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 Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 7:59 pm
"I might know the answer, but I like hearing yours anyway~" she pointed out, fiddling with more of his hair in return and trying not to let him get an affectionate rise out of her with all of those light little kisses; there had to be some semblance of control, even for someone like her. "If you can't tell yet by the state of my room, it gets a little chaotic in my head--sometimes it's nice to feel a different breeze pass through."
Stormy hesitated at the suggestion, though it was just for a second. And then she chided herself because really, it was an unnecessary layer, and she was starting to get hot . . . "I haven't gotten to shower yet," she warned him in a mumbly voice, glad she had put on deodorant and perfume; at least if there was any smell, it would be masked for the moment. Shedding her hoodie with a few yanks (it was reluctant to leave her person), she pooled it onto the ground beside her, simultaneously feeling better and a little self-conscious as she hastily pulled her gray top back down, the autumn and deer theme wrinkled.
She could still practically feel the imprint of Gale's face in her neck. Her scar stretched as she rolled her shoulders with a tiny wince.
"Funny that as a water sign, I'm talking about fire . . . Does that make it steamy?" she teased with a wink, trying to mitigate her own blushing while forcing him to. "Does Galedilocks finds this too hot~?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 8:11 pm
He smiled. "I like chaos," Gale replied mildly, leaning back enough so that she had room to move if she wanted, his hand reaching up to idly brush at the short strands of her hair. The smile only widened at her comment, Gale dropping his arms away from her waist as she struggled with the sweatshirt.
"You still look beautiful to me," he reassured her, and reached out, his fingers curling in the hem of her shirt and tugging her back towards him a little, though his other hand remained beside him. One brow arched, and though his cheeks were become steadily more flushed, her teasing question only served to make him more entertained.
"Not at all," he said lightly and grinned. Reaching up the hand that had been on her shirt, he set it alongside her face, thumb brushing tenderly over her cheek as he just looked at her, an expression of utmost adoration on his face.
"You," he said softly, "are always beautiful to me."
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Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 8:37 pm
The attempt failed miserably. She was sure her face was pretty much a permanent red at this point, her teasing light and inconsequential against how very solid and apparent his adoration was; it was far too hard to try and wrap her mind around it. You're just saying that, she almost said, a knee-jerk instinct from being under that much attention, but she bit it back upon reminding herself that Gale wasn't that type of person.
Stormy dropped her gaze sheepishly because she couldn't handle the intensity of his, a soft note escaping her at the compliment. "Thanks, but I could do better," she protested mildly, though it was half-hearted because she appreciated--needed--to be told that. Nevertheless, she had to find a way to switch the topic off her, or she might in fact burn up as she had warned before. "But, if you do like a little chaos . . ."
She looked up at him through her lashes, somehow coy and mischievous at the same time. "Wanna do some stupid teenage stuff and scare the crap out of Ms. Candace with me?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 9:58 pm
He may or may not have had a little habit of making her blush just because he liked seeing the bashful way she would duck her head, the pink in her cheeks just as endearing as her smile. Gale slid his fingers from Stormy's face and smiled, sliding his hands around her waist and linking them together against the small of her back.
"I'm glad I can see you in all walks of life," he said lightly. "Even when your eyes are red and you're flushed and you haven't showered yet, I'll still think you're beautiful because in my eyes you are."
Gale slanted his head a little, giving Stormy a curious look, and then he let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "Depends on what sort of stupid teenage stuff you're talking about," he said slyly, poking his thumb playfully into her back. "But I think I'd be up for that."
He leaned forward and pecked a kiss to her nose. "Just tell me what to do."
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Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:54 pm
Touched by the observation, she forgot momentarily that she was supposed to be looking impish and blinked with surprise. "Oh! Hah, that's . . . that's something, huh . . ." Stormy smiled bashfully at the ground, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and sniffling. "Masks in plain sight."
. . . Okay no, no, she was supposed to be in charge here! Deep breaths!
Clearing her throat, Stormy picked up the mischievous look, grinning widely at Gale's own sly look; she was excited he was willing to try something that might be out of his comfort zone. Or at least out of his sphere of thinking. "Someone's thinking naughty thoughts~" She poked his nose first before mimicking him and pecking it. "Mind you, Ms. C might not even care or answer--but there's always the risk things won't work! That doesn't mean you shouldn't try stirring things up anyway. Think of this as a test."
She fiddled with the collar of his shirt. "Step One, I need to find my phone . . . Step Two, I need you to take your shirt off." She started to make her way out of his lap for both of these purposes, though her legs had trouble functioning in the I like this position can we stay in this position sort of way, giving her pins and needles up to her knees.
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 9:18 am
He could have gone on forever about how beautiful he found her, but that probably would have wound up being repetitive after a while. So instead, Gale just smiled serenely up at Stormy and tapped his fingers lightly against her cheek affectionately before sliding his hand away to join the other at her back.
"My thoughts are perfectly pure, thank you," said Gale, with as much dignity as he could (which wasn't much). The smile twitching at the corners of his lips, however, was a clear indicator that they were probably not. "But enough about me, because we're going back to whatever we're doing to scare Miss Candace."
Stormy's fingers were gentle at his neckline. Gale eyed her suspiciously. "Now who's thinking naughty thoughts," he said pointedly, but he was rolling his eyes, an amused expression on his face. Dragging one leg up, he winced slightly at the sudden rush of blood, and tugged first at the sweater. It was folded up neatly and set beside him. The plain white button-down, however, took a bit more time, Gale's hands suddenly hesitant as he slowly unfastened the buttons.
He gave Stormy a shy look, his cheeks pink, and finally shrugged it off, trying not to think about how he was now only half dressed in Stormy's room. The black marks that started in his left palm were clearly visible, radiating upwards almost to his shoulder. There was also the slightly concealed, circular Orbourous mark, half hidden among the black. "And then what?" he asked her, absently folding the shirt as well to place it atop its mate.
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 10:28 am
"Are they? 'Pure' is a funny word, you know. Doesn't mean innocent necessarily~" She couldn't help but tease him more anyway, because what was a would-be English major without her occasional semantics?
Her back turned to Gale for the moment, Stormy rubbed some feeling back into her legs and made her way to the closet. "My thoughts are on mischief and fun," she replied airily, pulling out a skirt and top she felt would have been party appropriate. "I dunno where yours went--"
And then she turned and saw him. For whatever reason, she hadn't mentally prepared for the moment in her absentminded way, similar to how someone could heat something up, momentarily forget it's hot, and then surprise herself by burning her hand trying to pick it up. In her mind, it had gone Gale - shirt = Step Two complete for plottyness, not Gale - shirt = shirtless Gale.
Shirtless Gale in her room.
Stormy didn't mean to stare, but there she was anyway, catching his shy look and feeling her face heat up almost instantaneously. Maybe this was a little too much of a push; maybe she ought to have reigned in the stupid impulse and thought on it for once. A half formed word left her as she dropped her gaze to the black streaks crisscrossing his arm, trying to calm herself down by tracing them to his wrist, though something seemed a little off there.
Handsome was a word. So was hot. Words. English.
She was just opening her mouth to apologize and call off the operation when Gale started folding his clothes like a gentleman. Stormy immediately burst into laughter and doubled over, her choices of clothes touching the floor. "No, no--Oh God, Gale, that's--!" She was almost wheezing before she managed to put it to a stop, wiping at her eyes with a bright smile as she came over (though not too close because shirtless). "God, you're so adorable sometimes, I can't even handle it...But that's not what I had in mind."
Careful not to directly look at him (shirtless), Stormy pulled her skirt off the hanger and let it fall tousled a little off to the side of the growing pile of clothes. "It needs to look like you threw it off in a fit of passion," she explained with the straightest face she could manage, which lasted all of two seconds before she laughed again. "Like so!" Taking her shirt off the hanger, she tossed it a little ahead of the skirt, overlapping partially.
kurotomato i wash my hands of this madness ide
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 10:54 am
He was still slightly concerned about what they were doing, if only because they were confused; but alas, Stormy was Stormy, and he trusted her, so he went along with it. And it might also have been that he was feeling a bit peckish after having finally admitted his feelings; so, bolstered by that knowledge, Gale lifted his gaze to meet Stormy's, giving her a shy smile.
"I, er," he said, glancing down at himself. "I'm a little pale," he said, a bit unnecessarily. "Obviously we don't get a lot of sun here, which is pretty pathetic, but there you have it. There was never a lot of sun in London either."
He caught her looking and it made him flush more, but stupidly he was pleased, since he had never once thought of himself as "attractive" (which, he decided, was a very relative term anyway). And then she was laughing and his confusion doubled, Gale glancing down at his neat pile of discarded clothing.
"What?" he asked, tilting his head towards them. "I thought I'd, er..."
But then the full realization of what she was saying finally hit him and Gale's mouth fell open just a little before he burst into laughter himself, bringing a hand up to his face and shaking his head. "Oh, boy," he said, and looked back at her, grinning. "She'll kill us."
Gale tugged the sweater and shirt out of their cozy little pile and tossed one haphazardly onto the ground, where it landed in a heap beside the skirt. The other was draped unintentionally over the side of the bed, and he could not stop laughing, a hand over his mouth as he stared over at her.
"You're terrible," he said. "And brilliant."
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:26 am
Hopefully Gale would accept "confused" as one of the states she perpetuated naturally--especially if it got him flustered. "Confused" and "affectionate" tended to go hand in hand with her.
"You're perfect," she found herself saying without thinking. Then she stared hard at their clothes, cheeks stinging. "I-I mean fine. You're fine. You're good. Very fine." Stop it, self.
She fiddled with her hair self-consciously and swallowed. "Brilliant, huh? Like lightning~? Thank you, I do try," she replied with a little grin, still not quite able to look at him directly after staring. But at least he was laughing, which was a good sign...Stormy made a noise of approval as he fixed his clothes up, chuckling a little more at how ridiculous an idea this was getting to be. It had sounded alright in her head, but as always it was very different when put into action.
"Correction: she'll kill you," she told Gale with very brief but sly glance, making her way to the bed. "Nobody would expect me to come up with this~ Now, one more decision to make." From under the foot of the bed Stormy pulled out a glass bottle of alcohol, with amber liquid up about a third of the bottle's length.
Someone had raided Nevada's hidden stash during her three day moratorium on socializing.
"Yes or no for the photo?" she asked with as light a tone as possible as she showed it to him, her eyes still pointedly at his feet. "And, um...'you thought you'd' what exactly?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:54 am
Gale's head jerked towards Stormy at the word perfect, his face scarlet with simultaneous pleasure and surprise, hands fiddling with each other, since he did not have a sleeve to tug on. He gave her a small smile, ducking his head bashfully. "Thanks," he mumbled, and then cleared his throat.
But then she had moved on, and he gave an inward sigh of relief that he had not bungled things. "Yes, like lightning," he said, lifting his gaze again to watch her. Stormy wasn't quite looking at him, but she was pink in the face and rather adorable, so he relaxed, turning around so that he could face the rest of her room.
"Hey," he said, in mock indignation, Gale pushing himself to his feet. "I am her adopted little brother...which means yes, she'll kill me." The bottle of alcohol was given a raised eyebrow as his gaze flickered from that and then back to Stormy again, amusement in his eyes.
He stepped across the room to her, plucking the bottle from her fingers and scrutinizing it momentarily. "I say yes," Gale said, and handed it back with a grin. "The more the merrier, even though that phrase does't quite mean what it does in this situation."
Gale moved past her to the bed, idly tugging on the blankets; but Stormy's unexpected question made him stop abruptly, his hands stilling. His mouth opened and then promptly snapped shut again, a rush of heat flooding his cheeks as he deliberately didn't look at her.
"Erm." He said brilliantly. "Er. Nothing, nothing."
Hastily he turned around and changed the subject. "Ready?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 12:24 pm
"Nothing" said just about everything in one word. Something warm and cold at the same time shot through her, her fingers twitching as they clasped the bottle once more. The intensity of her blushing was such that she expected either the spot she was staring at on the ground would get set on fire, or she would. Maybe both. Maybe everything would just go up in flames spontaneously, that sounded alright.
"Oh," she said in a small voice. "Okay." Maybe it was bad to assume, but she couldn't help it. Not when it was clear now just how deep his affection for her ran.
Blinking hard, she tried to push past it as Gale did, rubbing at her collarbone in an idle gesture. Scrutinizing the photo space, she set the bottle on its side beside the bed, as if knocked down on their rush to...to the bed. Right.
"Almost done. Step Some Number: Shoes off," she instructed in a mild voice, her gaze fixed on the bottle. Maybe her face would stop being red if she stared long enough and forgot what they were doing and what she was saying. "Step Some Number Plus One: I need you to get in bed and look like you're fast asleep." Stormy made a vague gesture. "Make sure the covers hide your pants."
She was just going to stand there and try not to look awkward or embarrassed or terribly pleased he was actually obeying still.
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 12:45 pm
Awkward.
Gale tried not to think about it and instead turned around to sit down on the bed, reaching to unlace his boots. "I hope you realize you owe me some cookies for this or something," he said in amusement, tugging one boot off and then switching legs to reach the other. His fingers worked beneath the laces, trying to undo the knot in one of them. "Or some tea. I'd kill for some more tea right about now," he added wistfully. And then, slightly more grumpily, "I somehow managed to drink all of the stash I had."
He finished with the knot and pulled his second boot off, kicking them aside. Then, with a sideways glance at Stormy, he turned around and climbed into her bed, swinging his legs up and beneath the covers. Gale pulled them up around his waist, settling down comfortably, and then turned back towards Stormy, one arm beneath the pillow. "It's comfy," he said, smiling at her. "Just remember - cookies."
Then he burrowed down further into the bed, hair flopped over his face, and obediently adopted a relatively believable, "fast asleep" pose, curled up on his side.
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:11 pm
"Oh! Yeah, sure, absolutely," she promised with a little nod. "For being an excellent boyfriend, you'll get all the cookies and tea you want as soon as I can manage. And a whole dessert if Ms. C does go crazy."
Don't be awkward, don't be awkward.
She let Gale be so he could get into character so to speak, sifting through the papers on the ground until she found her phone. Carefully and quietly she found a good spot and adjusted the camera option, moving forward and back until she could catch both the stream of clothes and Gale, the bottle glinting like a little star. Stormy took several photos just to be sure they were good.
Then she paused and glanced at him. As quietly as she could, calling on what Mist training she had used to tail Candace, she tip toed to the bed, held her phone above him, and took another picture. "And there we go~" she cooed softly, bending down to kiss his hair with a smile. "You've passed the test with flying colors." Leaning away momentarily, she snatched his shirt off the ground and offered it to him, affecting a tone of importance. "I confer upon you this award of surviving one silly challenge. Wear it proudly~"
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:29 pm
Stormy's bed was very comfortable. Gale pressed his face into her pillow, inhaling her scent and trying to keep the smile off of his face for the sake of the pictures. But everywhere around him were reminders that this was Stormy's room; this was her space, where she spent her time, where she sat and sifted through her own thoughts. They'd spent most of their time together at his house, rather than her place, and Gale realized that this was one of the first times they had actually been in her room.
He felt her lips against his hair and opened his eyes, peering up at her with a smile. "Glad to hear it," he said, pushing himself to a sitting position and scooting to the edge of the bed to sit in front of Stormy. He reached for his shirt, curling his fingers around it. Instead of putting it on, however, he flipped it up over her head, using the sleeves on either side to pull her closer so that he could tug her down for a real kiss.
"Thank you, by the way," he said, once he drew a little away (but not too far), still holding onto the shirt.
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Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 2:09 pm
She had just pocketed the phone when he pulled her in. It was instinctive for Stormy to reach out and try to grab something to steady herself--only this time she found only bare skin. Gale's bare skin. Gale's bare skinned chest. Gale's warm bare skinned chest.
And of course kissing yes there was kissing going on while he was shirtless on her bed--
Something short circuited in her brain as her face took on a delicate shade of maroon. When he let her pull back, Stormy looked stuck between stunned and pleased and utterly, utterly shy about the whole thing. "F-For what?" she had to ask, blinking owlishly, defaulting to humor as she scrambled to find her bearings. "For giving you an excuse to be shirtless for me?"
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