Home: Iris and Manning
It had been growing. Maybe since attending the hunt, maybe since hearing the horns on the air, maybe since Christmas or before. But there was a new sort of feeling that was growing in Iris that she couldn't ignore. It was one that nearly convinced her that she'd been on a hunt before, and would do it again and again. It was a feeling that had her looking at Manning with a different intensity (familiarity?) than usual. It was a feeling that made her seem somehow larger than her own skin could contain. And it was one that had her thinking of things that in the past would have had her running away and back to safety.
It was what had made her ask about the one thing that she usually never mentioned. It was more than enough that she had Manning in her life and that they had their children and their home. She still found it hard to believe that they - that she - had that much. Several years ago, the thought of it would have been unthinkable. But unthinkable had become her reality, and it was accompanied by even more. Repose had brought monsters and gods and the strange to life - how could a happy life be considered unthinkable compared to the rest of it?
And beyond that, she wanted him. Her Christmas wish had been about happiness and letting go when the time came, but it seemed to only strengthen her heart in its desire of him. He filled a place in her life; not behind her or in front of her, but at her side. And she wanted the world to know and see. She wanted to mark it and celebrate it. She wanted, greedily, to keep it. There was a pressure building in her - not a voice or a presence, but something different and new - that pushed her toward what she wanted. At least when what she wanted was him.
Even with that greed and certainty, she still paced the house as she waited for him to arrive home. The dogs watched her with their wide eyes, sentinels of a sort, but they stayed in place, as if they could sense her high emotions spilling out into the room. Their ears pricked at the familiar rumble of approaching truck, and Iris turned at the slam of heavy truck door and softer sound of the wooden one of the house. She waited to see him, feeling like the moment was something beyond important.