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 Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:07 pm
"Oh," he was quick on the uptake, "yeah, yeah, 'course," practically stumbling over himself, undeniably relieved he could be of assistance, "yeah, my casa's yer casa." Dawson gestured grandly to his pillow and blanket fort of a room. (Take what you want.) "You stay's long s'you want, hun, take the bed if ya need." She already had barely a few minutes ago. Hell she could kick him out of his own room and he wouldn't defend himself.
"I'll, uh...I need a beer," Dawson said with weak laugh as he went to his fridge. "You still good?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:54 pm
Internally she kicked herself. It was supposed to be tell Dawson the bad news and get out, not babysit his feelings and coddle his desires. Not because she didn't want to, but because she wasn't sure how to come out of this unscathed. How did she say "hey I'm involved with someone else but I'm not a bad guy"??
She did her best not to show her exhaustion. She couldn't entire blame Dawson- it wasn't his fault she'd had the week from hell.
"Get me one so you'll stop askin'," she said with a half grin, slowly moving back to the pillow blanket pile that Dawson had so wonderfully arranged for her. It was odd how quickly she could fall into being someone else.
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:07 pm
"Heh, just bein' a good host." A clink of bottles and a thunk of the door later, Dawson dared to take a seat by her and offered up a beer. He had absolutely no idea how to proceed from there or what was going to happen now, but it couldn't be worse than just waiting around.
"So, uh...Ya like music?" Wait, no. "Er, Celtic stuff? I was listenin' a bit before y'showed up." And reading Horace's disgustingly romantic book, which was by the red solo cup serving as his ipod's makeshift speakers.
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:43 pm
It should have been a sign to Dawson that something was off based on the fact that Chel didn't immediately slouch over and drape herself across him. Chel did that with practically everyone.
"Yeah and how's the weather anyways?" Chel said sarcastically, tipping the bottle back and taking a long swig before any voice in her head could stop her. It was a slippery slope from there and by the time Chel spoke again she had downed half her bottle. "C'mon Dawson- thought you were smoother."
Her crooked grin fell back into a frown. Her head wasn't so much fuzzy as it was empty. "I don't know what to do f'Chris is really dea... gone."
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 5:02 pm
"Aw, y'know, doom n' gloom s'ever down here," he replied casually, like he even had a window to look out of. There was a strange tension there and he couldn't seem to wrestle it down. Beer would probably help; he downed most of the bottle like it was water.
"C'mon." Dawson nudged her arm with his, hoping it was safe to do at least that much. "He ain't gone, he's missin' is all. N' when he comes back, y'know what m'gonna do? M'gonna punch him square in the gut fer givin' me a scare like that. Gonna give him two more when he flinches," he added confidently.
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:03 pm
"Mm." That was all Chel had to say to Dawson's optimism. She remembered her argument she had with Rep so long ago- the hunter who smiles. She put that smile on.
Which turned into her leaning against his arm, despite every inclination against it. Chel was, after all, a creature of physical affectations. "S'been a whole week dude. Hunters don't usually last more n'a few days, an' Chris s'on is own. He's ********>
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:18 pm
Dawson passed her a look and in his best Vader impression replied, "I find your lack of faith disturbing." Chris was a Good Guy: facts be damned, he was going to be okay.
"Look, if I gotta dig Encino Man out myself, I'll do it," he assured her and, emboldened by Chel's response, made to loop his arm around her shoulders. "Don'tchu worry. Then the dumbass gon wish he was dead. Leavin' his people hung out ta dry like that," he scoffed with another gulp of beer.
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:47 pm
The Star Wars comment had already tensed her body, but the arm relaxed the nerves. In fact, she leaned in to his side. She would take anything right now. Jack's backside, Dawson's calloused hands, the rest of the goddamn bottle.
"S'pretty-" she inhaled deeply, trying to put her usual lilt in her voice. "
< You have lied. >
"Came to deus to save his a** 'n I couldn't even do that right."
< He is waiting. >
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:42 pm
"Hey now." He gently squeezed her shoulder. "You stayin' here, you ain't allowed to talk about yerself like that, awright? You do good, Chelsea." His observation was based on their interactions and the fact that Chris was her family: she was by all accounts also a Good Person, even knowing the story behind her bomb bracelet.
"s**t just happens, y'know," Dawson went on, a hint of frustration rising and falling. Of course things also happened when he couldn't lend a hand to stop them.
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 8:00 am
"Don't I know it," Chel replied with a sarcastic roll of her eyes.
< Are you going to explain yourself or not? >
Chel's skin shivered under Dawson's arm.
Is it so bad I wanna be like this for a while?
< Yes. >
"Get me another beer, would ya?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:10 am
"Sure thing." Finishing his own off with one last full, he took her bottle in hand and set them aside on the way to the fridge. More clinks and crackles later, Dawson returned not just with two more beers but a package of Oreos as well; food was always eventually going to factor in with him after all.
"They taste better cold," he explained with a little smile as he handed Chel her beer and offered up some comfort food. Lord knew he was going to eat through his feelings. "I'ma get us some Denny's tomorrow if ya want too. Good food helps."
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:46 am
< A choice. >
I'm listening.
Chel sagged further into the pillow pile, waiting desperately for the second beer to come so that she would have something to do with her hands. It was always hard trying to figure out what to do with her hands.
When he came over it was a relief from her thoughts. "Thanks man," she said, weakly taking the beer from him and greedily cracking it open. "But don't worry about it. I'm not really in the mood for breakfast food." At least that much was true. She couldn't look at breakfast without thinking of the many pre-workout meals she'd shared with Chris. Yet that wasn't the reason she weakly took an oreo and pretended like it had a taste. Her skin was white and her eyes were attempting to focus on what Dawson was saying.
< He hates you or he hates himself. >
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 10:08 am
His smile slowly faded. Rather than grab an Oreo himself, Dawson set the package off to the side and cradled the bottle between his hands for a moment. As much as he tried to keep things lighthearted, there was only so much he could do.
"Hey..." He put the beer down next and scooted closer, making to put his arm around her again and pull her into a hug. "C'mon now, s'okay..."
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 10:31 am
Chel let out a heavy sigh. She was impatient, and hated being so dreary that others felt the need to comfort. She was a positive person and she was officially done with this balancing act. Time to tip the scales.
"No it's really not, Dawson." There was a previously absent directness in her voice, yet she didn't remove his arm. In fact, she kept him very close, because of a desperate desire to show him that she wasn't black and white. She could never be a person that ended something completely.
< Choose. >
"I'm datin' a dude name Jack," she said bluntly. "Sort of. Not really datin'- it's complicated aight?" She put a hand through her hair, a tick she'd apparently developed recently. "That's why I ain't been around. Well and I been busy, but I felt bad too. You are perfect." Very serious, emphasis. "Perfect Dawson. I wanted to tell you but with China and Jack- and then Chris I just-" Her voice cracked on her cousin's name.
She was making herself into a victim and she knew it, but words were coming out in a way that she didn't know how to stop them. "What I'm tryin' to say is that I wanna be friends, but like I'm not good at being a good person so it'll always be s**t for you-"
Chel had realized she'd cascaded all these words without letting Dawson get a word in. So she tipped back her bottle and shut herself up.
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 11:10 am
Something was decompressing slowly in his chest the longer he listened. It was a familiar feeling, and a small bolt of fear struck him. He could have done without the perfect. He could have done without any damn compliment at all, because they were all the same in the end. You're sweet. You're cute. You're perfect. And at the end of them all—but.
Dawson processed things slowly not because it was time consuming but because his mind hopped around faster than a frog in the boiling pot. Jack, Chris, dating, China, wanna be friends, he couldn't understand it in the time given. But he could make some basic conclusions.
"So..." He wasn't a subtle person, the confusion and crestfallen combination was a blaring symptom of his emotional state. "So...what's all that mean?" he asked eventually, struggling to find the words and say them in a steady fashion. "You just...You datin' an a*****e from the bar n'...atoppa that we can't be friends? D'I get that right?"
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