The chill of the cold, November atmosphere was no shock to the arctic sailors as they returned to port in Salem. They walked silently to the seemingly abandoned El Diablo that waited in a slow going garage on the eastern city limits. Walking no longer phased them either. It was easy after they climbed mountains of icebergs and Rocky little islands. The flat scape of the city left them feeling energized rather than exhausted. But perhaps the reason was really who waited just a few hours away. The walk remained silent, simply because sometimes that's normal. Sometimes speaking might just not be necessary. Not with the closest person in your world. You'd heard all the stories. You knew every punchline. That wasn't a bad thing. It was simply a quiet moment within hours of rigorous laughter and teasing between two salty twin hounds that simply had wounds the other was not allowed to lick.
It could wait.
The engine roared softly, sputtering just a little.
"Damn it, I told the kid to run it once every few days."
"Is it alright?" Ford wondered.
"Yeah," nodded Stan, "Just a bit rusty, huh, Kit?"
Ford laughed softly, not antagonizing, just simply humored.
"What's so funny?"
"I've heard Baby Girl, Darling, Babe, but Kitten? That one is different."
Stan blushed with, not embarrassment, but tears. He breathed deep.
"Stanley?! What did I say that hurt you?"
"I only loved one woman all my life, and we never even married."
"Stan..." Ford whispered gently. But the younger was shocked by lick on his wound.
"Rose was from New York, living as a waitress in South Carolina after running from home in '69. I thought she was older than she was. Only sixteen, scared the shit out of me! Still, I loved her. We went off to West Virginia to start over and, well, one of my pseudonyms came back to haunt us. Long story short, they killed Rosie and I killed them..."
Stan deftly wondered if he had just terrified his brother. Instead, he felt a six-fingered hand rub his shoulder a bit roughly.
"I'm sorry, Stan..."
"It's alright. That's how I wound up in Columbia's prison system. The only reason I was angry about it was that they claimed I murdered her, too. Which of course, was bullshit. I always called her Kitten or Doll. Those were her favourites."
"So we've been through much of the same thing, then?" Ford inquired.
"I don't know. Have we?"
"Year five in the portal, and I was thrown into a dimension controlled by Bill. But there was a resistance, the last humans on Dimension 52's Earth. I met a woman named Adelaide and fell in love with her. We had a child and were happy for a time. Bill ended up killing my family and I became suicidal, traveling with a drunk pilot known as Rick Sanchez."
"Damn, that's rough," lamented Stan with empathy.
Ford nodded but smiled.
"I'm just glad that I still have a family to call my own."
"Always will."
The old hounds of town's hearts settled down to rest, know longer shaking over burning wounds.
A/N: So here's chapter 2! Hope you love it!
Until next time, lovelies!
