[D4 LA] The Book Lovers

[Chantelle Rossette]

“I canno’ spea’ fo’ Tiffani, bu’ I woul’ love to ‘ear some poetry, don’ you tink dat would be marvellous?” she asked her companion.

[Tiffani]

Tiffani languidly opened her eyes and thought for a moment.

"Mmmm ..." that same purr as before, "sure. What I heard as we came in - the tail-end of your reading - that was some intense stuff. Right now, I could lose myself in writing like that. Of course, it's up to his majesty if he wishes to read poetry to us."

[Jason Whitt]

“I am but a conduit of better writers and literarians, but I think I have a collection that could speak to you. Tell me, angelic Tiffani, songbird Chantelle… what quickens your heart in terror? The ghosts that ride the boggy moors? The approach of a hidden lover? A reflection of better days now truly gone and rotting into the image of regret?” Jason asked as he rose and perused his shelves.

“What moves you to action?”

[Chantelle Rossette]

"Loneliness," Chantelle blurted out without realising, snapping her beak shut with a little gasp and looking down at her hands.

[Jason Whitt]

"Loneliness," Chantelle blurted out without realising, snapping her beak shut with a little gasp and looking down at her hands.

"The fear inspired by solitude is all too familiar to me," he replied kindly.

"Inescapable."

[Chantelle Rossette]

"Whe' I was," Chantelle took a breath, "'eld by my Keepa, I was neva alone, no' fo' a momen'," she sighed, and it trembled in her throat, "bu' it was a false company. Dey all wan' to see de songbir', bu' none care' abou' de songbir'."

[Tiffani]

Tiffani looked at both the king and Chantelle for a long, piercing moment, her eyes slightly wide as the two talked about loneliness. She says nothing for a time, that horrific, hollow feeling of being alone sinking into her stomach like a tiny black hole draining her very soul. Of course, most of the Lost had probably been through what she was currently experiencing - and at least she found Chantelle by dumb luck - but she was still an outsider and she knew it. For all of their kindness, Tiffani knew she did not have a single connection to anyone anywhere in the world. A slight shiver traveled up her spine and she failed to suppress the small little quiver that reverberated through her small frame.

"What Chantelle said ... but not just loneliness, your majesty, but being alone. There are few things more painful and more horrifying to me than watching others. Families. Groups of friends. Couples in love. They all have a connection and a place to belong. Watching them together while I stand alone, anonymous to all ... in all honesty, it drives me to the threshold of madness. It's ..."

And then she suddenly cuts herself off and falls silent. Ever since she returned to the realm of mortals, it seemed as if every time she opened her mouth, she made a mess of things. She gave Chantelle a furtive glance from the corner of her eye and nervously began tugging at the little tingling charms hanging from her charm bracelet.

"I'm sorry. I said too much."

[Chantelle Rossette]

"No' at all," Chantelle offered soothingly, "dat was wha' I was gettin' at, really. Bein' aroun' people is one ting, bu' actually connec'ing to dem, dat's someting else entirely."

[Tiffani]

"It seems to be a common theme among us ... doesn't it," Tiffani says in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper.

In all ways she seems to be relaxed, but a keen observer would notice that she's gripping ferociously the arm of her chair as if she's worried that, without a death grip, she would simply float away.

[Jason Whitt]

“Not at all Tiffani, the world we live in can be an alien place even more so than the terrors of Arcadia, but you are not alone, though it may be hard to understand and see. I try to reach out to all Lost in my court, that I am there for them and expect the same of them… some consider me too trusting but I find to err on the side of humanity has served me well,” he said kindly.

He then said, “Ahh this one I find… illuminating.”

He read from a text the following:

“Hunger deeply burning,
No time was wasted with awkwardness.
The first kiss sparked a chain reaction
Of atomic proportions.
The only foreplay was to touch
Just enough
To know we weren't dreaming.

Time
Distance
Formality
Clothing
All obstacles
Peeled away.

Your wonderful thickness
Sliding like velvet
Into its moist new home.
Opening
Molding
THIS
Is where you belong!

We fuck like we're
Starving
Thirsting
Dying
For each other.

You mark me as yours
While I take you by surprise,
Taking your heart along with your length.
This lust and love chemistry
The only answer for our aching.

We pour
EVERYTHING
Body
Mind
Heart
Soul
Into our culmination.

A black hole BURST
That sucks us in,
Shakes our bodies,
Crumbles all our walls
We meant to leave standing.

This song I cry out
Will be for you alone.

We touch heaven,
Far too easy a creation with you.
The stars from my eyes
Reflected in yours.

A tangle of limbs
And lips
And deep, satisfied breathes.
Warm in our skin.
In our moment.

Floating
Sizzling
Glistening
Glorious

Forever burned into one another.”