I was gonna be that one in a million

As Freddie leaned in a bit closer and began to speak again, Rory found herself going slightly cross-eyed as she followed the Domme’s lips. When people got too close, she found it near impossible to lipread. Trying to do so sometimes gave her a headache. But she’d managed to catch one word said by the lovely Domme; and it caused her eyebrows to momentarily knit in confusion. “Quieter? Can you not hear me okay? I, uh, I know I sometimes don’t speak up enough; and, well, I’ve no idea how loud it is in here. Is there music playing?” She could feel some vibrations surrounding them; but she wasn’t sure if it was from music or just from the fact there were so many people conversing and enjoying themselves. 

“It is a little loud, and I am not always great at focusing.” Freddie offered a sheepish grin, adding, “And I’m trying to be thoughtful and it’s backfiring. I guess the lighting would be more of an issue than the noise level.” It had been a while since she’d had a reason to think of someone else like this; she’d been seeing someone pretty seriously but it came to an amicable end due to distance, and she had been wrapped up in the band since then.

Given the atmosphere’s dim lighting, Rory was finding it a tad more difficult to lip read, meaning it was taking her a few moments longer to piece together whatever words she managed to catch on another’s lips and figure out what was being said. Her eyes were glued to Freddie’s lips as she did her best to make sense of what the lovely Domme had to say. “Just as glass of water… I don’t actually drink drink.” She shared, giving a small shrug of her shoulders. “Though sometimes I don’t mind those fancy mocktails. I had this goiaba one whilst in Brazil that was to die for. Uh, goiaba is guava. That’s what they call it there. It’s my favorite fruit besides strawberries.” She found herself starting to ramble ever so slightly. Something about being in Freddie’s presence tonight made her a tad nervous. And it was a different sort of nervousness than what had been plaguing her for the past several weeks.

“That’s good to know,” she said lightly. “I’m sure they have water here though, right?” They had to have options for people who didn’t drink. The guava mocktail did sound good, although Freddie found that she really just enjoyed listening to Rory talk about it. “I’ve never had a guava drink - that I’m aware of - but it does sound good. My maman loves strawberry wine though so we have a lot of that at home.” She glanced around, really taking in the atmosphere with the belated realization that it would probably make it harder for Rory to understand her. She leaned a little closer to the submissive to ask, “Would you like to find somewhere maybe a little quieter or something?”

Initially, Rory had been adamant about the fact she wouldn’t be in attendance for the Castlebrac’s Halloween party this year. She’d turned down any and all offers from her friends trying to encourage her to go. Being in such a crowded place surrounded by so many people she didn’t know very well just seemed like the perfect breeding ground for her anxieties to surface… But then she’d received a text from a particularly lovely Domme asking if she’d be in attendance; and she couldn’t bring herself to say no. So upon finally spotting the Domme in question at the party, the brunette submissive’s smile began to widen. “Y-You look quite lovely this evening, Miss.” Freddie looked absolutely stunning in her pantsuit. It wasn’t much in the way of a Halloween costume; but she absolutely rocked it.

“Why, thank you,” Freddie said, beaming as she twirled briefly and sent her necklaces clacking together. “I usually do it up a bit more but this is how it worked out this year. Have you had a chance to get a drink or anything yet?” It seemed fair to assume that Rory probably wouldn’t be up for a wild night, although maybe Freddie was wrong in that assumption. Either way, it would be a nice chance to get to know her better and Freddie thought that sounded like a good plan.

“You just stay right there and let me get the drinks.” Solenn stated firmly, with a bit of a pout on her red painted lips. She slowly turned and then smiled wickedly over her shoulder. “And if you don’t want my ass when I walk away I will be mortally offended, just so you know.”

@bretonstarters​

“Solenn, I would never dream of doing anything other than watching your ass while you walk away so you have nothing to worry about,” Freddie said with a laugh, returning Solenn’s smile with a wink. “And honestly if you don’t think I think about it on a regular basis, you don’t know me very well.”

Freddie had pulled together a costume at the last minute, and hoped that the fangs would be enough to make it apparent that she was a vampire. This year, she just hadn’t had the energy to do anything more elaborate, as much as she wanted to. The main reason she’d even come was that it gave her a legitimate reason to see Rory; she’d been a little worried after their encounter in the hospital so this was a welcome excuse to check in. Spotting the submissive, she excused herself from her conversation and moved to join her, grinning. “Well, don’t you look like a treat.”

With less of a gap between her and the Domme, Rory was able to better lipread what Freddie was saying. She gave a soft nod upon piecing together the other’s words before she shifted her attention back to her pen and paper: They do make the corridors here confusing. I believe there’s a nurse’s station just outside my room if you need help finding somewhere specific? I’m sure one of the nurses would be willing to assist. She turned the paper back around so Freddie would be able to read what she’d written. 

“I probably got off on the wrong floor,” Freddie said with a shrug; it wasn’t the first time and probably wouldn’t be the last time either. But she should probably check in with the nurses before she left anyway, just to be safe. “I’m just visiting a friend,” she added, “and I really should be better at this but it is what it is.” It really should be a simple matter to say goodbye and try and get to the correct room but she found herself oddly reluctant to leave.

At first, Rory didn’t recognize the gorgeous Domme that had entered her room; and the anxiety she felt began to heighten. Then it hit her. She’d spoke to this woman before. Once. Several months back. Frankie? Frannie? Freddie? Freddie! That was it! The memories helped to lessen her anxiety; but she was still curious as to what the woman was doing in her room. They hardly knew each other. She had noticed Freddie had said something before; but she’d not caught any of it. So she reached for the pen and paper beside her and scribbled out a message. I’m sorry. I didn’t catch what you just said. 

Although she felt like she was intruding, Freddie took a couple of steps further into the room - not getting too close to the bed or anything, but enough to close the gap so that hopefully Rory would be able to understand more easily. “No problem,” she said, after reading the message. “Do you need me to get someone? I think I got turned around.” Grinning sheepishly, she waved a hand vaguely at the room. “I always get lost in here.”

@bretonstarters​

It took Rory a little over a day to come to again. After everything she’d been through, the brunette submissive was beyond fatigued. And after going just under three full weeks without her daily cocktail of much needed medications, her body was functioning far from normal… well normal for her. Upon waking up, it took her a few minutes to fully register where she was and what happened. She was at the hospital. She’d been rescued. They’d been rescued. She, Kit, and Jadon… Jadon… He’d been shot. That was the last thing she remembered before waking up in her hospital bed. What happened to Jadon? Was he okay? Was he dead? He had to be okay. She needed him to be okay. And Kit… She hadn’t seen Kit after they’d been let out of their cells. How was he? He had to be okay too. They all had to be okay…

As her thoughts began to race, so did her heart; and it was then Rory registered the fact she was still dealing with a good deal of discomfort and pain in her chest. It was then she began to register more of her surroundings, like the IVs and oxygen she was currently hooked up to. And she registered the vibrations of footsteps, of someone entering her room. The mere feeling of the vibrations was enough to make the submissive suddenly feel sick to her stomach. But she glanced in the direction of the hospital room’s doorway regardless. She had to know who it was. Maybe that would ease her sudden increase in anxiety. 

Freddie didn’t come to the hospital very often and it was one of those buildings that just got her head turned around. All the corridors looked the same, and she was never quite able to relax and pay attention to her surroundings, so when she ducked into what she thought was the correct room, it took her a minute to register that it wasn’t. Then another minute to register that she recognized the person in the room - the duck girl from the park months ago. That was not the sort of conversation that a person forgot easily. 

“Sorry,” she said, still lingering by the door. “I must have gotten the wrong room - do you want me to get a nurse or someone?”

Jae nodded in response to Freddie’s question. “Every season I get to go to a lot of places. Last year, I was really lucky to have a few competitions in my hometown. I’ll be back there for Korean Nationals in January though. Outside of that, I’ll be in Canada a few times for the Autumn Classic and Skate Canada. Then Osaka for the NHK Trophy and Beijing for the Grand Prix final. Four Continents is in Sydney, Australia and finally Worlds in Stockholm, Sweden. It should be a good year of travels.” Smiling, he peered at his phone quickly to note the time. “Ah, I should head out soon. Back to training tomorrow morning.” 

That was certainly a full schedule but it did sound like it would be enjoyable. Freddie had a healthy dose of wanderlust herself but maybe she’d be able to do more traveling in the future too. “Well, I don’t want to hold you up. Let me know the next time you need a drinking buddy.”

“Oh, that’d be a great idea for a fundraiser! You’d probably be able to do a lot of good.” It was the sort of thing that would reflect very well on their House as well, but that would just be an added bonus. Jae smiled as he listened to Freddie talk about the audience. He knew the feeling well. “I do. My job is to compete, but there are a lot of people who are fans of the skaters and it makes my performance feel…fuller? When I do very well, they celebrate and when I do poorly, they’re kind. Everyone is just there to enjoy skating.” 

She’d file that away for future reference, maybe something to bring up with the new duchess if there was ever a need for a fundraiser. Although they’d have to get other bands involved so it might not be as beneficial. “A good audience makes all the difference.” Probably even more so for him, since he was being judged on his performance. All Freddie had to worry about was if the people were enjoying themselves. “Do you get to travel anywhere exciting in the near future?”

“Definitely. It’d be pretty miserable otherwise,” Jae said. So much training just to not like what he did for a living would have been awful. “It’s probably better not to compete if it isn’t your thing and you don’t have to. I always really like gala performances at competitions because you get to perform without feeling stressed out. If I were a musician, I think I’d rather just perform for people than compete.” 

“Doing something competitive might be fun for a fundraiser or something in the future,” she said, turning the thought over in her mind briefly. It would be something to remember in the future, although they had their hands full at the moment. “Performing is the best though - there’s just nothing else like having an audience that’s really into the music.” She’d gotten a similar feeling when she performed in plays as well: the live audience who was really invested in what they were watching brought a spark of life to the performance. “Do you feel that when you’re skating, or is it different?”

“I’d like that. Thank you so much again.” Carefully, she took the phone and placed it back on the table beside her, fighting back another yawn. “And thank you so much for coming to visit me here. I really appreciate it.”

“I was happy to do it.” Grinning, Freddie waved before turning to walk out of the room so Adelaide could get some rest.

“It is,” Jae agreed. He worked hard and a lot of thought was put into his program. He liked that it fulfilled the ambitious part of him that liked to be challenged while also allowing him to be creative. “Well, being judged is a big part of it. But I’m pretty competitive, so I like even that.” He thought about what a competition might look like for a musician. “Would you ever do like a battle of the bands situation?” 

“It’s probably a good thing you like it then,” Freddie said, chuckling. She absently tracked a pattern on the side of her glass as she contemplated the question. She’d done competitive stuff like that when she was at uni, so the idea wasn’t completely out of left field. “Probably, depending on the situation. I think it could be fun in the right circumstances.” Definitely not the sort of thing she’d want to do long-term though.

Adelaide was disappointed, but as she felt another yawn starting to creep up, she realized it was probably the smarter decision. “That’s fair enough. Oh, here, I should give you my phone number. That way I could text you about it as soon as I listen to it.” Carefully reaching over to the table at her side, she picked up her phone and handed it over to Freddie. 

Well, Freddie was never one to turn down the chance to get a cute sub’s number. She moved closer so she could take the phone and quickly added herself to the contact list, and sent a quick text to herself. “All right, all set with that. If you get bored and need a distraction, feel free to text too. If nothing else, I can give you a play by play of the fight over our album art.”

Jae smiled at the question. “Well, for my short program and my free skate there are certain elements that have to be in each routine. So keeping that in mind, I choose what kind of music I want to use for each, what’s my theme for the year, since I’ll be performing these for the whole year most likely.” He hummed. “Then I work on where to put each element. In the free skate, since it’s a longer program, jumps that are in the second half get more points, so my choreographer and I work together to weigh how much I can handle in the second half when I’m already pretty tired by that point. So it’s a mix of challenging myself to go harder, figuring out what I’m capable of, and coming up with pieces I want to perform over and over again. With the help of my choreographer and coaches. Gala performances aren’t scored though, so when I work on those, I can be a little more creative, have more fun.” 

That was a lot more than Freddie had really expected, but she did her best to pay attention and follow along. It certainly sounded more complicated than anything she did - at least with their performances for the band, they weren’t really doing any sort of moves or being judged. But still, the creative side of her saw some appeal in the process of deciding a theme for the year and choreographing a show to go along with that theme. “Sounds like a lot of work,” she said, admiration in her tone. “But enjoyable. Although I think I would find less enjoyment in the judging aspect of it all.”