swallowed all my pride

[temsik]

[Ah, sweet freedom. He'll never get tired of it. Stepping out into the spring sun, he can feel its faint heat soaking into his suit. Somewhere under this same sky are the people he hurt all those years ago. Having served his time, he's started to forgive himself a tiny bit at a time. A couple weeks into his new life, he's found himself settling back into mundane things, like shopping. He hasn't made a huge purchase, but he tucks the paper bag protectively beneath his elbow all the same, and heads for the center of town.

He dodges a crazy hippie with a bad hat and walks to the payphone. A couple clinks of change later, he rings up a certain someone's house.]

Jowd, it's me. Tell Sissel I'm at the park. [A pause.] Thank you.

[And that's it. Leaning against the back of a bench, arms crossed, all he can do is wait.]

Comments

[themystery]

[ It would have been easy to simple ride across the phone line to greet Yomiel, but their first real reunion since Yomiel's release garners something more special than that. Sissel doesn't want to miss out on the opportunity, and thus after Jowd's message, the kitten sneaks out the side window and makes his hurried little way across town.

Thankfully, Temsik park is not actually all that far from the Jowd residence. Just another of those little twists of fate, it seems. Dodging some cars in order to jaywalk his way to the park quicker, he ignores a startled honk or two and comes up to Yomiel's legs with a familiar old meow. ]

[temsik]

[Just hearing that little meow is enough to put his heart at ease. It's better that things happened this way. He knows that now, and he's sure of it. He never meant for his only friend to get shot.

Ah, but that was the past, and Sissel told him not to linger on things that happened in a different time. He doesn't hesitate to crouch down and greet the cat with a nice long pet, from head to tail.]

It's been a while, old friend. [He holds his arms out in such a way that Sissel can leap on if he wants.] Have you been staying out of trouble?

[He can guess the answer, but he thought he'd ask anyway.]

[themystery]

[ Sissel gracefully hops onto the awaiting arm, starting up a quiet purr as if to assuage any fears. Or act overly innocent. ]

As much as these powers will let me. You're looking good, Yomiel.

[temsik]

[Yomiel can see right through that, but he doesn't much care. The little creature heralding his salvation is right here.]

I hope I'm at least aging gracefully. [Of course, growing old with his fiancee is all he really wants in life now, but that's just fine. He scritches beneath Sissel's chin and catches the folded paper bag sitting by his foot.]

Ah, that's right. I brought you something.

[themystery]

I think I might even see a few grey hairs coming along there.

[ The purring grows louder with the increased affection while Sissel tries to both lean into Yomiel's hand and shift his head enough to get a look at the bag. Oooh? What could that be? His nostrils twitch and ears swivel to try and catch a hint. ]

For me? You shouldn't have.

[temsik]

[Yomiel grins. It's teasing, but it's also a compliment.] I can deal with a few. [Not that he wants to take away Cabanela's thunder or something.

Noses don't detect the shape of things in bags. The scent is 'brand new', though that could mean anything. Careful not to drop Sissel, he pops the bag open and-- what do you know, it's a toy mouse.

It doesn't look like much, until Yomiel holds it by the tail and shakes it, and it makes a convincing little squeak.]

[themystery]

[ Sissel startles a bit, then reaches out a spare paw to bat at it. The tip of his claw gets stuck, which prompts and involuntary mrrt, and once he yanks it free he goes about grooming it as if that's somehow supposed to erase the adorkability of it. ]

That looks like fun.

[temsik]

[Yomiel chuckles and sets the mouse down. Really, nothing's changed, even though his cat can talk now. That's such a cat thing to do. Why is it that riled-up cats like to lick their paws and pretend not to care?]

It's all yours. I'm glad you like it.

[Even if you're being catdere about it. He lightly scritches Sissel behind the ears.]

How are the others? Are you getting along with the dog?

[themystery]

[ Sissel eyes the mouse toy pretty hard, but remains in Yomiel's arms for now. He can bring that toy home and play with it anytime, but he has the feeling Yomiel won't want to come visit the Jowds for quite a while... if ever. ]

You mean Missile? He's as good a doggie as ever. I think Lynne might be worried that he doesn't chase me, though. Everyone else is doing great.

[temsik]

[... Yeah, it's complicated. It's not that he hates Detective Jowd, but he'd feel so out of place. It would be better if he just didn't bother. He might feel trapped, or worse, someone might... remember something.

It's just better if he doesn't. Serving in prison is one thing, surrounding himself with the people he deliberately hurt and killed is another.]

Dogs and cats can live together just fine, especially if they're raised together. But if you run, he might want to chase you.

[He smiles fondly. Don't mind the way he adjusts that bandana-- he wants to make sure it doesn't fall off. And God forbid someone try to /change it/. Yomiel would throw a fit.]

It sounds like you have a good home.

[themystery]

[ Sissel stretches his neck out both in an attempt to get more scritches and also to give better access to fixing the bandana. It's basically his favorite possession ever, so he doesn't mind Yomiel trying to keep it pristine. ]

They're good to me there. Kamila especially likes to spoil me.

[ What little girl wouldn't be attached to a foreverkitten? ]

You should call more often. I mean, you could write... but that isn't especially helpful to me.

[temsik]

[He finishes adjusting the bandana, then rewards Sissel with a scritch right beneath his chin.]

You deserve to be spoiled.

[Seriously, this cat is like the savior of the universe. The universe that encompasses everything that ever mattered to Yomiel, that is. Selfish and short-sighted as it might be, that's the truth.

He smirks a little at the suggestion.]

I meant to, but things got busy. I never figured that planning a wedding would be this much work.

[themystery]

I always have been.

[ He says it with a notable smartass tone... but also some gentle acknowledgment. You did right by him, Yomiel, don't even think otherwise. You dope. ]

When is it? My invite must have gotten lost in the mail.

[temsik]

[He's still struggling with that, even if Sissel's forgiven him. The initial reaction is to disagree, to feel bad, to apologize. It'll come with time, maybe.

But he doesn't argue, and ignores the bittersweetness in the tightening of his lips.]

I didn't send you one because I thought you'd just sit on it. [Since you can't read or anything.] It's July 16th, behind the church.

[themystery]

And now you've deprived me of prime sitting material. Jowd won't even let me sit on his files, can you believe it? [ Because those are police cases, Sissel. ]

I'll be there.

[ Wait. ]

Unless... She's not allergic or anything, is she?

[temsik]

[Oh, cat. He looks amused, but doesn't argue.]

No. We'd talked about getting a pet before. [It just never happened. Yomiel thought it was too much work, and he didn't really have the time. And with everything falling down around his ears...

... Well, that was a long time ago. He definitely doesn't mind, now.]

Mind the fur, though. She'll be wearing white.

[themystery]

I'll be on my best shedding behavior. [ Good thing if you ever get a cat it won't be a smartass like this one, Yomiel. One is clearly enough, am I right? ]

What kind of pet were you thinking, anyway? Not a pomeranian, I hope.

[ One Missile is enough. ]

[temsik]

[He doesn't mind Sissel despite the sass. He's glad his best friend doesn't mind being immortal. It wasn't something that he'd enjoyed, personally.]

She wanted a Labrador, but I wanted a cat. I felt like wasn't home enough to train a puppy.

[One Missile is almost too many.]

[themystery]

[ There's some definite benefit to having a loving family take care of him while he's like this, and even when they're gone he can't imagine that he's going to be left alone. It was a very different situation for Yomiel when he was immortal. ]

Where do you go if you're not with her?

[ Remember, Yomiel, your ten years together were good but you weren't exactly stretching your programmer muscles amidst all that REVENGE!!1 plotting. ]