Alone

He wasn’t sure how long he lay curled around Ignita, her softness and scent surrounding him. Keeping that cloud of loneliness at bay. The day crept into that little painting den. The early creeping reach of the morning. Reminding him that his duties didn't stop, life didn’t come grinding to a halt just because his heart was broken. He had to remind himself that he had done this. This was the choice he had made. He stretched slowly, looking down at Ignita who had remained in his arms the entire night.

He had wanted this for so long, the freedom to hold her from dusk till dawn. The price was a heavy thing. He pressed a kiss between her eyes and carefully disengaged himself from her arms as carefully as he could. He hesitated just as he pulled away. Tempted to curl back up with her, to hold her in his arms. To cherish this moment that had to mean something. But he turned away instead, barking a soft order to his reindeer before he left to start his first round of morning jobs. Wondering if she would still be asleep when he returned to her. Meanwhile, his reindeer would return to the den and lay a soft pelt across her body.


"Speech"