The lonely end of the rink
Mike is already pretty sure by the time he gets to the rink; you don't see someone for a while, and then you just get a feeling, like there's a hole in the world in the shape of them, like there's been a subtle shift in all the various gravitational pulls that everyone you know and love exerts on you. There is no pull from them, because they are not here anymore.
But he wants to believe that he might be wrong, until he hears the whining and Hal trots up to him, her tail wagging in a way that's at once hopeful and sad. The others are wandering around the edge of the ice, looking anxious, looking mutely up at him. Can you tell us what happened? Where is he?
And Mike knows he can't.
So that's that, then. He wishes he was surprised.
He sinks down next to the ice, looking out at it like it could explain something to him. Gordon comes over and lays his head on Mike's knee with a quiet whuff.
"I know." It comes out in a murmur, and it's not quite choked. He doesn't think he's going to cry. But it feels like another tether slipping free, twisting into the wind and gone. There's so little time. For anything. "I know, boy. I'm sorry."
[amid a pack of grieving dogs, Mike has discovered that Lennox is gone. open to all, though Mike is more than a little sad about this. LT/ST fine.]
But he wants to believe that he might be wrong, until he hears the whining and Hal trots up to him, her tail wagging in a way that's at once hopeful and sad. The others are wandering around the edge of the ice, looking anxious, looking mutely up at him. Can you tell us what happened? Where is he?
And Mike knows he can't.
So that's that, then. He wishes he was surprised.
He sinks down next to the ice, looking out at it like it could explain something to him. Gordon comes over and lays his head on Mike's knee with a quiet whuff.
"I know." It comes out in a murmur, and it's not quite choked. He doesn't think he's going to cry. But it feels like another tether slipping free, twisting into the wind and gone. There's so little time. For anything. "I know, boy. I'm sorry."
[amid a pack of grieving dogs, Mike has discovered that Lennox is gone. open to all, though Mike is more than a little sad about this. LT/ST fine.]