LOG; bluebells in the late december; ISAIAH + ODETTE
and this is how these people celebrate Christmas
Isaiah didn't care for the holidays. He never bought decorations, thought of people "special" to him, counted his blessings, or donated to charity. It wasn't that he was a Scrooge or spiteful of the festivities, he just didn't... care. Each year he would buy gifts for colleagues who would expect such gestures and attend Christmas parties where his presence would be noticed, but Isaiah's holiday spirit didn't extend past the typical obligations to hold up appearances.
This year was different, though, so he and Odette had decided to do things a bit differently. The flat was decorated, tree, lights, and all, and there were no dead bodies in sight. A little boring, yes, but there was no harm in trying the same traditions that others did. Even if they were generally idiots.
Christmas Eve in Berlin this year was a cold one. The warmth of their home was a welcome change from the winter air when Isaiah and Odette returned from dinner out.
Odette remembered the decorated halls as a child while living with her foster parents. It was only a temporary arrangement and after that there had been no lights, no trees, nothing. Not that it made a difference to her. She had never bought a Christmas present in her life, attended a party or even sung a Christmas carol. So what? Clearly she wasn't missing anything and though she expressed curiosity there was nothing... that different.
Sure, the lights were pretty.
Stepping back in, she rubbed her gloved hands together before moving to take off her scarf, gloves, hat and coat. No powers, no... it made her feel uncomfortable. Which she hid beneath heavy layers of fabric. "It is pretty." She finally commented after nodding towards the tree.
Personally, a hung corpse from the ceiling would decorate things just as well but...
The absence of his powers bothered Isaiah, as well - to him, it was almost like losing a hand or a leg. One last bad joke from the Oracles, was it? Win the war but lose a figurative limb. Outwardly, though, his behavior didn't change in the slightest. If he didn't have superhuman powers, at least he still had authoritative and monetary ones.
Isaiah took her coat from her, hanging it up with his.
"What else have we left to do? We listened to carolers, had eggnog, decorated, went out into the city to see all the lights... the gift exchange should wait a bit longer. If you'd like we could go to midnight Mass later."
Without her powers, her rank... she was just a woman. Such a train of thought disgusted her, just another person, weak and... "Thank you." She muttered when he took her coat to hang it up with his. Their life hadn't really changed that much, mostly. Just there was no one trying to kill them or ruin their plans.
Now there were no plans though.
"Mass?" Odette was looking at him now and tilting her head slightly. Now midnight mass might be pushing it. "Do you want to go to mass? I'd rather not, considering the last joke 'God' has pulled on us." Losing their powers and all that.
Isaiah laughed, the sentiment behind her words was one strongly shared by him.
"If we were to go, I would have to wash my hands in another's blood afterward to even things out."
That made her smile, "Okay, now you're making things worth my time, then again that is not very... Christmas...sy." Odette tilted her head to the opposite side thinking a little.
The familiar couch was her next destination as she plopped down comfortably.
"The nice thing about traditions is that you can always make new ones."
Loosening his tie, he sat down by her, unfolding the blanket that rested on the arm of the sofa and putting it over her lap.
"We'll write our own bible next." She flashed him a smile and nodded her thanks at the blanket now on her lap. Odette thought about it for a moment and then shifted closer to him, opening the blanket to share it with him.
"I saw they did this in one of those books you brought me. Blanket, in front of the... tree. Something."
He smiled back easily, leaning back and putting an arm around her. Their own Bible would be hilariously different from the Christian one. The first difference was that the White Order's God spoke to them through pieces of rock instead of angels.
"And a fireplace. But we'll do fine without one. No fat men sliding down our chimney to give us coal."
Wriggling a little, she got comfortable and ... wondered if it was a strange thing. It certainly seemed strange to do all this. For a holiday. Had it been anyone else trying to put any body part around her she would've happily ripped off their face.
With Isaiah it just came so she let him.
The idea of a fat man sliding down the chimney seemed to fascinate her. "What if we put... sharp pikes at the bottom, what would happen to said fat man?" Now that would make a much better story.
"He'd probably be impaled, puncture a lung, maybe. And then we could light the fireplace." Had anyone else been around, perhaps it would have been disconcerting to hear violence spoken of so casually between two perfectly normal-looking adults.
Isaiah usually kept these sort of thoughts to himself, acting on them by himself when he felt the mood strike him, but it was Odette, and it was the holiday season. It was the season for sharing said thoughts, wasn't it?
"Oh!" She sounded genuinely excited about it- that was the scary part. "I like that idea." Now they just had to find a Santa and a chimney to do all this one day.
Thoughts of blood washing and mass also intrigued her. "Should we go to mass? I don't mind." She was comfortable enough like this anyway.
It was at times like these Isaiah truly missed his powers. It would be a bad idea to decapitate the priest during communion without them.
On the other hand, it wasn't as if they couldn't be more subtle.
"It's already nice like this," he mused. "But if you don't mind getting dressed up again, it would be a good way to end our Christmas Eve."
She pressed her lips together for a moment. "Alright, let's go then."She didn't mind getting dressed up again. It wasn't like it would take her long.
"Mm, Isaiah? I think I figured out what to do from now on." Odette straightened staring at the tree lights, "We should find a way to get back what was stolen from us."
He paused. And how exactly would they do that? The Oracles were gone, the Orders had been rendered useless. And the Gates.. there was no way to control them, was there? Isaiah despised guesswork.
"I suppose the place to begin would be at our Gate, then." He got up, straightening as well; backed turned towards her.
Odette felt a little surprised he seemed willing to go with it, but then he had something important to gain back. Something they both needed back. "Yes, that's the beginning and end of everything." She had been taught that and it felt good to have that certainty.
She lifted her hand to set it against his back.
If Isaiah felt any anger or frustration about his situation, it wouldn't be shown to Odette. Not to anyone but the people he killed, and even then.. it was in more subtle ways. Like breaking their bones one by one before severing their limbs, instead of simply strangling them or cutting their throats, as he would when he was in a better mood.
He was only willing to go along with this because he had something to gain from it, but the moment it began to seem more ridiculous than it already was, Isaiah didn't think that he would. He liked things to be on his terms.
"Then for tonight, let's enjoy the holiday. And then we can start." He turned around to smile at her, reaching out to touch her hair. "Alert those you think will be interested, won't you?"
Odette supposed she didn't mind, if Isaiah abandoned her then they were both a little worse off. Maybe she was worse off than him. She smiled and leaned a little against the brush against her hair.
Julian, she couldn't think of anyone else right now.
It would have been nice to start now, but then what would be the point of the holidays? Yeah, had to finish those first and then... everything else.
Isaiah didn't care for the holidays. He never bought decorations, thought of people "special" to him, counted his blessings, or donated to charity. It wasn't that he was a Scrooge or spiteful of the festivities, he just didn't... care. Each year he would buy gifts for colleagues who would expect such gestures and attend Christmas parties where his presence would be noticed, but Isaiah's holiday spirit didn't extend past the typical obligations to hold up appearances.
This year was different, though, so he and Odette had decided to do things a bit differently. The flat was decorated, tree, lights, and all, and there were no dead bodies in sight. A little boring, yes, but there was no harm in trying the same traditions that others did. Even if they were generally idiots.
Christmas Eve in Berlin this year was a cold one. The warmth of their home was a welcome change from the winter air when Isaiah and Odette returned from dinner out.
Odette remembered the decorated halls as a child while living with her foster parents. It was only a temporary arrangement and after that there had been no lights, no trees, nothing. Not that it made a difference to her. She had never bought a Christmas present in her life, attended a party or even sung a Christmas carol. So what? Clearly she wasn't missing anything and though she expressed curiosity there was nothing... that different.
Sure, the lights were pretty.
Stepping back in, she rubbed her gloved hands together before moving to take off her scarf, gloves, hat and coat. No powers, no... it made her feel uncomfortable. Which she hid beneath heavy layers of fabric. "It is pretty." She finally commented after nodding towards the tree.
Personally, a hung corpse from the ceiling would decorate things just as well but...
The absence of his powers bothered Isaiah, as well - to him, it was almost like losing a hand or a leg. One last bad joke from the Oracles, was it? Win the war but lose a figurative limb. Outwardly, though, his behavior didn't change in the slightest. If he didn't have superhuman powers, at least he still had authoritative and monetary ones.
Isaiah took her coat from her, hanging it up with his.
"What else have we left to do? We listened to carolers, had eggnog, decorated, went out into the city to see all the lights... the gift exchange should wait a bit longer. If you'd like we could go to midnight Mass later."
Without her powers, her rank... she was just a woman. Such a train of thought disgusted her, just another person, weak and... "Thank you." She muttered when he took her coat to hang it up with his. Their life hadn't really changed that much, mostly. Just there was no one trying to kill them or ruin their plans.
Now there were no plans though.
"Mass?" Odette was looking at him now and tilting her head slightly. Now midnight mass might be pushing it. "Do you want to go to mass? I'd rather not, considering the last joke 'God' has pulled on us." Losing their powers and all that.
Isaiah laughed, the sentiment behind her words was one strongly shared by him.
"If we were to go, I would have to wash my hands in another's blood afterward to even things out."
That made her smile, "Okay, now you're making things worth my time, then again that is not very... Christmas...sy." Odette tilted her head to the opposite side thinking a little.
The familiar couch was her next destination as she plopped down comfortably.
"The nice thing about traditions is that you can always make new ones."
Loosening his tie, he sat down by her, unfolding the blanket that rested on the arm of the sofa and putting it over her lap.
"We'll write our own bible next." She flashed him a smile and nodded her thanks at the blanket now on her lap. Odette thought about it for a moment and then shifted closer to him, opening the blanket to share it with him.
"I saw they did this in one of those books you brought me. Blanket, in front of the... tree. Something."
He smiled back easily, leaning back and putting an arm around her. Their own Bible would be hilariously different from the Christian one. The first difference was that the White Order's God spoke to them through pieces of rock instead of angels.
"And a fireplace. But we'll do fine without one. No fat men sliding down our chimney to give us coal."
Wriggling a little, she got comfortable and ... wondered if it was a strange thing. It certainly seemed strange to do all this. For a holiday. Had it been anyone else trying to put any body part around her she would've happily ripped off their face.
With Isaiah it just came so she let him.
The idea of a fat man sliding down the chimney seemed to fascinate her. "What if we put... sharp pikes at the bottom, what would happen to said fat man?" Now that would make a much better story.
"He'd probably be impaled, puncture a lung, maybe. And then we could light the fireplace." Had anyone else been around, perhaps it would have been disconcerting to hear violence spoken of so casually between two perfectly normal-looking adults.
Isaiah usually kept these sort of thoughts to himself, acting on them by himself when he felt the mood strike him, but it was Odette, and it was the holiday season. It was the season for sharing said thoughts, wasn't it?
"Oh!" She sounded genuinely excited about it- that was the scary part. "I like that idea." Now they just had to find a Santa and a chimney to do all this one day.
Thoughts of blood washing and mass also intrigued her. "Should we go to mass? I don't mind." She was comfortable enough like this anyway.
It was at times like these Isaiah truly missed his powers. It would be a bad idea to decapitate the priest during communion without them.
On the other hand, it wasn't as if they couldn't be more subtle.
"It's already nice like this," he mused. "But if you don't mind getting dressed up again, it would be a good way to end our Christmas Eve."
She pressed her lips together for a moment. "Alright, let's go then."She didn't mind getting dressed up again. It wasn't like it would take her long.
"Mm, Isaiah? I think I figured out what to do from now on." Odette straightened staring at the tree lights, "We should find a way to get back what was stolen from us."
He paused. And how exactly would they do that? The Oracles were gone, the Orders had been rendered useless. And the Gates.. there was no way to control them, was there? Isaiah despised guesswork.
"I suppose the place to begin would be at our Gate, then." He got up, straightening as well; backed turned towards her.
Odette felt a little surprised he seemed willing to go with it, but then he had something important to gain back. Something they both needed back. "Yes, that's the beginning and end of everything." She had been taught that and it felt good to have that certainty.
She lifted her hand to set it against his back.
If Isaiah felt any anger or frustration about his situation, it wouldn't be shown to Odette. Not to anyone but the people he killed, and even then.. it was in more subtle ways. Like breaking their bones one by one before severing their limbs, instead of simply strangling them or cutting their throats, as he would when he was in a better mood.
He was only willing to go along with this because he had something to gain from it, but the moment it began to seem more ridiculous than it already was, Isaiah didn't think that he would. He liked things to be on his terms.
"Then for tonight, let's enjoy the holiday. And then we can start." He turned around to smile at her, reaching out to touch her hair. "Alert those you think will be interested, won't you?"
Odette supposed she didn't mind, if Isaiah abandoned her then they were both a little worse off. Maybe she was worse off than him. She smiled and leaned a little against the brush against her hair.
Julian, she couldn't think of anyone else right now.
It would have been nice to start now, but then what would be the point of the holidays? Yeah, had to finish those first and then... everything else.