faithfulflame: (Rei Downcast)
火野レイ (Rei Hino) ([personal profile] faithfulflame) wrote2013-02-06 10:31 am

Ninth Prayer: A Flame Snuffed Out. [Action/Written]

First he'd missed two days worth of meetings, and now he wasn't answering calls?  That gave Rei pause, an odd tightness in the pit of her stomach.  He'd always answered calls before, and he was usually quite prompt about getting back to her if he missed a call.  Putting all that aside, she gave it another day before going to check on him.  Just in case he was brooding.  And even then, the miko was dragging her feet in dread. 

The door was unlocked, the room bare save for a few things, clearly marked.  Letters, magical tools, and a bottle of some dark brown liquid labelled as "Soul Sauce."  But no Harry.  Rei's eyes sank, her entire body wilting in the doorway.

Harry was gone.  Just...gone.

The first man she'd willingly spent time with.  The only man who'd really been there for her when she'd needed it.  Rei wrapped her arms tightly around herself, feeling the fabric he'd enchanted for her, clutching it like it was the man himself.   He was gone.  He'd promised to look out for her, been there for her, and now he was just gone.  After all they'd been through, just gone.  After Apep, and the battle with Sabriel.  After losing Usagi and dealing with those awful refugees.  He'd been there then.  He'd coached her through her argument with Ami, and helped her protect the shrine.  It just wasn't right, for him to be...gone?

She allowed herself a wan smile as she thought back to the smilodon barreling after them last November, their hide cloaks flapping in the Ice Age breeze as they ran.  That Shift had been a weird one 

But that smile faded quickly as she thought back to...Christmas Eve.

Her face tightened, eyes going flat.  She'd kissed him.  And just like Kaidou, he'd...gone.  Gone like everyone else.  She scrubbed at her lips in a sudden flash of anger that quickly faded.  It wasn't rational, she knew that, but it didn't help.  She'd felt like he was a decent man.  Someone worth even considering trustworthy.  The only good man she'd known outside of Grandpa.  And he was just gone.  As she thought about him, though, memories flooded back.  Memories that came back, clear as day.

The Soulgaze.  The memory of a man standing against all the dark, horrible things in his world, and still laughing.  A good man.  A kind man.  Despite the pits and cracks that all the supernatural horrors of the world threw at him. A ridiculous, childish, and wonderful man.  A man who was there for his friends.  A man she'd been lucky to know.

"I guess I'll never get rid of that, will I Harry?" she said with a bitter little laugh. It was a small comfort, having that.  At least that way she knew that her feelings hadn't been wrong.  He had been worth liking.  A man worth trusting.  Maybe even kissing. 

Because even gone?  He was still a good man.


Written:

[A while after the discovery, Rei sends out a written note to hide the cracks in her demeanor. ]

Hello everyone,

This is Rei Hino and I regret to inform you that Harry Dresden has returned home.  He left letters and things for his friends in his apartment.

If you would like to say a prayer for him, I will be at the Tsukino Shrine all night tonight, and much of tomorrow.  Please consider it.

[Rei can be found at the shrine for the next 3 days, meditating and offering prayers for Harry.  She'll welcome people for prayer, as well.]




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