Storm Watch

pov/pairing: pov: Speed
Word Count: 603
Author Notes: Sequel to "Silent Witness"
writers_choice topic: Life/Death
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With one hand, Speed pushed the files into a heap on the table and sat down to eat the bowl of cereal he'd brought with him. He was supposed to be off today preparing to go to court tomorrow and but he didn't want to look at death at the moment. He knew he would see a lot more than he wanted to real soon. With the storm approaching he knew it would be busy later and the chances of him being called in were great, just as was the chance of court being cancelled. It never failed if there was a natural disaster such as the tropical storm headed their way the body count went up and not just from storm related deaths. It was like they couldn't control themselves in the face of Mother Nature's wild energy.

Until then, he had every intention of sitting on his lani and watching the weather. He loved watching storms as they rolled across the landscape, the way the clouds darkened, dominating the skyline. He loved how the lightening flashed in the layers of the clouds creating intricate patterns and colors. He'd never seen pink lightening until he'd come to Florida. The wind blew what was considered cool for south Florida and the deep tones of his chimes rang out.

Four bites into his Frosted Flakes he suddenly had a cat looking at him. Spirit had jumped up and walked across the table to stare him down in hopes of finishing off the last of the milk from his bowl. When his "you will feed that cat" technique didn't work for the last drops of milk, Spirit hopped off the table and went to sit in front of the screen door, sniffing the wind as it blew in the door.

He couldn't help but shake his head at the cat. It was as if Spirit was watching the weather and waiting for the storm too. He swore sometimes the cat acted more like a dog than he did a cat with his little behavior idiosyncrasies. But he found those oddities appealing. They added character to Spirit, because he was so much more than just a cat.

Pushing his bowl aside, Speed walked over and scooped up his cat. Sitting down with his feet up on the coffee table, he habitually ran the comb through Spirit's longish coat as they watched the sky darken even more and the rain begin to pelt the windows. He wasn't worried about the rain coming in the windows. The glass slats were angled so the water wouldn't run in. As the lightening flashed around them, and the thunder rumbled overhead, he made a game of guessing which if any of the bolts actually hit anything. Hoping if they did it wasn't a person. A flash, a loud boom, and another flash told him a transformer had been it and the stereo that had been quietly playing in the house going silent confirmed he was now without power. He calculated how long he'd be able to go without having to worry about the food in the fridge and freezer. If he didn't open the doors he knew the Freezer would hold longer than the fridge. He knew he'd be finishing the half gallon of milk before long and the steaks he purchased yesterday would be dinner tonight, thankful for the fact he'd filled the tanks for his gas grill as part of his "hurricane shopping" a while back.

Slouching further into the rattan sofa, Speed got comfortable with Spirit still on his lap and watched as the wind and rain increased.