Revelation || Narnia OCxOC - thecallofnarnia & NaturallyNarnian

Chapter 6: Ppr:kut

May 2015

Lilith cursed as she jumped back onto her bed having reset the Wifi again. Typically, her parents were both at work, so it wasn't like it ever bothered them.

"Okay, let's try again." She breathed, ever stubborn and temporarily frustrated as she reloaded Skype and pressed 'Video Call'.

David ran a hand through his beard and licked his lips. He had to be somewhat presentable, it was Lilith, after all- he didn't want to look completely horrible.

He shrugged his shoulders quickly, cracked his neck, breathed deeply, and answered the call.

"What's good?!" David asked happily. "How've you been? What's the occasion? Also, perfect timing, my parents are gone."

"This isn't that kind of video call," Lilith quipped, clicking 'dismiss' on a 10% battery warning.

"No, I just...am glad in general that my parents are out of the house," he replied. "Has someone been reading too much Harry Potter fanfiction?"

"They don't have video calls, they're Harry Potter fanfiction!" Lilith laughed. "That would be like a...a Narnia fanfiction having video calls!"

"Well, regardless, what's up? What brings you to the...uh...interweb space of conversation?" David asked while smiling, and Lilith almost forgot to reply. His positivity could be so infectious, and right now it only made what she had to say that much harder to deliver.

Lilith dropped her eyes, though only very momentarily as she pulled a loose thread of a blanket.
When she looked back to the screen, she began. "You know how we were going to be staying nearby for a month this summer? We had all those plans and... have both been looking forward to it since basically last summer?"

David's eyes darted around.

"Yeah...I very much have...why do you ask?"

"It's not going to be a month anymore... not even a full week. Mum's work called yesterday and said they needed her back here early... very early, apparently." Lilith might've rolled her eyes, though her heart felt too heavy. "Which I suppose is good... because that means something's happening in the field but... not good for us."

David swallowed, and if Lilith was next to him in the room, it might have been audible.

"...We're gypped for time again, huh? We..." he sighed sadly. "Yeah, that's...should've seen this coming, yeah, I..."

David sank into his chair.

"Well...any time is better than none," he forced out.

"I guess. My Mum suggested we all have dinner together and if things go well or... well, if the whole trip goes well, really, we might start flying over for Christmases. Aunt Nina's had a baby over there so Mum decided she wants to be all involved with them again at such a 'crucial stage' of her niece's development... but like you said, any time is better than none, and there's some hope for more in the future."

"Okay, well...that's good, that's something," David exhaled. "So at least this won't be the last time- we're bound to talk in the future, that's good..."

David had taken to looking down and nervously playing with the edge of his shirt, forgetting what that might look like in Lilith's perspective.

"...Dinners don't usually go well," he suddenly added. "I'm...I'll just not talk."

He failed to suppress a shudder.

"If, uh...if this is the last time, don't be worried about me being lonely, I've found an internet group I can talk to," he said with forced yet failed optimism. "Part creative writing group, part role playing thing...I've even got a whole idea for a character, Chris Adams, and..."

David sighed. "I uh...yeah...future hope is good."

He looked down sadly again.

"What do you mean 'the last time'?" Lilith queried, "If there was ever going to be a 'last time' between us, it'd have been when I moved away and that was... 5 years ago? And can I read what you write with them? That sounds cool, Chris Adams is a good name."

"Sorry, just...the paranoia, I guess. Yeah, it'll all be on Reddit, so provided I don't have to panic delete anything in the future, I should be able to send you stuff, it'll be fun," David added with a slight genuine smile. "I just..."

I don't want to lose you.

"I guess I'll download Reddit then." Lilith replied, injecting some light into the conversation. "What's it like to start out in this group of yours, anyway? Maybe I'll write my own character alongside you someday," she added playfully.

David coughed, almost inadvertently spitting out his water, and swallowed. "That's the thing," he said before clearing his throat. "There's two tips the ol' World Problems Crew give when you start out: the first is 'lurk more,' to familiarize yourself with the worlds before jumping in so you know what you're doing, and second is 'write characters, not plotlines.'"

He sniffed before continuing, "If you write a good enough character, the stories will practically spawn out of thin air, because all you have to do is ask, 'What would the character do,' as opposed to 'What do I want them to do.' It's pretty cool actually," David remarked, flashing a brief genuine smile.

He continued, but Lilith got lost in simply looking at him. She couldn't remember the last time they'd Skyped or spoken or... even messaged. It must have been a week, at least. The realisation hit right at the moment she realised she should at least smile in return, but suddenly a smile felt incredibly difficult, which had never been the case around him.

"One more thing...can you not tell my parents about this whole...'writing with internet strangers' thing? My parents are...well, my parents, and I'm very paranoid they won't react well," David asked. "Keep it a secret, okay?"

"Don't worry," Lilith replied, smiling much easier now. "I'll keep it safe... but I think I've just had an epiphany, you know. I think I might-"

Suddenly, Lilith's video feed went dark and the call ended, flooding David with the sound of silence.

"...Lilith?" he whimpered.

"- love you." Lilith told her reflection in the black screen.

Her room- the entire house was silent a moment, before she slammed her dead laptop shut, picked up a nearby, unfortunate copy of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' and launched it at her wall.

It hit the floor at the same time she fell back to lay on her bed, declaring a loud "For fuck's sake!"

David ran his hands through his hair. What even happened? Was it something he said? What happened that she ended the call? David felt himself almost curl up in his seat. Lilith, even as apart as they were, was his last true line of sanity in the midst of everything with his family. He'd slowly lost his mind over the years, and now his mind tried and failed to think of anything else aside from the encroaching despair that he'd finally lost Lilith, too.

Laid on her back, glaring at the ceiling, Lilith blinked back moisture that stung her eyes and threatened to fall. She- had just realised that and had been so in the moment, so filterless as to just say it and- now she'd think about it, she realised. Think and think and think and likely not say it so long as she lived.

Slowly, Lilith sat up. She had homework to do, she should probably do the dishes before her parents eventually got home, she had to-

But she couldn't seem to kindle any fire inside her to do any of that, so instead, she grabbed her phone and scrolled to see who might be online- anyone to vent to, anyone to-

'Christina - Active'. Perfect.

Lilith - Hi, Chrissy. I've got a question.

Christina - Heyo! And ofc

Lilith - Have you ever been in love?

Christina - Typing...