Stay...Alive

Chapter 23

They found the woman out front with a bullet in her head. Victorine was one of the few people to see it as she was dragged off the front step and brought to her house, hopefully where she could be put to rest. The rest of the people were left in shock, huddled together in the station too afraid to have a conversation.

Victorine spent who knows how much time holding Primus' hand. He didn't cry for too long, but for a while was stuck in a constant state of sitting on the ground, staring into space and breathing heavily. Victorine was there for him the whole time, not daring to leave his side as his pupils twitched and his thumb rubbed the back of her hand. Whatever comforted him, she was cool with.

Oliver cried on his own, sitting cast off and facing the wall as he wept. All the people would take one look at him, and turn away, a little frightened. No one dared to approach him. Probably because no one would know what to say to him. Or what to do with him. So he was left to cry on his own until he exhausted himself.

That was until Horace spotted him. He stood a few feet away with his hands in his pockets, biting his lip. When he heard a sob come out of him, Horace bit his lip even harder. Shaking his head, he slowly walked towards the boy and sat down next to him. They both were quiet for a bit, Oliver covering his mouth with his arm.

"I-I lost my brother too..." Horace began, before quickly realizing that sentiment wouldn't work. "Yeah, y'know what? So did a lotta other people. Except out of all of 'em, we're probably the only ones not to brood about it!"

He glanced at Oliver, who was still sort of crying. "Or maybe that's just me. But we're the only ones to point out that it sucks. It really sucks. But so does life! F*** it, everything sucks! Everything sucks and the sooner you learn that the sooner you'll stop crying about it!"

Oliver choked down a sob. "Even...if you really want to."

Oliver looked away from Horace, and Horace said, "Yeah, I kinda wanna cry about it to."

Oliver started weeping again, and Horace patted his back. He didn't need to make another quip; he just sat with a hand on Oliver's back as he cried a little longer.

Victorine would've watched more of it, but she felt someone shake her shoulder. She almost scratched said person in the face, but Cherie jumped back and exclaimed, "Sorry!"

Sullen, Victorine looked away from her and got back to hugging Primus.

"I'm sorry! I just wanted t'say-" Cherie sputtered before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Victorine appreciated the sentiment but didn't dare show it.

"I know I could be a bit...try-hard but I heard about what happened and I feel really bad for you, and...I hope you feel better," Cherie finished before turning to leave. But before she did, Victorine faced her...and gave her a grin. Surprised, Cherie took a few steps back before turning to leave. Victorine got one quick glance of her lips curving upwards.

After another few minutes, Primus pulled away from her arms. Victorine stood behind him as he sat on the ground, knees pulled in. He still had that distraught look on his face, his eyes focusing on nothing.

"D-do you need some time to yourself?" Victorine asked him, her voice almost squeaking. He nodded, and Victorine left him alone. She wasn't alone for too long, as Frankie and Gina approached her in the span of a few minutes.

"We heard about what happened, and whatcha saw, and..." Gina started.

"I'm surprised no one's doing anythin' about it," Frankie commented, knitting her eyebrows.

"Frankie-" Gina sighed.

"No seriously! What's with everyone? The lady that took us in was dead on the steps and we almost died! Those people are still out there! Are we just gonna do nothing to defend ourselves?"

"Frankie, she said a train's coming soon and-"

"And what if we're killed before then? Hell, we don't even have anyone on watch to see if they come back! Or if the train's coming, and-"

Victorine put a hand on her shoulder and calmed down. "How are you so good at that?"
Victorine shrugged. She offered a hug, and Frankie accepted it wholeheartedly.

"Why are you so good at hugs?" Frankie demanded, her voice a little muffled. Victorine gestured to Gina, and she joined in too.

"There really isn't too much we could do but wait," Gina reflected, sadly.

"I hate that."

"We all do."

When Frankie pulled away from the hug, Gina gave her a peck on the lips.

Aw, Victorine mouthed. Frankie smiled through the kiss, but Gina was still flustered.

Just then, Victorine heard the sound of a slightly out-of-tune piano. The others in the room fell rather silent, so she could hear it loud and clear. She turned to see Cherie at the piano, playing the theme song to some bouncy old T.V. show theme from before the war. She looked over her shoulder directly at Victorine and smirked. Victorine slowly walked towards Cherie and the piano, her toes pointed as she stepped on the ball of her foot and rolled down to her heel.

"Ever watched Steven Universe?" Cherie whispered. Victorine nodded in affirmation, and moved to the center of the room, her eyes fixed on Primus as everyone slowly laid their eyes on her. She walked around herself as Cherie began the intro to "Love Like You."

Victorine started the dance with two balancés and a set of chené turns that transitioned into a pique and a cartwheel. She moved her arms in flowing motions as she did floor work and rolled off the ground. Though her whole performance was improvised, she tried to include all she could from ballet classes over the year. She pointed her feet as she did a leg extension, displaying her oversplit she'd stretched over the months.

Though she kept a lot of focus on her technique and fluidity, she couldn't keep her eyes off of Primus. Though he was watching, he barely moved from where he sat before. She twirled and swayed as smoothly as she could, considering it was improv. The tune was familiar enough for her to think a step or two ahead. When she started her turn sequence, she spotted right to Primus, keeping a close eye to see if he stirred. She when she did a trick, the first thing she did when she landed on her feet was glance over her shoulder.

When the music started to build up, she did her switch leap and landed on her knee before rolling back to her feet and doing a flutter kick. She transitioned into a walkover which landed in a split. Her dancing intensified with the music (considering it was a teenager on a cruddy piano). She let her face tell the story, letting out all the frustration. So when there was a slight softening in the music, Victorine relaxed a little.

She looked up, and Primus was standing right at the front of the crowd.

She was about to start dancing again when the music picked up again, but a sour note was hit.

"Damnit," Cherie whispered, trying to start over again. Victorine took the opportunity, to tackle Primus in a hug. He hugged right back. A few choice people tried to clap at the performance (or the sentiment) but were quickly stopped by the people sitting next to him. Victorine was happy they did, as so there weren't any loud noises to bother him as Primus held her tight. 

It always allowed the train whistle to be heard loud and clear.