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Despite his age, Riley was alert as ever and from inside the house, the deep sound of a dog's bark echoed through the hallways followed by the tapping of claws on a hardwood or tiled surface where he danced on the other side of the closed door. While he wasn’t overfond of the snow, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever did love company especially since he was raised in a house that had another dog and more people around to offer up attention.

It had been a difficult adjustment for them both but after over a year of just the two of them, they seemed to manage just fine despite all things.

“Ok, c’mon. Move… Riley. Move.” The dog jumped up, put both paws on Zaidyn’s chest, and licked him in the face before pushing off and circling him, evasive maneuvering so that it was hard for his owner to grab ahold of the collar. “Riley. Move.” he spoke with more authority and the dog gave no shits to which he gave an exasperated sigh and instead went to pick up the black leash that hung in the closet.

That got Riley’s attention and like an obedient dog, he sat as he’d been trained to do.

At the core of him, Riley was a working dog and when the leash was on it was time to listen. Usually, it meant that they were going to go on a run or go to a dog park to play with some of the agility structures for exercise. In the summer they’d go to a lake where he would get a chance to go swimming. But for now, it was just a means to keep him calm enough so that Zaidyn could open the door and let their guest inside.

“Nataniel, my apologies.” The door swung wide and Riley stayed put. “Please, come in. The only thing worse than his bark is his tail, I promise. A true enough statement for anyone unfortunate enough to stand behind him in a moment of pure excitement; more so when his sister used to visit since Jenna spoiled him rotten.

“Yes. Please, come in.” Zaidyn motioned towards the living room and after closing the door he unhooked his dog's leash.

“Riley, bed.” It was a simple command and yet the retriever tarried a moment. Sniffing at their guest's shoes, then his pant leg before bumping his cold nose against Nataniel’s hand. “Bed.” the command was issued more firmly and Riley bowed his head in mock defeat, lowered his tail, and walked over to the fleece-covered oversized pillow that laid on the ground beside the recliner.

The large furniture was all in place; a three-seater couch, coffee table, moderate-sized entertainment system and two bookshelves. It was all basic, nothing fancy or designer made; most of it was from Ikea, Offerup, or in the process of DIY. When he had moved out of Alexandre’s home he had money, yes. But in terms of tangible objects, Aiden had little to his name. Pretty much everything was in his ex’s name or borrowed with the exception of well… clothes and a few smaller personal belongings.

“I’ve been doing well enough,” The comment was an afterthought as he walked down the hallway into the kitchen where he grabbed two glasses of water before returning to the living room where Nat waited. “Physically I’m fine, but it’s been a trial to re-train Riley so he listens to me, and finding a new job has been slow.” Aside from that he still hadn’t addressed the issue with his family.

They were getting worried, and Jenna… she was persistent as ever.

He hadn’t returned their voicemail messages or texts asking about Christmas or New Year. Tried to ignore the desperate please from his mother begging him to answer. It nearly killed him to stand out in the snow, watching them try to enjoy dinner only to have it dissolve into another argument between his parents.

God. Why did his father have to be a ******** a*****e?

“Probably a cop-out but I’ve decided to go with the name Zaidyn. Close enough to my own name that I can’t be blamed for responding by mistake.” The glasses were set on a pair of coasters, “I apologize for the mess. Unpacking is tedious and time-consuming.”

Feet and legs sore from all the walking, Zaidyn took a seat on the other end of the couch.

“My sister is tenacious, she won’t give up easily if I keep ignoring them.” Zaidyn glanced over at Nat apologetically as he took a seat in the chair adjacent to him. “I haven't submitted my forwarding address from my apartment so I don’t think that she’ll find me easily. But it is only a matter of time before she kicks down that door.” Not that he was truly worried since Jenna was louder than anything. Emotional, sure. But not likely to arrive with a weapon in hand to kill him for ghosting his family.

Already he avoided most of his usual routes when taking Riley on a walk, and was visiting parks closer to their new home to familiarize himself with this neighborhood as he imagined that it would be where he’d patrol on nights he didn’t much feel like going downtown. Aside from a brief nod or occasional wave, he had yet to meet anyone; he’d get around to that eventually but now wasn’t the time.

“If you think this is something your Mauvian might be able to help with then, by all means.” He was open to suggestions on how to make this transition. “Debt wise I’m doing fine. The house is paid off in full and I have some still in savings.” It wasn’t that he came from old money or stole anything. But after six years of living with his then-boyfriend and not having to pay rent because it was one of his family's homes; no mortgage payments and more than one person lived there anyway.

“But…” Zaidyn hesitated mostly because he felt incredibly uncomfortable having to ask for help. But he was swimming in unfamiliar waters. “I will need help either finding a job or getting re-registered for classes so I can change my degree.” Unfortunately, he couldn’t just walk into his former places of employment and apply for his old job; his co-workers were not stupid enough to overlook the similarities.

Fortunately, Zaidyn had been treading carefully as far as his sister was concerned. It was significantly harder to do with his mother, especially after seeing spotting her through the living room window while on a walk; sitting hunched over on the couch, head hung forward covered by both hands. Exhaustion had weighed heavily on her shoulders and it showed.

He had just replaced his phone with a new number, effectively cutting off the last means of communication with his family since none knew where he lived and he hadn’t been to work in over a month. In his recent absence, however, it appeared that his scum bag of a father decided to show up more frequently. Ever the opportunist, with Aiden gone, there was no reason for them to argue and at least for a time, he could feign false sympathy.

Jenna saw it for what it was but allowed it since he seemed to be the only one that could console their mother; more so because she still believed that he was alive while their father continuously contradicted her words. A fact he knew only because he had spent time powered up either in the shadows of their backyard or atop their roof listening to a myriad of arguments and tears through the walls.

With how things had ended between him and Alexandre, there was no reason to check on his ex. They did not speak with any level of frequency and he was certain the other would not care about his sudden disappearance since they had both moved on. Jenna would no doubt reach out eventually but until then, Zaidyn did not feel inclined to split his attention or risk exposing himself more than he already was.

When Nataniel handed him the gift, Zaidyn looked down at it as if he didn’t know what to do with it. More than a year had gone by since he last received anything from anyone. These past holidays were spent alone, here at the house unpacking while birthdays were treated like any other workday. Not that he had much in the way of friends to celebrate with, unfortunately, he never really connected with any of the other people who had systematically moved into Alex’s home.

Zaidyn leaned forward and with a somber expression, he lifted the small black box.

The last time he held something similar was when he had returned from the jewelers; a gift he had saved for with the intent to give to his then-boyfriend. A Damascus promise ring with malachite rimmed around the inside, simple in design but a nod to Alexandre’s love of plant life and gardening, a symbol for continued growth between them since his partner had been adamantly against the idea of marriage.

Unfortunately… It was a gift that had never been given and still sat in the same small white box upstairs in the bottom dresser drawer.

He hesitated when opening the little black box, but when Zaidyn finally removed the lid he felt a wash of relief mixed with curiosity when he saw the earrings inside. “How- I’m confused, how will they help me on patrols?”