Go lift your sails up for one last swell

[andhiswife]

And now the Poldarks are gone.

She doesn't even know how to process the losses anymore. She doesn't know why she's still here. How much more is she supposed to bear, exactly? There has to be a precise point where this all stops being worth the trouble. Hasn't she passed it, yet? Or is she still meant to believe this epilogue is some sort of generous gift, far better than an abrupt and undignified ending at the bottom of a cliff? Because she honestly doesn't know, anymore. She doesn't know if she wants a second chance if this is all that will come of it.

She especially doesn't know why they've left her the bloody house. She sits on the stoop, staring down at the keys in numb disbelief, and it's only because her friend wanted this that she can convince herself that this, too, isn't some kind of cruel joke.

Demelza would never be cruel. Not to her, not now.

Well. Not on purpose. Part of her can't help but wonder if this was something decided before Sam's disappearance, and they just hadn't got round to updating the paperwork. That would make sense. More sense than the thought of her knocking about what is unmistakably a family home with just a dog for company. It's absurd. What is she supposed to do with it all?

Go in would be the logical first step, but she hasn't yet worked up the nerve. After helping them move in, and visiting on several occasions, she has too clear an idea of how it ought to be. Not empty. Not silent. And certainly not hers.

Comments

[modern_alpha]

"Too clever by half," Biffy said, shaking his head with rueful fondness. "She can whistle open locks." When Daine had moved into the house, Biffy had honestly considered putting some kind of child lock on the cabinets to keep the dragon out of anything important. He had quickly been disabused of the notion of even trying.

"She's very magical, is Kitten, with great potential for a lot more when she grows. So Daine tells me."

[andhiswife]

"Oh, dear," Greta says, her smile both sympathetic and slightly appalled. She'd expect a dragon to have magic, but whistling locks open is rather specific. "At least she doesn't seem to be flying, yet." It's probably a small comfort -- between being able to unlock things and being able to climb, Kitten can probably get into just about anything. But at least she's not bouncing off the light fixtures.

"Will she grow quickly?" If she's still so small at three years of age, Greta would assume she won't be having any growth spurts that require a move out to a barn or somesuch. But goodness knows how dragons grow, especially where Daine comes from.

[modern_alpha]

"Yet," Biffy agreed, shooting Kitten a look that said she better not try without Daine around. The last thing he needed was to be forced to explain a dragon with a broken wing to someone who could shapeshift into a bear if need be.

"Truthfully I don't know what counts as speedy growth for a dragon. She's the first one I've ever met. Go have a seat and I'll make us some tea. If you wish, you could wait until Daine returns too."

[andhiswife]

The dragonet blinks innocently up at Biffy, her wings still tidily folded, as if she wouldn't even dream of stretching them, let alone trying to make use of them. It's belies an intelligence that's almost unnerving. Dragons back home might be more clever than normal animals, but they were still animals. You wouldn't expect to see one feigning innocence.

On the other hand, it's also such a child-like gesture, the who, me? implicit, that Greta finds herself biting back a smile. She rather suspects the creature would fit right in amongst the children at the Gardens.

"Thank you," she says, settling herself on the couch while she waits for the tea to brew. Pawvus soon leaps lightly up beside her, butting his head up against her arm. Greta lifts her hand to scritch between the cat's ears. "When do you expect her?" she asks, wary of overstaying her welcome despite the explicit invitation. She wouldn't mind meeting Daine, though she's obviously not at her best and brightest -- but that's all the more reason not to linger here too long, as if her own dour mood might be catching.

[modern_alpha]

Biffy gave Kitten a look that was equal parts paternal and remonstrative and, he knew, wholly ineffective. Kitten was terribly polite and respectful of the home she shared but he was not her parent and expected that the dragon thought herself only answerable to Daine, which was fair and true enough.

"I don't know. I could send a message but there's no knowing if her phone is with her. Shape shifters, you know?" he said, smiling knowingly. Poor Greta did know indeed, having first encountered Biffy that way.

"But feel free to stay the evening. If it gets dark, I can escort you back." His eyes twinkled. "Or even give you a ride."