{Fifty-One ~ RAOUL Got Me A Nice Engagement Ring!} {Audio//English and French}
[There's the sound of rummaging for a little while before Christine speaks up, and when she does, she doesn't sound the slightest bit happy.]
No rings! Not a single ring! Well, no nice ones. Just dorure et verre! C'est une indignation!
[Some more rummaging and some less understandable mutters, then she starts ranting again, presumably more to herself ( Read more... )
No rings! Not a single ring! Well, no nice ones. Just dorure et verre! C'est une indignation!
[Some more rummaging and some less understandable mutters, then she starts ranting again, presumably more to herself ( Read more... )
Reply
Reply
What in Mar's name are you doing?
Reply
I'm looking for a ring. I hope you don't mind, though of course if you want to find it yourself I won't object. It's just that you were injured, so I thought if I found a lovely ring it would be easier, even if it isn't quite traditional.
Reply
What for?
[Oh he has a bad feeling about this.]
Reply
What do you mean, what for? Erol, are you joking? Because I know you wouldn't forget something as important as this.
Reply
[Shit, think fast. He's gotten a little too comfortable with Christine's adoration. While he doesn't technically care about her happiness, he likes what he gets from her when she's happy perhaps a little too much.]
Well, you know my sense of humor.
For the sake of amusement, if I had forgotten, what would you tell me?
Reply
Reply
You may have to refresh my mind as to the details.
In person, if you don't mind.
[The less said about this on open channels, the better.]
That is the last time I allow anyone near me with an opiate.
Reply
[This... is not quite the reaction she was expecting. Christine believes just about anything Erol says, but there's something about his tone...
No, she's just imagining things. Erol wouldn't have forgotten what he said, he's far too good a beau - no, fiancé! - to do such a thing.]
Reply
[Erol tries to figure things out as he heads to the cafe. He knew he'd been heavily drugged at some points, but he THOUGHT he'd retained reasonable clarity. But he didn't remember proposing. He WOULDN'T propose. At no point had he even considered it; the thought was not bone-deep terrifying, as it was for many bachelors, merely annoying.
Well she acted like a bloody housewife anyway, and if it kept her happy, perhaps it would be worth it to go through the motions?
Ugh. It would take some time getting used to the idea and deciding if he wanted to put up with this. Christine was nice enough, to be sure, but marriage? She would expect fidelity, he just knew it.
Hey Christine, have an Erol. He looks thoughtful - or perhaps that's brooding.]
Reply
Reply
As usual, he takes the coffee and pays little attention at all to the rest of it. Food is fuel, and the finer points are lost on him.
And now, he has to coerce her into relating the details of this sordid mistake without getting her too upset. Why does he care? He DOESN'T care. But she's so much trouble when she turns on the waterworks.]
What... precisely... did I say.
In the infirmary.
Reply
Still, this shouldn't - wouldn't - make any difference. She knows what occured in the infirmary, and nothing will change that.
Really, the only thing she has to regret so far is that there are no dress rehearsals for life.]
I tell you, Erol, you ask me to marry you. Oh, I never been so happy before, truly. I never thought... I always think I be just a maîtresse, but oh... now!
[And she smiles as if nothing could ever be wrong with the world again, while she acts to - at this point - most likely save all she has gained with Erol. One blunder... but there shall be no blunder, because she is only reporting the truth.
Of course, we all know that Christine doesn't always see the truth as being the same it is to other people.]
Reply
[He rubs the bridge of his nose. What he should do is tell her no. Erol hasn't the faintest idea what REALLY happened, but he knows he never would have said something like that and meant it. If only he could fucking remember! But only bits and pieces of the time he was drugged came back to him, and they didn't obey any wish of his for specifics.
Options. If he said no, Christine would mope for weeks. Perhaps longer. If he acquiesced... Precursors, he'd be a laughing-stock. Absolutely not. There was no question.
But.
He didn't particularly care. Marriage was just a certificate and a couple words, it didn't mean anything. Not to Erol, whose childhood example was of a dysfunctional and cold upper-class arrangement. His main concern was for his reputation.
So if no one knew... he could make her happy, with none of the downside. It still rankled a little - Erol certainly had never seen himself as married - but Christine's fawning over him had come to mean just barely enough so that he was willing to make a ( ... )
Reply
Oh, really?! Oh, Erol, it be so wonderful! I be such a good wife, I promise!
[She swallows the speech even easier than usual. It fits in with what he's already told her and what she herself believes. Unfortunately, she immediately assumes 'don't tell anyone' doesn't include Amaria. Guess who's going to be gossiping to her best friend, Erol.]
I understand, Erol. Nobody know, I swear! It just for us.
[She squeezes Erol's hand, and smiles at him wider than she's ever smiles before, or so it feels. She can't believe everything is falling into place so perfectly! When Christine first thought up this plan, it seemed as impossible as a castle made of chocolate, and yet her dream is now to become a reality.]
Reply
Leave a comment