A/N: So is Nina crossed with Alexander a girl or a boy now? Hmm… I'm using both pronouns since I don't think the dog part is too interested in that, and the girl part isn't too concerned right now. :D
For Nina
II. Sway
The world was dull and out of focus, swaying to and fro as though it had lost all sense of balance. There was only one colour to be seen: red – splashes of red that made her/his stomach clench and her/his heart cry out.
It also made her/his feet move towards those splashes, until the overwhelming familiar and warm smell overtook her/him and she/he went closer still. Her/his nose rubbed against the fabric – coarse, and yet somehow soft as well. Words bubbled in her/his throat, feeling so strange, so scratching, and yet at the same time so normal.
That hand reaching for her was the same. It looked scary, but also tender and friendly and she/he wanted it to pet her/him until all her/his hair/fur sat smooth on her/his back.
But there were also other smells, and they confused her/him. Something that made him shy away from that other man – the man with the scary face that made her/his heart scream. That made her/him cringe away from the white dust on the floor – the dust that tickled her/his nose and made him want to sneeze as well.
But then that hand was touching her/him, was in her/his hair/fur, smoothing it, and her/his eyelids drooped as a tinging comfort spread through her/his body. Rain fell on her/him and she/he trembled, legs shaking unsteadily and face swaying like a droopy pendulum. Her/his jaw still clutched that cloth in her/his mouth, though now it had torn a little in her/his trembling.
And then there was a tinging too, something that pushed past the strange – almost sick – feeling and made her/him lift her/his head up, staring at the monochromatic face. Those words held no meaning for her/him…and yet, it felt as though they were very important to her/him. And so she/he said them, forced them out even though it felt as though she/he was shoving all the air from her/his stomach out. But the words came out, making her/his ears twitch.
She/he thought she/he remembered somebody else saying them. And somebody else did say them thereafter – a different somebody who sounded as familiar as the red person, except without the familiar smell. His hands came faster than the other's gentle touch – but she/he thought she/he remembered this touch as well, and did not shy away. But those hands weren't reaching for her/him, but for the red person, pulling him away.
A disappointed whine erupted from her/his throat, before that was overcome by the tingling growing ever stronger and her/his vision being blotted with white.