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 Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:26 pm
Q looked momentarily, hopeful, and then dejected all over again, and shy… yes, that was absolutely shy. “How… much do you think she’d like some girl time? Like…GIRL time or… Girl Time.” She said like that made the world's clearest difference. She huffed and then said… “Like…. Hypothetically, if I had … a little bit, small….” She made a pinch motion with her fingers. “Tiny…. but of a crush, on your sister. How awkward would that be.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:57 pm
Jace's face didn't move, not because of any emotional response, but because he was too busy thinking about what she had just said.
He could process what Q was doing--she looked sheepish, nervous, embarrassed--not emotions he ever associated with her. Ever. She looked vulnerable, and he couldn't understand why, because she had absolutely not just said she had a crush on his sister.
She had said hypothetically, but what did hypotheticals mean anyway?
--What would Holden think? Was Q trying to break his heart?
Oh, wait. What if it was worse than that. What if she wanted a threesome. What if she and Holden were both in love with his sister.
Oh, no. It made perfect sense. He was so crass and rude and he wasn't a very good friend, and he always looked mad, and he ignored them for hours or days, and he had a bad temper--but it must have been the oldest trick in the book.
Befriend the overprotective, unfriendly, bitchy older brother to get to the perfect, sweet, loveable younger sister.
His face fell again, and maybe that idea hurt worse than the fact that Q and Holden might run off together and leave him behind, because then there was the chance that they'd never even liked him to begin with.
...But this was a hell of a long con if that was the case. They'd been friends for years.
He hesitated and crossed his legs, propping his elbows onto them so he could lean forward a bit and get to the bottom of this.
"I don't know the difference between girl time and girl time," he said, instead of trying to choke on his sandwich to escape from his 'worst case scenario' thoughts. "...Is this a hypothetical crush or a real crush?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 7:03 pm
Q’s blush was fast and furious, and she stared rather pointedly, anywhere but him. “HYPOTHETICAL.” She said with rather too much fervor. “Because …. because…god, MEN.” Which didn’t exactly clear things up. “…. Jace… Jace I like, women, and your sister …. your sister is… is…” She made a strangled sound and swept up one of the boba teas and started drinking it with more aggression than should really have been possible for a sweet milk tea with tapioca pearls. “GOD, I shouldn’t have asked.” She said still blushing. “You do NOT get to tease me about this either!” She added. Though there was no actual thought that he would, not really.
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 7:17 pm
Q being flustered immediately made him flustered, and when he thought he'd had things under control, suddenly she wasn't under control, and he felt his whole face burn as red as if he had just made that confession.
"My sister's like twelve!" he said instinctively, defensively, regretfully, because she wasn't twelve, and Q couldn't just go around acting like she was within a perfectly reasonable, datable age group.
"Or," he fumbled. "Well, she was!"
He could feel the blood surging through his veins and he thought his head might just explode, and suddenly it made sense why people might have been avoiding him. This was too many bombs dropped in his lap. He was going into cardiac arrest, he could feel it.
He reached a hand up to his chest to try and soothe the shooting pain; he didn't groan like he wanted to, but he through his head back, exasperated.
"How!" he demanded, "When?"
There was no venom, no bite. Despite it all, no judgment, It was just a helpless line of questions while he tried to catch back up and get onto the same wavelength as her.
He struggled again to speak, because now that she was flustered, he was suddenly tongue tied. "--What are we getting at here, just get me on the same page. You're not like, already dating Holden?" he blurted, with mild horror that he'd actually voiced that concern. He tried to save face by tacking on, "Or Callan?" He just hoped that she was too flustered and distracted already to put much thought into it.
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 7:25 pm
“She is NOT!” Q protested flushing even more at the very thought that she’d be such a cradle robber. “Oh my god, I wouldn’t have a crush on her if she were TWELVE.” “See? I shouldn’t have said anything. I just didn’t want to be like my Dork Brother and your Clueless one!” “… Wait… What??! NO No I am not dating Holden! OR Callan, I don’t… like… MEN.” She said and waved her hands. “I am not -dating- anyone. I am trying to tell you I like girls so you don’t get…blindsided!” She felt dangerously close to crying again just because of ‘damn emotions’ and that was absolutely not allowed to happen. Ever, again. “Drink your boba!!!” She added trying to sound furious and just sounding flustered. “Drink your boba or I'm … finding something pointy! Pretend I didn’t say anything! Don’t you DARE tell anyone I said that!!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 7:35 pm
For a split second, Jace's mind was just completely scrambled, and he was torn between being too upset about someone wanting to date his sister and being relieved that Q wasn't dating Holden.
...Q wasn't just anyone, though, and the whiplash of emotions in all of this made him feel like he wanted to throw up again, even if he felt better.
Except, he knew Q's mind was probably going a mile a minute now, because that's exactly what his would be doing if he were in her place.
"It's your secret to tell, not mine!" he blurted, and Jace was good with secrets. He'd take it to the grave for her because she'd asked. Or, threatened, but that was just her way of communicating.
"It's just--it's just been a while, okay? She--" he opened his mouth, closed it, sort of got stuck in a loop, and then worked his way out of it. "She's always going to be my little sister. You--you've got Nelson, you know how it is. It--it would take the right person for me to be happy she was dating anyone. I mean, she's had crushes. She's had crushes on--"
Was he supposed to say it? ...Was it private? His sister had never seemed embarrassed before, and she was just so full of love that he couldn't imagine that being a secret.
"--She could fall in love with anyone," he said, because that was a fact that said everything he needed to.
He reached for his boba, because Q had demanded it, and forced himself to take a semi-aggressive sip just to appease her. He was trying to speak before the straw was out his mouth though, and that was almost another disaster waiting to happen. He choked down the mouthful and then said, "I can't just pretend like I didn't hear that! You--if you do anything--if it doesn't work out, you have to--well, I can't lose you, so if you date her you just have to be resolved to marrying her, Q! I don't want either of you to suffer any heartbreak. I'd kill anyone who hurt either of you, so--so neither of you are allowed to get hurt!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 7:50 pm
“Why do you think I’ve never said anything? I don’t want it to be weird between us!” She shifted till she could rest her head on her knees. Folded over and down in one of the rare vulnerable moments that only the small handful of you really seemed to see. “Besides - I’m like, her polar opposite. She does BALLET! I stab people with needles on multiple levels.” She rubbed her face. “It’s just one of those things that crept in. But... god. Not Holden.” She shook her head and laughed. “Like you, I’d defend Holden like family, but I can’t even imagine crushing on him. I think I’ve always known I just wasn’t into men in any shape or form. While I acknowledge that Holden has says when he’s the most fabulous princess’ - he’s still Holden.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 8:06 pm
Jace was glad he had the previous conversation to blame his redness on, because she said she couldn't even imagine crushing on Holden and--
Well. Well, Holden was perfect just the way he was, or however he wanted to be, and that was fine.
But this wasn't about Holden, this was about Q, and his sister.
He wasn't going to make Q feel bad for opening up, for being honest with him, no matter how surprising the truth had been.
He reached out to give her shoulder a small, almost playful nudge. It wasn't half as hard as he would have given Xander, but he doubted Q had much experience in dealing with troublesome brothers when she had goody-two-shoes-Nelson.
"It's not going to be weird between us," he insisted, and though his tone was gruff there was something deliberately reassuring about it. "And they say opposites attract, right? Ballet's not all frills and tutus. You should see her bruises. She's tough, too. In her own way."
He wasn't even sure what he was saying--because, on one hand, if she and Q started dating, his brotherly instincts demanded he intervene and ruin every possible date. But. His best friend instincts told him to do everything to make sure the dates succeeded and to help make sure their relationship thrived.
...And he wanted his little sister happy, so...
And Q could take care of anyone--and she knew how to be tender. She had been nothing but sweet and supportive with Nelson, and...
He set the boba down and used his free hand to rub at his face, because if he thought his mind had been wild before, he didn't know what to call it now.
"Soft and sweet's your type, though? Really?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:27 am
Q groaned softly. “I know, I know ballet is super tough. people think it’s so easy and frilly and delicate and ‘oh so feminine’ but god… I got one of their exercise videos and I almost DIED. Anyone who can goes through what they do to warm up and survive can kick my ever-loving….” She stopped herself and took a breath. “She/s… beautiful and strong in ways I’m not.” She shook her head. “I’m not saying I’m weak either, I’m saying she’s… a different kind of strong. You and Xander and She are… resilient.” She said carefully. “Nelson and Xander Dating made me think about it all, I was very happy ignoring anything like it and then they had to go and…shift the balance of things.” She shook her head and sighed. “If you start dating someone you’d better be prepared to bring them around to hang out! I am not letting you off the hook of being my friend just because you’ll probably find someone too.” She added brandishing her Boba cup like a shield… or a weapon.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2021 1:17 pm
Imagining Q doing any sort of ballet seemed like some cursed picture, so Jace had to quickly dismiss the thought from his mind--because even though he knew it wasn't just tutus and frills, that's all he imagined for her.
He chewed on his cheek as he listened to her.
Xander and Nelson had shifted the balance, unfairly so, and Jace found himself in a constant struggle to accept the new and maintain the old.
He huffed when she mentioned him dating, because he knew of all of them, he was the least likely to wind up actually bringing someone around. He didn't meet new people and like them, usually--most of the new people in his life were involved in practicing law, and that made most of them competition.
It was a relief to know that she wanted to be his friend, though he felt a bit foolish for being so upset earlier. He wanted to promise that if he ever started dating someone, she'd be among the first to know, but the truth was that he wasn't sure he'd ever actually date someone and not just wind up in some practical marriage to better the firm.
He didn't want to say that, because he knew she'd be disappointed in the answer.
"Well. I think it would serve Xander right, for you to go and date his little sister," he scoffed. "That'll teach him for scooping up yours. And. If it went anywhere, you--"
He didn't exactly know the right words, because it was strange for him to say, but he trusted Q. "...You'd treat her right, at least. And I know you'd take care of her. So. I don't know. I'll think about it. Maybe you two would compliment each other nicely. At least, I wouldn't have to worry about you two, neither of you are walking disasters like our brothers..."
He couldn't quite look at her because he was a little embarrassed to say it, but he meant it, at least, and more. He just hadn't figured out how to say the rest.
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