It made my heart stutter and my chest hurt. Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked them rapidly away. Arat was right. Wewouldcome home. All of us together. There was no other acceptable option.
After a while in which we just lay together, naked and holding hands, we eventually dressed again. Tara left me with a lingering kiss before he walked back out of the room with our empty takeout containers, Notus on his heels, and I went back to the 3D diagram taking up most of the room.
I moved through the top floor again before stopping in a room that continuously grabbed my attention. I wasn’t sure why. There was nothing special about it. Big desk, yes. Two chairs in front of it, yes. There was a small table by the door, something you might see in a home where you rest your keys. Otherwise, the room looked bare and empty.
There was nothing here. I’d looked over and over, moving around it as if I were actually inside it. But all I could see were these few pieces of furniture.
Dropping to my ass, smirking at the way I winced at the twinge of pain, I sat in the middle of the room and looked around. My eyes traced the exact size and shape of the desk. The big, comfortable chair behind it. The equally comfortable looking chairs in front of it. Their exact positions in relation to the desk. Their height and bulk. From that, surmising their weight and ability to move.
As I sat within one of the projected offices and looked around me, I thought about something else. The people we saw come and go according to reconnaissance were just the worker drones. The hybrid beasts and agents who did the upper’s bidding.
I scowled. That could mean a few things. There actually weren’t any important people at this location. There was another means of coming and going that we weren’t seeing. Or it was all a ruse. Every bit of it. This building could just be a decoy.
Standing again, I frowned and ran my hand through my hair.
As far as I knew, there weren't any people making any concentrated effort to move against Silence. So why would they need decoys? Would they even think to make decoys when the entire supernatural world does everything in their power to stay far away from them so as not to gain their attention?
“I feel like we’re missing something important,” I said to no one. Which was fine. Because I had no idea what it was we were missing. Or even if my reflections and fretting were something to be concerned with. Maybe they’ve already addressed or negated my worries, but I didn’t know because I’ve been alone with the rendering of the building all day. And most of yesterday, too.
With that thought, I picked up the computer and closed down the model. Leaving the room, I headed back to the conference room where everyone else was. I set the computer back on the desk with Seneca. She was with Torin and their human, Jasper, as they continued to look at the sonar reports.
“Find anything else?” I asked, peering over their shoulders.
“Not yet. We just recently changed the frequency so we’ll see,” Torin said.
I watched for a minute longer before nodding and straightening. It wasn’t all that late, but the sun was certainly setting on the horizon. I was tired. Every muscle in my body was exhausted from stress and lack of sleep.
Stopping at Koh’s side, I leaned into him so he’d wrap his arm around me. He kissed my temple but kept talking until there was a natural break in the conversation.
“Alright?” he asked.
Taking a breath, I nodded. “Think I’m going to head home,” I said.
He smiled. “Good. Take Gale with you. He’s overtired and getting grumpy.”
Gale snorted. “Fuck you, boss man.”
Koh grinned. I peered around him at Gale and I could definitely see his grumpiness in the way he scowled at the screen in front of him. Arms crossed over his hard chest. His short hair, which wasn’t nearly long enough to look a mess, was rumpled.
I nodded, kissing Koh’s cheek and moving to Gale. I tugged on his arm until he gave up and stood, dropping it around my waist. He didn’t lean on me, but I could feel how tired he was, too. Wordlessly, he let me lead him from the room.
Grabbing a set of our keys on the way out, we headed for the parking garage and home. Still without speaking, he led me this time. Through the garage, up the stairs, and into the kitchen. He fed me something from another food storage container from the fridge. Since he and Tara have also been at the office, I figured it was Yonbe cooking for us. Making sure we ate.
He needed another raise.
When I was well fed, Gale pulled me to the stairs again. Every step felt heavier and heavier, but I let him pull me along. Stripping our clothes as we headed into the shower. Neither of us washed, just stood under the hot water for a while.
We got out and dressed in bed pants before collapsing and falling to sleep as soon as our eyes were shut. The sun hadn’t even completely set yet.
Hadley
I madea concentrated effort to text my family and friends often. While I told myself I was just being better about maintaining the relationships in my life, I knew I was making sure everyone knew that I loved them in case I didn’t get the chance to say so again in the near future.
We continued to spend most of our time at Kohara’s office, shuffling through the tasks and information that they were gathering on Silence. I wasn’t sure which part had my attention more, but a growing need to find a way to give us more bang when we were going to be severely outnumbered had a large part of my attention.
Except that I was learning to live my life in snapshots. Sweet moments documenting the beginning of our lives together in case it ended before it really began. As I lay in bed, I thought back on them, letting those moments follow me into sleep so that they drifted in and out of my dreams.
* * *
