realityshifted | (no subject)

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*the twins

(no subject)

[Everyone will no doubt notice a new addition to the Plane: a giant Christmas tree. Yes, it’s decorated. Lights, ornaments, candy canes, the works. EVEN TINSEL. Tinsel rocks. Lots of tinsel, really.

There are also quite a few presents stacked under the tree. Each is addressed to a person on the Plane with hilariously appropriate - or possibly inappropriate - wrapping paper.

There is a sign near the tree which reads, “Thank you very much for helping us. Please accept a gift, completely and utterly free. It is our payment. We feel you’ve earned it! Did you know some trees stay green in the winter? But they‘re so prickly.”

At the bottom of the sign a small scribbled note reads, “We tried to bake cookies but even we wouldn’t eat those.”]

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[she'd expect nothing less from a woman of such obvious breeding] You're much too kind. [takes the gift, looking around before sitting primly on the ground, resting the small box in her lap] You look lovely as ever. I trust you've been well?

[Reinette watches Lucy sit with undisguised curiosity. It would be impolite to remain standing, so after several moments of arranging her skirts so, she managed to rest on her knees. Sitting low, her dress ballooning about her]

Well enough.

[she glances at the other woman's arm]

And you?

[nods politely as Reinette sits, idly drumming her fingers on her gift as she considers the other woman quietly]

I've been rather ... indisposed of late. Nothing serious, of course. You know how things can be sometimes.

[there is stray tinsel on the lap of her gown and she brushes it aside, eyes darkening]

I am aware, yes.

[picks up on the mood and shifts a little uncomfortably] Mmm, of course. Though I do so hope things haven't been as ... unorthodox for you?

[the questioned, as presented, is intriguing]

How so?

[realises her misstep and hides it behind a tight smile] This place. The Plane. It has a habit of making one's life less than ideal, wouldn't you agree? A woman such as yourself shouldn't have to worry about such inanities, is all.

[she considers this]

It is unorthodox, yes. That is undeniable. But I would never go so far as to call this place inane.

[-she continues to watch Lucy in quiet curiosity]

No? [feels Reinette's eyes on her and shifts again, tucking her hand in her lap so it's less visible] What might you call it, then?

[her answer is brief, direct]

Educational.

[laughs politely, possibly bitterly]

Yes, I suppose it is.

[she notices Lucy's gift remains unopened]

What have you learned?

[looks down, still just drumming on the present, her smile still plastered and fake] Mmm, enough. And you?

[her smile is layered now, perhaps difficult to read]

It is never enough, is it?

[and she laughs humourlessly] That depends entirely on what you're learning, I find.

[she truthfully gives this a moments consideration, but only a moment]

I do not think that any knowledge can be discounted. Every word better prepares us. Every idea better educates us.

Perhaps. But there are plenty words and deeds and bits of knowledge I'd rather not remember having ever learned.

I cannot imagine that, for myself. It is not that it is an unconsidered thing. Merely that given the choice, both in the ordinary and extraordinary, I have ever chosen the same.

Perhaps it is a direct result of my childhood, perhaps I am merely being myself. The reason ceased to be important some time go.

Well, we all have our reasons, I suppose, and our methods. I would just rather be allowed to make the choice myself than have it thrust upon me.

My future was thrust upon me, did you know that? I was told who I would be, when I would be it and whom I would be those things with.

So the initial choice is taken away. But we have the choice is how we manage it after. I refuse to be made powerless in my own life.

[frowns, drumming her fingers against her gift] I'm not quite sure if I could live with any choice I make at this point. Not now. Not after ... everything.

Then you are choosing to do nothing at all.

What is the choice before you?

Does the choice itself really matter, so much as making it?

I believe that it does, yes. Because how we react in the face of such choices defines us as well.

Mmm. [looks down, then at Reinette] I'm not sure I'd agree.