cookies 'n' cream, flavour of the day and rocky road with caramel
Story: Timeless { backstory | index }
Title: Blurred
Rating: G
Challenge: FOTD: hypnagogic, Cookies ‘n’ Cream #8: laugh, Rocky Road #5: bedroom
Toppings/Extras: caramel
Wordcount: 456
Summary: The Ashdowns have a conversation the night they arrive home.
Notes: For some reason I kind of struggled to write this. Hypnagogic: Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state of drowsiness preceding sleep.
The world was soft, blurred almost, that first night they arrived home. The same night they’d left. The surreal adventure was over and it began to fade the moment they were dropped back into familiar surroundings. It was sad in a way, how everything began to instantly fragment, but it wasn’t as though they didn’t have any proof. They’d snuck quite a few mementos back with them, and they didn’t see it as stealing… well, not exactly.
Besides, if Jacob Graham was allowed to keep his machine gun, they sure as hell were allowed a few trinkets of their own.
“I’ll miss it, I think. A little,” Verity said into the drowsy silence, gazing at the ghostly muslin curtains surrounding the four-poster bed, one of which hung just in front of her nose. Her husband was in the bed with her, and she couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. He was a very light sleeper, always drifting in and out, and she knew that he would hear.
He hummed half-heartedly in response, forehead pressed to one of her shoulder-blades through her nightdress.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked.
“Now?”
“Now that we’re back.”
“Same as I’ve always done,” he replied.
Verity tipped her head back and thought for a moment.
“Am I still allowed to sleep with lots of men?”
“Of course,” Edward murmured, not opening his eyes. “That’s what I’ll be doing…”
Verity laughed loudly, a clear and glittering sound, and then rolled over to face him so suddenly that he jumped a little. She pulled the blanket tight around her neck and smiled at him.
“It’s like… what did they call it? A sleepover.”
“Yes,” her husband said, a little warily. He smiled back though. “Could we save it for another time? It’s been a bit of a full day.”
“I suppose,” Verity said, rolling onto her back. “I just feel… full of energy.”
“I would rather not experience jetlag again.”
“Jetlag? Oh! I never had that. They kidnapped me at night.”
“Don’t sound so disappointed. It’s awful.” He yawned and stretched like a cat. “And you’ll know all about it in the morning.”
Verity was contented nonetheless. Things were looking up. The bizarre adventure was over but its after-effects seemed permanent. They’d lost Isaac Prowse, for one, though if his frightening new girlfriend scared enough people there was potential for visits. And they had gained a ‘daughter’, who was actually Edward’s long-dead sister Rosalind. And the biggest change had to be in Edward himself.
When she turned to look at him, she saw that he had already fallen asleep again. She was abuzz with thoughts but calmed as she gazed at her husband for a long few moments.
Title: Blurred
Rating: G
Challenge: FOTD: hypnagogic, Cookies ‘n’ Cream #8: laugh, Rocky Road #5: bedroom
Toppings/Extras: caramel
Wordcount: 456
Summary: The Ashdowns have a conversation the night they arrive home.
Notes: For some reason I kind of struggled to write this. Hypnagogic: Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state of drowsiness preceding sleep.
The world was soft, blurred almost, that first night they arrived home. The same night they’d left. The surreal adventure was over and it began to fade the moment they were dropped back into familiar surroundings. It was sad in a way, how everything began to instantly fragment, but it wasn’t as though they didn’t have any proof. They’d snuck quite a few mementos back with them, and they didn’t see it as stealing… well, not exactly.
Besides, if Jacob Graham was allowed to keep his machine gun, they sure as hell were allowed a few trinkets of their own.
“I’ll miss it, I think. A little,” Verity said into the drowsy silence, gazing at the ghostly muslin curtains surrounding the four-poster bed, one of which hung just in front of her nose. Her husband was in the bed with her, and she couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. He was a very light sleeper, always drifting in and out, and she knew that he would hear.
He hummed half-heartedly in response, forehead pressed to one of her shoulder-blades through her nightdress.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked.
“Now?”
“Now that we’re back.”
“Same as I’ve always done,” he replied.
Verity tipped her head back and thought for a moment.
“Am I still allowed to sleep with lots of men?”
“Of course,” Edward murmured, not opening his eyes. “That’s what I’ll be doing…”
Verity laughed loudly, a clear and glittering sound, and then rolled over to face him so suddenly that he jumped a little. She pulled the blanket tight around her neck and smiled at him.
“It’s like… what did they call it? A sleepover.”
“Yes,” her husband said, a little warily. He smiled back though. “Could we save it for another time? It’s been a bit of a full day.”
“I suppose,” Verity said, rolling onto her back. “I just feel… full of energy.”
“I would rather not experience jetlag again.”
“Jetlag? Oh! I never had that. They kidnapped me at night.”
“Don’t sound so disappointed. It’s awful.” He yawned and stretched like a cat. “And you’ll know all about it in the morning.”
Verity was contented nonetheless. Things were looking up. The bizarre adventure was over but its after-effects seemed permanent. They’d lost Isaac Prowse, for one, though if his frightening new girlfriend scared enough people there was potential for visits. And they had gained a ‘daughter’, who was actually Edward’s long-dead sister Rosalind. And the biggest change had to be in Edward himself.
When she turned to look at him, she saw that he had already fallen asleep again. She was abuzz with thoughts but calmed as she gazed at her husband for a long few moments.