At one point, Lottie pulled her into the middle of an exhibit on The Human Body in Myth & Medicine. Bones and blood red tapestries. Ivory tools. Carved saints holding their own eyes in their hands.
“You brought me here for this?” Natalie spoke up, mock horrified.
Lottie laughed. “It’s educational.”
Natalie looked at her sideways. Then softened. “Okay,” she whispered. “It’s a date.”
It was somewhere between the mummified cat and the broken Greek statue that the lights flickered.
Just once. Barely a pause. But enough for Lottie to go still.
“Did that happen earlier?” Natalie asked.
“No,” Lottie answered quietly. “But, it’s an old building. Probably just the storm.”
And then, as if summoned, thunder rolled faintly above them.
The museum was quieter than it should have been. That was the first thing Natalie noticed.
Even with six people walking through the front entrance. Laughing, shaking off coats, slipping phones into purses. It still felt like the walls were holding their breath. Like the exhibits were waiting for something to happen.
“This place is giving me weird vibes already,” Natalie muttered.
Lottie, walking just ahead of her, turned around and smiled like it was a compliment. “Isn’t it amazing?”
“You’re here,” Lottie spoke softly, still smiling. “That’s what matters.”
Natalie looked away, pretending to study a nearby sign about the museum’s closing. She didn’t want to admit that she would’ve gone anywhere Lottie asked. That she already had. Maybe too many times.
They followed Jules, Kaya, Maya, and Rina into the first gallery. Vaulted ceilings, soft amber lights, a strange hush over everything, even the echo of their steps. The exhibit was called Romance & Ruin: A Study in Devotion, and it was just that. Portraits and sculptures of lovers, of saints, of fallen heroes locked in embraces that never looked quite peaceful.
Lottie slowed in front of a marble piece tucked in the corner; a woman seated on a stone bench, one hand outstretched. Her eyes were cast downward, lips parted like she was waiting to be spoken to.
“She reminds me of someone,” Lottie murmured.
Natalie stepped closer. The woman was dressed in long robes, but there was armor carved beneath the folds. Almost hidden. “Yeah,” she said. “You.”
Lottie gave her a look. “What, the sad noblewoman?”
Natalie tilted her head. “I was thinking more like… someone who waited for someone who never came back.”
Lottie went quiet for a moment. “That still sounds like me.”
the newest chapter of ‘AGAIN, IT’S US’ is out now. a multi-life lottienat fic following them through lives until they get one right.
CHAPTER 1: IF I RUN, IT’S WITH YOU. (princess!lottie x knight!natalie)
CHAPTER 2: SWEET, ‘TIL SPOILED. (drug dealer!natalie x party girl!lottie)
CHAPTER 3: A SHAPE THAT FITS YOU. (artist!lottie x muse!natalie)
CHAPTER 4: TAKE THIS HEART AND HUNGER. (vampire!lottie x slayer!natalie)
CHAPTER 5: ALMOST, FOREVER. (bandmates lottienat)
CHAPTER 6: REPLICA. (slasher film lottienat)