbs. There's one room per floor, plus a basement
underneath; a winding iron staircase leads from one level to the next.
The highest floor of the tower provides the best view of the grounds and
surrounding neighborhood; there are several windows with dark brown
curtains and a couple of chairs to sit in. A black trunk acts as a
makeshift coffee table and footrest, and there's even carpeting.
Interestingly enough, all the windows are set with heavy black iron bars.
On one wall hangs a whiteboard and some dry-erase markers and matching
eraser.
The rest of the rooms are used mostly for storage and have a chilly, shadowy,
dusty feel. In the irregularly-shaped basement reigns the boiler.
There are cockroaches everywhere, on every floor of the tower.
Joshua pages: Salem, incase Sig didn't drop you a note, there's a new door
here. Reinforced heavy monstrosity that she installed on Sunday night.
The tower is as cold as ever, still reeking of the cleaning chemicals from
Monday. The bloodstains, as if to spite two days of scrubbing, still
clung onto the walls stubbornly as a permanent reminder of Signe's
lessons. The Glyphs are back on the walls, and the white board filled
with attempts at reproducing them. Josh himself sits on the cot, pencil
scratching away at the one of the notebooks Cat brought up a few days
ago, making a sketch of the new Glyph he saw on Rina's neck just days
ago. He seems distant and removed: as if he wasn't truely there, but
somewhere else in thought.
Rina's familiar lighter tread comes up the stairs. This time, though, she isn't
carrying supper on a tray. She knocks on the heavy door, before coming in.
Joshua either doesn't hear, or doesn't respond. The pencil keeps scratching at
the note pad diligently.
Rina opens the door and lets herself in. "Dinner's ready," she says, her tone
controlled and neutral. "Come downstairs."
Joshua immediately fumbles the notebook, surprised at Rina's 'sudden'
appearance. The book and the pencil clatter to the floor as he stands up.
Looking across the room, he takes a breath and shakes his head. "'m not
hungry." A bald faced lie, considering once again he hasn't eaten since
breakfast the previous morning.
Rina's eyes narrow. "You're comin' downstairs, and you're gonna eat with us.
You haven't eaten since yesterday." There's perhaps some irony in the
pointed words, considering her own heroin-addict physique.
Joshua starts to open his mouth to object before she calls him out on the lie.
With a deep sigh (as if this was such the hardship, having dinner) he
crosses his arms, heading to the door.
"Yeah," she says dryly. "Poor you. Homemade Italian food every day, it's such a
rough life." She follows him down the stairs.
Cockroach Mansion -- Downstairs
The heavy, dark opulence to this mansion known as Dominion is perfectly
exemplified by the room vistors first enter, this front hall.
Dark-stained wood serves as paneling on the walls, gleams with high gloss
in the hardwood floor, and supports a semi-circular balcony in carved
pillars. The heavy double doors, made of oak, open into the hall from the
south, opposite the huge, hourglass-shaped staircase composed of red and
black gneiss which soars up to the balcony; both are fenced in with a
wooden railing of simple spiraled posts. Several doorways can be made out
on the second floor, nearly blending in discreetly with the back wall.
The wall to the left of the front doors is composed entirely of windows
which run from the forty-foot-tall domed dark wood ceiling to the floor;
if drawn, the heavy velvet drapes of deep red would completely mask them
from view, but when parted, as they often are, one has a marvelous view
of the grounds outside.
A doorway to the right of the front doors leads to a parlor, and towards the
back are the kitchens, the large dining room, and Salem's office.
Joshua steps off the stairs, slouching as he makes his way to the Kitchen. He
grumbles something in response to Rina's comment, but it's not
intelligible.
The buzzer sounds, announcing someone's presence at the gate. A peek at the
security camera shows the Get Jarl resting on the seat of her Harley
Davidson.
Rina stops him physically, a hand on his shoulder, when they have left the
tower. "What was that?"
Joshua turns back up to look at Rina. "Wassn't talking to ya." He responds
quietly, setting his jaw. "Jus' say'n it's a bad idea, leaving the tower.
'sall."
Rina's dark eyes narrow. "How d'you figure?" she asks, flatly.
Joshua shakes his head, turning away from Rina. "You don' believe me anyhow.
Don't matter." He tries to resume his course to the kitchen, not letting
this sit for more than a moment.
Salem emerges from the kitchen in response to the gate buzzer; the Walker's
dressed in faded black jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt -- dark red, not
black (for once). He glances over at Rina and Joshua, giving the cub a
bit of a narrow-eyed _look_, then goes to activate the gate so Signe can
come in.
She scowls at the boy's retreating back, and then heads for the door--sharing a
dark look with Salem and running a hand through her hair in an
exasperated gesture. "Fuckin' u'pazz'," she mutters angrily.
Signe's on the other side of the door when Rina opens it, having come up the
drive and parked her bike. She gives the kin a quick look, nodding. "Food
ready?"
Joshua shuffles into the Kitchen, shriveling visibly under the combined glares
of Rina and Salem. He doesn't look smug anymore.
Salem casts a look ceilingward, exasperated. He shares a look, then, with
Signe, giving the Get a nod before following Joshua back into the kitchen
to put the finishing touches on the table setting.
Signe takes a moment to study those around her, getting an idea of the mood.
Moving into the kitchen, she lifts her chin in greeting to Josh. "Hey
kid," she says. "How's the struggle?"
Joshua doesn't make eye-contact with Signe, instead looking at her shoes. "Wuz
wonder'in if I could talk ta ya in private, later..." He answers back to
her, turning around to attempt to help with the table setting.
The kitchen is redolent with the smells of Italian cooking. The table is
already neatly set, with six places.
Rina follows Signe into the kitchen, and looks over the preparations, peeking
into the oven to check on the entree. She shoots the cub a look that says
'not likely,' and begins putting together a plat of antipasti. "Good to
see you, Signe," she says quietly.
Signe doesn't answer Joshua til she glances toward Salem. Unless the Walker
elder objects, she looks back to the cub and nods, adding a nonchalant
little shrug. "Sure thing."
Joshua doesn't see anything to help with, table already being set and all. He
nods tightly to the Get before shuffling in behind one of the seats.
Salem glances from Joshua to Signe and back again, frowning slightly. Then he
shakes his head, clearly attempting to brush off the impending foul mood.
"You and I need to have a talk first," he says to Joshua, in a
no-nonsense, if gratingly shrill, tone of voice. "After dinner."
Signe looks between the cub and his elder and frowns a little herself. She
leaves them without saying anything, though, and greets Rina again by
saying, "So, how're things with you?" The table setting is examined with
obvious approval, and the Get goes looking for a beer.
"I'm alive," Rina says as she brings over the antipasti. "Cat's gonna be late,
he said, and Idunno about KC..."
Joshua's face seems to roil unpleasantly with the possibilities of topics of
Conversation with Salem, none of them anything he'd want to talk to the
Elder about. A muttered 'okay' is all the response he manage Salem as he
waits behind his seat.
Salem wrinkles his nose, displeased with the cub's attitude, then snorts and
takes his seat at the head of the table. A glass of water, with ice, is
already set there.
If there's a seating arrangement, the Get isn't aware of it. So she just sits
on the other side of Salem. His grumpy mood doesn't seem to phase her
much as she settles in, leans back, and takes a sip from her beer.
"So," Rina says succintly, "mangiam', yeah?" She waves a hand, to indicate that
everyone should sit. She offers Signe a quick half smile, and passes over
the big plate. Guests first. Capicola, bits of mozzarella, marinated
artichoke hearts and peppers and eggplants, and pepperoncini.
He may know nothing about existing in polite company, but the Cub's got his
manners down. He waits until Rina and Signe sit down before sitting
himself between Salem and Signe, not wanting to be too near either.
Folding his hands, Josh says a silent prayer before, looking up
expectantly at the plate. Bad circumstances or not, food is food.
Signe takes the plate and dishes out healthy portions onto her own plate before
passing it off to Josh to her side. "I've met Cat, I think, but I don't
think I know this KC. Another Walker?"
Joshua takes the dish, dumping a good ammount on his plate before passing it on
to Salem as fast as he can without making a mess, trying to keep it
moving along.
"Yeah," Rina answers quietly. "You'll hafta meet her. You'd get along." There's
a touch of wry humor, a slyness, as she glances sidelong to the Get.
Signe smirks. "What, she's a pain in the ass?"
Joshua picks up his fork, working diligently on destroying the meal on the
plate. Between bites, he listens to the Adults with little interest.
Rina pops a rolled-up bit of capicola into her mouth, eyeing Signe with
amusement in her eyes. She swallows. "Nope."
Salem serves himself, then passes the plate along. The Walker Elder remains
silent -- attentive, but silent.
Signe's less diligent than Josh, but she makes a good dent in what's on her
plate. "Well, if she's not a pain in the ass, I dunno what she and I
could have in common," she says, sipping her beer again.
Chew chew swallow. Josh continues his assault on the plate with speed born of
hunger. He reaches to wipe his face on his arm before stopping himself
and using the napkin instead.
Rina laughs lightly, shooting the Get another sly look. "Didn't say /that/. I
said you'd like her. She's hot. And she can shoot."
Signe furrows her brow, looking across the table at Rina. "Is she kin, or
garou?" she asks.
Joshua looks up from the napkin, contributing his bit to the conversation. "Miz
K. C. Rhya is Garou." He notes, stabbing at the food again.
Signe wrinkles her nose, souring as if something she'd eaten suddenly disagreed
with her. "Garou. Rina, you should know better than to even joke like
that around me."
Rina glances to the woman, an eyebrow raised. "What? I know you're taken. All I
meant was she's cute, she's cool, and she can hit a bullseye at fifty
yards. All good qualities." She scoots her chair back, and gets up to
fetch the big bowl of salad.
Joshua's brow furrows as he chews, processing what was just said. After a
moment of this he looks sideways at Signe, and seems to peer. Catching
himself, he turns his face back down to the plate, every now and then
glancing back over...
Rina sets the salad down and returns to the kitchen again, serving up dinner:
chicken parmigiana, with pasta and steamed vegetables alongside.
Signe waves a dismissive hand at Rina, shaking her head. "It's got nothing to
do with being taken. Got to do with the first law." Tilting her head
thoughtfully, she adds, "Although, being a good shot is cool."
Joshua doesn't take nearly as much this time around, just enough to tide him
over. Nor does he delay before launching in on it, suddenly in a hurry to
finish eating.
Rina passes out the plates and sets down the big bowl of pasta primavera, then
drops into her chair and gives Signe a look. "Well, I didn't mean it like
that. Just that she's easy on the eye." She glances down the table to
Salem, and then digs into her chicken parm. "Not like we need any more of
that shit."
Signe flashes a grin Rina's way. "Yeah," she says before taking the chicken
parmigiana plate and dishing some onto her plate. "Speaking of which, how
are things with you and Dale?"
Rina glances down the table, giving the Get a bemused look. "There is no
'thing' with me and Dale," she says quietly. "It's not like that."
She returns her attention to her plate, then, her expression veiled and bleak.
Signe's never one to not push things, when she can. and she can here. Taking
another sip from her beer, she sets the bottle on the table and asks,
"No? what's it like, then?"
Rina looks over to the Get, her eyes narrowing slightly. "It's like I just met
him, and Charlie and I were goin' to a hockey game and invited him along,
and then I walked into this house and found out he was Get." She returns
her attention to knifing up her chicken, with a little more violence than
is strictly necessary.
Signe chuckles quietly, perhaps enjoying the Walker kin's irritation a little
too much. "Yeah. That's a bitch, I know," she says, resettling in her
seat. She gives Josh a cursory glance, then looks back at him. "You
didn't answer my question earlier, Josh, but I can tell from looking at
you not much has changed."
Joshua looks up from his plate, fork pausing midair. He slowly sets it down,
nodding. "Ya could say that..." He murmurs out, not looking at anyone at
the table.
Rina's expression tightens. "He thinks he's gonna kill the wolf," she says
curtly. Dark eyes glance to Signe. "He won't accept that this is part of
him. Like he's, what'd'y'call it, multiple personality or somethin'. You
ever heard of anything like that?"
Signe lets out an impatient breath, nodding to Rina. "Yeah, he and I went round
and round about it the other day. He's as stubborn as I am, which is
saying something, you know."
Joshua abruptly pushes out from the table, walking away at a brisk pace. As he
leaves the room, he can been to be blushing bright red. The noise of his
bare feet continues as he breaks out into a run, back to his place in
tower.
Signe watches him go before looking pointedly back at the Walker kin. "It's
gonna be a rude wake up call when he realizes there's only one person
inside his head, and it's him."
Rina half-rises from her seat, glaring after him, almost as if she is about to
call him back in a fury--but she thinks better of it, her control
holding. Her jaw shifts, tense, as she drops down again. "Yeah. Trouble
is, he's plannin' on killing the wolf." She looks to Signe, and then to
Salem. "I don't know how the fuck he thinks he's gonna do that," she
says. "But I'm a little fuckin' concerned." Her tone has that false
lightness that betrays anger beneath it.
Signe pushes up from her seat, too. Glancing around the table, she says
quietly. "Why don't we find out? Scuse me," she says, dropping her napkin
and heading toward the tower, herself.
[Later]
Rina comes back down to join him. There are faint flaws in the illusion of
domesticity, now: she is pale and quiet, her expression taut with
anxiety. Then again, there wasn't much illusion to start with, given the
presence of the gun tucked into the back of her waist.
"She had to beat him down," Rina murmurs quietly, as she sits down. "The little
fuck attacked her. And then afterward, he's saying he didn't mean to..."
She rests an elbow on the table, and pillows her eyes on the heel of a
hand.
Salem is poking at his food when she enters. It's a shame, really, that such
good food should be wasted on ill moods. He looks up as she enters and
his mouth twists into a grimace. "Fuck." He puts his fork down.
Rina doesn't lift her head. "I didn't go in," she says quietly. "Sig's fine.
But if you wanna go up there, feel free."
"Signe can handle herself," he mutters. He props his elbows up on the table and
rests his chin on his clasped hands, lightly; his expression's pensive.
"Thought I'd reached him, the other day. Convinced him that we weren't
demons. But five fucking steps back." He shakes his head.
Rina looks down the table to him. "I'm serious about this multiple personality
shit," she says softly. "I don't know what to do."
Salem snorts derisively. "He's just having trouble adjusting to his new
temper," he says, sounding rather peevish. "Hasn't grasped yet _really_
what he is. Hence the excuses, that it's not really _him_." He smiles
humorlessly.
Rina lets out a breath, and eats for a while, digging into her neglected
parmigiana.
Salem follows suit after a moment, managing a mouthful or two. Then he mutters,
ruefully, "Your cooking deserves a better audience. I'm sorry."
Rina lifts a shoulder. "Yeah, well. Least he came down f'dinner without me
havin' to threaten him." She lets out a resigned sigh.
"Gaia save us from problem cubs," he mutters again, thinly.
By the time anyone comes down from the tower, Rina and Salem are having coffee,
quietly, over the disarray of the dinner table.
Signe leads the cub back down from the tower. It looks worse than it is,
because of all the blood, but both garou are relatively calm at this
point. Signe's arm's chewed up, shirt torn and well blooded. The cub's
throat bears the tell tale puncture and scratch marks from the Get's
claws, and his shirt collar's fairly well saturated with blood as well.
The wounds need to be cleaned, but should heal easily.
Rina doesn't look, but watches Salem over her coffee. "We need to make a move,
soon," she says quietly. "I've got some ideas on what we can do about
those competitors of ours."
Salem sets his cup, full of decaf, down as Signe and Josh enter. He rakes his
gaze over the cub especially, gives the Get a nod, then looks over at
Rina. One eyebrow rises questioningly.
Joshua stops at the entery way, chewing on his lower lip as Salem gives him the
'once over'. Finally, he slides into the room behind Signe, standing
against the wall away from the table.
Rina's lips quirk up slightly in a shadow of a wiseguy smirk. "We'll discuss it
later, yeah?" She glances abstractedly over her shoulder, unconcerned.
"Enjoy y'little scrap?"
Salem turns his intent gaze back to Joshua. His expression is carefully bland.
Joshua looks over to Signe, not sure what the correct answer would be. He
shifts slightly, shaking his head. "... I didn' mean to." He replies
apologetically, lowering his head slightly as Salem turns his gaze to
him. "I... jus' slipped."
Signe's attention flirts with Rina's comment for a moment before it refocuses
on Salem. Her natural frown deepens a little. "Not for nothing, but This
kid needs something I don't think he can find locked up in here. He needs
to kill something. This stupid idea he has about the wolf being some
alien inside him trying to kill him has to be drummed out of him, so he
can accept who the fuck, and /what/ he really is. You know what I mean?"
Rina purses her lips, and returns her attention to her coffee. "He's not locked
up anymore," she points out.
Salem's nostrils flare. He pushes to his feet and stalks over toward Joshua,
walking around him slowly. If he was a cat, his tail'd be lashing back
and forth. Eventually he turns his mismatched eyes back to Signe. "What
are you suggestiing?"
Joshua tenses, pulling up out of his slouch up as Salem paces near him. He
uncrosses his arms, dropping them to his sides, not saying anything for
fear of further incurring the Elder's wrath.
Signe shrugs, looking throughtful. Coincidentally or not, she doesn't look
Salem in the eye while she's thinking. Eventually, she looks back up. "We
could take him out to the woods for a few days. Make him stay in the
wolf. Find him something useful to kill. Something wyrmy. Practice. See
if it helps." she looks back to Rina and says, "No offense, but he may
not be locked up here anymore, but the only thing that he has to take out
his aggressions on around here is people he loves."
Salem inhales sharply, nostrils flaring. He glowers back down at Joshua.
"Someone'll have to stay with him. Watch him. _Feed_ him."
Joshua's face drops as he listens to Signe's suggestion. Setting his jaw, it
wouldn't take much to read that he doesn't like the idea much at all. But
if wants to complain about it, he's not saying anything.
Rina purses her lips, leaning back in her chair. "I don't like it," she says
quietly. "He's not stable enough to go out there, off the leash."
Signe looks from Walker elder to kin, to cub, and back again. She suggests,
"Erika's out there now. She's of my tribe, so, I'm not saying it's the
best solution--leaving your cub with one of mine. But she's there, along
with Jamethon. and I can keep an eye on him. Can't be there twenty
four-seven, but for a few days, I can be there most times."
Salem's eyes narrow; it's clear he has some definite doubts as to this idea.
"Has he accepted the fact that his _rage_ is a part of him?" He stalks
over to stand in front of Joshua, arms folded.
That Signe can't say is true, and she steps aside for the cub to answer for
himself.
Rina turns to watch the boy over the rim of her cup.
Joshua closes his eyes for a moment, a grimmace on his face. After a moment he
shakes his head, opening his eyes again and finally talking. "It just
doesn't make any sense... I don't hate Jer, or Sig-Rhya, or even Cat. Why
would I be angry at them?"
Salem arches an eyebrow. "Don't have to hate someone to be angry at them."
Signe snorts, as if Salem's simple statement was incredibly understated.
Quickly, she clears her throat, gives the elder Walker an apologetic
look, and goes back to being quiet.
"Fuckin' right," Rina murmurs. "I been pretty angry at Salem here, from time to
time..." She looks over to Joshua, sidelong. "The rage is part of you,
sweetie. It's not that you're angry at anyone in particular... just angry
at everything."
"It's an emotion," Salem adds. He looks at the teenager sourly. "You get
unwanted hardons too, I bet. Planning to lop your dick off as well?" The
shrill Jackal voice is especially mocking.
"I guess..." The cub replies dubiously. He closes his eyes again, idly chewing
on his lip before giving a short but earnest nod, looking at Salem. "I
mean yer all say'n the same thing. 'n it makes sense, I suppose... So I
guess your right." The cub mumbles out the agreement quietly.
Rina drops her face into her hand, giving a little shake of her head at Salem's
helpful approach.
Signe folds her arms over her chest, casually leaning against the kitchen wall
while the Walkers talk.
Salem grunts, not looking at all convinced at the cub's acquiescence. "So what
are you going to do?"
Joshua exhales, not at all liking how the conversation was going. The cub
responds with a note of dejection: "I'm gonna work on trying not to loose
it so often. Not to slip up when someone sayz something I don't like. So
I don' hurt anyone."
Rina chews on her lower lip. "Siddown... you want me to toss your plate in the
microwave, warm it up? You gotta be hungry... You too, Signe." She offers
the Get a fragile half-smile.
Signe looks down at her arm. "Na, I'm gonna head back home, I think. I've got
an early date in the morning with a cub of my own." She glances to Josh
and gives him a good-natured 'hang in there' kind of look and then nods
to Salem, as well. "Gimme a call if you need me. "
Salem looks over Joshua a moment more, then snorts and stalks back to his place
at the table. He nods to Signe.
Rina nods, rising to pace over to Signe. "Thanks f'comin', babe." Despite the
blood, she offers a swift embrace to the Get.
Joshua nods to Signe once, facing her. "... 'n thanks for... yeah." He nods
once more, as if to fill in the lack of words.
Signe blinks in surprise, and for a comical second or two the Get awkwardly
just stands there while Rina hugs her. eventually, she hugs the kin back,
and even grins. Josh gets a friendly nudge, and the Get heads out the
kitchen towards the door.
Rina follows, to open the door and then the gate for her. She stays by the
door, leaning against it, her head bowed.
Signe pages to the room: Tai chi, man. :) Barlow taught it to Signe. and if
that image doesn't crack you up, well,...you're probably just too young
to get it. :)
After Josh is finished eating, Salem wordlessly escorts him back upstairs to
the tower.
Joshua eats in silence, before ending up back in the tower again. He silently
walks back in, sitting down on the cot. At least with Salem, he knew the
door would be locked on the way out.
And indeed it is, locked and barred. Then he prowls back downstairs. He pauses
on his way back to the kitchen and eyes Rina.
She is cleaning up silently, her face averted, the tension instantly betraying
her. She would not be so constantly turned away from the door, if she
weren't hiding something.
Salem's sigh is silent; wordlessly, he joins her, clearing away the table and
dishes, helping put away the leftovers. All the while he keeps an eye on
her.
She is not crying, at least. Her expression is distant, bleak. "You aright?"
she asks quietly, glancing over to him, concern in the dark eyes.
Salem nods. "More or less." He hesitates, then adds, lower, "Sorry for being
crude earlier."
A faint smile tugs up at the corners of her mouth, and she almost laughs.
"Jesus, you think I mind? I was trying not to laugh is all."
Salem smiles crookedly for a second or two. Then, more solemnly, he says, "I'll
bring him out to the farmhouse eventually. But he's not ready. And as
much as I respect Signe's skills, I'm _not_ leaving our cub in the care
of Erika and _Jamethon_."
Rina nods minutely, the smile fading. "I'm glad we agree. You dry, I'll wash?"
"Yes'm," he says, the high-pitched voice faux-meek. He pulls open one of the
drawers near the sink, getting a fresh dish towel; it's dark blue, with a
duck embroidered on one end.
The work is quiet, for a time. Her expression is thoughtful. "How are things
goin' with your... lady friend?"
"Good," he murmurs, then adds, "As can be. She's out of town at the moment. We
email."
Rina nods minutely, her smile lopsided. "That's good," she murmurs.
Salem doesn't quite smile back; there's a flash of something anxious and
haunted across his eyes, something that gets buried quickly. He nods.
Rina's eyes are on her work. "I don't want you to be dead inside," she says
softly. "It hurts too much, if you come alive again after."
"Likewise," comes the brief reply.
Rina swallows. "It's like frostbite," she whispers. "Freezing to death. You
just go numb, and lay down and sleep." Wistful, she scrubs at the baking
pan. "I told her... she's like a fire. And I don't know if I want to get
warm, and live through all the pain of comin' back to life... or if I
wanna lay down in the snow and sleep, and dream..."
Salem works methodically at the silverware, drying each piece with care. He
nods slowly. "Know what you mean."
She looks over to him--a fragility in her eyes that she would never reveal to
others. That expression, that vulnerability, is like s secret between
them. "Yeah," she says softly. "I know."
Salem looks thoughtful for a moment, his eyes narrowing faintly. "The pain of
coming back's worth it."
Rina presses her lips together a moment, studying him. "Y'think?" she asks
softly.
Salem nods. "You and I," he mutters, "are experts in pain. Pain's not
temporary. It's constant. Fire can hurt, too." He cocks his head,
favoring his good eye as he looks down at her. "It's better than most,
though. And better than nothing at all." He shrugs briefly. "You know
you're alive, at least."
A wistful smile tugs up at one corner of her lips. "Yeah." They finish up
quietly, and after the work is done there is a swift hug goodnight. The
she slips away, helmet dangling from one hand, her head bowed as she
steps out into the cold.
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