HOME | DD

Description
smoke step feels some feelings.

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you are running, and you are running, and your love is beside you and you are running together, but the darkness at your heels is nipping. you are going home, you are trying to go home, why can't you go home? why is it so far away? it feels as though you are so close and yet the distance tricks you again and again. you feel like you are nearing, but suddenly you are racing alongside the river again, no sense of direction other than away from the creatures trying to destroy you. you are running in place, but still, you are running. they are nearing, and they are upon you, and they are taking away everything you love, and still you are running.

will you ever stop running?

the thought wakes you from the hellish nightmare you were having. your breathing is irregular, you can feel the inhale-exhale disconnect as sure as you feel your pulse hammering in your chest. you inhale deeply, remembering where you are. you are no longer living that nightmare, not anymore. you are home. you are with your pack, and your mate sleeps soundly beside you, safer than either of you have been in many moons.

you turn your trembling head to look at them. you almost burst into tears at the sight.

they are so beautiful. they are so beautiful. you want to memorize this sight for the rest of your life, you want to hold this memory like a valuable thing, a piece of you that you never want to let go of. they are sleeping, and you see the steady rise and fall of their chest. their dusty fawn fur, freshly groomed, is a beautiful thing. not as long as your own fur, but the perfect length for them. you take in the sight of their little paws, cupped around their muzzle, around their face. their face. it's as though the stars themselves graced your mate with their shine. you can't see their baby blue eyes now, but you've seen them enough to have memorized what they look like. gentle, warm, full of love, protective.

but those aren't the only reasons you love them.

they stood alongside you through everything. your entire life has been spent dedicating yourself to being the best mate possible, and they have repaid you in kind. your love for one another has never faltered, never hiccuped, and you doubt it ever will. you want to live and die with them. you want to wake up every day for the rest of your life right here beside them. you want to have the pleasure of dying alongside them, traveling to an eternity that neither of you are certain of but that you are both certain you will face together.

you press yourself back against them, drinking in their scent as though it's the only thing you'll ever inhale again.

they are soft, and they are warm, and you are perfect together. you always have and always will be. you've raised your first litter, but it got cut off far too short. you want to try again. you desperately want to try again. you want a big family; you want to grow old, surrounded by your kittens and your grandkittens and your great-grandkittens. you want cats to remember you and your mate as protective, loving, parental. you want to be remembered for the love you shared with one another. you snuggle closer to them, listening to the way they exhale softly at the contact and press against you too. your heart is swelling so much that it might just burst. you are happy. you are in love.

you are at peace, and you close your eyes to welcome the sweet dreams.

Description
smoke step feels some feelings.

------------------------------------------------

you are running, and you are running, and your love is beside you and you are running together, but the darkness at your heels is nipping. you are going home, you are trying to go home, why can't you go home? why is it so far away? it feels as though you are so close and yet the distance tricks you again and again. you feel like you are nearing, but suddenly you are racing alongside the river again, no sense of direction other than away from the creatures trying to destroy you. you are running in place, but still, you are running. they are nearing, and they are upon you, and they are taking away everything you love, and still you are running.

will you ever stop running?

the thought wakes you from the hellish nightmare you were having. your breathing is irregular, you can feel the inhale-exhale disconnect as sure as you feel your pulse hammering in your chest. you inhale deeply, remembering where you are. you are no longer living that nightmare, not anymore. you are home. you are with your pack, and your mate sleeps soundly beside you, safer than either of you have been in many moons.

you turn your trembling head to look at them. you almost burst into tears at the sight.

they are so beautiful. they are so beautiful. you want to memorize this sight for the rest of your life, you want to hold this memory like a valuable thing, a piece of you that you never want to let go of. they are sleeping, and you see the steady rise and fall of their chest. their dusty fawn fur, freshly groomed, is a beautiful thing. not as long as your own fur, but the perfect length for them. you take in the sight of their little paws, cupped around their muzzle, around their face. their face. it's as though the stars themselves graced your mate with their shine. you can't see their baby blue eyes now, but you've seen them enough to have memorized what they look like. gentle, warm, full of love, protective.

but those aren't the only reasons you love them.

they stood alongside you through everything. your entire life has been spent dedicating yourself to being the best mate possible, and they have repaid you in kind. your love for one another has never faltered, never hiccuped, and you doubt it ever will. you want to live and die with them. you want to wake up every day for the rest of your life right here beside them. you want to have the pleasure of dying alongside them, traveling to an eternity that neither of you are certain of but that you are both certain you will face together.

you press yourself back against them, drinking in their scent as though it's the only thing you'll ever inhale again.

they are soft, and they are warm, and you are perfect together. you always have and always will be. you've raised your first litter, but it got cut off far too short. you want to try again. you desperately want to try again. you want a big family; you want to grow old, surrounded by your kittens and your grandkittens and your great-grandkittens. you want cats to remember you and your mate as protective, loving, parental. you want to be remembered for the love you shared with one another. you snuggle closer to them, listening to the way they exhale softly at the contact and press against you too. your heart is swelling so much that it might just burst. you are happy. you are in love.

you are at peace, and you close your eyes to welcome the sweet dreams.