[Trigger warning for suicidal thoughts.]

Austin kept running without cease, for far longer than he ever had before. He panted heavily, and the leaves of the brush smeared and scratched his glasses to the point they were barely useful. His legs ached, his muscles burned, and yet he kept going, until he found himself sliding on the sandy banks of a small lake. His eyes widened, and he looked around, pushing his glasses up. They were so badly ruined that it would be easier to see without them on, although the sight he beheld was still very difficult to deal with. He bent his head, relying on scent to guide him, when it hit him.

Her scent.

Jan.

She had probably lured him here just as he thought. Austin began to tremble furiously, with terror, as her toxic scent invaded his nose, clouded his thoughts. But he could not bring himself to run away.

It was his nightmare in real time.

Austin took a step, a step forward, his eyes wide. He knew he did not want to keep going forwards, to follow her scent. It was certain. Not a doubt. 

But curiosity got the best of him, gripping him tightly. It was surprising - Austin had always figured if ever Jan had a hold of his mind again, he would feel it tangibly. But it soon dawned on him, and he could deny it no longer - the desire to move forward and find her originated entirely within himself. 

And so, against his better judgement, he sniffed along the trail of her scent.

Austin followed the trail for quite some time, keeping up with it all the way up to a small cave, a hollow in a great rock at the lake's edge. Her scent was strongest here, but not so strong as to indicate that she was here. The place was clean, well kept. A small sort of firepit, its ashes apparently cleaned out, rested in the middle, with a great, shallow divot in the stone beside it. Austin looked around for a moment. She probably had been sleeping on the stone in the same place for so long it had worn out a sort of bed for her to sleep in.

He was not keen on the idea of sleeping in her bed.

But since the firepit was clean, and big enough for him to curl up in, and despite his better judgement, Austin laid down in the firepit and slept.

--

Jan padded up the lakeshore slowly, focusing on the feeling of the sand between her toes as her paws sank into it. She had found her fill of fish, as per usual, and expected to look forward to another night of sleeping alone in her cave.

She closed her eyes tightly, trembling softly. She missed her home terribly. Every day her penance struck her harder and harder with whips of grief. Sometimes it was all she could do to lift her head and look around when she woke up.

Sometimes it was all she could do not to jump into the lake and not come up.

Jan's eyes flicked open as she caught a whiff of a scent that was all too familiar.

She looked around quickly, her eyes wide. Sometimes she felt like he was just across the lake, that if she looked up, she would see him. Sometimes she thought his warm, fluffy self had just brushed past her, and she would look over. Sometimes she even thought she could hear his voice, barely audible in the wind. 

His scent was not something she had sensed before.

And as she continued on, the whiffs of his scent kept getting more and more frequent, and she began to run, finding a trail to follow, right up to her home.

Jan slid to a halt at the entrance of her cave, and looked in, panting softly.

There he was.

Austin was curled up in her firepit, his perfect fluffy self nestled securely into the ring of stones. Jan padded over slowly, watching him carefully, then laid down in her bed beside the pit. His body was pleasantly warm at this distance, and she laid down, watching him.

She never thought she would get this close to anyone who wasn't prey again, let alone him.

Surely it was okay to enjoy a moment?

He could leave whenever he wanted to.

So she closed her eyes and slept.