Chapter Text
“Whoever this bottle lands on kisses me first!”
Mitya took a sip of his white wine, a smirk forming on his lips. “I’m partial to that.” Alyosha nodded in agreement as he adjusted Odette’s hair tie, biting his lip in focused concentration. “All done,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against her cheek. Odette hummed in unison, bringing her knees to her chest and smoothing out her skirt. Vodyanitsa beamed around the group as she spun the now-empty wine bottle. Everyone sat in quiet anticipation as it whisked around in circles. It clattered to a stop in the direction of Alyosha, who was sat on the carpet with a knee to the chest and a beer in hand. He took a swig and set it down to the side.
“What are you waiting for? Come over here and kiss me already!” Vodyanitsa whined, her hands beckoning him over with feigned annoyance. Alyosha smiled and shifted towards her, taking her lips in his. Vodyanitsa sucked on his bottom lip, feeling a fire light up inside of her. Alyosha’s gentle hums vibrated through her body as he leaned into her movements. She knew he’d missed this. She flicked a few stray strands of hair behind his ear as he pressed into her chest, eager to coax a few sounds out of her. Her arms weaved around his back as she returned his kisses in earnest, manoeuvring her face to match his intensity. Soft, breathy gasps could be heard when they took in air, and Alyosha could feel the warmth emanating from the singer’s cheeks.
Mitya and Odette watched breathlessly as the two devoured one another, desire welling up in their chests. Mitya ran his fingers through his hair, shifting around from the mounting pressure in his lower body. Odette remained still, although the nibbling of her bottom lip and growing heartbeat painted a more delicate picture. Mitya shot her a glance and noticed the subtle unrest, his eyes trailing along her refined figure. Downing the rest of his wine and setting the glass to the side, he leaned over and tilted her head towards his, their faces hovering no greater than an inch away. The warmth of their breaths intermingled; their eyes barely meeting. Odette could feel the longing in her chest begging for a release, and Mitya just looked so goddamn beautiful. “Kiss me,” she exhaled, edging her face close enough that their noses finally touched. Mitya hummed softly as he closed the distance. Odette pressed her palms into the carpet to ground herself against the tenderness of Mitya’s lips. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as one hand came up to join the other on her face, the scientist affectionately soothing her into his delicate embrace.
Vodyanitsa swivelled her head towards the pair as Alyosha trailed kisses from her cheeks down to the nape of her neck. Her eyes darkened as she fixed her gaze on their disposition, the sight of their arousal sending shivers through her body. Her head lolled back and her eyes fluttered closed as Alyosha sucked on the tender skin of her neck. Mitya’s lips found their way down to the exposed area of Odette’s breasts, his hands taking shape around them. He sucked marks into her sensitive skin as Odette weaved her fingers through the soft curls on his head. Odette’s eyes wandered towards the other pair in a moment of indulgence. She traced her gaze across the tenderness of Vodyanitsa’s softly parted lips and sucked in air as the singer let out a blossoming moan.
“Mitya…Odette…” the singer breathed, beckoning them over with her finger and Alyosha devouring her all the while. Leaving a parting kiss on Odette’s cheek, Mitya didn’t hesitate to shift over and press his lips onto Alyosha’s temple. He littered him with pecks down his flushed face, and Alyosha keened as one of Mitya’s hands found itself threading underneath his shirt, pressing firmly into his abdomen. Odette took a moment to relish the sight and rubbed where she needed it most through her pantyhose, sharp but muted gasps escaping her lips. Her eyes fixated on the three exploring one another in earnest, giving in to her billowing desperation to enjoy the view just a little while longer.
“Let me taste you, my sweet girl,” Vodyanitsa beckoned, her eyes fluttering open to the sight of Odette pleasuring herself. “I want you.” Odette found herself drawn out from her momentary trance by the inviting temperament of the singer’s voice. She blushed at the term of endearment and answered her call, convening with the rest of the group by her side. Vodyanitsa grasped her by the chin and tilted her head upwards, revelling in the tension. She had missed this Odette, the one with parted lips and rosy cheeks. The one who loses her inhibitions in the moment and just lets herself feel. She leaned in to kiss her soft and slow, savouring the longing in the dancer’s motions. Vodyanitsa took her hand to feel beneath Odette’s dress, rubbing in circular motions like before. Odette’s breath quickened against her lips, with gratifying sighs escaping when the two paused for air.
Alyosha pressed one more kiss against Vodyanitsa’s shoulder as he turned to face an enraptured Mitya. Mitya spread his legs to straddle him as he fervently captured his lips, pressing the hunter’s back into the floor beneath. They ground against one another, each one’s evident hardness spurring the other on. Mitya’s tongue found its way into Alyosha’s mouth and the hunter eagerly took it, enjoying the sensation of being consumed. Mitya, refusing to halt his assail on the hunter for one moment, fluttered his fingers towards the coat rack in the corner of the room. As if like magic, the scarf beckoned his call and soared towards Vodyanitsa, grabbing her hair from the base of her scalp and pulling on it hard. She moaned into its clutches as she sped up her assault on the dancer in her arms. Whimpers began to materialise, every sound eliciting a further moan from the group.
“Not here,” Odette forewarned, feeling the pressure mounting in her chest. The scarf loosened its grip from Vodyanitsa as she seized the dancer by the lips. As she pulled away to catch her breath, she turned to trail her fingers along the two men’s figures, summoning them to bed. Alyosha stifled a groan as Mitya licked his earlobe before taking his hand and pulling them both up off the floor. Odette and Vodyanitsa were already giggling hand in hand as they bound towards the latter’s ornate chambers. Alyosha smiled fondly to himself at the sight, reflecting on how their entire relationship came to be in the first place.
∞
“Our new Prima Ballerina, Odette Spessiva.”
Vodyanitsa beamed as she jumped to her feet and leaned in to embrace the dancer before her. Odette silently backstepped into a curtsy, leaving the singer with her arms outstretched. Vodyanitsa blinked in bewilderment, but caught herself in time. “It’s lovely to meet you intimately, Odette,” she chirped, drawing her hands into a neat clasp. “I look forward to performing with you in our upcoming show.” Vodyanitsa remarked the ballerina’s formality and disguised the perplexity on her face with a tender smile. Odette nodded and returned to an upright position, her face unmoving.
“I will leave you two ladies to get acquainted then,” the director announced as he stepped out of Vodyanitsa’s dressing room, shutting the doors firmly behind him. The singer quietly studied the expression of the woman before her, finding herself incapable of surmising a single emotion bar icy stillness. She’s going to be a tough nut to crack, she reckoned. Taking Odette by the hand, she dragged her across the room to plant her on one of her many sofas. Odette’s eyes went wide at the sudden contact, and she found herself plopping down onto the cushions with more force than grace. “Say, Odette," she posited, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Let’s have some tea, shall we?”
Vodyanitsa hummed incredulously as the dancer assured her that any type of tea was fine. “But there are so many different teas! Chenyu Brew, Minty Fruit Tea, Herbal Tea…” Vodyanitsa raised her fingers as she counted along. “They all taste the same to me,” Odette curtly responded, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. Vodyanitsa procured a tight-lipped smile and pinched her eyebrows together in the thought. “R-Right…”
The prima donna placed the freshly brewed tea down onto the table before them. Taking a seat next to the ballerina, she poured a helping into one of the cups and offered it eagerly, with Odette nodding in silent gratitude. Vodyanitsa watched the dancer’s lips as she closed her eyes and took a sip, every one of her movements sharp and precise. She’d noticed that such a disposition had even made its way into her manner of costuming, the icy blue tones and angled adornments wearing more like armour. Odette was utterly captivating.
Vodyanitsa shook her head and got to pouring her own cup of tea, suddenly removed from her reverie. She'd hoped the ballerina hadn’t caught wind of her staring. The two sat in pregnant silence, slowly but surely emptying the pot before them. Vodyanitsa set her cup down shortly after Odette did and twiddled her thumbs, searching for a clever quip to break the silence with. Before she could, however, Odette rose to her feet, curtsied, and began heading towards the double doors.
“Odette, wait!” Vodyanitsa beckoned, now having also risen to her feet. Odette paused, her back facing the singer. She didn’t say a word. “It was lovely having tea with you today. I hope we can do it again sometime!”
Odette angled just the side of her face towards the singer. With a nod of her head, she continued on her way and shut the doors behind her. Vodyanitsa slumped back into the sofa with her arms outstretched and sighed. If only Odette were still here to see the wicked smile on her face.
The crux of the stars’ acquaintance going forward, however, was of a more quotidian nature. Besides the more practical demands of the stage, Vodyanitsa and Odette often found themselves worlds apart. Winter after winter and show after show passed by with only a few simple pleasantries exchanged. From planning to arrangement; costuming to practice; Vodyanitsa had found herself wanting more. They were partners for heaven’s sake!
One particular show had left the water imp more frantic and stressed out than usual. The performance was more experimental in nature, introducing an entirely new costume line. If the show was a success, it would grant more creative freedoms to the troupe going forward without sacrificing the revenue keeping them afloat. Furthermore, it was that time of year again when the new dancers were initiated into the troupe, the flurry of nerves and hopeful expectations awash in the air. Vodyanitsa needed this to go well. She had noticed during rehearsals that Odette was still her eerily calm self, her movements slicing through the air with the same tenacity and fortitude as always. I need a little of whatever she’s on, Vodyanitsa bemused to herself as she peeked at the ballerina from the side of the stage. Odette had noticed when the singer’s head vanished out of her peripheral vision, and found her heart aching for her return.
On the night of the performance, Vodyanitsa hummed to herself in frustration as the corset tailor-made for her refused to sit right on her figure. She pressed her forehead and hands into the mirror, letting her eyes flicker shut, and attempted to ground her breathing. “One Jack Frost…two Jack Frosts…three Ja–ODETTTTTE!!!!”
The singer conceded and burst out of her dressing room with the corset in hand, calling out the ballerina’s name within the surrounding corridors. Odette is calm…Odette will know what to do… she repeated to herself between summons. “ODETTTTTE–OH!” she gasped, faceplanting into the ballerina as she whisked around in search for her. Odette grabbed her by the shoulders in sudden surprise, cocking her head at the singer. “I’m here,” she signalled. “There’s no need to shout.” Vodyanitsa coughed in embarrassment and smoothed out her dress, while Odette brought her hands back by her side, noticing her touch had lingered. “Odette, I need your help. Everything’s a mess! Absolutely everything!” The water imp waved her hands about in frustration while a statue-like Odette stared back at her silently. "Come on Odette, let's go!" Vodyanitsa grabbed the dancer by the hand and sauntered back to her dressing room.
The twinkle of a music box filled the otherwise commonplace silence between the two. Vodyanitsa stood in front of her mirror again, this time with the star dancer by her side. “The corset just won’t close no matter what I do. I couldn’t do it the first time and since it was just rehearsals, I’ve not bothered putting it on,” she lamented. “The tailor told me it was designed for the ease of self-installation, so either he’s a dummy or I’m an even bigger dummy.” She sighed hopelessly. Odette took the corset from her hand, running her fingers along the stitching and studying its fastening. She reached forward and wrapped it around Vodyanitsa’s chest. Their worlds suddenly fell silent.
Her delicate hands grazed her bosom, and she fought to keep the rosiness out of her cheeks. She thanked the archons for the golden lighting and lofty shadows enveloping the room. Vodyanitsa, who was rambling before out of self-pity, breathed soundlessly at the sensation of Odette’s fingers tracing and being put to work on her figure. Odette weaved the hooks together one by one with painstaking precision. All Vodyanitsa could hear over the sound of her own breathing was her raging heartbeat as Odette’s head slowly rose from the small of her back up to the nape of her neck. Vodyanitsa caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror, and what looked back at her was a picture of heartfelt devotion. Odette, while still unsmiling, had a softness to her composure of the likes the singer had never seen before. She smiled at her fondly. Odette’s gaze unexpectedly met hers, making the dancer avert her eyes and take a step back. “Turn around,” she commanded, coaxing Vodyanitsa out of her daze.
She performed a 180 degree twirl and beamed, making jazz hands at the dancer. “What do you think, my prima ballerina?” Odette stared at her pensively, trailing her gaze down the singer’s shapely figure. She silently stepped forward and pulled the corset up around her chest area, her fingertips sinking between the fabric and Vodyanitsa’s breasts. She nodded in approval and took a step back, Vodyanitsa bringing her hands to where Odette’s fingers had laid. “Thank you,” she smiled longingly, turning back towards the mirror to take in the full beauty of her attire. But by the time she had turned back around, Odette had already left the room without a sound.
The two luminaries’ performance was a resounding success, their ability to complement one another on the stage leaving fans in awe time and time again. Odette never worried about Vodyanitsa, even during times of stress like these, nor did she worry about the new dancers in tow. In the main dressing room, Odette offered the dancers the same advice she had given them during their rehearsals together, her philosophy being of little difference to that of the true performance. “Just as you practiced. Listen to the rhythm, remember the steps, and take them one at a time.” She remained calm and almost emotionless as she said it, and the performers exchanged uncertain glances at one another in response. Despite this, their mounting heartbeats morphed into the silent patters of virgin snow against the window on a cold winter’s day, the steadiness in her voice smoothing away any cause for misstep.
“Alright girls. Thump those chests and let your hearts race! You’re going to have the time of your lives onstage!” Vodyanitsa’s voice projected across the room, exuberant and almost piercing, and the girls responded with the thumping of their chests, their faces flushed with excitement. Like waves billowing across the expanse of the ocean, her voice surged power through them, drawing them into its current and carrying forward anyone brave and free enough to ride it.
The performers filed onto the stage one after another, leaving the two stars to rest backstage. Having had completed their performance, they had amply played their part in tonight’s story. It was now up to the newcomers to help it reach its denouement. Vodyanitsa had closed her music box earlier before heading on the stage, leaving the room in all but silence apart from the faint vibrations of sound emanating from the commencing performance onstage. She had mustered up the energy to make another pot of tea, humming to herself as she returned with the tray. As she set it down, a piece of honey candy was slipped into the water imp’s cup. It landed with the faintest splash, like a pearl falling into folds of silk.
“…It’s good for your throat.”
…was all Odette said, turning away from the singer to retie her ballet shoes. Taking a seat by her, Vodyanitsa peered into the cup before her, watching the candy bob up and down for a short while before lifting the warm drink to her lips. She took the candy in her mouth and worked it along her tongue, savouring its innate sweetness as well as the sweetness of the ballerina’s gesture. Odette cares for me, she averred, the memories of earlier in the night flickering through her head en masse. This was the Odette who was decried as “perfection, polished to an icy sheen.” The Odette with fans who “marvelled at the beauty of her edge, while knowing better than to reach out and touch it.” The Odette who seemingly didn’t feel, letting go of all worldly emotion in ruthless dedication to her craft. This was the same Odette before her now. Vodyanitsa’s heart welled from the affection, and she dug her nails into the cushions of the sofa as she tried to stop herself from doing something utterly, utterly stupid.
…
Yeah, fuck it.
She turned her body towards Odette, who was now sat upright gazing idly around the room. She placed a hesitant but resolved hand on her thigh, and Odette could only stare back in response, trying to keep her breathing under control. There were a million things she could say and a billion more she could do. She could slap her hand away in horror. She could even laugh, and scare the living soul out of the woman before her. She had never even smiled, talk of laughed in front of her before. But she did not dare move; not when she’d been craving this since time immemorial. Not when she saw how deadly serious Vodyanitsa was, the look in her eyes devouring her from within. Odette wasn’t sure when her feelings had morphed from apathy into deeply-rooted desire. But in this moment, it didn't matter anymore. Vodyanitsa leaned in as she trailed a hand up her thigh, making the dancer edge forward into her touch. Their faces were now merely inches apart, and Odette’s eyes half-closed as she gave in to the sensation. Vodyanitsa smiled as she made their lips meet.
Odette’s eyes fully fluttered closed, and she found herself initially tensing up, seemingly dumbfounded by the singer’s assertiveness. But as Vodyanitsa gently coaxed her into a more comfortable position, she melted into it, falling deeper and deeper into her spell. Her lips were warm and soft, just like the hand cupping her cheek. Her hand instinctively reached up to cover it as she leaned into the singer’s delicate touch. She could taste the sweetness of the honey on her lips and found herself lapping at them helplessly. Vodyanitsa cooed, slipping her tongue into the dancer’s mouth and sharing the candy through her lips. Odette sucked on them both, delighting in the taste of both Vodyanitsa and her favourite treat. She was getting the feeling that it wouldn't be her favourite treat for much longer. She could feel each and every thought in her head soar away like a feather to the wind, and the flurry of butterflies in Vodyanitsa’s stomach began to settle as if on the branch of a tree. They couldn’t help but kiss, letting one melt into the next, into the next, and then the next. It was evident that they had needed this for a long, long while.
The music from the stage intensified, thrumming vibrations through their bodies. The hairs covering their exposed skin stood on end as Vodyanitsa pulled away to catch her breath. They breathed hard against one another, their eyes interlocking unabatedly. Odette’s chest rose and fell, pressing into Vodyanitsa’s body. Her lips were ever so slightly parted, and there were signs of her hair coming undone, driving Vodyanitsa crazy. She was the one doing this to her, smudging her lipstick, roughing up her hair. She buried her face into the ballerina’s neck, exploring the area with zealous curiosity until a shrill moan broke from Odette’s lips. Odette immediately slapped a hand to her mouth, but before she could, Vodyanitsa had already done it for her.
“I will decide which sounds I get to hear,” she reprimanded, a smirk creeping across her face. She nipped playfully at her neck with her teeth, causing Odette to stifle a groan. Odette could feel the wetness pooling down below as she experienced sensations she never thought she were capable of feeling. Vodyanitsa, entranced by Odette’s fluttering eyelids, was eager to push this further. “Undress yourself for me,” she commanded as she kissed along the dancer’s jawline. She rose to her feet and sauntered over to another sofa, taking a seat from across the room. She slipped off her pantyhose and underwear from beneath her dress and threw them at Odette with mock dramaticism. “See, that’s how you do it!” she laughed. Odette, already lurid with desire, nearly passed out from the sight of Vodyanitsa lifting her legs onto the sofa and spreading them, revealing her most delicate region.
Odette breathlessly stripped herself down as Vodyanitsa touched herself to the sight, moans echoing across the room. Their gazes never left one another as Vodyanitsa admired the way Odette executed her order to perfection, with the shapes that she had only been able to sketch in her mind prior to this finally materialising before her very eyes. As Odette found herself left in just her bra and panties, she became deathly cognisant of her soaked underwear. Despite this, she just couldn’t bring herself to look away from the singer’s fingers weaving in and out of her opening. Her sounds were heaven incarnate, sublimely interweaving themselves into the music from beyond the four walls. Vodyanitsa’s eyes fluttered closed as she lost herself in her pleasure, and Odette couldn’t help but traverse the room to take what she wanted with her own two hands.
Vodyanitsa felt two hands grab at her ankles to adjust her spread legs, making way for the dancer’s head to fit snugly in between. Odette lifted the dress towards the singer’s chest, and Vodyanitsa gripped it tightly as the dancer licked and sucked on her inner thigh. “Odette…” she moaned, shifting around from the hypnotic sensation. The heat was rising in her cheeks, and all she could do was watch breathlessly as Odette made her first swipe along her dripping cunt. “Oh, Odette…!” she cried, the dancer eagerly lapping up the mess she had created. She found herself hopelessly grinding against her face as Odette sucked on her sweetest spot of all. Odette had studied the way the singer fingered herself from across the room, finding herself plunging two fingers, up to the second knuckle, into her opening. They met no resistance as she curled them in a beckoning motion towards her palm. Vodyanitsa’s moans turned into begging and screaming as the dancer ravaged her with razor-sharp precision, her body already at its tipping point. Her back arched into the sofa as she came on her tongue, the dancer letting her ride it out against her face. Vodyanitsa peered down at Odette and cried, “Where did you learn how to do that?”
Odette obeyed Vodyanitsa’s command to kiss her, and the prima donna relished tasting herself off of the enthralling woman’s lips. As Odette pulled away, she locked eyes with Vodyanitsa as she plunged her soaking fingers into her own mouth, sucking them clean. Vodyanitsa gaped at her with hopeless desire. “My turn, my turn!” she chimed, shakily slipping off the sofa onto the carpet below to unhook the clasp of Odette’s bra. “I want to see your chest in all its glory.”
The dancer’s breasts sprung free from its grasp, lightly bouncing upon removal. Vodyanitsa was quick to take a nipple in her mouth and pinch the other with her hand, earning a lofty sigh from Odette’s lips. She swirled her tongue around it, and Odette’s eyes fluttered closed from the thrill. Vodyanitsa withdrew her lips with a pop and pressed them into Odette’s, her hands entangling themselves into the dancer’s wavy curls which had now entirely unravelled themselves from their adornment. Odette gasped as the singer whispered to her in between tender kisses.
“I’m going to fuck you on the table.”
Planting one more ardent kiss to her shoulder, Vodyanitsa rose to her feet and reached out her hand to the sweet angel sat below, heaving her up off the floor. She giggled as she brought her over to her dressing table, swiping bits and bobs in the way onto the floor. “Don’t look at me like that, Odette. You know I’ll clean it up later.” Odette furrowed her brows as the singer hoisted her up onto the table. “Spread your legs, sweetheart,” she cooed, slipping two fingers into the waistband of her panties and sliding them right off. Vodyanitsa marvelled at the slick coating Odette’s ripe cunt, swiping a finger across it and licking it clean. Odette tasted like perfection. “You’ve wanted me so badly, haven’t you?”
Odette squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment as the singer plunged her tongue right where she wanted it most. Vodyanitsa’s movements were soft, measured, and daringly tantalising. Odette’s hips bucked and her chest heaved as the prima donna unravelled her piece by piece. “Please…” was the only prayer able to escape her lips as Vodyanitsa twirled her fingers to form a object out of hydro to fill her with. She bit back a whine as it spread her open, and her body shook in the singer’s grasp as it fucked in and out of her with a relentless drive. “You like that, don’t you, my pretty girl,” Vodyanitsa teased in between breaths, planting her lips right back where Odette needed them. Odette panted, whimpering and writhing from the onslaught of both the singer’s tongue and her stretched out entrance. Each and every sound was so insanely gratifying to the water imp’s ears, and it spurred her on further. “Come on, my angel,” Vodyanitsa goaded, “all you have to do is come, like I know you want to.” She dragged her tongue against her slow and hard. “Vodyanitsa…I can’t, I can’t, I–” she trembled, unable to do anything more than take it rough. Her hips fucked up against the rub of the toy inside her, rolling back down into the singer’s relentless tongue. “I– I–ohhhhh,” she sobbed, her body arching backwards into the mirror behind her. All her composure, her dignity, her honour – they all disappeared beneath the great gush of her pleasure. Vodyanitsa licked her lips in delight as she extracted the hydro toy and evaporated it away.
“Mmmmm,” she moaned, “that was for my own curiosity I must say. I kind of knew you had it in you.”
Odette hung in her grip, limp and gasping, barely able to form words. Vodyanitsa wiped her face with her forearm then kissed the woman before her, aiming to slowly bring her back into the right headspace. “Give me a moment,” she requested, running over to the doors of the dressing room and placing a Do Not Disturb sign outside. She locked them behind her and rushed over to the ensuite, grabbing a warm, damp towel and heading back over to her unmoving partner. She helped a stumbling Odette to the nearest sofa and wrapped her arms around her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear. “Shhhh…I’m here…I’m here,” she breathed, holding her tight against her chest and wiping down her body. Once satisfied, she placed the towel to the side and ran her fingers through Odette’s wispy hair. “You did so good for me tonight. You’re such a good girl. You deserve good things,” she sang, and Odette let her eyes flicker shut. There was a lot they were going to have to answer for, but that was a problem for tomorrow. Tonight, one another’s presence was enough.
∞
Vodyanitsa thereafter found herself to be one of the select few who could converse freely with the Korolevskiy Troupe’s Prima Ballerina. Their relationship was complicated, one must admit; but it made sense to them, and that was enough.
“I’m out of candy.”
“You’re not. I put three boxes in your bag this morning – give me one.”
“You don’t need it for your throat.”
“Then I need it to recover my strength.”
“From what? I was the one dancing.”
“I was singing too! You’re supposed to say, ‘Oh, dearest Vodyanitsa, your voice was so lovely I could listen to it forever’…and then give me another piece.”
“…”
“…What I can give you is my opinion, once the performance is over.”
“You smiled just now, didn’t you? I saw it! You smiled!...Wait, you’re still dancing? Hey! Come on, that’s enough for today! Let’s go eat!”
Vodyanitsa certainly did not imagine it. For the briefest moment, her keen eyes caught the corner of Odette’s mouth lifting in to a smile.
But Odette always replied thus when pressed:
“It was simply the expression the role called for.”