Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Post by Chris on Oct 5, 2011 21:31:40 GMT
It wasn't a subject that Chris found himself thinking about very often. As a general rule the paranormal entered his mind very rarely, it didn't have much at all to do with his everyday work and he worked with down-to-earth people for the most part; there weren't many men or women he crossed paths with in his line of work who put much stock in things that were considered out of the ordinary, things like ghosts and other urban legends and tall tales. Things that couldn't be readily explained with science or logic. Here and now, though, in such an atmospheric place, with Elle by his side, he found himself thinking about it. In fact, he was having trouble stopping now that he'd started.
"Exactly," Chris said, and it was up in the air just what he was responding to, her exclamation or her assessment of his fellow officers. "Mostly, we see enough bad things in the real, living world, we try not to think about that sort of thing." It sounded vague even as he said it, and so, somewhat unnecessarily, he went on to add, "You know, ghosts and the afterlife." The idea of whether or not there was anything waiting after death was something everyone thought about from time to time, there was no denying that, and Chris was no exception to that rule.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Post by Elle on Oct 5, 2011 21:45:51 GMT
"Hmm," Elle made an agreeable sound in the base of her throat as they climbed the staircase, dark and foreboding in places, though she seemed unconcerned by the shadows and the way watery light filtering through glassless windows from the seafront nearby danced over the faded wallpaper.
"You must think of it sometimes, though," she phrased it as a question, looking at him as they emerged at the top of the stairs and into a long hallway that, at the very end faraway, crumbled to the sky. "Where we go when we die, I mean? It must cross your mind. I don't even want to think about how many times you end up in real, life threatening danger, but it must occur to you sometimes?"
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Post by Chris on Oct 5, 2011 21:52:47 GMT
It was only after Elle had made that quiet sound that he realised it was a matter that must have crossed her mind a great deal. After all, she had come close to death herself, closer than most ever would before their due time. What had gone through her mind in those moments when her own mortality had been in question? Did she believe in an afterlife? Reincarnation? There were so many theories on the matter. Chris didn't know what to believe.
Chris took a deep breath, debating how best to answer, his eyes narrowing as he considered. "Sometimes," he conceded finally, looking her way after giving the dark hallway a curious scan. "I try not to think about it too much. It doesn't pay to get too caught up in it, I've found." That and sometimes he just didn't want to think about where his father might have ended up, if anywhere. It was a raw wound even now, almost thirty years later.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Post by Elle on Oct 5, 2011 22:15:15 GMT
It had been on the mind all but constantly while she had been waiting for her new heart, and before that, trapped in her overturned car, she had thought she was as good as dead then. Like many people she had prayed to a God she wasn't sure she believed in, though she had been raised religiously in France. For a few ringing moments after the crash she had thought she was dead. Then the pains in her chest had started, the shooting of electricity down her arm and she'd realised her heart was stalling and she had thought to herself, Now I really am dying. Still she had woken up at the hospital, alive if not all that well. A four month wait for death had given her plenty of time to think about what might happen to her if she didn't make it. They couldn't have kept her on a machine for much longer, she had been close, but far from a religious epiphany it had given her an existential one. The afterlife was intangible; after all, no matter what form it took, all she could affect was the here and now, the physical world she existed in, this hotel. That was what she had come to conclude.
"No, I imagine not," she mused lightly, leading the way down the hallway that seemed to groan as they passed through it. Who goes there? it seemed to ask. "You have to stay focused, too. Things like that must just get in the way of being able to do your job. It's probably for the best."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Post by Chris on Oct 5, 2011 22:35:35 GMT
Chris nodded his head as they walked. Like all cops, of whatever specialty, he had had close calls, but Chris believed himself to be one of the luckier ones. He had had brushes with danger, more than his fair share, but in all the time he had been an officer of the law he had only actually landed in the hospital with a serious injury once, a wound he still bore evidence of to this day. There had been times when he had been certain he was staring death in the face, yes, but he had never actually been close to it, he had never felt it breathing down his neck or pressing down on him. Men and women alike had aimed their guns at him, he had been threatened with knives and other weapons, but he had managed to avoid getting into too much trouble.
A time would likely come when that luck would run out, Chris supposed. A man could only be lucky for so long. Someone would get a lucky shot in, his guard would slip, he would be outnumbered and outgunned. Anything could happen. He wasn't taking anything for granted, and he certainly didn't think he was invincible. At the end of the day, he was just a man, only mortal and as fallible as any other.
"In my experience," he said as they went, side by side, with Elle just a step in front, "it's best to concentrate on your surroundings, the people around you, what you have to do to stay alive. Thinking about what might be waiting for you on the other side if you get taken out just speeds the process along." It sounded grim, he realised after the fact, and he offered Elle an apologetic smile, faint though it was.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Post by Elle on Oct 5, 2011 23:20:56 GMT
"Oh boy," Elle sighed, looking back at him and pausing to loop an arm around his. "You really need some of this dessert now," she said with a soft smile, breaking the tension.
With that she lead him down the hallway about half-way, past gaping holes where doors to rooms should be, old paintings hung askew on the walls and even some odd bits of furniture, tables and cracked, broken vases that had clearly been abandoned when the hotel had been shut up so many years ago. Élodie released Chris' arm so that she could push open the door to one of the rooms and lead the way in. The room had three walls, the fourth that separated the hotel from the waterfront was just gone and beyond it was a spectacular view of the water reflecting lights from the city in colourful swirls and flares, above a hazy city sky there were pinpricks of stars on a deep purple sky. "This is my favourite room in the hotel," she told him, her voice dropped as though they'd entered some scared place. "That view," she mouthed softly.
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Post by Chris on Oct 5, 2011 23:33:44 GMT
It was impossible not to laugh at that, and Chris was grateful for the effort on Elle's part not only to break the tension that had crept up on them out of nowhere, but also the change in subject she had managed at the same time. The less they spoke of death and ghosts and the afterlife, the better, for both of them he suspected. For Elle it was a subject too close to home, most likely, given her personal experience with close calls, and for Chris it was just grim in general, and something he would much rather not dwell on, least of all in his free time.
There was the fleeting thought, when they crossed the threshold into the room, as to whether or not it was structurally sound, but it was quickly dispelled by the mental reminder that Elle had been through this place with qualified engineers and the proverbial fine tooth comb. She wouldn't have taken him anywhere that wasn't safe, and really, given his line of work, it was silly to be afraid of a creaky floor anyway. "I can see why you like it," he said to her, looking out beyond the missing wall to the view she had just mentioned. "Are you going to preserve the view somehow?" he found himself asking, turning his head to look at her as she admired the sky and the stars.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Post by Elle on Oct 6, 2011 20:56:52 GMT
It was supposed to be a fun night; Élodie was happy to talk existential theories and beliefs any other time but she had brought Chris out as a thank you and she didn't want to bog the evening down in heavy conversations. No doubt it would come up again one way or another at some point, it was a large part of their lives in a way, the same way it was a large part of everyone's lives, but more so because of their personal brushes with life threatening situations. Elle certainly wasn't afraid of talking about it, and not with Chris, but tonight wasn't the night for it.
Elle turned to beam at him like the proverbial kid in a candy store, pleased he had asked. She took him by the arms with her fingers, still holding her flashlight and the brown bag as she guided him to the middle of the room in front of where the wall was missing, though a safe distance from the edge with her between it and him. It was a structurally sound floor, the missing wall was not weight bearing and the floor was solid beneath their feet. "You have to use your imagination," she told him, stepping back and holding up her hands as if to demonstrate before she turned around. "But I'm going to put a balcony here," she gestured, the length of the hole in the wall. "With floor to ceiling sliding doors in oak frames an brushed stainless steel fittings, arched in the frame at the top, like a church window but-- not so sharp as that. More like the hull of a boat. It'll be just like living in a yacht, all curves and light colours. I might just move in myself," she concluded.
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Post by Chris on Oct 6, 2011 21:18:10 GMT
Already Chris actually felt a little guilty for steering the conversation in that direction but outwardly and openly apologising for it would only inadvertently steer them back down that path and to call that counterproductive would be an understatement. So he said nothing of it, and let the conversation move alone, guided easily by Elle and her passion for the building which they stood and its impending renovation.
He couldn't help but smile as she painted the picture for him, and he doubted his imagination was even close to hers. Chris could conjure up the mental image as she described it to him, but it wouldn't have the life or the flair her own did, he was sure. "I wouldn't blame you," he said to her. "It sounds great." His gaze roamed the room, even sweeping the ceiling and the corners before returning to the face of the building's owner. "You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?" It was said with a smile on his face, and meant as a compliment.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Post by Elle on Oct 6, 2011 21:43:17 GMT
Slowly she turned on the spot. "I spend about eighty-five percent of my time obsessing about it," Elle told him, narrowing her eyes as if estimating the amount of time per day her thoughts strayed to the hotel. She laughed. "Then there's five percent for sleep, and the last ten for food. I think that's about right." Amused by her own estimations she moved to his side again, facing out of the gaping hole in the building at the water beyond, the lights looked like fireworks in the ripples.
It was light enough to see with those lights in the bay and she shut off her flashlight, putting it down so she could rummage around in the brown bag she had brought from the restaurant for the plastic forks and the take-out container; she handed Chris a fork and opened the dessert tray, "I have a wall covered in sketches at home, I had to start keeping a pad and pencil by my bed."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Post by Chris on Oct 6, 2011 22:06:32 GMT
"A dedicated architect like you? I thought you would keep that sort of thing by your bed all the time," he said to her, accepting the fork with an amused smile. "Maybe you were right, maybe you're not organised." There weren't many people Chris would affectionately tease, but Elle was one of the few, if not the only one, save perhaps for his cousin, who was thousands of miles away, all the way on the other side of the country.
"You should some me some of them," he said to her, glancing out of the gaping hole in the wall briefly. "Your sketches, I mean." Architecture wasn't an interest of his, generally speaking, but Elle's passion for her work made it interesting. More than anything it was the fact that they were friends -- good friends -- that made him want to see what she had in mind for this big old building, filled with memories and potential.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Post by Elle on Oct 8, 2011 21:45:05 GMT
"Oh shush," Elle's laugh was clear and high as she elbowed Chris in the ribs lightly. "You are never going to let that organised thing go are you? I'm getting stationary from you for the next ten birthdays, I know it." Her laughter subsided but she was still smiling as she drove her fork into the dessert in the tray, holding it between them as she gazed out of the hole in the wall, as usual overcome by the building's beauty, a beauty she felt certain that most people couldn't see. That was, of course, where she came in. Élodie had taken on the responsibility of this hotel and it was her job to bring out what she saw in it for everyone to appreciate.
Her head tilted and she turned her eyes on Chris at his assertion that she should show him some of those sketches that were currently adorning her studio wall back at home. For a heartbeat or two she considered him in profile. "Are you sure? If you want to see them I'd love to, but you know you don't have to suffer through my obsession just to be polite, Chris."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Post by Chris on Oct 8, 2011 23:43:47 GMT
"Now you will," he said with a laugh. It was only a joke and he suspected she knew that. Amusing as it might be to give Elle stationary time and time again, for birthdays and Christmas alike, he wasn't the sort of man to drag something out quite that long. Perhaps it would be a running joke, he would get her a pen or a notebook here and there, perhaps randomly gift her with a packet of Post-Its, but the real fun was in the teasing remarks. Taking some of the dessert on the fork she had given him, he was quite while he chewed.
He met her gaze when she turned her eyes to his, giving her a quiet smile. "I know I don't have to," he said to her, calmly and with a loose sort of shrug. "I want to. I'm curious." Besides, he didn't have Elle's eye for this sort of thing and he wanted a clearer picture of what she was planning. The sketches would help with that. "Your work is much more fascinating than mine. Let me live vicariously through you for a little while, huh?"
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Post by Elle on Oct 9, 2011 22:22:01 GMT
After her stationary based laughter had subsided sufficiently Élodie found herself watching Chris for a few moments. There were plenty of people in her life who were more than happy to look at her designs and blueprints but they all had a stake in the business, they were involved with her work either through her builds or her TV show or her books and they were paid to be interested or to keep her on track with deadlines. It didn't mean they weren't sincere, Elle didn't believe that in the least, she was surrounded by a great team of people, enthusiastic, level-headed people, but it was nice to think that someone who didn't know anything about her work or her world, had no investment in it outside of honest interest and curiosity.
"More fascinating than catching bad guys?" Elle raised her eyebrows, considering him still with her fork hovering over the dessert, the way the deep shadows o the room they were in shadowed half his face from her "I find that hard to believe, but if you really want to see them, I'm more than happy to let you live vicariously through my crazy scribbles. Actually you could give me some input if you're up to it."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Post by Chris on Oct 9, 2011 22:56:30 GMT
"More fascinating than catching bad guys," he agreed, nodding his head. Too many people glamorised his line of work -- not Elle, she was much smarter than that -- and that led to a lot of unfit men and women trying to join the Force. They rarely made it through the training, they had their illusions shattered quickly. Then there were those who had no desire to join and fight crime themselves; their ideas came from movies and television. Chris had never been sure which was worse. What he did know was that he appreciated Elle's realism, how she never made his job into something it wasn't. She knew it was dangerous and unpleasant, that people got hurt and sometimes those bad guys didn't get caught. Sometimes they got away. Sometimes they came back.
"Input?" Thoughts of work -- his own work, at least -- were gone again in an instant and he turned the plastic fork around in his hand. "What kind of input exactly? I'm not exactly creative." He had never been one for those sorts of pursuits, not even as a child; he had never been particularly talented with music or art, or any other creative assignments. When it came to subjects like maths and science, he had shown more aptitude, but then he hadn't been gifted in any one subject on that level either. Honestly he had only ever dreamed of being one thing, and he had chased that dream into reality.
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