Amelie woke to the sensation of Notum canons going off in her head. A low thudding with occasional bursts made worse by the music from down the hall and the snoring of the man beside her. She pressed her palms into her eyes willing the hangover away. With a low groan of pain she untangled herself from the bed and stepped onto a cold stone floor. Looking over the empty Sake bottles she picked up a half full Whiskey and took a good swing of the booze. It burned down her parched throat doing nothing to clear her head.
She had come here last night looking for trouble, which was never hard to come by in a clan bar. It soon showed up in the Kevlar-clad form of the currently snoring enforcer. She looked over the sleeping atrox trying to remember his name, not that is made much difference. She'd probably been too drunk to ask or to care. Everything in-between the usual Clan-Omni exchange of insults and a rapid move to one of the little rooms at the back of the Happy Rebel was an alcohol-induced blur to her. She chuckled, taking one more swing of the booze, before collecting her armor and heading out the door.
"Not good Amelie, not good at all" she chided herself, "this won't solve anything."
Tir was empty this early in the morning and she scowled at the too-bright light as she stumbled to the grid. The rather ditzy guard that always stood by the Rebel, as usual, didn't react until Amelie was already entering the terminal. Her world swirled into an inverted blue with the guards fading shouts of how she "should not have come here..."
"Yeah, I know that already." she mumbled in response to the guard, "There is a lot I should not do but end up in the same place every night."
Amelie continued on quickly making her way through the grid and into to the Coast of Peace. She flew to the large moss-covered stone by the beach and gazed down into the tidal pools. The crisp salt air was clearing her head better than any nano program she could have run.
"There is only one who matters sugar – and you are currently driving her into the ground." She whispered to the reflection in the tidal pool.
A tired face looked back, and it did not really believe the line she was feeding it. With a light sight Amelie rolled onto her back letting her head hang off the edge of the boulder. She stared at the inverted ocean and cloudless sky spreading across the horizon.
She hated being this way; she hated how she treated him and how he made her feel. Happiness seemed like a betrayal to Asher’s memory, she wasn’t supposed to laugh or smile but with him she always somehow did. She knew the past year of her life was driven by a pattern of misery. She couldn’t admit it to anyone and no amount of alcohol or one-night stands had ever dulled the hollow feeling. Last nights activities had different roots, but the pattern was the same. The same self-destructive push and pull she threw herself into every time she actually felt something for someone living.
"You can't live for the dead and drive everyone away from you" came the unwanted voice from memory.
Her hand made its way to the thigh-pocket on her armor letting her fingers cares the small object she always kept there. She finally pulled out the ring and gazed through it at her upside down world. This time though, that cold feeling did not rise up to choke her, only a small tinge of old joys and the sensation of a single tear rolling down her face. She slowly moved back on to her stomach and gazed at the wedding band in her hand. Spreading her fingers she let it tumble down into the slowly lapping waves and watched at is sunk with a final golden sparkle.
“Sleep well Asher,” she whispered one last time before walking back to the city.
((Figured it is time I start writing down Dooki's story, I’ll add more as time and brainpower allows. Started the first one with her “now” and will jump through present/past as needed to fill out the tale. Feel free to comment and criticize.))
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