Who: Laura and Cas What: Beginning the plan When: Monday, September 2, 2019 Where: The Finn Residence and beyond Rating: Mild, mentions of harm Status: Complete
In the kitchen of their home, Laura was hard at work. Despite all the events of the last month, she hadn’t forgotten Caspian’s plan, and she fully intended to do her part in it. She baked a variety of goods, using everything they could possibly spare from their rations. She had to be creative, and use substitutions, but from the look and scent of the things she’d made, no one would ever be able to tell she had to skimp on the best.
She’d meant to get to baking sooner, but she hadn’t been feeling up to it. This pregnancy was proving to be more difficult than the last. Maybe it was because she’s older now, or stressors of being on the island, but Laura rarely felt herself these days. At least she knew the cause of her fatigue, but now it was compounded by debilitating sickness. Some days she could barely move from the bed to the bathroom. Thankfully, this was not one of those days and Laura was happy to be using her time more productively than just lying about or sleeping.
There was little he wouldn’t do to ensure that his wife was happy and taken care of, even if that meant putting his own plans aside. For a long time he had no one to really look out for but himself, and even when he did have Caitlyn he knew that his life was not as important as hers thus he was expendable in a situation because of that. Anything to protect the people he loved and held dear. They were strong, both women in his life. He had no plans of going anywhere but life had ways of sliding the rug out from underneath you when you least expected it.
Enticing aromas began to fill their house; Caspian was drawn to the kitchen inevitably by the scents though he lingered back and out of the way after the initial greeting to his wife. “I think you could open your own shop one of these days,” He said softly to Laura, hand placed in the small of her back as he peered over one of her shoulders at her work.
He didn’t mind the rest she was taking. It was good to see her taking herself into consideration once in a while enough to sleep or relax.
“How are you feeling, love?”
She smiled at the feel of his touch and wiped off her hands on a dishtowel before turning to face him. She kissed him softly but then smirked at his comment. “You’re just being sweet. I don’t think I could manage a whole shop, and I’m definitely not good enough to have much of a following. But it’s a nice thought.”
She watched him for a moment and then shrugged. “I’m okay today. So far. Hopefully it stays that way. I was thinking maybe we could deliver some of these to the neighbors, do a little… socializing?”
“You’ve only just begun, my darling. Give it time. They’ll be flocking to see you.” He knew it to be true simply because any who couldn’t see her the same way he did weren’t meant for breathing. Her kisses were sweet, they warmed him on the coldest days.
A nod would come. “What a wonderful idea. We don’t have to deliver them all if you don’t feel up to it.” They’d only go as far as she wanted to.
“I want to help you. What can I do that I can’t mess up too much?” A chuckle and he looked around for something easy.
Laura just shook her head with a little laugh. “I hope not. Meg was kind enough to let me work with her, people need to be showing up for her, not me.” She gave him another soft kiss and then went back to what she was working on.
“We can start with a few and see how it goes. I want to be useful.” She looked over the mess she’d made, but she wouldn’t make him clean up. Nodding to the items cooling on the rack, she glanced up to him. “Maybe you could help wrap those up?”
He lingered behind her for a moment more once the kiss had broken, just watching her work. He felt entranced, the way her hands and fingers moved in preparation was so graceful. She truly was his soul mate in so many ways.
“You’re always useful, my love.” And when she glanced toward the rack his attention went there as well. He pulled back, moving to do as asked. “They won’t be beautiful but I shall get it done.”
Humming to himself he washed up and then began the task of wrapping the baked goods.
“They’ll be perfect.” She watched him working, unable to keep from smiling. “I love you.”
Finishing up the last batch, Laura carefully poured the batter into a lined muffin pan. She tapped the pan lightly on the counter to shake out any air bubbles before sliding it into the pre-heated oven to bake.
Moving to his side, she helped with the remainder, working in silence.
“I love you too, darling,” he replied, keeping his eyes on his work. With delicate yet determined fingers he wrapped each cooled baked good and set them gently aside in a little pile so they wouldn’t be missed or overlooked.
As she joined him Caspian was grateful for the help and her nearness. Between the pair of them light work was made of the task.
Once the work was done, she stopped to watch him intently for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she moved the wrapped goods into a nearby basket and checked on the muffins in the oven. “Where should we go first?”
“What if we tried the homes next door, if they’re occupied. And then work our way from there?” They could tackle one side of the street and then the other. It didn’t all have to be done the same day, only until what they’d brought was gone.
They needed a map of the place. They could plan better, set up targets tangibly and realistically to hit on certain days and at certain times.
She nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears. “That sounds good. I can try to talk up some people who come into the shop too. If it’s not too disruptive to Meg’s business. I just feel like I need to do something more. And quickly.”
Caspian would nod. “You know that best.” There would be no debate. She knew what she was after and he had no right to question or judge. “Dorian and I can work the streets. It’s what we were born to do. I'd love for you to help but if you think the bakery is the best avenue then let’s exploit it.”
Laura nodded with a little sigh, then moved to the oven to check on the newest batch. It would be done soon. Teeth worried at her bottom lip as her mind wandered, but she tried not to let it show. So she shifted topics slightly, not that she’d said what was really bothering her. “How is Dorian doing?”
That shift he could feel. The air dropped a bit and it crawled across his skin like a shroud. “Wot is it?” He inquired softly. If she didn’t want to talk about it he wouldn’t push her.
“Dorian is trying to find himself here,” he explained though that didn’t deter from the matter at hand.
She looked back to him with a little frown, more at herself than anything else. After a moment of hesitation, she answered the question. “I need you to promise me something. If… if something happens, if they come for me, I want you and Dorian to take Caitlyn and the baby and leave here. I don’t care how, you just have to get them away from this place and keep them safe.”
At his reply about Dorian, she shook her head and clarified. “I mean since they tried to take him. I keep trying to check in on him, and I’m sure he doesn’t want to talk about it. I just want to make sure he’s really okay.”
Those blue eyes would focus on Laura as her statement was posed. It made him uneasy visibly to consider that sort of an alternative. Being without her was not an option anymore. “I promise.” He was not a man who would back down on his word, though he would never let anything happen to Laura without a fight.
Caspian sighed softly, “Dorian is a complex, sensitive machine. I don’t know what of his past he’s told you about,” he began, considering his words carefully. “It’s his story to tell, what it was like when I found him. He will never truly be alright while we are locked away in this place, the same as you and I feel. We are animals, my love, who need to thrive. We’ve moved into the zoo, they parade us, make us spectacles, and Dorian is very special. He could be the end of us all.”
Moving to him quickly, Laura hugged Caspian tightly. She did not want to consider being without him or their children, but she would sacrifice anything, including her own life, to ensure their safety.
Taking a half step back, she was able to focus more on the thought of Dorian now. “Or he could save us all. He hasn’t told me a lot, but I feel a kinship with him. He doesn’t need to tell me the details, I just feel an understanding when I am around him. That is enough. I just want to make sure he is alright. I know none of us can truly feel safe and happy while stuck here.”
Arms would wind around his wife. He held her, gently albeit firmly. There was no life without her and he was sure they both knew it. But he wouldn’t dwell on it, he didn’t want to consider it.
Letting her step backward, he watched her as she spoke. “He would appreciate your kindness and consideration. For a long time he had nobody, now he has a family. People who care for him and about him.”
Laura nodded in agreement. “He sometimes talks like he’s not one of us, and I always tell him he is part of our family. I think he might be starting to believe me, a little anyway.”
Returning to the oven, she removed the last batch of muffins and carefully popped them out of the oven to cool. “I told him about the baby, and he’s already protective. It’s very sweet of him, I appreciate it. And even though I haven’t said anything to Caitlyn yet, I feel like she knows.”
“I hope he feels as if he is,” Caspian replied. He felt Dorian was just as much a part of their family as Laura did. The dynamic had changed with them bringing Laura back into the flock but his feelings about Dorian had never waned.
Letting her go, he watched her as she worked and listened, nodding. “That’s what Dorian does, love. He protects us. Not because it’s what he’s supposed to do, it’s just the type that he is.” The part about Caitlyn didn’t surprise him. “Do you think she will end up like us?” He hadn’t seen anything creep up but there was always the possibility. The baby, too.
Laura was not surprised by his comments about Dorian. She felt that Dorian was a good person, regardless of what anyone else thought, and she was glad to have him as part of their family.
Considering the question about their daughter, she shrugged after some thought. “She takes after you, so, it wouldn’t surprise me. I just pray that she isn’t like me. I want her to have a good life.”
“If she’s anything like you, my darling, she will.” Caitlyn was a smart child. Observant. She was strong and brave, Caspian knew his daughter also had her mother’s spirit. Whatever abilities she gained, if any at all, was anyone’s guess but she wouldn’t struggle through them alone.
“Are you ready to go?” They would need to start soon if they were going to be back home before the sun began to fall.
Wrapping up the last of the muffins, she added them to the basket of others and nodded. “Yes, I think so. Are you?”
Nodding at her, Caspian took up the basket. “I’ll let you work your charm on them, love, and if we can’t change their minds with that I have a few tricks up my sleeves that your muffins always put to shame.”
A hand would sweep toward the door, “After you.”
She smirked and let him carry the treats, heading to the door. “And what is it I should be changing their minds about?” She moved out the door and down the steps, taking a moment to decide which direction to start. Choosing to go left, she walked slowly, keeping step at his side.
“That not everything here is more than what it seems, of course.” He offers a small smile and held the door for her once they’d reach it. The door would be closed once they were out and he waited for her to choose the direction.
Basket in tow, he walked alongside her in a casual way, entirely relaxed as they began their task.
Laura nodded slightly, but she wasn’t really sure how to make that happen. Frowning at herself, she thought about it and then looked to him. “So… I do that by just trying to befriend them?” It was times like this that she realized exactly how limited her social circles and skills had been for most of her life. Of course, half of that had been her own doing.
“Of course, darling. We earn their trust. If we are the example that they seek to be, they will come. Relax, smile, be yourself. You’re more charming than you think.” He believed in her. He always had and always would.
If things began to turn south, well, he could change their minds fairly quickly.
She couldn’t help but smirk. “I can’t imagine why anyone would want to be like me. But alright, I will try.” She understood the point though, and she could see how easily anyone could want to be like Caspian. In her eyes, he was the ideal.
“Why wouldn’t they? They’d be quite silly to not want to be more like you, darling.” He adored her. His understanding of her personality went deeper than the surface. She was a good woman, she was strong and capable. More people should have been like her.
The first house came into view and he let her take the lead.
Looking to the house, Laura hesitated and took a deep breath. After a moment of trying to psych herself up, she nodded a little and headed for the door, ringing the bell.
A woman answered the door. Her brow creased as she looked upon the couple standing upon the stoop but her gaze would happen upon their ID cards and she relaxed visibly. “Can I help you?” She would ask softly, watching the couple through the screen.
Caspian said nothing, waiting for Laura to take the lead.
When she caught the look, Laura was ready to turn and go without a word. But when the woman spoke, she forced a nervous smile. “Hello. We’re a bit new to the island, and thought it might be nice to meet some of the neighbors. We live just down the street there. I brought some home made muffins, if you’d like some.”
The woman looked at each of them. “Pardon me,” the man began, “but I’m Caspian, this is my wife, Laura,” he introduced, before holding up the basket. “With all of the recent goings-on around here with the guards and the residents we figured that a few friends more wouldn’t hurt. We are staying alert and vigilant,” he explained.
Again the woman would nod. The screen door opened and Caspian handed her a muffin. “Thanks,” she said, finally introducing herself too. Her name was Beverly and she lived there with her sister, but no family otherwise.
Laura frowned a little at herself. She should have introduced them first, but thankfully Caspian was there to make it all a little less awkward. Clearly, the woman was more accepting of what he had to say, and she certainly couldn’t blame her for that. Forcing a nervous smile, she tried to do better. “If you ever need anything, we’re always happy to help.” Okay, maybe that wasn’t better, but it was an attempt.
The woman, Beverly, offered Laura a smile. “Thank you,” she offered. Muffin in hand she nodded. “These are frightening times we live in, I’m glad to have such nice neighbors to count on.”
Caspian would smile and nod, casting a glance at his wife. He studied her for a moment before his gaze would go back to the older woman. “The pleasure is ours, really, and we are equally as grateful to have another set of eyes watching out for us. We have a daughter, and another on the way. If you see Caitlyn out without an adult if you’d please let us know, we would greatly appreciate it.”
Laura was a bit relieved when Beverly seemed to open up a bit and seemed more receptive to them.
But it was only a moment later that she was uncomfortable again. She worried about people finding out about the baby, but it was out there now. Forcing the smile still, she nodded in agreement to what Caspian said. “And, um, I work part time at the bakery in the Marketplace. It would be nice to see you stop in some time.”
Beverly glanced down at the muffin in her hands. She turned it in her fingers, studying it, before her head lifted. She smiled at Laura, “You bake? I do love that little place. The young lady with the pink hair is so nice.” Her ideas had changed on young people and appearances could be deceiving.
“Congratulations on the little one,” she added. “I’ll stop by the bakery and I’ll tell my sister, too.”
Caspian smiled warmly. “Thank you. We won’t keep you, Beverly.”
Laura just nodded with a smile. “Yes, she is lovely, I feel so lucky to get the chance to work with her. There are a lot of really wonderful people here, it’s good to know that with all the bad there is something to balance it all out.”
“Thank you. It was nice chatting with you.”
Taking a deep breath, she waited until Beverly closed the door and then turned to look to Caspian. “Well… I hope I didn’t ruin that.”
When Beverly retreated, Caspian placed a hand in the small of Laura’s back as they turned and he moved with her down the steps. “Why would you think you ruined it?”
He glanced over at his wife with interest. “I thought you were wonderful, love. She was talking to you, engaging you in conversation. You’re a natural.”
Exhaling slowly, she shrugged a little and looked ahead as they moved away from the house. “I didn’t introduce myself, and I didn’t know what to say and I probably sounded like an idiot. Thank god you were there to help. Thank you for being there.”
“Darling,” Caspian began, pausing. He took Laura’s hand and shook his head at her, “You don’t need me. Not in the way that you think. You’re so wonderful with people, so natural. Just relax.”
He loved her so much. People seemed to respond the same way.
Looking up at him as he spoke, Laura smiled softly. His words touched her and she appreciated it. She leaned up to kiss him softly. “Thank you. I love you so much.”
“I love you too. I never imagined I’d ever have a soulmate until I saw you in that bar,” he said, offering a grin. “I couldn’t live without you. None of this would matter without you. People can see it too.”
“Why do you think people see it?” She took his hand and held onto it tightly as they walked slowly toward the next house. She was in no rush to try again with another neighbor, but she knew it was necessary and was determined to do better this time around.
“I know what they’re thinking,” he offered. He wasn’t nearly as kind with some as he was others. There were some residents he wanted as allies, others were expendable.
His hand squeezed hers and his pace slowed to match hers.
“And what was that lady thinking when you mentioned the baby? I’m worried about telling people. I’m worried about what we’re supposed to do.” She worried about everything, but he already knew that and it wasn’t exactly anything new. She was just feeling a bit more powerless about it all.
“She was excited for you, for us. Humbled, glad for new life and opportunity.” He felt the same way. They were growing a family who could handle themselves. Who would be protected. “If you’d rather me not use that I would understand.”
Laura just shrugged with a sigh. “If you think it will help, it’s fine. Whatever I need to do to get us out of here sooner rather than later.” She looked up to the next house they were approaching, trying to prepare better this time around.
“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “I want to know how you feel about it.” He wanted to consider her feelings about it. He didn’t want to argue and he hoped she wouldn’t take it that way, he was interested in her perspective. “What I don’t want to be is too vulnerable.”
Laura felt guilty for having said anything days ago. She knew Caspian always considered her, but he obviously took her offhand comment to heart. Chewing at her bottom lip, she held back for a minute before explaining. “I’m scared. All the time. I’m scared that something terrible will happen to the baby, or me, or that they will take us and…” She shook her head, some of the thoughts in her mind were too horrifying to say out loud. “I know we can’t keep it a secret forever, I don’t want our child to be hidden. I just want it to be safe. And I’m most worried about what we’re going to do once the baby is born. It’s one thing to try to hide, or protect it before it’s born, but once this child is outside of my body, I can’t protect it the same way.”
Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself together and looked ahead. “I just don’t want you or Caitlyn or the baby or Dorian to go through what I did. And I have a feeling that things here are so much worse than that.”
He had made so many mistakes for so long with Laura, hadn’t listened or been considerate of her feelings and the feedback she gave would be taken to heart. He didn’t want to go through what they’d put each other through prior, again.
Standing there, he listened to her fears and found that they echoed his own. Weakness wasn’t something he was used to showing, acknowledging. Vulnerability could get you killed or someone you love killed. “You know I would die before anyone laid a hand upon you or either of our children.” The comment was made in a serious tone, all of the charm and playfulness set aside. “I’m scared that they will come for us, too. Again. But that’s why we are doing this. Building our own army of those who are also scared and vulnerable. The more we have on our side the less likely it is that we go down without a fight.”
There would be no coming to take him, his family, their newborn child, Dorian — he wouldn’t let that go. If guards even dared approach the house while he was there the sidewalk would be lined with corpses leading from the porch to the sidewalk. He was done playing games with the Government. “I would litter the lawn with their bodies before they even touched the porch. There will be nothing to fear.”
Laura nodded, looking to the ground. “I know that you would fight for us, just like I would. But sometimes that’s not enough. I know you fought when they took you before. But they were still able to do it. And if you are successful this time, what does it do to you? What damage does that kind of power do to your body and your mind? I will fight and I know you will too, but after the fight we still need to survive, for the children and for each other. But also to show them that they can’t win, and they can’t destroy us or let us destroy ourselves.”
She was silent for a moment before turning and looking to the other houses. “How do we tell them that without sounded completely insane?”
That was his largest fear and she had put it out there - the natural degeneration of his mind. He knew his power put a strain on his brain, even now when he used it on a casual sense on someone it began to cause headaches. After he’d adjusted Ehren there had been an awful nosebleed.
“It’s worth the expense,” Caspian replied. He was willing to sacrifice himself for his family. Thirty years of pushing his mind and brain to the limits and back was paltry in his eyes.
Both of them were fighters and both were equally as resilient. They’d come back from harder things. “We tell them what they need to know and not more than that.”
Reaching for her hand he would take one of them, holding it.
She squeezed his hand tightly, watching him intently for a moment. She had similar fears, that one day the fire would consume her completely, but thankfully she used her ability far less than Caspian. Still, after everything they’d been through, the last thing she wanted to do was lose him for any reason.
She shook her head. “Nothing is worth losing you. But I won’t just allow it to come to that.”
She kissed him again softly and then began walking once more to the next home.
He was grateful for her tenderness. There was no plan to go anywhere or do anything drastic. Things needed to be taken a day at a time, with patience.
“I feel the same way, darling. We won’t have to know the pain of being without each other anymore. I promise you that.” He would do his best to live up to that promise.
Kiss returned, he moved to follow along after her as they journeyed to the next place.