The fall morning was painted in the sun's golden hues, the world set ablaze by the angle at which light hits shining blades of stiff straw grass during the dying part of the year. It was her time of year, the time she enjoyed best, and she leaned on the railing of her parents' porch, inhaling the smell of burning dead leaves (most likely coming from the neighbor across the street) and freshly brewed coffee (thankfully in her right paw). For a moment, she thought about waking Ben up so that he could enjoy it with her. She had no idea how Autumn looked in Scotland, but she knew how it looked in Georgia, and it was beautiful...but he'd looked so peaceful and content as he'd slumbered the early morning minutes away in the spare room. The wolf couldn't bring herself to interrupt his sleep.

Her thoughts wandered, following the lines of grass blowing in the great expanse of her family's property until the moving snakes of glistening gold lost their momentum at the edge of the treeline. It would be Thanksgiving in two days, and, while she knew the holiday itself would mean nothing to Ben other than a day off from work and perhaps a bit of an experience culture-wise, she knew that seeing countless American families enjoying time together would make him feel even more alone than he already did in a country that wasn't his. Though she was rough, Wielder suffered from a kind heart, so she had casually suggested that, if he had nothing better to do, he should make the thirty or so minute drive to her hometown to celebrate. At the very least, he'd have good food and company for a few days...and she winced at the last part and rubbed her forehead in the palm of her left hand...he'd probably find more than enough fodder for entertainment from her gentile, strange, nosy, and obnoxious old Southern family.

"At least Mom hasn't asked how long we've been dating yet even though I know she WANTS to. The answer to that question would have been "we haven't". Friends. Just friends. Well...maybe we're a little..."

"Hey, Dyke!"

Her personal search for answers to a question she dared not truly ask was derailed by a ragged, tired voice that drifted down the hill upon which her grandparents' house stood. Ears flicked forward into attention, she rose off of the railing and turned her head towards the voice. Laughing, she placed her free hand into the pocket of her red jacket. "Finally come home, have ya? The Prodigal Cousin returns," Wielder remarked in cocky inflection. "You're gonna get grounded, Shady...no matter how old ya are, Old Gramps isn't gonna be happy about this."

The collie/wolf mix flashed her tail impatiently and tossed her tangled straw-blonde hair haughtilly. "How about you shut the fuck up and come let me in the goddamn house before Gramps wakes up! They locked the fucking door last night!"

The elder wolf shook her head chidingly at her younger cousin as she trotted down the short flight of stairs and strode up the graveled hill, taking her time...much to Shady's distaste. The younger dog was already holding the doorknob that lead to the back entrance of the house expectantly as Wielder leisurely climbed the steep stairs. "Gotta take it slow," Wielder sang as Shady glared at her through sleepy red eyes. "Can't spill my coffee."

"No," Shady hissed and rolled her eyes as Wielder stood beside her on the landing...finally, "we certainly CAN'T have that. Feel free to take your time unlocking the door too. Slow as fucking Christmas." The hazel eyes attempted to stare into the golden brown of the wolf's before they regarded her with hostile snobbery. "What the hell kinda look are you going for now?" she asked, upper lip curled. "Librarian dyke?"

"Ooooooh, now I definitely think I'll take my own sweet time" Wielder chuckled to herself and her private thoughts as she leaned back against the solid railing of the back porch and sipped her coffee as though she had several lifetimes in which to finish the cup. "I guess I could go for "librarian dyke"," Wielder agreed, shrugging, before she coolly made her retort. "And what are you going for? Pop star crawling out of a garbage dumpster? Lindsay Lohan going into rehab?" Lifting her coffee cup to her lips again, she raised an eyebrow and watched with quiet delight as Shady's tricolor fur puffed up on her face and shoulder in aggravation. "You know, I find it funny that they'll give me a key to this house when I don't even live here, but they don't trust you to even be able to get home at a decent hour. Maybe if you'd start livin' your life right again they wouldn't find the need to lock you out like a puppy that piddles in tha floor."

"Like you have room to talk!" the collie mix snarled as she whirled around, hand still stubbornly clutching the doorknob. Wielder's ears flattened backwards, but she maintained an outward calm. "You haven't had a steady relationship in years, don't think they don't whisper about you either." A pregnant pause, the Fall air between them grew crisper and colder...jagged when entering Wielder's lungs. "Who's the Englishman Aunt Beck's been talkin' about?" Shady cooed, her eyes staring sharply into Wielder's face from behind eyelashes caked with mascara that had run and then hardened to black clay. "She say's he's a handsome one...not like your gay ass'll take advantage of that. Mind introducing us?"

Wielder nearly growled, but caught the angry rattle in the back of her throat. She'd had enough. Pushing herself off of the weathered old wood with her right elbow, she began to unlock the door without conversation.

"For once you don't have some smartass remark?" her younger cousin noticed, a lilt at the end of her words. "Wow...did the wolf bring home a stray? Finally hunting men again, eh?"

She sat the cup of coffee down on the first step of the porch and rose up in a controlled and smooth line of movement. "Don't want to spill my coffee," she whispered before a snarl curled her white and grey muzzle. Shady, who was now very much regretting the verbal liberties she'd taken with the bigger and older canine, had just begun to open the door when she felt her elder cousin's hand close around hers and the doorknob vicariously, pulling the door shut. "You know what the difference is between bein' single and bein' a slut is?"

Shady didn't answer.

"Discretion and a tad bit of respect." It as a bark through bared teeth. "You bring home your sad nights and unashamed sins. You practically reek of everything you did and everyone you did it with even when you walk through the door." Shady's arrogant posture faltered, and Wielder's confident posture grew in place. "Stay away from Ben. He's too damn good for you. I mean it."

Wielder unceremoniously picked up her cup of coffee and began a thoughtful trip back down the wooded hill towards her old homeplace. It was a whisper on the wind, a regretful whisper. Somehow accusatory and apologetic at the same time. A statement from a reluctant kindred spirit. "And what makes you think your friend isn't too good for you too?"

Wielder turned to Shady who had somehow approached her on silent paws. Her stare was unreadable except for the hint of blue sadness in her hazel eyes. "I know he's too good for me," the wolf relented through a forced smile that her cousin returned solemnly.

They parted ways with a nod. Neither winning nor losing. She watched her feet as they padded through the gravel, smooth as river-rocks under her paws, and the dying moss covering the roots of gnarled old oaks.

As she climbed the stairs, already placing a careful paw on the handle of the french door that would lead into the house, She turned when a flash of pale gold caught her eye.

Fall was her favorite time of year, and he seemed to become it. The wind blew his hair, the color of honey, like it raced through the tall grass that had overtaken her father's fields. His smile was warm and easy and content and lazy...everything she felt in a clear Fall morning. And his eyes, when at last he turned his head towards her, were a sparkling light blue-gray like the frost had been on the falling leaves when she'd first stepped paw into the new day. Instantly, she felt she deserved to see none of it...a perfect moment meant for someone else. Choosing not to utter a word, she offered him an almost bashful smile and began to turn the handle once more.

"Don't..." Ben coughed into his hand once she turned around, ears folded backwards like those of a timid deer. "I'd like the company if you could spare the time."

As she stood beside him, leaning over the boundary between porch and dry Fall grass, she wondered when it had happened. When had his face become one she waited to see everyday? When had he become the one she shared her mornings with?

---

If you're interested in other pieces in the Reset, series, here you go http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4569139/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5190989/

Found this sketch on my jumpdrive earlier today. Did it while I was home taking care of my dad. The drawing is based on something that happened...yeah, my cousin really did have to call me to come let her into my grandparents' house because she came home late from some guy's house. Apparently my grandparents were tired of her coming home looking like something off of the front cover of The National Enquirer. Little Cousin learned that if she wants to get into the house without anyone noticing until she wakes up that it's best not to call the key-bearer "librarian dyke".

Probably never finish this one. Like parts of it. Hate other parts of it. It was drawn in a hospital waiting room, so, eh, what can I expect? Also, it was a horrible scan, can't find the original, so forgive the mangling of Shady's ear.

Wielder and other mentioned characters are mine.