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Jan 19, 2008 18:18:01 GMT
Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jan 19, 2008 18:18:01 GMT
"No, Maddie," he sighed. "I'm not an idiot, remember?"
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Jan 19, 2008 18:26:47 GMT
Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 19, 2008 18:26:47 GMT
Madeleine smiled, relieved - so blissfully relieved -, as she moved closer to Lee and kissed him. Now, more than ever, she was so sure that she was doing exactly the right thing by marrying him. She was so lucky to have him, she knew. Luck had brought them together, and had helped them through their problems and all of that... Or maybe it wasn't just luck. A while ago, Madeleine had thought that Shaun must be pulling strings for her up where he was - now, she was pretty sure that he had to be. There was no way she could have met Lee at exactly that time, no way that she would have come back from that d**n coma, no way that a pair of plaits would bring Lee back to her... "See, I knew there was a good reason that I wanted to marry you," she smiled.
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Jan 19, 2008 18:33:50 GMT
Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jan 19, 2008 18:33:50 GMT
Lee pressed his lips together thoughtfully, pushing Maddie away from him. "Maybe while we're on this topic, is there anything..." he paused uncertainly. "Well, you don't have to... but is there anything you want to ask me?"
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Jan 19, 2008 18:37:06 GMT
Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 19, 2008 18:37:06 GMT
Madeleine leaned back slightly, tilting her head to the side as she studied him. "Well... I'd like to know the little things. You know, just the little details... like, what's your favourite colour, did you have a childhood pet and... favourite book, favourite place... those sorts of things?"
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Jan 19, 2008 18:44:08 GMT
Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jan 19, 2008 18:44:08 GMT
Lee raised an eyebrow, a little amused. "That stuff? Why is that... never mind actually." He paused, considering her list. "When I was about eight I had a goldfish... but Jaguar lasted about a day before I managed to drown him. Then as for my favourite place..." Did he even have one? "Probably depends on my mood. Sometimes it's when I'm here with you; other times it's back home in Ireland- or my attic- my attic's awesome, you'd love it. And then... my favourite colour's blue; same colour as your eyes." He paused, smiling at her. "Anything else?"
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Jan 19, 2008 19:17:10 GMT
Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 19, 2008 19:17:10 GMT
Madeleine blushed at that, and looked down at the ground, smiling. "Anything else?" There were so many things that she wanted to know - she wanted to know everything about him. Well - not everything, but she wanted to know all of things that made him, wanted to see some of his memories, wanted to know about his family, his friends. But she wanted to learn these things for herself - she didn't want him to tell her all these things at once. It would be a little like an adventure, learning things about him, over time, and she was looking forward to it. But there was one thing that had been bugging her for a while... Her face fell slightly as she looked up at him again. "I know that this completely spoils the moment - and you don't have to answer this, but... Brian mentioned that, when Or- when Libba was giving you those nightmares, that you had screamed the name Shaun. I just... what was that?"
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Jan 19, 2008 19:29:07 GMT
Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jan 19, 2008 19:29:07 GMT
Oh. Oh, god. Right. "Right," Lee said, dropping her gaze. "Em... in detail?" In horrible, graphic detail. Yet he would even hang onto these memories- all of them, because even though they hurt like hell... now they were part of him- proof to him of what he'd been through. Those were his invisible scars. Everyone had scars, and sometimes scars were a comfort. They were something to point to and say, "Look, I survived."
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Jan 19, 2008 19:33:52 GMT
Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 19, 2008 19:33:52 GMT
The fact that he broke eye contact sent a apprehensive chill down her spine, and a thrill of rage as she thought about what Orla must have done. She'd used Shaun's memory like a toy to hurt Lee. The fingers of Madeleine's left hand furled into a clenched fist, before she forced them to relax. She's dead. She can't touch either of them anymore. "However you want to tell it," she said softly.
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Jan 19, 2008 19:50:32 GMT
Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jan 19, 2008 19:50:32 GMT
Lee looked up at her, determined to meet her eyes. Her fists were furled; and so were his. The tension between them was mirrored. He knew it must be hard for her, after all. So he'd just have to tell her. "Libba... those dreams- nightmares," he corrected himself, as an afterthought, "they were weird. They fed off a whole jumble of stuff- of my life here, and at home. This dream started like most of the others; a blank situation, a familiar one- in this case, my own back garden... And you were there, sitting on my swing." Her round, perfect chocolate eyes rose before him; and a musical laughter tickled him. His dream Maddie smiled at him now; but the real ones' face was an unfathomable mask of something dark. Something... "We were just talking," Lee said slowly. "And then you said, well you asked me if I'd like to meet your brother." He paused, inhaling deeply. "And then he was there."
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Jan 19, 2008 19:57:56 GMT
Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 19, 2008 19:57:56 GMT
Madeleine's eyes closed for a moment. She's dead, Maddie, she's dead. It's okay. The words startled her eyes open, as she realised that they were spoken in Shaun's voice, a voice that hadn't spoken in her head for a long while. But the mere fact that Orla had used his memory to mess about with Lee... it would be bad enough if it was with some random person, but because it was Lee, the strike was three times as hard. She glanced at Lee again, watching his face as he spoke. "How did that turn into a nightmare?"
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Jan 19, 2008 20:11:15 GMT
Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jan 19, 2008 20:11:15 GMT
Lee shook his head, his breath catching slightly. "It came on really suddenly, I guess. He was just standing, and you were laughing... and then, he started to get at me. You were both laughing, and talking about how I... well, I basically knew nothing about you." His mind recoiled now, scared of what was coming next. "Then he started getting mad... because," Lee coughed. "About how Kira didn't like you. And that I call you, 'Maddie'. He didn't like that one bit. Then you told me you didn't want me to call you Maddie and... argh... you started crying, Madeleine," he looked up. "You've no idea how it gets to me- the idea that I've made you cry. And Shaun got madder and madder- can't say I blame him, especially since I kept making it worse. He didn't believe I really loved you." He took a deep breath, knowing what impact this next piece of knowledge would make on her. "Then he started to hit me."
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Jan 19, 2008 21:05:22 GMT
Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 19, 2008 21:05:22 GMT
As he spoke, Madeleine recoiled at each word, each one a stinging blow landing on her; still smarting even as the next one slapped down hard on her skin. A mixture of a terrible, white-hot rage and a painful, raw hurt welled up in her, making her eyes burn and her muscles clench. And it just kept getting worse. Orla had obviously done everything she could to screw Lee up, and each thing... Kira - the fact that he knew so little about her - even the freaking name- She'd left no stone unturned. Madeleine didn't know what else Orla had done in these dreams, but she'd heard Lee cry out in his sleep about comas, and that had hurt enough - but to use her brother, to use Shaun in her sick, twisted mind games... Madeleine could feel bitter tears of both blind rage and pain rising in her eyes, but she wouldn't - would not - let these ones leave her eyes, not after what Lee had just said: "You've no idea how it gets to me- the idea that I've made you cry." His gaze burned into hers, and she knew immediately from his eyes that she would never, ever allow herself to cry in front of him again. How could someone, no matter how twisted and evil they were, do that to him? Then, Lee said something that made her entire body stiffen, and her bread catch in her throat. "Then he started to hit me." How ... how the hell could Orla have- Madeleine's fists were clenched as they rested on the ground, kneading nervously and systematically into the brown dirt of the soil. Enraged wasn't even a good enough word to cover this. A minute or two passed before Madeleine was calm enough to respond, her knuckles dusted with the soil. "Lee..." Her voice was thick, slightly husky. "Shaun wouldn't have... you have never, ever hurt me enough for him to have done that. He wouldn't have... he wouldn't have minded you calling me Maddie; I was the only one that ever had a problem with other people calling me that. Shaun would have really liked you, I know he would have." And she had proof, but that was something he'd had to wait to find out about. "And if you ever hurt me, he would ... he wouldn't actually beat you up; he might just... I don't know, break your nose or something. He had a temper - but I wouldn't have let him touch you, ever, no matter what you did." She looked up at him here. "And as for making me cry... sure, I've cried over you, but none of it was your fault. Having your memory stolen... that wasn't your fault, okay?" She paused for a second, glancing back at the dirt again. "Shaun wouldn't have... Shaun really would have liked you. I told you about getting dumped because of my background... he told me once that one day, I'd meet a guy that wouldn't care about it. He said some other stuff, and you're definitely better than what he expected," she said, with a small smile. "I know he'd really like you."
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Jan 19, 2008 21:17:53 GMT
Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jan 19, 2008 21:17:53 GMT
It was exactly the answer he'd been expecting. Yet there was no denying it was wonderful to hear it said aloud; said in Maddie's sweet, earnest voice. Everything in him told him it was true. He'd known it to be true for a long time; worked it out, really, based on Madeleine, and his rather scarce knowledge of Shaun. But still; the feeling of his head cracking against the bricks of his house stung. "So, he wouldn't have picked me up and thrown me against the wall, or anything?" Lee said, attempting to grin.
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Jan 19, 2008 21:25:33 GMT
Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 19, 2008 21:25:33 GMT
It wasn't something to smile about, but she tried for his sake as she shook her head. "No, he wouldn't have." Well... if Lee had hurt her enough, then yes, Shaun would have. He would hurt Lee, but probably not to the extent that Lee had dreamed. And he wouldn't have if Madeleine had asked him not to. And as Madeleine had said, Lee himself had never made her cry. What Orla had done to Lee had made her cry a fair few times, but none of it was Lee's fault. If it had to be blamed on anyone, it would be Orla... which went back to Levi... which went back to Madeleine. And that was something that she'd never, ever forgive herself for.
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Jan 19, 2008 21:45:03 GMT
Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jan 19, 2008 21:45:03 GMT
"I take it you want to hear about the other dreams?" Lee asked her carefully, mentally preparing himself. Spitting it out; getting it all out in the open... He dreaded the thought. But maybe... he should. Shouldn't. Didn't want to have to choose. So Madeleine could choose for him. And whatever she did choose... Lee would be happy.
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