FICLETS! Holiday - Day Twenty-Five
For merle_p
Kevin
Kevin stands transfixed in the middle of the courtyard, his eyes on the sign over the building. He blinks rapidly, his blue eyes shiny with tears. He shakes himself and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly.
He turns slightly, looking at Saul. There is an eerie silence, despite the large number of people milling about. Several have headsets on, but even those that don’t are quiet. There’s a large group of nuns in the distance, crossing themselves and fingering their rosaries. Kevin watches them for a moment and then shivers again.
Saul moves closer to him, resting his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Kevin nods toward the building and follows a line of people toward it, listening to the soft strains of German and French and English and other languages around them, hushed whispers of fear and respect and horror. After a moment, he shakes his head and steps aside, letting the people go in, waiting until the crowd has dispersed slightly before going through the doors.
He reads the signs, practicing his German before moving to the English, reading descriptions and accounts, tracing his fingers over the engraved words, focusing on them instead of the horrors that echo off the dirty walls. He glances at Saul and then around the shunt room, the small tables between the pillars covered in glass. He shivers, ghosts lingering in the air, whispers that don’t quite fade in the muttered silence.
They follow the group, Kevin careful to keep them from being in any sort of line, careful to keep from falling in step, from marching from one room to the next with any sort of precision or pattern. The next room is white-washed walls and Kevin starts to shake, leaving the room as quickly as he can. Saul follows him, his own hands shaking as he touches Kevin’s shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“I just…how…” He takes a deep breath again, choking on it this time, his mind supplying the smell of gas and flesh, burning hair and sulfur. “How did they keep going? How did they breathe?” He barely manages the last word, his voice thick with fear and horror and tears. “I’d be twice doomed, Uncle Saul. Gay and Jewish and…and…”
“That’s why, Kevin. Why it still stands, why we come here. To remember. To never forget.” He wraps his arm around Kevin and pulls him close, pressing his head to Kevin’s. “People died here for their beliefs. For less than that. Because of one man’s belief. Who you love and who you worship don’t change what you are. That’s why these wall stand. Because horror has a place, Kevin. Because to be horrified is to fight, to not give in. To live for something, to fight for it.”
Kevin nods and takes another deep breath, letting it shudder out of him. “Let’s go back in.”
“We don’t have to.”
“No. You’re wrong, Uncle Saul. We do.”
For asta77
Will/Norrington
“She makes a stunning man.”
Will turns his head and looks at Norrington for a moment then diverts his gaze back to Elizabeth. He’s not wrong. Elizabeth makes a fine young man, but there’s still something in the way she is that clearly identifies her as all female. “She simply is stunning.”
“Well, there’s that.” Norrington nods and leans back slightly against the rail. “But I have to admit, she’s far more suited to trousers than dresses. Soemthing tells me Elizabeth prefers the easiest escape route from her clothes just as much as from anything else she finds a danger.”
Will can feel heat rising in his skin. “An odd way to talk about the woman you wanted to be your wife.”
“The woman I wanted to be my wife didn’t exist. She was a construct with Elizabeth’s face. She was what I wanted Elizabeth to be. She was…” He pauses and sighs, looking away from Elizabeth to Will. “She was a captain’s wife in Elizabeth’s skin. Elizabeth is more likely to find herself captain than wife.”
Will nods. “True enough.”
“Still.”
He nods again. “Still.”
Norrington passes a flask. “Rum.”
Another nod. “Rum.”
Kevin
Kevin stands transfixed in the middle of the courtyard, his eyes on the sign over the building. He blinks rapidly, his blue eyes shiny with tears. He shakes himself and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly.
He turns slightly, looking at Saul. There is an eerie silence, despite the large number of people milling about. Several have headsets on, but even those that don’t are quiet. There’s a large group of nuns in the distance, crossing themselves and fingering their rosaries. Kevin watches them for a moment and then shivers again.
Saul moves closer to him, resting his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Kevin nods toward the building and follows a line of people toward it, listening to the soft strains of German and French and English and other languages around them, hushed whispers of fear and respect and horror. After a moment, he shakes his head and steps aside, letting the people go in, waiting until the crowd has dispersed slightly before going through the doors.
He reads the signs, practicing his German before moving to the English, reading descriptions and accounts, tracing his fingers over the engraved words, focusing on them instead of the horrors that echo off the dirty walls. He glances at Saul and then around the shunt room, the small tables between the pillars covered in glass. He shivers, ghosts lingering in the air, whispers that don’t quite fade in the muttered silence.
They follow the group, Kevin careful to keep them from being in any sort of line, careful to keep from falling in step, from marching from one room to the next with any sort of precision or pattern. The next room is white-washed walls and Kevin starts to shake, leaving the room as quickly as he can. Saul follows him, his own hands shaking as he touches Kevin’s shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“I just…how…” He takes a deep breath again, choking on it this time, his mind supplying the smell of gas and flesh, burning hair and sulfur. “How did they keep going? How did they breathe?” He barely manages the last word, his voice thick with fear and horror and tears. “I’d be twice doomed, Uncle Saul. Gay and Jewish and…and…”
“That’s why, Kevin. Why it still stands, why we come here. To remember. To never forget.” He wraps his arm around Kevin and pulls him close, pressing his head to Kevin’s. “People died here for their beliefs. For less than that. Because of one man’s belief. Who you love and who you worship don’t change what you are. That’s why these wall stand. Because horror has a place, Kevin. Because to be horrified is to fight, to not give in. To live for something, to fight for it.”
Kevin nods and takes another deep breath, letting it shudder out of him. “Let’s go back in.”
“We don’t have to.”
“No. You’re wrong, Uncle Saul. We do.”
For asta77
Will/Norrington
“She makes a stunning man.”
Will turns his head and looks at Norrington for a moment then diverts his gaze back to Elizabeth. He’s not wrong. Elizabeth makes a fine young man, but there’s still something in the way she is that clearly identifies her as all female. “She simply is stunning.”
“Well, there’s that.” Norrington nods and leans back slightly against the rail. “But I have to admit, she’s far more suited to trousers than dresses. Soemthing tells me Elizabeth prefers the easiest escape route from her clothes just as much as from anything else she finds a danger.”
Will can feel heat rising in his skin. “An odd way to talk about the woman you wanted to be your wife.”
“The woman I wanted to be my wife didn’t exist. She was a construct with Elizabeth’s face. She was what I wanted Elizabeth to be. She was…” He pauses and sighs, looking away from Elizabeth to Will. “She was a captain’s wife in Elizabeth’s skin. Elizabeth is more likely to find herself captain than wife.”
Will nods. “True enough.”
“Still.”
He nods again. “Still.”
Norrington passes a flask. “Rum.”
Another nod. “Rum.”