The sky was dark, but this year the streets were less empty than in previous LongNights. Lanterns lit the black, bobbing along here and there as people ventured out to visit friends and family thanks to the protection of the Dome and the post-Voice, post-War (post-monster?) peace that had descended upon Caido.
Tal slipped like a shadow through the dark, needing no light while he wore his Goggles. He wasn't really feeling like talking to his neighbors or being recognized as he made his way through the snowy streets to a house he'd first visited ... was it three years back, already? It hardly seemed possible, but the previous year of rebuilding had come and gone in a blink. He barely remembered what they'd talked about last LongNight (though the bottle of extremely high-proof vodka might have had something to do with that).
One had been a whim. Twice had been the start of a habit. This year made three times, and something like a tradition. The one night a year it wasn't weird to let his hackles down and just talk with someone his own age.
He knocked lightly at the door of Sah's house with his free hand - the equally traditional vodka bottle in the other - while Boreal leaned against his hip and grumbled happily at getting to see Lily and Pad again.
Tal slipped like a shadow through the dark, needing no light while he wore his Goggles. He wasn't really feeling like talking to his neighbors or being recognized as he made his way through the snowy streets to a house he'd first visited ... was it three years back, already? It hardly seemed possible, but the previous year of rebuilding had come and gone in a blink. He barely remembered what they'd talked about last LongNight (though the bottle of extremely high-proof vodka might have had something to do with that).
One had been a whim. Twice had been the start of a habit. This year made three times, and something like a tradition. The one night a year it wasn't weird to let his hackles down and just talk with someone his own age.
He knocked lightly at the door of Sah's house with his free hand - the equally traditional vodka bottle in the other - while Boreal leaned against his hip and grumbled happily at getting to see Lily and Pad again.
