My eyelids flickered as my ears picked up muffled voices nearby. I slowly awoke to what quickly evolved into the sound of giggling and sniggering; but as I visibly stirred on the sofa they quickly hushed. I eventually opened my eyes to see Dempsey and Nikolai looking over at me as they stifled another laugh.
"Awww, is very cute, no? Leetil woman has boyfriend", he whispered to Dempsey.
"Can't say I don't wish it was me but he's better than the doc at least... and he is the doc!" Dempsey exclaimed with a belly laugh before Nikolai joined in.
Once my eyes adjusted, I sat up and felt a warm body next to me. I turned to see Primis fast asleep - completely oblivious to all the eyes on him. He looked so relaxed like it had been the first time he had slept so soundly. As he twitched and shifted on the sofa, I felt a smile appearing on my face as I watched him. He looked peaceful for once.
And it was clear this Richtofen was self-aware of his psychopathic tendencies. Acknowledgment is always the first step. And even Dempsey could see the burning conviction behind Primis' desire to "do the right thing" and become a better man. Suddenly, my thoughts dissolved as he opened his eyes and narrowed them at me suspiciously.
"Vhy are jou shtaring at me?" He snapped defensively.
Before I could answer, the sound of giggling returned and his eyes shot across to Dempsey and Nikolai. Both men were now sitting on the edge of their sofas, poised for Primis' response. Meanwhile, Takeo sat alone on the edge of the stage as he turned around to eye the situation. In his usual manner, he rolled his eyes - clearly unamused by the men's childish behaviour.
"I demand to know vhat is sho funny!" Primis commanded as his voice echoed.
Nikolai was the first to speak.
"Well, German. We were just admiring the fact that you volunteered to keep leetil woman warm in cold theatre. Was very kind of you -- I think German likes her, no?" He said as he loudly whispered the latter and nudged Dempsey.
I watched a blush glow on Primis' cheeks as he turned away from us all in a vain attempt to hide it. This sent Dempsey and Nikolai over the edge as they began rolling around with laughter - completely unable to contain it. Primis buried his face deeper in his blanket before I put a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up and focus on me.
"I appreciate you being there for me last night", I said kindly before leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.
The men's childish giggling ceased as they sat up in shock. Primis looked taken aback before melting into the sofa - he was absolutely wasted.
An hour later, after the spectacle had died down, Takeo and Nikolai got up to take on watch duty. It was probably better to have a dedicated patrol around the theatre since there might have been more undead ready to tear down the barriers at any moment. Dempsey walked over to the M16 wall chalk outline to buy some more ammo before returning to the sofas with me and Primis.
I felt absolutely exhausted today which it must have been fairly obvious. Primis turned to me and put his hand on mine as I turned to look at him with fatigue weighing on my eyes.
"Jou need to rest today. I know about jour health", he said.
I knew what he meant and took that as my cue to slump back down onto the sofa as I was fairly tired of pretending to look functional by now. I huddled in the blanket as Primis got up before he turned back to look at me.
"Ve vill be repairing zhe barriers nearby. Me and Dempshey vill be keeping an eye on jou at all times. Please get some rest today", he said with genuine care and concern for me.
Dempsey looked over and nodded to me in confirmation.
"Thanks, I appreciate it", I said before quickly and effortlessly falling asleep again.
After what must have been several hours, I finally awoke from my comatose state to find that night had already begun to set in. As I slowly sat up and gave a roaring yawn; I caught the attention of Primis who gently helped me to sit up. Dempsey sat on the next sofa as both men watched me - expecting some kind of status report. Once I had gathered myself together, I stretched out my limbs before turning to look at the men.
"I slept well, thank you", I said answering their silent query.
Both men simultaneously smiled in relief.
"Jou have been ashleep all day, ve vere vorried about jou", he explained.
"Yeah, I ain't ever seen anyone sleep that much... and I'm the king of naps!" Dempsey chuckled to lighten the mood.
We all laughed before Takeo and Nikolai entered the stage from the lobby. We turned to look at them with residual smiles before realising their faces rang with concern.
"Richtofen is still nowhere to be seen", Takeo stated firmly.
We all looked at each other. Where on earth could he have gone now?
"Are you sure he's not just ignoring you when you knock on his office door?" I said dryly.
We all laughed a bit before the weight of dread began to loom over us again.
"Well, how about we have that chat then?" Dempsey enquired.
Takeo shook his head - his face worn with seriousness.
"Do not let your guard down for a second or the cat will steal your fish", Takeo replied.
Nikolai rolled his eyes as I straightened up on the sofa before agreeing.
"Takeo is right. It would be foolish to think we can speak freely at this time", I said.
Primis nodded before Dempsey let out an audible sigh.
"Well what the hell are we gonna do then?" Dempsey said with frustration.
We all remained silent as we thought out our next move. I placed my hand under my chin as I tried to figure out Richtofen's motives. Maybe he is at the lander. But where exactly was it? Richtofen had not yet said where it was in the theatre. Was it even in the theatre at all? None of us had seen it and it seemed like the kind of thing that would be hard to miss.
"Why did the story have to be so bloody convuloluted?!" I thought to myself.
I did not think anyone truly knew every detail of the storyline... not even Treyarch themselves. So I began to think about how exactly the boys got to the Soviet cosmodrome from here - the next destination. And why on earth was Richtofen in a spacesuit by the time we play the Ascension map? Is this why he was nowhere to be seen?
The presence of Primis and I had no doubt put a spanner in the works. Surely, just by being here we had thrown off the original turn of events. By this point, my head was beginning to hurt as my mind raced with hypotheses. After a few minutes, I realised that everyone had been staring at me as I mused this whole time - I looked up in surprise.
"I don't know what's happening anymore. You need to understand guys that the storyline was a total mess and the writers had to go back to explain things and try and make it all work. Then a new director came in and..." I said shakily as I realised I was no longer in control if I did not know the exact storyline.
Everyone looked concerned before I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Jou do not need to beat jourshelf up about it. Mein ozher shelf is unpredictable und no doubt he has already begun making his plans work around jou and I", Primis reassured me.
I slumped back in the sofa with stifling defeat. How was I going to make things right?
Takeo and Nikolai got up and tried to occupy themselves for the rest of the evening by fixing up any remaining barriers. Dempsey decided to take care of the food alone this time and Primis began stalking the theatre for clues. Everyone was tense and just wanted something to take their mind off it.
I, however, remained firmly planted on the sofa - with both anger and frustration coursing through my veins.
"I will not be beaten!" I declared to myself.
But this universe was taking its own form outside of the confines of the storyline. It really was a fully fledged world that was just as unpredictable as my own.
I sat alone for the next hour in deep thought. Though, I must have fallen asleep as I woke up laying on the sofa with my blanket tucked around me. My eyes slowly opened but I was alone; everyone was still busy getting work done before bed.
Suddenly, my nose twitched as I could smell the unmistakable aroma of flowers.
End of part twenty-seven...