Austin sat quietly in his space, reading. He had the treehouse to himself for the moment, and it did him little good to let his mind wander.

He had left the house of Eeveelutions long ago, unable to bear remaining there any longer. Upon going back into the wild, he had found his sister again, and they were trying to rebuild the life they had had in the past, living on their own, but with each others' support. He had managed to recreate their old home, a secret annex carved into the trunk of a broad tree. It had been of some mild surprise that the very same tree they had lived in existed here.

Angel was out, as per usual. The tree was, for her, simply a place to sleep, relatively secure compared to the lean-tos and tamped down grass she had stayed in before Austin rejoined her. She had her own space in the annex, but it was fairly bare; the beauty of the world beckoned, and sitting in some old tree was not her idea of a good time. And with her out all the time, Austin became much more familiar with the space. It was his bookshelves that lined the walls, their contents given to him by one of the Pokemon from the house as a parting gift of sorts. 

And it was good that Austin had them. He was not the most fond of exploring on his own, and he did not like to go with Angel. It was clear that his clumsiness slowed her down, and he knew she enjoyed solitude on her adventures. As did he, though his adventures were confined to the pages of a book. The pages of a book might only give someone a slight papercut if they were new, and Austin had read the books so many times that the edges were worn down, their sharpness softened. The pages of a book would not imprison him, traumatize him, or flood him with uncertain feelings.

Austin took a deep breath, looking around the space, focusing on objects, thinking about them carefully, anything to get the thoughts of her out of his head. 

Fortunately, his attention was commanded shortly after by the sound of the annex's door sliding open. He looked down from his sleeping alcove, and saw Angel padding in, a small bundle dangling from her mouth. Austin closed his book, the page number held in his mind, and hopped down to Angel as she set the bundle on the counter.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Angel opened the bundle, which held two smaller bundles within, one of which had a slight red stain on it. Austin carefully opened the one without the stain, revealing a nice assortment of foraged plants.

"Thanks sis."

"No problem."

Austin watched Angel open the other bundle, revealing a Rattata. Angel closed her eyes for a moment, then began to eat it, taking careful bites. Austin focused back on his own food. After all this time, he was still thankful to live with someone who ate like normal, instead of indiscriminately swallowing whole whatever got too close to their face.

After they were finished, Angel stretched, her back cracking softly. 

"Find anything interesting today?"

Angel shook her head in response. "Nah. I looked all over too, that's why I'm so late."

Austin peeked outside, sliding the door open slightly. The sky was well and truly dark, clouded over, the night air brisk. 

"I didn't realize how late it was..."

Angel smirked. "Who were you lost with this time? Guy Montag? William Mandela?"

Austin scratched his fur absentmindedly, woofing softly. "Winston Smith."

Angel nodded slowly. "Anything else happen today?"

"No, not really."

Her eyes narrowed a little as she watched him. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"How are you doing?"

Austin blinked a few times, and looked at his paws. "Fine."

"No, you're not fine," Angel huffed. "There's something on your mind besides just books."

Austin sighed softly.

"I... I... It's Jan..."

Angel's eyes softened immediately, and she padded over, nuzzling Austin softly.

"She can't hurt you anymore. She's gone, and we have each other, just like old times."

Austin nodded slowly, and Angel hugged him gently. But she wouldn't understand if he told her the whole truth.

And why would she? It made no sense. He must be confused. To have lingering feelings for someone who had deliberately tortured and psychologically scarred him was impossible. Besides, it would just make Angel mad if he mentioned it. It would make their struggles to survive seem like nothing. He didn't want that.

So he kept it in.