Trifecta: Ice [Complete]

Ch 31: Dragged Down

I woke up with a pounding heart and an eerie feeling to greet the rising of a beautiful spring day.  Just because I felt like the end of my relative peace had come did not mean it actually had.  My unease simply meant it was a normal Thursday.

I got out of bed and put on my robe before making my way out to find breakfast.  I walked into the kitchen and discovered Serge by the feeling of the curse stabbing the back of my neck.  I was not surprised that he was there.  As I regained measures of my former independence, Karen stepped back to let me take it.  It was like a dance, she moved back, but if I faltered she returned to keep me on my feet.

In addition, we had plans to eat at Karen's for supper that evening.  I would see her then, unless I needed her sooner.

I looked towards Serge.  I still could not look at his face or properly say his name, but I was getting ever closer.  I could see that he was sitting on one of the bar stools in plaid pyjama pants and a blue t-shirt.  He was eating eggs and drinking coffee with one hand while flipping through some papers with the other.

"G-good morning, S-S-Se..."

"Good morning.  What are you having?" he asked me.

I had almost burned his house down trying to cook myself some eggs a few days prior.  I shivered as the curse cut into my blood at the memory.  Turns out good thralls don't accidentally set things on fire in their master's home.

I doubted he would leave me alone using the stove for a while.  "Cereal."  I would try again eventually, but today was not that day.

I set about the kitchen and got myself a bowl of cereal and a spoon.  I almost sat down in my regular spot as far from Serge as I could get, but then I decided to push it and sat one bar stool closer to him.  The back of my neck prickled and ran through me, but I simply focused on eating my breakfast.

"Do you want to go for a run after you're done?" he asked me.

I nodded, because my mouth was full.  I swallowed.  "Yeah."

I set to eating as quickly as I could with my shaking hands.

When I was finished, I rinsed my bowl in the sink and I followed Serge outside.

I walked away from him into the forest and transformed.  I met him back in the yard, both of us in our wolf forms.  Serge's fur was a mix of white and grey, lighter than my own brown coat.  Like his human form, I could not look at his wolf face, but I could see from the corner of my vision that his ears were forward.  His tail was high and his posture was as serious and severe as in his human form.

Except his tail wagged slightly as if he could not quite control it.  I grinned a wolfish grin and wagged my own in return.

There was movement in the forest near us and both Serge and I turned to look towards the noise.  Denizen trotted out and greeted Serge, tail wagging.  Then he turned towards me and licked my face happily in greeting.

Denizen was about the same size as I was and Serge's wolf form dwarfed us both.

Serge began walking towards the forest and I followed him.  Denizen darted around both of us, clearly thrilled that he had turned up just in time for a run.

Once we were well in the trees, Serge started running.  I knew he paced himself for my speed and I appreciated his thoughtfulness.  I dashed after him, lost in my own thoughts.

Serge and I had been running together for almost a couple of weeks.  It had taken me days to work up the nerve to suggest it, but he had given such a startlingly instantaneous agreement that I imagined he had probably been considering the idea himself, but had been reluctant to suggest such an idea to me.