Work Text:
“Shadi, search.” Kamaria opens the front door for the American Akita, reaching in to flip on the living room light as her dog zooms inside. She watches her check every corner, nose constantly twitching, before disappearing into the next room.
Kamaria doesn’t follow yet. Lingering on the front step, she fiddles with the metal hook of the leash, tension keeping her shoulders stiff. Maybe someday she’ll be able to wait through this process without expecting Shadi to actually find someone inside. Maybe she’ll even reach the point where she doesn’t have to have the house searched before she enters.
But for now, the fear that her father will somehow track her down and send his cronies after her is still strong. It took her fifteen years and a major life change for her to gather the courage to leave, knowing he’d try to hunt her down. It’s going to take a while longer to leave that fear completely behind.
A minute later Shadi returns, sitting proudly in front of her owner with what could pass as a grin on her face. All clear . Sucking in a deep breath, Kamaria steps inside and shuts the door behind her. She hangs up the leash and puts away her wallet. Then she immediately crosses to the smoke detector in the hallway, as usual, and squeezes her eyes shut before pressing the test button.
The screaming beep always brings back flashes of that night so many years ago, waking to an incessant alarm and smoke filling her bedroom. Flames on the ceiling, can’t stop coughing, sparks raining down…
Shadi licks her hand, and Kamaria pries open her eyes, forcing herself back into the present. Everything is fine. The house is still here, the smoke detector still works. She’s safe. Better to give herself a tiny flashback now than to realize too late that the alarm has died.
Is it a little bit paranoid to keep constantly checking? Maybe. But at this point in life, she’ll take a little bit paranoid if it gives her some peace of mind.