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 Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:46 am
A day and a half after the incident with the so-called bomber and Gale's arm still hurt. He had spent most of the morning idly staring at the brand, wondering what he could possibly do to cover it, to make it less obvious what it was for. He would have to use some of his hard-earned money and take one of the portals, find a tattoo shop willing to cater to him.
It was a great lot of effort for something that wasn't supposed to be there.
But now he was standing outside the door of one familiar person, a person he hadn't seen in several weeks; partially because of not wanting to see her, but also because they had both been relatively busy as of late, and their paths had not crossed.
Now he wasn't even sure if he wanted their paths to cross.
It would do no good to sulk, however. What's done was done, and that was all that mattered. There was no changing the past, after all, and it was not as if Gale could change either of their minds on the subject.
Suck it up and let it go.
Easier said than done, thought Gale resignedly, and lifted a hand, knocking on Eva's door.
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Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 12:54 pm
What Eva knew of the incident had been told to her by others as, for whatever reason, she had been absent during the time the bomb threat had been happening. However, just hearing about it had been enough to send shivers down the young woman's spine, because really, what the hell? And the knowledge that some of the other trainees and hunters--including, she was certain, some of her dearest friends and companions--had been there was...
Well. It had taken a fair bit of willpower to stop herself from dropping everything she was doing and go running from door to door to ensure that they were all safe. Otto, Wilson, Gale--
She hadn't seen him for a while, she realized. Not since...well, that particular talk. Was he doing well? Perhaps...perhaps this whole incident would be a good excuse to drop by and see how he was doing. It had already been a few weeks after all, right? And besides--
"--Ah. Who could that be?" Eva's gaze shot up at the knock on the door, her expression becoming puzzled. Otto, maybe? Or perhaps Wilson or Lex, dropping by to check up on her. Lips curving into a bright smile, she pulled open the door. "Hey there!--oh."
The smile dropped from her face. A second ticked by in silence, then another.
And in the next, she had her friend in a bone-crushing hug.
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Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 3:14 pm
He was probably more nervous than he should have been, despite the fact that he had been attempting to act casual the entire time spent walking to Eva's room. But the last time he had seen Eva had not gone well, partially because of his own insecurities and partially because it really had just sucked hearing that she was dating someone (read: Otto the Awful Octopus) from him and not from her own lips. And Gale, admittedly, had acted somewhat childishly about the whole manner.
Which was why when Eva opened the door, he promptly forgot everything he had been going to say in the first place.
She had been smiling, but it disappeared instantly upon seeing him, and Gale began to panic inwardly about how he shouldn't have come after all and this was a really bloody awful idea but -
- what.
The hug was unexpected, shocking, even, and it took Gale a full fifteen seconds to comprehend just what was going on, and by that time it was probably awkward, his face flaming.
"E-Eva," he managed to get out. "Er. Hi."
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Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:27 pm
She didn't make a move to let go of the boy, even after he gave his (understandably uncertain) greeting. Instead, she just continued to stand there, arms wrapped around her friend in a suffocating hug...
...And then all of a sudden, she started to blabber, barely even taking in a breath before letting out a stream of words."I really missed you and I hope you know that you're one of my dearest friends, okay and that I'd still do anything to protect you ps. you're a jerk for not letting me know that you've been okay and safe and alive but you and Otto are my favourite jerks okay. Always."A loud, dramatic intake of air, and then silence. Finally, after another moment ticked by, Eva finally loosened her grip and slid backwards. Meeting Gale's eyes, her lips pulled up into her usual bright grin, and she gave him a firm but gentle poke in the ribs. "How have you been? I really missed you."
Though in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if this was still awkward for Gale. The thought that it was awkward made her feel kind of self-conscious and awkward, and just...aah.
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Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 12:50 pm
He could sort of hear her talking, even if it was somewhat mumbled and her face was pressed against his head and all the words were coming out muffled and barely audible and he was squashed into oblivion by a suffocating hug that was making him red faced and sad and happy and frustrated and pleased all at once.
Stupidly, he said, "ow," and then breathed in sharply as air filled his lungs abruptly, Eva leaning back. Gale's forearm gave an unpleasant twinge of pain, reminding him of the newest addition to his never ending list of scars and marks from being at Deus.
"Jerk?" he repeated, slightly taken aback. "Jerk because of..."
It took him a moment before it dawned on him. "...ah. The whole..." Gale waved his good hand around. "Jumping through the unexplained portal thing that some crazy psychopath set up. Yes, I'm all right."
He didn't particularly care to be lumped in with Otto, but at least he was still under the "favorite" category, which succeeded in making his cheeks flush even pinker.
"How, er...how are you?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 12:20 am
...Had she heard an ow? Lips curving into a frown, Eva began to look the boy up and down, pausing when she met his eyes to give him a dry smile. "Yes, that portal thing. Are you sure you're okay? ...Did you get hurt?"
She instinctively reached out to pat him down, only to pause at his question, her hands slowly sinking down. Uhh...that was actually a good question--how was she? Lately, most days seemed to all be passing in a hazed blur, so...
It took her a moment to consider it, and then she offered a small smile and a faint shrug of her shoulders. "I'm...the usual, I guess? Been a little out of it--more so than usual I mean, haha!--so I didn't learn about the portal incident until recently..." And even then, she had only managed to get the bare basics.
Perking up suddenly, she cocked her head to the side, her smile growing a little wider. "Oh--but hey, what brings you here anyways? Just dropping by to say hi, or is there something on your mind?"
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Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 8:25 pm
"No, I'm fine," said Gale in a completely unconvincing tone of voice, which indicated that maybe he wasn't quite as uninjured as he claimed to be. But he was not about to show that sort of weakness towards anyone, especially not Eva.
He fiddled with one of his gloves and said, "That's...that's good that you're...good..."
Then he trailed off, feeling awkward and stupid. Jinhai made a soft reassuring sound inside of his head, but it wasn't exactly helping, all things considered. Eva was standing in front of him, and she was smiling, and he had missed that smile a great deal.
Even though her special smiles were now only for Otto.
"I, um..." Gale said, and then sighed, looking at the floor, his cheeks pinked.
"I just...hadn't seen you around in a while, and I...I missed...you."
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Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 12:54 am
Eva made a face at Gale's attempted reassurance, narrowing her eyes scruntinizingly and letting out a little "hmmm" as she leaned forward slightly and looked him up and down. However, deciding not the press the matter, she straightened up a moment later and offered the boy a small smile. "Well, if you're sure...but just so you know, I hope that if you were to get hurt, that you would be sure to rest and take care of yourself...okay?"
If she noticed his discomfort, she didn't say anything about it, her lips still spread in a bright grin. It wasn't until his quiet confession that the grin faded a little, shifting into a softer smile as she set one arm around Gale's shoulder and pulled him against her side, pressing her cheek against his.
"I missed you too. I debated visiting you a couple of times, but I didn't want to make you too uncomfortable, you know?" Though she had definitely been hoping that he would, at some point, drop by. Although it couldn't exactly be said that they had last parted on bad terms, the last time they had seen one another definitely hadn't been the most cheerful of memories either.
Hopefully that could be put behind them now though.kurotomato MY LATE TAG SAYS HELLO BACK
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Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 8:37 pm
He was very definitely not fine; his arm still smarted painfully, and the black circular mark on his upper forearm was not exactly a sticker he could just peel off on a whim. But at the very least, it was nothing drastic.
He could maybe even go and turn it into something else. Eventually.
Gale opened his mouth to say something else, but the words were lost in his throat as Eva's arm wrapped around him, her face against his, and he felt his cheeks burn embarrassingly, his heart clattering noisily (and obnoxiously) in his chest. For once, at least, Jinhai was silent.
"You - " Gale started to say, then stopped, swallowing. He sighed a little, reaching up a hand to hesitantly put it against Eva's back, hugging her back, albeit lighter than she was currently hugging him.
"I don't want to..." He struggled for the right words. "Look, any day on Deus could be our last."
His voice dropped to a low mumble. "I don't want the last time I talk to you be an unhappy one where I griped about my stupid unrequited feelings again."
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Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:32 am
The return hug surprised her, but was most definitely welcome. Feeling the remains of her anxieties flow away, the girl allowed herself a small smile before her expression became solemn at Gale's words. Yes, that was right--considering what they did, the possibility of one of them dying in the near future was not completely implausible. In fact...it seemed pretty damn likely.
How they had all managed to survive this far, she had no idea, but she certainly wasn't going to delude herself into thinking that every single one of them would somehow manage to live a long, happy life. Not while they were here.
And so, what Gale was saying made a lot of sense. She had considered it herself in the past--the fact that they had to live each day like it was their last and make the most of it. Eva was silent for a moment after her friend finished speaking, and then she gave him a gentle squeeze.
"You really don't know how happy I am that you visited. Really, just talking to you again, seeing you again..." She fell quiet for a moment and then drew back, her gaze flickering from the boy, to the floor, and then back, "Your feelings aren't stupid, silly. You're precious to me--really precious. I'm just...really sorry that I couldn't..."
And then she trailed off awkwardly.
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