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 Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:24 pm
Whatever he placed in her hand was cool and smooth and round. She blinked down at it, slowly opening her fingers, then looked up to the man sitting across from her. There was an odd expression dominating her features. Gratitude, worry, and something else. She drew in the edge of her bottom lip, chewing it briefly, before closing her fingers again and smiling. "You didn't have to, thank you." She was touched. And then he mentioned a kraken.. "Are you okay?" What the ******** was it with krakens? Were they kraken magnets now?
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Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:33 pm
"There's not a ******** soul on the intranet. I expect you to use that on your phone and keep me entertained at least sporadically via text message. I won't even correct your spelling mistakes." He grinned, falling back to lie supine on the bed, legs dangling, and pull his cigarettes out of another pocket. He addressed further comments to the ceiling. "I am unscathed, thank you. What match is a kraken for this," he said sarcastically. A couple of shaky-handed false starts and a match flared up in the grey gloom. He waited until he'd taken a drag to ask: "Speaking of which, I see the sling's off. How're you holding up?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:40 pm
That was enough to warrant a snort of amusement and a smile. She shook her head, tucking the stone into her pocket, then resumed her loose hold around her own legs. "I think I can manage that." He was being incredibly nice to her. It was unusual, in a good way. "No match at all, apparently." No sarcasm, not a single drop. Right. His question towards her arm had her pulling her weak hand up so she could wiggle her fingers at him, albeit weakly. "Better, I'm getting some mobility back, but I've got next to no strength in it yet." Her nose scrunched. "The tournament is going to be interesting."
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Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:48 pm
"I almost forgot I signed up," he said, good mood dissipating as instantly as a burst bubble. "You're probably more competent with one arm than I am with both." He exhaled at the ceiling, then craned around to glance at her. Lying down on his back, his ribcage jutted up under his shirt, the descent to his belly painfully steep. It was hard to make him look worse than he did standing up, but that did it. "I'm going to bet that it has not even occurred to you that you could just back out."
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:05 am
Peyton Creedy, destroyer of joy, killer of moods. "I dunno. I haven't even tested myself against a training dummy yet. I'm definitely not used to only being able to swing one arm, my style, if you can even call it that, is very much two handed." She flexed the fingers of her lame hand, they curled responsively, but there was no strength behind it. His second comment caught her by surprise, and she stared back at him blankly before delicate features softened into something thoughtful. "No it hasn't." Could she? Now that he mentioned it, she saw no reason why she wouldn't be able to, but the idea of it had not come up, not once.
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:52 am
He snorted. "Of course it didn't," he said drily, and even if she couldn't see him grinning she could probably hear it. "You're doing your division proud." He paused, adding in a somewhat more subdued tone: "Anyway. Don't... there's not any shame in dropping out. You're ******** hurt. Although I still think you're better off with one arm than several of us are with two." A moment's hesitation, another grin: "Look, just for you I'm not making a physical therapy joke." Instead, he was mentioning it. Much better.
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 11:24 am
A flicker of a smile. "I hope so." She'd been worried, was still worried, that they'd transfer her out of Sun, or worst, throw her back in a pod if her arm didn't heal. The mixed praise was meet with a very even look, before lavender eyes slid off to one side. "Are you gunna watch?" Probably. Hopefully. Her chin came to rest on her knees again, brows twitching upwards as her gaze returned to him and his grin. She made a face at the mention of a joke.
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 11:32 am
"Only if you want me to," he said. Drily, sounding like he wasn't relishing the idea, he asked: "Are you?" Given that he was currently having any amount of fun at her expense, the tone was maybe hypocritical.
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 11:39 am
She nodded, wordless, then felt her lips pull into a smile warm enough to melt the coldest of hearts. "I'll come to your's, too." But he'd probably already been aware that she would.
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 11:48 am
Good thing he couldn't see that smile, then. He took an irritated drag. "I'll try to make sure I get my a** handed to me in the way that affords maximum entertainment value," he said flatly. Sitting up abruptly, he pulled his knees to his chest, arms popped up and cigarette dangling, and he eyed her consideringly. "So is he the jealous type?" he asked suddenly, and the corner of his mouth went up as his head tipped down, another inward, secretive little grin, equal parts self-conscious and sneaky. "You know. The friend who made you turn bright red when I asked where you'd been. Because the portals are still down but once they aren't I'm pretty sure we had plans."
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 12:04 pm
"You're getting pretty good," she reminded him. He'd done really well against her. Even if she hadn't managed to maim herself it would have been a good spar. He sat up, facing her now, staring at her in a way that left her toes curling as a sudden wave of foreboding curled through her insides. She was right to worry, because his next question had she burying her face against the not of her knees as her cheeks reddened. Taym was relentless. "I don't know." This conversation was wrong on so many levels. How do you react when crush one was drilling you about crush two? You try to disappear into the back of your chair, that's what. Small hands sunk into her curls, fingers curling close to her scalp, but she lifted her head enough to watch him. "We're friends." Friends that kissed, and made blanket forts together. He'd mentioned something about hoarding her affections, but hadn't expanded when she inquired about it. It was actually pretty confusing. No less confusing then the man sitting across from her, though. "I'd still like to go to that place you told me about."
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:11 pm
"You don't know? Sure you don't want me to just give you two the address?" That facial expression he was making was treading dangerously close to the label of "smirk." "Anyway, the question's moot," he observed, reaching for his ashtray--my god, he'd found an actual ashtray--and dropping a cough into his shoulder. "Portals are down. Speaking of which, you got any ideas where I can get a pack of smokes without resorting to R--?" And he bit the word off at the first letter, a gentle mockery of the way she had last time they'd talked. Maybe she'd thought she'd fooled him, but clearly he hadn't fallen for it.
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:19 pm
She frowned at him, at that smirk, and a flicker of annoyance surfaced. Like he had any right to poke fun, or question her. "Drop it." Her fingers laced on top of her head, through her hair. At the first whiff of a topic change Peyton jumped at it, even if that topic had something to do with Rep. "I don't. If I did I would have told you already." And she certainly wouldn't have spent so much on a single pack if she'd had any other options. Her eyes flicked from his face, to the ashtray, then to his face again. "How many do you have left?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:34 pm
"Never enough," he answered flatly. Which wasn't really an answer, but it was clearly as much as he felt like divulging. "Fiona thinks I should just quit," he added, with a sarcastic tip of his head. He reached out and absently, distractedly, snatched at her feet. It was exactly the sort of unthinking playful grab anyone might have made to break up an awkward silence, which is what it was, but with Taym there was also the rather more pressing urge to get her to put them away. "Something tells me there will be no nicotine patches for tournament winners, but if there are, think of me when you triumph."
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:48 pm
"Well, In the long run it might not be a bad idea, but that's your call, not mine, not Fiona's." Money wasn't really an issue, not when they were making regular and substantial paychecks and didn't have to pay rent, utilities, or food bills. Automatically she twitched her feet away from his hands, then, just to be a pain in the a**, stretched her legs and propped her heels on the edge of the bed between his knees, delicate ankles crossed. It took a bit of artful slouching, but she pulled it off, finally dropping her hands so they folded on her stomach. "I doubt very much that I will win."
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