Bitter-Sweet 1
anonymous
October 11 2008, 06:20:11 UTC
The nights they waited to receive correspondence from Jean were always the longest. Boredom and anxiety would linger heavily in the air, as well, especially for those left behind to hear from the others. On those nights, Shirin Bakhtiar, political science graduate, former court affairs assistant, and now pseudo-terrorist, would pass the time playing poker with whomever was unfortunate enough to give the game a try.
"That's not very ladylike," her companion threw the rest of his hand down, sighing at another loss. The cheap light setting they had as to conserve energy was not frail enough to hide the satisfied small on the young woman's face as she arranged the deck back into it's pack, "and I bet there's some prohibition or something on card playing anyway where you come from."
"If I paid any mind to prohibitions, gambling for junk food would be the least of my worries," the brunette explained, not paying heed to the smile that sprung on Klaus's lips. Cards were frowned upon, but everyone played those. That was something she picked up from her brothers, who went through life like everyone else committing these smalls acts of trespass to stay sane. "I shouldn't even be in the same room as you, unchaperoned like that," she pointed out with a bite, but it was hard to tell whether it was a jab at where she came from, the company she kept right now, or the distress at not hearing back from Jean seeping into her voice.
"Aren't you the little rebel." The world was changing, and it swept many lives in its way as it did. There was very little sense in paying mind to every one of them as they struggled to stay alive, but Klaus was a man who left little to escape him. Their way of life now moved through a sea of faces, a string of code names and endless first names that soon disappeared into the bottom. And she was just another name, another pretty little thing who had run away from home and into this world. With a name like that, and features like those, she certainly was a long way from home. Another rebel playing at war and adventure, but she had proved wrong in those few months he'd known her. He had made the mistake before of sheltering the flower of a a woman she had appeared to be at first, and now he was never safe of her tongue. She always talked back.
Any moment now. Klaus clicked his mouse idly as he settled heavily into a chair.
"I thought I'd made it clear what--"
"Will this world have a place for you, when it's all over?" it was a question as sharp as her endless suggestions, but it was always enough to get a reaction from one who'd always interrupted, and froze when attacked. There was always that distance between them, and between her and the others. Opinionated as she may be, there was always that level of reservation evident in her body language. She didn't flinch from the organization's shabby hiding houses, or the modest accommodation. She never complained, yet she kept everyone at arm's length.
Shirin never did once stoop as to peer over his shoulder and at the monitor. He wondered what her hair would smell like.
"Everything will fall into place then, and things will get better," reflected in the dimmed screen was that confident adjustment of her glasses. It was different that night.
"And you'll fit back so easily at home." was that disdain she could hear? "For someone claiming to break away, you're carrying a heavy weight from home."
He could hear the footfalls of the convenient ankle boots the members wore approaching, hers were small to fit her dainty feet, "My own ghosts are irrelevant to our cause, Klaus Glad," the blue eyed woman said in a steely tone, "and I would appreciate it if you could keep those assumptions of yours to yourself."
"Would you, now?" Klaus looked up at the woman who had seated herself on the desk beside him. Perhaps this had been the closest she'd come to him physically in all those months they've known each other, "but all I have to work with are assumptions until I get to know better."
"That's not very ladylike," her companion threw the rest of his hand down, sighing at another loss. The cheap light setting they had as to conserve energy was not frail enough to hide the satisfied small on the young woman's face as she arranged the deck back into it's pack, "and I bet there's some prohibition or something on card playing anyway where you come from."
"If I paid any mind to prohibitions, gambling for junk food would be the least of my worries," the brunette explained, not paying heed to the smile that sprung on Klaus's lips. Cards were frowned upon, but everyone played those. That was something she picked up from her brothers, who went through life like everyone else committing these smalls acts of trespass to stay sane. "I shouldn't even be in the same room as you, unchaperoned like that," she pointed out with a bite, but it was hard to tell whether it was a jab at where she came from, the company she kept right now, or the distress at not hearing back from Jean seeping into her voice.
"Aren't you the little rebel." The world was changing, and it swept many lives in its way as it did. There was very little sense in paying mind to every one of them as they struggled to stay alive, but Klaus was a man who left little to escape him. Their way of life now moved through a sea of faces, a string of code names and endless first names that soon disappeared into the bottom. And she was just another name, another pretty little thing who had run away from home and into this world. With a name like that, and features like those, she certainly was a long way from home. Another rebel playing at war and adventure, but she had proved wrong in those few months he'd known her. He had made the mistake before of sheltering the flower of a a woman she had appeared to be at first, and now he was never safe of her tongue. She always talked back.
Any moment now. Klaus clicked his mouse idly as he settled heavily into a chair.
"I thought I'd made it clear what--"
"Will this world have a place for you, when it's all over?" it was a question as sharp as her endless suggestions, but it was always enough to get a reaction from one who'd always interrupted, and froze when attacked. There was always that distance between them, and between her and the others. Opinionated as she may be, there was always that level of reservation evident in her body language. She didn't flinch from the organization's shabby hiding houses, or the modest accommodation. She never complained, yet she kept everyone at arm's length.
Shirin never did once stoop as to peer over his shoulder and at the monitor. He wondered what her hair would smell like.
"Everything will fall into place then, and things will get better," reflected in the dimmed screen was that confident adjustment of her glasses. It was different that night.
"And you'll fit back so easily at home." was that disdain she could hear? "For someone claiming to break away, you're carrying a heavy weight from home."
He could hear the footfalls of the convenient ankle boots the members wore approaching, hers were small to fit her dainty feet, "My own ghosts are irrelevant to our cause, Klaus Glad," the blue eyed woman said in a steely tone, "and I would appreciate it if you could keep those assumptions of yours to yourself."
"Would you, now?" Klaus looked up at the woman who had seated herself on the desk beside him. Perhaps this had been the closest she'd come to him physically in all those months they've known each other, "but all I have to work with are assumptions until I get to know better."
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