Twilight Flight

[ after this ]

She still eats as if it is a privilege, a throwback to the many times when it was.  Proteins first, to sustain the body, and yes, while battered poultry is a novelty, she still manages to enjoy it.  Carbohydrates next, and fresh baked bread is fresh baked bread the world over.  And finally, because it has a strange scent, and it looks to be rather messy to eat, finally she delves into the watermelon slices.  Juice ran down her chin and she had a sense memory of eating apples fresh from the cider press, only this was more like pears, she thought.  No, not at all like pears.  Something completely new and different.

Not unlike the man seated next to her, his startlingly blue eyes glittering with mirth as she chased bite after bite with a swipe of her napkin. 

"This should be served in a glass," she murmurs, taking another bite of the almost ethereal fruit.  One could eat for days and never fill up.  "What are you laughing at, hmm?"

She hadn't gone back to Istanbul for a few weeks, having enjoyed an extended stay in the Miliways universe, but for some reason, she wanted to go back to her world for awhile.

It was after midnight when she made her way home from the coffee house, and the smell of Turkish tobacco and coffee clung to her clothes and her hair.  She just wanted a shower and a good long sleep, but when she opened the door, she felt the weight of his presence.

Sitting in the dark, enthroned in the threadbare arm chair tucked into the corner, just out of the pale square of light cast by the street lamps.  A single puff of cigarette smoke pinpointed where his breath marred the silence of her flat.

"Olya, you were gone so long."

She did not speak, did not respond his observation.  It didn't seem to matter to him.

"You are still running."

"Can you blame me?"  Her words were shards of glass hurled through the air at his face.

He was quiet for a long moment before responding, simply, "No."

"Why are you here, my love?"

"I felt you leave."

She knew he would.  Perhaps somehow she hoped he would feel it in his bones.  Hoped it would make him hurt as much as she did, all those long quiet years tucked up in his cabinet.

"You don't own me."  It was all she could do to keep from spitting at him.

A heavy sigh, and another long drag on the cigarette.  "No.  No, I don't suppose that I do."

"Right.  So I go where I want, when I want, and I come back when I want."

"Of course.  Of course."

She knew what he wanted and she would not give it to him.  Not today.  Perhaps not ever.  "Then get out."

"Olya."  She felt him reaching for her, body and soul, and she could not bear it another moment.

"Get out!"  She waved a hand and felt her will spread out from the very core of her being.  The corporeal form of his body dissipated, like a veil of dust dispelled by a hard gust of wind.

He will find himself in the Gloom, and it might take him a few days to come back, but he will return eventually.  She knew this as sure as she knew the sun would rise in just a few hours.  And someday, perhaps, she might return to his side.

She still loves him.

She just can't bear to look at him right now.

Olga has only been here a month and already she is starting to feel attached to Ankara.  It is older than she is, and though Moscow is home, always will be home, so much of it has changed since she first named it thus.  Ankara was ancient when Moscow was born.  True, it was not Babylon, but not even she is mad enough to consider a holiday in a war zone.

No, Ankara was perfect for what she wanted.  Time to think.  Time to wander amidst the ruins, listening to the siren's song of the Gloom.  She hasn't set foot there since she left Moscow and she knows, the first time she does, Gesar will find her.  If he has the sense God gave a slug, he'd stay the hell away from her.  No speech about duty or loyalty or the perils faced by the Light were going to bring her back.

Not yet.

No, she needed time to think.  Time to breathe.  Time to spread her wings and find out what lay beyond the horizon of her understanding.  There would always be time for duty and honour later.  Today, there were only questions.