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 Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:57 am
The gardens at the back of the house were beautiful at sunset.
Paris thought they were beautiful at all times of the day. She wasn't one to interact much with nature; she didn't garden—wouldn't really know what to do if she tried—and the upkeep of the grounds was a bit too much for her to handle on her own, but she still liked to be around it. She liked quiet walks in the forest and comfortable afternoons spent with the wind in her hair and the sun on her face. She liked warm nights out under the stars, under the silver glow of the moon.
She liked them even more now that she had something to look for, staring up into the darkness toward that point in the night where she thought Ganymede must be.
At sunset the gardens were awash in a fiery glow, the sun sinking behind tall pines and old oaks to throw beams of red and gold light through twisting branches, as the daylight traded its brightness for ethereal night. Paris sat in one of the chairs out on the terrace, her knees curled up to her chest and her hands wrapped around a mug of soothing chamomile tea. Her eyes were trained into far off space, her thoughts far, far away from the Earth.
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 8:33 am
”What are you thinking about?” Chris wondered as he draped a blanket he’d taken from one of the couches over her shoulders. It was getting chilly, and Paris seemed to distracted to notice the fall in temperature. She’d been sitting there, by herself for a while now… and while he thought she might want some time to herself, he also didn’t want her being alone if she needed the company.
He took a seat on one of the chairs beside hers, glancing up at the sky as she was. But instead of getting too comfortable, he remained seated on the edge, his elbows resting on his knees as he slouched forward.
They’d gone through a lot in the past few years, but in the recent weeks Paris had grown more quiet and withdrawn. Naturally it concerned him since she was often rather vocal, but…
“Are you worried about… going to the hospital?” he tried to guess, not sure what was going on, but wishing she would at least talk to him about it. If it was something he could help with, or if there was something he could say to ease her worries, he would.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 2:58 pm
“What?” Paris asked, startled out of her thoughts.
She didn't even really know what she'd been thinking about. Nothing, really. Everything, perhaps. She had the image of blue skies in mind, of sunshine over a distant palace. She'd imagined a thumb pressing warm oil into her forehead, the ghostly scratch of a stern man's beard against her face. Ganymede's call was strong even now, her visit hours behind her, its ghosts and memories lightyears away.
She huddled into the blanket Chris had draped over her, lifted her mug to her lips to sip quietly.
“Oh. Yeah, a little,” she said, though even then she sounded distracted. Hospitals made her anxious; since her father's death she couldn't set foot in them without expecting the worst, and though she faced her impending hospital stay with fraying nerves, it had been far from her thoughts in that moment.
“But I wasn't really thinking about that,” she admitted. Most days it was one of the only things she thought about, but today she had other things in mind. “Sorry, I... went to Ganymede earlier. I guess I was just a little distracted. You know how... it was always dark? Before... a long time ago... it was different. And... today it changed...”
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 4:37 pm
Chris stared at her for a moment before resigning himself to the fact that she was going to do what she had to, with or without his knowledge. It was difficult not to worry, but he also didn’t want her to feel as though he didn’t trust her or expected her to stay safe.
After a few moments, he leaned back in the back in the chair, staring up at the sky as well. “What do you mean?” he asked, wondering what she could have experienced that put that look of… relief? peace? on her face. He remained still for a moment longer before moving over to one side of the chair as far as he could, holding out an arm to try and entice Paris to move to join him if she felt like it.
“Tell me about it…?”
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Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 8:21 am
Given her current mood, Paris didn't feel much like a good snuggle. Which was odd for her. Normally she'd do anything for a snuggle. Particularly a snuggle with Chris. But she supposed she could admit that her visits to Ganymede did tend to put her in a weird mood after, especially more recently. They consumed her now in a way they hadn't before.
Years ago, when she'd first begun her visits, it hadn't meant much to her. Now... she wasn't really sure what it meant, except that it meant more.
Eventually she slid from her chair with a sigh and settled herself next to Chris instead, resting against him with her head on his shoulder, though her gaze was still focused up into the increasing darkness of the evening sky.
“The sky turned blue,” she explained, “and there was sunlight. You know, sort of how it is here, except the sun was still far away. But it was bright and warm and... even though I was the only one there, it felt like... like everything was alive.”
Initially Paris didn't know how much to tell him given recent events and his concern in regards to her frequent trips to her moon, but in the end she knew it was better to tell Chris as much as she could rather than keep anything from him.
“I had a memory in the throne room,” she told him. “There was a ceremony, and... a priest put oil on my forehead. And I know what you're going to say, that I'm not Liesel, but I didn't see him this time, Chris. It was me. I went through it. And after... that was when the sky'd changed.”
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