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 Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 9:36 pm
If there had been a reaction Ian had been expecting...that was not one of them.
He'd been pushing for a blush, hopefully, or perhaps even some stammering, some flustered, hasty apologies and denials even. Anger was maybe on the table, but after seeing how he was already, Ian highly doubted he'd be one to get angry for such a comment. Stern, maybe, but not angry.
Choking and falling to the ground was not one of the reactions in Ian's head but it was pretty damn amusing.
He watched, slightly taken aback, and didn't move from where he was, peering over the edge of the table as though watching something mildly interesting. After a moment, he lifted the water bottle and took another sip as casually as though he were watching television.
Ian waited patiently until Harland crawled back up, arching a single brow. A smile that was closer to a smirk spread across his face. "Yes, ruggedly attractive," he said. "Haven't you ever had anyone call you handsome or hot or attractive before? This can't have been the first time, and it probably won't be the last - chicks dig a guy like you - so get used to it, cowboy."
He blinked as Harland disappeared, wondering if he'd scared him off, but when Harland returned a moment later with a bottle of ketchup, Ian just stared at it, momentarily at a loss for words.
Then he burst out laughing.
"You're a pretty funny guy, Harland Leander Belle," he said, shaking his head. "I think I like you. And no, not particularly, though February seems to be a popular month for obvious reasons..."
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 5:03 pm
Harland shrugged one shoulder, his smile soft, eyes cast down: his red lashes obscured his eyes as he seemed to be focused on some distant memory locked on the surface of their table. "I've gotten compliments before, sure, but it doesn't make it less excitin' when it's from a new acquaintance with a handsome smile," he tried to explain.
"All I can say to most of 'em is Thank ye kindly, an' tip my hat to 'em; hasn't been a lady yet that I've been interested in. I used to be too busy to care much about who made my fire burn anyway," he added. "In a manner of speakin', of course," Harland quickly qualified, his face flushing again.
Getting ketchup rewarded him with Ian's laughter, and Harland just seemed to feed off it: Harland's warmth and easy-going nature just languished in it and spread out, till it seemed like nothing could possibly make him upset. "I think I'm pretty fond of ye as well, Ian," he agreed. With a pause, he very exaggeratedly clicked finger-guns at Ian.
Harland leaned back in his chair, so that only the back two legs were connecting to the floor, and rocked himself back and forth. "February... Is that Valentine's, then? Haven't celebrated that since I was a pup," he said, shaking his head and smiling wide. He just hadn't had the time to, and he'd dropped out of school fairly early, so it's not like he'd had any classmates to crush on or be crushed on by.
Suddenly, something occurred to Harland. "I collect information, ye ken? If ye add your number to this, I'll send a text whenever somethin' important comes my way." Harland produced his phone from some hidden bit of him and slid it across the table. It wasn't working properly, what with the interference lately, but he meant what he said. He had just suddenly thought that unless Ian was somehow in Death, perhaps knowing what was ahead of him might help the other Hunter. Harland didn't like the idea of anyone he knew and liked getting hurt just because they didn't have enough warning.
Of course, the man with the attractive smirk might receive a text or two that weren't business. Harland had to admit that before he let go of his phone, lest his conscience get the best of him: "...Can't promise I'd only send ye business texts, though."
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 8:49 pm
Ian rested his elbow on the table, leaning his chin in the palm of his hand as he surveyed Harland with a scrutinizing, interested sort of look. He debated pushing a little further, just to see more of that ridiculously bashful reaction (How many people even had that reaction anymore?), but he wasn't quite sure how Harland would take it.
"Well, I'm touched you think me handsome," said Ian with a lazy smile. It turned into a smirk rather quickly. "And I haven't yet found anyone here that makes my fire burn, as you so poetically put it. Maybe someday," he added with a long sigh, and waved his free hand noncommittally.
He wondered vaguely if Harland swung a different way than he indicated, but maybe Ian was reading the signs wrong, or perhaps Harland was just that type of guy that loved being around people. Either way, he made Ian curious, and that sort of curiosity bled into everything he said and did.
"Well, next Valentine's Day, we'll celebrate," said Ian smoothly, and then glanced at the phone offered to him with his eyebrows raised. Tilting his head, Ian reached out and slid the phone towards him, dangling it between two fingers and giving it a thoughtfully amused look. Turning it back on, he pressed a few buttons, his fingers smoothing across the screen.
"Why, Harland, if you wanted my number, all you had to do was say so."
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 9:24 pm
Harland did a sort of poker-face thing when Ian mentioned having not met anyone here for whom his fire burned, yet; Harland was very bad at poker face. He was remembering the handful of interactions he'd had: wearing only a towel and asking Jake where to do laundry, showing up drunk at Lucy's room in the early morning because he was lost, and puking off the side of a boat while Dorian was assigned to be his partner in investigation.
He wasn't exactly off to a great start, and he cringed for a moment, staring off into the distance. "I suspect people'd have t' forget who I am before they'd start considerin' me a candidate in the first place," he admitted. "But that's right by me, I've got my books, 'n the voice in my head, and now maybe even company for a good meal sometime, so I'm happier than I ever was," he said, ever the optimist. In any case, there was a reason why (he suspected, anyway) he'd never much responded positively to any of the ladies who'd expressed an interest in him.
Harland practically glowed with joy. "Am I goin' t' have to ask ye to be my Valentine in February, then? Along with your admirers?" Harland pretended to swoon, which just... looked weird. He was too rugged-looking to swoon properly, and mostly he just looked like he was in pain. Happy pain, but pain.
"Celebratin's somethin' I expect I'd be good at, in any case," he finished, leaning the four legs of his chair back down. "In that case, Ian-- I don't really know your last name, but all the same-- Ian, would ye be so kind as to give me your number?" he asked, purely as a formality.
He was that kind of guy. He'd go through all the hoops, if he had to. He liked hoops, in fact; they made sense to him. Step 1: get Ian's number.
Step 2: ???
Step 3: VALENTINE'S CELEBRATION.
Step 4: ???
What exactly that entailed, Harland wasn't sure. He'd save that question for another time, though; it was so far in the future, and it wasn't like he ever forgot anything anyway. He really didn't. "Now I've just gotta do my part to get the island in shape again, so Ripley 'n you 'n I can all get that drink," he said, beaming wide.
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 9:45 pm
To be quite fair, Ian's encounters with those on the island weren't much better than Harland's. He'd met with his long-lost cousin very awkwardly, he'd gotten scolded by Candace for lounging around, he'd gotten slightly too close to Shiloh and had consequently been reamed out for it (which he deserved, but that was beside the point) - not to mention he really just wanted a drink.
Of which there was none and that was a problem.
Still, it wasn't all bad. People here were generally more interesting than anybody he'd known in his previous life (with one notable exception), and Harland was included in that batch of people that Ian found interesting. He lifted a water bottle and took a sip, surveying Harland over the top.
"You'd be front of the line, then, since I have no admirers at the current moment," he said, lips curving upwards in a smile. He stifled a laugh, leaning back in his chair. "Come February, I'm not sure how much that will change, but if it's you, perhaps I can make arrangements."
Ian finished typing out his number and stood, stepping towards Harland. Twisting the phone in his fingers, he leaned deliberately closer to the other, his face mere inches from Harland's.
"Next time I see you, I expect a drink," he said, and slid the phone into Harland's pocket, patting his chest as he stepped away with a smirk. "I have to get back to training, but I'd still love to get to know you better...cowboy."
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Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 11:43 am
For some reason, people were usually pretty lenient with Harland, no matter how dumb or weird the things he did were; he hadn't been yelled at once. Actually, come to think of it, he probably just didn't notice when someone was mad at him, because he kept on being happy at them until they just had to go along with it. Happiness was Harland's trump card, now that he was in Deus; his old life seemed so far away, as if it happened to someone else entirely.
On top of all of that, he was basically in Harland heaven: information, all the information he could want and seemingly infinitely more to discover; and he could even tell others about the things he'd seen, heard and felt that had previously been considered weird and crazy talk. He had never felt so very un-alone in his life.
"Front, huh? Well, I guess I'm just lucky today," he said, beaming. "I keep my word, Ian," he cautioned the man, his smile slipping into a lopsided quirk.
If Ian had wanted to see Harland blush, he'd have his wish: Harland was so close to Ian's face that he was pretty sure he could feel Ian's breath. Harland had started to make the eeeeeeeeeee sound of discomfort in his head: not because he didn't want Ian to be that close, but because apparently he very much did want him to be that close.
☆≼Harland Leander Belle, I will make that sound for an hour straight while you try to sleep if you do not stop this instant,≽ Coyote threatened, which Harland, again, ignored.
"Four Horsemen," he promised, "'s a kind of shot," he added, kind of mumbling. Harland's face was bright red, consumingly so. He looked like a brushfire, all that tanned skin under his sunny hair.
"Another time, then," Harland agreed, tipping his hat to Ian in parting. He then realized he'd been wearing it all through dinner, and was mortified at his lack of manners.
"I'm just gonna sit here alone in the dark for a while, I think," he added, mostly to himself, as Ian was on his way out. He looked down at his lap and back up at the ceiling. He'd leave eventually. Maybe he should eat another ration, that should fix it.
☆≼Harland, you know he is a flirt, yes? I'd know one anywhere,≽ Coyote cautioned him. After all, as a Kishi before he was a weapon, that had kind of been his thing.
"Doesn't bother me none," he said, with a kind of dazed grin on his face.
Then the daydreams were over, he was calm, and he was back to rising so he could study double-time to make up for having spent so much time just chatting. But he had no regrets, after all. He opened his phone to look at Ian's number, smiled to himself, and pocketed the phone again.
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