Intermission Three! Soleil et Étoile

~O~

All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.

-Martha Graham-

~O~

Undertaker raised his head at the quietly familiar screech of a needle on vinyl, followed by a whoop of delight. Smiling bemusedly, he dropped the arm he'd been sewing in place and made his way out of the back room of the mortuary. The windows were wide open, something he hadn't quite gotten used to yet but had become a regular occurrence in the evenings. Sunlight was important, his Lottie always insisted, even if you were a retired centuries old death god.

At any rate he'd developed an appreciation for the warm summer sunsets. The windows of the mortuary faced west and formed a golden backdrop for the scene that met him as he pushed the door aside and stepped into the front room. Charlotte twirled around the coffins, her hair flying out behind her. A lady's torso – and only that, his daughter still had issues with stitching necks and always left it to the last minute – acted as her partner as she performed an energetic waltz to the music.

The Undertaker's eyes landed on the gramophone resting on top of a coffin, jaunty notes pouring out from the brass horn as the black disc continued to spin round and round. He didn't recognise the song but then he didn't pay much attention to the fashions. Trends flew by so quickly when you were practically immortal and also dead.

His daughter – not by blood mind you – skipped between the chaotic mess that was the front-room. It made his already wide smile grow. It had been several years since he'd adopted her (inasmuch as you could adopt someone who was already an adult and also not your biological child and also a bit dead and was supposed to be an experiment into the structure of the human soul, but that was just semantics really).

He hadn't realised how much he'd lacked in terms of meaningful social contact until she had walked in on him eating raw cookie dough and laughed so hard one of her legs had fallen off. Sure he liked jokes, but he'd never made someone else laugh. It was...a nice feeling.

Lottie performed one more spin and then her eyes landed on him and went wide. The Undertaker's grin widened and transformed into a loud cackle when she then tripped, and fell to the ground with a loud shriek. "Papa! How...How long were you watching?"

"Long enough~" he giggled and pulled her to her feet effortlessly. Charlotte pouted up at him, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. Smirking, he squished her face between his palms. "Don't make that face Lottie-dearest! You know if you pull faces they'll get stuck that way~."

In response Charlotte pulled a hideous expression that involved rolling her eyes all the way to the back of her head and grinning in the most unsettling way she could. "Will you still love me if I look like this Papa?" The Undertaker's resulting belly-laugh could be heard all around the neighbourhood, which wasn't new but Charlotte's presence made it a more common occurrence. Every time he tried to stop giggling she just pawed at his arm, pulling another terrible face each time. "Papa, look at me! Look at me Papa! Am I still beautiful? Tell me I'm beautiful Papa!"

Snickering, the Undertaker caught her under his cloak, smothering her there while she squealed and tried to struggle free. "I don't know who this is. Where is my daughter~? It's a mystery~!"

Charlotte flailed within the voluminous and space-defying confines of his robes, giggling between every word. "Papa, it's me! Let me out!"

He pretended to think about it, humming loudly to himself. "I don't know~. My daughter has pretty blue eyes and blonde hair~. Do you have those~?"

"Yes!" A second later her head popped out right below his chin. Her hair was now completely out of its bun, a wild mess of previously pin-straight locks. Smiling a more genuine smile that she couldn't see, the Undertaker rested his chin atop the soft mass and hummed along to the song that was slowly drawing to a close.

"Where did you find that~?" He asked her curiously.

"An antique shop was selling it at half price. Apparently it's cursed or something." He could almost hear how hard Lottie was rolling her eyes. "The music came with it too. They're just old songs, nothing contemporary, but they are fun to dance along too." The gramophone went silent for a moment before a new song started playing. It was slower than the last but it matched the quieting mood between them.

The sky outside was growing dimmer. The sun had dipped behind the buildings in the distance, only a dim orange ringed by a pale halo of green left as the late hour heralded the beginning of the night. The two stood there, watching a curtain of stars drape across the sky while the notes played.

Short chapter, I'm sorry I wanted to do two but I have to write an English essay and the ppt to go with it. Hopefully I'll be able to write the next chapter tomorrow or on Sunday!