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Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:20 pm
When he offered his arm again she was happy to take it, silly as it might have been for the short walk up to the counter. Silly or not though, she was glad for the comforting feel of his arm beneath her hands. It was very warm and solid, and she was reluctant to let him go for any extended period of time. It was lucky the boy was as laid back as he was, or her odd behavior would have been considered quite awkward.
When they got to the counter Lydia stared up at all the options, mulling over various tasty possibilities. She wasn't entirely sure what she wanted yet, but surely something would leap out at her.
Grant distracted her though with his request to pay, and Lydie had bite back the automatic response to decline. Damn near melting under the combined force of that hopeful smile and those pretty, eager eyes. How was she supposed t say no to that?! "Now that's just not fair," she frowned, but there was an edge of humor to it that made it entirely unconvincing. "But if you insist. Just this once though." The next time they met up, she'd be doing the paying.
Glancing at his wallet, she rolled her eyes and returned her attention up to the list of sandwiches. "I think a BLT sounds amazing, and an orange soda float." Creamsicle, yum.
Her order given, she was free to give the little deli a proper once over, admiring the old fashioned feel of the place. Her fingers sliding along Grant's arm until she was merely holding his rest very gently in both her hands.
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:18 pm
Grant didn't find anything silly in being polite, and he walked her to the counter just as he would have done if they were walking anywhere else, and as they had been outside.
"Back again, Grant?" the man behind the counter asked. Apparently Grant had already managed to become a regular at this place, even though he hadn't been going to it that long. Maybe it was because he left a lasting impression, and they either liked talking to him and wanted to say hi, or would feel odd not saying hi because he had been so nice to them before.
Either way worked for Grant, as he didn't even consider the second option. He said hello and introduced Lydia to the server, whose name was Dale.
"Just this once," he said when she agreed to let him pay, nodding his head in promise. He took her order and then gave his own, and Dale nodded his head, hardly needing for the first order to be repeated by appreciating the thought anyway. He set to work making their fresh sandwiches and floats, leaving the two to find a seat. Grant had a card with a number on it, which he would leave at the edge of the table for the server to find and drop off their food.
Grant watched Lydia, smiling softly. He wasn't used to whatever it was he was feeling, but it seemed to kick his desire to make her happy into overdrive. There was something familiar in it, but he wasn't sure what it was. And he could never know, just a little tickle in the back of his head that would never find its place.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 9:53 am
The arrival of the server behind the counter turned the girl's attention forward again, and she offered a happy smile and small wiggle of fingers in a wave. Quite possibly only because Grant had bothered to introduce her. On her own she wasn't of the habit of getting overly friendly with the people that served her. Snobbish perhaps, but true.
It didn't surprise her that Grant would though, and it was mildly endearing, like most of his too nice traits. Surprising in itself, because usually that sort of behavior annoyed her. She suspect him having saved her and taken care of her when they were both trapped in the Surrounding made the different. In not that, she had no clue.
As Dale went to work making their lunch, Grant lead her back to a table, and the both sat. She watched him place the number on the edge, found it a clever sort of idea, then turned her focus up to the young mad across from her.
He was smiling at her, and that contagious quality was quick to call an answering curve of lips from Lydia. She was thankful he had accepted her vague explanation of things, more so that he was humoring her clinginess. If he seemed odd or inappropriate to him he hadn't made it aware by word or action. In all honesty she she didn't think it bothered him, he wasn't the sort, but it would have bothered her, and she was projecting. "Thank you for this." A small roll of her hand indicated the shop, but it extended to mean all of it. Lunch, spending time with her, being nice to her. "It's nice being able to do something so normal after, you know.."
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 10:44 am
Of course Grant would never question the story she had given him, if only because it was rude to assume someone was lying. But more than that, he did not consider that she had any reason to, that anyone ever had any reason to, and he was very content to take things as he was told, at face value.
It likely made him the most gullible man on the face of the earth.
But why would anyone want to take advantage of that?
"You're welcome," he said with a smile, nodding his head. "You look like you could do with something simple and fun, but honestly I just wanted to see you smile. You have a very pretty smile, you know. Much better than those tears from before."
He nodded his head. He understood how she felt, though he didn't feel the same way. The moment he had reappeared, his life went straight back to normal. But he wasn't so naive, which was a profound idea, to think that everyone had been the same way. He knew it was hard, he just simply did not get caught up in it.
"Well, whenever you want to do something normal, I'd love to be your friend and help you with that."
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 9:27 am
Nodding, she folded her hands on the table, then placed her cheek on top of them, looking up at him as he spoke. "I really did." Simple and fun hadn't been a part of her life since they'd all been taken to the Surrounding.
The compliment caught her a little off guard, and a slight pinkness rose along her cheeks as she watched him, hazel eyes sliding away and to the side. "Thank you." She made a slight face, amused perhaps, or even mildly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, for crying all over you like that."
Lydia hadn't been half so lucky as Grant upon their arrival home. Her name alone was proof of that. She still wasn't used to it.
"I'll have to take you up on that offer." She'd have to get his phone number before all was said and done. Sure she could easily catch him at the school, but her contact list was woefully empty now. It'd been hard dropping her old number and deleting all people that were associated with it. It had to be done, she knew it did, but that didn't make it any easier.
"Do you like movies at all?" Maybe they could go see one. Or even just watch one together at at her apartment..
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 12:04 pm
Grant smiled. He certainly didn't mind her crying on him. If there was one thing he was good at, though there were surely more than one he just wasn't good at thinking of them... which seemed fitting, it was being a walking tissue for those who needed it.
"I love movies!"
Grant looked at her with his ever bright smile, his sincere expression that just seemed to radiate his optimistic look on life. And, somehow, through that it seemed to make things around him a little bit brighter as well. He tilted his head, maybe not catching that the change in topic wasn't actually as big a change as he had imagined.
It took a second, but he put it together.
"Would you like to see a movie with me some time?" he asked innocently, his stomach fluttering when he asked it. That was a new sensation, and he felt his cheeks heat up in a way that they didn't usually do. He had never asked anyone out before, not while knowing that was what he was doing, and he realized that was what made this different. He blinked, not sure how to tread water any more, now that he was in deeper than he had expected.
Their food arrived, which at least snapped him out of his confusion and he thanked their server. He smiled at Lydia, chuckling away his momentary nervousness. If she didn't want to, he couldn't blame her for that! She was going through a very rough time, after all.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 9:12 am
He was refreshingly optimistic. Everything seemed to make him happy, it was simply a matter of degree with Grant. She knew he was capable of sadness, she'd seen it before, the doubt and sorrow, but even then he'd tried to cover it all up behind a watery smile. Was it inner strength, or simply a fools hope? She couldn't tell.
She lifted her head again when he asked her out, that soft smile fading just a little around the edges. Not unhappily, just from surprise. It returned quickly enough though, and she grinned back at him as the wash of heat spread along his cheeks. It was cute, made his eyes stand out even brighter then they already did. He seemed a little shocked with himself, if he didn't often ask girls out. He probably didn't, it wasn't that he wasn't cute enough, he was, but it probably didn't occur to him all that much.
A server was coming, and Lydia delayed her answer until after the food was set down in front of them and Grant hand thanked the guy. Sipping a bit at her float as she watched him leave.
"I've love to." Hazel eyes slide back to the young man across from her, and for the first time she looked at him with a little more interest then she would just a friend. She'd already noticed he was cute, but that could have been more personality then actual appearance. Now though she could see the line of his jaw, the set of of his features. He was indeed quite cute, more then that even.
"When did you have in mind?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 12:42 pm
"Whenever would be best for you," came the obvious, but happy, answer. He looked surprised and well pleased, and had a new energy in him because she had said yes. He was more than happy, in a new way that he had never quite experienced before.
He ate his sandwich happily, enjoying the flavors as he always did. This place had the freshest meat he had ever tasted, though that was probably because he had worked in a large supermarket before, and the quality hadn't been so focused.
He was a cute boy, with his bright eyes and youthful, smooth features. The only oddity that seemed out of place on his face and with his personality was the scar that ran down at his eye. It looked older, but not too much so. It hadn't come from his childhood, but in more recent years.
"Are you enjoying your food?"
He was pondering when they could go to the movies, as his first instinct, well second after what he had said, was 'tonight'.
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:45 pm
She should have expected his answer in all honesty, and in a way she had. Still, she smiled happily at him, sipping appreciatively at her orange float.
When would be best for her? It wasn't as though she was terribly busy these days, despite the whole awakening as a magical girl thing. It did mean her nights were a little fuller, but considering she hadn't yet completely settled into her new life the rest of her time was mostly open. Frankly, a distraction like going to the movies with a friend would be incredibly welcome.
She picked her sandwich up and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully as she looked across the table at him. Did it sound too eager to say 'tonight'? Did she care? No, not really. She needed the break, and frankly she didn't much like the idea of walking away from him at the end of their lunch and not seeing him again until she started classes in a few days. He wasn't dead, she'd found him, she didn't want to let him go..
Swallowing, she took another drink, licked her lips, then grinned at him. "Maybe later tonight? I don't have anything planned." Except perhaps sitting in an empty room and dwelling on the things she'd lost. No thanks.
"I don't know what's playing though, I haven't had time to really catch up on what's going on on tv or in the movies since we got back." She'd been a little, ah busy.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 1:43 pm
Grant looked happily at the offer of that night. That was good, as he had no plans, either! And he was sure there were plenty of movies he would like to see, but hadn't been able to get to yet. He didn't really like going to movies alone, if it were possible for him not to like something. It was just lonely, and he never asked himself to go, so he never said yes.
It hadn't really occurred to him to just go if he felt like it, but he spent too much time being around other people as much as he could. Maybe he would feel that loneliness he did his best to avoid, if he allowed himself to be alone. Or maybe he was just a little scared.
The last time he had been alone, it hadn't worked out for him.
"I'm sure we'll find something when we get there! They have an arcade and food, so we can waste time if we need to. I mean, it you don't mind. Or we can look up times online, I know they post them. That might be easier, really." He had finished his food and was gesturing with his hands now as he spoke, clearly excited.
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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 12:04 pm
He certainly looked pleased by her answer, and she chuckled softly, grinning back at him before returning to delicious sandwich on her plate. He'd been right, this place was pretty amazing. The food was great, the floats equally so, and the atmosphere was really inviting. She'd have to make a point of returning, preferably with present company in tow.
She finished off the rest of her BLT while he talk of loose plans and how they were going to go about picking a movie. It would have been her first thought to simply look up movie times online, but she actually liked the sound of his first suggestion. If they just went and picked a movie once they got there, it would give them time just to hang out and relax. That sounds really nice to Lydia.
Scotching her plate away, she pulled her float closer, but paused before taking the straw between pink lips. "I liked that first plan better actually."
He was a very expressive speaker, she couldn't help but notice the way he'd been talking with his hands as he talked, and she had to admit it only seemed to add to his charm all the more. She liked that she could read him so easily. His every expression was there to see on his sleeve, and she appreciated that he didn't really try to hide anything.
Except for that one instance when they'd been in the surrounding. Though she'd figured there was something he wasn't telling her, it was kind of him to have tried to save her from the hard truth.
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:59 pm
Grant nodded his head. He was glad she had liked the first plan best, as he had too. It was a leisurely way to spend an afternoon, he hoped, and unless their timing was ridiculously good, they'd have time to talk and just hang out.
Destress, if they were stressed.
Grant tried to be a simple person to understand and get to know, and keep himself open to help people as best he could. Lend an ear when they needed to talk, or fill in the silence when they needed to listen. Lying was never the answer, but he did find that when things were terrible, like that death in the Surrounding, he had to make hard choices.
He didnt like those, movies were better.
"Then I can pick you up around six or seven? Or do you want to catch a later show?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:14 am
Lydia finished off the last of her float, then slid it away with the plate. Her napkin was plucked from her laps, and she dabbed daintily at her lips before setting that beside the dishes. Finished, she folded her hands on the table in front of her.
"When ever works best for you. Honest, my entire evening is free." She smiled, head tilting gently to one side. The plans he was proposing sounded great, but really it didn't matter what they did, so long as they did something. She needed to get out of that apartment, much as she adored Quinn and appreciated everything the other girl was doing for her, she needed to get away and just forget that anything at all was wrong in her life.
Grant was giving her exactly what she needed, and she it made her love him just a little bit. He was so kind, almost too kind, and she could use all the kindness and care she could get at the moment.
"I don't live terribly far, would you like to walk with me? You don't have to, of course." But please do.. She still didn't want to let him go, not yet, but their lunch was over, and they already had a date planned for that night. She couldn't hoard his attention the entire day.. Well she could, but she wasn't going to. For all she knew he had other matters to attend, things that needed completing before he came to pick her up, and surely he wanted to at least change out of his school uniform.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 2:06 pm
"I would love to!" He nodded his head, meaning it as he always did. But there was more to it, he found, than usual. It was very easy for him to agree to any request, with just the idea that he was helping and making someone happy. Or at least saving them some trouble.
But this request made him happy, as well, in a way apart from the warm fuzzies of helping someone.
He really wanted to walk her home, and was relieved she had asked, and that she wanted him to.
Standing, he took care of everything in due order. The cheque was settled, the tip offered, thank yous delivered to their servers and the people who put their food together, and Grant cleared the table for them. He couldn't help himself and it seemed the staff had already accepted it and didn't try to stop him.
He then stood near Lydia, offering her his arm and smiling softly, his sea green eyes alive with pleasure and no small amount of eagerness.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 2:35 pm
The smile she'd had turned towards the young man grew as he accepted her request. Good, she could hang onto him just a little longer, and then later that night when they had their date. Was it weird that he had asked her after only having just met her? True she knew him, but to him she was someone completely new.
She wondered, though she couldn't ask him, what she looked like to him. If she still looked like Felicia, despite that name no longer belonging to that pretty young face.
Somehow she had know he'd go out of his way to take care of the dishes and the table, and she was smiling despite herself as she watched him tidying up. Oh yes, he was definitely too nice for her.
When he offered his arm agian she happily accepted, sliding her hand along the sleeve of his shirt until it rested at the crook of his elbow. The other coming up to alight lower near his wrist, her pinky brushing warm skin. She met those sea green eyes, admiring the lovely color, and wondered curiously about the eagerness she saw in them. "Shall we go then?"
A gentle tug got them walking towards the door, and once outside she nodded her head towards down the street to the left to indicate which way they'd be heading. It wasn't a very long walk, true to her word, but it was pleasant enough. The buildings were newer, clean and polished, and the storefronts appeared trendy. It hadn't been her pick for a neighbor hood, but she couldn't deny it was starting to grow on her.
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