Tag: Pollux x 16

No. That one was broken. … She remembered when she’d thrown it at a wall. She grimaced. Her hand rummaged through the draw and searched again. Ah! Oh. No. That one was broken, too. THAT had been water damage. Whoops. She kept searching. She knew there were at least two working models already on reserve for her; where had Pollux put them?

Khaeris was getting better at using the communicators. She’d had one for years now. Goblin made. Pollux made, times three (oops!). Other Pollux made, frequency unknown (at least in this time dimension). Each sturdier than the last. Her search paused a moment and a tiny frown pulled at her lips. She’d TRIED to break the last one by throwing it, and hadn’t been able. Pollux knew her too well.

Daily Writing Challenge 2020, Day 2

Pyraelia had not minded. Khaeris had not asked.

But there she was, moving through a meadow with her friend walking beside her. It felt good to move. It lightened her heavy heart and she welcomed the distraction her invasion of Pyraelia’s space had brought her.

Pollux had been deployed this morning, and straight away after seeing him off, she’d shot over to Pyraelia’s place.

Sheep, cats, grass, and sunshine. Just what she needed. There was a breeze that tugged on leaves that were starting to crisp and she felt that damp chill that clung to things in autumn. Pyraelia had tucked phlox into both their hair. Sturdy boots made a satisfying thunk on the earth with every step. They were...

Weekly Writing Challenge; Week 18 - Guilt

It was too late, she'd sent the messages. Maybe it was for the best. But maybe not. He was in the field. She shouldn't worry Pollux. No amount of 'Please don't worry' would help when say you need to talk.

Khaeris sighed, already feeling the pit in her stomach grow. It had been weighing her down since her talk with Dicenne. Pollux would get them, and he'd undoubtedly worry about the vague notes. She shoved the communicator into her pocket and looked around her wagon.

"My wife and I kept no secrets from each other."

Of course. She was messing it up with Pollux again. She moved to the sink full of dishes that needed washing.

"I'm not your therapist."

It still stung, and Khaeris had to be mindful and...

It was quiet. She sat on the floor of her wagon, slumped and still. She was tired. The sobbing had stopped and she was numb. Owlishly blinking, only slowly did she come back. Shadows lay thick around her, swirling in a soft fog with her every breath. Her skirt was wet where she'd spilled the vase in her lap. She didn't  notice.

Khaeris looked around the dark interior. The soft light the arcane runes Helal had scribed for her had faded to a thin paleness over the last two years. Her curtains and shutters were closed, her plants temporarily at Pollux's apartment and the automatic watering globes he'd rigged for her previously. The wagon looked tired, too, she decided.

Even the small parcels looked quiet. But the air smelled of fresh...

The bite of the cider faded only slowly on Khaeris’s tongue. She’d maybe spiked it a little too much. … Maybe. Ha, oh well! No one to know but herself and Pollux. She smirked and took another full drink, holding it in her mouth and picking out flavors as she looked over the quiet Bazaar. People were at home celebrating and sharing food, occasionally people would walk past. She knew them some, Pollux’s neighbors, and they would wave and wish her a happy holiday. Contentment tried to cocoon her. She tried not to fight it.

It was a good day. It had been a small meal, just the two of them, but she was happy for that, too. Pollux had been able to be home more the last month or so. But she didn’t plan on him being there. Even...

It had felt a bit like a rebirth, coming back to this time. She had been gone for over six months. Vanished. Poof. As good as dead. It hadn't been hell, but her time away certainly hadn't been heaven. She had not been sure it was going to be a purgatory, even with the insistence everyone had tried to reassure her with in the months prior to her correction. But here she was, given the second chance to live in her second chance time.

Habitually, lost in thought, Khaeris ran a fingertip at a small imperfection on her upper arm. There was no scar--just a small injection and then it was done. But there was a slight rise in the subcutaneous tissues. The small tracker was there. Pollux had, apparently, been carrying it with him constantly, in...

The seashore was sacred now. She didn't keep many sentimental objects when it came down to it; she could get rid of most of her belongings and feel fine about it, with the exception of a very few items. But places? Places were sacred and kept close to her heart.

Her toes dug into the beach and her sandals dangled from her fingers as she walked along the familiar shore. She wouldn't go far, Pollux was on his long board. But the meandering alone-together felt nice an Khaeris smiled to herself.

She knew no matter what happened, this particular stretch of beach and shore was theirs. Not in any possessive way, but in a memorable way. They'd spent hours here shooting, getting swimming lessons in for her, and generally just being together....

He never said the words. Not out loud. But before he'd done his jump, his eyes had dared her. He didn't believe she'd do it. She'd failed before. He wouldn't have judged her if she couldn't do it. But she'd been working so hard to try.

Khaeris looked at him, she could see him still, but it was very far down. He was treading water and looking up at her. He was still beaming with the rush. Her toes curled around the edge of the cliff and gripped at the stone. The humidity was thick and the water below was doubtless cool and refreshing for him.

Goosebumps appeared up and down her limbs. She reached up to shake out her hair, feeling the way sweat had curled it over her neck. Her fingers tugged at the suit around her legs. She looked...

The night sky was still  overcast, but even so, a few stars pushed through the haze as the rain waned. Khaeris looked up, catching the last few drops on her cheeks. She couldn't help smiling, feeling them slide down and drop onto her damp dress. Coming out of the barn and back into the open air was refreshing. The barn had been cozy and warm with all the folks inside, sweet with the scent of hay, that musty smell of lofts and stalls. Outside though... Outside, the fresh scent of rain swept away the cobwebs from her spirit. The breeze was chilly and she got gooseflesh on her arms where her dress didn't cover. The susurrus of the voices still in the barn and the shuffling of feet and jackets being pulled on was comforting.

They had all...

It was supposed to be a good week.

She had returned from wandering and camping in the Eversong woods, haven taken her ram and her sunfur panda for her only company. She’d danced between trees, walked barefoot down deer runs, fished for her supper, woven flower crowns from weeds, and laughed with a crab on the beach. She’d only left a note for the clinic and tacked up a notice at her booth. She had needed it. Needed the time wandering, as only a Traveler could.

It had all been so freeing. It was supposed to help. A reset. Surely she’d feel herself after that.

She’d come back renewed and happy, dimples fairly permanent with her smile and remembering the Tournament of Ages just in time to make it to the Wonderlight Ball. So she ...

It had felt like a kind of static shock. Startling. Not quite painful. But a surprise, none the less. She had jumped and so had her heart. No one looking at the scene would have understood the woman's jolt. It was quiet in the room Khaeris had been granted. Her alchemy tools were neat on the dresser top. Perhaps not the best work bench, but it was doing the job in a pinch. Mr. Hale had not minded. His generosity was evident in the superbly crafted set of tools in front of her now.

Her mind whirled with the possibilities. Her gaze fell unseeing onto her research journal. She leaned on the dresser while she thought.

No. It hadn't been true static, of course. She didn't know exactly what, but something had happened. Something she was...

Khaeris lay in a bed that wasn't her own. The sheets were rich. The rug she put her feet down on each morning was thick and soft. The curtains over the window were finely made. The window itself looked over the Court of the Sun, not the Bazaar.

Pollux hadn't come home that week. Other Pollux, not her Pollux.

Gone on a business trip. Zandalar? Had he said that? He supplied the military, he'd said, but was that what this trip was?  Maybe somewhere else. She realized should probably be ashamed she hadn't listened closely, but she wasn't ashamed. Despondency came and went in waves.

Though alone every evening, Khaeris could not be disappointed in this. He was too strange. It was both too familiar and too jarring to see his shape. His...

Her wagon was not particularly accessible.

While getting into the wagon was never a problem; once inside and trying to relax it got more difficult. The prosthetics didn't come off as quickly as they did in his own home, he didn't bother taking them off at all, sometimes. Here, the steps were awkward to the loft, the water closet was too small and there wasn't much to hold onto (never mind you had to climb down the steps again). The floor bounced slightly with your steps and the furnishings were nearly an obstacle course.

The tiny space was hers, but it wasn't welcoming to him.

He hadn't complained; it wasn't like Pollux to complain. He might have been used to figuring things out, but she noticed how much more time, effort, and thought...

Khaeris pushed the needle through the popcorn and smiled slightly to feel the strange texture of the decoration. She wasn't as good at this as Pyraelia was, but she'd strung several lines of the tree decorations. The most humble and mundane of Pyraelia's decorations, but the two had been talking and sharing space for an hour with mulled cider and a plate piled with fruit and cheese.

Truly, there wasn't much left to decorate. Busy so many years with decorating Silvermoon, Pyraelia's home was sweetly but fully decked for the Winter's Veil holiday. The magistrix had such a good eye for these things and Khaeris had seen the holiday warmth the moment she'd arrived. It would be full on feasting and presents and people soon. It should make her...

(Originally an RP Prompt reply on Tumblr)