Chapter 358 (2/2)
After blinking, the Ghosthound smiled. “...hey. I just felt….” he trailed off, and just walked past her into the room. She moved cleanly to the side, curious.
Dozer stood when the Ghosthound entered the room, giving him a short salute, but sat back down when the Ghosthound nodded to him. But the Ghosthound’s attention lay fixed elsewhere…
...on Delilah.
“You can feel it too, can’t you?” Annie asked softly. She felt Dozer still, looking over at them, wheels turning behind his dark eyes.
The Ghosthound nodded, reaching down with surprising delicacy, his hands hovering about the small baby, fast asleep on the cushion.
“You can pick her up, she sleeps through anything,” Dozer interjected, around a mouthful of stew. The Ghosthound looked up, making eye contact with Dozer. Something seemed to pass between them then, some hidden meaning that Annie couldn’t decipher in their glance. Then they looked away, at the same time, reinforcing the impression that something was going on there.
It made Annie slightly furious, especially because the Ghosthound ignored her question because of it. At the same moment she was thinking that, Dozer gave her a look, that instantly cooled her off and pissed her off more, because he knew EXACTLY where she was at, emotionally.
How the fuck did he do that?!
“Yea… I can feel it…” The Ghosthound said, picking up the child, cradling her carefully in his hands, moving her from one arm to the other. Then with his right hand, he pressed a finger to her nose, in a strange reflection of what Annie had been doing earlier. But whereas that had been a purely physical thing, Annie now felt a strange ripple travel through her, from the connection of energy Delilah had to her, and back through her…
...back to the Ghosthound. The Ghosthound hummed, frowning, as he examined the baby. With the same exaggerated care, he laid Delilah down on the cushion, and took a step back. After looking around, he walked over towards the table, and sat with Dozer, eating quietly. Both men said nothing, simply focusing on the food.
“This is pretty good.” The Ghosthound muttered.
Dozer grunted. “Time at home has forced her to grind Cooking.”
“Small blessings,” Annie said sarcastically, joining the two men at the table. It was a physically intimidating place to be, at the moment. Not only was her man about twice the size of a normal person these days, all rock solid muscle and callous, but the Ghosthound had a strange, athletic grace in the way he moved, that took up more space than he really should. And he was pretty tall and long limbed as well.
So Annie found herself squished at the side of the table, doing her best NOT to think of how the pregnancy had changed her body and made it more awkward, and how while these idiots were out training, she was forced to stay safe, away from danger. Which she understood, and she would never expose Delilah to danger, but…
She wanted to be out there. It was a thrill that before the System, she didn’t know she loved, but…
Almost unconsciously, her eyes rose and scanned the right wall, covered in skulls hit by her arrow. It was… exhilarating to say the least. And now…
While Annie’s thoughts turned morose, the two men finished their meals. Afterwards, the Ghosthound tapped his finger against the wooden table, clearly thinking. Then, with great care, he said, “She’s…. very beautiful. What’s her name?”
To Annie’s delight, even Dozer snorted when he called Delilah beautiful. Well it didn’t matter. There were much better things for a woman to be in this world then beautiful. Annie’s eyes drifted up to the skulls on the walls. “Her name is Delilah.”