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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jun 3, 2008 18:43:18 GMT
Maybe Lee was a born pessimist too, because all he could really decipher and feel anything... real about in the information Russ had just given him was this: Madeleine's only marrying you because witnessing Shaun's death has led her to make rash decisions. Sweet, strawberry-scented drops of doubt began to colour his vision a blood-streaked scarlet. It was almost like... she was back. Orla. Her. He couldn't... He didn't think about her much anymore. If he did, he felt... not angry. If it was anger, it'd be easy to deal with. But there was something empty about her lack of presence within him. She'd felt like a friend. But she wasn't. He knew he wasn't. But that didn't remove the feelings. So he didn't think about them. He couldn't. "I... I didn't know that." Lee slumped slightly. "I didn't know she... saw it happen. But... I mean," he coughed, "I get... it. Sort of. Why she doesn't like me much... right now."
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jun 3, 2008 19:06:57 GMT
"She'll get over it, don't worry about it. She's talking crap - even my mum has told her so." The guy looked as though he'd been completely crushed by this news, and Russ couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for him. That wasn't why Madel was marrying him; 'course it wasn't. It was just... people liked to talk about psychobabble. And it was better that he was prepared for this. He sighed at the expression on Lee's face. "Seriously mate, don't worry about it. Her mum's thinking about how she made a bad decision when she went out with me that time, it's a different thing - like, it couldn't be more different. We were just an excuse to take out anger on someone." Madeleine would be a lot better at convincing him, so he'd leave that to her, and explain the rest of it. "And yeah, she saw it," he added darkly. "They were out for a walk when it happened. Getting milk or something, I think. He'd been in a bit of trouble with Marius' lot for a while, but he didn't think... well, no one did, I guess. From what Madel told me, he heard something, and told her to go hide, so she did." Not thinking to ask, of course. She wouldn't, ever. When Shaun said jump, Madel jumped without question. It'd always been like that, since she was really small. "Then they appeared out of nowhere. They didn't know she was there, so she got to see them attacking her brother... from what she told me, and tells everyone else, he died there. But from what she told the police, and what she said in her sleep..." He remembered every word she muttered that night. That had been the first nightmare; she'd just fallen asleep because she was exhausted, and Christ... "Shaun wasn't entirely dead when they left. He was still choking, and he managed to say something to her before he died. 'Until Valhalla' was part of it, and I could never make out the rest. Then he died. She tried to bring him back while the ambulance was coming, but obviously, it didn't work." Russ sighed at that. She'd whispered about blood on her hands whilst she was dreaming. It was straight out of Macbeth, and it was dámn scary. "I don't think she's ever stopped blaming herself for not knowing how to do it properly, and it kind of... scarred her. She wouldn't even say his name for months." It was different now, of course. She would speak about him freely - except for the last day, of course. But if you asked her about her brother, she'd answer. It was better that way, but it still weirded Russ out.
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jun 4, 2008 18:15:06 GMT
... why was Russ... telling him all of this? It was a lot of information to take in at once; and it was information that Maddie clearly didn't want him to know- not yet, anyway. It couldn't be in Russ' place to tell him this, when Madeleine herself hadn't even told him she'd witnessed Shaun's death, and Lee was kinda mad that Russ was telling him. A heavy tension hovered between them- maybe Russ couldn't sense it, but Lee could feel himself growing more and more rigid in his seat. He wished Russ would stop talking about this. He didn't want to hear it like this. ... maybe he should tell him so, too. "Russ," he said, as the fierce flood of information finally peetered out into a fine mist. "Why... why are you telling me this?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jun 4, 2008 18:25:28 GMT
Russ frowned at that one. "Well, don't you think that someone should tell you? I mean, if Madel hasn't told you anything yet, she's not ready, and that's fair enough... but if she doesn't tell you - well, did you want to be lying beside her at night and hear her scream without knowing why she was crying, or what she was dreaming about? Or for her parents to mention something and for you - again - not know what they're on about?" Well, Russ would want to know, anyway. And he thought it was a bit... stupid of Madel not to have said anything, because either of those scenarios could easily happen, and she must know that as well as he did.
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jun 4, 2008 18:34:55 GMT
"No, I get that," Lee said quickly, as it were, getting it immediately. "It's just... it doesn't seem... do you have the right?" And odd question, he supposed. Rights were something they liked to talk about in school and court. Free speech and all that. He wasn't sure if he'd ever used in context before. Probably had. English was just one of those subjects... "Look," Lee cleared his throat slightly. "I honestly appreciate what you're trying to do here, but don't you think it's best if she tells me? Things have changed now. You saw Madeleine when she was... really bad. But she's not like that, anymore. She's told me a lot about Shaun... she's..." He paused; verging on the sentence, "she's communicated with Shaun". But did he have the right to tell Russ that? "Ask her yourself."
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jun 4, 2008 18:57:49 GMT
Russ sighed. That was the bloody point, wasn't it? Yeah, he shouldn't have to be the one telling Lee all this, but for God's sake, it didn't look as thought Madeleine was going to tell him any time soon. "Yeah, I get that she's better now," he said, shrugging. "Hell, she lets you call her 'Maddie', doesn't she? And what do you mean 'ask her yourself'?" he demanded, suspiciously. "Ask her what?" Russ knew that there was a lot he didn't know, especially after Madeleine had left, but what the ruddy hell did Shaun have to do with what had happened?!
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jun 4, 2008 19:12:01 GMT
"Just... ask her yourself," Lee said shortly. "A lot has happened here- and since you and Maddie haven't spoken since what... last year, I'm pretty sure you don't know the half of it. And I shouldn't be the one to tell you. Ask her." His tone softened slightly. "It'd be better that way." It would be. After all, he knew that... if it were him and Kira... It would be better that way, was all.
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jun 4, 2008 19:27:21 GMT
Like Madel was going to tell him! Russ snorted quietly, before glancing at Madel again. "Should I kick her and ask her now, then?" he asked, perfectly deadpan. He didn't doubt that a lot had happened in a year, 'course it had. If Madeleine had gone from an uncapable-of-giving-love-commitmentphobe to being someone's fiancé, something f*cked up (even if it did have a good result) had to have happened. He smirked gently at that. He didn't really mean that, that was harsh. But ... very probably true.
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jun 4, 2008 19:29:29 GMT
Lee suppressed a smirk. "Kick away, but don't expect to survive long enough to ask her a thing."
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jun 4, 2008 19:32:15 GMT
Russ laughed. "She wouldn't dare, but you have a point."
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jun 4, 2008 19:45:31 GMT
"Wouldn't she?" Lee eyed Russ carefully. "She's threatened Jack a fair few times, and you guys are round about the same size." He smiled properly now. "Or has she got a soft spot when it comes to family?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jun 4, 2008 19:49:20 GMT
Russ laughed. "Nah, she gave Shaun a fair few kicks. I think she just knows that if she hits me, I'll hit her back, never mind that she's about half my height!"
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jun 4, 2008 19:53:56 GMT
"Well, you're not soft, at least," Lee chuckled, glancing at Madeleine with a private and quickly suppressed thought that maybe, every so often, Madeleine deserved a good thump to bring her down a peg or two. Careful, mate. That's your wife-to-be you're talking about there. "She'd kick my butt, at any rate."
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jun 4, 2008 19:58:07 GMT
"She'd kick a lot of people's butt," Russ smirked. "But don't feel bad. She's at an advantage because she's at the perfect height to do damage, as she's demonstrated on a fair few occasions." Jace Sorley was never going to bring out his pet tarantula in her presence ever again...
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jun 4, 2008 20:03:56 GMT
"A real ankle-biter, isn't she?" Lee said fondly. "I suppose you must be proud of her?"
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