CoR A Brief Respite

[Tiko]

Desmond seemed unusually eager about getting Chloe back out to the woods, and his excitement showed in his pace. They had left the bike back by the old dirt road and continued on foot. The walk was a familiar one, though they hadn't been out this way since before things went south with the Scions. It was the same grassy field he had first brought her to practice shifting.

Up ahead the ring of stones was visible, casting long shadows from the evening sun. It would be dark soon.

"Come on," he said. "I 'ave a surprise for you."

He had a coy, almost mischievous grin on his face.

Spring was well underway, and the wildflowers and grass had grown to nearly waste height already. The air was filled with the sound of insects buzzing and chirping, and the evening call of a mockingbird carried across the field from somewhere nearby. The plants would thin as they reached the rockier ground near the large circle of stones. Something sat out next to one of the larger rocks with a tarp draped over it to conceal whatever was beneath.

 

[Sune]

It had only been a short while ago they'd come here before, but it felt like a life time almost. And with all the new blooms and growth, it supported that time truly had passed since the first time Desmond brought her here to practice. It had been the one place she was able control shifting, but wasn't able to remember the time. It was still, a victory.

One she wasn't sure she'd be able to repeat this time if Desmond wanted to truly try again.

She raised a brow at his grin. "Should I be afraid?" She asked jokingly.

She loved this place and how beautiful it had gotten in the spring. Some how, it made her heart happy that despite the chaos within the city, life still carried on and bloomed out here. Somehow untouched yet changed. It brightened her mood quite a bit, and she was all smiles even with the anxiety eating away at the pit of her stomach.

She eyed the tarped object as soon as it came into view and looked at Desmond, one brow raised in question. "I'm beginning to question if I should truly be afraid." She chuckled.

 

[Tiko]

"Nah," Desmond said. "Yer gonna love it. I promise. At least until we need to figure out 'ow to get it back out of 'ere..." he added with a grin. "'ad a cousin in Iveria who owed me a favor and 'e got it transported from Iveria for me."

He stepped over to the object and pulled the tarp free to reveal what was beneath.

 

[Sune]

Before the Bloodstones, Chloe had only known one other motorcycle in her entire life. Sure, you saw other motorcycles driving by, just like you'd see other people owning cars. Even owning one was different from knowing something. Chloe's father had owned this old motorcycle he had kept in almost pristine condition. Every spring when the snow and ice had finally cleared away, it would be one of the first sounds she heard in the day as her father drove it to work. It would be her warning he was almost home. She knew that sound better than her alarm clock most days, and she could distinctly tell which bike was her father's versus another bike rolling down the neighborhood.

From as long as she could remember, she'd sit in her father's garage as he tuned it up. Occasionally he'd ask for a wrench or a screwdriver and she'd go and find the one he was looking for and she watched as the man who was her rock would work diligently to keep that thing running as smooth as it could be. On long summer afternoons, he'd take her on rides, just the two of them, and she never remembered feeling more free and safe than when she was on it with him. When she was old enough, he taught her how to ride it. He made her promise that if there ever came a time he couldn't ride anymore, that she'd take good care of that bike.

It had been one of the things she sold off to start a new life in Lutetia and she had regretted it ever since.

She of course, had mentioned this to Desmond. And of course, Desmond had been asking questions about bikes in general, and asking a bit more details about her father's old bike.

It still came to a surprise to Chloe that one that looked similar to her father's bike stood in front of her now. It of course, was not her father's old bike. But the old retro bike stood there like a call back to her childhood, the black paint and silver chrome gleaming in the last of the sun's rays. With trembling fingers, she ran her hand across the leather seat, feeling each stitch before she trailed them up the handles.

She couldn't help the tears that started free flowing. "Oh Jeez.." She said, laughing awkwardly as she wiped at her face. "Should have warned me about the onions, Desmond.." She turned to him, smiling. "I love it, thank you."

 

[Tiko]

Desmond grinned as Chloe turned to face him. "I thought ye' might," he told her.

He had been all set to start gushing out all the details and modifications to her, but her words had derailed him. I love it. I love you. He nearly voiced the words that popped into his head, but there it was again. That flicker of something behind his eyes that lingered just beneath the surface of his jovial expression.

His grin faltered only slightly and he pushed less pleasant thoughts from his mind and pulled her in to a hug.

"That's only part one of the surprise," he told her. "Ragenard said yes, to ye' prospecting. It's not official just yet, so act surprised at the official announcement," he added with a wink.

 

[Sune]

Chloe noticed the change of his mood. It was always there lately, just beneath the surface. It made her heart ache, but there wasn't much she could do for the moment except continue to support him the best she could.

And try to keep her problems away from his worries for now too.

She leaned into him and nuzzled into his hug, listening as he relayed the rest of her 'surprise'. She blinked and pulled away, looking up at him. "Really?" She was genuinely shocked. Chloe had been fully expecting to be told to hit the trails. Between her connection with the Society and her lack of control of her over her wolf, it wouldn't have surprised her if Ragenard decided she was too much of a risk. This had weighed on her more than she'd let on, wondering if she'd once again have to start over on her life now that she'd betrayed the Society.

Tears fell freely now before she spoke. ".. I can stay..?"

 

[Tiko]

Desmond smiled back at her. "Ye, can stay," he told her.

His smile twitched into a quirk of a grin.

"They let me stay didn't they? Ye never 'ad anythin' to worry about."

This time the humor seemed to reach his eyes. Seeing the relief in her helped to soothe other worries.

He leaned in to kiss her.

A few hours away from the worries of the city was just what the two of them needed.

 

[Sune]

Chloe kept wiping away the tears she kept trying to stop but couldn't. Did he know how much relief this had brought her? She hadn't wanted to leave, she wasn't quite sure she'd be able to leave Desmond behind.

She laughed in that awkward way you did when you were crying at the same time. "That is fair.. You are hell on wheels sometimes."

She leaned in to kiss him in return, euphoric in the relief she felt. Deep within, she felt something else settle in as well, a deep satisfactory feeling she couldn't quite understand but it made sense all the same.

She was finally home.