Diana Prince, Wonder Woman (lassooftruth) wrote in paradisolog, @ 2016-09-29 19:36:00 |
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Entry tags: | octavia blake (floored), ~diana prince (lassooftruth) |
WHO: Diana Prince & Octavia Blake
WHAT: Enjoying the sunrise on the beach
WHEN: Morning
WARNINGS: None
STATUS: Complete
Morning was Diana’s favorite time on the island. Those moments after she woke up, while the air was still cool, the sun peeking over the horizon, the birds waking up in the trees. In the mornings, she just wanted to lay about, breathe the world in deeply, and relax. Which was why that morning she chose to take a walk and enjoy the first moments of the sunrise on the beach, the water swirling around her ankles and the breeze blowing her dress against her thighs. She had lost count of the amount of time she’d spent here thus far. She cherished the mix of solitude and companionship. She enjoyed getting to know everyone else, where they were from, what they did before here. But most importantly, she enjoyed getting to know herself again, returning to the simple roots of her upbringing, rather than the stress and darkness in the man’s world. She watched the sun rise, the air prickling her arms, then turned to walk back up the beach slowly, carefully. There was no hurry. No rush to get to the next moment. She had adapted to this lifestyle more easily, she thought, than some. It would be difficult to ever leave it again. She looked up and smiled when she saw someone join her out on the beach, and she called out to them with a wave. *** Octavia liked heading down to the beach in the mornings to watch the sunrise. Growing up in space, she never got to witness this kind of beauty and when they got to the Ground, they were so busy fighting to survive that she never really was able to take the time to appreciate it. One of the best things about being here was that she could slow down and enjoy the little things instead of constantly running from one crisis to another. And now that she was pregnant, she felt it was even more important to take that time to acknowledge the opportunity she had here to build a better life, not only for herself and the other volunteers, but for the next generation that Arva was raising. The last time she ran into someone else on the beach in the morning, it was Eddie and they had a lot of fun. That wasn’t really on her mind when she spotted a woman nearby and heard her call out. She smiled and walked over towards the woman. “Good morning.” *** “Good morning,” Diana greeted, meeting her halfway. “I’m Diana. I’m not certain if we’ve met yet. I feel like I’ve seen so many people around and yet haven’t met nearly half of them.” She smiled warmly and offered her hand. She glanced back over her shoulder at the rising sun, the heat of which was finally settling on her back and up her shoulders and neck. She rubbed her arms and turned back to the woman before her. “What brings you down the beach this morning?” she asked, wondering if it was for the same reason that she was here. To be alone in the sunrise for a few moments before returning to the rest of her day. *** “I don’t think we have,” she said, smiling at the other woman. “I’m Octavia.” One of the things she liked about being here was that she didn’t have to give a last name, no one knew her as the ‘illegal second child’ or would be able to connect her to her brother who she hoped would never show up in this place and ruin her peace. She considered Diana’s question for a moment before responding. “I enjoy the peace that watching the sunrise over the ocean brings me,” she said. “And I want to ensure that my baby feels that peace before he or she is born.” Since her pregnancy was still very new, there were no signs that she was carrying a child and, thus far, she had been blessed with not having morning sickness, but she knew that could potentially change at any time. Her hand went to her still flat stomach when she spoke. It was still hard to believe that she had another life growing inside her. *** “My name is Diana,” she returned. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Octavia.” Her smile widened when she heard Octavia speak of being pregnant and the peace from the sunrise. “Congratulations,” she said, her hand touching Octavia’s arm momentarily. “I think that’s a lovely reason to want to enjoy the morning air and colors.” She glanced off in that direction again and breathed in deeply. “You barely look pregnant,” she said, “so I assume it’s still new? If I understand the ways of Arva and the gods of this island correctly, you don’t have to worry about carrying to a full nine months term, is that right? Are you excited?” Diana didn’t know why she asked that. She knew Octavia must be excited. Having a child here was a choice; there were no accidents under the gods’ watch. She imagined that Octavia and whomever her partner was would be eager to do this for the island and the gods. “How do you feel?” *** Diana seemed like a very kind person and that made Octavia smile. It was still something she was getting used to, having people who didn’t even know her care about her well being and happiness. So much of her life was lived only having contact with her brother and mother and it wasn’t like people were making friends in the Skybox. On the Ground, it was hard to trust people because everyone had their own agenda, so being here was a very new experience for her. A very positive new experience. “It’s very new, just a couple of weeks,” she said. “But I’m excited. I mean, I’m going to let Arva raise the baby, but I’m happy that I get to contribute to the island and her cause. Where I’m from, well, it’s not a good place and I’m planning to stay here as long as I can so I want to do what I can.” *** A frown passed across Diana’s face for a moment, at the mention of her not being from a very good place. That was something that Diana was learning as she got to know everyone else on the island. Whereas she saw the damage and destruction in the man’s world, so different from her life growing up among the Amazons, some of the people here came from far worse situations. She pursed her lips together for a moment before speaking again. “I’m looking forward to my opportunity to do the same,” she said quietly. She had always thought about having a child of her own, though she knew her mother was against it, that she didn’t want her tangled up in the emotional dynamics of a relationship with a man. But here, that wasn’t necessarily the case. “That’s very exciting for you.” *** Probably the starkest contrast between this place and the Ark was that having children was encouraged here. Octavia understood the reasons for the strict population control but it made her life a living hell and she thought it was unfair that her mother was the one punished for her existence when obviously she had a father who shared that responsibility. It never occurred to her to ask about his identity and she supposed it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. “I am excited,” she said. “You haven’t been here long, have you? I waited a few months before deciding to take this step.” *** Diana nodded. “Yes, not very long at all,” she said. She thought about what she had been doing before Arva came to her, working with the UN and with the Justice League. She shook the thoughts away. “Was there any particular reason you decided that now was the right time?” The question came out easily. Perhaps Diana was interested in knowing more about how to differentiate between the want for a child and the right time to do so. And with whom. She supposed she hadn’t quite yet met a man here with whom she’d like to have a child, whether they turned the babe over to Arva or not. Diana believed that the partner was, in some ways, also important. *** “There were a few reasons,” Octavia said, not hesitating at all to share those with the other woman. “I found a place on the island where I was comfortable living. Before the snow, I was just sleeping outside and enjoying nature and that didn’t seem like a good idea if I was going to have a baby.” She was also lucky now that the gods gifted her with a bed shortly after she decided to become pregnant. That would be handy when she got bigger. “I also met someone that I thought would be a good father,” she said. “That was the part that was the hardest for me. I started talking to people and thinking about that at least a month before I decided to actually get pregnant.” And she was glad that she chose Jordan. They weren’t in love or anything like that, but he had good genes and she knew that if she needed anything during the pregnancy, he would help her. *** Diana nodded as Octavia spoke. She shared the same thoughts, about being comfortable with where she was living and meeting someone who would be a good father. “I think it’s good that you gave it such thought,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll be doing the same when my time comes.” She smiled again and shifted a little bit so that she could face the sun, which had risen as the island woke up around them. “You mentioned that you come from a not very good place. Do you mind if I ask you about that? I’m finding it fascinating to see all the various places everyone here has come from. It’s incredible to see the variety.” *** The longer she was here, the easier it was for her to talk about home and Octavia nodded. “Earth was destroyed in my world nearly a hundred years ago by nuclear war. People left the planet and lived in space stations. They thought they were the last of humanity and had very limited resources so there were very strict rules about everything. Including how many children you could have.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “I was a second child and it was illegal for my mother to have me so I had to stay hidden,” she explained. “They found me when I was sixteen and locked me up. My mother was killed for her infraction.” *** A nuclear war destroying earth didn’t surprise Diana in the least, even though it probably should have. But the truth was she could see how the world could destroy itself like that. It didn’t scare her now that she was here as it might have if she wasn’t. “Oh that’s horrible,” she said, her fingers touching her mouth to stifle a gasp. “I’m sorry to hear that. That can’t have been easy at all.” She shook her head. “I hope that being here has been better for you, has given you time to grieve and a place to be yourself.” *** Octavia hadn’t needed to grieve her mother that much. Despite being one of only two people she had contact with, she was much closer to her brother and there wasn’t as strong of a bond between mother and daughter, though she figured that was more than Diana needed to know. She had been grieving when she arrived here, but it was for Lincoln. “I’m happy here,” she said. Or at least she was learning to be. “This is the first time in my life I’ve really been free.” *** “I can understand that,” Diana said, but she didn’t elaborate. “I’m glad to hear it. I think that’s the purpose of this place. One of them, besides the obvious,” she said, motioning to Octavia’s stomach, even if she wasn’t showing yet. “I think that everyone here has the chance to enjoy themselves and each other in ways that we might not get to where we came from.” *** “I think we’re all very lucky to be here,” Octavia agreed. She wondered how Diana understood the freedom thing, but wasn’t really all that surprised. It seemed like a lot of people here had things they were trying to escape. She gave Diana a brief smile. “It was really nice chatting with you, but I’m going to continue my walk. I’m sure I’ll see you around soon.” The island wasn’t that big after all. *** “We are,” Diana echoed. She felt calm on the island, happy, and, as Octavia said, free. Though she also understood that she didn’t have the same background and tragedy as the other woman did. “And we’re all lucky to have each other as well.” She smiled back. “Enjoy the morning,” she said, motioning to the sea which was lapping against the shore and the sun, which was growing brighter. “I’ll see you later.” |