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 Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:03 am
His frustrated actions made her ache a little more, but she pushed it down to where the burns in her stomach already were, where the pain and guilt had collected and been sealed away. Stormy had to remember he wasn't frustrated with her more than just...who she was with. Right? Or maybe he was annoyed she hadn't spoken up, that was fair... She used the time it took to leave the life labs to swallow down her doubts as well, even though they were repeatedly rising in her throat like bile.
"Let me apologize for him," Stormy said quietly once they were walking outside, squeezing Gale's hand in hopes of alleviating the pressure in her chest. "He's not normally so bad, he just...he's possessive, you know? It's my fault for bringing you into that when I knew he didn't like you, and I apologize about that too..." I was weak.
"Don't take anything he said seriously, please. Thane does stuff like that just to mess with people."
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:02 pm
He was silent until they reached outside, his hand feeling warm wrapped with Stormy's, though her fingers were colder. Gale could feel the tension stretching before them like something that might snap at any moment, and he took a few moments to breathe, to try and relax.
It was Stormy who spoke first. Gale turned to look at her, slowing his steps but not stopping as they walked. But after a few moments, after hearing her, he slowed until he was no longer moving at all, staring at their interconnected hands.
"...then why didn't you say anything then?"
His voice was low, quiet, barely concealing the hurt. Gale lifted his gaze, his expression somewhat pained.
"Why didn't you try and say anything? It wasn't so much about what he said - I hear that from Caelius on a daily basis, it's not unusual for people to dislike me because of who I am. But you just..."
He waved a hand towards her, frustrated, swallowing the fear that she might reject him because he wasn't sure he could handle that, in spite of everything else. "Why didn't you stand up for me? I was trying to stand up for you, trying to tell him that I wasn't going anywhere, but..."
Gale closed his eyes briefly, pulling his hand free from Stormy's to link both of his hands behind his neck, pacing a few steps to the left and then to the right.
"I was serious when I said I chose you, that I wasn't going anywhere. I don't care what Thane thinks, his opinion on me doesn't matter when you're involved. I am your boyfriend, Stormy - but why,"
The frustration was leaking over into his voice, galling him. Gale twisted around to look at Stormy, his face flushed with embarrassment.
"Why didn't you just stand up for me?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:21 pm
"I did try--" she began, and then stopped herself. One moment of barely opening her mouth for a few words was not defending anything, and another moment where she had the impulse but none of the air was even less. Stormy struggled with the words to explain as she watched his frustration leak out and his face flush with emotion, the burning sensation within back with a vengeance.
"I am not strong," she replied softly. "I don't know what gave you or Miss Candace that impression, but I'm not. Not on this physical plane." She wanted to step closer, bridge the gap somehow, but their tethered hands were broken for the moment and she felt like his pacing just distanced him further; her hands folded before her, clasping each other with a small tremble.
"But in my mind, Gale, I did defend you. I defended you from the moment you tried to kiss me in the infirmary. Thane has been there trying to tell me this was wrong from the beginning--there, at the mission briefing, on the ship, at your house--but I didn't listen. He was trying to scare me away when I knew you were different, that you were better than what he was trying to portray." She gave a weak, bittersweet smile. "It's been a battle of wills for a while now, but I kept that hidden because I did want this, I did choose you."
Stormy's face fell. "That was why he tried so hard as a golem. I-I didn't expect him to do what he did, but he kept talking and pulling me closer, and I just . . . I couldn't breathe because Thane knew. He knew that doing it just reminded me've . . ." Her voice grew shaky; she swallowed. "He did it on purpose both to scare me into silence and to make you doubt, a-and I am so, so sorry, Gale. But I thought, if I could handle that for months, maybe you could handle a few minutes. Maybe if he said his piece directly he'd stop berating me and just accept it . . .
"And that was selfish." Her hands gripped each other tightly. "And for that I'm sorry too."
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:43 pm
He knew what she was saying was true, because he'd sensed it even from the beginning, every time she mentioned Thane. The simple, subtle questions about whether Jinhai was nice to him, about how their weapon relationship would work because she had been trying to figure out if his relationship with Jinhai was the same was her relationship with Thane.
"He was trying to scare me away when I knew that you were different."
Different, how? I'm not any better than anyone else, Gale thought, his stomach turning over, feeling as though it were tying itself into knots. He'd been selfish to think that this was all about him, that Thane trying to intimidate him was about him because it wasn't, it had never been about him.
<< You are different, Gale. >>
No, I'm not, he thought, his heart racing, his eyes meeting Stormy's, and he hated himself for making her feel the way he had, for messing things up so completely because all he'd been able to do was think about himself and not the fact that she'd had to have Thane's constant reminders that she was wrong that she shouldn't be with him.
I'm not different. Not really.
One of his hands reached out, slid behind the back of Stormy's head and pulled her towards him, Gale pressing his lips to her forehead in a brief, but firm kiss. He'd wanted to give her a real kiss, but now was not the time, and it did not quite feel ready yet. He pulled away after a moment and then leaned his forehead against hers.
"Thane," he said, and his voice was unhesitating. "If you can hear me, you're wrong. I'm not going to fail her, and I'm not going anywhere. So you're just going to have to live with me and you're going to have to like it, because I'm not going anywhere."
It probably wouldn't do any good - hell, it might even make the dragon more mad, but the words at least made Gale feel marginally better about himself - and hopefully Stormy as well.
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 2:31 pm
There wasn't so much as a rumble in her head. Not a snort or hiss or rattle of bones, no expression of emotion. Nothing. Thane had been serious when he took her request.
She knew he was still there of course, but for the moment Thane was not interfering. Not even when her mind went to relieved white noise in an instant as Gale pulled her close again. Stormy quietly sighed the rest of the air she had been holding in and leaned her head against his. "Don't talk to him. Please," she added quickly, realizing she'd sounded a little harsher than intended. "I'm glad you said that, I am very glad, more glad than I can say without babbling again which probably wouldn't be helpful. But he's being quiet right now and I just--want to keep it that way for now."
Her other hand, the one that had been curled in anger in her pocket, slid out and unfurled to grasp his. A need to know something overwhelmed Stormy's hesitation and doubt, as morbid curiosity always would.
"Did I disappoint you?" There was no edge to the question, as she counted on him being honest from the start.
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 6:53 pm
He sighed, and it was frustrated sounding, Gale pulling back away from Stormy. He wanted to be strong about this, wanted to be okay that Thane didn't like him, but it was almost like a parent's disapproval. They had no guardians on this island, but their weapons were close enough as it was. And Thane not approving of him just meant that maybe one day, neither would Stormy.
Stormy's hand curled around his, and Gale closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head as though it almost pained him.
"No," he said, but he wasn't looking at her, his eyes still closed. The word sounded forced to his own ears, tense and almost bitter, almost as though he were trying to convince himself, rather than her. He drew breath, then steadied himself.
"Yes," he said. "I'm disappointed. But not for the reason you think, because I just...I'm stupid, all right?"
One arm went around her, pulling her closer, Gale pressing his face into Stormy's hair. "I'm disappointed that I couldn't be what he wanted me to be, that he won't ever approve of me."
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:00 pm
The first 'no' was a false start, or at least that's what it felt like. It didn't lower her anxiety or soothe her to hear it, nor did his closed eyes give her any comfort. He didn't want to look at her when he really thought it over, but that was...fair. She was distracting. She was weak.
Stormy had expected a 'yes', but it didn't sting less for that fact--what came after was the true sucker punch, however, and she did not bother hiding her look of pain.
"No."
The word, hot still from the coals, was strained and unplanned for. But it was the simplest way she could forge her thoughts for the real world.
"No," she said emphatically once more, stepping closer still. "No-no-no-no-no."
She felt emotion tug at some nerve, som infernal impulse to cry that she could never seem rid of.
"Gale Gentry, I said don't listen to him. Thane can have his say whenever he likes; he'll never approve of anyone. He barely respects M-Miss Candace despite the fact that she's helped me so much, just because he disagreed with her on one subject. He is a perfectionist which means he will never be satisfied."
Her hand slipped from his, both sliding past his waist, past his shoulders, and entwining behind his neck. Her head was still tilted towards his. "You're right, though," Stormy half-whispered as she closed her eyes. "I am my own person and have my own mind, and this I can have my own opinion. Don't mistake his words as speaking for us both." It was a demonstration of willpower, to stay in that position and not give into the urge to kiss him, because it wouldn't be right to. It wouldn't be bred of affection, but something tainted and desperate. But the pull was there nevertheless as she held him, an unseen force that she felt like an inner wind among the gusts of thought and emotion roiling within her. A storm all its own.
"You're not perfect but that's fine--no-one is, Gale. I like you just as you are anyway."
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:16 pm
Whatever reaction he had been expecting, this was not it.
He heard her voice, small, strained at first, but then it was brighter, hotter, like fire burning through the air, sharp and ashen, and Gale stared at her, taken aback, his stomach doing somersaults because this was not what he had thought was going to happen, this was not -
Don't listen to him.
He opened his mouth to say something, and then promptly shut it again, frozen in place as Stormy stepped closer, her hands around his neck, her fingers holding him in place, and her face was so close to his, so near that he could see every individual lash on her beautiful eyes.
And this was what he had wanted her to say before, what she had probably been thinking inside of her mind even when Thane was spouting his toxic disapproval, and it sank into him, breathed into him. Gale could feel the pull towards her, his eyes flickering, his heart thudding crazily inside of his chest, and she was just so close -
He lifted his hands, slid them around her waist slowly, pulling her towards him, his own feet stumbling, hesitant. One hand lifted, resting against the side of her face, his thumb brushing beneath her eye. Gale ducked his head, but at the last second, redirected his kiss to her cheek instead of her lips, closing his eyes and trying to steady his breathing, push down the rising urge to give in and kiss her because he wasn't sure she could handle it yet after everything that had happened, even if he wanted to - and he did, so badly, but he couldn't force it.
He buried his face in her hair, his breathing slightly shaking.
"I like you too," he whispered. "So bloody much. I'm sorry, Stormy, I'm so sorry."
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:05 pm
Three little words, "so bloody much", and yet they had the collective weight of something far greater. Stormy was glad her eyes were closed when he said them, because she didn't want to imagine what her face was like: a myriad of emotions flitting from one to the next, because this was not the first time Gale had said as much and yet it was a concept she still had trouble understanding. This situation was no different, and thus she only bottled her thoughts and moved on--unhealthy, perhaps, but safer than trying to unravel the mystery behind those simple words and becoming too engrossed to function correctly. No, she wanted simple again, because Thane had disrupted and complicated matters and she could not have these many entanglements at once without cracking. So she went with the easiest route and tired to smooth it over, even as she felt her cheeks warm.
"Why?"
No, that sounded childish and vague. She almost laughed at herself. The kiss to her cheek was like a little spark of light, an extra zing in her step, a modicum amount of energy that had instinctively brought out that simple child's mind from her.
"What are you sorry for?" she tried again, this time soft again. "Sorry for liking me? Sorry my weapon doesn't like you even half as much? Sorry I couldn't be just a little shorter so you could tuck me under your head more easily and frequently? Sorry that apples are red except when they're green or yellow?"
She was trying, you see, to make a joke. A weak joke but something a little more lighthearted nevertheless.
"Things are what they are because they simply are, Gale. Don't be sorry if that's what you feel--no-one should feel sorry for what only they can make for themselves, their emotions. I can apologize for Thane all I want, but he won't change just because I want him to, either. All I can do is let him be and let him see he's wrong, with time."
The fires Thane had started began to cool inside her, and though she could still feel burns, nothing was like the warmth of Gale's hand to her cheek. Stormy tilted her head just a little into it, her eyes still closed but with a smile in her tone. "Deep breath, okay? I'm not going anywhere either now that we're nice and cozy."
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:39 pm
He wished he weren't so stupid. That he hadn't let Thane bother him, that he hadn't already become so attached to Stormy that it was ridiculous, that he felt awkward and strange and uncertain and pathetic in comparison, that his thoughts were entirely about her even though they had only just barely started dating.
Is this what dating means? Being stupid?
The why she asked gave him pause, because Gale wasn't sure what it was referring to, and maybe she didn't either, maybe that was the point. He held her close and sighed into her hair before pulling back a little, his hand still against her face.
"For all of the above," he mumbled, his cheeks tinging pink, but she was right. He lifted his other hand, cradling her face in between his fingers, which pressed lightly against her own flushed cheeks. "For being stupid, for being...me, I guess."
He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers because somehow this was his favorite thing to do with her, because it felt as though they were sharing some space that was not a part of anywhere else, that it was just the two of them together in this one little piece of the world.
"I want to take you on a date," Gale said, and sighed. "A real date, one where we get all dressed up and you look even prettier than you already are, and I make myself look more presentable, and we go out and we spend time together and it's just us together, boyfriend and girlfriend."
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Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 1:00 am
"Well, I'm here to tell you that you don't have to be sorry for any of that, okay?" she said as she opened her eyes, adoring his little blush that greeted her. "Leave the red faces to the apples, for one, unless you wanna keep me smiling like an idiot at how cute you look. For another, some guys don't stop growing until their twenties even, so you have time left! I can wear flats if that helps. Or if nothing else, I know heeled boots are available. Didn't you know, heels used to be a men's only fashion accessory?"
Despite telling Gale not to talk to Thane, she couldn't help but picture the golem in heels and giggle--moreso when it elicited a soft sigh, the first noise Thane had made since their conversation.
"Thirdly, you are not being stupid. Your head's just full of endorphin rushes and hormones like mine is, like normal people when they're dating. Revel in the normalness." Stormy blinked and smiled to herself. "Never thought I'd say that. Most of all, though, don't apologize for being yourself, Gale. If you were someone else, like an evil twin brother or something, then I wouldn't feel this nice."
She hesitated, then got on the tips of her toes for a brief moment and pressed a kiss to his cheek, short and sweet but lingering to speak, her arms still draped around his neck. "I'd like a date very, very much. Just give me a time and place to meet, okay?" . . . No, lingering was a bad idea, there was the force pulling her in again! She flattened back down on her feet and gave Gale a sheepish smile. "Preferably with details like how fancy I should go, which the mission briefing failed to deliver. 'Formal' can mean anything, you know. There's, like . . . funeral formal and black tie slash dress formal, or formal like meet the president of that one country club you used to be in and have dinner at his house. Or semi formal, or go get a job dressy casual, or the sort of stuff you wear to get an award at school, or go to a concert . . . So, y'know. The more specific-y, the better!"
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Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:43 am
Gale gave a small snort. "I can just imagine what everyone would say if I started wearing those heeled boots. All the jokes and the sidelong comments about needing to compensate - " (thanks Marcus) " - but maybe one day I'll be a little taller."
He leaned back a little to look at her, an amused look on his face. "I can't believe you, of all people, just told me to revel in the normalness. You, who are so very unique and delightful in just your own not normalness."
Stormy's lips brushed against his cheek, sending shivers down his spine, and Gale slid his hands up and down her sides a little, leaning closer. Her arms felt warm and lovely around his neck, and he enjoyed the feel of them, enjoyed the fact that she wanted to stand this close - but no, he couldn't stand this close, if he did he would want to kiss her (he already did), and he wanted to save that moment for the right moment. He moved his hands back around her waist, linking his fingers together behind her back.
"This Friday," said Gale decisively. "We both have a few days of leave, we can use one to go out on our first date, off the island. I'll plan something and tell you about which sort of dressy we're going to be going for. "
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Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:03 pm
She giggled softly. "I know, I know. Miss Candace told me everyone here is a little crazy, so . . . maybe being normal is the new weird. But I promise I won't ever be afflicted by the normal since you like it so much~ Not that you could be either," Stormy added with a smile. "Not with those little white hair streaks and the marks on your arm and hand. Good to know I can pick you out of a crowd~"
But Gale could plan and she could get all nice and dressed up in whatever flavor that demanded and they'd have a really nice time and then she'd finally finally finally kiss him because it would be perfect. And Thane would just have to sit back and take it.
"Friday," she agreed with a bob of her head. "I'll try to look as nice as I did on the cruise for you. No wait, better!" Nevada would certainly helped, being the shipper that she was . . .
Pausing, Stormy slid her hands from his neck (with his hands at her waist it was perhaps too intimate to be there at the same time, not to mention the clashing signals) to Gale's shoulders. "I have two requests to make in return. One, um . . . I need you to remind me to get swimming lessons," she said sheepishly. "Because I don't want that happening again. Two, we should spar sometime! Guns make me nervous, but I could always use the practice . . ." It was funny both her boyfriend and her best friend had them for weapons.
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Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:19 pm
"Yes, well, Miss Candace is very right," said Gale dryly, leaning back on his heels a little. "Everyone here is a little crazy. As for my hair, well...that was in memory of Bix, after I thought he had 'died,' except he hadn't, not really."
He felt a little silly now, all things considered, but dying his hair back to blonde was too much effort, so he had just left it in. Gale smiled down at Stormy, feeling absurdly pleased at the idea of their date. Now he just needed to figure out something fun to do, something different that would blow her mind.
She was too cute. Gale tilted his head a little. "I'm not sure who could give you lessons, but I'll help you out finding a good time and place to do them. And a spar?" He raised an eyebrow. "With you?"
He didn't like the idea of hurting her, but he'd already sparred with all of his friends anyway - wouldn't it be similar?
"Okay," he said lightly, after a moment's consideration. "I'll spar with you."
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Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:47 pm
"Much appreciated~ Besides, we can practice defending both short range and long range too," she chirped. "Just 'cause I have a sword doesn't mean I'll get to be up close and personal all the time, and like what happened in that last battle, we won't always get a chance to stay away either."
She was also hoping, by proxy, to get Gale used to the idea of her being in battle. Concern over her was touching, but she feared one day it'd distract him in a crucial moment. That was why she had gotten her brothers to spar with her and why she would be asking Candace and Nevada to as well--everyone saw her as gentle, but she needed to prove to them she could hold her own as well. In a way, she had to prove that to herself as well.
Stormy was surprised to hear the reasoning behind the discolored hair, though, and her expression softened with though. Here she had thought it was another side effect of Caelius's scythe, but to know it had been because his best friend had seemingly died . . . It wasn't unheard of for something like to happen. Somehow or another, though, she was touched to see the evidence of how much Gale did care for people beyond herself.
"Oh. I, ah . . . I'm sorry he scared you like that . . ." She stumbled over the topic awkwardly, not having expected to unearth a little more emotion.
< < Your god forbid he should turn just as white next time you die, > > Thane murmured dryly.
"Next time"? A great vote of confidence. You'd been doing so well with the silence.
"Don't think of it as a spar if that helps," Stormy added, reaching up to brush some of that hair from his face. "Think of it as practice! Like after school sports practice, but hopefully without the grass stains. It's practice for later missions, and the more we do it the more in sync we'll be--like our weapons are synced with us."
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