Darkened Faces & Cities

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira sank down on her bed, staring out at the blackening sky. Through the window, she could see a hundred cities silhouetted before her- but all in darkness. It was part of the regime- the black-outs. When the bombs dropped, everything was submerged in darkness, with the vague hope they would miss. Kira often wondered if there was even a point. Half these cities were abandoned, they were far too close the school.
This war was crazy. She'd been sitting with Lee earlier, going over some maths and he'd just suddenly gone all quiet and... well, she knew what the look on his face meant. He was thinking about what she'd told him earlier.
She was Head of the Spies.
At first, he was predictably excited, wringing her hand and rushing about in glee. But then... then he'd began to think about the future implications of it. Then he'd gotten worried.
Sometimes, he scared Kira, but she never really got why.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Kira jumped, falling out of bed.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine walked up to the corridors, lost in irritation at this Levi person, and pushed open the door with probably too much force.
As she pushed it open, she saw Kira fall off of her bed.
She winced. "You okay?"
Out of all the heads, Kira was the one that Madeleine knew least well, because she hadn't really had the chance to talk to her much.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"No, my heart's bleeding and my eyes are burning and I've probably cracked a rib or two," said Kira softly, pulling herself to her feet. "But hi anyway... Madeline?"
This was Madeline, wasn't it? Head of something, anyway...

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Yeah," Madeleine said, shaking Kira's hand. "It's Kira, right?"
Kira was Head of the Spies. Madeleine was good at remembering stuff like that.
"So, where are you from?" she asked curiously, sitting on her bed and putting her brightly coloured patchwork throw over her legs. It was weirdly cold, though Madeleine wasn't sure if that was the temperature, or the feeling that the noise of those air-raid sirens made her feel.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira smiled. "Ireland. Can't you tell?"
She always had thought her accent was quite noticable. After all, it seemed to be quite a popular one- especially amongst impersonators. However, she didn't think she was originally from Ireland. Somewhere maybe further up north...
She had a good feeling about Iceland.
"What about you?"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine shrugged, registering Kira's accent. "Around the place, I guess."
Before arriving at Orchid Hill, her parents had warned her not to be too free with the information that she was a gypsy. There were those that would discriminate against her because of it, because in many places, gypsies or "Travellers" were seen as 'bad people', to put it mildly.
"We moved a lot," she added, in an attempt to clear that up.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"We never moved," said Kira. "Same place, same people, same faces. I didn't mind though- it helps when you like the people." She looked out at the darkening night sky.
"Warrior?"
She wasn't certain whether Madeline was or not.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Yeah," Madeleine said softly, turning to face the window and staring out at the dark sky outside.
The war was fully formed now. Enemy pitted against enemy. Families being split. People being killed.
"Do you ever get scared? Of all this?" she asked, without realising it.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira turned in surprise, looking around at Madeline. She wasn't sure what she thought about such a direct question, but she knew her answer.
"Yes," she said softly. "All the time. Whenever I'm just sitting and let it all wash over me... just... yes."
What else could she say? Lee's face was swimming before her eyes. She bit her lip, staring fixedly at Madeline.
"Who doesn't?"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine shrugged, staring outside. She never told anyone, but she was scared of something - she was scared of her family and friends dying. Because she didn't want to feel what she'd felt when Shaun died again. She couldn't bear it. And she didn't want to be so alone again.
"I don't know, but ... sometimes, I feel that I'm not allowed to be scared. Like I have to be stronger than that because... well, just because," she said, biting off what she had been going to say, because she'd given away too much already.
She looked over at Kira and laughed wryly. "I'm sorry, you must think I'm such a weirdo, talking about all this deep stuff when I barely know you."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Pretty much," smiled Kira. "Nah... you're fine. I mean... we're all a bit like this these days... this dance thing. I was thinking about it. It's almost like... everybody's taking a break from the war at it, aren't they?"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine frowned. "Yeah, yeah I guess..."
Time for subject change.
"Have you got a date, or am I the only singleton left in the school?" she laughed.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Nope, we're both miserably single," she smiled. Good. The topic change had worked. She supposed she hadn't been very subtle, but she didn't really care about that right now.
"I bet Lee will get one," she said, a little mournfully. "I'll be stuck on my own...

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"I'm sure you'll find a date," Madeleine said, eyeing Kira's long blonde hair and creamy skin. "Who's Lee?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Lee's my cousin," said Kira, still feeling a bit forlorn. "You wouldn't know we were related if you put us together though. He's much taller than me, with dark hair. The only thing we have in common is we both have blue eyes. People always think we're boyfriend and girlfriend, because we hang out so much." She shuddered. "But let's not even think about that."