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 Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:15 am
Nye was home almost two hours later, carrying a bag of mysterious contents and a full pill bottle in his pocket. Once in the kitchen, which he noticed was especially shiny, the bottle was set in its usual spot, and the bag on the counter. From the inside, he pulled out four styrofoam boxes- two of which were set into the refrigerator. The other two were emptied out into plates, accompanied by silverware, and set on the coffee table. Glasses and bottles of pop and juice followed quickly.
Nye wasn't sure whether or not he ought to wait...
But, he figured, to shorten the awkwarness, it would be wise to begin eating right then and there. He poured himself a glass of ginger ale, crossed his legs indian-style on the floor, and pulled his plate of fettuccine Alfredo closer before digging in. Mm. Italian.
"'Ey now," Gale said defensively. She wasn't being very nice about all this, and he really hated being victimized. Perhaps it would be better to lighten the mood with some humor instead of defending his own honor? It wouldn't hurt to try.
"I think I'll sti' with a boar', for th' sa'e of wa'ching you wipe ou' com'letely," he said innocently. He didn't even bother holding the door open for Michelle- just snuck himself in before it closed.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:39 am
Ivie emerged a little later, minus the rather large sweater she'd taken a liking too, toweling down her violently curling orange hair as the back of her sleeveless dress. It was one of those winter ones, stretchy with a turtleneck that reached her knees, in a deep brown colour. It took her a moment to notice that Nye was back and when she did she stopped dead, sending a timid smile in his direction.
She'd forgotton about the rather vivid bruising marring her wirsts.
"Ah...welcome back..." She said quietly, turning her eyes downwards and twisting her towel between her hands. Gone was the bubbly, defient Ivie Nye had met at the beginning, replaced with the quiet, subserviant one Butch had spent years turning her into.
...Arvia laughed. "You think I'm going to wipe out?" She asked, seeming to perk out. "Gale, my friend, I'll race you and laugh when you come up second best. I don't wipe out. It's not very...what's the word...elegant."
She turned to eye the boards. "Well then, what sort do you usually use?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:45 am
Nye nodded towards her, and then looked to the saucy pasta that was still steaming on the table across from him. "I hope you like Italian," he said quietly. Subdued was the quirky, witty Nye Ivie had met at the beginning, replaced with the guilty, curious Nye that came right after he did something wrong. Poor them.
His eyes wandered lazily back to Ivie, and were caught on the discoloration on her wrists. Well then. "What happened to your wrists?"
Gale raised a brow. It seemed like competition was the cure to anything and everything nowadays! "Challen'e me," he said defiantly. He'd show her second best! Pfah.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:08 am
"You know I do." Ivie said, sitting down on her knees on the other side of the table and picking up her dodgy plastic fork. Mm, ravioli. She stabbed a few pieces and popped them into her mouth, in the middle of chewing when Nye asked the questions.
She chocked. It took a few moments for her to stop coughing as she patted her own chest.
"Aah..." Another cough, and she forced a smie. "Um...nothing?"
"Straight downhill on the Iron Twist, this afternoon. You game?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:28 am
Nye cocked a brow, tilted his head. He uncrossed his legs and set the plate down on the table with a gentle clang before getting up on his knees to bring his face closer to the bruising. In his opinion, those looked like hand marks, a few sizes too small to be Butch's.
He reached his hand over and gingerly touched the spot where Ivie's skin turned purple. Just like he thought - the sizing matched up. But was that the entirety of the damage? "What happened?"
"Yer on." You just wait, Arvia. Gale was giddy just thinking about making her eat his snow- and that was just his boyish competitive spirit. How lovely that could be. "Loser trea's winner t' ho' chocola'e."
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:40 am
Ivie flinched, tugging her wrist away from Nye and holding it to her chest. It had been a shock more than anything else, it hadn't actually hurt, and she shoved her hands out of sight under the table.
"I slipped?" It was a pitiful excuse, and really not a viable one. She slowly, quietly, pulled one up and began eating her pasta again, wishing he'd just drop it.
She knew he wouldn't.
"Hot chocolate? Make it a mocha and you're on." She flipped her hair, which had been braided back into two long strands, and gave a grin. "Better tell me which board you want then so we can get this over wish and you can admit to my awesomeness!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:49 am
"You're an awful liar, Ivie. Does it hurt? Is there any swelling? Did you check for infections? Why'd you clean if your wrists were hurt? God, I'm not gonna sleep for weeks!" Nye rambled on as he scuttled up to his feet, tripped over Lizzie, and ran to the kitchen to get icepacks.
He cursed obnoxiously as the doorbell rang, and, without warning, Allison, Zak, and Tim burst in. Surprise!"
"My a**, do you guys have worse timing?"
"Does your wrist affect your brain?"
"Cranky, cranky. We brought cake!"
Nye didn't even care who's voice was who's, he was still on his way to give Ivie some ice packs.
Gale sized up the boards, but ended up nodding his head towards a rather simple blue-and-silver patterned board. That boy really did not stream towards anything fancy. "Does it mat'er? 'M gonna bea' you down in a mo a'yways."
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:16 am
"It's just...bruising, Nye. Those don't get infected...and...um..." She didn't really get much time to talk, Nye babbling over the top of her and not listening to her at all. She fell silent as he ran to the kitchen, letting him do as he pleased.
As the trio burst in the door, Ivie simply looked up at them, bemused. She shoved her wrists under the table. "Ah...hello?"
"Nonsense, you'll be using that board for the rest of the trip." Arvia said happily, paying over the deposit without any fuss before picking out her own. It was pink. And blue. Pretty girly, but it suited her because, hell, look at Arvia.
"Lets get on that lift and go! I'm going to cream you!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:33 am
Nye put the icepacks back rather grudgingly before making his way back to the doorway. He took everyone's coats onto his good hand, and simply hung them on the coat rack. Allison placed her cap there as Tim, with a box of cake in hand, made it over to the coffee table. He smiled at Ivie, set the box down, and sat down in front of her.
Honestly, this guy gave Gale's innocence a run for its money.
Zak, on the other hand, decided to strut in and sprawl himself on the couch behind Ivie, letting out a mighty belch that was followed by a noise of disgust from Allison and Nye. "Shouldn't have ate those ribs," he mumbled wearily.
Allison, seemingly rather at home, walked into the kitchen to make tea. Nye didn't even bother protesting. Instead, he followed her in and began talking in a hurried whisper, completely incomprehensible over the sound of the teapot, crockery, and Zak's moaning.
Getting on the lift and going was absolutely nothing.
When Gale found himself at the top of the highest, steepest slope in the resort, he did little but chuckle and puff out a smokey breath. This was going to be absolutely nothing, he reckoned. He only wished that his near guaranteed victory would be captured on camera somehow- screw being on the job.
That, and a mocha sounded mighty good even right then, and he hadn't been outside for ten minutes. Pity. "Rea'y?" he called out to his opponent.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:44 am
It seemed that Ivie relaxed when the three newcomers entered the scene. There was no way that Nye, even had he wanted to, would do anything to her with the other around because anyone who abused people didn't like witnesses. Not that Nye was one of those people. Well...she hoped not? She just didn't know anymore. A subtle grab for her sweater left the material in her hands and she tugged it over the head, comforted now that the bruises on her wrists were covered.
She ate casually at her pasta as the boys talked, waiting for a lull in the conversation. "So did you guys all get the day off, or is it your lunch break?" She didn't seem to hear Nye's whispering in the background.
As she slid off the lift on her board, Avia tugged her beanie further onto her head and adjusted the ski-ing goggles on her nose. She certainly looked the part of a snowboarder, with the braids and outfit, and she zipped her parka up to her nose.
"Ready to trounce your butt? Hell yes!" It seemed even polite, pretty Arvia had a competitive side. "On go! Three. Two. One. GO."
And they were off. Feeling the freezing wind whip at her face, and her braids fly out behind her, Arvia began carving up the mountain in a slim zig-zag pattern, obviously at ease on the slopes and with the foreign board.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:55 am
Tim opened the cake box and snatched a strawberry from the top. He placed it in his mouth gently, chewed slowly, and swallowed carefully. He was precise in his movements, and very careful about everything. Very strange for a teenage boy. "There weren't any appointments today, for some reason."
"Some reason? Our ladies' man is injured, so the twenty-and-under crowd is disinterested."
"Wh-what about me? I'm under twenty!"
"You look like you're eleven."
"I do not! Did a barbell fall on your head, or something?"
Zak pouted slightly and shoved his hands behind his head.
Tim: 1
Zak: 0
"And so now she won't tell me what happened!" Nye whispered through gritted teeth as he set mugs and plates onto a tray. "I'm afraid I hurt her worse than she lets on, Allison!"
"Just let her cool down, for now. Let her relax, give her reason to trust you again. Did you get a refill?"
"Of course I did."
Gale barely got to let a slight 'Tsk' out before they were off. Gale squinted his eyes as he flew right down the slope, starting out with wide zig-zags and narrowing once he began to regain his balance, shake off the rust that settled in from a lack of being a general goofball.
Still, Arvia was ahead, and what better way to win this than take some risks?
Just up ahead there was a slight and rather well-avoided bump. It would either send Gale flying ahead, or it would send him tumbling down to a few broken bones. Praying for the former, Gale lined himself up with nature's ramp, readied himself, and grinned. In moments he was up, whizzing through the air like a mad torpedo. With his hair whipping about him, he let out a victorious yelp, letting everything around him go in glorious slow motion.
Then, he bent his knees, braced himself for impact, and landed only inches behind Arvia.
He could have sworn the wind was laughing at him.
Still- there wasn't a lot of distance to close! Now if he could just strive forward a little more...
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 7:14 am
Well Zak and Tim were doing their job, anyway, Ivie was giggling again. "I'm sure it was just a slow day. Nye can't be the only reason you get customers, I'm sure, with you boys around." She scooped at the sauce at the bottom of the container, swallowing slowly. "I keep hearing about this ladies man bussiness. Is he really that notorious?" Bad would have been a poor word choice. Strong words like that always seem to dull peoples tongues.
She'd thought she knew Nye relatively well until last night, so she might as well take every oppertunity to find out about him now. Her eyes, however, strayed to the cake Tim had opened, her sweet tooth overriding the skittishness that had been plagueing her all morning.
"May...I have some cake?" Still hesistant, but hopeful. After all, both Zak and Tim were men, and men wern't high on her like list right now.
Arvia didn't go to the slopes every year, but she'd been often enough that snowboarding had become something rather familiar to her. Still, it was her first run of the season and she was deffinately rusty. She heard the familiar plop and hiss of Gale landing somewhere behind her and she smirked, quickly cutting across in front of him. She doubted it would throw him off balance but hopefully the sudden movements would be enough to slow him down while she kept going at breakneck speeds.
A girlish giggle could be head if Gale listened closely enough, and suddenly Arvia swerved off to the side, letting the boy take the lead. For a moment it looked like she might have given up on the race.
And then it came into sight. A far larger jump than Gale had tackled before and Arvia, competitive as she was, jumped it. For a moment she flew, free, and closed her eyes, before she slammed back to earth a few feet in front of Gale and continued on down the slope.
The girl was playing with him.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:01 pm
Zak gave Tim a pathetic imitation of the eyebrow wiggle and nestled in more comfortably on the couch. "I like her," he said smugly. Tim just gave a roll of the eyes as he reached for another strawberry. Zak's ego was easily fueled, and sometimes, the boy didn't know how he put up with it. Oh well.
"Of course you can have some cake! We only brought it over 'cause we knew Nye had a house guest."
"Yeah, really. When Nye gets hurt we generally bring him actual dinner, not dessert. He doesn't get our secret bakery treats."
Tim, being the actually productive on, stood up quickly and jogged over to the kitchen. Lizzie, amidst all this excitement, followed him with a happy yap and a skittering against the kitchen linoleum. In a gloriously good (and somehow oblivious) mood, Tim knowingly found the cupboards and pulled out a tea plate, a knife and a fork.
These were set down in front of Ivie with the utmost urgency as Tim brandished a knife and held it just above the cake. "Which piece would you like?"
Due to Tim's outburst, Nye had to grudgingly put one of his plates away. Allison, still busy making tea, only laughed.
Gale had to slow down for a brief moment as Arvia pulled that dodgy swerve right in front of his nose- he almost got whipped by a braid, you know! Not exactly suspecting that Arvia was playing love any sort of games with him, Gale took the opening as soon as he saw it coming.
When he looked over to be all smug to Arvia, she was already higher in the air than he would ever suspect she could be. With his face splashed by snow, Gale grit his teeth and decided to really put the pressure on. He continued down the smoothest path, keeping his balance tight, and eventually, far past the halfway mark, he gained a steady lead.
Ohoho! Who was good now? The boy let himself relax a little bit, but his lack of awareness oh so so close to the bottom of the slope cost him. A rock, not much higher than his mid-calf, was directly in front. Gale noticed too late, and as he turned to attempt a quick stop, the side of his board hit the base of the rock and he immediately lost his balance and fell to the ground.
What an amazing finish. He was cold and hanging off a rock, now.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 5:25 pm
Ivie did notice that her question was rather neatly avoided, or perhaps ignored, by the boys enthusiastic decision to feed her cake. "I can get a plate...myself?" Yes, they were ignoring her in order to feed her sugary delights. Somehow, Ivie just couldn't bring herself to stop them. After all, someone had to eat the cake if Nye didn't like it, and she was quite willing to make that sacrifice. For the good of the world, after all.
"Um..." It was a serious question, and it took Ivie a moment or two to respond, before pointing at a piece which was still boasting strawberries. "Please?"
The cake was duelly handed over and Ivie, looking happier than she had since...the last time she'd been given cake, gently pressed her fork into the squishy substance and popped a small piece into her mouth. The reaction was instantanious; Ivie completely relaxed and leant against the sofa, a happy smile adorning her lips. "Oh this is so good," she got out, eyes alight. "Where did you guys pick it up?"
That was one good thing about being behind in a race; you could see where your opponants fell and avoid making the same mistakes. There wasn't a lot Arvia could have to help Gale at this point without falling over herself so she simply went around him, taking a moment to glance back.
They really were quite close to the end of the track. A minute or so later Arvia had looped around at the bottom of the hill, slowly bringing herself to a halt. Her hands finding her goggle, she popped them onto the top of her head and looked back, eyes finding Gale still struggling with that rock.
"You alright, Gale?" She called up, unable to stop the smirk on her lips. She'd woooooon.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:09 pm
Nye walked to the table with his tray in hand, setting down teacups full of tea and plates down in front of everyone. Zak considered this an occasion special enough to clamber down from his high couch- after all, this was cake! "I'm glad you like it," Tim said as he began serving everyone. "But our favorite bakery is a secret. Not even Allison knows."
Allison, in all her Hawaiian vigor, joined the medley for the company if not for the cake. "It's unfortunate, they always bring treats to get-togethers."
The boys exchanged a glance, and Zak even went so far as to wink. Obviously, they were very smug about their well-kept secret.
"So, Miss... Callaghan, is it?" Tim sent Nye a cautioned glance, and the man only nodded, seeing as his mouth was full of cake at the moment. "Have you learned to take advantage of our lovely almost-casanova yet?"
"I will survi'e~" he called back, almost sing-song like. With a little bit of preparation, he thrust his legs up in the air to bring them over the rock along with the board, but the motion was not a wise choice. He tumbled down quite a few feet before sliding to a stop, and getting up from there was no easy feet.
Well, getting up and keeping your balance anyways.
When the world took one final turn around him, Gale shook his head, adjusted his goggled, and slid down to Arvia's location. "End o' th' weekend. Rema'ch."
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