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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Nov 16, 2007 21:15:59 GMT
For some reason, Jude's words last night had had a more profound effect on Lee than any of his other dreams.
Perhaps it was just the fact that the words were coming from Jude's lips. Jude tended to know what he was talking about, and Jude tended to get it right. Jude knew how to best comfort him when Madeleine had brushed him off while they were broken up; and despite what Jude himself might think, some of what he said to Lee during Madeleine's coma really sank in. It helped him to have someone there to talk to.
And now Jude was talking to him.
It was hard to believe that it hadn't been Jude in that dream, not really, but his subconsious. And if that was the case, then why would his subconsious choose Jude of all people to tell him this? It seemed a strange, mad possibility, and every time he thought about it, a light-headed sort of feeling washed over him; so dizzying as it was to even consider- but was this what he really believed?
And if so, what was he doing at Orchid Hill?!
"Maddie?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Nov 16, 2007 21:34:24 GMT
The scene above Madeleine was a strange mix of lavender blue and dove grey, like several pale paints on a palette spilled and merged accidentally together, but creating a strange coincedental colour that was even more beautiful than the original colours.
It was a winter's morning sky, but it was nice. And though she couldn't see it, the smooth Glass Lake would be a perfect reflection of it.
And for winter, it wasn't too cold. It was warm enough that she could lie on the grass without Lee's arms around her - though that was still preferable. He wasn't lying with her, but was sitting up, looking out dreamily across the lake, as though he were lost in thought; in another world altogether. And their hands, as always, were entwined in the others.
As for her, she wasn't thinking, for once. And she wasn't dreaming, or remembering. She was just staring up at the sky above her, taking in the colour and trying to commit it to memory. It was a unique colour, and she knew that she'd never see that shade again.
"Maddie?"
Lee's voice called her eyes from the skies to his face, his blue eyes now looking at her - the colour of the sky paling and fading in comparison to the brilliance of his eyes. The name had not only called her, but made her feel an incredible rush of a million feelings all at once.
"Hmm?" she asked, turning her head so that she could look up at him.
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Nov 16, 2007 21:41:29 GMT
The minute she looked up at him, he felt a strange swirl of sickening emotions overcome him. Almost... like... jealousy. Though were it had come from, it was hard to tell. Not only that, but a funny sort of apprehension. After all, Maddie was Head of the Warriors. She hardly doubted the cause. In fact, she'd probably be darnright ashamed of him for what was running through his mind and what fed him every night he fell asleep. Actually, it made him ashamed. What would Kira think? What would Maddie think? What would they all think...?
And Jude's brown eyes still stared at him from the back of his mind...
"Maddie," he repeated, his voice strangely hushed. "Are you... do you ever...?"
But, no. Something in those dreamy blue eyes stopped him. It reminded him irresistably of Kira- and of what it was like to snap her out of a dream. He couldn't do that to Maddie.
Not now.
"Aren't you cold?"
He face carefully relaxed into a smile, and he pulled her up slightly, wrapping his arms around her.
"There," he muttered into her ear, now doubly ashamed of himself.
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Nov 16, 2007 21:50:28 GMT
Lee pulled her up into his arms, holding her to him.
She moved even closer to him, so that they were pressed up against each other. Having someone - having him - so close to her made her feel so safe. In Lee's arms, she knew that nothing would ever, ever touch her.
And she was so close to him that she could almost feel his heartbeat.
It was almost disgusting how cheesey they were, and sometimes she was reminded irresistably of those chick-flicks her mum watched and she and Shaun scoffed at... but those films did such a horrible job of portraying what love was.
Even the very, very best film would never come close to reality.
"I'm not cold," she said, smiling. "But if you're going to hold me like this, I might just lie and tell you that I am."
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Nov 16, 2007 21:58:52 GMT
"Cheeky sod," he laughed at her, letting go at once and lying down on the grassy banks himself, letting his eyes trace the pattern of the clouds she'd been staring so avidly at.
He still wasn't sure what his opinion of the dreams were. With them came a nearly masochistic quality- there was something undenyably tempting about those huge, dark brown eyes that watched him every step of the way. And he still hadn't placed the woman in his first dream! He wanted to know he she was so bad it was driving him mad.
She'd been so beautiful... but where had she come from?
He needed something to do. This silence was so relaxed and so sleepy... he wanted to tell Maddie about the dreams, but those eyes seemed such a private feature of them. Lee had been embarrassed by sleep-talking before. What if he drifted off in her arms only to wake up in the lake after letting slip something horrible detail to be taking the wrong way...?
And Brian told him he'd been thrashing horribly in his sleep! Would Madeleine be scared?
He didn't want to scare her.
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Nov 17, 2007 12:36:46 GMT
Madeleine sighed exaggeratedly as he let go of her and slid down to lie beside her, but also couldn't help from smiling. Teasing like that was something that she'd picked up from her brother.
Thinking of Shaun now, as she gazed dreamily up at the sky again, she realised that the nightmares she had, the terrible flashbacks that she slept silently and motionlessly through before waking up in a cold sweat, had lessened. For almost a year she'd been replaying his death in her dreams at night. And now, finally, they were becoming fewer and further between.
But, in some sick, twisted way, she wasn't sure if she wanted them to stop completely. When her grandparents died, her memories started to become vaguer, and vaguer - and they'd become vaguer still until the image she carried in her head was just what she saw in the photographs.
She didn't want that to happen with Shaun. She couldn't let it.
When he died, her mum suggested making a scrapbook with pictures and memories written down in it. She'd sort of done that, but in the form of a shoebox. The shoebox was filled with emails and letters they'd sent each other during Shaun's time at Orchid, photos, a book filled up with memories that she'd written down, and a chess queen, wrapped up in a piece of silk.
It had been the last piece he'd touched.
A crow suddenly flew across Madeleine's view of the sky. Her eyes followed it, watching it soar and swoop over the forest.
It's graceful black wings suddenly reminded her of something.
She rolled over onto her side so that she was facing Lee.
"Hey, your wings - I've never seen you fly with them."
Okay, lie. But she still hadn't told him how she'd been shot, and she wasn't about to make him blame himself for it. He blamed himself for too much that wasn't his fault already.
"Can you show me?"
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Nov 17, 2007 15:22:15 GMT
Her question told him their thoughts couldn't be further apart- and it surprised him slightly, though he'd no idea why it should.
"Sure," he shrugged, jumping up agilely from the ground to his feet. He allowed himself a grin. That Spy training must be starting to pay off.
Turning away from Madeleine, Lee pulled off his top and tossed it to the ground in an unholy heap that his mother probably would've clipped him about the ears for. Then, on a split second whim, Lee also removed his socks and shoes, so that he was just standing in a pair of jeans.
It was better to fly that way. It meant he was lighter, after all, and besides, his shoes would get soaked if he went up through any clouds. As it was, his trousers may just about get drenched, and he would probably be freezing- but he refused to ruin that top. It was a present from Ellie. And Ellie would never, ever forgive him for ruining it.
Flexing, he shrugged his shoulders a couple of times, trying to get a feel for it. Then, awkwardly, the right bones kicked into place, and the wings ripped forth once more from his back; the flesh quickly knitting itself back together where the wings had ripped lose.
Spinning around to face Maddie once more feeling rather like some kind of dark demon flying thing, he smiled at her, his long, thick and leathery wings held aloft.
"There."
And it was at that point he realised he was actually standing half-naked in front of his girlfriend.
Well, he'd seen her in a catsuit. He guessed it was only fair- but it still made him feel awkward as hell!
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Nov 17, 2007 16:35:54 GMT
As Lee jumped up and pulled his top off - Madeleine refused to think the words 'undressing' or 'stripping' - her eyes followed him and ran over him before she realised it.
Then she blushed slightly, and averted her eyes over towards the still, glass-like lake, determinedly resisting the temptation to look back at him.
Well, this is awkward.
The crow she'd spotted a minute ago was now still swooping above the black forest, diving at random intervals into the trees that were almost as dark as it was.
A ripping noise came from behind her and she winced involuntarily, knowing that it meant that Lee's wings were bursting out from his skin. She was kind of glad that she hadn't seen that bit - the image inside her head was not a pleasant one.
Madeleine moved her eyes back from the crow to him, feeling herself blush slightly again and keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the immense, impressing black leathery wings that had just come back from his back.
She wasn't feeling as embarrassed as he looked when he had seen her in the catsuit... but it probably came close, especially since he himself now looked pretty awkward.
Nodding towards the wings, she asked, "How fast can you go?"
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Nov 17, 2007 16:49:54 GMT
"Pretty," he said proudly, flapping them unecessarily.
Immediately, as the sound of wind caught up around his ears, Lee saw the scarlet ribbons flying through the air, spattering him with blood. He could see the girl he'd killed and her vicious smile- those hard eyes- every detail of her face seemed zoomed in on... and then he saw himself, killing her.
And he felt guilty.
He felt empathy. He felt... he felt...
Oh, god, Maddie, why are you doing this to me?
He gulped, steadying himself, and forcing himself to think about what they'd done to her. But it didn't work. Instead, his feelings just turned to anger, directed at Major Hoodham. It was like there was a road inside his head, yet all those old routes he was used to taking had suddenly been blocked off.
He didn't want to have to think about this now.
But he was thinking about it anyway.
"Now what?" he asked her, trying to keep his face stoic.
Another Spy lesson coming into play.
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Nov 17, 2007 16:55:43 GMT
Madeleine eyed the wings as he said this, an idea forming in her head.
She already could fly, of course, but somehow, she guessed that this would be somewhat different...
"Think you could take me flying?" she asked, smiling and looking at his eyes pleadingly.
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Nov 17, 2007 16:58:02 GMT
Like Chloe.
Lee winced involuntarily, another stupid memory slapping him in the face with a crack like a whip.
"Yeah. Okay."
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Nov 17, 2007 17:03:12 GMT
Madeleine frowned as he winced, assuming that he wasn't comfortable with that idea. "If you'd rather not, that's okay."
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Nov 17, 2007 18:58:51 GMT
Lee took a step forward, his arms held out wide, the smile back on his face.
"I said okay, didn't I?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Nov 17, 2007 19:04:45 GMT
Reassured by his smile, she smiled back and stepped into his arms, reaching up and placing hers around his neck securely, his chest warm against hers.
"So... do you just kick off, or what?" she asked, glancing at the wings again.
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Nov 17, 2007 19:11:16 GMT
"Just hold on real tight," Lee laughed, hugging her close, comforted inside his own mind by her soft, solid touch. "Then make a wish."
Then, quite suddenly, Lee had lifted Madeleine clean off her feet, and his wings were propelling him steadily upwards and onwards. In a matter of seconds, the wind was whipping all around them as Lee began to swoop and dive playfully across the surface of the Glass Lake; their feet just skimming its smooth surface.
He spun Madeleine around, so that her back was to his chest, and slipped his arms around her waist. In unison, they skimmed as though walking across the Lake; climbing higher and higher into the sky as though on an invisible staircase. Lee pulled her closer, resting his chin on her neck and letting his lips kiss it.
"You're not even as scared of this as you were of the spider, are you?" he asked her.
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