lotte karsten {christine daaé} (still_lotte) wrote in bellumlogs, @ 2010-06-27 20:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | christine daaé, plot: omega, plot: tempus |
Who: Lotte and Christine {Narrative}
What: Operation Field
Where: A field
When: Day Four of Tempus Plot
Warnings: Excessive happiness and fluff.
It wasn’t the end of the headaches or the grass under her feet that made Lotte realize her surroundings had changed – it was the smell. Her eyes pressed shut as she inhaled. Grass, clean fresh air, and the slightly sour smell of animals. There was no death or blood – not even stale, sealed up air. It was clear and she took a deep breath of it, filling her lungs. Mountains perhaps – it was cold enough and bitter enough, in that delicious way that made you feel dizzy.
Lotte let her eyes open, straightening from her crouched position to look around. A field stretched for as far as she could see, bordered only by tall, indistinct shapes upon the horizon. It was empty, aside from a scattering of daffodils, and a handful of sheep grazing here and there. She squinted, a hand rising to shade her eyes. It didn’t make sense that she’d be alone, even if she had been the only one complaining of the travelling-headaches. Christine suggested that they might be off, where those mountains were. Her voice snapped Lotte back to reality and she spun, skirt flaring out around her.
“James?” She couldn’t be alone – she hadn’t been alone before. “Sherri? Marie?” She rattled off names, covering some she hadn’t seen in France, some who had never been a part of Bellum’s madness, some Christine supplied and Lotte didn’t know. At last she fell silent, waiting for a reply that never came. Her spinning stopped, as she took another sharp breath inward. With as much projection as she could managed, she gave a final shout, voice ringing out across the field. “BRAN?”
Nothing. The only sign that it had been heard was the scattering of a few of the sheep that were closer to her.
She fell to her knees, thoughts racing. Why was she alone? It had never been this bad before and she’d never been this isolated – never truly alone before. Christine protested that she was there still and Lotte gave her the closest thing, she could to a hug – a feeling of warmth and gratefulness that did more than words could. They came to the same realization immediately – there weren’t any people to grab and kill them here – it was a safe aloneness she could deal with.
And as Christine pointed out with glee a moment later – no one else was here to take them either.
“Or lie,” Lotte said out loud. “Or think I’m crazy – just for talking to you like this. Or hurt us or guilt us.”
Christine didn’t understand that, something Lotte was already used to. It was alright if she was unaware of it – it was hard not to see people manipulating you everywhere, once you realized you were susceptible to it. Lotte dug her hands into the soil, coming up with a clump of grass and dirt. Real and reliable. She could deal with that.
“We’re fine,” Lotte said, with a surprised laugh. The dirt fell away from her hands as she got to her feet. “We’re fine!” Never mind that they didn’t know when they’d be back – or what to do about shelter or food or water, or her head. Lotte would think about the ‘important’ things later. Her relief mixed with Christine’s glee as she gathered her skirts and ran forward.
A childish whoop escaped her as she raced through. She felt young and alright and most importantly – free. Christine couldn’t keep her thoughts off of it and she pushed at Lotte, until she made it clear she understood. There wasn’t anything here – nothing to guilt them, tie them down, chain them, or lock them away. They could just be and Lotte did just that.
She paused to spin – nothing fancy, as her dance schools had required, just a laughing spin that let her arms swing wide. Her head tilted back as she offered Christine a memory, explaining that she knew what this was like and hadn’t felt it in years. A fair with spinning lights, a magical violin, and the feeling of pure safety. Christine clicked her mental tongue at that – for how similar they were it seemed their definition of freedom was different – (safety didn’t exist in Christine’s, though she understood why Lotte looked for it.) She changed the subject though, before Lotte could press it, speaking in a louder, teasing voice. Sing. I dare you.
Lotte’s spinning slowed, until she was at a standstill as she chewed at her lip. “Should I?” There was the instant fear of getting hurt as she did so. Depression, voices, not sounding right…Christine pushed again. You’re FREE. You should at least know that you’ll feel better once you do sing.
Lotte waited one moment more, mulling over the possibilities before slowly nodding. “You’re right,” she admitted, a hint of a smile crossing your voice. “We are free though. Both of us."
She wiped her hands on her skirts, even though they were dirtier then her hands were. Feet moved forward, stepping to a beat only she and Christine could hear. She took a deep breath, before launching forward, voice rising.