The Quiet Ever After

The Association's Notice - 7

Everyone reunited far enough away from Lord Carthinox that the fox wasn't going to give them attitude. Dave and Lindsay wrapped their baby in a warm hug while Isaac scrambled to Axel and held tight to his leg, not wanting to let go even as Axel strode over to Nina. Ryan hung back, observing.

"The chipmunks dropped by earlier," Nina said. "Guess they got run out of town, too."

"Probably best if they all lay low here for a few days," Axel said. He smiled at the others. "I'm sorry, guys. No late-night visits for a bit until this blows over. We'll figure out a way to bring you guys some food."

"I'll do it," Ryan said, raising his hand. "I don't mind, I've been putting together little meals for them, anyway."

"You have?" Nina asked. "You?"

"Ryan," Axel said, taking a hopeful stab in the dark, "that work you do...what exactly is it?"

Nina leaned against the tree she stood next to while Bethany rolled over, bored. The chipmunks gathered in a small circle.

Even under the shade of the trees with changing leaves, Ryan could not hide his blush or his exasperated expression.

"It's not entirely a job," Ryan said, "more like a hobby. I do conservation work."

"Where?"

"Oh, goddamnit. I do it here, Axel, alright? What the hell do you want from me, a heartfelt confession? Yes, I watch the forest here, I tend to some of the unhealthy trees, I clear paths for the animals, and I watch to ensure they're safe. I keep an eye on the fox to make sure nothing is coming in or out of the portal beca—." Ryan balled his fists. As it turned out, a heartfelt confession was inevitable. "Because if there's one thing I can do it's to make sure nobody ends up like me. Sucked into the Starlit Plane and given all that power at the cost of their life."

There weren't tears coming out of Ryan's face, but the way that his shoulders sagged, the way that he softened...even Axel could feel an equivalent weight alleviating.

A whispering wind danced through the fallen leaves to scatter them about the forest, blowing them through thinning tree branches and over skinny bushes. The shudder gave way to a rustle as if the forest spoke on Ryan's behalf.

"That's very kind of you," Axel said.

"It's the only way I figured I could stay out of the way and give back," Ryan said. "Of course, you two had to come along and beat me to the punch. Guess I should also thank you for watching the animals when I can't when they want to get away for a moment."

"Because of Melinda, the HOA, all of them," Nina muttered.

Axel stooped down and picked up Isaac, then handed him to Nina, who didn't mind that one bit. Axel squared his shoulders and approached Ryan, who didn't shrink or back down from Axel in the slightest.

"I get why you didn't want to bother with them before," Axel said. "You're not scared of them, you're just..."

"Oh, come on, don't start with this whole thing," Ryan said. He gave Axel a hard eye-roll.

"Ryan your voice might've been silenced for a second but we can't give up, not when more than just some decorations are at stake. Think about what they were willing to do to this family and what they'll keep doing unless we raise our voice against them."

"Nobody wants to listen to me, or you," Ryan said.

"They will if we speak together," Axel said. Nina stepped up next to Axel. "All of us. Do you realize what we've been able to accomplish? What we had to sacrifice to get here was immense, heartbreaking, and unfair. But we're here. We made it. We can keep our dreams alive and live in the peace we all fought for.