(Untitled)

[butcivilization]

Henri didn't immediately notice that something was wrong when he woke up in the morning. There were any number of things he might have noticed - the give of the mattress, the feel of the sheets, the texture of the air - but sleep still held him too comfortably in its grip for him to wonder. With a yawn he rolled on his side towards the edge of the

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[stirthingsapart]

It took Thom a little longer to realize that anything was amiss. She was usually slow to wake, and she'd been up late the night before, so when she felt Henri begin to stir beside her, she rolled over and slid an arm around his waist without opening her eyes. "It's early," she murmured, pressing her nose to the back of his neck and breathing in his familiar scent. "Don't get up yet." A moment later, she finally, reluctantly opened her eyes, and stiffened immediately as she realized that something was most definitely wrong.

[butcivilization]

"Thom..." The relief was clear in Henri's whisper. Even those few brief moments in which he thought he had lost Thomasina and so much else besides had pained him to his very core. Without bothering to explain or or wonder how she could be there as well, he turned and pulled her into a tight embrace.

With that brief terror now dissipated, his mind turned to their predicament. He pulled back slightly, frowning, and saw the shock on Thom's face. "Chere, I..." he tried to find a way to explain what had to be impossible, "I know this place, Thom."

[stirthingsapart]

"What do you mean?" Thom asked, sitting up slightly and gathering the sheet around her - circumstance had meant that she'd not worn anything to bed last night, a fact that she now found herself regretting mightily. "Where are we, Henri?" She fought to keep panic out of her voice. At least, thank God, she was not here alone; without Henri here, she would no doubt have been even more confused and lost. At least he seemed to have some idea of what was going on, and she did not say anything else as she waited to hear what he had to say about their situation.

[butcivilization]

"We're in my flat." Henri spoke slowly, wonder and shock in his voice. "In Paris." He sat up and looked around, fully taking in the room now. The washbasin had a chip just where he remembered it, the rug on his floor was a familiar color. In a panic he thought of his spectacles, only to reach out and find them precisely at hand on the table beside his bed. When he put them on, he could almost read the spine of the book sitting on his desk. He thought he recognized that, too.

"But how we got here, I know not." He looked at Thom forehead creased in a frown. "I didn't know you were here at first. I thought I was alone, that I'd gone back..."