002 - Chrissie is bored [Audio: English] OPEN
[Christine had been effectively holed up in the Phantom's room for almost a week. She had missed Raoul's outburst the day of her arrival after he found her missing and had not left the room for any extended period of time without the accompanying presence of her Master. She had gotten a rough guided tour of the ship and explanations that the other
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[Hi, remember him? Frantic boyfriend? Been looking for you for a week and somehow kept missing you?]
Where are you?
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Raoul? Where are we going? I know you've said where He can't follow ..
[In truth, she can't think about anything on deck twelve that would allow for safe speaking, but she hasn't made the connection that the elevator doesn't do all the way to deck 13, either. She feels incredibly foolish and wishes she could help relieve some of the tension that has ahold of Raoul.]
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[Paranoia is one of the reasons he's not saying anything, but he has no way of knowing that she has any idea there's a flower deck and it's called deck 13.
As soon as the elevator stops and the doors open again, he's leading her out onto deck 12, around the corner, and towards the rear of the ship. There's a mass of luggage in the way, save for the small passage through it, and that's where Raoul goes.]
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However, she follows his lead as he's ahold of her hand once more. She stares dubiously at the pile as they approach it, but sure enough there is a small path to one side of it. She glances sidelong at Raoul, but he seems too intent on reaching their goal to explain anything to her just yet. She recalls being told there was something on deck 13, but was never brought there. So, points to Raoul for showing her the pretty deck!]
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He eventually slows to a stop and finally turns to really look at her. He's a little more relaxed, now that he's fairly certain they're alone, but there's still tension.]
Christine...
[He's not sure where to start, so he gestures for her to take a seat amongst the flowers before doing so himself. They're probably going to be here a while.]
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A moment isn't nearly long enough to marvel at the flower deck, a soft gasp slipping past her lips as she sets her eyes across it.]
My God .. how?
[But there is hardly any chance to question it just yet, as Raoul continues to lead her across the field. Her eyes flit from one thing to another, taking in what looks to be a temple at one end of the field and starts at the sight of several graves poking through the flora. Her eyes move over the stones and she blanches, darting her eyes away again, not liking the feel they put off.
They finally begin to slow as they approach a vast ice wall, her eyes moving over it in astonishment.]But .. ( ... )
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[He kind of needed to leave, but that doesn't make him regret it any less. Seriously, it took a phantom chase and another week later before he found her again. Besides, she apparently didn't have her own comm to make broadcasts with, so how could she have said anything if Erik didn't let her use his? And on the subject of Erik...]
What has he told you? About all this?
[Can he skip things or would he be better off just explaining everything the right way?]
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Raoul, I forgave you before you were even out of sight.
[She looks up from her lap, meeting his foreign black eyes without flinching. Erik explained a bit of the workings of the Elegante, but he'd never mentioned that another Christine had been aboard, or that different timelines from the same world were possible (convenient, huh?); so that people knew each other but were still strangers in a way. She'd never asked about the eyes, however .. Her voice is soft as she answers his gentle inquiry.]
I know we're in a world so much unlike our own, on board this vessel, which we can neither leave nor join at choice. That we are held here at the Captain's leisure and make our way to a place called the Golden Shore ..
[She trails off .. oh there are any number of holes in her understanding, but thankfully he will ( ... )
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She would start there, wouldn't she? He hesitates a moment, considering how much to tell her and how to say it.]
He wouldn't have known, even if you did ask him.
It's been nearly half a year since I arrived here. They're a... side effect from having been here so long.
[His eyes move away from hers for a second. You know what, there's no point in lying or keeping things from her. That's what Erik does.]
Christine, death isn't permanent here. If you die, there is a system that revives you, and you awake in your room a day later. It becomes less reliable the more often you come back, and things like this happen.
[He gestures towards his eyes for emphasis. Please don't ask how many times or why he's died so often. He'd be more than happy to explain the first ( ... )
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As it is, she watches as he hesitates briefly and worries that she;s asked him something he cannot answer. Her thumb moves over his hand and a gentle sweep and then he is speaking. Her brows knit at the first; not that Erik wouldn't know, but that Raoul has been here nearly half a year.]
Half a year .. but, Raoul I saw you just the night before I arrived. I don't know how that is possib- .. but then, I've spoken to a robot from another world .. It seems anything is possible here..
[She trails off quietly, not finishing her words as she looks back at Raoul. He's looking away from her and she can't help herself. She leans forward and touches her free hand to his cheek, bringing his attention and gaze back to her. And then her eyes widen and her hand moves to cover her mouth to at least dim her ( ... )
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[The solid black does make it a bit difficult to tell exactly where he's looking, doesn't it? He leans into that hand and closes his eyes. The last Christine had been so distant compared to this one. He'd missed the affection and endearments.]
It's alright. What's done is done.
[Okay, time to distract from that note with something he had been wondering. Eyes open now, he reaches for the hand on his face to still it.]
What's the last thing you remember before coming here?
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He leans into her hand and she raises the other to cup his opposite cheek, holding his face gently in her palms. She'd have kicked that other Christine, if she could have. B| ]
Would that I could undo it just as easily..
[Her words are soft and tender and then he's looking up at her again and instead of allowing her to pull her hand away, his rests atop hers. It's a comforting gesture, and one she hadn't realized she'd missed SO much until it's there again. She offers him a soft smile, not looking away from the blackness of his eyes or finding anything remotely fearful about it anymore. This was still her Raoul and his eye ( ... )
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Aww, that blush is adorable, and he smiles in return.]
I remember that.
[And... all the other stuff that night, but mostly the tonsil-diving. That was some damn good tonsil-diving. The seriousness of the situation reappears in his expression with his next words.]
I came from some time after that, in January.
[Unlike things that happened on the boat, the things that happen back in France aren't so crucial to know, so he decides to leave them for another time... except for one thing.]
We were engaged on New Years Eve.
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Oh, Raoul..
[And then the smile is gone and he appears almost grim and she searches his face for some hint. When he says that he is from a time past where she comes from, she blanches. What if? What if she was dead?! What if that was why he was so horribly somber! The thought is a terrifying one and she sits up a bit straighter, though her hands do not leave his face. She'd not give up that physical connection for all the world.]
But .. that's .. [Impossible? Improbable? She could say anything similar and that wouldn't discount the fact that he was telling her the truth. And then he continues, watching her as he speaks, and her eyes widen as one hand does finally leave his cheek to cover her mouth.]
E-engaged?!
[Her heart flutters and she feels herself flushing down her neck and she ( ... )
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We... we could be, if you want it.
[The fear he had that 'if the last Christine would leave him for someone else then this one might too' vanishes. If they're engaged again, then she can't leave him, right? And the hell if it's going to be a secret engagement like last time not that they were really hiding it all that well. But wait, this proposal is missing something important.]
Oh, Christine, I don't-- I need to find another ring.
[A big damn ring. Lots of them, so he'll have spares if Erik steals it again like the jerkface he is.]
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