rosanicus

No 13: "How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnished."

Never Enough | Insignia | Forced Retirement

Just a touch of King's Kittens angst, teetering on the edge of their demob.

"Don't feel right at all, does it?" Copper offered. The barracks were cold and empty, which helped a little with the growing sense of things coming to an end.

Trapper grunted. He had been unpicking stitches for the past five minutes, one stitch at a time, the hack-job Copper had made of it four-and-a-bit years ago sewn over time and again when it came loose. It was a tangle, it had to be said.

"I mean, leastways they're lettin' us keep the badge." Copper poked at the one Trapper had already cut off his own uniform, the wildcat with its teeth bared staring up at them both with the air of a lost kitten. "But I'd rather they keep the badge and give us the job. Don't seem right getting chucked like this, am I right?"

"Sure you're right," muttered Trapper. He made one last decisive motion with the nail scissors and, with a sad sort of galumphing motion, the shoulder cypher separated fully from Copper's uniform. It was another sad specimen, laying alongside the first.

There was a distinct line of sun damage left behind. Copper ran a finger over it, uncharacteristically gentle. "Bit like a shadow," he murmured.