Gloucester

They awaken in each other's arms, silent affectionate mewling rubbing faces and gentle paws to the small of my back.

Slowly warmth feels into their sightless hands, holding to tiredness and after moments getting out of bed, stretching out.

They sit down close together, reading books that Ribbon found. The pictures are so quiet, words in large typeface. Ribbon sets his paw along the page, soft paper and its words.

And they doze together, Leviathan with his arm draped over Ribbon's chest and book splayed on the floor. They dream playing together, fingers sparking and tired eyes lapsing out before the fire.

They stand before the ice caves, far to the north. Its walls are thick and blue, carved into this glacier. The passages twist, fork and merge, creeping farther from the light. Less and less can make it through the thick cold, dimming into darkness.

Drops lap down icicles, falling into water. They stand before an open chamber, the light a low greyness. Ripples flit across the surface, and black stones brood silently, resting in the sand.

In his sleep Leviathan holds to Ribbon's hand, stretching cleaving close and purring quietly.

Walking slowly with a paw before them, they explore these hallways together. A drop falls into water somewhere far behind them.

Ribbon wakes alone, sitting in the snow.

The smell of pine awakens him, strong and seeping in. Snow piled on his shoulders, shaking. Staring upwards still, making no sound as black stars above.

He walks, searching. His eyes flit between the slats of trees as the wood thickens about him. The snow, with greater fever, falls into his eyes, stumbling blindly as he runs through the wood.

Panting as fast as he can, stumbling and pushing himself from a trunk. His heart, like thumping, beats hard against his chest. He falls through the air, tense, blindly feeling out before him.

And heaving, slowly setting up upon his knees. His hand is bleeding, leaning forward and holding it to his chest. Cradling, ears almost to the snow, heaving, Ribbon makes no sound. Snow piles on his back, quiet.

Walking home, the open glade before him alights with blackness. Small stems poke from the snow, creeping through the air. In his wake they blossom, black petals slowly unfurling. They lean into him, brushing at his feet, drinking the spots of red he leaves behind.

Leviathan stirs on his chest, slipping up to Ribbon's shoulder, muzzle gently resting on his neck. The fire warms them as a tongue without teeth, its husky crackling heat lazy in its place.

Another drop from deep within. They close their eyes to darkness, walking with their hands against the wall. Leviathan keeps checking behind him, eyes closed, breathing deep cold air.

He awakens from a deep slumber, tired, and all around him water. It courses around him black, and stones dig into his skin. His underbelly, rough, sore, rests in sand that clouds about him as he struggles, beating his head against a roof of glass.

The water laughs at him with a sound like shaking newspaper, building waves crashing upon a shore.

He awakens, blind new eyes straining in the light. Laying here he stares into the stars and Ribbon helps him from the snow. They step through a field of broken glass, gentle limping steps on unsure legs.

He checks behind him, eyes on the nape of his neck. They stand on the border of his vision, in the shade of pine trees. Their laughing is just inaudible, just beyond his ears. He watches, eyes wide, scanning the horizon.

And the earth begins to shake. Within the ice Leviathan moans, frothing beating himself against the sheet. They touch him, hold him close, wholly cleaving to his form. They devour him, slipping their fingers between his scales and covering his eyes. Alone he roils in himself, cresting underwater waves and toss-turning on the lakebed. They dig into his skin, moaning teeth frustrated, crooked black and spiteful.

He stirs in sleep, kicking his legs agitated. Ribbon yawns awake, tiredly holding Leviathan close and rubbing gently at his ears.

He walks through the darkened tunnels of the house, holding Ribbon's hand so tightly in his paw. Hands he cannot see seep from the walls and pass unfeeling through him.

A drop slips through the air somewhere, alighting far behind them.

Light flits in softly, a low hum.

We open up upon a chamber filled with glass. The snow glistens in the faint light sparkling. Empty crates sit in piles about the room, tossed with jagged splinters and bottles pouring from their mouths. Broken bottles jut as figureheads from the ice.

In its centre an upright piano sits alone under a sheet. They sit and play d minor scales, breathing pace together.

The night opens about them, gentle snow and black stars like shining.

They breathe together, staring at the stars. The sky is mackled with them; more now than before, larger, glowing brighter. They pulse, shaking in the sky, Rorschach tendrils blotting out the light.

And Ribbon begins to hyperventilate. They laugh at him, standing alone in a field of black flowers. He tries to lock the door but it will not shut, ghostly hands holding it agape.

The house begins to fall about him, wood sprawling out under a blanket of snow. Laying down his heart is open here, shaking tense. They laugh at him, with a sound like old staircases, tearing at the seams. He gets up from the snow.

Running through the forest, pushing himself forward against tree trunks. He stands before an open door that's lined with teeth, a red stairway to its belly. It gnashes in his face and salivation lines the plaster walls.

He gets up from the snow, running through a field. Drops fall somewhere far behind him, crashing like waves on a shore. He falls into this place, laying in the snow, running down the side of an elevator shaft.

He wakes up, panting. Leviathan sleeps curled upon his chest, kissing gently in his sleep. Blackness overtakes him, setting up and standing by the fire. Leviathan hates you.

He holds his arms and shivering. I am standing right behind you.

He can feel breathing, cleaving to the nape of his neck. Whispers light his ears, so far away from him.

Run.