OOM: France, 2005

[ikissdhimbck]

[Third OOM]


Kate wakes to sunlight poring into her room, the shadows of Chêne-liège leaves dancing across her eyes. She breathes in deeply, stretching her legs against the cotton sheets, and rolls over. Her hand smooths over the mattress, searching.

And then she remembers.

Eyes open to an empty bed, her tanned hand resting against stark white sheets. For a while, she doesn't move. She dares to wonder when she'll wake up to something other than the vice-grip ache in her heart.


A knock comes at her door, light but insistent, like the determined birdsong outside the french doors.

Comments

[betagainstme]

Alice doesn't wait long after knocking, to open the door. She's fully dressed, in a cute dress and leggings with ridiculous heels on. A beret covers most of her wild hair.

"Up!" Alice says, clapping her hands and coming to kneel on Kate's bed. "Up, up up! We are going shopping."

[ikissdhimbck]

Kate's eyes are wide as she gathers sheets to herself, shifting clumsily to find a sitting position. Her mess of blonde hair lays tangled at her shoulders.

"We... what?"

She stifles a yawn behind her hand, yanking herself out of her quiet morning reverie to decide whether or not she's imagining being shanghaied.

[betagainstme]

Alice bounces on the bed. But really, when does she not bounce?

"Shopping! The town here is so pretty and they have these awesome little boutiques...we're buying them all out. I want everything. I haven't even been to it yet, but I want it all."

[ikissdhimbck]

Another slow blink.

"You want it all?"

She and Jasper had joked about Alice's expensive spending habits, and Edward had even told her that she tends to get carried away, but to a 19th century country bumpkin that's quite the extravagant declaration.

She slips her legs over the side of the bed, adjusting her chemise as she climbs to her feet.

"I ain't sure..."

[betagainstme]

"All of it! Get dressed, I made crepes for you they're down stairs, hurryyyy." Alice flails and whines, jumping off the bed. "Meet me downstairs as soon as you are dressed, Kate! Go, go, go!"

[ikissdhimbck]

She isn't rightly sure what just happened.

All she knows is, suddenly, she's barreling into her closet with urgency.


She's disoriented amongst the rows of modern clothing, blinking blankly at this and that. It takes her a little while before she's washed up and groomed, smocked in a summer dress that is blessedly long, though it leaves her arms bare. It comes off one shoulder, and she fusses a bit with the scar across her bicep. Since expedience was implied, she pinned her mess of hair into a braided knot at the back of her neck and hid the rest under a casual Liberty hat.

"Where's the fire?" she asks when she finally emerges downstairs, fingering the strand of pearls around her neck.

It feels completely foreign, this much effort in dress, after so long spent in the bare minimum.

[betagainstme]

Alice points to the crepes on the small kitchen table. Jasper's leaning against the counter, looking apologetic.

"Okay," Alice says. "You eat. Then, we are going into town, for fun."

You remember fun, right, Kate?

[ikissdhimbck]

That's debatable.

Her eyes dart from Alice, to Jasper, to the crepes, and back again. Right now, she'd be perfectly content to turn right around and go back to bed for another hour or three.

Leaving the house means admitting that the world outside is still turning.

She pulls out a chair, slowly sitting down in front of her breakfast.

"When you say 'fun'...?"

[betagainstme]

"I mean getting you out of the bed and further down the road than the mailbox." Alice says bluntly, her arms crossed, her expression serious. "And no, you don't get a say."

She gestures at the crepes. "Eat."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Anyone who says I'm a harsh teacher should get a lesson'r two from you."

She's teasing.



Mostly.

(She does, however, eat.)

[betagainstme]

Alice rolls her eyes, good naturedly, and patiently waits for Kate to finish eating. Patient as she can be, anyway.

"I just wanna go shopping." Alice says softly, sitting across from Kate. "Let's just buy whatever our heart fancies today, okay?"

[ikissdhimbck]

Her blue eyes focus intently on Alice.

What her heart fancies?









"Okay."

[betagainstme]

"I'm going to buy clothes." She sighs happily, having let her head rest on the table, not catching Kate's look. Or Jasper's exasperation.

"Lots and lots."

[ikissdhimbck]

Kate sneaks a glance at Jasper. The look on his face almost has her laughing.

"Y'already have lots and lots."

Somehow, she gets the feeling that this observation will mean nothing to Alice. So, she resigns herself to finishing off her breakfast and steeling herself for the day. She can't think of anything her heart currently fancies -- at least, nothing that she could buy.

"Promise me we'll come back when the money runs out."

[betagainstme]

"...money runs out?"

[ikissdhimbck]

Yes. This is going to go well.

[betagainstme]

"Anyway!"


After Kate finishes eating, Alice whisks her out the door and drags her down the path toward town. It's an overcast day, so Alice doesn't have to worry much.

[ikissdhimbck]

It's a relief that Kate won't have to make any grand excuses for a sparkling companion -- especially if said companion drags her into any kind of mischief. Vaguely, she wishes Jasper had come along, but understands his reasons.

Alice is bright and fun, and a girl -- which is a pretty vital component in the whole 'girl talk' thing.

It's a while into their walk before she realizes how quiet she's been. Distracted by the scenery and her own thoughts, she's not making a very good partner in crime. She looks at Alice.

"I dunno much about you from before y'met Jasper. Where'd y'learn French?"

[betagainstme]

"Uhm, I picked up a French phrase book before going to Paris the first time, around uh...1925 or so?" Alice smiles as she wanders through the wild flowers. "Learned a little, learned the rest in France."

[ikissdhimbck]

"So, you've spent a lot of time 'round here?"

She catches a flower between her fingers, keeping her attention on the small blue petals.

[betagainstme]

"Mostly Paris. But Jasper prefers the country and the quiet. Not the constant annoyance of humans." She laughs. "But I've been everywhere."

[ikissdhimbck]

Her lips curl slightly.

"An' yet, here he's got me."

And two small cats.

"Why have y'traveled so much?"

[betagainstme]

"Searching. For the Cullens. Jasper. People to learn from. I had no idea who I was when I woke up as a vampire." She shrugs. "And I like to travel."

[ikissdhimbck]

She draws her lips into a straight line.

She remembers Jasper saying something about 'tapes' -- something about Alice's past. Curled up in a booth in a dark corner of the bar, trying not to cry. She hadn't pushed him, and he hadn't offered a great deal of details. After all, that's Alice's story to tell.

She turns and tips her head back to see Alice from under the brim of her hat.

"Must be hard. Startin' over like that."

[betagainstme]

"Not really." She shrugs again, getting a little less bright. "It was easier not knowing anything about the past."