Participants:
| Scene Title | And He Speaks Softly To Me |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Days under the dome, Brennan calls home to check in, touch base and make plans for when. |
| Date | February 7, 2011 |
Suresh Center - Brennan's Office
Phonecalls have been few and far between since the dome went up, locking Brennan inside it and his family outside. Far different from being just tucked away inside a safe house and a storm separating them. He's cut off, physically and Michelle had been dissuaded from coming down to the dome. He was too busy working in the Suresh Center and too little was known about it anyways.
The Suresh Center though, is warm, a haven for people besides the Chapel. With critical individuals, amputations from the dome and injuries from the riots, he's had no lack of things to keep himself occupied, not to mention accompanying individuals on the hunt for whomever it was that might have done this.
But it's late at night, quiet and in the dark of his office, a little crank flashlight to be used for light so that there's less drain on the generators, he's dialing home, hoping that Michelle will answer and not one of the kids.
It's been a challenge, keeping their children calm while their father is stuck. The younger ones have a hard time understanding what's happening, and Michelle is worried enough to make ti a challenge to be calm for them. Especially with a new baby in the house. But luckily, she was able to get the girls into bed by the time the phone rings, although Henri is awake and held in her arms.
"Brennan residence," comes a familiar, but tired voice, French accent all the thicker for it. In the background come the little gurgles of the young baby, blissfully unaware of the troubles his family faces.
"Mish"
One simple word with a wealth of emotion behind it a thousand others words that all compose it. Mish I love you. Mish I miss you. Mish, I'm lonely without you. Brennan's slouched on the couch in his office that has sufficed as his bed for when he gets sleep. blankets and pillow, cups of coffee on his desk, medical texts on the floor, he looks out the window and up towards the dome.
«Miss me?»
The only answer, at first, is a sort of relieved, sort of emotional sigh, and the sound of a chair sliding across tile before she sits down. But when Michelle has a moment to collect herself, she's able to answer more steadily. "Oh, husband mine, you are late," she says, teasing a little, but affection in her voice. She has missed him. "I am guessing this is not a phone call to tell me you're on your way home."
"I wish that it was Mish. But they haven't found whatever it is that's responsible yet. But the moment that it is, I will be demanding a helicopter to take me home and I will land on our street even if I have to tear down electrical poles and street lights to do it"
He smiles at the though and the image that plays in his mind. He knows that it won't be true at all. The moment it's up, there will be still work to do and a long drive home if his vehicle hasn't been scavenged for gasoline already.
"How are the kids Mish. I wish I could be there. I'm sorry I'm not. I should have stayed home that day"
"I will make sure there's good weather for flying," Michelle says, a wistful smile on her face as well. "The girls are worried for their father. We're doing our best to keep them reassured that you are alright. And your son, he eats too much already. He's going to be fat and happy by the time you get home."
His last words get a soft noise from his wife and a shake of her head that he can't see, of course. "This time, it is not your fault," she says, teasing a little more before her tone grows more serious and gentler, "I wish you were here, too."
"This time she says" Brennan chuckles, running a hand through his greying hair. "I think I got a bit more silver Mish. you're going to have to get me some men's hair coloring, I'm going to be bone white when this is all done" He doesn't say that day by day, the dome still up, he's wondering if there will even be a chance of that happening. "Take a picture of our chubby baby, send it to me. I should be able to print it up over here, put it up" He hasn't got a picture of Henri to add to his desk yet. "I'll call tomorrow when the girls are back from school, I'll find a webcam here somewhere and steal it for an hour" Draw on the generator, to put his kids fears at bay.
"You're mother helping? Doesn't think I'm a utter failure of a husband?"
"This time. Next time, we will see, no?" Michelle says, a smile coming across in her tone. "A little grey, it means you look distinguished. I like it." As he goes on, she looks down, but she tries to keep her own tone more light. Hopefully. "I'll get you one tonight. And the girls would love to see you. I would love to see you, too. And don't worry about Mother. She seems to have noticed, our lives are not so calm." Were they ever, though?
"We get out of this, we'll take a trip to France, bring the kids, go on a vacation. Take a break from the city and everything that goes on. Or maybe Chicago. Go visit my parents" France is warmer though, much warmer. "You can be mad at me Mish. I won't mind." If he was there, they'd probably be in the back, sitting in the chairs side by side, watching the sky.
"I'm guessing that this.. this is probably going to cost me a tennis bracelet of rubies to go with your earrings won't it" Trying to joke, make light of it. "Maybe some flowers, but probably a tennis bracelet huh" At least, thank god, the Suresh Center and the DoEA and everything pays well enough.
"Maybe we can convince the whole family to come to France. They need a break from the snow in Chicago." Michelle chuckles, though, although is is somewhat subdued. "I will be mad when you're here for me to yell at. It isn't any fun this way." There's a pause before she adds, "A tennis bracelet is never a bad idea, my love. It would fit along with my ideas for your first night home." The tease in her voice there is of a completely different nature. One that's a bit more cruel for his being stuck apart from her.
There's a groan, she can hear it over the phone, can hear his hand dragging across his lower face and the scrape of skin over stubble. "You cruel cruel woman. You vixen you" Henri has been born some time now. Maybe. He settles into the couch, raising his arm to drape it across his eyes as he closes them. "Why do you bring that up." Laughing, she's brought a smile to his face when otherwise there hasn't been one. "France, France, we'll leave the kids with your parents and I am going to drag you to some obscure vineyard and feed you grapes and treat you like the goddess that you are, for putting up with me."
"This is why you married me," Michelle points out, of her cruelty. "You could say, because it has been on my lately," she adds, happiness in that voice for hearing his laugh. "I have been missing you."
At his last words, though, she chuckles warmly and agrees, "It is a challenge to do so. I should have medals, yes? Or a trophy. Michelle Brennan, for having the world's most troublesome husband."
"No greater wife in the world. None that I would want. I should go Mish. Save my batteries. I'll call tomorrow, talk to the girls. I'll do what I can, get out of here, get this.. dome lifted. Start packing the suitcases for France, dig up our passports" Come hell or highwater, when he's out of here, they're going. After he locks himself in his house for a few days with his family. "I'll be sure to dream of you when I sleep"
"Tell me if there is anything to be done from this side. And don't go off on one of your crazy ideas without tell me first. I need to know how much room to make in my jewelry box." Michelle lingers there on the phone, though, reluctant to hang up. "Hopeless romantic," she accuses playfully at his last words but when she adds a soft, "I love you." Well, that is much more heartfelt.
"You'll have to write that on my gravestone the day I actually kick the bucket. I promise Mish, if I need a vest, I'll call you" He wants to kiss her, wrap his arms around the woman and hold her tight, leave his lips on her temple and fall asleep smelling her with every inhale. Instead he has to contend with just her voice over the phone, a voicemail message to pick up some milk on the way home and a hope that soon enough, this will all be over.
«Sing me to sleep Mish, before you hang up» It's a secret vice of his, standing out of sight outside the bedroom of their children while she sings to them. «Please»
"Don't tempt me," Michelle says, a little chuckle on her words. There's little doubt she is wishing for the kisses and embraces as well, but one takes what one can get in these situations. His request gets a warm sigh from his wife, and there's just a little pause before she complies, with a different song than those she sings for the children…
"Des yeux qui font baiser les miens, un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche, voila le portrait sans retouche, de l'homme auquel j'appartiens," she sings in a slow, soft voice, much like a lullaby, "Quand il me prend dans ses bras, il me parle tout bas, je vois la vie en rose."