Camile James Vaisey (lepassionne) wrote in goldenapples, @ 2009-06-25 22:49:00 |
|
|||
Current music: | Windmills - Toad the Wet Sprocket |
Entry tags: | camile vaisey, ginny weasley |
Who: Camile and Ginny and Parker
What: Run into each other at Nate's cafe.
When: 25 June
Where: Diagon
Rating: Not high.
Status: Incomplete.
Camile had one headphone in his ear, listening to a dance track. He wanted to go out sometime soon. He'd have to bug Jasper into going for some drinks. It was such a nice day out that he had decided to go out for lunch, rather than stay in. Parker was snuggled close in a sling, sleeping on Dad's chest having already eaten, and now it was Dad's turn to have some lunch. He was keeping Parker close because of the headlines that morning. Hopefully something would be done soon.
The pair were at Aux Bons Compains, where Camile was enjoying a sandwich and writing. It was thankfully climate controlled in the restaurant. The baby on him was like a little heater. He was glad to have him back. Sleeping in for a few days was all well and good, but being away from him was a little too much at this point. He finished off his sandwich and scratched out a melody line in notebook.
Ginny made her way into the restaurant, a place she frequented often. She found the escape of a different atmosphere to be refreshing. The past few days had been long and tiring; she had worked a lot, and when she wasn't working, she was checking her cellular for missed calls. After the news of the breakout, she needed space from reality, and the restaurant was her best bet for that. She had yet to hear from Camile, something not surprising, but disheartening all the same.
This was why, when she saw Camile sitting in the very place she was entering, holding what seemed to be a very small child in his arms, she stopped where she stood and had to do a double take. Not only was she a bit shaken up seeing him again, a random encounter, but she had to do a double take at the child. She made her way over, carefully, and gave a hesitant "Hey there," as she approached.
When he heard her voice, Camile nearly dropped his pen. Should he have been surprised he'd run into her here? No. Was he? Oh hell yes. He looked up, trying to hide the surprise on his face. He hesitated a moment, but finally said, "Hello."
Ginny could see a bit of hesitation on Camile's face, though it only lasted for a brief second. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked, indicating both the baby and the notebook. She was more asking if it was alright for her to stay, though part of her felt like she should be avoiding him, since he hadn't called her.
"Ah, no." He replied lamely. "I mean--" He cleared his throat. "--no, I was just having some lunch." He indicated his near empty plate. Some pomme frites remained, he wasn't sure if he wanted to eat them or not yet. He was so surprised to see her, that he hadn't realized that she didn't know about the baby currently napping on his chest.
Ginny was looking from his face, to the baby resting on him, a look of curiosity on her face. She kept telling herself that she needed to wait, he would tell her when he wanted to, and she didn't want to bug him and push him away. "Do you mind?" she asked, looking toward the empty chair across from him. "I don't mean to keep imposing on your time like this, but..." she trailed off, not quite sure how to explain her draw to him.
"No, Gin, it's okay. Sit," he nodded, picking up a fry and eating it, for something to do. He saw the way she looked between him and his son. Yeah, that was a new feature to Camile. He came with accessories. "This is my son, Parker." He introduced the sleeping child, who really didn't seem to care that they had company.
His son? She took a moment while she sat to absorb this new information. "He's adorable," she said after a moment. "How old is he?" Also, where was his mother? Ginny had questions floating about in her mind, but she forced them back. All in due time.
"Three months and ten days," Camile replied, rubbing the little boy's back. He smiled fondly at him. "He just ate, so it's nap time." Then he ate another fry, feeling awkward.
"I imagine you have your hands full," she said with a fond smile, though her statement held a little bit of hope that maybe that was why he had not called. Ginny loved children. She always imagined having several of her own one day, but as it stood, that plan was not panning out for her.
"It's getting better," Camile nodded with a little smile. "He's been sleeping through the night mostly. It's good, I'm not so exhausted. Maybe he'll wake up and say hello before you leave." He closed up his notebook, no need for Ginny to see words inspired by her. Especially when they could be taken the wrong way.
Ginny smiled at the thought of being able to interact with the child. "Mom always said I was her best behaved," she mused. "I still think its because she learned to tune some of it out by the time I came along."
"He used to cry so much," he smiled a little. "I liked the sound, because, honestly? It was like the sound of life, just as much as his coos and giggles were." He blushed a little at waxing poetic on the sound of his son's crying.
Ginny felt her smile spread. "I've never quite heard someone describe crying like that before," she told him. "You must really be in love with the fatherhood bit." It was strange, thinking of him with a child, but seeing it, it seemed so natural. He had always been caring and compassionate with her, should it really be any different with an infant?
"It's not always the most amazing thing, but I manage and I love him, that's what counts," Camile nodded. This was easy, not talking about what went on, how they felt now. A baby? His baby? Sure he could talk and talk. And he was being honest. Children were taxing.
"If you don't mind me asking, is it just you?" she asked, gently, trying not to sound too nosy. He kept talking about his son as if he was the only one, so she was a bit curious as to his situation. She knew that there were times where the mother ended up caring for a child alone; it wasn't often the other way around.
"Is it just me?" Camile repeated, a little confused. What was that supposed to mean? He took a sip of his soda and ate another fry as he waited for an answer.
"I don't know how to ask without seeming like I'm prying, but I was asking about Parker's mom," she said, fidgeting in her seat a little, worried about whether he would be put off by the question. If she was right and the mother wasn't around, it might be a touchy subject. And either way, the question might come off with the wrong intent. "You keep talking about everything like you are taking care of him alone, I just was wondering, is all..."
"Oh, yeah, it's just me and Parker," he nodded, playing with the little hand that was curled around his suspender. "Maman and dad help though, they watched him this weekend, actually. It's nice that they've leant a hand." He knew he wasn't giving her a whole lot, but he felt a little guarded around her. He almost didn't want to let her in.
"He's lucky to have you," she said kindly, watching how he handled his son. "I don't know many guys that would be able to handle something like this so well," she said, though she was merely speculating on his abilities to care for the child.
"It's kind of amazing to me that I can half the time," Camile smiled. "You don't have to work today?" He asked, before eating another fry. It gave him something to do and he wasn't sure what to say. It was like Friday night all over again.
"You were born to parent," she reasoned. "You got plenty of practice getting up in the middle of the night, after all," she said, attempting a joke. At his question about work, she pulled a face. "I work the night shift today," she said.
Camile dropped his eyes when Ginny mentioned school. It was too hard and he didn't want to go there. "I didn't mind the night shift," he said quietly, fixing Parker's fringe. That little nose was so cute.
"You always said you didn't mind," she said, her voice still gentle, but with none of the teasing left. "I always felt terrible though." She remembered how he used to wave off her apologies as if they were null and void. "Its a wonder you ever knew what to do when you got to sleep through a full night, as often as I dragged you out of bed," she half-grinned, watching his face to see how he would react to this subject matter.
"I'm sure you would have done the same for me," he replied, still not looking up at her. Or would she have? He didn't know now.
"In a heartbeat," she said, her tone soft as she watched him watching his son, his eyes avoiding her. She hated this change between them. It was as if her mere presence was unwanted, the way he was avoiding her eyes. "I can go, if you want," she murmered, hoping he would stop her from rising.
"Gin--" Camile started. He didn't know what he wanted. This was painful, he didn't know what to say to her. What do you do when it's all right between you, glaring and loud, you both can't seem to bring yourselves to say it? Of course this was neither the time nor the place. "Stay if you'd like to. I don't want to keep you." Her decision, not his.
"I want nothing more than to stay," she told him honestly. "But I can't help but feel you don't truly want me here," she came out and said. It hurt, putting herself in the position for him to push her away, as she knew he had done. It hurt more for him to not tell her what was on his mind, when it was so glaringly obvious something was there.
"I wasn't expecting to see you," Camile replied, his hand resting lightly against Parker's back. "Ever." He sighed. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to stay in their seperate paths, because she didn't want him.
"Is it so bad?" she asked softly. "Seeing me? Because I've wanted to see you for so long." Ginny was trying not to show her nerves, that her hope was hinging on his response. When she had seen him at the gala, she felt hope for the first time in years. Now, she feared he wanted nothing to do with her.
"You know what happened Ginny, you did it," Camile replied, obviously still hurting from everything that had happened before. He hadn't meant that to sound accusing, though that's likely the way she took. He just meant that everything wasn't as easy as coming back, when she'd done the pushing.
"I know what happened, Camile," she said, her tone a bit harder, but still holding the nerves. "But surely you realize that he had just died. He was dead, still thinking things about he and I, while my thoughts were nowhere near that." She took a deep breath, calming the shaking in her voice. Ginny was still a mix of emotions about the situation, the unresolved loose ends that surrounded her life. "Do you really think that anything I said that night was an honest representation of how I felt?"
"How could I not when you said them? When you looked at me like that," Camile looked away. He did NOT want to do this here.
"Because I was a mess," she said, her voice threatening to break. "My brother was dead, and a boy who I had spent my whole life chasing after, regardless of how I felt about him at that point, had just been murdered." Her hands were clenched tightly under the table on her lap. "I was mad at the world, Camile. Everyone was the enemy."
Camile just gave her a sad smile, stood up with Parker. "It's still all about you, isn't it, Ginny?" He wasn't surprised. She hadn't changed. At least not from what he could see. She wasn't the only one who lost people in that war, who's life was devastated. He dropped a few coins onto the table and picked up Parker's diaper bag. "I'll see you around."
Ginny's face fell as he stood up, and she realized how her words had come out. "I don't mean that the things I said weren't meant to hurt you," she said quickly, hoping to stop him. "But I'm telling you that I didn't mean a word of them. And if I could take them back, I would, in a heartbeat. You did so much for me, and all I did was hurt you," she looked up to him, not knowing if he would stay or sit back down. "I have a lot to make up for, I know that, but I want to do the work."
"Did you stop to think about what I want? I've got Parker to think about now too," Camile replied, trying his best to stay calm. He didn't want to upset his son, who was starting to stir even as his dad spoke. He doubted her even now. What if they got involved and then something else happened? Would she push him away again? And what effect would that have on his son? He didn't want him to get hurt.