Chapter 42: The Chimes of Patience
The meats for the meal were thawing, any incoming catch was skinned and stored, and the usual candidates to amuse her were all off taking care of the various tasks required of them as the end of winter approached.
Given that her tasks had proven to be somewhat inadequate to maintain her attentions at a sufficient rate, Tel had taken to doing something to pass the time between ‘war games’ and cooking.
Browsing Joseph’s terminal.
It sounded mundane, sure, but the Human had apparently brought much in the way of entertainment when he installed the tech needed to talk to his brother from the shuttle. ‘Games’ were an item of note, though when she was still pretending to not understand him she had overheard him complain about the power draw on the grid, so those would likely not be a feasible means in which to sate her boredom. Unless she wished to disable most, if not all, of the facilities in the den, that is.
It might be funny, but she was sure Joseph would make her do any required repairs by herself.
Which left music. Humans loved music and her Grand Hunter, it seemed, was no exception.
There were so many different kinds, each nothing like the last. Due to various circumstances, she was never in much of a position to listen to most of the types that Lilhun culture had to offer, but what she had noticed from the scattered mission left much to be desired. It was all so... vapid. Primal with little substance to support the instruments.
So, she reclaimed her purloined throne, navigated the menus that she recognized from watching Joseph work the system, and started listening at a low volume from where she left off. The first song was gritty and metallic, sounding much like various alarms that she had once had a paw in triggering and mixed into a rhythmic presentation of aggression and power.
She liked it. Tel produced one of the quills she kept in her fur and a small container of ink to mark the number of the song onto a tiny tablet for future listening, along with a small code to describe what the music was. Recording completed, she awaited the song to finish, her foot tapping in time with the beat and her head nodding along as it played.
Another song of rapid percussion and heavily distorted stringed instruments were accompanied by melodic vocals that sung of the macabre and sorrowful. The song after that switched to a steady booming with violent synthesized sounds. The odd song here and there seemed to be more subdued in nature, but she quickly skipped past them in favour of the more malicious in the selection.
Those made her feel alive.
A song that mixed the slower thumping bass with the distorted instruments played. She quickly decided she enjoyed it, jotting the number and code down with a small smile. The music ended all too quickly, switching to one of a lighter mood. It was fine, but didn’t fit the kind she had discovered she preferred. The last number was a good one.
A larger number next to what she assumed the song’s name to be increased by one when she clicked it. A play count? The arrow in that column... If she chose that, would it list the music by the number?
Curious, she sorted the music by frequency of playback, tapping the one with the highest amount.
It was a simpler affair than she was expecting, consisting of stringed instruments that were primarily strummed and accompanied by minimal percussion being backed by a swelling string bass. It seemed to be listened to quite a bit and she could understand why. The music was somewhat slow yet mournful, the lyrics of the piece defeatist and hopeless. It was sobering, yet somewhat addictive.
She felt an odd connection to it. Something pulling at an aspect of herself she had never registered or had long since buried. It stirred her right until it ended, eliciting a frown.
She reached out to play the song again, mostly to rectify the brevity issue, when she accidentally touched a prompt that had appeared just as her pad was to touch the screen.
The menu for music was gone, replaced by a familiar office and a male who seemed to have been quite tired, opting to consume a dark beverage from a white mug that Joseph had claimed to miss on occasion. Usually at a loud volume and paired with an exasperated flail.
“Tel, right?” Robert asked, his brow raised from the unexpected conversational partner. She nodded, somewhat unsure of what to do in the moment and more than a little annoyed that she didn’t write down the number for the song. “Is Joe around?”
“He is attending to his duties at the moment.” She informed him with a slight bow. She did not bend a knee to any but those by her oath, with few exception. Joseph may be younger than his kin, but he held far more power in her life. Robert leaned back in his chair with a surprised huff.
“I was about to curse myself out for asking you because i wasn’t aware you could speak English.” He chuckled into his drink as he sipped. “I take it that isn’t the only development? Joe cut last week short before we could talk about his side of the stars, so I’m behind by quite a bit. Last thing i heard was him planning to have a fire and asking me about brushes.”
She was about to offer to retrieve the Grand Hunter when a smirk played across her face. It had been quite a while since she was able to cause mischief and Joseph happened to have caught her off guard recently. She had been more surprised by her own reaction than the fact that he had openly implied he found her form alluring, though the return of her advances was notable in and of itself. All things considered, this was the perfect opportunity to mess with somebody and the best part was that she needn’t fabricate anything. The recent events had been quite interesting without embellishment. It was only a small contribution that she would possibly annoy the Human by robbing him of the chance to soften the story.
“There has been much of note, elder kin of Joseph. Much of note indeed.”
She couldn’t help herself as her tail spun in it’s usual pattern, only slightly hampered by the chair in which she sat.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The crossbow was mostly a success. Mostly because it managed to avoid exploding. The rest of the project that wasn’t a success was the string snapping with high enough velocity to actually cut his skin. Joseph sighed, Harrow would handle it. He had been offloading a lot of the work on her, but at this point she understood more about it than he did. He was just the guy with the ideas.
He walked into the facilities wing, tossing the crossbow on the med bay bed and wrapping a small strip of healroot on his fresh wound. It wasn’t as effective without good ‘ol ‘Mantis spit’ but it was better than most other options he could manage and he didn’t want to worry the Atmo with his habit of getting hurt so often.
The thought had him rubbing a bruise on his rib that the war game had ended with him getting. The spears were blunted, but they still hurt. Luckily, it was a shallow strike that wouldn’t have done much more even if it was sharp. Not that he was in a hurry to lessen the degrees of separation he had between him and swiss cheese.
First aid completed, he grabbed the semi-functional weapon and started towards the doors to start on his long awaited ‘push-daggers’, an addition to his personal armament that would give him even footing against the natural claws of Lilhuns. He had a modified design that would cup the palm side of his fingers to allow him the ability to grab as well as punch instead of sacrificing one for the other. Mama was kind enough to delay the work she was doing to accommodate his rushed weapon crafting, so all he needed to do was spend countless hours ensuring that the two sets of blades were carefully tempered to be more than serviceable in case of use.
That was, of course, in addition to the armour he had been mentioning on-and-off for quite some time that Jax had insisted he commit to, with the creation process being detailed to the others for mass production. It was a set of shin and forearm plates since they would be simpler to make and faster to produce outright for the rest of the pack, and a replacement chest piece to cover the vitals.
Specialized melee weaponry was something that everyone was looking forward to as well. Jax wished for something akin to a war axe and even Tel asked for a significant length of ironwood rope to be made for her to tie onto the looped end of her daggers. He wasn’t sure why they wanted those things specifically, but he had time and it would pay for everyone to be armed in a way they found comfortable. The others were mostly okay with what they had on hand until they could get the metal to produce more bladed edges.
He was about to push against the outside door when he heard a male voice that didn’t match that of Jax coming from the terminal room. Peeking into the workshop, re-dubbed ‘sewing room’ in light of Pan’s increased workload, he was met with Mama working on some struts for a future building and Violet processing some leather from the badgers. He waved to them but decided he was more curious about who was talking to Robert.
As he closed in, the voices at play became much more clear.
“Okay, then?”
“So then they wrap the core in a smaller gauge. Like this.”
Leaning in through the doorway, he looked to see the screen showing a diagram of a coil around a core of some description, though it was greatly simplified to the point where it was meaningless without context. Tel was taking notes on a small tablet of ironwood, some Lilhun script and Arabic numerals populated the top half of the space available and the lower was a dense pack of more scribbles that hurt his head to look at for too long. Whatever they were discussing, it was holding Tel’s interest more than almost anything, save for screwing with him or participating in war games. Joseph cleared his throat to introduce himself into the arrangement.
“I see the local shit-disturber decided to talk to you today.”
Robert replaced the diagram with a view of his office; a pot of coffee was being poured into his mug by an off screen participant that he thanked briefly, a soft click announcing that they had left coming through the speakers only a moment after.
“Tel was filling me in on what i missed since the fire.” He replied dryly, his expression shifting to one of a stern disapproval.
Joseph’s eyes widened. He had ended the last call early to avoid bringing up a lot of what happened until he could find a way to phrase it without his brother personally venturing into space to kick his ass for trying his damnedest to get himself killed.
“I learned quite a few things, actually.” Rob sipped from his mug as Tel shot Joseph a smug smile. “So, you get attacked on three separate occasions, two of which happening back to back and one of which being by more Lilhuns.”
Joseph opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by his brother raising a palm.
“You usurped another pack and have since doubled your following. A following that you had to threaten to compliance.” He edged the words with judgment. “And your whole personal pack can speak English now. A development you use to sexually harass them.”
Robert motioned to a very distraught looking Tel, the latter forcing her ears to droop and pouting while staring at the ground like Joseph had been beating her regularly.
“You even force yourself on the sweet, small, and defenceless Pan.” He thumped his fist onto the desk, several trinkets jumped from the impact. “And if that wasn’t enough; you’re forcing them to fight one another for your own sick fucking amusement!”
Joseph scowled, Tel screwed with him, but this was a few steps too fucking far. He was about to start going off of the both of them for thinking he would be such a piece of shit when Robert broke his momentum.
“I approve.”
The Grand Hunter started at the screen, his face frozen between being enraged and confused. “What?”
Tel started laughed, her arms clutching her stomach as she roared. Rob chuckled to himself as he fixed a displaced bauble. “She was right; that was worth it.”
“What the fuck?” Joseph protested, more confused than upset now.
“Tel told me the actual events, don’t worry. I approve of how you’ve handled things.” Rob shifted his eyes to stare off screen with a mildly conflicted expression. “I would rather you stop trying to visit mom and dad so often, but other than that...”
Steam thoroughly depleted, Joseph sighed, shooting Tel a sour glance as she wiped a tear from her eyes through the mild giggles. “Yeah, it’s been... Something.”
Rob leaned back in his chair, sipping at his drink while giving him a large nod. “I would say. Between getting a girlfriend and commanding a village, I’d think you’d have your hands rather full.” Robert rested his head on his hand. “Wasn’t going to tell me about your newfound ‘mate’? Though i could have guessed you two would become an item.”
Joseph rubbed his neck with his hand, still reeling from the emotional roller coaster that the interaction put him through. “It’s... Honestly, I’m still coming to grips with everything myself. I didn’t want to say anything to jinx it. Plus, she’s not human, so i wasn’t sure what you would think, and-”
“Joe.”
“...Yeah?”
“Did it work?” Robert asked with a bemused grin.
Joseph flushed, his expression forced into one of embarrassment at the breach in decorum. “Don’t you think that’s a little personal?”
Rob stared with a half-lidded disappointment. “God dammit, Joe.” He sighed, taking a deep drink of his coffee. “Look, Emma’s gone. She’s not coming back. You’re about as far from her as you could possibly be in every sense. You’ve finally found people who you can meet with a blank slate and have found a connection with them you would never try for back on Earth. There are no expectations of you, no rules, no limitations. I’m betting you’re hung up over cultural stigmas and it’s eating at you. Let it go.”
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
The Grand Hunter’s expression stiffened, his eyes refusing to meet the man on the screen.
“You should know better than anyone that the only person drawing a line in the sand over species or whatever suggestive intrusions are happening in your head is you. I couldn’t care less as long as you’re happy. I, and no one i keep in company, would give the slightest shit if you came home with whatever or however many partners you wanted. As long as it’s mutual, that is.” Rob pulled his tie loose, unbuttoning the top few slots on his shirt as he spoke. “You’re going to ruin everything if you keep worrying so much about ruining it. I get that you’re hardly in a situation where you can blindly ignore everything, but you need to put in the same effort they’re putting in for you. They don’t value the same things we do. Hell, if anything, they seem to find a lot of what we do confusing, but are willing to set aside differences to accommodate you. Do the same. Lord knows you’d be better off for it.”
Tel glanced at him with an unreadable expression as his brother lectured him, her eyes appraising something in his reaction. He could argue against Robert as many ways as someone could ask, but he knew Rob only wanted what was best for him, even if the approach was blunt enough to give a barn door to the face a run for its money. The man already felt guilty about being a main factor for his little brother ending up stranded on an unknown planet as it was.
The elder brother shifted forward in his chair, lifting himself slightly to adjust the angle as he abandoned the topic after saying his part. “So now you’re going for two weeks, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Joseph answered weakly, clinging to the life raft presented. “It’s going to be rough, but we should have a few weeks to prepare, assuming the switch between seasons is as gradual as i think it is.”
“Who’s going with you?” The question came loaded with an answer behind it, though Joseph couldn’t parse what conclusion he might have reached.
He rubbed his neck, averting his eyes again. “I don’t know. I can’t take Pan.”
“And i would yell you into the dirt if you were stupid enough to try.” Rob commented with a lilt.
Joseph ignored him. “I really don’t know. Why?”
Robert set down his empty mug. “You’re taking Tel.”
“What?” The two in the terminal room questioned the man on the screen in unison, the Lilhun seeming to flinch at the idea.
Rob pointed to the bewildered Lilhun. “Her. She’s going with you.”
He furrowed his brow, rapidly blinking at the command. “Again; what? Why?”
His brother propped his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers to rest his chin. “Because, besides Pan, she seems like the only one to dig that stick out of your ass. I don’t much care who else you take, minus that Jax fellow, but I’m putting my foot down right now. You’re taking the ‘shit-disturber’. You need your shit disturbed. You’re not invincible. I thought that spending a month and change with a screwed up ankle and however many injuries would beat that lesson into you.”
“There are plenty of people here who can cover my ass.” Joseph hissed, more upset with the demands than the subject.
“And they all answer to you with utmost loyalty, for the most part.” Rob deadpanned, nodding towards the confused third participant. “She couldn’t give less of a shit about your opinion if you decide to do something blatantly suicidal. I’d bet she’d be the one to knock you on your ass before you got the chance.”
“What makes you think I’d try to get myself killed?”
Robert stared.
“Okay, fair.” Joseph rubbed his neck again, the area becoming raw from the repeated action. “But really though, any of them would do.”
“You have three real choices, by my count. Two, really, assuming you want to avoid fights later down the road.”
“Oh? You know my situation that well, do you?” He slipped the sarcasm into his voice a bit heavier than he intended, an assessment that Rob came to as well.
“I know that the two packs are on the cusp of fighting over housing because of a conflict of ideals. It really doesn’t take much to guess what carpenters would do without a foreman to yell at them to stop them from shoving nails up their noses or something.”
He thought about it for a second, running his fingers through his hair. “Build the way they want to while no one is looking?”
“Yep. Happened here. We had some codes that needed to be revised for general safety around a foundry. Crew didn’t see an issue, so they didn’t bother meeting the new standards.” Rob rested his temple on a thumb, stress oozing from the memory. “The rules of OSHA are written in blood. They learned that by applying fresh ink.”
“Ah.” He replied, genuinely stuck for a rebuttal.
“Yeah. Almost cost us the entire facility and three contracts. Needless to say, i have excess supervision on staff there now. Even if the crew submits complaints about it.” Robert waved a hand. “So I’d recommend keeping... Natalie? Natalia?”
“Nalah.”
“Keeping Nalah around to keep them on a leash.” He finished with a nod in appreciation at the correction.
“Pan could do it.” Joseph suggested with a raised brow. He was mostly curious as to his brother’s input on the matter.
“Pan is busy covering for you. Something that you really shouldn’t take for granted.”
“So I’m down to either Harrow or Sahari.” He sighed.
“Harrow... The one who’s helping you with that crossbow in your hand?” His brother pointed to the weapon.
Joseph held it up, the string still dangling in two pieces. “Yeah, it’s mostly done.”
“And she’s the only one, besides you, who understands how to make your weaponry, right?”
“... Yes?”
“And it would be nice to arm your village on the very real chance they need to fight off either the wildlife or less-than-friendly visitors.” Rob spoke flatly. “Arms that they won’t have access to while a significant portion of your viable forces are off on a possibly dangerous, scratch that, likely dangerous adventure for at least half a month.”
He couldn’t come up with a response to that.
“So Harrow is going to stay. Nalah is going to stay. Jax I don’t trust and Pan is going to be taking over while you’re gone.”
Joseph raised a finger. “Jax is a good friend of mine.”
“He met you by giving you those scars and attacking your surrogate daughter.” Robert replied with a slight disdain.
“We’ve made up and Violet loves him.”
“He’s blind in one eye. You are not taking someone who has half his vision as a blind spot into possible enemy territory.”
Joseph leaned against the door, fight thoroughly removed. “So why Sahari?”
Robert shrugged. “She was in charge before you were and Tel seems to have experience working with her.”
Tel flicked an ear, speaking up to remind them she was there. “I was of the assumption that you knew not of us beyond what little you have seen through the screen.”
The man on the screen glanced at her. “You relaxed more as i shot down everyone else. Doesn’t take a CEO to notice your opinion on the matter. The shift in syntax is pretty noticeable too.”
Joseph snorted a laugh as Tel gave his brother an evaluative look before shifting her attention to him. “Can he be our Grand Hunter?”
“Hey!”
Rob continued, ignoring the exchange but allowing a small smile to show. “So yes. Sahari and Tel. They’ll keep you breathing long enough to sort out whatever the hell tribal agreement they have or at least help you drag your ass back to base when everything falls through.”
The Grand Hunter chewed his cheek before letting out a defeated breath. “I’ll consider it.”
“That’s the best I’m getting isn’t it?”
“Yep.”
Rob leaned back in his chair, scowling at his mug as he tried to sip from it. “Guess that will have to do.”
He nodded, his mind wandering back to what he seen before the conversation started digging into issues he would rather not think about. “What were you two talking about before i showed up anyway? I seen a diagram but it wasn’t much to go off of.”
Rob fidgeted with a ring on his left hand, the gold band shifting across the finger showed a lack in prolonged signs of wear. “Tel was asking about instruments used in our music. Seems she found your collection and was checking it out.”
Joseph cocked a brow at Tel. She was quick to look disinterested but responded to the silent query.
“I get bored. It was different.”
“I don’t care if you listen to tunes, I’m more surprised you care.” He corrected before taking an interested cadence. “What genre did you like? I have a bit of everything, though most of it is alternative rock and midtempo bass.”
“It’s all dad’s music.” Rob added with a smirk.
“Dad knew his shit.”
“Dad would listen to ‘rising sun’ on repeat for hours.”
“Oh, was that the name?” Tel interjected as her ear perked up, the conversation slipping into one were she could contribute. “It was passable.”
Both of the brothers looked at her with surprise.
“Which version?”
Tel faltered, noticing the competitive gleam behind their eyes. “Both?”
“Cop-out!” Joseph cried. “’The metal cover is better.”
“Like you didn’t practice the acoustic version endlessly.” Rob jabbed, rolling his eyes thoughtfully for a moment. “That one slow song by the heavy metal band, too, if that endless strumming on the phone was anything to go by.”
“I like acoustic.” He mumbled. “You don’t need extra equipment.”
“Anything else you liked?” Rob ignored his sulking brother. Tel referenced her tablet for a moment, the contents apparently being shorthand for songs she enjoyed.
“I can’t read the titles, but i found song... Five-eight-six to be enjoyable.” She read the number with a hint of confusion at the two’s antics.
Joseph scratched his chin for a moment. “That would be... ‘Faust’, if i remember correctly.”
Rob laughed. “The ‘Doom’ guy?”
Joseph shrugged. “It’s a good song. Heavy, powerful, and aggressive as hell.”
Tel looked between the two with a flopped ear in confusion. “What’s ‘Doom’?”
Her confusion intensified as Robert started wheezing with laughter when his brother covered his face with his palm, an audible groan sounding out beneath the obstruction.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The sun was busy.
Pan was thankful for Jax offering to assist her when she had to break up another argument between Nalah and the workers, this one actually being the fault of Mi’low’s pack as they had tried to salvage materials from the structures used in their recreational activities. Luckily, Jax was imposing enough to placate them while she fetched the High Huntress to talk some sense into them, herself being a defective having earned her no authority with the pair of carpenters.
It seemed that her performance in the ‘war games’ had gained the respect of one or two of the new pack, though it had only elevated her from disdain to tolerance. Even that much was enough to have them listen when she assigned them a rotation for the snares. It certainly made her job easier, in any case.
She could only imagine how stressful it will be once Joseph has left.
She stopped in her tracks.
He would be gone. Not forever, of course, but he would be far beyond her reach. She wouldn’t be able to feel his warmth, his scent, his emotions, his wandering touch and soft kiss. She traced her lips with a claw.
There had been much prohibiting them from completing their union. Not that they could mark one another to solidify the relation, that is. A curious question to Harrow cleared up some assumptions about the process, the answer revealing that it was not a permanent solution and would need to be repeated every so often to keep the mark noticeable. She had blushed when the details had been given by the surprisingly forward female, but she was thankful for the clarification regardless.
She traced her lips again, this time with different thoughts coursing through her mind.
Hesitation, traces of fear, and yet, expectation and desire. The conflicting emotions that she gleaned through the bond had allowed her to give her mate time, even if she wished for nothing more than to partake of him. He held something that stayed his claws and she would dutifully wait until he felt ready to discuss it.
A discussion that seemed further and further away as the events kept hampering their progress.
His constant injuries and required efforts towards managing the pack had already stripped their time together to just rest and brief moments of placid conversation, but the reveal of his journey had put such potential conversations far out of mind.
It was frustrating, but she understood. She had waited her entire life with naught but a prayer. She could wait a bit longer.
She heard a strange series of noises coming from the terminal room, melodic and purposeful unlike anything she had heard since her time aboard the ship. Curiosity getting the best of her, she peer into the room to see Joseph navigating the terminal with menus she didn’t recognize from her communications with his brother.
“Hello. You seem tired.” She responded with a hint of worry.
He turned in his chair to face her, waving a paw to dismiss the concern. “Oh, hey Pan. I’m okay, just had a bit of a weird conversation with Rob earlier. Something i forgot about was mentioned, so i figured i would try to set something up for everyone while I’m gone.”
She perked up, her tail rising from it’s low position, a small curiosity about what he had in store playing within her. “I had forgotten he was to contact you.”
Joseph sighed, the tiredness spreading to his shoulders as he stood to approach her. “Yeah, me too. Tel answered and was catching him up when i noticed.” The Human glanced to the ceiling of the den, a sliver of curiosity across his expression. “She got into my music at some point and was bothering him about how it was made.”
Pan felt her worries start to dissolve as she interacted with him, a giggle escaping into her wrist as she pictured the cook showing such interest in something besides causing mischief. “I believe that would be an amusing thing to see. I would like to hear your people’s music some time.” Her ears drooped as she remembered what she should be doing. “Though, I suppose i should pass along the assignments to those who need them before it becomes late.”
“Or,” He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his chest as he lowered his voice to speak into her ear. “We could cuddle up in the chair and just forget the world for a while. Just stay there and I’ll show you what music i have. We can pick out what we think the others would like for fun. How’s that?”
She fully melted into his arms, the low soothing tones of his voice reverberating through her and shaking loose the stress. The tasks could wait, her presence was requested here and she held no reservations about accepting the summons. Her ear flicked in assent, her mouth too busy keeping the smile confined to her face. She breathed him in as she relaxed in the embrace.
Anger, hesitation, guilt, expectation, resignation, and many other traces were felt through the bond. Joseph had quite the reason to seem to drained, it seemed. It was no matter, she would rest on his lap and nuzzle into him as they enjoyed whatever he had in mind for the music to soothe him. She would be his release as he would be hers, the two gaining strength to move forward from the other’s presence.
“Here, I have an idea for the first song.” He pulled her by the paw, his claws pressing into the flesh of her pads. They were strong, encapsulating the entirety of her extremities yet holding them with a controlled ease. She wondered if he thought about how she felt beneath his touch as much as she thought about being under it, the pinpoint pressure effortlessly gliding over her skin. She squeezed his paw, the action mirrored as he smiled over his shoulder.
He dimmed the lights, the illumination being near pitch black for even her. She fidgeted at the unexpected darkness until the soft blue of the screen in the room alleviated her of the shadow. Joseph brought up a few menus, deftly navigating them until he chose the song he wished to share. He pulled the chair forward, moving to the side to allow her room to fit upon it next to him.
Exhaling with a smile, she pushed his arms to the side and sat upon his lap, shifting herself to get comfortable while wrapping around his waist with her tail, her head feeling his chin resting on it. He was surprised, but the rumble of a quiet chuckle and a loving paw that stroked her stomach told her he was pleased with the decision as much as the bond did. There was more underneath, but it was subdued as if something was holding by a fine string of reservation. That was fine, they both needed this more at the moment.
He reached out with his free paw to navigate the last of what was required to operate the machine, pausing as he did so. “Huh. I guess Tel likes Argent Metal.” He commented absently while looking at the screen.
“Is that music?” She asked, more enjoying his voice than the topic, though it was interesting to learn about the female whom will be accompanying her bond in her stead.
“It’s a genre; a type of music.”
“Do you enjoy it?” Her ear flicked curiously.
“Yeah, but it’s more of a mood thing for me. I’ll show you some other time. For now, i have something i think will fit.” He engaged the software to begin the music, laying back in the chair and pulling her by her waist to adjust her position, a soft yelp of surprise drawing a chuckle from her mate.
The lights dimmed again before being replaced by a serine cycle of colours as generated patterns began accenting the bell-like instrument that plucked away to serenade their moment. His embrace tightened to pull her into him, his heart slowing as he relaxed.
There was no leadership. No panic. No management of expectations. No fear of failure. No defect.
Just her and her bond.
She pushed herself into his neck, the slight scent of sweat seeming sweet in the moment. She focused on the music that played through the terminal.
She smiled. It was a nice song, warm yet with a somewhat sad tone.
“Do you like it?” He asked, the smile evident in his tone.
“I do.” She hummed along with some string-like sound that played below the bell. “What is that instrument?”
“Hm? Which one? The one you’re humming to?” She nodded, feeling his jaw brush over her fur. “That is an accordion, i think. Basically a weird wind instrument that doesn’t use your lungs.”
“And the bell?”
“I think that’s a glockenspiel. Couldn’t tell you how they work.”
She swayed with the music. “Does this song have a name? I would like to hear it again some time.”
Joseph laughed. “I can’t pronounce it. It’s something that dad used to play for mom when she got sick. They’d read together with it on repeat in the background after Robert left. Said that it felt like he was still there in a way, though i never got why.”
She shifted to look at him, the greens and blues from the terminal showing his closed eyes as he escaped into moments past. How much longer would she be able to enjoy their time together before he must leave? The temperature had begun warming, it was barely enough to draw frost from their breath now. Would she yearn for his embrace more than she already did during his brief absences? Would he have this song played for him should he return lesser than he had left? Would she be left with little of this moment but the soft chimes of bells to recall him should he never rejoin her side?
“I can’t go with you can i?”
Joseph stiffened, his grip on her tightening slightly. He exhaled slowly. “...No.”
“Will you return?”
He adjusted his grip to encapsulate her entirely. “I’ll drag myself back with my fingers if i have to.”
The song ended, switching to a more energetic string and percussion arrangement with a female vocalist. She didn’t pay much attention to the song, instead focusing on the slight fear that dwelled within her bond.
He was as worried about her as she was him. She smiled, placing a paw to his cheek to direct his gaze to her. Without words they observed each other, the patterns of lights reflecting on their eyes.
“I will wait for you.” She whispered, dragging a claw through his hair. The declaration had many subtle meanings, all of which she meant.
He didn’t respond, simply pulling her close to enjoy her warmth. She felt him place a soft kiss between her ears. A small burning desire flared underneath the warmth of his love. She rested a paw upon his, their heart rates slowing in tandem as they indulged in each others comfort.
The music changed.
It sounded hopeful.