Indigo (NaNoWriMo13)

Epilogue - It's the Little Moments

Shifthira picture by FallenMidnightAngel <3 

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Epilogue - It's the Little Moments

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Shift spread himself over the couch in Indigo's common room, finding bliss in the nothing. 

I still preferred the old one, he thought, sinking into the cushions like he'd never left. But this'll do. It just needs a little wearing in. 

The Elites had paid for a full refurnishing of any room the Wardens had trashed, along with their full explanation of the Rathe situation and Zoe's involvement. Nothing was new to Indigo, but they'd nodded along with the appropriate actions anyway at Zoe's suggestion. The Elites had tied it up with a neat little 'We believed Zoe to be in danger' at the end but at that point, Shift was pretty sure no one was buying the sympathy act. 

Shift lifted his head at the sound of the door opening to find Athira stepping through, using the correct method of door opening for possibly the first time in her life. Her indigo cloak was nowhere to be seen, and she was instead dressed in what Shift strongly suspected were Zoe's jeans and grey singlet. 

Athira didn't see him, heading away from the couch towards the kitchen. 

Shift waited until she was nearly at the door before he vaulted over the couch and attempted to ambush her. He got close enough to touch her, wrapping his arms around her stomach and pulling her back towards him. 

"Got you!" he said, resting his chin on her shoulder. 

Athira continued to look straight ahead, a smile tilting her lips. "Oh, did you now?" 

It was then that Shift saw the black colour at her hands and realised all too late that there was a book above his head as Athira dropped it. 

"Ow," he said, scrunching his nose. 

Her shoulders shook with amusement. "You're still too heavy, I can hear you moving a mile away."

"Oh yea?" said Shift, picking her up despite her protest. "Well, I'll get you one day. Statistics say I have to." 

"Statistics don't take you into account," said Athira dryly. 

Shift caught sight of something glinting in her hands and pinched the familiar shape between his fingers. 

"Where'd you get your amulet from?" asked Shift. "Is Talon back in there?" 

"He's still in my mindscape," said Athira, taking it back with a raised eyebrow. "And as for the amulet, Nobody stopped by with Tracker last night and gave it to me. Apparently Reader likes regifting. Says it might be useful if we end up binding Talon to the black colour."

"Mysterious as ever." 

Athira went silent in thought, her fingers running over the metal surface of the bird engraving. 

Shift spun her around to face him. "What's bothering you?" 

"Talia left Indigo because of me, didn't she?" said Athira, sucking her lip unhappily. 

"Well, technically she hasn't left, she's just taking some personal time--" began Shift. 

"I think we all know what that means," said Athira, staring at him. "If I'm staying here, she's not. I ruined your team." 

"I'm fairly certain that if you hadn't come along, this team wouldn't be anything but scraps now," argued Shift. "The Elites would have taken Zoe and honestly, she's the heart of this team. It wouldn't have been Indigo without her, not to mention the Wardens probably would have got her killed in the process or ruined her colour entirely."