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| Night meetings; for Aveline | |
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| Topic Started: 18 Apr 2008, 10:37 PM (417 Views) | |
| James Gray | 18 Apr 2008, 10:37 PM Post #1 |
Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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Late at night the tavern was lonely, Jemmy’s pals had gone away on to the brothels or passed out on the floor and he was the only one really left there except for a few civilian towns people. It was about two in the morning, Jemmy didn’t stay out this late usually. But he had overnight liberty and the atmosphere of the garrison had gotten to him. It was like a storm was hanging over everything ready to break, even though the days were sunny and cloudless like always. He didn’t have to spend the night at the fort and he didn’t want to go to an inn yet. He had been drinking all evening, but he was drinking slowly so that he was actually pretty sober. He never got roaring drunk because going to that level was a good way to let out secrets you didn’t want to. Jemmy was really just here in the tavern because it was a change of scene and there was nowhere else to go to. Funny hours were something he was really used to in the service so that the time didn’t bother him even though he was tired. Tired wasn’t the same as sleepy and he was nowhere near ready to sleep. He might not be able to sleep at all that night. Although Jemmy didn’t know it this was the night before the mutiny and he felt like something was really wrong. So his eyes burned with insomnia while he sat with a tankard of ale all alone at a table in the corner. He was in his ordinary clothes, the ones that the marines called ‘go to town’ clothes and he looked just like any of the other men in the tavern in a brown coat except for the look on his face. It was like he sensed something that the others couldn’t, he felt like something was rushing down on them. Jemmy couldn’t really predict the future but the behavior of the men who would mutiny tomorrow had been different that day. He sensed the change in all of them without really thinking about it. That was why he felt the opressive feeling of a disaster impending. He didn’t want to be alone at his table but nobody wanted to come near him. Maybe other people sense that there was something clinging to him like a black poison in the air. It seemed like there were waking nightmares that didn’t have any shape hiding in the shadows everywhere this night. Jemmy’s eyes were strange and bright under his hat in the fire light and that warned most of the other people off. |
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| Deleted User | 18 Apr 2008, 10:52 PM Post #2 |
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Aveline let out a deep sigh when the man left. This wasn't how she usually worked, but she had wanted rum and he had money to give her - for a small service that she could offer. She'd met him in the tavern, and they'd gone out the back door. She'd leaned against the wall and had allowed him to take advantage of her. Afterwards she had the money in her hand, and it was now she had let out the deep sigh. What a life... and this late, she hated it. She preferred men with beds, men who'd take her to their bed so she could sleep in it, but sometimes the time just wasn't right. Sometimes, rum was more important than a soft bed. She brushed her skirt, making sure it looked fine, and added the coins to the purse by her belt, then letting it slip in between the folds of her dress again. Then she walked into the tavern again. Halfway deserted, well it was really late. She missed Tortuga, missed her home. And she kept almost finding someone to take her there, but then she'd get mixed into something and couldn't go anyhow. She'd been in Port Royal for weeks now, she barely even counted them anymore. It was just life, this, and she had to live it. Aveline laid money for the rum on the counter, and the rough tender of the bar gave her the rum while looking her over. Of course he saw her disappear with that other man. They knew her now, but still, this was one of her favorite places. Turning around, she wondered where to sit. Then she spotted a young man, and thought he looked pretty lonely. He was different from the rest, and Aveline liked that. Besides, she didn't have to talk to him, they could just sit, two strangers at the same table, drinking whatever they pleased. She downed a good gulp of the rum, and moved over to the table. "Mind if I sit here? I won't bother you." Her light voice, made for singing gentle songs, said to him as she looked him over. She'd prefer this young man to an annoying roughling like the other. And this young man was all alone, poor guy. Well so was she. They could drink to loneliness. |
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| James Gray | 20 Apr 2008, 01:37 AM Post #3 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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Of course Jemmy saw the woman when she came back in, because he watched everything that happened in the tavern. He saw when she went out with the man and because he knew what she was, he knew what must have happened between them during the time that they were outside. But he didn’t worry very much about that, it was a fact of life and there wasn’t any disgust in it for him. She was a working woman. She was the only woman in the tavern too and he could see the male eyes following her around like she was a bird and they were cats, he was watching her too but with a different way of looking at her. He wanted something else than what the rest of them wanted, he wanted company and not a bed warmer. Maybe she noticed that difference and that was why she came to him, she walked to his table and stood by it. He pushed back his hat with his hand and he looked up at her and instead of staring at the curves of her body underneath the dress he met her eyes. That was the biggest difference between the way he looked at her and the way the others looked at her. She said in a soft voice “Mind if I sit here? I won’t bother you.” He held his scarred left hand out with a gesture of welcome to her to sit anywhere she wanted to at the table. “I don’t mind. I’m not bothered either,” he answered. He didn’t mind, he was grateful to have someone else there instead of the dark companion of his own trouble thoughts. He watched her while she sat down and he wondered who she was, besides a whore. She was a little bit younger than he was, or she was younger than his real age, but he looked like a man ten years younger than he really was, just a boy really. She would probably think he was younger than she was. What he really saw about her wasn’t that she was young or vulnerable because of it though. He saw his own feeling like it was in a mirror in her eyes, he saw that she was alone too. That was why he decided to talk to her. He smiled over at her. “What’s your name?” |
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| Deleted User | 20 Apr 2008, 12:52 PM Post #4 |
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Aveline was mostly immune to the constant glances she got from most men. For more than ten years she'd lived this way. Of course she knew they were watching, and if she wanted to earn something, she could quickly turn her attention to them. She didn't right now though, since she just gave one man attention in order to give herself and rum a bit of attention. That's what she did now, she just wanted to sit somewhere, and had sought out a young looking man, asking if she could sit by his table. His eyes met hers, which surprised her a bit. But it was fine, really, Aveline didn't want to work right now. Just drink. He gestured for her to sit. “I don’t mind. I’m not bothered either,” "Thanks." Aveline said, offering him a sweet smile, and with one hand she pulled a chair out to sit on, while the other hand placed the mug on the table. Then she sat, pretending to ignore that the young man watched her. She downed a bit more rum, and then turned her gaze back to him too. He seemed young... but there was something about his eyes. As if his face belonged to a young man, who was not yet 20, yet his eyes seemed older. There were even a few wrinkles, some he probably didn't care for, but Aveline was used to looking at men of all ages, and now she wondered why his eyes were older than the rest of him. "What's your name?" He asked her with a smile, and it was a genuine smile. Aveline had to return it. He looked at her eyes, not her body, and now he wanted to know her name. Most men wanted to know her prize, didn't care for her name. "Aveline... Durant, is my full name. And yours, sir?" She asked, feeling she ought to treat this young man nicely and politely. Aveline adressed men the way she felt for them, calling them what they seemed to be. And this one was certainly a gentleman, so she would treat him as such. |
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| James Gray | 20 Apr 2008, 10:46 PM Post #5 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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She looked surprised with what he said to her, she smiled at him but her eyes were a little widened before she hid it. Jemmy knew she probably didn’t get asked for her name a lot because many men didn’t want to know a name of a thing that they used. They didn’t want to have to treat her like a human being so they tried to ignore everything that made her an individual. Names were important things in that. “Aveline… Durant, is my full name. And yours, sir?” Aveline Durant was her name, it sounded French and now that he knew he could hear a French lilt in her voice. That told him a little bit more about what her life must be like. She was a long way from home and she was in a colony of a country that hated the French. He looked at her with curious eyes now, he wondered how she had gotten all the way here in Port Royal. “I’m James Gray” he answered her. “Its good to meet you.” She asked him her question like he was a gentleman and an officer but she was wrong on both counts, really really wrong. She didn’t have to talk to him with that kind of respect. He didn’t like to be spoken to like he was her superior, which was what the word “sir” meant. He was her equal if he was anything at all. But if she was going to call him sir then he was going to give her the same respect back and put them back to an equal footing. But he should still tell her who he was. “You don’t have to call me sir, miss Durant. I’m not such a fine feathered kind of fellow at all. Gray is just fine or James if you want.” He smiled so that there wouldn’t be any criticism in his words, he wasn’t angry at all. “How did a French girl come all the way out here in Port Royal?” |
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| Deleted User | 21 Apr 2008, 08:12 PM Post #6 |
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“I’m James Gray. Its good to meet you.” "Good to meet you too, James." Aveline replied with a sweet smile, looking more closely at him again. Why did he look like that? His voice sounded boyish too. Aveline had indeed served men of all ages, from old widowed men, to those in their best age and all down to youngsters who had not yet been with a woman - and she'd introduced them to the pleasures of the night... for a fee, naturally. Aveline wasn't for free, she never wanted to be. Would James want her? She was a bit unsure, he asked for her name and looked to her eyes, not her body or cleavage either. “You don’t have to call me sir, miss Durant. I’m not such a fine feathered kind of fellow at all. Gray is just fine or James if you want.” She nodded as she took a gulp of her rum, then smiled at him when she sat down the mug. "I'll call you James, if you call me Aveline, then." she said with a grin, and then added, "And you may not be fine feathered on the outside, but I know a gentleman when I see one - even when he doesn't want to admit it himself." Because he spoke to her the way he did, treating her with some kind of respect, she wanted to do the same to him. And it had been her first impression too - that he was some sort of a gentleman, and not like the rest. In more than one way really, but she would not bother him with that. “How did a French girl come all the way out here in Port Royal?” Aveline thought a bit. How should she reply to that? He even noticed she was French, which just made the story even longer. She would not take it all from the beginning - but what then? Tell him that, 'oh I was just out for a stroll in Tortuga when I met this young nobleman, who wanted a bit of fun on his way back to Port Royal. Then we ran into Lord Beckett, who took me to shore, and afterwards I went to drink at this tavern... where I met a black man, who liked my singing, brought me home and then handed me over to his master... who took greatly advantage of me, rather roughly, and then threw me out with the money I earned for it. Trying to get back home ever since, but something always comes in the way.' No, that story was way too long, and she didn't feel like talking about it. Not tonight. "It's a long story, James, too long to be told in one night." Aveline replied. "But the last years I've been living at Tortuga, and lately I've tried to get back too. It's just not as easy as it seems. Life never is." She added thoughtfully, with the mug in her hand from which she gulped some more rum. James... who looked so young and still, he seemed nice and respectable. Not like the rest. She even guessed she could trust him with her entire life story, but it was true. Too much to be told in one night, except if they were spending it together elsewhere. This was a tavern, and her story was private. Noone really knew over here, besides herself. And noone would probably ever know either. It was best that way. |
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| James Gray | 22 Apr 2008, 03:14 PM Post #7 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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She told him “I’ll call you James, if you call me Aveline, then.” That was good for him, he would rather talk in a friendly way than he would talk in a gentleman but cold sort of way. Jemmy grinned when she said she knew a gentleman when she saw one, she was giving it a different definition than the one most people would give it. You had to have fancy pants to be a real gentleman and a pretty good fortune too. But she really did mean what she was saying too…she wasn’t just trying to butter him up to convince him to be her customer. That was what Jemmy would most rather have happen. He couldn't be her customer anyway so she would waste her time if she tried to seduce him. Jemmy just wanted to talk. She looked like she was thinking after the other question though so he had a bit of time to look at her and think some more. She was watching him pretty close and his eyes especially…she had a sweet and gentle smile on her face but her eyes were different from the rest of her. But it didn’t look like she was planning anything funny, she was just looking at Jemmy and trying to figure something out and there was intelligence in her eyes so they were sharp. Jemmy didn’t mind her watching him, especially not since it was just fair. He was looking at her the same way. Aveline finally told him “It’s a long story, James, too long to be told in one night.” Jemmy knew that when somebody said it was a very long story they usually didn’t want to tell it, so he didn’t ask another question to force her to go on. But she did go on anyway. “But the last years I’ve been living at Tortuga, and lately I’ve tried to get back too. It’s just not as easy as it seems. Life never is.” Jemmy knew that he looked surprised now but he was lost for words for a little bit. He thought she looked a little bit lost and out of place like she didn’t belong in Port Royal…but learning she came from Tortuga wasn’t what he expected to hear. It seemed even stranger to him that she said she tried to get back to Tortuga. Tortuga was where sneaky tax dodging merchants, smugglers and pirates liked to berth. Those kinds of men were dangerous to everyone and wouldn’t they be especially dangerous to a prostitute? Port Royal had to be a lot safer, a whore was never exactly safe but at least there was someone to keep the law here. “I thought you looked like you didn’t belong here…but you come from Tortuga and you would rather go back there? Why??” Jemmy wasn’t accusing her of anything, he was just surprised. |
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| Deleted User | 22 Apr 2008, 04:13 PM Post #8 |
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Aveline was surprised at James' surprise, when she said she lived in Tortuga the last years. Why was he surprised, hadn't he seen her with the other man - knowing what kind of woman she was? Then it shouldn't be so odd to live at Tortuga, and Aveline actually liked it there. It was certainly better than France, and a mother who offered herself to men too. Certainly better than England, living on the streets and then in a small flat with some other girls. Tortuga was good, and it was a free port. Free to be who you was. Not so proper and noble like Port Royal... “I thought you looked like you didn’t belong here…but you come from Tortuga and you would rather go back there? Why??” She arched a brow. "Yes, as a matter of fact I would... it's my home, the only home I've got. All my things are there, I never expected to be gone for so long." If her things were still there... it was a good question, really. Hadn't she been here perhaps a month now, at least? Without having paid for the room at the tavern, where she kept her things. Perhaps they opened it and took just what they needed, but that wasn't likely. It was Tortuga, and if they found her hidden shrine with her earnings, she had nothing now. In the shrine lay gold and silver pieces, and jewellry men had given her for sleeping with them. Oh, and her green dress! She'd been living in this red one for so long, it needed to be washed! But no... she wasn't home. And James thought it odd for her to want to go to Tortuga. "Why does it sound so strange to you? I'm certain you saw me before, you know how I make my living. I've done that for more than ten years now - and in Tortuga, I am not looked down upon as I am here." Aveline said and then drank more of her rum. Enough to empty the mug, in fact. That disappeared fast. Why did she defend herself and her choice of home-town to him? She barely knew this James Gray... yet there was something about him, something friendly. She looked at him, waiting for a reply - and it better be a good one, she thought, for the surprise he showed and him question the place that was her home. |
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| James Gray | 22 Apr 2008, 09:34 PM Post #9 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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Aveline answered him with a lift in her eyebrow that said she wondered why he was even asking “Yes, as a matter of fact I would… it’s my home, the only home I’ve got. All my things are there, I never expected to be gone for so long.” Well that made a little sense, it was hard to pick up without anything in a new place. But Jemmy could understand wanting a home better. Even in a place like Tortuga. Jemmy knew what it was like to want to belong somewhere that was familiar and well known and he knew what it was like to have to leave it behind when you got uprooted. It could be hard to put down roots again. Jemmy had a home now but there were already fractures in it. He was nodding slow when she suddenly went on after she was quiet for a little pause for thought. “Why does it sound so strange to you? I’m certain you saw me before, you know how I make my living. I’ve done that for more than ten years now – and in Tortuga, I am not looked down upon as I am here.” She was defensive and her voice was a little bit sharper, she was blocking away his questions and turning it around on him. When she talked about her living she had a special edge to her voice. Jemmy knew what it meant. It meant don’t try to go moral on me. Don’t you dare judge me for where I live or what I am, don’t you dare try to look down on me. Jemmy knew that feeling and he didn’t look down on her. He already knew that. It was just an accident of life that he wasn’t in the same place she was, luck in so many things. How could he look down on her when he could be her. How could he think he was better than her when there wasn’t anything to separate them except accident? He knew he had to tell her that somehow. “A man might spit at you here and think he is better than you, then he goes ahead and uses you anyway. Humans are strange animals. I think we are kinder when we don’t believe the lie that we’re better than someone else.” There was a kind of not spoken apology for questioning her like that. Then he put his free hand up onto the table and he turned it over to face up. He had a coin in his palm on top of the flaring red and white scar tissue on his left hand. He called the tavern girl and said “Another drink for Aveline.” Jemmy knew her drink was empty and the way she looked into her mug she wished it wasn't empty. So that was the other part of his apology. |
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| Deleted User | 29 Apr 2008, 12:20 PM Post #10 |
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“A man might spit at you here and think he is better than you, then he goes ahead and uses you anyway. Humans are strange animals. I think we are kinder when we don’t believe the lie that we’re better than someone else.” Aveline nodded a bit, understanding that he did not see himself as better than her. That he knew she'd been offended, and this was his way of apologizing, "Noone's better than the person next to them... they may think so, but with the people I've met, I know better." she explained. She may only be in her twenties, but she'd experienced more than she had thought, when she was a child. There were noble people and there were pirates - but they were all human, in the end, with the same desires deep within. Aveline knew that. She watched curiously when his free hand was put on the table, and he turned it over. There was a coin in his hand, but Aveline noticed the scars too, and decided to remember that for later. James turned to call for the barmaid, “Another drink for Aveline.” "You didn't have to do that." Aveline said with a small smile, but she was very thankful that he did get her another drink. It was the only thing that was the same, no matter where you came. In fact... rich and poor, they all drank. But if the rich man poured himself a glass of something, he was probably sophisticated. If the poor did the same, he was a drunk. Odd how the world worked, humans were indeed strange animals, just like James said. "So, James, tell me what you do for a living?" She said to change the subject of the conversation away from herself - so she could drink her rum the way she felt like, without having someone tell her she lived the wrong life and drank the wrong things. It was all the same. |
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| James Gray | 2 May 2008, 09:51 PM Post #11 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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“Noone’s better than the person next to them…they may think so, but with the people I’ve met, I know better.” Jemmy knew better too. But he also knew another thing, that there were also people who were worth less than all others. Most lives were equally valuable with others but some were not worth dung, Jemmy knew a few of those men in his time. But he was saying something else to Aveline because he really did believe that she was his equal, that was why he was listening and talking to her pretty openly. He didn’t mention the men that really were monsters. Why would he need to contradict her philosophy, what she believed was a good thing even if it wasn't true. He didn't need to argue with her about it. Besides he believed it himself, a part of it anyway. So he let it go and he called the tavern girl over for Aveline's drink. After he bought her the drink she said “You didn’t have to do that.” But she was smiling, she wasn’t too angry about accepting the gift, so things were all right between them. The tavern girl refilled Aveline’s drink and then left them alone again while Jemmy watched Aveline and wondered what she was thinking, she looked like she was pretty far away. He was just about to offer her a penny for her thoughts when she said “So, James, tell me what you do for a living?” Up to now all of the questions were ones that he asked her, now she was asking him a question. That was just fair really. After all he was prying before. She seemed like she didn’t want to be pried into anymore so Jemmy let all of that drop when she wanted it and he answered her. “I’m a private in his Majesty’s marines on the sloop of war Intrepid.” She volunteered some of her story so he thought it was fair to give her a little more detail about himself too. “I’ve been serving for about four years and a bit now.” |
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| Deleted User | 20 Jun 2008, 10:27 PM Post #12 |
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“I’m a private in his Majesty’s marines on the sloop of war Intrepid.” James replied to her question, seemed to accept that she wanted to change the subject. They'd spoken plenty about her tonight already, “I’ve been serving for about four years and a bit now.” Aveline nodded, he sounded honest. Really, James Gray seemed like a really nice person, even if she did not know him very well. She drank a bit more of her rum, could feel the warmth spread in her body. That's what rum gave her, the warmth she had yet to feel with a man. James was right, they went about and used her, and she slept with them because she had to. She had tried to beg and it was not much fun. Then she'd rather sleep in a warm bed at least, although such beds was all she had here in Port Royal, none of her own. Forcing herself back to the conversation she sipped another bit of rum, looking up at him, "Do you like what you do then, being a marine?" Aveline asked. She had known sailors, and soldiers and even marines she'd been with, but she never really knew much about them. It surprised her though that James was not with his comrades then, but here all on his own. Made her think he stood out, just like she thought before, but she could not put her finger on what it was that made him different from all other men. Except that he was awfully kind to her and she did not deserve such kindness. "Tell me more about you, I never met a man like you before. So unlike the rest." She gave him a small smile along with that statement, and drank some more rum. The warmth truly spreading, she was getting drunk. |
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| James Gray | 20 Jun 2008, 11:44 PM Post #13 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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Jemmy’s mind had went back to some of those four years, in the quiet dimness memories liked to come up like old ghosts. He pulled his left hand into a closed fist and held it close to his side. But the cold feeling like a storm about to break that he had earlier was gone…Aveline’s friendliness had chased it away and Jemmy had learned to live with his memories, the good ones and the bad ones, as long as he didn’t wander further back in time. He smiled over the rim of his own drink at her before he swallowed a bit. “Do you like what you do then, being a marine?” she asked and it didn’t take Jemmy long to know his answer. “Tell me more about you, I never met a man like you before. So unlike the rest.” “Yes…I like it. It is the only thing I ever did that was worth anything,” he said quietly…“Without the marines I would be nobody and nothing.” He would be degraded to an animal. The marines gave him honor and a life that meant something…He would never give that up. He saw that there was surprise in her face and he thought it was because of what he had just said, so he tried to explain what he probably couldn’t ever make clear to another person. “My squad is my family now.” How could he say that before he became a Marine he was a hollow shell fixed on revenge, that he had no power and no strength. How could he explain the change of the respect and the friendship that he was given, the change it made to him as well as his life. Especially how could he explain it to a woman who was so powerless herself. The best thing he could try to say was to say that they were his family, but that wasn’t really all of it. Jemmy smiled at her. “Now you have to tell me something about you. What do you like?” |
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| Deleted User | 22 Jun 2008, 01:25 PM Post #14 |
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“Yes…I like it. It is the only thing I ever did that was worth anything,” He replied with a quiet voice, “Without the marines I would be nobody and nothing.” To this she arched a brow, James seemed clever enough, surely he'd not be 'nothing'... “My squad is my family now.” Aveline nodded, "It must be nice to have a family... but also to do something you feel is worth doing. I live the way I do, because I never had many options - but I'm not sure if it is ever 'worth anything'." She said thoughtfully, see how he was making her think. But to feel you had family, and without them you'd be nobody... and with them you did something you felt was worth it. Aveline would love to do that, but she couldn't. Sure she could sing at taverns, but she'd prefer real songs and plays, like the ones she saw long ago at the theatres in London. She loved going there with wealthy men, and although she could not read or write, her mind was rather sticky if she wanted to remember something. And who did not want to remember such lovely plays, to be able to disappear into another world and forget your own life? Aveline sighed and had a bit more rum. “Now you have to tell me something about you. What do you like?” He woke her up again, wanted to hear about her. He was really odd this one, but she liked him none the less. But he asked what she liked... noone had ever really asked her such a thing before. It was always what they liked. Not what Aveline liked. "I like... I like to sing, James. And I like to watch plays, but sadly I've not watched a proper one since London. There aren't proper good plays to see in Tortuga." And how she'd love to sing and act in such a play. Just she could never do it. She was low enough already. Most actors were men, and women still looked down upon. Aveline was already a prostitute, should she then lower her status more by being a prostitute and an actress? No, she was content where she was. But that's what she would stay, she then thought. Content and never rising above that. |
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| James Gray | 22 Jun 2008, 04:53 PM Post #15 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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(O.O.C. I had permission to write Aveline's reaction for the place that I wrote it) "It must be nice to have a family... but also to do something you feel is worth doing. I live the way I do, because I never had many options - but I'm not sure if it is ever 'worth anything'." Jemmy hadn’t said anything to that, he wasn’t sure what to say. He might say something in a little bit when he understood what it was that he wanted to say. Instead he had asked “Now you have to tell me something about you. What do you like?” She looked like she was surprised that he asked about that. Not a lot of people cared what a whore liked. Well not a lot of people, men at least, would be talking to her at all, they had a different kind of business. Jemmy wondered if he should pay her for this time. He was buying her drinks. But that was not going to do her a lot of favors for her living. It was better for her not to be with the other men in the tavern though. The better ones already stumbled home, what was left were the worst men that were so dead rolling drunk that they became stupid and cruel. His smile turned into a short frown as he looked side ways at them. She shouldn’t go home with one of those. Not a girl like her, she wasn’t hard like some whores, she was still gentler and vulnerable. He hoped she wouldn't. "I like... I like to sing, James. And I like to watch plays, but sadly I've not watched a proper one since London. There aren't proper good plays to see in Tortuga." The emotion in her voice which had both happiness and sadness in it, showed Jemmy that she wasn’t callused, not yet anyway. He smiled at her again, to let her know that his frown before wasn’t meant for her. “Aveline is a good name for a singer. It sounds like a dancing stream.” She blushed and mumbled something and Jemmy grinned, a friendly grin though, not a smirking one. “Sometimes the garrison puts up a play” he added. “I haven’t been in one since I was in Kingston but we did some pretty good ones. There was one by a guy named Shakespeare called the Tempest. It was a ripping good story and we did it proper, too.” Maybe a play was just what they needed for the garrison now, something friendly to cooperate on that would bring them back together. "What plays did you like the best?" He asked. Edited by James Gray, 22 Jun 2008, 04:55 PM.
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| Deleted User | 22 Jun 2008, 05:09 PM Post #16 |
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He had asked what she liked, what Aveline liked. How odd a man she had met tonight, but she really liked talking to him. Think, to have someone you could talk to, a man even, who did not talk to you to get to sleep with you. Aveline couldn't remember when she last knew such a man, or spoke more than a few words with him. There was of course her new found other friend Alex, but although they were friends they could not stop flirting either, and Aveline knew it might one day lead to more. James was different though. Treating her so nicely, asking her what she liked. And she'd been honest with him, said she liked to sing and that she liked to watch plays. It was a bittersweet statement though, as she only sang in taverns for drunk people, and never got to see a proper play anymore. “Aveline is a good name for a singer. It sounds like a dancing stream.” He had smiled to her before speaking, and then said her name was good. That it sounded like a dancing stream... it almost sounded like... it sounded romantic. Aveline blushed slighty, something she rarely did without a purpose behind it and mumbled a low thanks. She wasn't used to compliments like that, wasn't at all sure what to say to it. She was a whore... not a lady to whom you paid such compliments. James grinned though, his face so friendly when she looked up to meet his eyes again. “Sometimes the garrison puts up a play. I haven’t been in one since I was in Kingston but we did some pretty good ones. There was one by a guy named Shakespeare called the Tempest. It was a ripping good story and we did it proper, too.” he paused shortly before he continued, "What plays did you like the best?" Aveline thought about it although her mind had to spin quite a lot, with the rum she had so far. Better drink more then. She downed a bit mroe, what plays did she like best? It had been at least 5 years ago since she last saw one, wasn't she 20 or something when she left London? "I've seen some by Shakespeare... not the Tempest I think. I remember Hamlet, and Macbeth. Tragedies..." Aveline paused shortly, remembering some and then quoted with a small smile to James: "Angels are bright still // though the brightest fell..." |
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| James Gray | 22 Jun 2008, 05:26 PM Post #17 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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Jemmy’s mind went back to the Tempest…he was the smallest and the youngest man in the play, at least everyone thought he was the youngest, so he got the part of the sprite Ariel. Jemmy thought he was lucky not to get given a woman’s part, he would not want to take a risk like that although the situation would be funny, a sort of double cross. They had laundresses that the man who organized the play talked into actresses, Miranda forgot her lines a lot but she was pretty enough for the audience of soldiers to forgive her. A sergeant had stood beside the stage and whispered her prompts for the words she was supposed to say. The memory made Jemmy smile, those were some of the good times. “I’ve seen some by Shakespeare… not the Tempest I think. I remember Hamlet, and Macbeth. Tragedies…” Jemmy was surprised, not comedies? She had to have a lot of sadness in her life, and he would think she would like a happier story. “Angels are bright still//though the brightest fell…” It sounded very familiar to Jemmy and he knew it had to be a line from one of the plays she metioned. Aveline had a good memory, she had to be last in London years ago. Jemmy took another drink…he was drinking a lot slower and a lot less than Aveline but he didn’t notice how fast she was taking her rum. “I never saw either of those. What were they about?” Jemmy liked hearing a good story and the Tempest had been good. Edited by James Gray, 22 Jun 2008, 05:29 PM.
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| Deleted User | 22 Jun 2008, 05:43 PM Post #18 |
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“I never saw either of those. What were they about?” He never saw them? Aveline saw them. She had never read the plays, couldn't for that matter, but she saw them and it was the only real bit of education she ever had. Probably also a reason why she remembered them so well. Hamlet and Macbeth, what were they about? Aveline lifted her mug to down another drink. She couldn't, it was empty. She gave the mug an annoyed stare as she put it down again, then returned her attention to James. "Hamlet is about this... this Danish prince whose father is killed, and the killer is his uncle, who also seduced Hamlet's mother, the queen. Fooling him. And then it just goes crazy, everyone kills everyone. People always mention this line from i t: To be or not to be // that is the question." She quoted with a small smile, happy she could remember so much. That was Hamlet, she thought, then Macbeth? The line she spoke just before was from that play? Her mind was spinning and the room seemed to do the same for a moment. Aveline picked up her mug, then remembered it was empty. Would James buy her another? She could use some more, with all this remembering plays she saw in London. Did André still live there, she wondered? Naturally she had not heard from him since she left England, since he could read and write but she couldn't. Did he still live with Lord Avery, or had he found a woman to marry? It would be nice to hear from him. How he was doing. That was impossible though. Everything was, lately. Aveline sighed and focused on James again. |
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| James Gray | 22 Jun 2008, 07:10 PM Post #19 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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Aveline’s mug was empty but Jemmy didn’t notice, he was a little bit drunk himself, not a lot but a little bit, it was enough so that he didn’t notice things like that. But the bar girl that he gave the money earlier noticed and she was coming their way, neither of them noticed her while Aveline was talking. "Hamlet is about this... this Danish prince whose father is killed, and the killer is his uncle, who also seduced Hamlet's mother, the queen. Fooling him. And then it just goes crazy, everyone kills everyone. People always mention this line from i t: To be or not to be // that is the question." Jemmy grinned, murder and mystery, it sounded good but also a little bit like Shakespeare must have gone over board with the murder part. “Interesting…But it sounds like he over did the murders a little,” Jemmy said laughing a little, but then he noticed that Aveline’s smile had vanished and she sighed quietly. She looked sad…something was wrong. Jemmy stopped laughing at once, he reached out across the table with his hand, but not too far, so that she could take it if she wanted but she wouldn’t feel like he was trying to push her into familiar gesture that she might not want. “I’m sorry…” he said quietly. “Somethings wrong isn’t it? Can I ask what is the matter?” Behind Aveline the serving girl had appeared, the coin that Jemmy gave her earlier was more than enough for Aveline’s drink that time so she would keep her drink filled up. She poured from her pitcher into the mug. Edited by James Gray, 22 Jun 2008, 07:11 PM.
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| Deleted User | 22 Jun 2008, 07:35 PM Post #20 |
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He grinned when she explained what Hamlet was all about, “Interesting…But it sounds like he over did the murders a little,” When he spoke Aveline had been gone in her own thoughts, memories. Think she was twenty five years old and had accomplished nothing. She had a brother she loved and missed, she had not seen him for years. Aveline had noone. At least James had his friends in the marine, he had a home. Did she have one still? Tortuga, she'd been gone for so long, her things were probably gone, all she had was the red dress she had worn for far too long now. She missed home, but it wasn't really a home. Just a place she stayed when she wasn't working. Home was where your heart was, so hers had to be in London with her brother. If he was still there... she didn't know. She hadn't noticed how James' laugh stopped, but a part of her seemed to sense the hand that laid on the table. Offering itself to her, and not really looking at the hand or James, her hand still found his and a little comfort in it. All the comfort she could get really, not a whole lot of people cared for her really. But James asked what she liked, he spoke to her. Listened... “I’m sorry…” she heard him speak and looked at him, “Somethings wrong isn’t it? Can I ask what is the matter?” Aveline noticed her mug had a refill and with her free hand she quickly gulped down a bit. That felt at least a little better. Then looked at James again. "I just... recalled these memories from London. My brother still lives there, I think... I haven't seen him for so long, he was all I ever had." She felt a few tears leave her eyes and took her hand back from his to wipe them away. Aveline usually never cried, she was strong and believed in surviving, but right now she was drunk and had become emotional because of their talk. "I'm sorry, I'm... I'm not usually like this..." she said and looked down, a bit embarrassed to feel these tears. They weren't meant to be there. James must be disappointed with her, she thought and sighed again. |
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| James Gray | 22 Jun 2008, 08:11 PM Post #21 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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Jemmy felt her hand touch his and he wrapped his fingers around hers, he didn’t hold it tightly or possessive but he held it gently. She seemed young to him just then, when her eyes were open and she was not hiding behind them. Young and sad. Jemmy felt his heart go out to her and he wished that he could comfort her better. The nameless longing in her eyes and the pressure of her hand brought back a long ago memory of another hand clinging to his, a hand that was much smaller than Aveline’s. He held her hand just the same way that he held that one years ago. “I just…recalled these memories from London. My brother still lives there, I think…I haven’t seen him for so long, he was all I ever had.” She was crying, he saw one tear fall down her face and another followed, she scrubbed her eyes to hide them. “I’m sorry, I’m…I’m not usually like this…” she said and she stared at the table away from Jemmy, she looked ashamed of herself. He watched her with an unreadable look in his eyes that hid a memory of his own, but without any judgement. Jemmy knew what it was like to leave your family behind, he understood too well what she felt. There was a time when you could wall off the memories and then they didn’t hurt any longer, and then you had to leave them alone, it took a long time before you could think of them without pain. She shouldn’t be ashamed of herself. How could he be disappointed with her, it was not her fault. Judging her because she opened herself to him, because she trusted him enough to let something show, would make Jemmy a snake. “You don’t have to be sorry” he told her softly. He didn’t tell her not to cry though, or some stupid cliche about how she was going to see him again one day or that her brother was still with her as long as she remembered him. Those were all lies that never really made a person feel better. He just held onto her hand gently. |
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| Deleted User | 22 Jun 2008, 08:24 PM Post #22 |
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When she had taken his hand, she felt the other wrap around hers and they sat there for awhile, apparently caught up in each their past. She had no idea why he did this, held her hand, noone else ever did. Long ago André had held her hand, when they were children. Her little brother, a few years younger than her, and she had always looked after him. Now he was probably the one doing well, and look where she was still. André hadn't liked that she lived ont he streets, or that she sold her body like their mother did. But she just felt she had no choice. And now it was all too late to change anything. He had asked what was wrong, and she had explained herself. When she cried James did nothing, but she didn't expect him to either. She looked away, attempted to move her hand but he still held it. Feeling embarrassed, he'd been so nice, and look at her, sitting here crying on a tavern late at night. Aveline drank more rum. “You don’t have to be sorry” she heard him speak to her softly, but that was all he said. That she didn't have to be sorry. Oh but she was sorry, so sorry for everything suddenly. "I didn't mean to... I just thought of my brother, I... I rarely do that, he's so far away..." She said with a sigh and downed the last rum from the latest refill. Phew that tasted a bit stronger than she remembered. Aveline shook her head slightly by the taste, suddenly feeling dizzy, and she yawned, "I'm feeling... odd..." |
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| James Gray | 22 Jun 2008, 08:54 PM Post #23 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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“I didn’t mean to… I just thought of my brother, I… I rarely do that, he’s so far away…” she answered him, she still didn’t seem to want to look at him and she pulled slightly at her hand. He opened his hand out so that she could take her hand away if she wanted to but he didn’t take his own hand away, he kept his fingers resting on hers. She really didn’t have to be sorry, not to him. A drink could help, it could warm your throat and your belly and dull everything that was wrong. Jemmy was glad she turned to the rum for comfort, he hoped she could find some there. But she shook her head and suddenly something was a little bit strange in the way she was holding it, he realized that maybe she had a little too much… “I’m feeling… odd…” Jemmy could guess that and he could see it in her eyes, she couldn’t hold her vision still any longer and they went a bit cross eyed in and out. He knew what the signs were like when someone had a lot too much. He should have noticed it sooner. “I think you’ve had a bit too much rum” he said gently, “maybe you better call it a night…” Underneath the table he had tensed up, he wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to keep her seat. |
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| Deleted User | 22 Jun 2008, 09:04 PM Post #24 |
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Aveline had felt his hand open when shepulled her own, but he just allowed it. If she wanted to take her hand back she could. James let her... talk, and he listened and was being nice. Her hand still lay in his, because it was so comforting and he was being so kind to her. But she was getting drunk and she could feel it now. The dizzyness, the fact that when she moved her head it was like her vision followed a bit later. And she wasn't really thinking clearly, had troubles finding the words sometimes. It had been awhile since she had this much rum, usually she couldn't afford it - since although she liked rum, she also knew she had to stay alive which meant she could not spend all her money on rum, even if she wanted to. It just wouldn't do. “I think you’ve had a bit too much rum” James spoke to her and she nodded quietly to that, “maybe you better call it a night…” "But... but what of you then? We're..." she had to take a breath in, "... having such a nice time..." or at least they had, until she had become emotional and embarrasing towards a man who was actually kind to her. But she did feel tired within and looked around for a door. "Will you take me to my bed, James?" She asked feeling so tired, but knowing she'd stumble a few times on the way - not to mention probably meet a man or two who'd want to take advantage of a drunk emotional woman. |
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| James Gray | 22 Jun 2008, 11:47 PM Post #25 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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“But… but what of you then? We’re…having such a nice time…” she said stumbling a little bit over the words. Jemmy realized that she had been slurring just a little bit for a while now but it was only now that it had gotten stronger in her voice that he noticed it. She looked around the room and she looked a bit wobbley, he stood up and took a stand beside her chair, he watched her with concern in his eyes. “Will you take me to my bed, James?” she asked sleepily. “I will” he answered gently, “I will make sure you get there safe. Don’t worry.” He took her arm gently and helped her up out of the chair and he let her lean on him. He wasn’t sure that she was going to remember very well so he looked over at the bar keeper and asked “Where does she stay?” The bar keeper told him “She stays up at the Lion…when she sleeps there” and he chuckled, he added “you’re a lucky fellow Gray, you probably won’t even have to pay her now she’s too drunk to demand it, nice job sweet talking her.” Jemmy gave him a cold stare but didn’t answer that, it didn’t matter what the bar keeper said or what he thought, it only mattered that Aveline didn’t believe the man. “I’m not going to touch you” he said quietly to her, it wasn’t for anyone else’s ears, “I wouldn’t do that to you.” It was totally true…even if he could have done it Jemmy would never have taken advantage of anyone. But he couldn’t show her that, he just hoped that she would trust him. She trusted him once already and he didn’t want her to regret that. He didn’t want her to think that he had just been buttering her up and getting her drunker to have a good time, and believe that he was just like every other man that hurt her. He wanted to be a friend, she obviously didn’t have any others. |
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| Deleted User | 23 Jun 2008, 07:08 AM Post #26 |
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You always felt the drunkness when you least expected it. She had been fine until now. But suddenly it just hit her like a brick-wall, Aveline was drunk and she knew it would not get better. She just wanted her bed. And her new friend James with her too. He stood and came over to her chair, Aveline asked if he'd take her home. “I will, I will make sure you get there safe. Don’t worry.” James spoke to her gently and she felt her take her arm. Aveline got up to stand, still feeling this was slightly embarrasing but not feeling she had a whole lot of options. James helped her walk and she heard him ask the barkeep where she stayed. “you’re a lucky fellow Gray, you probably won’t even have to pay her now she’s too drunk to demand it, nice job sweet talking her.” Aveline felt like saying something to that, but James didn't, so she didn't either. Nice job sweet talking her... oh no, he'd take her home and then take advantage of her, would he? Nice sweet James, who listened to her just so he could sleep with her without paying? But really he wouldn't do that, would he? She hoped not, she wanted him to be her friend. “I’m not going to touch you” Aveline heard him quietly speak to her, and he sounded honest, “I wouldn’t do that to you.” Aveline looked up at him with a small smile, "You really wouldn't even when you could?" She asked, holding onto him as they made their way out of the tavern, "I'm... thankful..." Aveline leaned against him, feeling a small tingle of drunken happiness inside because he would not touch her, he would just take her home and be her friend. Tomorrow she wouldn't remember half of it, but she didn't know that just now. Right now she just knew he was being awfully nice, and had been that the entire night. |
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| James Gray | 23 Jun 2008, 03:36 PM Post #27 |
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Luck just kissed you hello! When you're a boy
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Jemmy held onto her gently with his arm around her shoulders, now that they were standing next to each other he realized that she was a couple of inches taller than he was. Well she would be if she was standing straight, but she was leaning on him so his eyes were a couple of inches above hers. They must make a funny looking pair. She was not very steady on her feet so he had to keep her upright and make sure that they walked straight toward the door, Jemmy was sober enough for him to keep a good line. “You really wouldn’t even when you could?” she asked him with a smile. “Never” Jemmy promised her and she said in a quiet and sleepy murmer “I’m…thankful…” He steered her carefully and held onto her, she almost fell once while they were going out through the street but Jemmy caught her. It took them a while to get to the Lion but Jemmy knew where it was, he knew the whole town like it was part of him. Going up the stairs was hard! They had to take them slowly one at a time and it took a while since Aveline was falling more and more into a sleepy daze, Jemmy had to search her dress for her purse to find her room key to open the door once they were up. He helped her or actually half carried her into the room and then he laid her down on the bed, she was still in her dress but Jemmy didn’t know if she had a night gown anywhere and he wasn’t going to take her out of it. He did pull off her boots though and he lined them up neatly beside the bed where she could find them in the morning without tripping over them. Then he got to work making her comfortable, Jemmy had a lot of experience with that. He used to be an officer’s steward on the Eltham. Jemmy tucked Aveline in underneath the covers, it was a kind of breezy and cool night so he pulled them all the way up to her neck and folded her into them. By that time he thought she was pretty much asleep. He realized that if he hadn’t been talking to her she probably could have gotten a job tonight. She spent her nights comforting men but hadn’t she comforted Jemmy tonight? He fished in his coat pocket and pulled out some coins, he didn’t know how much she usually charged but he guessed that it was about right and he left that in her purse with the room key and then tucked her back in. He smoothed her hair gently and then told her “Goodnight Aveline,” he didn’t know if she heard that but he did mean it. Jemmy stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him, he couldn’t bolt it but he didn’t think that anyone was going to try to come up here and bother her. He made her as safe as he could, now he better think about getting back to the fort before reveille since his liberty would be over in the morning. |
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| Deleted User | 24 Jun 2008, 07:23 AM Post #28 |
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Aveline was thankful that he'd take her home, and when he promised her he'd never touch her even when it would be so easy, she smiled. She really was thankful, but also very tired. They got to the place where she had a bed for the moment, although she rarely slept in it. Aveline held onto James, especially up the stairs or else she might just fall down and break something. She could not afford that, think to become a beggar. That wasn't anything she'd like. She was half asleep when he began searching for her purse, but she didn't mind, she knew he would not touch her, he had promised that. Soon enough they entered the room and Aveline drifted off when she landed on her bed. She could feel how he pulled off her boots, and did his best to tuck her in nicely. It was so... such a comforting feeling, to be treated like this. Aveline couldn't remember her mother ever putting her to sleep like that, in such a caring and kind manner. Aveline herself might have tucked her brother in though, her sweet younger brother. How was he doing in London? Aveline missed him. She halfway dreamt of him, and heard a distant goodnight, and mumbled something like it back, but it was never real words, she was far away already. James was so nice. Almost like her brother. How she wished she had her brother again, sweet André... Aveline drifted off into a world of dreams, the only place she could escape this life of hers for real. (( THE END )) |
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