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 Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:29 pm
It was good. It was still good.
It was impossible to feel otherwise, when he got to wake up, beautifully warm, next to Aislin, their paws tangled, his muzzle tucked against her elbow. Impossible not to start the day with the adrenaline-shot realization that he was still in the middle of something miraculous, and impossible to come to feel otherwise in these strange new days they were having: streaming through the alien forest with their tails waving like banners, hunting game, threading leaves and flowers into their fur.
It was good. They had been right.
He shuddered faintly, closing his eyes again and searching for the hiss and crackle of their star. He was able to realize, just faintly, how odd it was that he didn't doubt the reality of that solitary visitation - for a moment at a time, he was able to think, I believe in this, without knowing why. And the magic of the idea went hand in hand with the ridiculous, and somehow happening premise that a girl, the best girl in the world, could love him.
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 4:42 pm
Aislin yawned sleepily, a tremendous yawn that took over her muzzle and bared small, perfectly white teeth -- the sort of yawn a puppy has, charming and harmless. They weren't making very good time, of course. But it was alright. They had all the time in the world. Time, really, was irrelevant. They had each other...they had the others...they had the blessings of the spirit that had guided them. What else was necessary?
She had known for awhile now that she was bearing further blessings, but had found no opportunity to share this knowledge with Cue. It wasn't that she was afraid of his reaction; she knew he would be as overjoyed as she had been. No, she had kept the knowledge a secret thus far because she felt some secrets required some amount of ceremony to be shared. She was waiting for the right time.
She extended her tongue, running it over his forehead, burying her nose in his ear and breathing warm, moist breath against him. Fortunate too, perhaps, that this journey where time did not matter also brought so little outside judgment.
Even Fubar was in a stunningly good mood, although she suspected the reason for that as well.
"Are we walking more today?" She asked, voice still husky with sleep -- as it often was.
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:49 pm
Cue shifted, and his eyes went soft - how could they not? - as he watched Ais stretch and yawn herself awake. A profound sense of love pulsed through him, out of him, and he closed his eyes, smiling at the kiss, smiling somewhat differently at the humid breath coursing down his neck. It was the hardest thing in the world to remember that Novacaine and his cousin existed, sometimes. He flicked his head, returning her advance with a rejoinder, a delicate play-bite against her cheek. "Of course," he answered, and then appeared to think about it, his nose dipping thoughtfully under her chin. "Until we hear something different."
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:53 pm
"Have you seen it again?" She asked, rolling away from him and trying to disentangle her limbs so she could rise to her paws. "The visitation, I mean?"
The dreams had stopped after their first night together. Or, rather, the nightmares had stopped; Aislin always dreamed. Lately, her dreams had been strange, but not unpleasant.
Perhaps that's what she'd been waiting on: A sign from the light, letting her know the pups would be blessed by the same good fortune as had clung to her so far in this journey.
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 6:41 pm
One might expect here doubt, or worry, but no. He watched her rise, his affect calm and thoughtful. "Nothing overt," he mused, following her to his feet but getting sidelined with a gratuitous stretch; "just, it feels right, what we're doing. Perfectly right." Straightening, he settled onto Aislin a softly adoring gaze. "It's an approval."
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 6:56 pm
"I think so, too," she said, with a relieved smile. She hoped perhaps he would see something again, just to give them a little more push -- and something else to guide the others along -- but she knew how much the visitation had taken out of him, how much it had hurt. She didn't want to see him hurting just for her own peace of mind.
The others had been well-behaved enough, anyway. It helped that everyone had a partner. Being with someone made the world a better, brighter place, and she was grateful that everyone was able to journey together without breaking those bonds.
Briefly, the thought occurred to her that if she was right, and Sophia was expecting pups, that their children would all grow up together, a giant family like she had always wanted. And then maybe the children could all fall in love when they got older, and have children of their own, and it would be a huge happy family that would just keep growing and growing.
Charmed by the prospect, she turned sleep-filled eyes toward her beau and said, a bit coyly, "I know one thing that can make all of this even more perfect."
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:08 pm
He tilted his head, an eager little smile lighting his face. "What?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:15 pm
She debated, for a moment, making him play a guessing game with her, but decided against it. He probably wouldn't enjoy that very much. And besides, she was impatient. After carrying the knowledge around for several days, it was best to just get it all out in the open, ceremony or not.
"We were given a present. A gift for leaving and starting over."
A starting-over gift. Yes. That was precisely it. A new family, to replace the one they had left behind -- the family that was becoming like a hazy dream even though it had all happened just a few days ago.
She rose to her paws, straightening out and shifted her weight so that it was pretty much impossible for him to miss the subtle changes to her body, the shift of the curves, the way the silky fur parted over her flesh and muscles.
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:34 pm
Head still tilted, he watched Ais make her odd pronouncement and her odd display, a quizzical furrow working into his brow. It took a lot of considering to get there; Aislin would see the instant the idea occurred to him, his expression briefly aghast, then bewildered, then bewildered and delighted. "You're--? Aislin," he woofed, her happiness bringing forth in him, as it often did, an uncharacteristic font of giddiness. He rushed to her belly, tickling, pressing his eye, his ear, against it. "Oh, my god."
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:15 pm
"They're ours," she felt compelled to explain, as though there were any question about that. But that's not what she meant -- she wasn't saying they were his, that much was self-evident. She meant they were theirs, in that they were gifts given to them to cherish and keep and raise with love. Theirs to show the beautiful new world that may only exist in Aislin's mind but which she nevertheless knew they would all grow up in.
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:51 pm
And as they often would, Aislin's words took on the sound of Truth to him, made him believe without surprise things that he had given absolutely no thought to. He looked up at her from among the curls of her belly fur, and simply believed that these babies were a gift, a providence. And a redemption, perhaps, a chance to make good on the difference between themselves and the generation that preceded them. Cue's eyes went hot and fervent, suddenly, locked on Aislin as he began to imagine the enormity of what lay before them. "They will be so loved," he whispered, overcome.
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 9:04 pm
Her tail wagged, a slow sway of delight behind her silken haunch. "And don't tell anyone I know, yet," she said, in a low conspiratorial voice, "But I think Sophia is, too."
She was delighted at his reaction, not that there had been any reason to doubt his devotion. It all felt so right. "So we might have to stop for awhile, later. But...oh, Cue! They'll have friends to grow up with, and play with. No one will ever have to be lonely in their whole life."
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