Fic: Indian Summer

[dolevalan]

Title: Indian Summer
Fandom/original: Original/AU
Rating: PG
A/N: The prompt from rougen was "North for the winter, South for the summer." This... wasn't what I meant to write. The setting is hers, more or less.



Sometimes he wondered, whether she had conducted any affairs, while he was away. Not that he’d have had a right to complain. It was a feeble point, to say that his affairs, such as they’d been, had been work related, when in fact their marriage had always been one of convenience. Of professional safety, really, for both of them. He had no right, to wonder.

But he did, anyway.

He was most often away in the winter. There was work all year round, but winter was the time of closed doors – of shuttered windows. No one asked too many questions in the winter, which gave him opportunities the Company insisted he use. No, that wasn’t fair. He could have objected – his parents’ identity gave him some leverage, at least, if he was careful. But he’d never seen any reason to raise a fuss.

So he’d go. Sometimes for a night, a week. A fortnight. And he’d bring home presents, for her and Michalai. He bejeweled his wife instead of apologizing. For years, that was how it had been. Earrings here, a kiss there, and off again he’d go.

It was hard to know when it changed, precisely. How the change began – like seasons. A warm day here, a mild evening there. He noticed how his son’s smile looked like hers, though seen much more frequently. How he’d see her wear a set of earrings, and feel a pang at remembering when he’d given them. He had always admired her, but now…

The summers had dragged on, once. Without much work to take care of, he’d spent most of his time with his son. This summer, they’d gone to his parents’ upstate property. Riding, fishing. Getting out of the city, if only for a while. A few weeks of just the three of them.

He looked at her, and wondered what she was thinking. Was she missing someone in particular? Or was she, like him, looking at their son and wondering how they could have produced such a brilliant, vibrant little boy. Did her thoughts stray to the life she might have had, if only...?

One day, it was summer. And he realized that this was what he wanted. This… unexpected life. His son … his wife. And they were his by right.

But come winter, the work would pick up again. And he couldn’t help but ask himself… did she reach for someone else, to keep her warm? And could he blame her, if she did?

In his mind, he cursed the first leaves of autumn. But he could take some small comfort in knowing that, eventually, spring would come again.

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[rougen.livejournal.com]

*dies a little* That was... yeah.