InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "And when I dream"

Katherine Athena (oceantoocean) wrote in we_float,
@ 2010-05-21 22:37:00

Entry tags:

character: alistair icenhour, character: katherine athena, plot: sympathy for the devil

Who: Alistair Icenhour and Katherine Athena.
What: Conversations and further strategy.
When: Saturday, May 22, 2096
Where: Waiting for the Interurban, Fremont, Seattle
Status: Closed; in progress

"Well." Katherine said as she came to a full stop in front of the four statues. "That's something, isn't it?" Her arms, still clutching the notes from a brief meeting with the mayor, pressed her notebook up against her chest without even thinking about it. To protect her heart.

"Waiting for the Interurban" was what someone had titled the work of public art so many years ago that even Katherine, who studied her city's history carefully, knew little about it. It had become an institution--four stone figures standing, on which the public draped clothing and changed outfits at will. However the figures had changed. Someone had sewn on extra limbs into some of the outfits, added lumps of stone to the heads... in short, they were jokers.

"You don't have to stare," a teenage girl stopped and told them, plucking a headphone out of her ear for a moment. "It's been like that since Wednesday." She snapped a piece of gum and rolled her eyes. "I think they shoulda added something more dramatic. Like maybe the Troll." Before Katherine could get more words out of her mouth, the girl had stepped back on a board and let the air hover her down the street.

"Wednesday," Katherine repeated, stepping a little closer.

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theseainsideme
2010-05-22 06:03 am UTC (link)

Alistair hung up his call and looked first to Katherine and then to the statues. Art, he knew, had it's place in the grand scheme of history. He just didn't get it all of the time.

This was a fairly simple declaration he thought. Even one he could suss out.

"I wonder who's idea?" he said aloud as he followed her closer and peered with a more critical eye. This is what people thought of Jokers - extra limbs and heads like some twisted amalgamation of an incomplete attempt at forming identical twins. It was hard not to look at the statues and analyze his own faults. So he stopped looking at them.

"We should be getting along," Alistair pressed gently.

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oceantoocean
2010-05-22 06:10 am UTC (link)

"Right." She turned away and began walking briskly across the intersection. It was apparent that she was frustrated, from the short, sharp steps to the way that her hand kept reaching up to pull nonexistent strands away from her left ear. No wind was blowing and not even the quickness of her stride could joggle her carefully pulled-back hair from position.

The sidewalk met her heels soon enough and she forced herself to slow down, lest Alistair fight to keep up. She tried to think of the meeting that they'd been to and the conversation that had been going before her eyes fixed on the intersection but she kept wondering what the intent was behind the statue and the comment that the girl had made. The Troll. Was that what she was? An abstract?

Stop it, Katherine, she told herself. You can't be President if you're a joker first. But she wondered whether she could even tell the truth then.

Not for the first time, she thought that she would have liked to have sought Alistair's opinion on that matter. But again, she rejected the idea. She was too close to asking too much, as it was. To tell him that she'd hidden her own joker would push him over the edge.

	oceantoocean 2010-05-23 03:57 pm UTC (link)
	"We should." She felt a shiver at the calm, quiet tone of his voice. Of anyone in the world, Alistair had the greatest ability to destroy her. Would he? She wondered as she touched her ear, finger scratching at the edge so hard that it was already cracking. She inhaled, then said, "Can we sit down?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	theseainsideme 2010-05-23 08:11 pm UTC (link)
	Alistair nodded and moved over to his right to take a seat on her couch. The room was expansive and it felt it al the moment. He finally made a move to take off his jacket. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	oceantoocean 2010-05-24 01:17 am UTC (link)
	For once, Katherine sat right next to him. She wanted to see his face when she spoke although she wasn't sure whether it would be comforting or not. "I don't know where to start," she said. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	oceantoocean 2010-05-25 12:56 am UTC (link)
	"I was nine," she said quietly. What was he thinking of, as he looked at her? Had he asked because he wanted to know how long she'd hidden this secret? "It... I was riding my bicycle. Too fast, Dad said. I always rode it too fast coming down the hill." Katherine's finger tugged at her ear as she sat there, remembering but not speaking. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)