Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2914935" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 330Relatively quickly, things had been cleaned up after Loki had gotten them off the large capital ship. The Kanyak had already done a good job of leading the other ships through the minefield, and the detonation of the main ship’s self destruct cleaned up the rest of the small fleet. When it was all finally over, they quickly took up the job of destroying the last of the mines...just in case.    And then, as quickly as it had started, it was all over. The space around the ring that guarded the hyperspace route into the Hidden Worlds was empty except for the debris of the other ships and Loki. The overwhelming Darkness that had consumed the area was gone...though it had faded slowly rather than completely vanishing. It would also likely stay there for a good long time, the severe taint of all of the Darkness in one area was not something that was easily removed. But it was over.    “Are you alright?” Shadow asked quietly, looking down to Jyren. They had finally managed to find the time to relax in their quarters after Loki had made a hyperspace jump Coreward. Jyren was currently laying down on the bed, resting his head in her lap as she sat up and idly ran a hand through his hair.    The question, coming from Shadow of all people, surprised him enough that it took him a moment to respond, “I will be.”    She idly nodded to herself, looking back up and over at the closed door across the room. It was a miracle they hadn’t been assaulted by Tobias yet. Which brought up another thought...    “You have a son...?” Shadow asked in another soft voice, this time grinning slightly as she glanced down to see his face.    Jyren’s face went a little red and he mumbled under his breath, “It just...came out...”    That only made her grin grow more and she poked the side of his head not-too-gently, “This is at least the second time you’ve claimed him, so you’re stuck now.”    “Hey, now,” Jyren was just getting redder, but was doing his best not to show it...which, of course, made it worse. Reaching up, he pointed a finger at her, “You’re stuck, too.”    “Ahhh, but that’s the beauty of it,” Shadow grabbed his finger and then turned it around to poke him again with it, “You didn’t say ‘we’. So actually, I’m off the hook on this one.”    The look of sheer panic that shot across both Jyren’s face and the link was worth every second, and something that Shadow made sure to never, ever forget. At the same time, he tried to sit up but that took more effort than he’d expected and by the time Jyren was upright and looking her in the eye, Shadow was laughing. This just through Jyren off even more, and he opened and closed his mouth at least five times before any words finally escaped, “You know what I meant!”    Shadow just laughed more and shook her head, “No idea!”    “This isn’t funny!” by now, he was almost whimpering.    “Awww...” Shadow calmed the laughing into quiet giggling for a bit before leaning over and whispering, “Don’t want anyone to know you actually like the little brat, eh?”    “You’re one to talk!” Jyren grumbled, a little too loud for her since she’d moved in so close. He then reached over and got his own revenged by poking her nose, “You always yelled about hating him and then the first thing you say when I suggest bringing him along is ‘Fine.” You didn’t even put up a hint of a fight! Not even a word!”    Ignoring the slight pain in her ear from his loud voice, Shadow grinned, laughed again, and shook her head, “I was just being nice. You needed an equal around to feel good and I didn’t want to say anything.”    “I needed an equal?!” Jyren first sounded hurt, but then a very Shadow-like grin appeared on his face, “Well, dear, I’m glad you think of me as being so much smarter than you.”    “Smarter?!” Shadow laughed and thumped his skull, “Hear that, Jedi boy? Hollow! I just keep you around for your good looks.”    “And my cunning wit,” he said proudly.    Of course, Shadow rolled her eyes, “You can’t call it cunning when the comments are a good minute late, dear. That’s what we call slow.”    “Slow...?” the grin began to return to Jyren’s expression and he sat back a bit.    Shadow shrugged, “Slow is a bit polite, really. Just don’t want to hurt your fee—mmph...mmm...”    Jyren had taken the opportunity to cheat and shut her up with a kiss. It was really amazing just how well that seemed to work. Even the link went blank every single time. Of course, the weakness went both ways, but neither of them ever would admit that openly...well, not with Loki listening, at least.    When he pulled back from the kiss, Shadow idly leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder. He made a surprisingly good pillow. A few more long, quiet minutes passed with the two of them just sitting there, but quiet was obviously overrated. To both of their surprise, though, it wasn’t Tobias that ruined the silence...but Jyren.    “So what do we do with...Jen...?” the words were a completely different tone that before, quiet and obviously hurt, but a necessary question.    It was also something that Shadow had thought about. Not moving, she simply talked into his neck and figured he’d listen carefully if he really wanted to know, “I had Loki take us to the Mid Rim. Should take us a half standard day to get there...but I know a good place for her.”    “Going to tell me?” Jyren asked, idly starting to rub Shadow’s back...almost trying to find a way to get a straight answer out of her, even if he had to ‘cheat’ more.    He felt her head move on his shoulder in what had to have been a ‘no’, “I was the one who trained her, Jyren...let me do this.”    “From the sound of it...I’m not going with you,” Jyren mumbled, suddenly becoming worried about what exactly she was planning and why he wasn’t involved...especially when it was Jen.    This time, Shadow did sit up to look him in the eyes, “I want you to do something else.”    “For you?”    Shadow shook her head...then stopped, and shrugged, “For all of us.”    For a moment, Jyren almost thought he had an idea of what she meant. When he latched onto the...the distant something in the link, Shadow actually nodded again and said, “There’s something you’ve been putting off for a good five years now. If we are going to make this work between us...if you really mean what you said about Tobias...you need to go and do it.”    There was a silence between them for a very long time before Jyren finally nodded. He did know exactly what she meant. In fact, Jyren had been surprised it had taken her this long to really push him into a position where he would have to go through with it. As he nodded, he drew her into another strong embrace and said quietly into her ear, “I will. One question, though...if you’re going somewhere else, where can I meet you afterwards?”    Shadow returned the embrace and let out a sigh. It was another thing she’d given a great deal of thought to. Something she hadn’t even really decided on until that moment. Then, almost too quietly to be heard, Shadow answered, “Back at the Gateway to Home.”</blockquote>

Verification