11-14-2019, 02:06 AM
i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck
with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest
Death had taken a toll on everyone throughout Tanglewood, not only the death of their proxy, but also the deaths of many beloved ncps who had been casualties during the raid against the Pitt. All the remorse and mourning hung over the town like a dark cloud, and Aurum could feel its oppressive nature even when he was trying his best not to focus on it. And he had definitely been trying as hard as fucking possible to not focus on it, because he knew if he did, then he was going to finally just break down, and he couldn't afford to do that right now. So instead, he had dedicated himself to doing various tasks around the group, organizing patrols, checking the borders, redoing the markers, helping with battle training... pretty much anything you could think of, he had been doing it, just so that he wouldn't have to linger on what had happened in the library, or afterwards. Of course, because of all the work he had been doing, he hadn't been staying at his home very much anymore, only ever really returning when it got late, or when Roy needed him around. And whenever he was at his home, he was always tucked inside, either speaking to his son or doing some other activity that could keep his mind occupied. Because of this, the only time his attention had been focused on the outside of his home had been when he had been planting his garden, and even then, his attention had been on the flower patches out front, not on his actual porch. Which was why he had missed something tucked away to the left side of his porch, looking rather innocent: a glass bottle.
When Aurum emerged from his house for another day of frantic and busy activities, he found himself glancing to the side, startled when the morning sun reflected off the surface of the bottle. Slowly moving over, he was surprised to see that it was a bottle of scotch, and a familiar one at that, albeit more empty than the last time he had seen it. It was the bottle of scotch that he had given to Leroy when he had given gifts to everyone, with a rather plain label that said "drink me" on one side, and Leroy's name on the other. At the time it had been a reference to Alice in Wonderland, both a little joke about how Leroy couldn't actually read the tale, and also because the grumpy door knob in the story reminded the guardsman of the former proxy, being tired and vaguely irritated. It was pretty obvious that the bottle had been entirely drunk by the recipient in question, and then had been left on Aurum's porch. From the look of the dust and leaves surrounding it, it had been sitting there for a while, evidently since a few days before Leroy's death. The realization hit like a punch to the gut – Leroy had given him back his gift as a memory for after his death. It was pretty obvious Leroy hadn't known he was going to die several days later, but it still hit like a truck to think about.
Taking in a shaky breath of morning air, Aurum pulled the empty scotch bottle closer to himself, giving the label one last read before pressing his forehead against the cool glass. He swallowed thickly, determined not to cry – he had promised himself he wouldn't, after all of the times Leroy had scolded him over being too emotional about death. It was a pretty odd sight, the winged guardsman just sitting out on his deck, clinging to an empty bottle as if it was his only lifeline in the entire world, but he didn't particularly care. If this was all that he would have left to remember the canine now that he was gone, Aurum was going to fucking care about it, even something as odd and insignificant as a bottle. Perhaps Snarl was right when she had spoken about him – he was too soft, too emotional, too worried... but still, he highly preferred that to not being able to mourn for those that he – and everyone else – had lost.
When Aurum emerged from his house for another day of frantic and busy activities, he found himself glancing to the side, startled when the morning sun reflected off the surface of the bottle. Slowly moving over, he was surprised to see that it was a bottle of scotch, and a familiar one at that, albeit more empty than the last time he had seen it. It was the bottle of scotch that he had given to Leroy when he had given gifts to everyone, with a rather plain label that said "drink me" on one side, and Leroy's name on the other. At the time it had been a reference to Alice in Wonderland, both a little joke about how Leroy couldn't actually read the tale, and also because the grumpy door knob in the story reminded the guardsman of the former proxy, being tired and vaguely irritated. It was pretty obvious that the bottle had been entirely drunk by the recipient in question, and then had been left on Aurum's porch. From the look of the dust and leaves surrounding it, it had been sitting there for a while, evidently since a few days before Leroy's death. The realization hit like a punch to the gut – Leroy had given him back his gift as a memory for after his death. It was pretty obvious Leroy hadn't known he was going to die several days later, but it still hit like a truck to think about.
Taking in a shaky breath of morning air, Aurum pulled the empty scotch bottle closer to himself, giving the label one last read before pressing his forehead against the cool glass. He swallowed thickly, determined not to cry – he had promised himself he wouldn't, after all of the times Leroy had scolded him over being too emotional about death. It was a pretty odd sight, the winged guardsman just sitting out on his deck, clinging to an empty bottle as if it was his only lifeline in the entire world, but he didn't particularly care. If this was all that he would have left to remember the canine now that he was gone, Aurum was going to fucking care about it, even something as odd and insignificant as a bottle. Perhaps Snarl was right when she had spoken about him – he was too soft, too emotional, too worried... but still, he highly preferred that to not being able to mourn for those that he – and everyone else – had lost.
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— Reggan