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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 15 2017, 08:48:14 PM (61 Views) | |
| Adelaide McCallen | Dec 15 2017, 08:48:14 PM Post #1 |
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Kelci; s:p | w:d
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Thursday April 17, 2042 Evening For a full minute, Ada stood frozen in their fireplace, still clutching Charlie's hand. The last several hours were all but lost to the blur of adrenaline; the lies she'd rehearsed came so automatically that she was answering the officer's third question before her brain caught up with her mouth. She was a personal assistant. That's what she and David had decided on. Scheduling appointments, errands. Nothing important or interesting enough to warrant much digging. Sometimes she stopped to have lunch with her boyfriend when their schedules overlapped. She and Charlie met years ago through a mutual friend. Yes, they shared a flat. No, she had not been aware that Elliott Fix was a wizard. No, to the best of her knowledge she did not personally know any magical people. No, she was not herself a witch. And apparently she had repeated these lies to herself in the mirror enough times that they were passable. And they let her go. They let them all go, one by one, except Elliott. Ada dropped Charlie's hand finally to snake her arms under his jacket and bury her face against his chest. He was slight, but he was strong. Stronger than she was, almost always. She allowed herself a moment to fully lean on him, trying hard to keep a lid on her panic. Her hands were shaking now that the adrenaline was leaving; she clenched them into fists and hugged him even tighter, half-aware that the trembling was slowly spreading through her whole body. She wanted to joke about needing a strong cup of tea to feel properly British again, but when she finally opened her mouth, it was just to whisper Charlie's name pleadingly into his shirt. |
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| Charlie Gray | Dec 19 2017, 04:31:31 PM Post #2 |
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Charlie wrapped his arms around Ada and held her closely. He could feel her shaking and he was instantly brought back to the explosion. He took a deep breath. He'd be no good if he thought about that on top of everything else. He'd done well with the interviews. It had always been something of a joke that he was a terrible liar, but since it was true everyone (himself included) made sure he practiced. As it turned out, lying was a skill like anything else, and with practice he excelled. He still struggled with improvising, but as long as he had a lie already picked out he was fine. Then Ada whispered his name and he was no good, anyway. He took another deep breath and tightened his hold. What could he do? Or say? He didn't want to let go of her. What even were the right words? "What do you need, Ada? Tell me, and I'll do it. Anything." That felt close. Close, but not completely right. |
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| Adelaide McCallen | Dec 19 2017, 09:57:48 PM Post #3 |
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Kelci; s:p | w:d
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In response, Ada let out a single sob; it was more a physical reaction than anything else. She nuzzled her face against his chest and slid her right hand between them to rest over his heart. She just needed to be sure of him. As always, this calmed her down considerably. Charlie was the sweetest man she had ever known, sweet enough that she actually ached. He was steadfast, and calm where she was frantic, and so gentle. And, where it counted, brave. What did she need? It was a ludicrous question. “I love you, Charlie Gray. What could I ever need but you?” |
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| Charlie Gray | Dec 20 2017, 05:23:10 PM Post #4 |
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Oh, there it was. Ada had the right words all figured out. Of course he loved her; they loved each other. He had just be afraid he didn't really know what love was. But if this wasn't it, nothing was. He held her hand over his heart. "I love you, Ada. I have for years. I just wasn't sure what to call it. It's nothing I've ever done before." He rested his cheek against her hair and sighed contentedly. Yes, this was right. |
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| Adelaide McCallen | Dec 20 2017, 07:16:56 PM Post #5 |
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Kelci; s:p | w:d
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For two rather smart people, they were so clueless about love. They'd been together for years, and her feelings for him had never been lukewarm. They were good at showing each other love, but neither really had an example to look to for communicating it explicitly. His family was a bit of a disaster. Her parents... she actually couldn't think about them without feeling inexplicably furious lately. She'd been effectively abandoned by everyone who was meant to love her unconditionally, replaced by a new daughter who was growing up in an unbroken home. They'd chosen to move forward on a path that let them conveniently repress the years Ada had more or less raised herself, her father in prison far away and her mother too depressed to get out of bed most days. But Charlie had never made her feel like a burden, and she'd never once been afraid he would abandon her. At least not intentionally. They'd hobbled together their own sort of family by more or less doing the opposite of everything they'd known. There was no roadmap. And when everyone around them said 'I love you' while their actions said something else entirely, it made sense that it had taken them so long to figure out how to reclaim the words. Now though, she wasn't sure why she'd been so afraid; there was nothing empty about the phrase to her now, not when she'd said it and certainly not when she heard it from him. "I know." She felt like a million sunbeams were dancing inside her chest. If this was what it was always going to feel like, she finally understood the appeal. They held each other in comfortable silence for a long moment before she finally looked up at him. "I can't keep working for David, can I." This was a constant source of anxiety for her, but she'd never brought it up to Charlie. She'd always needed to think things through on her own before looking for input. "Not if it's ever going to draw any suspicion to you, or to Elliott through you. It was too close today, for all of us. If I'd been on my way back from a delivery and had that kind of cash on me, all in galleons...." |
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2:47 PM Jul 11