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Viago learns of Katherine’s death in the most mundane of ways; he sees it in the newspaper.
There was a death notice, pictures of her both at the Rita Angus Retirement Home and in her youth, with her husband, still looking as Viago remembered her. The notice was simple; her full name, her deceased husband, the dates of her birth and her death. Nothing else to memorialize the life he’d treasured for so long.
He had last gone to the home a few nights ago, and there were different people in the room with her; not the usual caregivers but still, caregivers none the less, who tended to Katherine with gentle touches and the scent of sadness wafting down to Viago’s sensitive nose.
He had spent the intervening nights with Anton, looking at the stars through Viago’s telescope or walking silently together through Wellington’s parks; Central Park was the most obvious choice, but Anton had taken Viago surfside to Frank Kitts, sitting together on the quay with their shoes off and pants rolled up, letting the water lap at their ankles.
…Suddenly he realized it had been five nights. Two nights in Central Park, one stargazing, then Frank Kitts, then stargazing again last night until almost dawn.
And then he’d found Katherine’s notice in the newspaper. He realized that the new caretakers must have been for Katherine’s end of life palliative care, and the scent of sadness on the wind had been for her impending death.
He texted Anton from the darkness of his coffin. Katherine has passed away. Can we go to the cemetery?
Anton’s text back came almost immediately. Sorry to hear that, V. Of course we can go. What were her favorite flowers?
Viago typed the obvious answer back without looking. Jasmine. Just like on his jacket.
---
By the time Viago woke at 6 PM, full dark had fallen. Deacon and Vladislav were both paying Viago very little attention since he had resumed his “normal” behavior. Tonight, though, he did not feel like putting up with his friends’ uncaring chatter, and so he turned and re-entered his bedroom, opened the window, and flew out in bat form.
He flew aimlessly--he thought--and yet, he was really not surprised that he ended up outside of the pack’s living situation. They had followed the vampire example and gotten a big house that could be shared by the single wolves, and served as a meeting place for the entire pack. Anton was sitting outside, a bouquet of jasmine in his lap, looking at the driveway.
Swooping down, Viago resumed human form and landed on his feet beside Anton. “Thank you,” is all he said.
“Jesus H. Christ,” Anton swore softly. “You’re going to give a heart attack if you keep doing that!” Had this been another wolf, he might have punched him teasingly in the shoulder, but with Viago, he tempered the urge. “My condolences, V.” He tried to stand up, but Viago put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him down, then took the chair beside him, an old rocking chair they’d found in the house’s basement.
“I suppose I knew it was coming, and I didn’t admit it to myself,” Viago confessed. “It’s been five days, and I hadn’t gone back to see her. Somehow I think I knew.”
“Or, you were having a life,” Anton said practically. “Which you can’t blame yourself for, mate.”
"But of course I can," the vampire disagreed. "Katherine's life was drawing to an end, because that is what humans do. I do not have an ending. I should have stayed with her and not… entertained myself."
"Look, maybe you don't have an ending like you say. But you do have a life--afterlife?--that you have to live for yourself. Humans die, right? Werewolves die, eventually. Maybe those are your endings, okay? The Viago that loved Katherine, maybe that's the end for him. But there's the Viago who cares about his flatmates, and the Viago who's friends with werewolves--"
"Two only, Stu and yourself," Viago interrupted.
Anton flushed slightly, glad of the dark that hid it. "Well, thanks, but that's the point. I'm just trying to say, everybody has stops and new starts. Look at Stu, since you brought him up. He was a human being who knew nothing supernatural, then he was Stu who had a vampire best friend, then the Stu who had a coven looking after him, and now he's a werewolf that bridges his vampire friends and his pack."
Viago remained perched on the edge of the rocking chair. He was silently considering Anton's words, fingers picking at the lace cuff peeking from under his jacket.
The wolf was just as quiet. The treads of his rocker squeaked softly against the porch, and the bouquet of jasmine scented the air.
"Perhaps I should learn to… task-much."
"Ah, uh, multi-task, and yeah, that's kind of what I mean. Vampires, you guys are really bad at changing," Anton answered, but he softened the words with a smile. "I get it; you're forced to kill, and you're forced to watch anyone not a vampire die, and I get it's easier to insulate yourself. But you miss out on things like that."
"Yes; it hurts less when there is no one to lose." Viago reached out and left a hand on Anton's arm. "I did not spend the time I could have with Katherine and she is gone. And I do not want the next stop to be Viago grieving because he missed time with his friend Anton."
Anton smiled at the sentiment, even awkwardly expressed. "I don't want that to happen, either." Viago's hand was gentle but cold, and Anton rested his hand over the vampire's to offer heat and kinship.
"Because I am dead, that doesn't mean that I cannot be alive," he decided. "So, you will still come to the cemetery with me?"
"Of course I will," Anton agreed.
"And when we are done there, we will go somewhere you want to go, and we'll have fun!"
"You ever been people-watching? Not hunting or stalking, nothing like that. Just sit somewhere and watch people?"
Viago's brow wrinkled. "That does not sound very fun," he said after a moment.
"Cause you've never done it right, then. There's an all-night coffee bar that is amazing for people-watching," Anton explained as he got to his feet. "Folks come in for a two in the morning coffee break have to be seen to be believed in. Three to five shift is even better."
Hopping to his feet, Viago followed Anton down the steps and stood shoulder to shoulder as they started to walk. The wolf was radiating heat, and even though Viago felt no cold, he was all but basking in Anton's warmth.
A companionable arm slung around Viago's shoulder as they walked, and Viago had never felt as comfortable in his existence.