The Cypher’s Kiss: A Choice Based Short Story
By Cathleen Rootsaert
BREAK-UP
Saying good-bye to someone you care about is also a new experience. After everything that happened in the Enclave with Yarrow, you know that this is the right choice. That doesn't make it any less painful.
Your world slowly becomes darker than it has ever been. You know that somewhere nearby is a person that loves you. That understands you. The longing is brutal, and the loneliness is like death.
For Ammien it seems different. They don't appear upset at all. They can be seen with loud groups in the bar, playing cards in the courtyard, laughing at the Bard's performances.
Watching Ammien is unbearable... not watching is worse.
But gradually things improve, until one day you recognize that the world seems lighter. Just a little. You open the curtains. You open the shutters. You sweep the floor and take a bath. It’s not much, but enough. Even Freelancer Rythe says you smell good for a change
Ammien, on the other hand, has found love again. An engineer. They met at one of the Bard's recitations and go everywhere together. Their joy is obvious and contagious and yet, it seems to your jealous mind, maybe also desperate.
Does it hurt you? Yes. Very much. But now that the darkness is lifting you feel that it's going to be okay, even if love never comes for you again. You dive into your work. You are a Freelancer, and that's not nothing. Not by a long shot.
Late one night, there's a knock at your door. It's Ammien, with tear-filled eyes. If it's possible for a heart to drop and leap at the same time, that's what happens. Foreboding mixed with joy.
You listen, almost shivering, as Ammien describes their heartbreak and pours out words of love for you. Excitement and fear and longing explode from your heart and ripple through your chest.
The road to being okay again has been so hard, so long... but it would be a lie to say you didn't still care. You talk all night and as dawn breaks, Ammien finally falls asleep in the crook of your arm while you stare at the ceiling, deciding what to do next.