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 Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 10:08 pm
She didn't bother hiding how delighted she was to see him poking over the top of her bed like that because, well, she really was an awful person who indulged herself a lot if given the chance. "Like the sun peeking over the horizon," she mused out loud without thinking, smiling at how very good Gale was at being super serious.
A little too good in her eyes, even when they were being light-hearted.
Stormy squeezed his hand gently. "What did your parents do to get you to sleep?" she asked, being nice and keeping herself from leaning forward like a part of her very much wanted to. "Warm milk, bed time story, glass of water?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 10:31 pm
He blinked at her. "Sun?" Gale repeated, a little bemused, but it sounded somewhat like poetry to him - or, at the very least, something poetic, and that was very Stormyish, so he didn't question it any further because it sounded pleasant.
"Warm milk," said Gale, curling his fingers together with hers. "With honey. We used to drive Mum crazy, Leslie and I. We'd wake up within a few minutes of each other and then the both of us would be running around." He gave a little shrug. "We tried to get her to read to us, but she was never one for reading aloud much."
Gale tilted his head, slanting his gaze upwards. "What about you? Any sleeping remedies?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 10:58 pm
He didn't have to question it: she was happy to explain because the imagery struck her. "Remember? You're the sun. And the way you rose up over the foot of the bed with your gold hair and all, it really did look like a sun coming up for the morning~" She spoke softly and reverently, as if a metaphor coming to life before her was a holy blessing.
There was a moment of silence in which she gazed at him directly to fully appreciated the visual before cataloging it--and then she was sliding back into reality with a blink, idly wiggling their hands without thinking of the motion.
Stormy smiled at the new image that took its place, of a young Gale and someone with a similar looks running amok. "Almost the same, actually. Mom gave us tea with honey instead--more soothing, she'd tell us, and more natural," she replied. "Another one was just sitting on the bed with me until I fell asleep--most of the time when I stayed up, I was afraid about the shadows and all . . . Sometimes they'd lightly scratch my head too," she added as a matter of factly. "Uh, my parents, not the shadows. Have you ever had anyone play with your hair? It's really soothing, put me right to sleep without trying most of the time."
kurotomato /won't cry for you, argentina /but will cry for kuro's internet
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Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 11:27 pm
His face flushed a pleased pink. "Yes, well," he mumbled, pressing his face into the bed. "I still think you're better suited to be a sun than I am, I am relatively dim, so I often feel like sun isn't quite the right word for it."
He looked up, however, as Stormy continued to speak, his expression growing gentle and affectionate. She did have a way with words, even if sometimes those words rambled off into strange places - either way, it was somehow soothing just to hear her voice.
Gale sat up a little straighter, tugging on Stormy's hand as he looked up at her, his fingers sliding so that they were linked together with hers. "Only when my sister was trying to cut my hair when I was a kid," he said with a laugh. "I used to have really long hair when I came here to the island, though. Almost as long as yours," he added, with a thoughtful look at her tumbling red auburn curls.
"I got it cut before you did, though," Gale added. "But to answer your question, no, most of the time my hair was left entirely alone."
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 2:27 am
"Not at all! The colloquial term for intelligence is being 'bright', and you're in Death so you're already very bright, and your hair is the right color, so! Therefore, Sun!" She would have clapped at this point to punctuate the statement had she not had one occupied by Gale's. Her logic was simple and clearly infallible.
Stormy then spent a handful of seconds trying to picture him with long hair. Hair like her length. So he probably had to pull it back in a ponytail sldfkjalfaj whoa that was weird to imagine. She blinked owlishly, laughing a little at her own mental image (it looked more appropriate for an anime than for real life, honestly). "To be honest, I don't think I can imagine you with long hair," she said with a lingering smile. "It's weird. Plus, I like your mop how it is already~ I'm actually thinking of cutting mine around that length."
She paused, then couldn't help but lean in a little to ruffle his hair continuously with her free hand. It was a strange gesture to her still, as she hadn't encountered it before Deus--but Jake and Nevada and Gale had done it to her on other occasions, and she was starting to find it affectionate (if teasing because sldfkjslj her hairrrrr).
"So soothing, right~?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 10:10 pm
He gave her a sideways glance, half amused, half exasperated, and said, "That might be a little off, but I appreciate the sentiment all the same, especially coming from you, of all people."
He squeezed her fingers lightly and then leaned forward, feeling her fingers sifting through his hair. It was a gentle motion, simple and affectionate, and Gale smiled up at her, his cheeks slightly pink. "Very soothing, actually," he said. "I think I rather like..."
The rest of his sentence trailed off as the rest of what Stormy had said caught up with his brain. Gale sat up a little straighter and gave her a slightly suspicious look, eyes squinted.
"Wait. Go back. You want to cut your hair?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 10:49 pm
"If you're the sun, you're never off. You're always on!" Stormy quipped with a childish grin, all caught up in how smart and clever she was. But she had tried to sneak that hair comment in as surreptitiously as possible, though she guessed it didn't work.
So she ruffled his hair more roughly and pulled away, sitting up straight as well with her hands in her lap. "Yes?" she answered with an innocent look. "I feel like I need a change of some sort . . . Right now I look like the person I used to be, but how I feel is different. So in a way, my hair is weighing me down. I can't really change anything else: I like my eyes and I like my skin and my clothes style will probably stay the same forever and I'm comfortable with that. But you can do things with your hair, you know?"
Stormy shrugged. "If I thought I could get away with it, I'd go like . . . mohawk or something; don't laugh! But I'll go with simple and short this time. It's more manageable, and it's different, and . . . I just want to shed my skin." Was she making sense? She hoped so because she didn't know how else to put it.
"Um . . . unless you don't like the idea?" she added hesitantly. "Because if you don't want me to change, then I won't. I could do braids and pigtails and ponytails and cornrolls and dreads and God knows what else instead." She started to run a thumb against her palm idly, as if nervous. "Cutting it just seems more . . . dynamic is all. More definitive. I'm not very 'defined', I think, I couldn't really tell you that this or that is strictly me, so this might be a good change . . ."
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Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 10:01 pm
He hadn't meant to make her self-conscious, though it seemed she might have the more Stormy talked. Gale felt a little silly for his initial surprise, his cheeks coloring slightly, and he took a small breath, trying to settle his stupidity in his mind.
"Oh, jeez, Stormy, I didn't mean - "
Abandoning all pretense, Gale got up on his knees at the foot of the bed and leaned towards Stormy, taking both of her hands in his and squeezing her warm fingers lightly.
"I like the idea," he said. "Really, I do, it just took me a bit by surprise. I've only ever seen you one way, remember? It'll be different seeing you in a different way."
"Different," Gale added softly, lifting his hand to gently slide his fingers through her long, auburn colored hair, a smile on his face. "But not bad. I know what it means to want to make a change, so don't hold back on my account - on anything, okay? Not just on cutting your hair, but everything."
He squeezed her hand again. "I don't want you to hold yourself back because of me. Do what makes you happy, and I'll support you."
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 2:02 am
There was a spark of irrational annoyance at him that went off inside her, all bundled up by the otherwise rosy warm feelings he was causing as well. While Gale was almost impossibly patient and understanding, it also left her wondering where exactly his limit was--whether anything could make him say no, or if he would always give in. He was laying it bare for her that if she felt like it, she could do practically anything and he would support it. And as delightful as that was, it also felt wrong to hear in real life--like the dialogue was meant for...Stormy blinked with surprise. For a Disney movie, she'd thought. Everything ending neatly, if sometimes with perfection that was eerie; yet there it was, the sort of "let your dreams take flight" mentality that made it sound like a lesson of the night.
Tonight, at least in her funny little head, Gale really did sound like a Disney prince: sympathetic and supportive and patient and just...somehow oddly perfect in his own way. It wasn't fair.
A person shouldn't be given so much freedom, let alone someone like her...Her control over herself was strained as it was, because--"You're unreal sometimes, Gale." Stormy was gazing at him with a curious expression and the slightest of frowns. "You sound like a movie script," she went on without real explanation. "I can't figure it out where else you're getting lines like those from..." And she didn't know whether it was good or bad that she couldn't.
Sighing quietly, she leaned her head against his hand, soothed by the feeling of his fingers. "This is sad. Not only have I kept you up, but I'm talking in circles now. I want to know who I am, but then who am I right now if not me?" she asked with a half smile. "And if you change any part, is it still you or is it a whole new you entirely? It's maddening, like so many other good questions..."
Her eyes fell to the bed, slowly gnawed at by sleep. "We both think too much," she mumbled as an afterthought, sliding her freed hand atop his so that her head perch was sturdier.
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:12 am
He had made her, somehow, upset; the frown on her face was not an expression that Gale had intended to make her make, and he drew back a little, his brows furrowing in confusion - and, unfortunately, the tiniest bit of hurt at her comments.
Movie script? Lines?
"I, er, well..." he said, his cheeks slightly flushed. "I'm just sort of...making it up as I go, I guess."
He felt somehow embarrassed, like he'd said too much or that he'd pushed too far. Considering how lovely the night had gone already, this was a rather unpleasant feeling, in spite of the way that Stormy leaned her head into his hand, her fingers warm and gentle and familiar as they covered his.
Maybe this is why I shouldn't date, he thought. Because all I do is stick my foot in my mouth and say stupid things.
<< You're doing well. >> Jinhai made a softly reassuring sound in his head. << Chin up, Gale, it's been a long night and you're both probably tired. >>
Gale took a small breath.
"Thinking too much is what I do best," he said, after a long moment, with a slightly nervous, low laugh. "I can't quite shake that habit yet."
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:10 am
The late hour loosened her tongue as well as made her less sensitive to the implications of her words. "I'm just trying to figure it out," she continued, her eyes half-lidded from tiredness and thought. "Figure you out. How you can say things like supporting whatever I'll do no matter what so long as it makes me happy. No-one says that in real life. It's just fairytale words, like wishing on a star to make your dreams come true..."
It was become painfully obvious that Stormy had never heard anyone say what Gale had to her outside of a movie. She was fumbling and deflecting it away, like many things that gave her too much emotion.
"...Man, I get depressing after a certain hour of the night." She gently coaxed his hand out of her hair, curling her hand over it as she tacked up an abashed smile to hide her growing guilt. "I shouldn't be allowed to talk after midnight or something; I'm, as you might put it, sticking more feet in my mouth than I have teeth. I bet your knees are hurting and that you're tired, so..."
Stormy let both of his hands go after a quick kiss to the knuckles, much as it hurt her to. It was punishment for making Gale look uncomfortable. "Go to sleep," she told him gently, hands folded in her lap. "I'll join soon after."
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:49 pm
He wanted to say something - in fact, he opened his mouth to say something, but halfway there he realized he couldn't quite say anything right, and promptly closed his mouth again, feeling relatively stupid. Gale felt Stormy's fingers close around his own, and he watched her carefully, a slightly pained look on his face.
But he carefully pushed that aside, stowed away the ugly, unpleasant feelings. Stormy kissed his fingers and then drew away entirely and Gale slowly pulled his hand back, wondering what he'd done wrong to make her feel the way she did. He wasn't used to dating, he wasn't used to feeling the way he did about someone else, someone that actually had reciprocated his feelings.
Maybe he was doing it all wrong and he just didn't know it yet.
He looked at her for a long moment.
"Sleep well," he finally said quietly, and pushed himself away from the bed and back onto the floor, curling up beneath the blankets. He slid a hand beneath his pillow and let his breath out in a long, slow exhale, closing his eyes briefly.
Tomorrow will be better, he told himself. Because I'll make it better.
Tomorrow will be better.Ol-j-man /lays on floor /cries /cries a lot
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Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 12:40 am
She was quite still on the outside, inwardly squirming and wriggling on the inside, the longer they stared at each other. Picturesque even, with uncombed hair and shy hands and a sleepy, if contrite expression: three different parts representing three different things of the same whole. "Sleep better," she answered just as quietly, watching him slide back to the ground with a twist in her heart.
Way to go. the night had been just fine and she just . . . opened her mouth and let things go out unfiltered. With a soft sigh, Stormy facepalmed herself and really dug her fingers in, pinpricks of pain helping ease her guilt. Sorry. Dig a little deeper. Sorry. Drag the nails down her face. Sorry.
Thane rustled in her mind disapprovingly. < < This self-abasement over one conversation is ludicrous, > > he spat, < < and you will cease at once. > >
. . .Okay.
Her hand fell from her face, but the marks were still there. Stormy gazed blearily at what little she could see of him, still rather stuck in place.
< < What are you thinking? > >
I'm thinking he thinks he's an idiot because of how I acted. Don't, Stormy warned him sharply, cutting off the insult she could sense was forming. Just . . . don't. I feel bad enough without you adding.
< < Let me rephrase the question: what were you thinking? > >
Is that rhetorical? You know.
< < Giving voice to a thought gives it more substance. I believe you wished to be more 'defined', no? Start with your words. > >
Not right now, Thane. Please. And he rattled and relented, sensing that to push (much as he wanted to) would only incur another irrational reaction.
They sat in silence for a little while, as Thane had nothing more to contribute to the topic. Stormy could almost feel the cold spines entwined around her, wrapped in a firm serpentine embrace, a broad draconic skull nestled atop hers. She sat and sat for she didn't know how long, until she was sure Gale was sleeping--or hoped he was, as her spine was starting to hurt. Careful and quiet, Stormy tiptoed around him, bent over and, surreptitious as she could, slipped Michelangelo under the blanket with Gale.
In the grande scheme of the conversation, it was a gesture that didn't make much sense. But she hoped it would come across as part of her apology, the rest which would be given in full tomorrow because she was going to try a lot harder to make up for it.
She stood over him for a few moments longer, comparing what she saw to the slumped form that had once been at her bedside in the infirmary. And then, once she was sure it was memorized, she gathered her hair in a hand so it wouldn't get in the way, got to her knees, and pressed a gentle kiss to Gale's forehead.
Tomorrow will be better, Stormy told herself as she crawled back into bed and sprawled out under the covers, asleep within minutes.
xkurotomato ;A;! /kicks your internet in the nuts also we can call it fin if you want, or continue I don't mind either way~
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