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rainbowfic2016-08-27 03:47 pm
auguris) wrote in rainbowfic2016-08-27 03:47 pm
Summertime Blues 12, Dove Grey 28
Name: auguris
'verse: Ghost Sight
Story: Honesty
Colors: Summertime Blues 12. The last one was better., Dove Grey 28. Light, dark, light. The dark was just an interval.
Supplies and Styles: Frame, Graffiti (Summer Olympics - Closing Ceremony), Photography
Word Count: 606
Rating: PG
Summary: After all is said and done, Mitchell contemplates what has come, and what comes next.
Mitchell held his sleeping niece in one arm, typing with the other. As the only Pathing able to work from home, he usually got saddled with the tiny wizard. He didn't mind, most of the time. The rare day that he, Tamsin, and Elina were unavailable at the same time, Cagri could be counted on to pout and wheedle and then call over one of his baby-loving sisters, who would giggle at coo at the babe until one of the adult wizards was free.
Today he sat alone with her. Tamsin was pulling double-duty, detective shift in the morning and Firestarter training in the evening. The Grove wasn't nearly as busy as it had been during... during the last year, but Elina and the other Healers still had plenty of work. A lot of physical therapy, especially for humans. They just didn't heal as fast as wizards.
Cagri's eldest sister had guilted him into yet another soirée. Only Mitchell believed him when he said he was tired of the whole thing, but of course family duty took precedent. Fortunately his sisters acknowledged that the Pathings were also Cagri's family.
Mitchell sighed and leaned back in his chair. The title of his article, "One Year Later", sat above an empty page, cursor blinking. Control-Z would return three lifeless, stifled paragraphs. He wanted to write something positive, but he couldn't help think of the friends he missed so severely he still dreamed of them. Most of his family had survived, he had found time to marry, there was a new Pathing in the world. Humans had a greater appreciation for the "right" sort of wizard. Kernan- and Wizardingkind had reached a new understanding.
But dregs of the cult persisted, whispering poison into those too young and too alone to see the lies. The Humans First party were set to take over a second seat in Parliament. The Assembly had more vacancies than not. Downtown still had quarantine zones, too dangerous for wizards and flat out deadly for humans. Citizens still left the city-state, and too few had returned once the worst was over. Entire neighborhoods had been abandoned, now populated by squatters both poor and criminal.
Venus shifted in her sleep. Mitchell adjusted his hold on her and stood, heading for the backyard. He grabbed the container of dry dog food by the door. The huge stray mutt wasn't their dog, not yet, but she came around often enough to have earned a name: Diana, goddess of the moon. She wasn't a shifter -- well, probably, Mitchell was no expert -- but she had first visited them by moonlight.
He filled the doggy bowl and took a slow walk around the yard, Venus tucked under his chin. Life was better, quieter, and they had more good days than bad. And yet.
The article didn't need to be positive. It needed to be honest. And, honestly, he was still figuring things out.
And yet. He held his tiny baby niece in one arm, and tonight his family would come home and he would have dinner ready for them and they would sit and eat and laugh, maybe, or complain about their day, and not have to triple-check the housewards or have Tamsin reaching for her gun at every stray noise or Elina looking like she was about to cry or collapse or Cagri forgetting how to smile or Mitchell's mutism triggered by something seemingly innocuous or...
or Broker doing anything.
Mitchell closed his eyes. Honest. Be honest. Things were better, but they still hurt. For him, for his family, for his city.
And he smiled. He had his article.
auguris'verse: Ghost Sight
Story: Honesty
Colors: Summertime Blues 12. The last one was better., Dove Grey 28. Light, dark, light. The dark was just an interval.
Supplies and Styles: Frame, Graffiti (Summer Olympics - Closing Ceremony), Photography
Word Count: 606
Rating: PG
Summary: After all is said and done, Mitchell contemplates what has come, and what comes next.
Mitchell held his sleeping niece in one arm, typing with the other. As the only Pathing able to work from home, he usually got saddled with the tiny wizard. He didn't mind, most of the time. The rare day that he, Tamsin, and Elina were unavailable at the same time, Cagri could be counted on to pout and wheedle and then call over one of his baby-loving sisters, who would giggle at coo at the babe until one of the adult wizards was free.
Today he sat alone with her. Tamsin was pulling double-duty, detective shift in the morning and Firestarter training in the evening. The Grove wasn't nearly as busy as it had been during... during the last year, but Elina and the other Healers still had plenty of work. A lot of physical therapy, especially for humans. They just didn't heal as fast as wizards.
Cagri's eldest sister had guilted him into yet another soirée. Only Mitchell believed him when he said he was tired of the whole thing, but of course family duty took precedent. Fortunately his sisters acknowledged that the Pathings were also Cagri's family.
Mitchell sighed and leaned back in his chair. The title of his article, "One Year Later", sat above an empty page, cursor blinking. Control-Z would return three lifeless, stifled paragraphs. He wanted to write something positive, but he couldn't help think of the friends he missed so severely he still dreamed of them. Most of his family had survived, he had found time to marry, there was a new Pathing in the world. Humans had a greater appreciation for the "right" sort of wizard. Kernan- and Wizardingkind had reached a new understanding.
But dregs of the cult persisted, whispering poison into those too young and too alone to see the lies. The Humans First party were set to take over a second seat in Parliament. The Assembly had more vacancies than not. Downtown still had quarantine zones, too dangerous for wizards and flat out deadly for humans. Citizens still left the city-state, and too few had returned once the worst was over. Entire neighborhoods had been abandoned, now populated by squatters both poor and criminal.
Venus shifted in her sleep. Mitchell adjusted his hold on her and stood, heading for the backyard. He grabbed the container of dry dog food by the door. The huge stray mutt wasn't their dog, not yet, but she came around often enough to have earned a name: Diana, goddess of the moon. She wasn't a shifter -- well, probably, Mitchell was no expert -- but she had first visited them by moonlight.
He filled the doggy bowl and took a slow walk around the yard, Venus tucked under his chin. Life was better, quieter, and they had more good days than bad. And yet.
The article didn't need to be positive. It needed to be honest. And, honestly, he was still figuring things out.
And yet. He held his tiny baby niece in one arm, and tonight his family would come home and he would have dinner ready for them and they would sit and eat and laugh, maybe, or complain about their day, and not have to triple-check the housewards or have Tamsin reaching for her gun at every stray noise or Elina looking like she was about to cry or collapse or Cagri forgetting how to smile or Mitchell's mutism triggered by something seemingly innocuous or...
or Broker doing anything.
Mitchell closed his eyes. Honest. Be honest. Things were better, but they still hurt. For him, for his family, for his city.
And he smiled. He had his article.
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