Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 88 - Saying goodbye

Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Solomon – Raven

Corrival – Pa

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Chapter 88

She knocked on the house door and a few moments later it was opened by an elderly lady. "Good afternoon, Miss," the lady said. "What can I do ya for?"

"Hello," Valkyrie said politely. "I'm here to visit my friend Militsa Gnosis."

The lady nodded and let Valkyrie in. She was guided to the living room where Militsa was sitting on the floor dangling a piece of string for a group of kittens. "Militsa, you have a friend here."

Militsa looked over and grinned broadly. "Valkyrie! I'm so happy to see you!"

Valkyrie smiled back. "Me too. I thought we'd never be done getting this mess under control."

"I've kept up to date with it. Mrs Sanders is letting me stay with her until they find a place for me in Australia. I asked to go work there," Militsa said, the string falling to the floor. The kittens looked at it and then at Militsa before coming over to sniff Valkyrie. She picked one up and put it on her lap. It immediately began playfully biting her. "I know we were talking about me living here, but after the Temple fell... I just can't stay here. But the Australian Sanctuary said they'd give me an apprenticeship."

She nodded. "It sounds like it would be good for you. I actually have more than that to tell you. Will Mrs Sanders come back?" She asked quietly. Militsa used her shadows to carefully close the door and they sat close to talk. "Nadia's parents came to talk to me a few days ago."

"Really? You mean like last time?" She asked. She already knew the other time she saw Mr Vinay.

"Yeah." She told her the highlights of the chat. "I don't know what they plan on doing but it sounds like the school's sending her back to Ireland soon anyway."

"And then what?" Militsa asked. She was sitting a little more sagged now, more into herself.

"I want to talk to her, but I don't want to make the first move," Valkyrie told her. "I know I want to try again. I know she dumped me, and she hasn't tried to contact me when she was in Ireland, but she's been sick. I don't want to just call her and it make her more sick, but I don't know if it's so bad she won't call me even if she wants to."

Militsa nodded, considering her words. "Honestly, I don't want you to talk to her," she revealed. Valkyrie looked at her. "I want you to never talk to her or think of her at all. I want you to say, 'oh, I'll come with you to Australia'. But you did say this would happen."

"I did."

"And I think you should send her a letter when she's home. Nothing fancy, nothing high pressure. She has lots of time to reply to a letter, she can wait a week and blame the postal service, it's easy for her to deal with if she is in a bad place, you know?" Militsa said, stroking a kitten that was slowly falling asleep. It purred loudly.

Valkyrie nodded and smiled at her. "Thank you."

They sat silently for a few minutes, Valkyrie getting bitten and scratched by the three cats now in her lap, enough she was bleeding a little, but she enjoyed the time sitting with Militsa again. She liked having their legs pressed together warmly as they sat. The kittens were kind of cute too. She liked how feisty they were.

"Militsa?" Valkyrie asked slowly.

"Yes?"

"If I kissed you, would that send mixed messages?"

Militsa smiled at her. "Yes. But I still want one."

Valkyrie pushed the fighting fur balls off her lap and quickly cupped Militsa's face in her hands, kissing her on the lips. The kissed slowly, savouring the moment, both of them knowing it was a sweet last. They kissed for long minutes, long enough for the kittens to get bored of them and play by the window, and good enough for Militsa to jump on Valkyrie's lap with a small moan. They stayed like that, Militsa enjoying Valkyrie's body and Valkyrie enjoying Militsa's company until they were both out of breath. Militsa laid her head on Valkyrie's shoulder.

"Nadia must be a hell of a girl," Militsa said.

"The best," Valkyrie said, breathing in Militsa's hair. It smelled more of the old lady looking after her, but she could still smell the girl under that. It was familiar now, nice in its own way. The ache for Nadia in her heart grew.

"Will you tell her about me?"

"When we talk about our relationship, I will tell her about us and what we've done. She'll understand. We aren't together right now," Valkyrie told her.

Militsa hummed against her shoulder and held her tightly. "If she doesn't want to be with you, and when you're not in love with her, would you go out to dinner with me?"

Valkyrie smiled. "If she doesn't want me and if I get over her, I promise. But make sure you don't wait for me. I'm pretty persistent."

"I know," she said and kissed her cheek. "I'm not allowed to kiss you anymore, am I?"

"I think it might harm my plans a little," Valkyrie told her.

"Yeah. Well, I hope it goes well anyway. I need to see where mama cat disappeared to," Militsa said, standing and brushing herself off. "I still haven't seen a movie, you know. You and Nadia can come to Australia when I've made some friends, and we can all go together."

Valkyrie smiled. "That's a good idea."

It was a little sad leaving Militsa because they both knew they wouldn't talk or see each other for a long while. Even more so because they both knew Militsa really liked Valkyrie and she was letting her go without a fight for a girl she thought had hurt Valkyrie past redemption, and though Valkyrie understood, she disagreed. Their promise stood, of course, Valkyrie wouldn't forget but hoped it wouldn't have to be kept. She loved Nadia with all her heart. She knew Nadia would understand her loneliness and the cold feeling of having no one to hold.

Although she might get slapped first. She was okay with that.