They occasionally saw white birds in the forest, shot them easily through long necks. That's what she reminds him of in the hallway, standing there in her skirts and her white feathers. He's got a brace of birds in his hands, bringing them in for dinner.
"What are you?" he asks, smile playing around the corner of his mouth.
"Confused as all hell," Lily answered, turning toward the sound of a man's voice. "Unless you mean the costume, in which case I'm a White Swan. Or I was."
They'd been in the middle of opening night and now, instead of dancing, she was standing in an unfamiliar hall, talking to a man carrying a bunch of birds. As situations went, this one was sort of weird.
"Yeah. It'll do that to you." He shifts his grip on the string of birds in his hand and glances down the hallwa. It's incongrously quiet. "Did you just get here?"
"Whatever that means, the answer is probably yes," Lily said, not making any attempt to hide her confusion. Wherever 'here' was, it wasn't the studio and maybe it wasn't even New York, although she wasn't going to even start thinking about that until it became necessary.
Luce has a bundle of flowers that she's bringing into the kitchen and it's obscuring her view just slightly. It's why when she peers brown hair through the lilies and the orchids, she has to start making noises. "Careful!" she warns. "I can barely see my own two feet and I don't really want to pollinate anyone today."
Lily stepped lightly out of the way, moving back toward the wall to let the woman pass with the flowers. She'd heard the explanation of this place, but that didn't mean she'd accepted it or that it even made any sense and she was still watching everything with a faint frown turning down the corners of her mouth.
"Sorry," she said, watching the woman. "I'm still... finding my way."
Luce lowers the flowers, peeking up above them in order to give the other woman a long look, appraising her as privately as she can. "Do you need help? I'm not the best compass, but I try my hardest."
"No, I've already heard the speech," Lily answered, although she hadn't had much time to digest what she'd been told. As far as she understood, she was on an island in the middle of nowhere and she wasn't going home any time soon. "I should probably find somewhere to change, actually. And maybe some clothes..."
At the kitchen counter, Nina sat, peeling an orange and leafing through an old issue of Vogue. She heard it first... A flutter of feathers over her shoulder and she stiffened, swiveling in her seat to catch a fleeting glimpse of white. It was a swan-- a girl, trailing feathers in her wake, and Nina stumbled to her feet, her orange dropping to the floor with a dull thud.
Heart lodged in the back of her throat, Nina hurried forward, turning the corner into the hallway, the girl in the White Swan costume just ahead of her, her back turned.
"Wait," Nina called, her voice barely above a reedy whisper.
For the moment, fewer people were in the hall, but Lily still barely heard someone asking her to wait. She paused, frowning, then turned back the way she'd come, looking over her shoulder just to be sure. She was a stranger here, but she'd met a few people now, people who'd helped her and maybe...
But it wasn't Luce standing in the hall, it was Nina.
"Holy shit," Lily burst out, pushing between two people who were coming in her direction. "Nina?"
Something flickered across her face. A profoundly paranoid distrust. Clawing up from inside her chest, into the back of her throat. Threatening to choke her.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her eyes narrowed and an uncharacteristic edge to her voice.
"Uh, the same thing you are, I guess," Lily answered, her forehead creasing as her mouth was pulled into a confused frown. "I mean, an hour ago I was backstage talking to you at intermission and then I was here."
It wasn't as though she'd come to this place on purpose and it never once occurred to her that Nina might have been here longer, might have come from a different time or place.
It had only been one day. During the span of that day, Thomas' appearance had changed. Not drastically, perhaps, but in ways that were telling of the effects the last couple of days had had on him. He'd traded in his dress clothing for a few things the clothes box had coughed up (a navy dress shirt and jeans) and his expression had taken on something distinctly haggard. Whether it was the crash room itself or his general unease, he hadn't slept well
( ... )
For a little while, she'd considered waiting for someone else to show her where things were, but after hearing the initial explanation of this place, Lily had begun to explore. As far as she could tell, she wasn't in any danger, even if she couldn't find the damn box that might give her something else to wear. She was struggling with the bobby pins holding her headpiece in place when she heard her name and she turned, glancing back down the hall.
"Thomas?" she asked, surprised, her hands dropping to her sides. She had no expectations of this place, but she certainly hadn't expected to see anyone she knew.
The costume is enough that he doesn't have to ask how long it's been since she arrived. There is, however, a pressing question that he does have to ask.
"What happened?" he asked, clarifying himself immediately. "What was going on, before you arrived here?" He didn't yet bother with asking how she was; she wasn't bleeding, which, for the moment, was sufficient not to get him worried. It was only after the question had been asked that he realized it was fairly pointless. She'd been the one who'd first noticed Nina bleeding backstage; she couldn't have known what had happened. Still, he figured, there was good to be had of figuring things out.
For a moment, Lily didn't understand what he was asking, grasping at the question mentally as she stared at him. It was entirely too much for just a second; being on a tropical island when she'd only just been in New York, having Thomas suddenly be there, her costume and the feathers and the headpiece. Then she recovered and said, "I was talking to Nina during intermission. She was just... I had to. She was incredible."
That was hardly the point, though, and not what Thomas was asking.
"When I turned back to take my place I was here instead."
Eden's turning the corner into the basement when she sees her. "Wow," she says - out loud before she can think better of it. She shrugs a shoulder, waves a hand at the girl's outfit. She's probably just down here to find something else to wear instead of it, but it's exquisite. "That's beautiful. Your dress, I mean." She's a dancer, that much is evident, or else someone whose idea of Halloween costumes goes a little overboard, which suggests she's new, but unless she proves not to have had the information from someone else, Eden sees no reason to pester her about that.
"Yeah, I like it," Lily agreed, looking down at herself for a moment. She had no idea what she was going to do with it once she found something else to wear. It wasn't like she had a closet on hand to store it in and she didn't know what she was going to do with her shoes. Probably find a bag to throw them in and haul them everywhere.
"It's not exactly perfect for everyday wear, though," she said with a small smile, turning around to look for the box she'd been told about. "I heard I could find something else to wear down here."
"Yeah, over here," Eden said, stepping past to lead the way over to the clothes box, nudging the cardboard with a toe. "Not that impressive and there is way more neon spandex in that thing than an entire legion of exercise instructors from the Eighties could use, but there's more in it than it looks like it." She couldn't have been here very long, she thought, but that was all the more reason to be helpful.
The box didn't look particularly big and Lily wasn't sure how it could give her anything other than spandex, since, like the woman said, that seemed to be all there was in there. "Thanks," she said, pursing her lips slightly before she reached up and began to take the bobby pins out of her hair.
"I'm Lily," she added. "I'm what you'd call new, I guess, but that's probably obvious."
Comments 125
"What are you?" he asks, smile playing around the corner of his mouth.
Reply
They'd been in the middle of opening night and now, instead of dancing, she was standing in an unfamiliar hall, talking to a man carrying a bunch of birds. As situations went, this one was sort of weird.
Reply
Reply
"So where, exactly, is here?" she asked.
Reply
Reply
"Sorry," she said, watching the woman. "I'm still... finding my way."
Reply
Reply
Reply
Heart lodged in the back of her throat, Nina hurried forward, turning the corner into the hallway, the girl in the White Swan costume just ahead of her, her back turned.
"Wait," Nina called, her voice barely above a reedy whisper.
Reply
But it wasn't Luce standing in the hall, it was Nina.
"Holy shit," Lily burst out, pushing between two people who were coming in her direction. "Nina?"
Reply
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her eyes narrowed and an uncharacteristic edge to her voice.
Reply
It wasn't as though she'd come to this place on purpose and it never once occurred to her that Nina might have been here longer, might have come from a different time or place.
Reply
Reply
"Thomas?" she asked, surprised, her hands dropping to her sides. She had no expectations of this place, but she certainly hadn't expected to see anyone she knew.
Reply
"What happened?" he asked, clarifying himself immediately. "What was going on, before you arrived here?" He didn't yet bother with asking how she was; she wasn't bleeding, which, for the moment, was sufficient not to get him worried. It was only after the question had been asked that he realized it was fairly pointless. She'd been the one who'd first noticed Nina bleeding backstage; she couldn't have known what had happened. Still, he figured, there was good to be had of figuring things out.
Reply
That was hardly the point, though, and not what Thomas was asking.
"When I turned back to take my place I was here instead."
Reply
Reply
"It's not exactly perfect for everyday wear, though," she said with a small smile, turning around to look for the box she'd been told about. "I heard I could find something else to wear down here."
Reply
Reply
"I'm Lily," she added. "I'm what you'd call new, I guess, but that's probably obvious."
Reply
Leave a comment