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 Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:42 pm
Oh thank God, thought Tate, still friends. Good. She didn't know why that made her so relieved, only that it did, and the smile she directed to him after he suggested McDonalds was both irreverent and brilliant. "Sounds like an idea," she said, "we're not too far from my house, either, so after we can call your mom and have her pick you up from there... unless."
She stopped, brushed imaginary dust off the shoulder of her jacket, and then took Ladon's hand. Just to make sure he didn't leave her, she told herself, even though she was blushing and trying to act nonchalant. "Let's go, then," she said, changing the direction towards the McDonalds. She knew the way there, since, like she said, they weren't too far from her house. Also, she just liked leading the way. It wasn't that she didn't... trust him or anything, or thought him incapable.
"It's open twenty-four hours, isn't it," said Tate; they were a little more than halfway there at that point, a little too late to change their mind. "Do you want to eat there or just find a bench or something?"
Was she sounding like a slut?
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 4:37 pm
Tate was acting weird. He wondered if it was because of their argument, but she kept saying something and then trailing off. ‘Thanks but…’ and now trailing off on going to her place. Did she think he wouldn’t want to go now? She probably thought he hated her and didn’t want to be near her anymore. Could she still be thinking that he thought she was a slut or was she still hurt by that? Probably. You didn’t just pick yourself right up after that, and he basically attacked the girl’s honor. What a smooth move on his part.
“Yeah, sounds like a plan. She has the address anyways, and the parking here will get bad once the Singles Party is over. She’ll be happy for an alternative.” Now it sounded like he didn’t think her place was great enough to mention. “I like your house.” Well that was random! This was exactly why he didn’t talk. He just couldn’t say what he wanted to say, and he was probably making things worse.
Then Tate gripped his hand in hers and was pulling him from his thoughts to start heading to the McDonalds. He was about to tell her to slow down, but he instead picked up his pace until he could follow her long strides. His eyes went down to their hands.
“Uh, yeah!” He looked up back to her. “They are open all night. We should eat inside since it’s cold out.” She was in a dress and she’d catch a cold if she stayed outside.
Quiet, he let her lead the way, hand in hand, to the McDonalds and entered inside, giving a shiver as heat washed over them and brought a blush to his face. Warm. He liked being warm.
At this time of night, the place wasn't packed and only a few people were eating. "How about that booth by the window." He pointed, before they started to head up to the counter. Noticing that they were indoors, he looked back down at her hands and then slowly broke them apart. He didn't need these people getting the wrong idea after all.
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 4:50 pm
She nodded, and then smiled. "Mariska would be glad to hear that," she said, and then immediately realizing how it could be taken (she was never complimentary about her mother) she added, hurriedly, "n-not that I'm not glad to hear it, I just don't do much of the decorating, you know? She redecorates like twice a year, it's ridiculous, drives me insane!" Wow, way to sound like a genius, Tatiana. Keep it up and surely he'll realize you're too dumb to deserve to be friends!
"I'm sorry," she said, noting his red face as they went inside. "I shouldn't have walked that fast." And since they were inside, she finally took off her pumps--they were black, and shiny, and that was all Ladon saw of them as she shoved them in her bag. Eating inside, that meant that he didn't mind being seen with her! Which meant whatever had happened might be almost forgiven--but it would be too much to assume he would so readily give up something like that as blackmail...
Tate regarded the menu board, looked down to their hands when he untangled them. Well, she couldn't have expected it to last forever, even if it was... nice. Like friends! Like holding hands with a friend! That's all it was. She tucked her hands into her sleeves again. "I know what I'm getting," she said to him, "do you?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:06 pm
It was a great relief to see Tate go back to her normal height, and he watched as the shoes were tucked away. She was still tall, but now she was back to her familiar height. “Yeah, I’m ready.” They went up together and caused the girl at the register to look them over. Two teenagers dressed elegantly on Valentine’s Day night at McDonalds. She probably thought they were really sad or that this was a funny story that they didn’t’ know all the details about. He could see a few workers poking their heads around the corner and getting some of their friends to ‘get a load of these people’ while they waited.
Once everything was ordered, they took their trays to the far end to the empty booth next to the windows, scooting in and sitting down. “Sorry you missed out on Fondue.” When it came to Fondue and McDonalds, Fondue was obviously the loss. It was fancier and certainly better for someone who dressed up for it. Looking out, he noticed some of the workers smiling as they talked, and he remembered that once they were out of the Fondue Haus, it wasn’t Singles Night anymore but Valentine’s Day. The little pink hearts dangling from the ceiling reminded him of that much, and he shot his eyes back down to unwrap his sandwich.
“I know that I didn’t really prove myself today, but if you ever want company to another party, I’ll go. I promise I won’t leave your side again.” He tossed the pickle off his sandwich, not liking them. “But you can take whoever you want too. I’d understand.”
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:20 pm
The workers were easy to ignore. She had had a lot of practice, since her mother dressed up to go everywhere, even McDonalds. "No," said Tate, "Don't be." She stripped off the coat, put it between her and the window. She had a light smattering of pale freckles across her shoulders; she was generally pale, but against the vibrant green it looked more peachy, healthier. "There's all kinds of weird rules, you know, like you drop your bread and you have to kiss the guy to your left. And if it's not a guy, you have to kiss the host. And if the host isn't a guy, ugh, it's stupid."
She smiled at Ladon over her soda (she had mixed fruit punch and Sierra Mist for some kind of unholy fruity combo). Tate was doing her best to remain forcibly ignorant of the holiday, and instead was dipping her fries in the little paper cup of barbeque sauce.
"Of course," she said, watching him picking things out of his sandwich; then, without asking, she took them and added them to her own. Tate grinned at him, sheepishly. Quieter, she added, "You're the only one I'd ask."
Staring down at her hamburger, she sighed and said, "It's not that I was mad because you left, it was because... you didn't come back."
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:54 pm
The Fondue game wasn’t something he heard about, and he was suddenly glad he wasn’t there anymore. Was that the hostess’ intentions all along? To get everyone to play flirting games with random strangers? The idea of being subjected to kiss random strangers made him uneasy, and he went back to inspecting his sandwich before eating it. This was probably a bad idea considering Tate’s next sentence.
Without making the connection, he suddenly thought she would have only asked for a kiss from him if they played that Fondue Game, and he was left bringing a fist to his mouth as he started to choke. It was a good thing he wasn’t able to speak or else he would have wondered what she said that for, and instead went over to take a few sips from his tea only to find that it was VERY sweet and he had to put it aside. When he finally managed to stop, he remembered that he told her about taking anyone she wanted to parties. Ohh. He forgot. He almost thought she…that she wanted…because….boy was he silly! It was a good thing his flushed cheeks only looked as if he had strained himself with coughing. Suffocation was a great cover for embarrassment.
“Went the wrong way.” He pointed out, excusing his coughing before continuing. “I’m sorry about that too. I promise it won’t happen again. I won’t wander off and leave you hanging. I just thought you had plenty of company. You seem to have a lot of friends.” At least that was the impression he got.
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Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:09 am
Tate had been building a log cabin out of french fries when he started coughing--it was a detestable habit, according to her mother, but there was no point in not playing with her food if she intended to eat it in the end. Unfortunately, she upset the cabin when he started to cough; she glanced up, concerned. "Are you all right," she asked; since he was coughing, she didn't freak out. It was when they couldn't cough that you had to really worry but she still pushed her unholy fruit soda over to him, just in case.
"Oh, all right," she said when he explained; she looked mollified as she reconstructed her cabin, gave up halfway through and ate the fries. When he explained, she continued, "Not... so much, really. Not many people like to be friends with me, I'm pretty, um..."
She thought about it, for a moment; then she shook her head. "I'm kind of weird," she settled for. Tate tended to collect friends and then suddenly lose them for no reason she could discern. "Will you tell me next time you feel like I'm ignoring you or something? So I can, you know, stop?"
And also so she didn't have to see Ladon with that redheaded tart again.
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Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 1:12 pm
Being considered weird was something he could sympathize with, and he gave her an understanding nod. “I guess that’s something we share then. People think I’m a bit off too.” Not to mention that they made a habit of poking fun at him than wanting to be his friend. He also had a bad habit of not being able to keep the friends he had. It was a miracle that how he went sabotaging their friendship now didn’t result in them never seeing each other again. Whether Tate had patience or there was just a great deal of luck, he knew he should feel grateful to be able to sit here with her and share dinner and not be walking home alone and remaining that way.
“I promise I’ll say something next time. I really shouldn’t have been so touchy in the first place.” He’d been an idiot to just fly off the handle like that, and she probably had the impression that he was easily upset. “You can put it in writing that it won’t happen again. And…next time, I’ll try and get the full story before making assumptions.” And not think she was just flirting with some kelp-head.
Stricken with a sudden thought, he wiped his hands on a napkin and then set one hand out, a pinky up. His expression was serious. “I promise I’ll try and be the best friend I can be and won’t leave your side without returning shortly after.”
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Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 1:51 pm
"You? Off?" She shook her head and smiled pleasantly. Ladon was probably one of the most normal people she knew, he was certainly one of the kindest people she knew, and he was willing to pay attention to her, which... made her happy.
At the raised pinky, she lifted one eyebrow, but carefully wiped her fingers before interlocking her finger with his. "And in return," she said, with formality born of twelve years knowing Giselle Petrova, "I promise I'll be the best friend I can be, and won't leave your side without returning shortly thereafter. And also, I will never, ever play the Fatal Frame prank on you again unless you're really being a jerk."
Tate smiled. "We're cool, right?"
And they were.
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