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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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 Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:12 pm
If Claire had known what Aulus's thoughts were - his desire to know more about her history - it would have made her extremely nervous. That was one topic she didn't wish to discuss, or not yet at least.
His fingers brushed hers again when he took the thermos, and her cheeks darkened a shade.
"Really?" Still blushing, this time because of the compliment. It made her chuckle though. It made her curious though, and she tilted her head slightly as she knelt down to fix the other corner of the blanket. "Where were you exactly one year ago?" He hadn't been in Team Rocket for a full year yet, had he? No, it couldn't have been that long already...
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:00 am
This time last year. Aulus Frowned as he sat down on the blanket, this particular flavour of frown being a thoughtful one rather than an angry one though it looked pretty damn vicious... to anyone that didn't know him at any rate. As he recalled however his expression did become one of displeasure. "Hu, this time last year I was in university. Seems like a lifetime ago now; I'm well shot of that place."
All of those dull lectures, idiot wastrels, and of course Calder; he'd actually more or less forgotten about the man's existence until now, which was almost a shame because it meant that he hadn't internally gloated about kicking his arse and destroying his career in ages.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:20 pm
Claire sat on the blanket as well, her knees drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped loosely around them, watching Aulus silently as he thought. She nodded in response to his answer, hazel eyes shifting to their pokemon not far off before focusing on him again. "I never went to a university. What were you studying?" And why had he left?
It wasn't too long before Artemis returned with a mouthful of several pieces of driftwood. How she managed to fit all of them in her mouth was a mystery. Either that or she'd had plenty of practice with tennis balls.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:12 am
As the pokemon began to filter back Aulus took another sip of hot chocolate before passing the flask back again; seemed Char was setting about building the fire, which saved him a job. "I was taking business studies," he said, pulling a face, "Bloody hated it, I'd only gone in the first place because it was that or go get a job on a checkout or something equally dire; my parents got sick of me lying about the house doing nothing."
His parents could have afforded to have him lying around being a wastrel more or less forever - he didn't have expensive tastes on the whole - but they had decided that it was best for him to do something more with his life than lie around looking gloomy and furious by turns, be that higher education or just getting an honest job somewhere. He'd hated them for it at the time. Looking back he rather disliked himself for being such an arse to them after everything they'd done for him throughout his life; private school, a decent allowance, hobbies indulged, temper indulged.... He really should give them a call at some point rather than just responding shortly to texts and emails.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:12 pm
A smile twitched onto Claire's face at his response, but she brightened when he offered her the thermos again. She took it gratefully, her fingers brushing against his briefly once more. After she took a sip of the cocoa, she wrinkled her nose at the ultimatum he'd had. "I don't think I'd like either of those, honestly. My parents probably would've liked it if I'd have gone to a university, but..." She shrugged. Not like it mattered anyway, really. Part of her couldn't help but wonder what her life would be like if she hadn't joined Galactic... She never would have met Lucas or Aulus or any of her friends now... And that in itself was a good enough reason to stop that train of thought.
Hazel eyes shifted to the makeshift fire as Char prepared it, an exuberant Growlithe spinning around it and trying to help where she could, which was... hardly anywhere. It was hard to help when you only had a mouth in which to carry things.
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:13 pm
"Ha," Aulus shrugged, "yea, well I quit before I was done with my first year. Threw a professor across a restaurant, funny story." Did he trust her enough to tell the story?... Probably, yes, if she was interested anyway. "Glad I dropped out in the end and stormed off here to Kodo," he added with a smile, "If I hadn't I wouldn't have met you." Or Hayes, but friends were probably best left out of this particular conversation.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:20 pm
A wry grin slowly spread across her face at the reasons he'd left the university. "Why is it that I don't have a hard time at all picturing you doing that?" While she was completely serious about being able to see him doing that, her tones (hopefully) made it obvious she was teasing. She liked to tease him. The grin slowly faded to a smile as she took another sip of the cocoa before moving slowly to sit next to him. From that distance, the color of her cheeks would be much more noticeable. "I.. I'm glad you did too," she said honestly, focusing at the thermos in her hands as if it were the most interesting thing in the world as the blush on her cheeks darkened a few shades. No, she wasn't glad he dropped out and missed out on a chance to have a good job that wasn't illegal, but he seemed like the type of person who just wouldn't be happy in a situation like that. Come to think of it, she probably wouldn't have been, either.
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:42 pm
Aulus grinned and shrugged, turning to watch Char set the first spark to the fire. He was glad. She was glad. Did anything else matter?... Yes. It did. There were things that he needed to say someday, things that worried him about how she reacted but tonight... tonight just let it be nice. Let it be awkward, and companionable, and let his heart skip a few beats for how she looked in moon and firelight. She was lovely and he... and he didn't know how to handle himself, let alone how to handle her.
Time passed and they talked about... things. Nothing much, nothing deep. He had things he wanted to say but he wasn't sure how to bring them up. He almost wanted to tell her why he had been so spiky and paranoid but then another inconsequential topic came up, and how could he just turn the conversation so heavy?
It was New Years'.
It was a nice night.
Don't let unpleasant things come into it.
She was sitting right beside him, and that should be enough.
"Hey," Aulus glanced over at Claire and smiled, "it's nearly midnight you know... got a wish ready?"
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:50 pm
The fire was warm, the conversation was pleasant, and the roasted marshmallows were delicious. She'd only eaten a few and that was enough, and it left her content to sit beside Aulus and chat about whatever thoughts floated into their heads. It was nice.
The fire wasn't nearly as large as it had been when Char had first started it, and she was beginning to feel a little cold, especially her back. At his question, she turned to him with her brows raised slightly. "A wish?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. Her hands slid up to hold her upper arms, trying to ignore the cold slowly creeping into her veins.
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:58 pm
She looked cold. Was that just some kind of selfish wishful thinking? Maybe, or maybe not. He wished he'd had a bit of alcohol to make him bolder. "Yea. A wish at midnight, for the new year," he said, his tones losing the snap they'd had during their swapping of trivial chat and snark, gaining instead a genuine warmth and putting a tentative smile on his lips. "Umm... you cold?" Aulus raised an arm slightly, inviting her to press against him if she wanted. He wanted her to. What had he done, or what had somebody else done, or what had happened to make her so skittish to touch? He wanted to know, and to be able to fix it. She was wonderful and bright and fun and sharp and... he couldn't get close. What had he done wrong?
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:09 pm
"Ohh.." Well that made sense. "I've heard of other New Years' traditions before, but not that one." She liked this one. Liked it a lot better than the others, actually, but that was likely due to the fact the others involved kissing multiple people and drinking alcohol, neither of which were her cup of tea, really...
He was holding his arm out. Yes, she was cold, and yes, she wanted to move closer, but... But what? Aulus hadn't done anything to make her so wary or so hesitant, hadn't done anything at all besides take her on a date and for rides on his motorbike, or watch movies with her and hold her hand while she fell asleep on him...
"Um.. A little bit, actually," she admitted, though it was a moment or two more before she closed the distance and moved closer so she could lean against him. Despite the fact her cheeks darkened considerably and her hazel eyes were focused on the fire, being so close to him didn't make her nearly as nervous. What was she so worried about...? No, no; she knew exactly what she was so worried about, but she was determined not to let that bother her right now. Not tonight. Tonight was perfect, and she felt better already, in more ways than one.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 8:48 am
Do not mess this up. Do not scare her off. Just do... something. After a few moments Aulus wrapped his arm carefully around Claire's shoulders. This was pretty much the closest he'd got to her since they'd started dating, wasn't it? Yes, it was. She'd accidentally fallen asleep on him before that, but that had been - well - an accident. Was she starting to trust him more now? He hoped so, he really hoped so. He wanted more than this, to be closer to her, to kiss her and... so on.
What was his wish for the new year then? For things to keep going like this? Things were slow, yes, and that was more than a bit frustrating but he supposed it gave him time to sort his own head out, work out what he really thought and felt and... stuff. Feelings were difficult but he knew he liked her - he liked her a lot - and that was what mattered most right?
"Uh, Claire?... I ah... I'm glad we came out here rather than staying at base.... I'm glad it's just us."
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 7:35 am
This was... nice. Warm, peaceful, slightly nerve wracking still but that feeling was slowly ebbing away, and just as slowly being replaced by a giddier feeling. It felt like Butterfree were fluttering around in her stomach, but in a good way, or... something. It was a hard thing to put into words, but regardless she actually sort of liked this feeling. His words only made the odd sensation even stronger, and made her cheeks darken again.
In response, she inhaled slowly before leaning her head on his shoulder, closing her hazel eyes as a shy smile hesitantly formed on her face. "I am too," Claire admitted after a pause, opening her eyes again to look into the fire. In her peripheral vision she could see the firelight reflecting off the lines of his face, the curves of his mouth... Ahem.
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:10 am
He wasn't really sure what else to say and so, for fear of putting his foot in his mouth, he gave Claire's shoulder a gentle squeeze and said nothing. Over the city some people were starting to launch fireworks, though it wasn't quite midnight yet. The lights, the warmth of the fire, the smell of woodsmoke and the sigh of the sea.... He wished he had something perfect and romantic to say about the start of a new year here, together, but he didn't. He hoped she wouldn't mind.
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