Post by Emma “Emmz” Squalor on Aug 8, 2007 8:35:02 GMT -5
Title: Love’s Sonata [Nero/Carmelita]
Author’s Disclaimer: I do not own any of the A Series of Unfortunate Events characters. They belong to Lemony Snicket a.k.a. Daniel Handler.
Rating: PG (for language and two very minor sexual references).
Genre: Angst/Romance
Story-Type: One-Shot
Status: Complete
Summery: Okay, okay. It’s obvious by now that I adore the Nero/Carmelita pairing almost as much as I do the Esmé/Jerome pairing, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. I shall call this pairing (*drums roll*) Nerolita. “Love’s Sonata” is part of The Spotlight Series and takes place during Chapter 6 of The Terrible Truth just after Emma has overheard Nero and Carmelita discussing Esmé’s accident.
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Carmelita watched Nero as he reached for his violin case that he kept stored between their bed and the nightstand. “Do you remember when I used to hold a mandatory violin recital every night back when I was the vice principal of Prufrock Preparatory School?” Nero asked as he opened the case.
Carmelita smiled through her tears from where she lay curled up at the far left corner of the bed. “How could I forget?” she said. “Those recitals were six hours long.” She was still devastated by the news Jerome had given them concerning Esmé’s accident and, to make matters worse, Carmelita had shouted at Emma during dinner, when all the little girl had done was ask her older sister an innocent question. Things appeared to be going downhill quicker than anyone could anticipate, and Carmelita wondered if their lives would ever be normal.
With his violin in one hand and the bow in the other, Nero marched to the front of the room. “I call this Love’s Sonata,” he said proudly, and began.
Carmelita flipped over on her stomach and rested her face in her hands so that she could see her fiancée better. She loved it whenever he performed for her and her alone. And he really wasn’t that bad of a violinist, either— she didn’t understand why no one seemed to want him in their orchestra. Was the resonance of a cat being drowned really that bad when, in fact, there was no cat being drowned at all? Carmelita had narrowed this down to there being just too many people in the world not willing to tolerate others who were different.
By the time Nero had completed Love’s Sonata, Carmelita was just beginning to feel a headache coming on, but she ignored it and applauded instead. He tried so hard, and she appreciated that more than someone her own age with musical talent who would otherwise ignore her. Not only did he go out of his way to impress her, but he loved her with his whole heart and soul, and she would rather have that than a twenty-something-year-old man who refused to give her the time of day. “That was beautiful, Nero,” Carmelita said. “It really was. Thank you.”
After returning his violin and bow to the case and placing it back between the bed and nightstand, Nero stretched out on the bed beside Carmelita and for a long moment gazed down into her two azure orbs with their long dark lashes. Despite the smile that had been present on her face during his entire performance, it was plain to see that there were still tears in her eyes. “I hate to see the woman I love so much so sad,” Nero said, taking the thumb of his right hand and wiping away the tears from the corners of Carmelita’s eyes.
“I just can’t stop thinking about what happened to Esmé this morning,” Carmelita replied tearfully. “It’s so horrible, and yet… yet I can’t even begin to comprehend what was going through her mind at that point. And poor Jerome— he saw the whole thing, but by the time he reached her she was already lying at the bottom of the stairs in what he described as ‘a broken heap’—”
Nero put his arms around Carmelita and pulled her close. “Stop,” he said gently. “Don’t say another word. It’s a horrible thing that happened to Esmé, but talking about it isn’t doing you any good either. Don’t forget, darling, that you’re pregnant now. You can’t allow yourself to be upset like this.”
Carmelita tore herself from Nero’s arms with such force that for a moment all he could do was stare at her in alarm. “Excuse me,” she said angrily, “but the woman I’ve known longer than my birth mother tried to end her life by throwing herself down the stairs less than twenty-four hours ago. Of course I’m going to be upset! How else would you expect someone in my position to feel?” Carmelita was fuming now, and Nero knew better than to get near her when she was like this, for he remembered just how violent she had been as a child. Everyone but Esmé and Jerome had said so.
Nero lowered his eyes shamefully and rested them on their hideous orange and purple-striped bedspread. “I’m sorry,” he said at last, hesitating for a moment before he reached for her hand. “That was insensitive of me to say that.”
“You’re damn right it was!” Carmelita shot back. Then she turned to her fiancée, and her fierce expression softened. “Nero,” she said, her tone suddenly softer, “I… I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to scream at you like that. It’s just that it’s been a horrible day, and I’m exhausted.”
He nodded and motioned with his arms for her to come to him. She did so without hesitation, and soon her head was tucked beneath his chin while the rest of her body was pressed up against his, their arms wrapped tightly around one another. She felt so soft and warm against him he was unable to stop himself from trailing his hands along the faultless curves of her thighs and buttocks, the feel of her soft skin noticeable through the thin silk nightgown she was wearing.
“Tomorrow night,” Carmelita murmured sleepily from where her cheek was pressed against Nero’s chest. “I promise.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, stroking her soft red hair before he reached behind him for the light and turned it out. The room enveloped in darkness, they settled down beneath the covers and soon fell asleep.
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The End
Author’s Disclaimer: I do not own any of the A Series of Unfortunate Events characters. They belong to Lemony Snicket a.k.a. Daniel Handler.
Rating: PG (for language and two very minor sexual references).
Genre: Angst/Romance
Story-Type: One-Shot
Status: Complete
Summery: Okay, okay. It’s obvious by now that I adore the Nero/Carmelita pairing almost as much as I do the Esmé/Jerome pairing, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. I shall call this pairing (*drums roll*) Nerolita. “Love’s Sonata” is part of The Spotlight Series and takes place during Chapter 6 of The Terrible Truth just after Emma has overheard Nero and Carmelita discussing Esmé’s accident.
*************************************************************************
Carmelita watched Nero as he reached for his violin case that he kept stored between their bed and the nightstand. “Do you remember when I used to hold a mandatory violin recital every night back when I was the vice principal of Prufrock Preparatory School?” Nero asked as he opened the case.
Carmelita smiled through her tears from where she lay curled up at the far left corner of the bed. “How could I forget?” she said. “Those recitals were six hours long.” She was still devastated by the news Jerome had given them concerning Esmé’s accident and, to make matters worse, Carmelita had shouted at Emma during dinner, when all the little girl had done was ask her older sister an innocent question. Things appeared to be going downhill quicker than anyone could anticipate, and Carmelita wondered if their lives would ever be normal.
With his violin in one hand and the bow in the other, Nero marched to the front of the room. “I call this Love’s Sonata,” he said proudly, and began.
Carmelita flipped over on her stomach and rested her face in her hands so that she could see her fiancée better. She loved it whenever he performed for her and her alone. And he really wasn’t that bad of a violinist, either— she didn’t understand why no one seemed to want him in their orchestra. Was the resonance of a cat being drowned really that bad when, in fact, there was no cat being drowned at all? Carmelita had narrowed this down to there being just too many people in the world not willing to tolerate others who were different.
By the time Nero had completed Love’s Sonata, Carmelita was just beginning to feel a headache coming on, but she ignored it and applauded instead. He tried so hard, and she appreciated that more than someone her own age with musical talent who would otherwise ignore her. Not only did he go out of his way to impress her, but he loved her with his whole heart and soul, and she would rather have that than a twenty-something-year-old man who refused to give her the time of day. “That was beautiful, Nero,” Carmelita said. “It really was. Thank you.”
After returning his violin and bow to the case and placing it back between the bed and nightstand, Nero stretched out on the bed beside Carmelita and for a long moment gazed down into her two azure orbs with their long dark lashes. Despite the smile that had been present on her face during his entire performance, it was plain to see that there were still tears in her eyes. “I hate to see the woman I love so much so sad,” Nero said, taking the thumb of his right hand and wiping away the tears from the corners of Carmelita’s eyes.
“I just can’t stop thinking about what happened to Esmé this morning,” Carmelita replied tearfully. “It’s so horrible, and yet… yet I can’t even begin to comprehend what was going through her mind at that point. And poor Jerome— he saw the whole thing, but by the time he reached her she was already lying at the bottom of the stairs in what he described as ‘a broken heap’—”
Nero put his arms around Carmelita and pulled her close. “Stop,” he said gently. “Don’t say another word. It’s a horrible thing that happened to Esmé, but talking about it isn’t doing you any good either. Don’t forget, darling, that you’re pregnant now. You can’t allow yourself to be upset like this.”
Carmelita tore herself from Nero’s arms with such force that for a moment all he could do was stare at her in alarm. “Excuse me,” she said angrily, “but the woman I’ve known longer than my birth mother tried to end her life by throwing herself down the stairs less than twenty-four hours ago. Of course I’m going to be upset! How else would you expect someone in my position to feel?” Carmelita was fuming now, and Nero knew better than to get near her when she was like this, for he remembered just how violent she had been as a child. Everyone but Esmé and Jerome had said so.
Nero lowered his eyes shamefully and rested them on their hideous orange and purple-striped bedspread. “I’m sorry,” he said at last, hesitating for a moment before he reached for her hand. “That was insensitive of me to say that.”
“You’re damn right it was!” Carmelita shot back. Then she turned to her fiancée, and her fierce expression softened. “Nero,” she said, her tone suddenly softer, “I… I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to scream at you like that. It’s just that it’s been a horrible day, and I’m exhausted.”
He nodded and motioned with his arms for her to come to him. She did so without hesitation, and soon her head was tucked beneath his chin while the rest of her body was pressed up against his, their arms wrapped tightly around one another. She felt so soft and warm against him he was unable to stop himself from trailing his hands along the faultless curves of her thighs and buttocks, the feel of her soft skin noticeable through the thin silk nightgown she was wearing.
“Tomorrow night,” Carmelita murmured sleepily from where her cheek was pressed against Nero’s chest. “I promise.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, stroking her soft red hair before he reached behind him for the light and turned it out. The room enveloped in darkness, they settled down beneath the covers and soon fell asleep.
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The End