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 Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 6:23 pm
Ellis was not exactly quiet, but he didn't talk nearly as much as Noah did. Then again, his rambles tended to have nothing to do with anything important, and sometimes he went on tangents that were completely a sidetrack, but at the very least, it didn't mean that he wasn't a good listener. Noah prided himself on his observational skills, after all.
Just not his filter. Which tended to be set to off ninety percent of the time.
"Look, sometimes you just need to fill in the blanks," he said now, grinning. "And that's good to know. At the evasive and secluded thing, I mean, 'cause doesn't that mean I just need to work a little harder? Isn't there some saying about how like, things are more worth it when you have to work for it?"
He was probably butchering a perfectly nice catch phrase. Noah had gotten a glimpse of a very nice face as he'd ducked down, Ellis's cheeks a little red, but that was kind of sweet. He was, overall, a kind person, especially since he was putting up with Noah being...well, Noah about things.
He was having a good time, and that was a little weird, if only because of how this meeting had actually happened, but it had been a long time since there had been anyone that Noah had talked to that wasn't a relative. And Ellis didn't seem to mind his tangents, which was nice.
"Were you a scout? I was in scouts all through childhood and it was the worst." Noah unfurled a small, sleek curl and pushed it gently to the side. "But I'll take your word for it, Nymph, and trust you won't shout my secrets to the world."
It was said in an amused, playful tone that clearly indicated he had no real secrets to give. Noah let out an aha sound as, at last, he managed to pull the last bit of branch free with only a minimal amount of tugging. He dropped it to the ground with a triumphant grin, then ran his fingers through the tousled mess of red waves, smoothing them out.
"There we go. Much better. Can't have you as a forest nymph if something's jabbing you in the side of your head all the time."
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Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 6:52 pm
Ellis opened his mouth to tell Noah how very much it seemed like he was talking in truths instead of hypothetical movie scenes now but his anxiety reared its ugly, wicked head and he shut his mouth around the words. So what if the guy was being playfully flirty? Plenty of people were playful and flirty even when they weren't really interested and what if Ellis just made it weird by saying so? What if it ruined their perfectly good day? True to his nature, his mind started spinning terrible scenarios out for him like a wicked weave and he swallowed his playful banter out of fear of stepping over a line. But then he called him Nymph again and that solemn look in his deep blue eyes ebbed to let his smile shine back through. "I was, for a couple of years, when I was like.. five." He laughed at that, feeling some of his uneasiness wear away again beneath Noah's unabashed friendliness. He followed the last twig to the ground and was about to pull away when Noah's fingers slid through his curls, grazing his head in a gentleness that his bursting friendliness did not suit. It made Ellis' eyes lull for a moment before his heart began thudding wildly against his sternum, threatening to break free like a bird in its cage. It was odd how it was both soothing and terrifying in the same breath; it just wasn't every day that a stranger gave him a head massage. "Oh, I dunno," he ventured, "it would probably be a lot easier to find me if I kept getting stuck on trees, wouldn't it?" He leaned his head up and turned so he could look at Noah, at last. Ellis definitely thought he was right about who the cutest one was. "Thanks for that, you really.. didn't have to. That probably had to be weird for you."
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Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:40 pm
"Trust me, you didn't miss anything," said Noah, putting two fingers to his temple and giving a mock salute. "All that I learned in scouts was how to tie a knot, how not to set up a tent, and how little I actually like camping with people who want to spend the night seeing if they could roll their tent down a hillside without falling out of it."
Thankfully, he hadn't broken anything in the process.
Now that he was back to being eye level with Ellis, it was easier to see his face, even if that face was still very red. He had very nice eyes, Noah thought, as he sat back on his heels, hands resting in his lap now that he'd finished his duties as twig-getter-outer. A part of him had been tempted to keep running his fingers through that thick red hair, just to be shameless, but he'd resisted. The poor guy probably was already overwhelmed with Noah's...Noahness. He had seemed, at the very least, not to mind Noah's blatant friendliness and, admittedly, the flirtations as well. There was no sense of discomfort, as far as Noah could tell, but he could just be reading too much into things.
Like he always did.
Noah shoved that rude thought aside and grinned. "True. But if you kept getting stuck in trees, you might keep getting your hair stuck, and that would be a shame, since you do have very nice hair."
The proper thing to do was to probably stand up, get his camcorder, and be on his merry way, but the reluctance to do this was stronger than Noah had thought it would be. His gaze flickered briefly over to his camera before it moved back to Ellis' face, head tilted a little to the side.
"Not weird," said Noah. "Not for me. Uh..."
He really should stand up, but didn't.
"It wasn't weird for you, was it?" Noah asked, somewhat belatedly, because that question probably should have been an instinctive one, but had gotten lost in the shuffle of all Noah's thoughts about everything else. "Cuz, uh, sorry if it was, but - " And here he flashed a grin. " - it was kinda nice."
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 7:45 am
A wide smile stayed in place as Noah dazzled Ellis with tales of a ruckus-filled childhood in the Scouts. Truthfully, he didn't think it sounded all that bad. Ellis had always been a social creature with an impulsive streak; he was probably the type of kid to see if he could roll his tent down a hillside without falling out of it. In fact, just imagining that made it seem like he had missed out on a lot of fun. Besides, maybe if he had stuck it out he could have met a friend like Noah? He seemed like a nice guy. "You seem like you're all in one piece," he mused, letting his eyes playfully skitter along Noah's arms and torso, "so it couldn't have been that bad." Ellis sank his fingers into his own hair at the mention of how nice it was again but couldn't find the words to say thank you as, once again, he felt his heart thudding too loudly in his chest. Maybe the blush would just stay forever now, like a clown or a desperate aging mother that got it tattooed on for the sake of eternal youth. There had to be places where he would fit in like this, right? He stroked his slender fingers through his curls to brush them out the best that he could, using it as a defense mechanism for his fidgeting hands. "No, it, well. It was a little weird," he hesitated but smiled, trying his damnedest not be slayed by that enticing grin. Noah really was handsome, and charming, even if it was a very in-your-face and bubbling charm. He would be the perfect hero for their bizarre movie about wood nymphs and evil forests. "It was also kind of nice, though, so thanks." He took the moment to stand and dust his jeans off, using it as an excuse to break eye contact and gather himself. Yet, as he glanced back down at Noah he realized how much of a mess he was- "Oh, Noah, you've ruined your clothes! I'm so sorry. Here, stand up." His smile faded to a guilty frown as he held out a hand to help the other boy up.
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:13 am
He definitely would rather focus on the fact that he'd done a lot of stupid things as a kid versus the fact that he'd grown up with a maid and a cook and private tutors and all of that other nonsense. And besides, Ellis seemed to think he was interesting, or at least not gross or terrible, which was a bonus, because Noah liked not being seen as just that gross rich kid.
He also liked the brief glance he got from Ellis that was a little playful, gaze flickering over Noah's form. He wasn't anything hugely muscular by any stretch, but he did like sports and he was a tennis player by trade, so he wasn't bad looking, he thought. He'd inherited the traditional Gallo mahogany hair and easily tanned skin, at the very least.
"All in one piece, all in one place," said Noah with a grin. It faded, just a tiny bit, at the little weird comment, but then it returned full force at the following kind of nice. A few inappropriate comments floated to the top of Noah's mind that he bit back because it was probably in bad taste to be outrageously flirty with someone he'd just met.
Even if that someone was pretty cute and nice.
"Have I? Oh, maybe - " Noah glanced down at himself, at the grass stains running across the legs of his khaki pants, shaking his head. "Ah, well, you know - the hero has to come out of the story looking like he walked through fire and all that."
Still smiling, he reached up and gripped Ellis' hand, using it to leverage himself up to a standing position, free hand brushing stray strands of grass from his pants. He didn't let go immediately, however; Noah's eyes moved to the other's face, a thoughtful expression on his own.
Eventually he let go (don't be weird, Noah) and said, "Don't worry, it's not that bad. I'll just put them in the wash."
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 3:37 pm
The lackadaisical response to something that would have had Ellis in a fuss made him smile even as his brows drew down into concern. Having never had much, the idea of something he owned being permanently destroyed was really, really stressful. He knew that Noah said it wasn't a big deal but he was having a hard time letting the thought go.. "Are you sure?" He watched him brush the grass from his pants and realized that a lot of it was simply ground-in stains that no amount of patting or wiping would clear. Each swipe of Noah's dark hand made his anxiety flare, so much so that he didn't even seem to realize that the other boy was still clutching his fingers in his own. At least, not until he let go and the weight of his own hand swung down to his side, leaving the fading warmth of Noah's behind it like a ghost on his skin. True to his nature, his flush deepened again and he rubbed the pad of his thumb across his palm where he could still feel the lingering touch. "No, no, those are definitely ruined, Noah." He shook his head and sent waves of red curls flying around his face. With his journal still in his hand, he cast his eyes around for the overstuffed duffel bag he had been carrying. Spotting it beneath the tree, nestled against overgrown roots, he crossed the grass and pulled a pen out of one of the side pockets. His back was to Noah as he began shuffling through his journal, looking for a loose page that didn't have anything embarrassing or incriminating scrawled on it. He finally landed on a napkin he had nicked from the cafe one morning when it was slow. There was a little talking cat doodled in the corner but apart from that it really had no point. He put his pen to it and quickly scrawled out his name, Ellis Crowley, followed by his number and walked back to shove it in Noah's direction. "Here, call me, I will buy you new pants. I feel really bad!" He had no idea who Noah was or where he came from, but his anxious little heart was beating wildly at the idea of someone ever suffering because of his existence. What if he had really liked those pants and was just pretending to be okay? Ellis' frown deepened and he waved the napkin at Noah emphatically.
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 4:34 pm
He wasn't sure what that expression was on Ellis's face; it seemed to be concern, or possibly irritation, though it lacked the heat that generally stemmed from irritation, even if Noah couldn't be sure of that. He wondered if, not for the first time, he'd put his foot in his mouth and said something stupid, because that was a thing that happened too often.
His hand still felt a little warm. And Ellis was still blushing furiously, which was really unreasonably nice to look at, and kind of made Noah want to reach out and put his fingers to his cheek to see if he could feel the heat, but that would have been Very Awkward and he couldn't possibly breach that line with essentially a stranger.
Even if it was a cute stranger. Noah cleared his throat.
"Uh - " he started to say, but Ellis was already over by his bag and rummaging around, though Noah wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for. He waited, wondering if he was being awkward by waiting, and just when he'd decided he probably was, Ellis had come hastily back, pressing a piece of paper at him.
"Oh," he said, blinking at it, and then felt a smile dawn irrepressibly on his face, in spite of himself. "I mean, uh...seriously, I don't want to make you feel like - you know, obligated or anything, but - "
Noah lifted his hands. He caught hold of Ellis' wrist with one and with the other, neatly plucked the napkin from his fingers before he let go entirely to unfurl the small scrap of paper. Ellis' name was scribbled on it underneath a picture of a cat, and there was a phone number as well.
He was undeniably pleased. Noah tried not to let this show on his face and failed, looking up at Ellis with his lips curving upwards.
"I mean, yeah, sure I'll call you," he said, and gave a nod. "Definitely."
Definitely. Noah said, "Thanks. I mean - you know, for that."
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:32 pm
Ellis wasn't entirely sure why, but the look that Noah leveled on him after he realized what was on the paper made his heart stutter through a couple of beats. Somehow the other man was managing to both make his afternoon the best and most awkward he'd had in a very long time. Nervous, suddenly, he cleared his throat and hooked the clip of his pen over the front of his journal so that he could look anywhere but into those pleasing green eyes. "I mean it," he affirmed, blushing and awkward but still definitely happy, "don't forget." A hand raised and pushed his red curls out of his face as he stood there, floundering awkwardly for just a moment and not sure if he should look at Noah or the ground or the sky or his hands. He cleared his throat and cast the handsome guy a sideways glance, then decided to dip down and actually pick his duffel bag back up. His thumb stroked across the texture of the handle as he hesitated and finally turned to the brunette again with a wide, cheery smile that did nothing to hide the heat in his face. "Thanks, for everything, I should.. go though." He took a step backward and brought his other hand up, waving as he started backing away. "It was really good meeting-" he tripped slightly over a root and stumbled mid sentence but caught himself and tried to play it off like he hadn't done that at all- "meeting you, it was nice to meet you I mean!" Smooth, Ellis. Really smooth.
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:48 pm
"I won't forget," said Noah, and this was entirely true, because he was already trying to figure out a not-awkward way to call Ellis. He kept looking at the paper, and then over at Ellis again, the smile on his face sticking in spite of all attempts at acting casual about the whole thing. Ellis was fiddling with his pen and then he was fiddling with his bag, and Noah realized he'd still left his camcorder just sitting there in the grass.
He stooped to pick it up, cradling it gently in his hands, brushing a few stray leaves from it, glad for the case he kept on it at all times. Noah chanced a glance at Ellis again, watching as he pushed some of his hair out of his, and that was sort of (a lot) cute. And he was smiling at Noah, bright and cheerful, and it made Noah all the more determined not to lose that scrap of a napkin.
"It was nice meeting you too," he said - and stretched out an instinctive hand as Ellis stumbled, as if to help him back up again, but stopped himself, pulling his arm back. Slowly, he straightened, and gave a nod, biting his lip to fight the smile on his own face.
"See you later," he said, and thought, again, definitely.
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