Post by Wicked on Apr 29, 2015 8:00:41 GMT -5
{Takes place a few months prior to the current WWK plot, in the winter. Alternate titles for this thread: Recuperation, Regression; How Kaki Ended Up Being Followed by a Dog; Yukio Fulfills Real Purpose of Comforting Angsty Characters; My God All These Creepy Children Need To Act Like Real Actual Children}
Rydia's house had no heat, and the power had gone out months ago when she had left. So Kaki and Hotaru made use of the fireplace most of the time, and though Kaki was good at adjusting to the cold after so many years living in the mountains, the house wasn't really a good place to stay. She didn't want to be with her sister, so she only told Adan where she was going, abandoned her gigai by the couch, and left late at night. She took her sword, left her scarf, and wrapped her feet and hands before slipping into a pair of boots and a pair of gloves.
It wasn't as if Kaki had been sleeping much anyway - when she did sleep she had horrifying nightmares of the lab, of the arrancar, of Stour, and the easiest way to chase those dreams away was to stay awake, no matter how tired she was. Sometimes she had dreams that her hollow was back in control, and that she was driving her sword through her sister's throat and severing her head. They were brutal, like she was really living each experience, and would leave her feeling like she hadn't slept at all.
By the time Kaki had gotten out to the park, she'd picked up follower, the small dog from before. She was too tired to really sense anyone properly, and so the dog's spirit presence went unnoticed for a while. At least until she heard a gleeful yip, turned, and was toppled by a large, black dog with white spots on his face and paws. She turned her head to keep his tongue out of her face.
"Doggie-" she gasped between licks, reaching to push him off. Her fluffy assailant, not to be deterred, continued plastering her face with licks while she tried to shove him off. Then he got excited, rolled over beside her, and panted cheerfully while she laid beside him, feeling like she could melt into the cement she was so tired.
"You got bigger," she noted, remembering that the last time he was just a puppy and she could carry him around like a human kid, and now he was big and lanky, and she could still carry him, but not in her arms.
"You're trouble, you know that?" she whispered. "The unluckiest dog in the world."
The dog's ears twitched - again - at the word luck, and she smiled faintly as she sat up. She'd come out because she wanted to use the swings, because she was too tired to get out to the mountains right now, and the repetitive swaying was comforting and the next best thing to a mountain breeze. Before she could stand, the dog walked forward, pressing his head against her chest.
She wasn't going to cry, she wasn't going to cry, but she was sniffling and shaking pathetically because anything at all could have set her off right then and affection from a dog wasn't something she'd been able to experience without a gigai before.
She was so glad there weren't any humans around who could see her.