InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "fall asleep with it still insi"

fancy_lamorne (fancy_lamorne) wrote in la_vie_rpg,
@ 2008-06-21 10:22:00

Current mood:

tired

Perchance to Dream
Who: Charlie & Open
What: Continuation of this
Where: The Black Death Tavern
When: Set shortly after this, early afternoon

Fancy was filled with so much nervous distraction that she went two blocks past the Tavern before she realized her mistake. She laughed at herself as she turned around and made her way back. She stopped in the kitchen and prepared a try of food for herself and Charlie. She included some of the sweet rolls she'd just brought at Marie's bakery. There wasn't any meat to spare for this meal, so some bread cheese and fruit would have to do. It wasn't as much as she'd like to offer, barely a plateful for each of them, but all good things were hard to come by. She made a pot of cheap coffee to take up as well. She was careful to make the try look as if it was only for her and hid the extra cup and saucer in her coat pocket before going up stairs.

She looked around her cautiously and listened for a moment at the door before unlocking it and quickly going inside. She closed and locked it behind her before doing anything else, including looking for Charlie. It was dark and stuffy in the room and she longed to open a curtain, but didn't dare risk it. She found Charlie asleep on the bed, and smiled softly. She was glad he was able to sleep, she knew he needed it. She walked over to the small table by the window, the click of her heels almost silent with her careful steps, and laid the tray down.

She went over to the closet and took off her coat and hat. Then, since she hated walking around her own bedroom in shoes, she took them off as well. She also took off her dress, thinking that running around in her slip and stockings was far more fitting to the stuffiness in the room. She didn't want to pass out from the heat. She had a lot to do tonight. She would like to venture out tonight to Le Moulin Noir and see about getting Charlie some papers. She folded her dress over the back of a wing back chair, figuring she could get away with wearing it again.

She turned around and watched Charlie sleep, watched his chest rising and falling, wondered what he was dreaming. Something good she hoped. After all, good was in short supply during the waking hours these days. She reached up to take the pins out of her hair, letting it fall down over her shoulders. She thought she'd lay down beside Charlie for awhile, she could use a nap herself. It had been a long day, and was most likely to only get longer.

(Post a new comment)

iceskatecharlie
2008-06-22 02:39 am UTC (link)

Charlie sighed, feeling the sensation of awakeness begin to tug at his senses. He shifted, rolling onto his side and digging his head into the pillow, wanting a few more moments of sleep.

When it became obvious his body wasn't going to allow him that particular comfort at the moment, he rolled back onto his back and stretched, arms extending as far as he could force them above his head. He opened his eyes, and pushed up from the bed. His hands sank into the mattress, far different from the bunks in the barracks and the cots in the farmhouses.

He paused, confused, before his mind caught up. He was in Paris, on the second floor of the tavern, and Fancy had just gone to see about more clothes.

There was a sigh, and a shift of movement next to him.

He glanced to his left, and there was Fancy, asleep on the bed in nothing more than a slip and a pair of stockings. His eyes shot forward. It wasn't proper to be staring at a woman like that when she wasn't awake.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed. The curtains were drawn, likely to keep people from being able to see him through the windows. There was a tray on the table by the window, with two plates of bread, cheese, and fruit, and a pot of coffee.

He stood, and walked over. grabbing a piece of cheese. It was soft, and melted in his mouth. The apple was slightly soft from sitting in the open air, but it was juicy. The roll was sweet, crunchy on the outside and airy on the inside. He poured a small amount of coffee into one of the cups, and put it on the desk. He grabbed his field manual out of his pack and sat the desk. He starting flipping through the pages as he sipped the cold and slightly stale coffee.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	fancy_lamorne 2008-06-22 03:01 am UTC (link)
	Fancy reached out in her sleep, and felt the empty but warm space in the bed beside her. It wasn't an unusual occurrence until she remembered about Charlie and then her eyes shot open. She sighed in relief to see him sitting at the table by the window, safe and sound. For now. "Is the coffee still hot?" she questioned, propping herself up on her elbow. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iceskatecharlie 2008-06-22 03:37 am UTC (link)
	He glanced up from his manual when she spoke. "No, but it's still better than the swill we got in the barracks," he smiled over the cup as he took another sip. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fancy_lamorne
2008-06-22 09:54 pm UTC (link)

Fancy smiled back.

"I am sure that it is, but I do not mind heating back up. I like hot coffee myself." she slowly climbed off the bed and slipped on a robe. Then she moved back to the table and picked up the coffee pot. She also picked up a grape off the plate and popped it into her mouth. She realized then, as her stomach growled, that she hadn't eaten anything all day.

"Is there anything else you want?" Fancy asked, wishing to save herself any unnecessary trips downstairs.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iceskatecharlie 2008-06-22 10:59 pm UTC (link)
	He looked back down at the manual as she stood, careful not to look until she was more covered. "Some paper and a pen would be nice. I'd like to start on those letters." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	fancy_lamorne 2008-06-23 01:20 am UTC (link)
	"There is some in the drawer in the nightstand by the bed. You can help yourself." She left him then, headed downstairs to re-heat the coffee. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

iceskatecharlie
2008-06-23 03:30 am UTC (link)

He put the manual on the desk and stood as she left the room, walking over to the nightstand. He pulled the drawer open, and got out a few sheets of paper and a pen.

Sitting at the desk, he uncapped the pen and thought about what to write. The code was easy enough, certain words meant certain things, but working them into a plausible and inconspicuous story was going to be the hard part.

He wrote:

Dear Aunt Mabel,

It is nearly summer here in Paris, and the weather has been extremely fair so far. I hope you're not worrying to much about me, Henry, and Michael, I know how much a week or two without word concerns you.

Johnson's wife now knew who he was, where he was, and how long he'd been there.

My family here is doing well. We stayed on their farm for a while and helped with the planting. We're all hoping for a mild summer, so the crops won't dry out. We helped birth of a couple calves, but neither of them survived.

Now she knew they had both died, and that he was the only survivor. Charlie wished he could deliver the news in person.

Please look in on my grandfather if you pass by. He gets lonely since my grandmother died last winter, and I worry about him being all alone. My letters can only do so much.

"Grandfather" was code for the commanding officer of the base where they were stationed. Charlie didn't know how they'd react knowing that one man was in Paris, but he hoped they wouldn't try a rescue mission. He wasn't worth the risk - he didn't need to be the cause of more men's deaths.

Give my cousins a kiss for me, and tell them that maybe when they're older, they can join me for a summer.

With love, Luke

He looked it over once, and wrote a similar letter to Mac's wife, writing it as to a cousin, rather than an aunt. He'd run them by Fancy to see if she could tell the code.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	fancy_lamorne 2008-06-23 12:16 pm UTC (link)
	Fancy lingered only long enough downstairs to re-heat the coffee. Then she returned, making sure to rattle the key in the door as a warning she was coming in. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iceskatecharlie 2008-06-23 03:29 pm UTC (link)
	The key rattled in the door just as he finished writing the second letter, and he looked over his shoulder to see Fancy reenter the room with the pot of coffee. He looked back to the letter and read it over again. It seemed to be in order, but a second opinion never hurt. "Would you look over these? Make sure the code holds up?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iceskatecharlie 2008-07-03 10:42 pm UTC (link)
	He laughed a little, and smiled. "Ah, no, I don't. In England, I call the barracks home and write letters to my father back home in Iowa." (Reply to this) (Thread)

	fancy_lamorne 2008-07-03 10:48 pm UTC (link)
	Fancy smiled softly, she liked Charlie's sweetness, innocence. It was such a delightful change from most of the other men in Paris, jaded and broken by war one way or another. "Just your father?" Fancy asked, "no brothers, sisters, lover?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)