aoiremart:

He heard a sound.

It rang right through his mind, sharp as a knife and equally painful, but lasted just for a moment, too brief for him to correctly process it.

The sound left an unpleasant sensation in him, one Jack could, oddly enough, perceive with more than just his hearing.

It was in his mouth, sour and unpalatable.

It was in his paws, a tingle that made his fingers twitch unconsciously.

And… it was in his eyes, a picture which refused to come into focus for at least two full seconds. “What…”, he murmured, as the shimmering feeling vibrating in his whole essence slowly poured into wary, almost unsteady words, “What are you doing here, Walker?”

Cynthia was looking at him, not making a sound nor moving a single inch of her soft, beautiful body as she stood next to the window. The distances between them felt nullified by the way her amber eyes were focusing on him, piercing through his figure like pointy darts.

He felt nullified, and only pride prevented him from beating a retreat.

That, and the fact he was in his own office. “I believe I asked you a question”, he inquired, trying to sound firmer. “I would appreciate…”.

“I don’t care what you appreciate”. She suddenly spoke, with a voice that Jack had never heard coming from her; it filled the air around them, saturated every inch of him with subtle, mute anger. “We need to talk, Savage.”

“Not now, I’m afraid. I have a plane leaving for Mosca in four hours”, was his dry reply as he moved towards the desk, every single one of his steps feeling as heavy as ever. He dared not make eye contact with her a second time – the first had caught him unprepared and been enough to give him the shivers. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

“I’m not planning to make this conversation last for that long”. Jack felt her glare all over his body and soul as she pronounced those bitter words. “But I’m also not planning to let you get away from this.”

“I believe you’re mistaking something, Walker. There’s nothing I’m getting away from in the first place.”

“Is that so?” Cynthia asked, but it sounded like an accusation, more than an actual question. “I beg to differ, Mr. Savage.”

“Beg all you want, but it won’t change the facts”. He now was in front of his desk, trying to remember what item he was supposed to pick from the drawer.

But it was hard, because his thoughts kept squirming out of his control every time he tried to focus on something that wasn’t Cynthia Walker’s existence.

Cynthia Walker, in his office.

Cynthia Walker, armed – maybe literally – with anything but good intentions.

And he knew why, but chose to confine that awareness in the deepest recesses of his heart as Cynthia retorted sharply: “You just can’t live without that condescension of yours, right?” A hint of frustration painted that question in rhetoric, a rhetoric that scraped the hare’s ears, making something inside of him bleed. “You’ve always been like this: Haughty… full of yourself, and insensitive.”

“… Is that why you’re here, Walker?” Jack asked, as the first sliver of his heart pitifully crumbled under the blows of her verbal aggression, “To insult me?”

Continua a leggere

aoiremart:

She was afraid.

I could tell, because the air was filled with a strange vibrancy. Because, as the world around us was screaming, her amber eyes were just fixed on me as if I was the only living thing left on this planet.
Her fur was as spiky as the pine needles, her body tense as if she was about to jump on me, or jump away from me. She probably didn’t know herself what she was supposed to do.
Neither I did, to be honest.

Before I even realized, I was on my knees, one paw still on my gun and the other outstretched toward her trembling body. When she saw me doing that, she growled a bit. I should have been scared, because I was a hare and she was a vixen… yet, I wasn’t.

My mind was full of questions: “Who are you?”, “Are you okay?” were the more important, the more compelling, but even them couldn’t come out from my mouth. I was speechless.

That’s why I smiled; reached again her slender figure with my paw and smiled, as if it was the only thing which could connect the two of us. I’ve never been used to smile, but that’s exactly what I did. At least, what I tried to do.

And then, just then, she spoke with a low, uncertain voice. “Are you my enemy?”

“I’m not” I replied. “What about you?”

“…” The vixen, who had been on all fours up until that moment, got up on her hind legs and stared at me. She was about my height, but since she was furrier than me, she looked bigger. Nonetheless… she was so small, in a way I couldn’t put into words. “Why should I?” she asked, eventually.

And that was it. That was everything I needed to know.

“You’re right” I said, with a smile – but this time, it was bitter and self-conscious. “Come with me; I’ll take you away from this place.”

My words were pretentious; back then, I was only vaguely aware of this fact. Yet, the strength I felt growing inside of me, the resolve which was running through my veins, the simple desire to do the right thing at the right moment… all of these feelings converged into one, single emotion, and in a blink of an eye my gun had flew away, and both my arms were stretched in front of her. “Come with me”, I repeated.

It wasn’t an order, but it wasn’t an invitation either.

It was a promise.

___________________________________

This is a very important moment in the BJ timeline, as it describes Jack and Cynthia’s first meeting, in not-so-easy circumstances for both of them. I wish I was confident enough to write more… maybe I will, when the sequel will be released. I hope so. 🤷

For the other stories and comics, please visit this page: AoiRemArt comics & stories!