Video Post [013] Accidental Recording

[scientize]

[To anyone familiar with the woman, the vision on the screen may not seem so out of place, even if the video is obviously accidental. Clothed only in a black and lacy number she's taken to wearing to bed for the last few weeks (it's an excellent idea to keep covered up when her most frequent visitor is a teenage boy who can phase effortlessly

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[video]

[scientize]

[Well, she certainly didn't turn it on. Stupid device.

Even if her mind is wandering in a different direction, Naomi forces a kind smile to the man she knew much more closely in her fake life.]

What a gentleman you are. Anyone else would take advantage of the situation.

[scientize]

[The house is too silent for Naomi's tastes right now. This conversation is just what she needs.]

Well, are you still employed at the flower shop in the city or do I have to look for you elsewhere?

[thiefofthetruth]

...Hi.

[scientize]

[The woman reaches quickly for the device the very moment she hears the teenager's familiar voice, a small frown settling in place immediately. Naomi knows that she isn't Kay's mother now, but how could she completely ignore everything she has such very clear memories of?]

Kay.

[thiefofthetruth]

...This is kinda awkward, huh?

[scientize]

[No, awkward isn't quite the word Naomi would use for this situation. She feels unusually sad looking at Kay through the screen, the lonely feeling resurfacing. It's been years since the woman's had a real family, and she's finally been reminded of how wonderful it feels to be part of one. As pathetic as it sounds, the scientist only now realizes just how empty her life truly is.]

Do you think so? [She straightens up, staring calmly at the girl. If Kay has no intention of keeping any kind of relationship with Naomi, the woman is more than ready to deal with that without batting an eye. Still, that isn't the outcome she would prefer.]

placeholder :D

[ragnalol]

I heard you got divorced!

You can hold that place as long as you want, baby.

[scientize]

[And her earlier conversation with Loki comes to mind. Great. She's really going to pay for that. Still, maybe reason will work well enough against him.]

I've never been married so that would be impossible.

thanks :D

[ragnalol]

Oh! So the good inspector is lying?

[scientize]

[Naomi knows Javert well enough to know he never lies.]

What exactly did he say?

[unfearful]

'This time?'

[scientize]

[Of course a reply like that could only come from Dominic.]

Yes, this time. I don't think a phrase like that even needs any explanation considering how often this world enjoys rising up against us.

[unfearful]

You mean how some of us thought we'd lived here our entire lives? Seems a little late to be remarking on that now.

[scientize]

I've apparently spent the last week sleeping.

[If her rumpled dress and hair don't get that message across, her half-lidded eyes certainly convey that she's spent far too long asleep. For a woman who is usually always alert, Naomi looks sluggish and ready to fall back into her bed.]

[chose_death]

[She is awake.

Javert fixes an unseeing, distant stare at the DreamBerry feed. He cups a cheek in his hand and hunches over his phone, his expression unreadable. To most people, Inspector Javert may simply look bored. But beneath his calm surface, there are rapids.

His voice, however, is perfectly level. It is the first phrase that comes to his mind.]

Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.

[scientize]

[Naomi is frozen.

She makes no move to reach for the device on her lap, though her dark gaze has already fallen to stare at the man speaking to her. Javert has always been one of the few people she's been able to recognize by distinguished voice alone, one of the few residents she's truly come to enjoy conversing with. They may not have gotten along completely well, but he was intelligent and their bantering was entertaining at the very least.

But suddenly everything is so very different. Though the woman has always guessed there was much brewing under the surface for the Inspector, the woman has had little luck in reading him. Until now, that is. It feels so abrupt, her near complete knowledge on the man. His expression, his posture, his tone--it reeks of familiarity. She's been so intimately acquainted with him after eighteen years of marriage that it all speaks volumes to her

[chose_death]

[For once, Javert's eyes contract in mild surprise.

Her response was... unexpected. What he had wanted from her was that casual retort, a biting reply about gorillas or other beasts. But why did he want that from her at all? After the past week, he knew it was best to let the sleeping bitch lie. He shouldn't have picked up the line in the first place. Yet there she is, watching him, still blinking the sleep from her eyes.]

Put yourself back together.

[It is an abrupt, murmured command. Was it to Naomi, or was it a reminder to himself? It is far too late for him to reverse his subconscious decision to speak with her. He stares back at her, a hollow, irritated twitch at the corner of his mouth, and leans closer to the video feed.]

You've only slept for a week and a half. Rest assured you are not a Rip Van Winkle.

[scientize]

[And just as easy as that, she is herself again.

Straightening from her relaxed position in bed, Naomi's expression turns cool and, though certainly forced, uncaring. She's making quite an effort to appear detached in front of the man. After all, if she knows him this well now after everything, just how well can he read her?

That's a terrifying idea for the woman.]

I had no idea you were so well-versed in children's fairy tales. Is that what you do in your spare time, Inspector? [She manages to speak the title without error. It's mildly irritating at how much effort it takes to call Javert only that.] Read stories meant for five-year olds?