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Post by Charlotte Lewis on Jul 6, 2008 18:26:17 GMT -5
Charlotte ran a hand through her curls, which she had just pulled down from their ponytail. It was early, very early in the morning, the time when most people were asleep, which meant it was rare for her to be awake. She had actually managed to sleep through the night for once, but now she was awake this early and there was no hope for her to go back to sleep. So why not go swimming to clear her mind.
The pool was indoors, so as she pulled open the glass door to enter the room, she was hit with a blast of warm air. She skirted around the edges and draped her towel over the back of one of the plastic chairs, pulling off her t-shirt and shorts to reveal the black swimsuit she had put on underneath. Self-consious, she quickly took a slight run and dove into the warm, heated water of the pool.
The heat instantly relaxed her otherwise tense muscles - which was the way they seemed to stay nowdays. Her mind was already whirring and buzzing this morning, her thoughts already on things that weren't even important at the time. She surfaced a few moments later, taking a breath of chlorine filled air.
Letting out a sigh, she pushed the hair out of her face and dove back under the water, coming up again to where she was floating on her back. Her eyes closed and another sigh escaped her lips, as she attempted to relieve some of the thoughts on her mind. They were things she didn't need nor want to think about, but they kept coming back, no matter how hard she tried to get rid of them. |
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Post by Daniel Faraday on Jul 11, 2008 9:05:54 GMT -5
The hotel lobby was silent, save for some random people trailing in from a night of partying. Daniel, however, couldn't sleep for the life of him. He walked through the hallways of the hotel and into the lobby, debating silently whether he wanted to get breakfast or not. However, as he moved over to the resteraunt, it proclaimed in a loud sign that said they were closed until 5AM. And as Daniel looked at the large clock, he realised that he had three more hours until he'd be able to get anything to eat.
It didn't help that the lingering thought of the flashes had kept him awake, nor the nagging feeling that no matter how hard he tried, that Island, the mysterious spot in the middle of nowhere...it would never go away. It would always be etched in his mind.
The suit he wore had almost become second skin, untucked and rolled up, he knew he had to look more like a homless man then a well-learned man of science. However, at this late of morning, he probably didn't look any worse than what was trailing into the Roosevelt.
He saw a blur of red hair and teeshirts and shorts and instantly wondered if it was Charlotte heading into the pool. Not caring that he looked more like he could be more ready for a buisness meeting than a early morning swim, Daniel stood, muttering his options out to himself. He finally got up the nerve, entering the pool just in time to see Charlotte dive into the water.
He silently watched her, float with her eyes close on her back, until he decided that it was the right time to speak. "Y-You know, t-the amount of clorine in--in the pool, you--you should wash your hair? Because, um...because it'll turn a bad colour and--and I like your hair just the way it is so I think you should um...keep it like it is because it's nice and I like it very much."
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Post by Charlotte Lewis on Jul 11, 2008 13:25:42 GMT -5
At the voice, she jumped slightly, water going up her nose. Her eyes watered slightly as the chlorine burned. Pinching her nose, she opened her eyes and looked up to the edge of the pool, her lips twisted into a small smirk.
"Thank you Dan." She said, swimming over to the edge and resting her head on the side, looking up at him. "I will wash it when I go back upstairs, I promise. I like it this color too." She laughed, pulling a limp curl of it in front of her face, examining it. "Though I did once consider it going black with it." She said in a serious tone, letting the curl drop as she looked back up at him. "Only kidding."
Treading water, she fell silent for a moment before actually realizing what time it was. "So, I didn't think anyone else would be up this early." She commented, her nails tapping against the concrete absentmindedly as she spoke. "What are you doing up? I figured you be sleeping or something at - what time is it? About two in the morning I think?"
She hadn't exactly looked at the clock when she had left her room - simply wanted to get down to the pool without anyone seeing her. She was slightly subconsious of herself now that they were back in Los Angeles - another reason why she chose to come down this early. That, and she couldn't sleep. |
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Post by Daniel Faraday on Jul 11, 2008 21:09:41 GMT -5
As Charlotte jerked, choked and sputtering on water, Daniel's brows narrowed deeply, bending down to sit indian-style on the ribbed concrete of the pool's deck. "S-Sorry! Sorry." he said quickly, until she started about her hair. His brows narrowed deeper as she said she was going to go black with her hair. His mouth opened to retort, true, until she said she was kidding. "Oh." he said, feeling a slightly relieved smile cross his face. "That's...yeah, that's good. Black is...it wouldn't look good. On--on you. It wouldn't look good on you."
As she asked what he was doing up, Daniel shrugged one shoulder slightly. "I um...well, I couldn't sleep. And it's--" he moved, looking at his watch. "It's two twenty-five in the morning." he said with a slight nod. "Wait, um, two-thirty, actually. Yeah, two thirty. My, uh...my watch stopped working. A little bit after we got on the Island? And it just started working again a little while ago. I never changed it. It's five minutes fast, or so." Daniel watched as she treaded the water, moving to slowly run his fingers through it slightly. "Why are you awake? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" She didn't have the constant thoughts running through her head, he thought. She didn't have the worry that he had. At least, that's what he thought.
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Post by Charlotte Lewis on Jul 11, 2008 21:29:56 GMT -5
"That's why I said I was kidding." She smiled, her hands resting on the rough concrete siding as she listened to Daniel speak. "Two-Thirty? Wow. It is pretty early then. Earlier than I thought." She murmured, frowning slightly. She then ave a slight shrug. "Ah well. it's not like I was going to get much more sleep tonight anyway." Charlotte sighed.
"Yeah, well, I was sleeping up until about a half-hour ago. I don't know what woke me up - I just did, and then I got to thinking about stuff and I couldn't go back to sleep. I kept thinking of being back on that stupid Freighter, and then I starting thinking and worrying about you with your flashes, and then my mind wouldn't shut down, so I came down here to go swimming." She explained, looking up at him where he sat on the edge of the pool. |
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Post by Daniel Faraday on Jul 12, 2008 21:14:23 GMT -5
"You weren't going to get much more sleep this morning." Daniel corrected. "Morning. It's...it's two-thirty, so that means morning. Early...very early morning."
Daniel listened as she spoke of how she woke up, of how her mind wouldn't stop working, and he tilted his head lightly, a slight frown spreading on his face. "I-I don't want you to worry about me, I mean...I don't want to be the reason you're up at two-thirty in the morning. A-And I havn't had one since--since I talked to you last so...so maybe it was just a...fluke? Or something? Maybe. Yeah, maybe it was just a fluke and you have nothing to worry about."
Oh, how he could wish it was just a fluke. He knew better. And he knew better enough to lie to her. Sure, he was probably sure that she could see right through him; he knew he wasn't the best at lying, but he lied to keep her safe. Keep her happy. Smiling. He never liked to see her frown, and he had never seen her cry, but he knew he didn't want to see her cry, either. So he lied.
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Post by Charlotte Lewis on Jul 12, 2008 21:42:30 GMT -5
"Sorry. Morning then." Charlotte said once Daniel had corrected her.
"It's not your fault, so don't go blaming yourself. I can't help but worry about you, so it mostly my fault for getting my mind started in the first place." She replied shifting slightly in the water and sending ripples across the surface. The smell of chlorine still lingered in her nostrils from where she had inhaled the water.
She listened as he told her he hadn't had another one, but Charlotte knew it wasn't true. A fluke? Since when did he use that word? She knew he always tried to explain everything with science, so to him, there shouldn't be such a word as fluke. As for Charlotte - well, she used it a lot because she didn't like using science and equations to explain everything.
"Daniel." She said quietly. "You and I both know that's not true." She continued in the same, soft tone, her chin resting against the concrete again as she looked up at him. |
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Post by Daniel Faraday on Jul 12, 2008 21:56:52 GMT -5
Stretching the truth. That was the word. Stretching. Well, as far as Daniel was pulling, it should have looked angel hair thin, but yet, as he looked at her...he wanted to continue it. Wanted to see how far he could stretch it because she had to believe him. She had to believe him because he couldn't have her worry, could he? No, no he couldn't have her do that at all.
"Yeah," Daniel said slowly, nodding as she spoke about how it wasn't true. "I-I mean, it's--it's true. I havn't. I've--" he started, but as she continued to look at him, he sighed out, bringing a hand to his head, thumb pressing against the side of his head. He spoke slowly, his brows narrowing. "If I keep telling you that I'm fine," he said slowly, looking from the concrete to Charlotte. "Then I start to believe it myself and if I believe it myself then I stay. And I want to stay, I want to stay here because--because for the first time in a long while I like what's around me, it's not just--it's not just a jumble of Islands and people and words and paradoxes and places in time, it's linear and I like that. You're the answer to my paradox. You make things linear. A-And so if...if we could, can we just say for right now, just for a few seconds can we say that I'm not going crazy and leaving? Because...because I want to have more nice moments with you before I find myself leaving again."
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Post by Charlotte Lewis on Jul 12, 2008 22:05:48 GMT -5
Charlotte looked at him, listening as he spoke. She remained silent as he did so, allowing her mind to process what he was saying to her.
"I want you to stay too." She said, making sure he had finished what he was saying. "I don't think you're going crazy Daniel - going crazy is when you're locked up in an asylum for being crazy." She continued, a small smile playing at her lips.
She reached out of the water, her thumb brushing over his knuckles as if to calm him down or try to relieve some of the stress that was obviously weighing down on him. She didn't like to see him like this - as stressed and such as he was. She was afriad it was going to make him sick or something - another thing she worried deeply about.
"I enojy our nice moments together too." Charlotte added quietly with a smile. "And I like the fact that I keep you linear." |
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Post by Daniel Faraday on Jul 12, 2008 22:35:52 GMT -5
As her fingers moved, touching his knuckles, Daniel slowly moved his fingers over hers, tracing the droplets of water as they fell down. "Crazy people don't think they're crazy. That's what they say and least, and I know something's not right. So..." he found himself trailing off, continuing tracing the water droplets with his fingers.
She spoke of moments together, and how she enjoyed the fact that she kept him linear, and he didn't look up from her hand in his for a moment. "Your hands...they're wrinkling." he said, turning her palm upwards to run across the ridges and valleys that the water had made. "Do you--" he started, and then looked up the slight ways to her face. "D-do you want to see if we can get room service? The-the resteraunt was closed but on the menu in my room it says twenty-four hours and I'd really like to have some room service with you."
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Post by Charlotte Lewis on Jul 13, 2008 10:02:00 GMT -5
"Yeah, sure." She replied. "I'm getting hungry myself." Charlotte admitted, watching him trace the lines and ridges in her palm. It tickled slightly, causing her to smile, but she didn't say anything.
After a moment, she swam over to the ladder, pulling herself from the water and grabbing her towel. She towel dried her hair - or at least attempted to - before wrapping the towel around herself. Charlotte grabbed her clothes, figuring she would change back in the room before walking over to Daniel.
"All right. I'll put on different clothes when we get upstairs." She told him. |
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Post by Daniel Faraday on Jul 16, 2008 21:41:03 GMT -5
As he watched her climb out of the pool, he felt his heart skip a beat, and a blush spread onto his cheeks. He brought a hand up, scratching at his beard as he looked down, trying to keep his eyes on other things besides Charlotte moving out of the pool.
As she moved beside him, Daniel nodded and stood up. "Y-yeah, a change of clothes. We can stop by your room if you want to change before the food?"
As she walked beside him, walking into the lobby of the hotel from the pool area, he grabbed a menu, smiling slightly as he held it up briefly for her to see before he looked at the choices. "When--when I was back in Massachuchets, when I had the--the caretaker, she used to make the best meals for me."
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Post by Charlotte Lewis on Jul 17, 2008 13:56:46 GMT -5
She nodded. "That's fine."
Charlotte smiled. "I was never much of a cook - I usually order take-out or something." She said with a small laugh, pressing the up button for the elevator once they reached them. She pulled the towel tighter around her, glancing over Daniel's shoulder at the menu.
"Though I admit I can make cereal." She added as an afterthought a few moments later, smirking slightly. "But she must have been a pretty good caretaker to make amazing meals. I do good not to burn toast." |
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Post by Daniel Faraday on Jul 20, 2008 18:09:20 GMT -5
"I like burnt toast. A-And I like cereal, too."
Daniel felt her glance over his shoulder, and he glanced at her face, smiling slightly. "She was nice. I-I didn't think I needed her some times, but...but she was nice." But before the plane crash, before they had said on the news that they had found Oceanic...he hadn't been able to take care of himself. On the days where he couldn't even get out of bed, couldn't remember his name...
But that was before. Before the Freighter. Before the Island, he couldn't remember his name, could hardly remember what he had done...and then they had gotten to the Island and his memory had gotten better. Slowly, but it had gotten better, and now...
"Everything looks good." he told h er as he looked at the menu. "And everything says 24 hours. Is it too late for a hamburger? Or--or too early? Too early for a hamburger."
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Post by Charlotte Lewis on Jul 20, 2008 22:33:22 GMT -5
Charlotte laughed softly. "You wouldn't like my burnt toast. You touch it and it probably disinigrates into ashes." She replied with a wry smirk.
"At least she was nice. Not some dictating person that told you when to do stuff and how to do it - I hate people like that." SHe muttered. "I've met some caretakers - or some people close tot hat profession - who are total jerks that keep you on the strictist schedule for everything. I found them highly annoying."
"Never too early or late for a hamburger." She grinned, looking over at him with a smirk. "A hamburger actually sounds pretty good though...." |
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