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 Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 7:06 pm
and mirrors
He wanted to reach out and take her hand, give her something else to hold onto.
"What do you need me to do?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 7:18 pm
shopping
Gale leaned in and pressed a small kiss to Stormy's temple, just for sheer affection's sake, and gave her hand a little squeeze. His other hand reached for a rack of clothing and rifled through it until he found a tan sweater, which he pulled off and held up for Stormy's inspection.
"Maybe," said Gale, not missing the note, which sent a small frisson of something through him, his chest tightening. "But there's always a cost to things like that, and it's usually painful."
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 7:21 pm
despacito
The notes were ringing in his thoughts. Gale could feel them resonating deep within his chest, like something more than music, something more than words. He wanted to reach out and touch Stormy, but something told him not to break the moment yet.
"It is," said Gale softly, after a beat had passed. "Did you mean that if you somehow could manage to play this one again that you could get back into the swing of playing again at all?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:10 pm
and mirrors
She made a small sound, a tender typical. Gale approached things as if they had clear solutions with steps, outlines, logic and boundaries and structure. Stormy barely approached things at all, and usually never the same way twice when she did.
"I don't know." There was an edge of frustration there. "Tell me how you feel about it."
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Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:15 pm
despacito
"Maybe," she said.
There was an arrested pause held hostage in her still hands. Stormy felt a pressure in her chest grow with every second of inaction.
"I don't know why I thought I should," she said after a moment. "No. I shouldn't. It's too hard." She was well aware there were easier books in her pile, yet she had impulsively grabbed the prelude. Willingly set herself up to fail in action and thought. Stormy closed her eyes. "Sorry for wasting your time."
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Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:27 pm
shopping "Usually for someone other than the decider," she agreed as she inspected the sweater, then gave it a thumbs up. But she knew she was touching sensitive territory and moved away from it for the rest of their journey in that store and the next. For a blissful two hours, Stormy pretended to be a civilian with small talk about this price or that perfume on sale, who to get gifts for and why they had selected each one, avoiding the kiosks sprawled out in the middle of the halls with the innocence of a young couple too fresh in love to notice anyone beyond each other (only partially exaggerates for comedic value), trying the food court and getting generally lost while their purchases swung against their legs. She almost got a high from how normal it was. "I forgot I missed this," she said while they took a seat on a bench. Across from them were novelty massage chairs, one which was occupied by a tired looking father while his children played in the kids' section. "I always forget every time I go out. Sometimes," Stormy's voice dipped lower, her gaze still out and beyond, "I think about...leaving through one of those doors. Taking your hand and just running away."
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:18 pm
shopping
It felt - normal.
Normal, as if they were just having another day together; a facade of the two of them at a store, like they were any other civilians who were out and about to pick things up. Gale kept his fingers laced through Stormy's, every once in a while drawing her to the side in a lesser occupied area to press a quick kiss to her cheek or her lips - usually whenever a kiosk vendor was eyeing them.
It was a thrilling thing. A breath of fresh air when everything else felt smoggy. Gale made himself comfortable beside Stormy, several bags now piled at their feet. He turned his head to look at her, caught the soft cadence of her voice, and threaded his fingers through hers once more, pulling her hand into his lap.
"I...would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it, sometimes, too," Gale admitted quietly. He was sitting close enough that their knees brushed, his hair falling over his shoulders. "What it would be like to just...leave it all behind, like this."
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:20 pm
and mirrors
Stormy was offered a slightly rueful smile, an I can't help answering like that expression to go along with her typical sound. Gale's fingers smoothed absently over the edge of a fork, brushing against the table.
"I don't like it," he said, after a moment. "The smoking. I want to replace it with something better, not something worse, but what that better thing could be, I...I'm not sure yet."
His eyes traced her face, like they had done a thousand times before, memorizing the details he saw there, the line of her jaw, the curve of her cheek, the sweep of her brow, the way a stray strand of her hair fell across her forehead that made him want to brush it away.
"What worse things are you afraid of?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:25 pm
despacito
He reached out instinctively and took ahold of her hands, keeping them in place; Gale's palms against the backs, fingers slowly but firmly curving around hers. There was no unnecessary pressure; he simply held them where they were, a simple thing.
"You aren't wasting my time," he said. "And you thought you should because you can. You can do it."
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Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 8:39 am
shopping "Would you?" She turned to Gale, something quiet but determined in her eyes. "If we found a way to leave without being killed?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 9:59 am
and mirrors
Some days she shied under his gaze, but today Stormy met it. "Things," she said. "Bad habits. Maybe drinking wouldn't be bad if you locked me in the apartment," she added, casual as you please. "Or maybe I should switch what I take. Doesn't weed calm you down?"
Evan wasn't there to tell her those were all stupid ideas; she had to take advantage.
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Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:22 am
despacito
Her eyes closed tighter at his touch. Gale's encouragement heightened her anxiety until she could feel herself trembling, and her eyes began to sting. She was always like this: unable to initiate or unable to follow through upon brief bursts of impulse. It was like a self-fulfilling prophecy of disappointment. No--This moment was a microcosmic description of her life right now: blind, afraid, and paralyzed.
Words scrambled about Stormy's mind, but nothing left her except a short, hitched breath, which only drove her to hold herself even stiffer in response. It didn't matter now. She could feel a tear squeeze out regardless.
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 2:19 pm
shopping
The question startled him. Gale turned to look at Stormy, his heart beating a little faster than it should have; but his fingers curled around hers, interlacing, his one solid and necessary connection to everything else.
"I...don't know," he said truthfully. "I've been a hunter for the last six years. It's the only life I know."
His grip tightened, just a little.
"I think...if it was with you. If you were with me...then I could do it."
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 2:22 pm
and mirrors
He made a sound in the back of his throat. "I can't - lock you in the apartment," Gale protested, although if that worked to wean her off of the cigarettes, well...
He was still frowning. "I've...heard that, about weed, but I've never - I mean, I don't have any firsthand experience in it, I know it's been used for cancer treatments before and it's not the same as hallucinogens like heroin or the like..."
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 2:25 pm
despacito
She was shaking; he recognized the tremors, the anxiety that built, because he had seen it before. But he stayed where he was, holding her hands, not moving away, but not doing anything to pressure her even further, simply touching and giving her what he could of himself.
"Stormy," he said quietly, and then, in a softer voice, "Lightning."
The old nickname, years past left, but still there, because he hadn't forgotten that, either.
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