|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 9:56 pm
The tall man in the library looked slightly disheveled and very down on his luck. Tomes were stacked beside him as he ran a finger under the words of the heavy encyclopedia on his lap, trying to find any record of a cataclysmic earthquake that had been mentioned in one of the old tales of Behemoths and Leviathans. The stale aroma of old coffee hung about the area of the library, permeating the nose and air of anyone who passed by the Life trainee.
The man sighed and sipped at the old coffee, flipping a page before closing the book. He was getting nowhere fast with this. Lex shrugged off his scarf and coat, pulled up his sleeves, and began to trek over to find another edition of encyclopedias. Maybe he needed to look for a book that recorded all known earthquakes? Who knew...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:32 pm
Technically Aria's standing orders were to keep her head bowed until she was needed. If she was needed. Stormy wasn't sure if there would ever be a time she would be, but sitting around wasn't going to do any good. Research would.
Ever since making amends to Ami about forgetting her job (which to be fair had literally been because the memories had been lost), the trainee had been dutifully returning at her scheduled hours to the library and decoding what she could. The initial burst of gotta make a good impression had left her, however, and now Stormy's work was slow-going. Nevertheless, if she kept at it, maybe she'd come across something Horseman related . . .
Quietly slipping in, she breathed in the smell of old books and coffee and exhaled with a little smile. Next to vanilla and cinnamon, they were the best combination of smells, and they reminded her of the times she had curled up at Books-a-Million with the latest Harry Potter or Odd Thomas book. But there was someone familiar sitting at a nearby table . . . Or, she thought he was familiar. But he had longer hair? Whaaaat?
"Mr. Lex?" she stage whispered, peering curiously.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:20 pm
Lex's hair was long, but he hadn't quite noticed the gradual change thanks to the hubbub and ruckus of rebuilding the island (Ami's house) and general lack of motivation to care. He'd been in such a rush that he hadn't noticed himself in the communal bathroom mirrors, and Ami hadn't made any comments on the changing hair, probably because she was too busy focusing on getting the house back in proper order.
A small girly voice was heard, and the offending mane was sent swirling. He smiled at Stormy, dropping the book and standing up with open arms. "Stormy! How are you?" He roared, pulling the girl into a bear hug. "It's been quiet without you and your slippers."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:54 pm
Adlkgjdflskg It was Lex.
Asldkfjaldfjldkfjldgkjdfdflsjkg He was giving her a hug.
Having been more withdrawn lately, the affection caught her by surprise, and Stormy felt a twinge of guilt when her immediate reaction had been to stiffen instead of return the hug; she quickly rectified this and gave him an extra squeeze as an apology. "Slippers are supposed to be quiet," she pointed out mildly as her arms slid away. "Plus, I've been training to be all nice and stealthy, so . . . yeah . . ."
Oh wow, she needed to work on her socializing skills.
But how was she? Great question. "Busy," was what she went with, since that was mostly true. "In and out a lot of places. You?" Stormy's eyes kept straying to the various locks of hair he was now sporting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:57 pm
"Yeah yeah, mmhm." Lex blew off her statement about quiet slippers and stealth. The point was he'd been getting lonely in the large library, slowly translating tomes and trying to find ways to fortify the island's defense runes. Stormy, his pseudo-niece-slash-daughter-slash-little sister, was always good to have around. Even if he totally noticed how much she blushed and fidgeted around.
"Yeah, same here. The Insanity Titans busted Ami's house so... you can imagine what I've been sinking my time into." He said a little dejectedly, but shrugging all the same. Better to be doing something than nothing he supposed.
"Hon, why are you staring? Coffee on my face?" He asked, having taken note of the girl's eyes on him since they broke the hug. Stormy's eyes were usually on the ground around the Lifer. Maybe she'd just become more confident?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 12:26 pm
Stormy's face fell at the news. "Sorry to hear . . ." Gale's house had managed not to get damaged this time, but she was aware of how much a homeowner could grieve. "She probably could just glare at the house until it fixed itself out of shame," she suggested with a little smile.
. . . W . . . Wait, she wasn't staring was she. Crap. "Ohgosh, no, no I wasn't--I mean--it's, um, it's your hair," Stormy eventually squeaked out, hands fiddling with each other at her stomach. "It's longer and, uh . . . different. I didn't know it was you until you talked. Growing it out?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 7:03 pm
Lex gave the girl a chuckle at her little joke. Though, if Ami ever were guilty of a crime, it would be murder by looking at a person.
His...hair? He fingered a lock between his forefinger and thumb, and let out a small gasp. "Merde." He muttered, a curse he'd learned from translating and from Ami's mutterings. He was supposed to be on top of his physical appearance, but what had he gone and done? He'd let his mane get shaggy. Yuck.
"Stormy, dear Stormy... is there a way to fix this?" He looked a little flustered now, red in the cheeks and neck. Ugh... embarrassing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:32 pm
"Um. Well, uh, you can cut it."
Very astute, Stormy, A+.
"Do you need help?" she ventured hesitantly, clearly not sure to do with a flustered Lex because wait he was capable of that? Maybe doing the helping will help the thing?? "I'm not a salon person, but I cut my hair . . .?"
< < And you once wielded scissors with deadly precision, > > Thane added with a leering grin that did not help things whatsoever.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:16 pm
"Yes." Lex nodded quickly, no thinking required. "Yes, Stormy. Cut my hair, please. Here? Your room? Cafeteria?" He was rattling off now, hands shaking lightly. The book, Ami's demands, and even the coffee could all wait - his image needed tending to.
"How did I not notice it..." He mumbled, shaking his head.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:32 pm
She gave him a quick pat on the back. "It's really easy to forget things when you work," Stormy said with a bob of her head. "Let's do it in my room so we don't make a mess here. Miss Ami would kill us if we did!"
And then after hesitating some more, she took one of Lex's hands to lead him away. Shaking hands seemed to set her off more lately: Gale's trembled when he was trying to hold something in, for instance, and it had inspired a need to calm them. Stormy tried very hard not to blush along the way regardless.
"Everything been okay? I'm sorry I haven't stopped by more . . ."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 2:22 pm
Miss Ami would also kill him if Lex let his hair get any longer, he imagined. He was rather grateful now that Ami hadn't noticed the messy mane, and that someone as pleasant as Stormy had been the one to point it out. If anything had gone differently, he could only imagine the scandal.
"Everything's... fine. You know, same old story. Killing Insanity Titans with Gale, sharing a cramped dorm room with a woman who acts like a cat dumped in cold water half the time, trying to find some way to protect the island or at least its inhabitants. Not to mention I'm completely out of the loop with some of the going-on's here." He sighed, squeezing her hand. "And you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 3:24 pm
"Not much, although with Aria gone, it's been a little crazy over in Mist . . ." That seemed like the easiest way to put it. "Nevada's been out on a mission, so I spend more time alone. Kind of trying to pick up some Life stuff so I'm not too rusty, outside of Miss Ami's work." She gave a self-deprecating smile. "Life is like my worst skill."
And, as was most things in Stormy Speak, she didn't know if she meant the division or the actual thing.
When they reached her room, she unlocked it and ushered Lex in. "It's a little messy, sorry . . ." There were a few papers strewn on the floor, and her bed looked the same as it had when she woke up. Clothes hung on the closet door knob and on Nevada's bed, where a red panda sat like a guardian. Stormy pulled the chair from her desk out and then went to look for a towel to drape over it. "How far out of the loop are you? I can bring you up to speed!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 11:28 pm
"Well, pretty damn far. For starters, I had no idea that Aria's gone. Is she gone on assignment, or...?" Lex asked, unbottoning his coat and shirt. "The last of current events I'm really aware of was the Insanity attack. Like I've said, Ami and I have been completely wrapped up in repairing the house since then." He finished with the shirt, leaving him in jeans and a white wife beater, and sat down.
"Oh, they're issuing off island assignments again?" His response to Nevada being on assignment was delayed, but the surprise in his eyes was quickly dimmed by realization. "I really am quite far behind..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:02 pm
Lex didn't know? He really was out of the loop . . . Stormy ghosted about after the towel was set down, trying to remember where she had put the big scissors. Then there were a few moments wasted when she noted he was way closer to being shirtless than she had ever thought was possible.
She'd nearly exploded from how hot her face got when Gale had been shirtless, and that had been at her own request. Deep breaths. Oh God, don't mess this up.
Without an explanation she tossed a second towel at Lex and expected him to cover himself up, clearing her throat as she located her scissors in the last spot she thought they would be (which was in the pencil stand where they normally were). "For starters, Aria's been called a traitor," Stormy began, plucking her brush up next. "She's been working with some Halloween people apparently all this time. Some of the bases have gone dark thanks to her. Mr. Lance is head of the division now." She kept her tone as neutral as possible.
"We also had some trouble with The Circle. Somehow they kidnapped some of us and put us in a redo of the golem trials, which was . . . nightmarish to say the least. It was basically a campaign saying that Deus is corrupt and the Circle way is the way of truth." Stormy made a face as she came back over; her insides still squirmed with guilt over her actions there.
". . . Oh! Uh, how short do you want it, Mr. Lex?" she asked before she forgot and started chopping the poor man into a buzz cut.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:09 pm
...whoops. Lex was apparently too distracted by his own lack of understanding and the panic of his shaggy mane to remember how blushy and aghast Stormy got around him, and getting nearly half-naked in front of the girl? Basically asking for her to cut his ear lobe off. He took the thrown towel and draped it around his shoulders like a shawl, covering his more-exposed-than-not chest.
"Aria... a traitor? Oh..." His lips twisted into a frown, brow crinkling in dismay and the slight headache he already had coming on. "So Lance is in charge now. Okay..." His frown deepened. "And how do you feel about that?"
He did know about The Circle, in some way. "The Circle... they're the ones who staged that massive 'one of you is the killer' deal, right?" Yes, he remembered that the fringe group thought they were in the right, and that Deus was a corrupt machine. "I'm sorry they put you through that."
Brushing his hair away from his shoulder, Lex played with it for a few seconds. "Just a little shorter than when we first met, so about an inch and a half off."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
