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 Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 11:21 am
"Learning too quickly is missing the point: thus, I won't try. Not today," she added. "It'd be like trying to figure out a magic trick while you watch a show: you can pat yourself on the back if you do deconstruct it, but you lose the feeling of wonder doing so because it's not a magic trick anymore, it's just misdirection and clever hands..." Taking her glass, she raised it a little as if to toast him, smiling. "I want you to keep your wonder and magic, Gale. We lose enough of that already on the job without me peeling through more of it." And this she drank to, just as the second course came.
She was a slow eater, so she nudged what pieces remained from the first onto the new plate, thanking the waitress again as she passed the empty one along. Salmon and pork together, mmm~ "Properly?" Stormy prompted curiously, wondering what he meant. "Me, ah...We moved a lot in the beginning, so I got into school a little late; but the beginning years are mostly the same everywhere, so it wasn't a big shock." You just don't make friends and everything's easier. "I didn't finish, though," she went on to say as she ate. "Was in my last year when I got recruited. Pretty good timing, too."
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 4:53 pm
He felt his cheeks warm a little. "Well, I hope you have a long time to figure out just what I am," said Gale lightly, flashing Stormy an almost shy smile - though it turned into a grin at the toast, Gale feeling stupidly, ridiculously happy when they weren't even past the dinner part of their date.
"Yes, well," said Gale. "I, erm...well, I left home at a very young age. Went to live with my uncle, though my parents disapproved. Mum and Dad were good people, honestly, but they just...they didn't understand."
He moved some of the vegetables around on his plate, taking a small bite of crab and swallowing before answering again. "The shadow thing," he said, by way of explanation. "Leslie - that's my twin sister - and I, we could see things, and I would tell Mum that, and she just...well, she didn't quite understand."
He gave a little shrug as though it no longer concerned him. "Like I said, they were good people, they just couldn't see what I could. And my uncle, he didn't really care what I did or when I came and went. Spent most of his time drinking, that one, but at least I could do what I wanted there."
It was a little too serious sounding, Gale trying to lighten the mood by quickly adding, "But, well, here I am. With you, which is much more pleasant than being at Deus all the time."
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:45 pm
Ah...backstory. She had stumbled across some and was curious to hear even a little bit, despite the fact that she felt a little nosy doing so. But girlfriend privileges were what they were, no? "Sometimes ignorance is better than attention," Stormy agreed with a little nod as she cut through the pork. "At least you had someone to share it with. Seeing shadows, I mean."
But she did remember Leslie and she did remember how pained he used to look when he mentioned her...And it gave her hope that he was starting to let that pain go. Or that at least she was providing a distraction, which was more than she could hope for normally.
"Anywhere's more pleasant than Deus," Stormy chirped as she cleaned off the remains of her first course from the plate. "Most especially London~ It's one of the places on the bucket list I wanted to go. After that's Dublin, then Disney Land, then Disney World, then Euro Disney...MGM Studios, Universal in Florida..."
kurotomato look at these crap tags at workkkk
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 7:30 pm
"I did have someone to share it with, once," said Gale, and while there wasn't any sadness to his voice, there was a quite solemness, Gale staring down at his plate as he absently stirred the fish around. Then he mentally slapped himself because he was thinking too much and now was not the time. Right now it was time to focus on Stormy, because she was right here in front of him and she was far more interesting than sad stories of the past.
"I did think about taking you to Disneyland, I'll be honest," said Gale with a small laugh, shaking his head. "It was definitely on the list, since I knew you'd love to go. However, I figured that we could save that for another time, something that wasn't our first date, so next time maybe we'll go there instead."
His eyes were twinkling. This time it was Gale that held his glass out towards Stormy, as though toasting her.
"To Watson," he said lightly, and took a sip before setting the glass down again. "Once we've finished eating, we'll get some dessert at this little place down the road and then I'll take you to our final destination, which hopefully will be good."
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 8:28 pm
She smiled a little sheepishly to herself. "Aww~ Sometime would be nice, yes . . . Miss Candace mentioned a while back she'd make a trip in the future, if us Misties worked hard." Back in a different time when she had also been stuck in a rut; it was embarrassing both she and Gale had seen her like that. "Would you believe me if I said I've never been to any Disney Park? It's a shame," Stormy sighed before forking some cabbage into her mouth.
Nnnnnnmn, she wasn't going to finish all of this and have room for dessert . . . So she started fiddling with what was left, to make it look like she had been eating and not neglecting the other pieces of pork and apple still left along with the vegetable. At Gale's sudden toast, however, she stopped and blinked in surprise. "To me? What for?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:01 pm
"That is a very big shame, so next time," said Gale, taking another bite of the brill. He glanced at Stormy's place, then at his, and decided that they were both about finished.
He arched a brow. "Do I need a reason to toast you?" he asked lightly, as the waitress came by with their check. He slid some money into the little tray and handed it back to her, smiling back at Stormy with an almost hesitant look on his face. "I just am toasting your very existence."
He motioned for her to follow him as he slid out of the chair, holding out his hand to offer her a hand up. "Come on," said Gale. "We still have work to do, Watson."
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:35 pm
Her vague little existence? Hers? "Ah . . ." And yet there was still a part of Stormy waiting for the validation, for something specific she had done so that she could keep doing it and keep receiving praise: existing wasn't quite specific enough. But she smiled regardless because it was the proper thing to do, even if she didn't quite feel the meaning behind his words. "Thank you, then~" Terribly lame response, but what did one say to that? She would have much rather hugged him had she the nerve.
Grasping for her purse, she cast an eye to her unfinished food with a little guilt; she'd forgotten how little she really ate even when not going off a less than palatable diet. On a whim, after standing and smoothing her dress out, she snatched up some of her apple slices and started to nibble on them one by one. "Work?" she questioned, taking Gale's hand with her free one as she stood up. "Walking in London is a dream, not work~ Though I'm not guessing you'll let me have a hint to this special place we'll end up after dessert?"
Puppy eyes were aimed his way.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:28 pm
He slid his fingers through hers and tugged Stormy out of the little pub, glancing back to give their waitress a little wave of thank you. Outside, the streets were crowded with people finishing their evening shopping, the sky overhead darkening to a dusky grey, a light coating of fog wandering aimlessly across the city. Gale moved through the streets, turning his head to look back at Stormy with a sort of childlike excitement, his eyes wide, his cheeks flushed.
"It's right down here," he said, and pulled her down a side street to a small building with a striped awning, several people clustered about the front of it. A faint smell of vanilla could be noted wafting across the street towards them, and a small sign above the place read Dolce Amor.
"It's a little silly, I know," said Gale, as he led Stormy up to it. "To have an Italian gelato place in the middle of London, but seeing as how there are multiple cultured places in the States and elsewhere, perhaps it's not so odd after all. So pick what flavor you want, and get it to go, we're gonna take a little walk while we eat dessert."
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Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 1:27 am
Nibbling away, Stormy followed after with light steps, staying close enough that their arms brushed. On the one hand, she still wanted to explore as she had before, because, well, she wanted to be where the people were. She wanted to see, wanted to see them dancing, walking around on those--
And there she went humming again. A few bars into it Stormy stopped herself, inwardly chiding herself for not being a little more focused. Had she not been holding onto Gale, she would have done something awful in her lapse: like run into someone, or wander into the street. No, no it wouldn't do her any good to explore at all, and thus she tucked herself even closer, a wordless apology for something Gale wasn't probably able to figure out. Shouldn't she be paying more attention to him anyway?
But it was encouraging to see him light up like that, bright-eyed, pink-faced . . . Not at all nervous like he claimed to be. He was in his element, Stormy realized: in an area of the city he was at least a little familiar with, in the motherland--not just a visitor, but a guide. And here as the sky darkened and fog crept along and people bustled, she felt herself grow a little calmer from her previous ecstatic state, not losing the built up happiness but evenly spreading it out, filling her with simple contentedness like it was honey and she was a bottle--a golden tinge.
They were there together one lovely evening in London for a date: it was such a simple little fact, and yet it took until now to really settle in, so very, very slowly, to add that funny little thrill to her heart. But she wasn't surprised it was belated: things with her tended to stray towards one extreme or the other. Almost three weeks to say yes, almost a month later to have an actual date . . . But slow was good too. Slow meant she could savor the steps this time, identify them and experience them and catalog them for posterity. And with Gale, things were simpler. Nicer. Better.
His voice broke through her thoughts and gave her a small start. Her eyes were drawn to the buildings first before straying to the sky. Would it rain? They might need an umbrella . . . Oh, what a romantic image! Sunsets and stargazing were beautiful, but give her a rainy day to curl up with him inside any day! Smelling vanilla, Stormy tilted her head up to read the sign before she missed it. "Dolce Amor . . . 'Sweet Love'," she mumbled to herself with a smile as they entered.
There was nothing quite like the smell of an ice cream or gelato store: it smelled of cold sugar and waffle cones, and sometimes peppermint and spices depending on the season. She squeezed Gale's hand and looked to him with a bigger smile. "Nothing silly at all about it. This is Europe! On a given day you'll hear at least three different dialects," she said as a matter of factly, like she was the one who lived in London. "Silly is putting socks on your hands and then walking on them while your feet stuck out with gloves on them." Pause. "Or maybe that's just talent~"
Gelato ahhhhhhhhhh--!
It was her turn to tug him forward, eager to look at their options. "Ben and Jerry's, now gelato? You're starting to spoil me~" Stormy teased. "Should we share? I don't want to make you spend too much . . . Ahhh, affogato! Do you like coffee? Oh, they have crème brule as well, it's got berries and raspberry sauce . . ." Stormy's face was all but pressed to the glass.
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Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 6:42 pm
He hadn't felt this good in a long time, probably ever in his life, if he thought about it. Without Leslie, it felt as though an entire part of him were missing, as though a great chunk of his life had been ripped out of his heart and placed elsewhere, a place he could see but couldn't reach. It was like being out in the desert and seeing an oasis, but never getting close enough to drink the water you could see.
But here, now, with Stormy, Gale was reminded that even with that part of him missing, there were other things that were just as good and perhaps while not quite filling the entirety of the void, gave him still more reason to keep moving forward. He felt, for the first time, entirely content with where he was and what he was doing, Stormy's fingers feeling warm and familiar in his.
"Silly is also thinking that we wouldn't get something sweet and delicious after dinner," said Gale grandly, and gave Stormy's hand a squeeze right back, peering forward to look at the red and white sign on the door that had the flavors listed.
"Don't worry about the price," he said, distracted by all the choices, the smell of sugar and cold reaching his nose. Like a little kid, he too had his face pressed towards the glass, eyes wide with wonder at the variety. "Get what you like, and we'll trade flavors. I do like the crème brule, I think, I like fruit..."
He made his way towards the counter, past the throng of people still debating, and placed his order, waiting for Stormy to add hers in as well.
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Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 8:11 pm
She gave a little laugh. "Well, I wasn't going to assume anything!" she pointed out. "This is your date, so it's your rules: and I'm still getting used to those. But how about you get the creme brule and I'll eat off you?" Fruit and gelato was too hard to pass up, though so was coffee...even though Stormy was quite aware that even a little could make her wired up. Maybe the ice cream would make up for it?
She joined Gale after a moment and placed her order for an affogato, passing him a pleased grin. "Are we sitting and eating? Standing and eating? Walking and eating? Is where we need to go far? Is it famous?" She hadn't even had coffee yet and she was buzzing with excitement. "Or does it have sentimental value too? Can I have a hint please?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 9:57 pm
"It's your date too, silly Watson," said Gale, as he pulled out his wallet, extracting a few bills to hand to the cashier. She took them cheerfully, and a few moments later their gelato had arrived, Gale turning to hand Stormy hers, as well as a spoon.
"Walking and eating," he said, around a mouthful of cold ice cream, which was downright delicious. Gesturing for her to follow him, Gale led the way back out of the shop and onto the busy street outside. The fog had lifted somewhat, so it was less dense, though the sky overhead was a dark, midnight blue peppered with little white dots every now and then - though it was difficult to see through the haze. Everything was a dusky, shadowy color, and Gale held out his arm for Stormy to take.
"It's not far," he said. "But enough about me - tell me something about you, something I might not know just yet. Nothing too serious, but one fact about your life that you think I should know."
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Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 10:30 pm
"Well yes, your date means my date, but by your date I mean you lead the date, which is the date I'm also on, so I am following your lead on the date since it is yours to be leading, yes~" Silly definitely was the right word today, as that's how she felt about her poor word choice. Semantics. Stormy happily thanked the cashier and within seconds of receiving her gelato she grabbed her spoon and dug into it. And then seconds later she was humming with satisfaction at the mix of cold vanilla, warm coffee, and soaked biscotti. Fffffff~
It was starting to get rather dusky outside; Stormy was already moving to entwine their arms when Gale offered his out, slowly eating away at her scoop with bird-like portions. On a few occasions, without bothering to ask, she stuck her spoon in his creme brule to try, clearly pleased with both of their choices. It was easy not to think of the shadows that might crawl with monsters like this, just as it was easy to forget that they were hunters. "And indeed there will be time, she recited as they walked, her eyes to the hazy sky rather than the street because she trusted Gale to keep her from running into something, " For the yellow smoke that slides along the street / Rubbing its back upon the window pane / There will be time, there will be time . . ."
But it was more fun to learn about someone else! What to say, what to say . . . Stormy sucked on the spoon in thought. "Trying to remember what I haven't told you yet. Hmm . . . Well, my totem's a raccoon!" she chirped after a moment, giving him a sidelong smile. "Can you guess why?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 10:36 pm
He led her along a long street, and then a side street, licking ice cream off of his spoon as he reached over to steal a bite of hers. It felt giddy and silly and goofy and very couple-ish to be eating each other's ice cream like they were, and Gale tried to memorize each and every little detail so that when life decided to turn around on him, when life decided to throw him to the wolves, he would at least have some small semblance of good left.
"A raccoon?" Gale repeated, a smile already on his face from the poetry, which he loved hearing her recite. A few people passing by smiled at them, some giving little nods in casual greeting, others giggling behind their hands, some not even noticing the unobtrusive little couple at all. Gale bumped his shoulder affectionately against Stormy's as they turned a corner, taking another bite of his own ice cream as a dark, shadowy landscape came into view ahead of them, still a bit too far to distinguish anything specific.
"I'm not sure," he said finally. Then he added teasingly, "Because you look cute in a mask?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 11:22 pm
"Mmhmm~" She took another nibble of her ice cream, swirling the melted parts of vanilla with the coffee to dip the biscotti in. She had been peering at the horizon before them, trying to distinguish what laid ahead while she thought up a good explanation. The tease hit her a moment after the fact, to which Stormy chuckled and nudged his shoulder back, tempted to lay her head there and test the perch . . . But they were both eating and walking still, it probably wasn't a good idea . . . Gale was in for some affectionation once the time was right, though.
"You haven't seen me in one yet~ Well--Well, no, that's a lie. You've seen me in several." She meshed the gelato on top of what was left of her biscotti, trying to get as much of everything absorbed into it as possible. "The raccoon's a symbol of curiosity and ingenuity, cleverness and flexibility. It'll eat practically anything it comes across and can adapt to both nature and the city life," Stormy began. "Nocturnal, strong families, a symbol of secrecy, yes, but sometimes a little bit of lying too . . ." She smiled to herself. "They like to explore things with their paws--they're very tactile learners, which is how they learn to open jars and windows and doors and get into trouble . . . And they're bold too if threatened, no matter the size or number of opponents." Stormy sounded more and more reverent the more she talked about them.
People came and went around them, but she was unaware. They were blurred shadows and faint music notes in the background for now. Her world was, for that moment, consisting only of herself, Gale, and the path before them.
"Raccoons're also a powerful transformation symbol. Masks were used a lot in ancient ceremonies, especially to become something or someone you wanted to be. Sister, father, friend, hunter . . ." She trailed away, chasing a stray thought while a spoon of mixed vanilla and coffee bounced in her hand with each step. Then it came to her: "There will be time, there will be time," she repeated from before, "To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet~" And then she winked at Gale like she had nailed the timing down on purpose before tucking in more of her dessert.
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