Laurel

2:07 Morose

I was back up before her, setting the chickens and other goats free from their pens and the small barn. I would be gone for a while, they would need to take care of themselves. The chickens and goats were all assholes, happy to try and bite my toes or a finger off even while I was feeding them, I was pretty sure they would be fine on their own.

Finally I climbed up to the loft, my former room before I had eventually taken over the only proper bed chamber with a real wooden bed. Oakwood was fanatically practical. Honestly he would have been so disappointed in how long it took me to move into the bedchamber after he had passed. Since he obviously no longer needed it.

I liked to think that he would be happy I was using his clothes for something finally, instead of just taking care of the fabrics year after year, I smiled to myself as I pulled one of my proudest accomplishments out of the closet I had disguised in the wall. I had collected a frightening collection of weapons during my time protecting the land, nearly all were low quality steel, I didn't want to keep them as weapons, so I taught myself to work metal, with books, and a lot of painful trial and error. But you only need so many utensils and dishes in a home, and can only reasonably house a finite quantity of nails and tools. So when I still had more metal than I could practically plan to use. I changed to impractical.

I built a hidden vault for my book collection. A folding, hinged metal wall that closed over the bookshelves securing them in a metal case on all sides. I was secretly proud of how well I had blended the cuts from getting metal behind the walls. Oakwood had not been pleased and was very upset thinking I would leave his life's work in shambles, he had a lot of pride built into his home. But the cuts and hidden panels were invisible. The system locked with a clever puzzle lock I had devised, where in order to open the lock one had to spin a numbered dial east to west or west to east in a particular pattern to particular numbers on the dial. Each step needing to be completely perfectly, and a mistake at one level meant spinning the dial to reset back to zero. It was devious, but not evil and he thought it very clever. I was rather proud of the three I had used to seal away the most valuable thing to me in this life.

Then I thought about Laurel, and how exquisite she had looked as she came undone, even if she was summoning the projection of a demon into my home. It was something I had no words for. The things I felt now rivaled the moment he had first seen the night sky so many years ago. Like realizing there was something you needed to have in your life to feel complete, a missing piece, that once found made everything else better, shine brighter with more colors.

I didn't think my species were given mates like I had mostly read about but also heard directly from shifters they were blessed with. I liked the romance of searching the worlds to find the one person who was made just for you, who would complete you just as you completed them. I had no experience with romance or love outside of books. I trusted that Oakwood came to love me in a fatherly way, even if he never directly spoke the words. Actions speak louder than words.

The rattle as my door and locks moved into place woke Laurel, which was good because we had to get going. I had left the shoes, socks, and a pair of the small clothes I had made last night next to the small manageable pack back I had set up for her. I heard her shuffle on heavy feet for such a small person towards the door, heard it open, silence as I assumed she looked at the bag and the offering of clothes I had prepared. I heard another couple heavy steps, the rustle of fabric and the jostling of the bag, before she retreated into the room again.

I got down from the secured loft, and started to make a large breakfast. Anything that wouldn't travel or be good for the remaining goats and chickens, had to be eaten, cooked or used somehow. There wasn't a large store of food in the home, but they would eat well for at least a couple days before they would resort to more typical road fare of wild game, forage, and hard breads and dried cured sausages.