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]

"...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."

[ikissdhimbck]

She doesn't know the details.

But she thinks she understands that feeling.

She nods, short and small, and glances back to the path ahead.

[betagainstme]

Alice studies the path in front of her before doing a little hop and then a cartwheel.

She stands there afterward, for a long moment, head down. "Let's just...go shopping, yeah?"

[ikissdhimbck]

She smiles crookedly, not having seen such acrobatics in a dress like that since she was still teaching school. And even then the girls had to be reserved around the boys.

"Buy out the town?"

(She can also take a hint.)

"Maybe hafta hit a bank, first."

[betagainstme]

"I've got a limitless credit card somewhere in my bag." Alice laughs. "So we can absolutely buy out said town."

[ikissdhimbck]

"What's... that?"

[betagainstme]

"Piece of plastic my husband hates me to have." Alice grins. "I'll show you how it works. C'mon."

[ikissdhimbck]

She refrains from asking more questions, or letting the worry that Jasper is going to kill them for this later bother her too much, and follows after.

The town is 'quaint' by most American standards -- unless you're from the 19th century. Then it becomes quite the spectacle.

She takes in every shopfront and vehicle with wide eyes and parted lips, staring dumbly at passersby.



"Goodness."

[betagainstme]

Alice laughs again and then grabs Kate's hand and drags her through the first shop she sees.

Luckily it's one of pretty dresses and fancy shoes.

"Oooh!"

[ikissdhimbck]

...Well, the economy has changed considerably since Kate's time.

"Alice," she hisses, pointing to a price tag. "How many of these squiggly things make a dollar?"

[betagainstme]

"They use the Euro here," Alice whispers back. "It's best to not look at the price tags and just try them on and hand them to me."

She grabs a floofy dress that resembles a cupcake. "Ooooh try this on."

[ikissdhimbck]

At least it's not a hoop skirt.

"Really?"

On the ten-foot walk to the fitting rooms, she acquires four more dresses. Each as ridiculous as the last.

[betagainstme]

It's better than Alice's pile of clothes. Which totals up to fifteen by the time they hit the dressing rooms.

"Okay, if you like any of these enough to want them, let me know please!"

[ikissdhimbck]

The corner of her mouth twitches.

(She thinks, absently, that Bela would approve of Alice's tactics.)

"Can't imagine where I'd wear 'em. Outside of the bar, there's nothin' but sand and sky, and ridin' a horse in this--" 'This' being a pink ballet skirt, "--might be uncomfortable."

[betagainstme]

"Just keep 'em for the bar. Or for parties. That I will throw for you."