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Jan. 18th, 2009 03:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dagas_isaTitle: Half and hour before dawn
Word Count: 791
Rating: G
Summary: Mier's not there when she wakes up.
"Mier?"
Natalia woke to the drab light of pre-dawn that one word on her desiccated lips. Ghosts of dreams, sweet and nightmarish, remained at the edge of her mind's grasp. She ran barefoot on the bamboo floor. Natalia went first to Mier's room. Not until she opened his door to find his bedroom empty and the sheets on his bed undisturbed, did she know what she had expected to find.
"Mier!" She called again, pattering that worn floor to the main room. His chair--empty, the benches--empty, but the paperwork she had asked him to do that last night rested on the desk, sealed in an envelope and likely completed. Natalia noticed the blank sheet of paper, and the dry ink on the tip of the pen. Mier's scissors, tiny little things, sat on top of his sewing kit.
So, he left. Anger flared in her. She could yell at him, when she found him. And oh, Natalia would find him. How many years had she professionally hunted phantoms most never thought existed. A mere human would take less than a day.
Natalia ran to the door, ready to pull on her shoes and begin the search. Something seemed off.
Mier, wherever he had gone, had left his boots piled at the door. His wool coat hung over the desk chair. Natalia spread the clues before her, looking for any logic or connection that would tell her where to start, and immediately finding none, searched for more clues.
"Mier?"
The kitchen showed no signs of use since the night before. All the dishes still sat on the shelves, freshly cleaned from the night before. That told her nothing.
She walked through their aparment again, slower, searching for any sign of Mier's actions since the night before. Normal. All eerily normal. If not for Mier not at her side, he could have just as easily come home, done his paperwork, and gone to bed. She checked his room again. Yes, still undisturbed.
She searched her bedroom last. Through the picture window, the sun just now crept over the horizon, and Natalia saw the bedroom just as she left it. Blankets disturbed from a night of slumber, a half-filled water glass on the bed table. Her bag caught her eye. The flap was open. Natalia walked over.
All the devices were tucked in their proper places. Her notes remained perfectly locked and secure, right where they belonged. The back pocket though was left unzipped. She felt the color drain from her face, and fearfully, trembling, she reached her hand in, looking for the contents, and found nothing where her ring should be.
She nearly started crying then. Funny, how she could cope with his disappearance, not well, they had been partners, after all, but stealing her ring as well. Now he knew, he had proof of her heart, and he still left her.
"Mier..." His name caught in her throat. She closed her eyes, and tried to think of something, anything to keep herself together. She clenched her fists, and grimaced at the pain of her fingernailes digging into her palm. Everything from their past, what tiny betrayals she could find, she dredged up to fuel her anger. If she could hate him...Natalia would not miss him so much, maybe?
Then, she opened her eyes, and found her ring. The low sun shone in through her window, and illuminated a patch of the floor. Near the bed, it sat.
Next to its mate.
Natalia crawled over, picking up both rings and examining them in dawn's glow. Except for their sizes, both rings were identical, dark wood and completely smoothed down by design and the passage of time. Chentin made, she remembered the day the Gray Man gave them the rings. Funny, how little they had meant then, a way of crossing Chentin without a chaperone afraid of the immorality that existed between an unmarried man and woman, never mind that she and Mier had never touched. Now though...
She slid the ring easily over her third finger. It looked wonderfully wrong there, part of a beautiful past she couldn't return to and a future she could only wish for. Before she could contemplate any further, she removed the ring and cradled it in her palm alongside its partner. The rings should stay together. Later, when the stores opened, she would go to a jeweler and buy a chain, and then she would mail the reports and trust that Mier completed his part, and then she would start to search the wide world for him.
"I will find you."
The words wavered, and in a morning too bright, Natalia allowed herself the luxury of grief. The resolution still stood, though.
Word Count: 791
Rating: G
Summary: Mier's not there when she wakes up.
"Mier?"
Natalia woke to the drab light of pre-dawn that one word on her desiccated lips. Ghosts of dreams, sweet and nightmarish, remained at the edge of her mind's grasp. She ran barefoot on the bamboo floor. Natalia went first to Mier's room. Not until she opened his door to find his bedroom empty and the sheets on his bed undisturbed, did she know what she had expected to find.
"Mier!" She called again, pattering that worn floor to the main room. His chair--empty, the benches--empty, but the paperwork she had asked him to do that last night rested on the desk, sealed in an envelope and likely completed. Natalia noticed the blank sheet of paper, and the dry ink on the tip of the pen. Mier's scissors, tiny little things, sat on top of his sewing kit.
So, he left. Anger flared in her. She could yell at him, when she found him. And oh, Natalia would find him. How many years had she professionally hunted phantoms most never thought existed. A mere human would take less than a day.
Natalia ran to the door, ready to pull on her shoes and begin the search. Something seemed off.
Mier, wherever he had gone, had left his boots piled at the door. His wool coat hung over the desk chair. Natalia spread the clues before her, looking for any logic or connection that would tell her where to start, and immediately finding none, searched for more clues.
"Mier?"
The kitchen showed no signs of use since the night before. All the dishes still sat on the shelves, freshly cleaned from the night before. That told her nothing.
She walked through their aparment again, slower, searching for any sign of Mier's actions since the night before. Normal. All eerily normal. If not for Mier not at her side, he could have just as easily come home, done his paperwork, and gone to bed. She checked his room again. Yes, still undisturbed.
She searched her bedroom last. Through the picture window, the sun just now crept over the horizon, and Natalia saw the bedroom just as she left it. Blankets disturbed from a night of slumber, a half-filled water glass on the bed table. Her bag caught her eye. The flap was open. Natalia walked over.
All the devices were tucked in their proper places. Her notes remained perfectly locked and secure, right where they belonged. The back pocket though was left unzipped. She felt the color drain from her face, and fearfully, trembling, she reached her hand in, looking for the contents, and found nothing where her ring should be.
She nearly started crying then. Funny, how she could cope with his disappearance, not well, they had been partners, after all, but stealing her ring as well. Now he knew, he had proof of her heart, and he still left her.
"Mier..." His name caught in her throat. She closed her eyes, and tried to think of something, anything to keep herself together. She clenched her fists, and grimaced at the pain of her fingernailes digging into her palm. Everything from their past, what tiny betrayals she could find, she dredged up to fuel her anger. If she could hate him...Natalia would not miss him so much, maybe?
Then, she opened her eyes, and found her ring. The low sun shone in through her window, and illuminated a patch of the floor. Near the bed, it sat.
Next to its mate.
Natalia crawled over, picking up both rings and examining them in dawn's glow. Except for their sizes, both rings were identical, dark wood and completely smoothed down by design and the passage of time. Chentin made, she remembered the day the Gray Man gave them the rings. Funny, how little they had meant then, a way of crossing Chentin without a chaperone afraid of the immorality that existed between an unmarried man and woman, never mind that she and Mier had never touched. Now though...
She slid the ring easily over her third finger. It looked wonderfully wrong there, part of a beautiful past she couldn't return to and a future she could only wish for. Before she could contemplate any further, she removed the ring and cradled it in her palm alongside its partner. The rings should stay together. Later, when the stores opened, she would go to a jeweler and buy a chain, and then she would mail the reports and trust that Mier completed his part, and then she would start to search the wide world for him.
"I will find you."
The words wavered, and in a morning too bright, Natalia allowed herself the luxury of grief. The resolution still stood, though.
