There were faint sounds of stirring in the loft on the top of the stairs. That was usually her warning that Nick was about to arise for the evening. If it was still any daylight left, it gave her time enough to close the windows so she didn't end up charbroiling her reluctant roommate. If it was already dark, as it was now, it gave her time enough to open the remaining window for the evening, and that was what she did.
If Urs looked any more pleased, she would say the woman was squirming like an excitable puppy. It was utterly adorable, though, so she bit her tongue. This was fairly important news, and honestly, she wasn't too far from doing the same. Today marked the first day that Urs had been able to move so far from the elevator she had been killed in, and it was cause for celebration, as she figured it. How they were going to celebrate was another matter altogether, but she would come up with something. She was getting pretty talented at improvising in the last year or so, however long it had been since she died.
And honestly, if anything was ever going to cheer Nick up some, it was going to be seeing this. This was a huge step forward, for all of them, she thought, now that Urs was out of the elevator that had been her prison for a year.
A lot about this whole ghost business made no sense to her. She had yet to figure out why she had been unable to move on, other than the feeling of betrayal and general lack of trust - and perhaps even foolishness - that came from Nick not sharing his secret with her, from her never guessing it even with knowing Vachon. She had seen Natalie move on, but that had left her with more questions than answers. And it wasn't like she - in any way - felt like trying to kill anyone, the way Susan Feldman's ghost had tried so hard to kill her.
Honestly, the whole thing seemed like something out of some cheesy 80s movie, minus the love affair plot line and Whoopi Goldberg. She was pretty sure that had been nipped in the bud. Whatever Lacroix had done to make her think Vachon had moved on had disappeared with her death. She remembered holding the stake as Vachon rushed her. She remembered how mad he had sounded, the words he had said, the claw marks on his face. Urs bore similar marks and had spoken of a little girl vampire who had murdered her.
A small and very petty part of her was distinctly happy not to show any signs of the gunshot that had ended her own life. She was likewise glad that she had managed to avoid said little girl. Listening to the three vampires (or two vampires and the ghost of a third vampire) talk, she gathered the little girl had only gone after vampires, had even been behind the corpse she and Nick had investigated at the Raven. She had made a point of sitting down and shutting up and listening when it came to the other vampires out there now; she was learning a whole lot more than she had in a year hanging around with Vachon and Screed. She understood much better now the need for vampires to move on, to leave a city in their dust and not look back. There was, after all, only so many mortal and immortal friends dying that one could survive.
Lacroix had been pushing for them to leave for months now. With Urs' marked progression tonight, it was only a matter of time now before they put Toronto to their backs. Personally, though, she had a couple of loose ends she wanted to tidy up before they were rid of Toronto, because it wasn't like she had the option of leaving Nick now. Even if she managed to tidy up all her loose ends, she wasn't going to be moving on just yet: she had at least one seriously ongoing project to complete, and that was Operation: Cheer Up, Nick, You Sad Bastard. So the name needed a little work. Like the operation itself, the title was still a work in progress.
They would be leaving Toronto soon, she figured, but there were two things she wanted to do first. Well, actually, it was more one thing with two steps, truth be told. She wanted to go by Screed's place and make sure he wasn't still around like Urs had been. For all of his weird ways, the rat-eating English vampire had grown on her... rather like a fungus, which probably wasn't surprising given the state of the place he had lived in. But the other step was going to be harder. She wanted to go by the church. If Vachon's ghost was still there, she was going to find some way to drag him along with them. If he wasn't, then she was going to say goodbye and get with the moving on.
A faint noise at the top of the stairs turned her attention back up there. She didn't even bother trying to hide the huge grin threatening to split her face open as she presented Urs, gameshow girl-style, at Nick with a cheerful "Surprise!"
08 January 2014
I have a confession to make. This... isn't my first story written in 2014. I have another Forever Knight story that I've finished a prologue for. However, I'm cowriting it with Katsuko and will not be uploading it until she has written her part of the prologue. I would hate to leave you guys halfway through the middle of a chapter after all.
See? This is what happens. I get into rare pairings and can't find enough stories for them... and I start writing stories. It's Yu-Gi-Oh and Yami Bakura/Kaiba Seto all over again.
As always, if you're reading, leave me a note or something saying so. Reviews are fantastic. PMs are love.
(And I will be working on Yu-Gi-Oh stories before long. I have both of the ongoing ones open on my laptop, so all I need are words to start coming.)
Love you guys!
Apollymi