milliways_bar | (no subject)

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[oom: Getting used to each other again. Carlotta finds war changes a couple in more ways than expected.]

Carlotta is out back, in a tree, having a smoke. Bloody things; even if you only have one in a while, you still seem to want one. Even if Will reckons they are good for her, and everyone does it, she rather wishes she'd not started in the first place.

She stubs it out on a broad branch, and drops down to dispose of it properly. It wouldn't do to set the forest on fire.

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Suddenly, there is someone else in the tree with Carlotta.

"You really shouldn't be smoking those. Believe me, they are no good for you."

Carlotta looks over and tilts her head.

"Are you sure? These are Doctor's Choice."

"I'm very sure. Cigarettes cause cancer. And the doctors who said those were good for you in your time were, if you pardon my French, first rate arses." The anger within Charlie is barely contained.

"Shit, Will's on about twenty a day, like the rest of the population. How quickly does it cause cancer?"

"It depends. Some people can smoke for a lifetime and not get sick with cancer. Others can get it in their 50s or 60s.

"And some of us can smoke for just a few years, and quit, and still die of it." He is so tempted to just grab the cigarettes from Carlotta. She is too young and too healthy to do something so dumb.

"I've only had about one a week since I went to Spain, and none when I was pregnant." Carlotta says. "Everyone does it and the doctors said it was all right. There'll be an awful problem when they're shown to be wrong..."

"Things change drastically. New laws about smoking, extensive regulation of advertising, lawsuits against the cigarettes companies that drag on for years but cost billions in the end.

"So I suggest you and Will quit now and beat the rush." He finally finds a smile.

"Hi."

"Hallo." Carlotta tosses the packet into a bin from the tree. Good aim.

"I don't know how Will will take it, but I'll certainly try. He's just come home from the war."

"Oh.

"Nazis and Japanese defeated, like in my reality?" He fervently hopes so.

"Nazis yes, we're still waiting on the Japanese but it sounds like they've nearly fallen."

"Any word of a superbomb being dropped on them?" He's never quite decided if the A-bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary. But he would be interested to see if there are timelines where the Bomb doesn't fall.

"What's a superbomb?"

"A very powerful, very dangerous explosive. With any luck, no one will see the need to use it and the Japanese will just surrender.

"But never mind that. How are you and Will?" He'll leave the Bomb to Truman, or whoever is the president.

Carlotta thinks no more of the explosive - after all, everywhere has been pelted with explosives.

She hesitates for a moment, then says.

"Will and I are getting used to each other."

She bites her lip slightly. Marital rows aren't really spoken about in her time.

"I see.

"He's not the same as he was, is he? And you've been through a lot as well. It's not unheard in wartime and after." He tries to sound philosophical, but he's also sure that he can't really fix anything here that's gone wrong.

She shakes her head.

"No, he's not. I suppose neither of us are."

Deep breath.

"It's not just the smoking and drinking, he's finding it hard to accept that I'm still the Ringmaster and he has to obey me on circus matters. He doesn't like me working as well as parenting. He's quietly miffed that I get to keep the title of Captain. Oh, and our daughter screams when he picks her up because she doesn't know him."

"That last part should work itself out in time.

"The rest...

"I really don't know what to say. Other than that things change. You aren't the only woman to find a life while your husband is at war. Though you might be the only ringmaster of the bunch." And her success as a spy is also unique, and probably the biggest sore spot.

"As far as I am aware, I am the only female Ringmaster." Carlotta says. "But by definition we don't bump into other circuses often.

I had to explain to Will that he's not actually qualified to be a Ringmaster with only six months circus experience. And I suggested that if he thinks Molly ought to have more parent time he could spend time with her when he finishes his part of the circus work, which is generally about half ten. And then he stormed off down the pub."

That is not a good sign at all.

"I would suggest cutting him a little slack. But not much. Marriage is, from what I've gathered, a partnership. And he needs to accept that." Assuming that Carlotta gets it, too.

Carlotta nods.

"I didn't mean to be hard on him." she says. "I was just trying to be honest and practical. I'm sure one day he and I could be fine joint Ringmasters, but you can't just appear in a circus and take it over. That would be like me going into the army and demanding to be the Major General.

And I thought him spending more time with Molly might help her get used to him."

"Give him some time to adjust.

"And then be firm with him."

"All right. Though if my cast start to leave, I'll have to step in."

"They're likely to support him over you?" Charlie takes a seat on the branch.

"The opposite. No circus performer would follow someone who tried to be a Ringmaster with not nearly enough experience. The very act of trying to shows a lack of understanding about how it works."

"Then really he's the one who has to make the choice. I don't think they'll leave as long as you stay."

"I hope not. But at very least in public, he has to respect my authority, which he doesn't like. The Ringmaster has to be obayed.

Now it's not like I have to order Will around much - he does more of the background stuff than performing - but there's rules. If for example I say he can't smoke in the caravan - a rule that applies to everyone for fire safety - and he defies that, it affects my perceived leadership abilities. I can't have one rule for Will and one for everyone else, and he used to obay our old Ringmaster."

Charlie tries to think this through. He isn't exactly an expert on relationships from his own time. Trying to apply his era's knowledge to the 40s will not work.

"I don't think I have much more to tell you that you don't already know."

"Well, it's still a learning curve. My parents were never together, so the husband-wife-roles thing was new to me even before the war."

"I think it's new to everyone at first. And still something I never experienced."

Carlotta nods.

"I reckon it's more important to find our own way than worry too much about what gender roles are meant to be."

"That is very 21st century of you. You've been hanging around here for a long while, clearly." He gives a small grin.

Small smile in return.

"Yes, though I'm not sure it's helped."

"It probably hasn't. But your daughter might thank you for it."

"It's going to be a very different world for Molly. Time we accepted that."

"I think she'll do fine." But whether Carlotta and Will make it, that's another story.

[ooc: fade?]

[ooc: Sure, thanks for the thread :)]

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