|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 12:54 pm
the scar
His fingers slid away from the door as his arm fell to his side. Gale turned to look at her, Stormy's fingers still feeling cold in his own, but he gave them a little squeeze anyway, drawing her further into the room and closer to himself.
His thoughts indeed had immediately gone to him, which he couldn't deny, but...
"Not yet," said Gale, and leaned to press a light kiss to her forehead, lingering momentarily. "We can't say for sure if it is, but I don't doubt it most likely has something to do with him. I don't really see it as being anyone else."
Unless someone had just had a grand time or gotten a little drunk late at night, but since there were no marks on the other doors, it was probably safe to assume that it dealt with that person. The thought made Gale's stomach churn unpleasantly.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:00 pm
ashes to ashes
He gave a little hum of agreement, because she did have a point in some ways. Gale's sleeve wiped along her temple, down her cheek, sweeping across her jawline with gentle, almost idle movements. He paused, pinched the cigarette between two fingers and pulled it away, bending his head to press a light kiss to Stormy's mouth, smoke curling around them.
"Smoking also makes things taste bad," he said softly as he straightened, replacing the cigarette between his teeth. Stormy's face was open in her emotions, but he remained quiet and careful in his gestures. "Do you want to forget, or do you just want to numb things for a while?"
It was neither a yes nor a no to her unasked question. Gale lifted his other hand to start smoothing away the flush to her face.
"Drinking only makes messes out of things," he said. "And Evan and Tuck aren't a factor in this particular equation, as much as you love them."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:02 pm
vent
The nickname made him smile a tiny bit, in spite of the serious conversation; but it slipped away a moment later as she turned, replaced by a slightly pained expression as Gale leaned back, lowering his tea to his lap. The hand at Stormy's back stilled.
Decisions were hard. He felt both wrong and right all at once.
"If you trust him, then yes."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:18 pm
the scar
"Yeah..."
Something in her faltered for a moment, a teeter on the precipice she so often toed these days. And then Stormy remembered: she'd woken up to try and do something today. The other issue could wait.
She hit the reset button, pressed a kiss to him, and gave a little if still shaky smile. "Morning, mi corazón. I'll make breakfast this time. What're you in the mood for?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:26 pm
ashes to ashes
She closed her eyes and tried to commit to memory what he tasted like, holding in the taste of ash until she was forced to cough and hack into her sleeve.
"They should be," she said afterwards, avoiding Gale's question for now. "They should be part've it. They're family too." The very idea of subtracting them for the equation made her remember the separation from Tuck, the argument and the podding, and Stormy's expression grew pained. "If they don't agree then they don't agree, but they deserve to say something. It's the least I could do for disappearing."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:41 pm
ventShe nodded somberly, appreciating the weight of the decision and the process it took to make it. "I'll ask him about it next time he invites me over for dinner," Stormy said as she picked up her cup and started to finally drink the rest of her cold tea, and that was simply that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 2:53 pm
the scar
He waited patiently for her mind to work around whatever she was thinking; Gale accepted the kiss with a sort of gentle reassurance, lifting his free hand to smooth his thumb across her cheek and touch the corner of her shaky smile.
"Good morning, love," he said. "I think I'm up for some biscuits and bacon, if you are."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 2:58 pm
ashes to ashes
He ran a hand absently through her hair, curling his fingers against her scalp.
"You're right, they are, I'm sorry," Gale said gently, his heart twisting in his chest; but he maintained a certain sense of calm without being patronizing (at least, he hoped so), the smell of smoke beginning to seep into the room. "They won't agree." And neither do I. "But you can hear them out."
He didn't mention her disappearing, because he knew it all too well; had learned to, while not necessarily accept it, at least work with it. Patience was something he struggled with greatly, but it was also something loving Stormy Ortega needed a lot of.
Gale's fingers worked gently through her hair.
"If they say no, what will you do?" he asked her quietly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 1:25 am
the scar
"Biscuits and bacon it is," she chirped, turning on a heel to head into the kitchen. And that was all that mattered to her for as long as it took. Perhaps this was what would get her through the cycle: by focusing only on the little things, the immediate tasks she was called to do.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 1:38 am
ashes to ashesHer mouth twisted the same way Gale's heart did. "I could hide it," Stormy began, eyes falling half-lidded as he combed her curls. "I don't want to, hiding is bad, hiding means I'm ashamed, they'll be ashamed. But I will if I have to. But I don't want to. But I could. I would. I might. I shouldn't." She fiddled with her sleeves, fingers curling into the fabric but brushing against Gale in doing so. Little movements, little impulses to touch him in return and assure herself. "Maybe they'll understand. They have things they still cope with. They still have... ghosts." She didn't want to betray them any further, though neither Evan nor Tuck had ever burdened her with details in the years she'd known them. A soldier was a soldier, that much she understood. They all were at Deus. But she still couldn't answer directly whether or not she wanted to go through with it at all. Stormy spoke in hypotheticals because it was safer. Easier to think about. Nothing had happened yet, and nothing would without her consent, but she was a most indecisive creature at heart when it came to herself. "How do you do it?" she suddenly asked.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:31 am
ashes to ashes
He didn't like the idea of her hiding it as much as she didn't. Gale's fingers pressed into her hair, massaging gently without too much force behind it, little idle gestures to smooth out some of the limp tangles. Her sleeves brushed against him, soft and reassuring.
"I don't think hiding is necessarily the best," he hedged, teeth clenching around the cigarette to keep it from falling out of his mouth. It tasted harsh on his tongue, a little dark, a little bitter. "But I also don't think they'd be ashamed of you, they might be..." He tried to figure out how to word it. "Disappointed, maybe, but not ashamed."
You couldn't please everyone. Gale wasn't sure he was hindering or helping, desperately wanting to alleviate her agony without knowing how, his heart physically aching for her, a literal pain in his chest every time he saw the saddened, defeated look in her eyes.
He blinked down at her, slightly caught off guard by her question.
"Do what?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:29 pm
ashes to ashes
"Just as bad," she said sullenly. Disappointed, ashamed, it was the same thing said differently: you don't have to do this, why did you do this, you could find something else, you could just get over it. Things she wondered if Gale secretly thought or not. Stormy couldn't blame him if so, but she wasn't sure she could handle disappointing more people beyond herself.
She leaned against him and let her legs tuck under her. "Handle everything," she replied, looking up through her curly bangs at him. "You've been here longer than me. You've done and seen worse. How do you do it?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:59 pm
mechanisms
She didn't say anything out of the ordinary when she greeted them. She showered (truly an act of love for them as she had started to neglect to as often), ran a comb through her hair, and put on the best smile she could when they came over. She made no mention of the large gash on the outside of her door or how much it frightened her to see every time, at least not then. No, she ushered Tuck and Evan in with her usual display of tight hugs and bustling movement. Can I get you a drink? Water? Tea? Soda? Make yourselves comfy on the couch.
It was obvious that there was a nervous energy in her movements. Gale was out on his week long mission in California, and the anxiety that had kept her form joining him hadn't quite left her. Stormy didn't want to dump her crap on her brothers all in one go. She wanted at least a stab at normalcy; it was the very least she owed them. But her usual flowery smell now was covered by something closer to an ashtray, and she knew that would go as unnoticed as the gash in her door in spite of her attempt to cover it up with a long-sleeved sweater. It was only a matter of time.
"How've you guys been?" she asked from behind the safety of the kitchenette counter, searching around the cabinets and the fridge for the proper ingredients to make them...she didn't know. A sandwich seemed simple enough and didn't require a whole lot of thought.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 11:06 am
ashes to ashes
"Sorry," he said quietly, because she was right, it was the same no matter how they looked at it. His hand smoothed tenderly over her brow in soft, idle motions, thumb sliding over her cheek before he let his fingers drift back into her hair again. "Either way, if it helps you..."
Stormy's weight, even lighter than normal, was comforting as she leaned into him, and in spite of everything that she was going through, Gale felt a surge of adoration go through him when she looked at him, a powerful sweep of emotions that reminded him of why he was here in the first place, why he still had a cigarette in his teeth, why he was still trying as hard as he was.
His fingers ghosted over her forehead, her shoulders, her back as he considered her question.
"I didn't, at first," said Gale, after a moment. "I withdrew. I kept it all inside. When I thought Bix had died, I just...bottled it all up and did nothing, I just stayed inside the house all day."
He shook his head briefly, finally lifting his free hand to remove the cigarette, smoke curling upwards.
"Sometimes I don't know," he said softly. "Sometimes I feel like I'm just pretending, just going through the motions of handling things without actually handling them."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 11:34 am
ashes to ashes
"But he came back," she said gently. "You moved on." She was glad he didn't bring up Leslie because she was sure she would have choked instead, but Bix she could handle. Bix was alive and well and on this floor and his best friend—
She reached for his hand and tugged it and the cigarette to her lips, fighting off a sudden wave of tears. "What aren't you handling?" Stormy asked as she tried to fit her teeth where his had been.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
