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 Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 8:07 pm
making amends
He liked to think that she was peaceful, even if he was not. Stormy's hand was gentle against his back, and Gale closed his eyes, exhaling a breath. "I just..." he said, and then trailed off, because he wasn't sure what he was trying to say anymore. A small smile tugged at his lips, however, and he opened his eyes, just a little, so that he could look at her.
"As long as I don't burden you too much," he said, and then added, "But this is...you know, it's us. You and me, we'll figure stuff like this out together."
He touched the side of her face affectionately. "I promise I won't let myself get too far. I'll talk to you."
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 8:13 pm
hard truths
"Wait," he said, before she could go, his fingers touching her arm. Tea was always a comfort to them both, but this was time sensitive in that if he waited too long it would be too late. "Wait."
Gale took a step closer to Stormy, his chest feeling tight, and for a moment, the words wouldn't come, and he just stood there, blinking rapidly. Jinhai murmured words of encouragement, however, gentle and soothing, and Gale took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again, leveling a look toward Stormy.
"Jack's still alive."
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 9:03 pm
making amends
"No such thing as a burden, Galestorm." Propping herself up a little, Stormy pushed her nose into his cheek before kissing it, smiling into the niche of his hand and face. "Us, okay? No matter what happens. Promise?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 9:07 pm
hard truths
Her smile faded and something twisted in her chest with just that one word. She turned to face Gale, watched him struggle just to speak, and stood patiently until he delivered his news.
She stared at him, her mouth growing dry. "What d'you mean?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:00 pm
making amends
He nuzzled her face affectionately, basking in the warmth and the familiarity of everything that was simply Stormy.
"I like us," said Gale softly. "It has a nice ring to it. And I promise."
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:04 pm
hard truths
He could feel the air tighten in the room, like there was somehow less of it, like the space around them was constricting until it was too difficult to move breathe, to even think. Gale swallowed hard, feeling as though he were trying to swallow a mouthful of sawdust.
"Jack's still alive," he said again hoarsely, and his hand was still on Stormy's arm, light, not quite grasping.
"I saw him," Gale said quietly. "Out on the training fields. I talked to him. It was raining, he'd been in a fight, and I went with him back to his room, hoping to just...figure him out, figure out what happened, but..."
He trailed off, biting his lip.medigel I fell asleep at my comptuer with this tag open and just now woek up and was like oops /goes back2 sleep
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:53 pm
hard truths
Gale had just...found him. Simple as that.
Her body began to feel the old weight of worry again, twice the pressure, twice the emotion. It was more than dread, more than fear, more than shock, more than indignation that in spite of her sacrifices, Jack was alive. There wasn't a word for what Stormy felt, but she wished it could be numb.
She stared at him. Then she started to stare through him.
"I'm gonna make tea," Stormy said distantly, the way someone might say I need a drink.
She slipped her arm from his limp grasp and ghosted her way to the kitchenette, mechanically getting everything necessary as the kettle was set on the stove. Ten minutes later, she still hadn't returned. She remained bent over the tea cups, silent.
kuroopu sldkfjaslkfjasdl omg u aww <3
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 2:31 pm
hard truths
He waited for her to say something, anything; and for a few moments the tension in the air was thick and heavy again, and Stormy's eyes had slid out of focus, and she wasn't really looking at him anymore. A sense of panic had begun to well in Gale's stomach, a sense of desperation building that she not draw away from him again, because hadn't they just talked about being together, about being us just a few days ago.
She had gone towards the kitchenette, and he waited for her, standing still in the same place and watching her back. When she didn't return - and didn't do much more than take out everything - Gale made his way across the room to her, standing next to her.
"...Stormy?" he said quietly, hardly daring to break the silence.
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 3:01 pm
hard truths
"Still here," she murmured. It occurred to her that she had been in there too long. Stormy remained in place for a few moments more, then turned around to face him, her back to the counter. She wore a similar look to the one she had when she had told Gale about the mission.
"Sorry. Bad habit." Running away was more than that, it was instinct. "I just...I dunno." She ran a hand through her hair, fingers gliding through with familiarity. It was longer now, no longer the peach fuzz from before but still quite short.
Sighing, she reached out for Gale's hand. "How did he look?" Stormy asked after a beat, sympathetic to the fact that her boyfriend had to be the one to find out directly of all people. "You said you followed him...?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:51 pm
hard truths
He relaxed, just the smallest amount. "I know," Gale said quietly. "It's...it's a lot to take in, but I wanted to tell you before you were blindsided by it, and it took me a while to even comprehend that it was him."
The kettle was on the stove, though it wasn't turned on, and Gale reached around Stormy to twist the knob, the coils beneath giving a little flicker as they began to warm. Her fingers closed around his, and he turned his hand so that he could lace their fingers together, giving them a reassuring squeeze.
"He...well, he didn't look too good," Gale said, lifting a hand to tug absently at his hair. "He had gotten into a fight - I don't know with who - but he was pretty...banged up. I went to his room with him, and I tried to help patch him up. I wasn't trying to mess with him, or anything, I swear, I was trying to help, but he was just..."
Gale trailed off with a small shake of his head. "Well, it didn't go so well by the end of it."
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:37 pm
hard truths
She nodded a little as her insides twisted. Alive, but not looking good. A fight of some sort. Stormy had never tried to pry into Jack's life since he arrived on the island, but now she was starting to wonder if ignoring him had really been a good idea. It had kept the worst of him out of her life for the most part, but...
Thane hissed. You are not his caretaker.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:09 pm
hard truths
His thumb was rubbing gently alongside one of Stormy's fingers in lieu of him twisting Jinhai's ring, which he usually did when he was anxious. Gale took a small breath.
"Well, I...told him that I was tired of fighting," he said slowly. "I told him that I wasn't going to do anything anymore, that I was just going to...let it go, but then he just...I don't know, he was just so terribly...Jack."
He wasn't sure if he could tell her. If he could say what Jack had said, about having come to the island to find out that the person you cared for had faked their death and was with someone else; whether or not Stormy was capable of handling that, or if the guilt would burn into her like Nevada's death had, drowning her.
"He said..." The tea kettle hissed on the stove, not quite a whistle. Gale closed his eyes momentarily. Be honest. You'll regret it if you don't.
"When I told him that he should just let you go, that he should stop interfering, he said that he had, but that you owed him. That he...that he knew what happened on the mission."
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:06 pm
She had managed to keep a calm face as he spoke, but it faltered and fell away at three words: you owe him. Her skin seemed to lose a shade of color as she took it all in.
How had he survived? Did he hate her? Would he seek revenge? (Could she stop him? Would she, after all that crushing guilt?) What did she owe him exactly, a life for a life? She could laugh and retort, How about three?
The stokes of his thumb seemed too much suddenly. She captured it under hers and squeezed Gale's hand tight.
"What should I do?" Stormy asked wearily. "Should I talk to him, you think? Ignore him? Pray he finds something better to do and just forgets?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:26 pm
making amends
He hated the way she had paled like that; as though she was already beginning to sink beneath the weight of the guilt he knew she held. Gale wanted desperately to reach out and pull Stormy into his arms, but the idea that she might not want that; that she was still processing this information, made him hold back.
He stopped moving his fingers in hers. "I...don't know," said Gale heavily, his chest tightening all the more still. "I don't think he'll forget, but at the same time, confronting Jack Hawthorn has never really been a good idea either, as I've learned."
His neck throbbed suddenly as though reminding him of this fact, and Gale winced a little, taking a small breath.
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Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:36 am
She heaved a sigh, feeling helpless about it all. Tugging Gale to her, she wrapped her arms around him loosely and rested her forehead on his shoulder, gazing at the floor. Breathe.
"Why couldn't he have just stayed dead?" Stormy found herself asking, pained and guilty and disappointed and guilty even more for it. "It's so awful of me to ask, but...why can't he just go away?" Like a child asking about a nightmare they couldn't control.
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