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 Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 10:25 pm
His fingers absently fluttered alongside her face, brushing up and down in idle gestures, and her skin was warm and flushed from her bout of crying, though Gale made no mention of it. He smiled a little, his eyes half lidded from weariness, and let his fingertips dust over her lips briefly.
"For being you," he said. "And for being you with me."
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Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 11:01 pm
She sniffled and managed a weak smile of her own. In spite of all the compliments she had quietly avoided, deflected, and otherwise circumvented, Stormy let herself take that one in: a little ball of light to hold against her chest and a tiny step forward.
Speaking of light, it was only then that she saw evening had fallen. Time was cruelly marching onwards . . . But she felt no immediacy in needing to leave. #177 was, for the moment, all to herself anyway, and it was comfortable here. Safe. It didn't matter that the house had taken damage, or that the power was out . . . This right here was indestructible, she thought, as silly as that sounded.
"You're the real shining example here, you know." Rubbing an eye on her sleeve, Stormy tilted her head up to view him better, taking Gale's fingers into gentle hostage between her own. "Youngest full rank hunter from your group, specialized, one've the first to get promoted . . . When I first met you, I thought you were an inspiration: that it didn't matter how old you were, because so long as you worked hard, you'd make it out alright." Her smile brightened a little. "And I still think you are. So . . . Thank you for being you, too."
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 6:59 am
He gave a little snort that was muffled slightly by turning his face into the pillow. His free arm was still curled around Stormy's waist, the fingers of Gale's other hand twined together with hers, and he squeezed them a little without opening his eyes.
"You're exaggerating," he said, but there was a note of affection in his voice. He absently toyed with one of her fingers, tugging at it. "I'm really not all that great; I can't even control myself when it comes to you most of the time."
How that came out sounding, he wasn't sure, Gale too weary to realize and preoccupied with keeping himself close to her.
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 7:16 am
"I'm only repeating what I've learned and what you've told me~" But her smile dimmed with hesitation as he continued, a phantom of a memory rising up--of someone else speaking a similar notion. Her finger was tugged without resistance, every motion a good reminder of where and when she was. Stormy was glad his eyes were closed for the moment.
"How do you mean?" she asked before she could stop herself, sniffling again. "If this is you not being in control, well...I don't think there's really anything to worry about."
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 7:27 am
Unaware that what he had said might be taken the wrong way, Gale exhaled a long breath, shifting slightly so that he could touch her forehead with his own, eyes still closed. A bone-deep weariness had set into him, and now he didn't want to move at all.
"Just..." he said, struggling to find the right way to put it. "Like kissing you in front of everyone after the tournament; I've never been too fond of those couples that show too much affection in public all the time. What's ours is ours, and it's no one else's business. I know I caught you off guard for that, so I'm sorry."
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 9:06 am
Was he really bothered by that days later? The example gave Stormy some relief and brought back a smile even if he couldn't see it, endeared to his self-consciousness.
"Not sorry," she insisted, borrowing Gale's phrase. "And not out of control. You were being a little spontaneous, and that's a-okay. Besides," Stormy added with a soft, (still) somewhat watery chuckle, "I was asking for it. Literally. I forget sometimes that what I do and say impact things around me...But we hid behind that umbrella, didn't we?" She have a lazy wink. "Nobody saw."
She nudged his forehead with hers gently. "You went out of your comfort zone, Gale, and that's what surprised me more. But you tried something new and liked it, right? So, good on you~"
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 7:25 pm
He might have rolled his eyes, were he inclined to do so, but as it was Gale merely gave a soft snort, his lips tugging upwards in a small smile. "That's one way of seeing it, I suppose," he said with some amusement; but he had caught her wink and it made him relax somewhat, Gale exhaling slowly.
"Everything is new with you, remember?" he said, slightly embarrassed admitting it. "You're my first girlfriend - " (the word felt odd on his tongue; had he ever even said it aloud, though he'd thought of it every day?) " - and this is my first attempt at even being a boyfriend. You, er..."
He suddenly felt weirdly, overwhelmingly shy, Gale turning his head so that he could look away from her, his face pressed into the pillow, cheeks blazing. "I hadn't ever...really kissed anyone," he mumbled, his voice muffled, hard to hear. "...before you, that is..."
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 8:18 pm
Everything is new with you. She hadn't thought of that in a while . . . In the beginning Stormy had been almost painfully aware that this was Gale's first steps into the dating scene, not because he necessarily made it awkward (though thy both had shared their own moments of sticking their foots in their mouths) but because she had wanted so badly to make sure things went okay. Just because her first time had gone sour didn't mean she had to carry that wariness around to taint a second try.
(Though in some respects, irrevocably, she did.)
But it wasn't until Gale had voiced it that she was reminded that these were all still new things to him. Three months in and it still felt like it was in the honeymoon phase to her, slowly probing one another and growing more comfortable in a haze of hormones that made everything look better. That was partially why she had been light on the affection before, restricted to hand holding and the occasional peck. But she'd started getting comfortable enough that the timespan didn't seem to fit anymore...Was that just natural progression, or did the constant danger speed things up?
Stormy was pulled out of her musing when he buried his face in the pillow. A soft laugh bubbled forth at how adorable he suddenly looked, and she took the opportunity to scoot closer. "You're doing fine," she told him with a smile, inching into his personal space, "like you always do. Now, why're you hiding~? You were plenty bold earlier." It was mostly teasing.
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 9:06 pm
Nope, he most definitely could not look at her, because if he looked at her, she would see the brilliant scarlet flush to his cheeks that spread over most of his face. It had been a long time since he had been this embarrassed, and it was not even as though it had been over anything new, which made it doubly embarrassing. Stormy knew very well what his past was like, that he'd never had a girlfriend before, and she had always accepted that just fine.
So why now was he suddenly getting shy about it? Gale wasn't certain, but maybe it had something to do with the state of vulnerability he felt at the current moment, stemming from a mix of self-consciousness over Jack and Stormy crying against him earlier this evening.
He could hear her voice, which was closer now, and Gale made a soft snorting sound that was muffled by fabric. "I wasn't that great," he mumbled, still determinedly talking to the pillow. "I mean bold. I don't know how to be...anything else...good grief."
He was sort of talkin to himself now, but still sort of talking to Stormy.
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 9:37 pm
His fluster earned him a sweet kiss to his hair and another giggle. "You should give yourself more credit, Charlie Brown~ I don't say yes to just anyone," she said, at first teasing but turning a little shy herself. "Besides, you, um, have a look about you when you're determined about something...It's nice." There were a whole host of words she could have used instead but didn't have the nerve for.
Feeling coy after offering that to him, Stormy pulled away to give him space and found the energy to sit up. "For the record, everything is new with you too," she added quickly before she could start blushing herself, stealing a pillow so she could lay back, her curled legs straightening out to use Gale's back as a footstool. "You're a different person, and this is a different relationship. Not to mention a very different lifestyle."
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 10:40 pm
Well that was just going to serve to make him more flustered, Gale blushing so hard he thought his whole head might catch on fire. He gripped the edge of the pillow and very determinedly didn't look up at Stormy yet, trying to calm down.
But then he felt her move away from him, which was simultaneously a relief and a disappointment, because he really didn't want to let her go, but he had to start breathing properly. Gale exhaled a long, drawn out breath before he pushed himself up as well, hoping his face wasn't the same shade of scarlet it had been not even a minute prior.
"Different..." said Gale slowly, as he maneuvered Stormy's legs to his lap instead so that he could sit facing her. "Different as in good, I hope."
He chanced to say, "Better?" before he realized it might sound crass, and his face flushed.Ol-j-man PHONE POST YEAHHH ps ilu sob
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 11:37 pm
There goes the sunrise, she thought as Gale peeled away from the pillow, smiling to herself. He still had a visible blush to the point that Stormy was almost expecting to feel the heat radiating off him even at a distance. As he sat up, she took the opportunity to stretch her legs a little more before they settled in his lap instead, her feet tingling at the proximity.
"Better," she agreed with an affectionate look. "Healthier." Arms bent backwards to cradle her head against the pillow. She felt bad, honestly, to even begin comparing the relationships--but if she didn't assure Gale, she feared he would overthink it and grow anxious; or maybe he would despite her efforts.
Letting her head fall back so she could contemplate the ceiling, Stormy took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her body seemed to sink into position as if ready to sleep, but her mind had recovered and was buzzing again. "It's getting late . . . but it's still your call, Gale. If you're tired or something, I don't want to impose." Though judging by her casually sprawled position, it wasn't exactly hard to figure out what her preferred answer was. After essentially bawling some of her feelings into him, Stormy was a little more willing to be obvious as far as what she wanted, at least for today.
kurotomato aww yeah phone posts /o/ ilu2 <3
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Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 9:55 am
He selfishly liked that he was better, even if comparing the two relationships was a bad idea in the first place. But, seeing as how he was still learning, and in spite of all evidence to the contrary, Gale still was, in fact, a teenage boy with occasional teenage boy thoughts; which meant that hearing his relationship with Stormy was better and healthier than her relationship with Jack had been gave him a certain amount of silly satisfaction.
He didn't show any of this on his face, however (or at least, he hoped not), Gale absently putting a hand on Stormy's ankle. He pushed her legs carefully off his lap and, with more strength than he'd thought he'd had, slipped both arms beneath her and pulled her up into his arms.
Then he turned towards the stairs. "You can stay here," he told her, suppressing a yawn. "Besides, it's not like I'd let you go back to your room in the dark, anyway."
When he reached the landing, however, Gale paused, his face half shrouded in shadows. Hesitantly, he looked down at Stormy.
"Which room?" he asked, meaning the guest room or his own bedroom, both of which were on opposite ends of the tiny hallway. There was no innuendo in his voice, no hidden meaning; just a quiet shyness that stemmed from an uncertainty of whether she would want to stay with him or not.
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Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:33 am
It wasn't surprising that she could stay; it was surprising when he picked her up from the ground which, though she was perfectly capable of moving on her own, she indulged anyway because I was a sweet gesture. "I'm not really afraid of the dark, you know," she told him with a little smile. No, she had much deeper fears now.
Stormy grew hesitant at his offer, however, because for whatever reason sleeping in a bed was different than sleeping on the couch. It honestly didn't help that she couldn't properly see his face nor get a good reading of his emotions in his tone. At this point she had accepted (finally) that Gale didn't act with ulterior motives, but...She still didn't like disturbing things that didn't belong to her, like her presence was still something of an interference in la casa de Gentry.
She cast her eyes down the hall. "Guest," Stormy eventually decided. "But...I'm not ready to sleep yet." Much like last time. "And I want to ask you something." She made a motion to be put down and fiddled with her clothes for a moment before coming around to it, uncertain about the nature of the answer but curious. "When you remembered those times with me," she began, looking at him for even minute reactions, "how--how were they? Were they nice? Did they feel right in your head?"
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