|
|
|
last online Apr 26, 2024 17:16:27 GMT -7
|
|
|
Feb 25, 2016 19:56:55 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2016 19:56:55 GMT -7
and i don't need anyone, not the way i need you
Nostalgia washed over Royal in waves, but instead of enjoying the sensation, he felt like he was drowning in it. Nostalgia seemed to be all he had left anymore, half-shaded memories of his father dancing through the hallways or talking to himself, hunched over a desk. How long would it be before everything he was became memories, and there was nothing real left? “When did we grow old?” Royal asked breathlessly. He had meant to ask when they had grown up, but grown old seemed so much more appropriate. He was halfway to being an orphan and perhaps halfway to an only child; she was the Minister of Magic. They were twenty-two, but they had old eyes and old hearts and old everything else, too.
Ignoring his previous question, Royal began to dump flour into the bowl, eyeballing the amount more than actually measuring it. Since they had no intention of baking the dough in the first place, all of the chemistry that was necessary to make it rise or whatever else was moot. “Take your time.” He said in response to her uncertainty, throwing another cupful of flour down. How much time did they have left, though, really? They had already gotten to grow old, a privilege some weren’t allowed. They had gotten to grow old, but not together, so was it really even growing old at all?
@victoire
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 26, 2024 17:16:27 GMT -7
|
|
|
Feb 26, 2016 12:46:10 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 12:46:10 GMT -7
At his words about growing old, Victoire shook her head, looking own at her feet swinging over the edge of the counter. He was right, though. They had grown and not in the same way that everyone else had. They had always been a bit older than those born in the same years as them, but now it was even more noticeable. She sighed, lifting her gaze up to him measuring, but she didn't answer his question.
They didn't really have any recent memories to go off of for a new secret question, though, which made her heart stop in her throat again. She pushed off the counter, stepping beside him to measure out the sugar and the baking powder. They stood, elbow to elbow in silence for a moment.
Then an idea struck her. "We should add a secret ingredient. Something just for us. That'll be our question," she suggested, glancing over at him.
@royal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 26, 2024 17:16:27 GMT -7
|
|
|
Feb 26, 2016 19:20:16 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 19:20:16 GMT -7
and i don't need anyone, not the way i need you The silence spoke louder than any other words could have. It was a hard question to answer. He had aged a hundred years in the day his father died, but that was not the day he had grown old. He had grown old when he realized that no one was going to come back, that he was going to be stuck in the hole that he had dug himself into. It had steeled him, those weeks of yawning emptiness. Victoire had grown old…when? When had she? The question refused to leave him, but Royal wasn’t sure he could force the words out of his throat again.
The quiet warmth of her body next to his, the companionship of working side-by-side, was something he did not realized he needed until he had it. Color began to seep back into a world that he had not even realized was black and white. “Lemonade.” He blurted, meeting her eyes. It was the first thing that he had thought of that was in the refrigerator and would not make their cookie dough totally inedible. It was also one of the few things left in the world that didn’t remind him inexplicably of his father. “If you don’t mind adding sugar to your sugar, that is.”
@victoire
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 26, 2024 17:16:27 GMT -7
|
|
|
Feb 26, 2016 22:12:10 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 22:12:10 GMT -7
Lemonade? Her eyes widened as he looked at her, saying the random word. After a moment of silence on her part, she slowly started to smile, "you know... That's perfect. Lemonade it is!" she stepped away from him, moving to collect the lemons, water and a sugar from their various places.
"Freshly prepared lemonade," she suggested, bringing the ingredients back to the counter beside him. It would be double the work wherever they wanted cookie dough, but that just meant spending more time together, right? Granted... She really had stayed longer than she should have. But her team knew where she was, they would send a message if they needed anything...
She felt that familiar tug, that tug to get back to work, that obsessive need to immerse herself in business and running things. She found herself staring at the kitchen door, her hands freaking in their work.
@royal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 26, 2024 17:16:27 GMT -7
|
|
|
Feb 27, 2016 9:20:34 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2016 9:20:34 GMT -7
and i don't need anyone, not the way i need you He knew that it was going to have to end eventually. He knew that they could only stick themselves into a bubble for so long. They could only pretend that she was not the Minister of Magic for so long. When the bubble popped, that was it. They must have realized it at the same time, because Royal’s gaze strayed towards the door just as Victoire’s did. As much as it hurt him to do so, Royal knew that he was going to have to let her go. He had come first for an hour and a half, and that was more than enough time for now. It was the best hour and a half he had had for quite some time.
“I can finish here.” He told her, reaching for the lemon she was halfway through squeezing. “I’ll bring you some dough and we can see if it’s any good later, alright?” He paused, wrapping an arm around Victoire’s shoulders, trying not to get flour or lemon juice all over her. “Bring my sister home to me. She deserves the chance to grow old the normal way. They all do.” The chance had been taken from both of them, but maybe they could give it to someone else. She could, if he let go.
@victoire
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 26, 2024 17:16:27 GMT -7
|
|
|
Feb 27, 2016 16:41:38 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2016 16:41:38 GMT -7
Victoire's staring was broken by the sound of his voice, the feel of his hand reaching to take the lemon from her. She turned toward him as he wrapped an arm around her. She bit her lip, nodding once as he spoke about saving the kids. "I'll try, Royal. I promise I'll send a message as soon as we know where they are," she turned toward him, wrapping her arms under his and around his waist, "the very second," she promised.
Victoire was never much of a hugger, even with her closest friends, but she didn't let go. She breathed in the smell of the cookies and lemons around them until she was finally ready to step back. She glanced at the messy counter and the unfinished project before them. That's what she was afraid they'd always be... unfinished. Like she would always have to leave in the middle of trying to bond, trying to mend. She shook her head, "I don't want to leave but... I'll see you soon," she said, lifting a hand to wave to him before apparting out.
@victoire (we can pretend she apparated outside the door if there's enchantments or whatever)
|
|
|
|