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 Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:59 pm
He wondered if she would answer him.
The question hung in the air between them, as tangible as ice, and it was just four simple words, four little words, but they were so much more than that. Gale stood there with Stormy's face cradled between his two shaking hands and wished they would not tremble quite so much.
"I think that you know already by now."
Did he though? He wanted so badly to know that what she was saying meant that she loved him too, that she was in love with him after all this time, but there was still that terrible little nagging voice inside of his head that kept reminding him of Jack, of his ever constant presence, and the fact that he had a way of getting to Stormy that Gale could never achieve.
He felt her words against his hand and then she kissed him, gentle and sweet and soft. Gale closed his eyes against it, his heart aching, and then he opened them again, taking a small, deep breath. "It's okay about the tea," he said gently, and took his hands away from her face, as well as a step back; though one of his hands reached out, fingers resting gently on Stormy's where they lay pressed against her stomach.
"If you want to finish...finish in here," he said, with a slow nod towards the stovetop as he stepped slowly towards the living room. "I think I'll, um...go sit down. And just...rest for a moment while I wait for you."
The promise of the envelope and whatever it contained remained unspoken, but it was obvious by the way that he looked at her that a part of him was incredibly curious and simultaneously terrified at what exactly might be in that envelope.
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Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 1:45 am
There was a moment where she almost had the courage to stop tip-toeing--when he reached out and she almost thought he was going to take her away to the living room--a moment where she could have taken initiative, pulled him back, kissed him deeply, stole those doubts away. But that was just a story in Stormy's head: the highly romanticized, theatrical land of the sublime where her fantasies played out. And like many opportunities that appeared in her life, this one passed her by in a blink.
"Go get cozy," she told him with a little nod and a meek smile. "You, um, could start opening presents if you want, too. I'll be over in a second." But she couldn't erase that look Gale had given her from her mind, that mixture of need to know and frightened to know that had redoubled her anxiety if that were possible. And once his back was turned, Stormy allowed her expression to fall. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. But deep breaths stretched the bruise which had started back up with a vengeance, throbbing aggressively like a pet begging for attention.
Shouldn't have mentioned it. Shouldn't have opened her stupid mouth.
Deep breaths.
With a wince, she touched around the bruise to get a better idea of its shape and size as she moved the kettle back onto the stove: give it a little extra time to get warm. She then turned, sifted around for a small tray, and then went back to the assembled tea cups, saucers, and spoons and began arranging them once more into a neat formation atop of it, with the teabags plopped inside; they had come into a little disarray when Gale had pushed her against the counter, just a little. Just enough.
She recognized these motions for what they were: signs of submission. Yes, she had watched the details earlier because she knew Gale liked things a particular way, but in truth these too had been things she brought with her to the island. The acts of someone showing they posed no threat, that they were servile and ready to make up for any grievances they had caused. It was why she had felt a strange sense of relief knowing she could serve him tea. She wasn't the girl who had somehow carved herself a niche so big inside of someone that it physically hurt to be apart. No, she was just the trainee who served tea.
That was smaller. Smaller was safer. Non-threatening. Sharp words couldn't land if the target was too little to find.
But bruises could still hurt like hell.
Keep your mouth shut. You deserved it. She wiped at her face with her sleeves and sniffled, jaw tensed to discourage anymore trembling. You deserved it.
As Stormy poured the boiling water carefully into each cup, she picked up her mental pieces and put them back in place. Thoughts flowed to and fro as she searched for sugar or cream, unsure if Gale took any but knowing she at least wanted that sweet comfort. Honey . . . Ah, she missed honey. One day soon, when the portals were working again.
Setting the kettle down on the hand towel she'd stolen near the sink, Stormy gingerly picked up the tray, took another steadying breath, and made her way to the living room.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:35 pm
She had told him to get cozy, but in reality all Gale did while Stormy was in the kitchen was pace around back and forth in restless circles, his head aching. He'd messed up, severely messed up with not just Stormy, but with everything, and now he was regretting ever saying anything in the first place.
How could he have let things get so bad so quickly? She had promised to stay with him, had promised to always be there for him, and he had pushed too far too fast. He'd stuck his foot in his mouth and now he was reaping the consequences.
What if she leaves me? The thought was panicked, terrified that he had shattered what little good he had left in the world.
<< She will not. >>
Jinhai's voice, as ever, remained calm and collected. Gale, however, did not.
You don't know that.
<< If she does leave you, it will be all right. You're strong. You can handle it. >>
I can't.
<< You can. >>
Gale closed his eyes briefly and finally sat down, rubbing his legs with his hands. The clink of china against the counter could be heard faintly in the kitchen, and he reached up a hand, pressing his fingers against his throbbing temples.
I'm pathetic.
Jinhai's voice was kind.
<< You're good. >>
He greedily drew his partner's unwavering loyalty to him, let it wash over him like a healing balm, Gale pulling his legs up beneath him on the couch and curling over, one arm resting on the side to prop his head up.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:08 pm
She figured as much that he wouldn't have heeded her suggestion; the bag of presents was still a sagging lump against the couch where she had left it. But it was still sobering to see Gale curled up on the couch, and she couldn't help but wonder if she was making things worse more than she was making them better. This was a situation they were both traipsing into blindly, but Stormy didn't feel like it excused the way she kept making things more like walking on egg shells either--even though that was all she knew how to do when pressured, pretend everything was okay.
She strode into the room and carefully set the tray down on the coffee table so that it barely made a clink. "Hmm." Tilting her head at him, she folded her hands before her. "D'you need anything else while I'm up? I could find a blanket if you tell me where to go?" she offered. "You look a little cold."
Stormy paused, then her face lit up a little. Making the "one second" motion, she leaned over and pulled the lip of the bag open. First she yanked out something about the size and shape of a duffel bag with a white and pink floral design and set it off to the side; then she fished under a few boxes until she clutched at her target. "Before I forget--" Stormy pulled out a generous heaping of chocolate bark, one side being white while the other being dark; colorful pieces lodged within each piece suggested they had peppermint crumbles inside. "I got us a few things from the candy store while on the resupply mission, if you wanna try."
She looked hopeful, like this was the extending of an olive branch.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 6:39 pm
He'd almost forgotten about the presents, but at the same time, hadn't wanted to open them without Stormy present. The sound of her gentle footsteps alerted Gale to her arrival in the living room, and he lifted his head, turning to look at her, a tired expression on his pale face.
"I'm fine," he told her, and then gave the smallest of smiles. "Really, I don't need a blanket."
He watched her move, brows drawing together in bemusement at the flowered "duffle bag," and then tilting his head a little at what she carried in her hands. It looked like chocolate, or something similar to chocolate - at least, it certainly smelled sweet. Gale eyed it curiously, his gaze flickering from it to Stormy again, the expression on her face making his heart ache.
He held out a hand and said softly, hopefully encouragingly, "It looks good."
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 7:34 pm
No, Stormy, supposed, he needed something more than a blanket. But she smiled warmly and took his hand, turning it first to kiss the top before easing the bag into his palm. "It's white and dark chocolate bark," she said, "with peppermint bits. Seasonal thing, I think." And then she was diving back into the bag and pulling out even more candy to set on the table, each plopped batch accompanied by an explanation: chocolate covered coffee beans, Jelly Belly sparkle jelly beans of a particular kind that shouldn't have been a surprise, white chocolate coated pretzels, honey roasted peanuts, an unknown quantity (but large amount) of assorted Hershey's Kisses, and the pièce de résistance: a twelve pack of small liquor filled chocolate bottles.
"It's not a real dinner, but I made out like a bandit," she said with more than a hint of pride. "It's not even all the stuff I bought!" More like what she felt she could stuff in to make a small buffet without crushing them against his presents. Food wasn't the solution, if candy could even be called food--but like kisses, they were great distractions, gestures she hoped spoke for themselves.
Hesitating a moment, she turned and settled onto the center of the couch, close to Gale without invading his space, even though she wanted to. "So! Tea first before it gets cold, I think . . ." But she didn't make any movement forward, instead looking to Gale with a silent question. Is all of this too much?
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:04 pm
His expression softened as she kissed his hand, Gale squeezing her Stormy's fingers before she let go. He pulled back and looked at the chocolate interestedly before lifting it to his lips and nibbling a bit off of one corner experimentally. After a moment, he decided it was quite tasty, and took a larger bite, chewing slowly while he watched Stormy unload her bag of goodies.
The jelly beans made him smile, feeling almost back to normal, though not quite, Gale eyeing the chocolate liquor bottles with some curiosity.
"That's quite a spread you have there," he said, and gave a small laugh, but it died away when she sat next to him, Gale giving a small swallow. She was looking at him, and wordlessly he reached out, gently taking her hand in his. He didn't look at her, but drew her hand into his lap and intertwined their fingers, squeezing tightly before he let go.
"Tea," he said, and reached for the cup and saucer, handing one first to Stormy before taking his own. The smell and the warmth somehow reassured him, and he took a long swallow, closing his eyes briefly at the familiarity and soothing of such a small, simple thing.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:50 pm
"Nothing but the best for Christmas, right?" At least it wasn't a big push, even if his eyes were focused away from her. And Gale had managed a laugh, no? Touches were a good sign, squeezes more hopeful even. Small steps.
Stormy took the cup and saucer with a little nod, blowing on it a little before trying. It was less sweet than she liked, and she had foreseen this and brought sugar to remedy it--but that required stretching out to the coffee table, moving. And at the moment she felt like she had a self-imposed wall restricting her from going too far beyond, as if somehow showing she was capable of stretching would take the attention of an invisible audience off of Gale.
More than that, she was hesitant to move in case it broke him of his peaceful aura.
So instead, Stormy clutched at the warm tea cup and let her fingers feed off its warmth, taking mild sips to give her body the same treatment. And all the while she found herself gazing at him with quiet affection, a smile tugging at her lips. He'd looked about the same out on the porch, even when alone and huddled against the cold: tranquil and untroubled. It was something else to be reminded that even the little things could be so important.
But you are smaller still.
"S'it alright?" she asked softly.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:58 pm
Tea was something simple, something finite. It was a reminder of things that had once been, which was a strange thought, but it was still true, regardless. Sometimes when he drank it he could recall his parents and his sister with him, during times that were not these, times where he was still a kid, still protected by them.
And now when he drank it, he could be reminded of Stormy, and her warmth and her loyalty and her promises.
"Yeah," said Gale, after a long moment. "It's good."
He wanted to lean over and kiss her cheek, but instead he drank the rest of his tea in a semi-comfortable silence before setting the empty cup down on the saucer again. Gale leaned forward and pushed both onto the coffee table and then shifted back again, reaching for the chocolate bark again (it was really good, after all).
"What next?" he asked, breaking off a piece of chocolate and offering it to Stormy.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:19 pm
Stormy didn't remember breathing until he spoke; in her head, Thane snorted derisively.
With the stomach of a small bird and eating habits to match, she was only a third of the way done by the time Gale set his cup down. Loathe to let it go just yet, she balanced it in her lap and took up the offering, trying to hide how overeager she was to finally have chocolate bark in her grasp again. The facade was poorly kept once Stormy started nibbling, a hum of contentment leaving her like a cat being stroked.
"Depends on what you want to do," she answered, holding the peppermint back in her hands like a squirrel, elbows tucked, legs together, shoulders slack: small. "We haven't celebrated your birthday yet, so let's mix it into Christmas, shall we~? There's food to eat and presents to open," she suggested brightly. And people to hold. "I also brought a dvd player and some movies Nevada got, though, uh . . . They're all Disney . . ."
Never before had she felt so childish to admit it.
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Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:39 pm
He glanced sideways at her, his expression softening. After everything, she was still Stormy, and she was still the girl he was in love with. All of her little quirks, her affections, the way she held herself, the tiny sips of tea and the birdlike nibbling, it was all so very Stormy and it just felt so familiar to him.
Gale's face flushed slightly; he'd forgotten about his birthday, what with the whole being kidnapped by horsemen and set on fire thing. In all honesty, he hadn't expected anyone to remember it, but Stormy had because she remembered little details that no one else seemed to.
"We can watch a movie later," he said with a small smile. "I haven't seen many Disney movies, I'd love to catch up."
He glanced at the spread in front of them. "More chocolate," he said, beginning to sound like his old self. "More chocolate and maybe some presents?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:00 pm
He hadn't, hmm? Stormy might have had a small light enter her eyes at the idea of marathoning a few movies, but she had to remind herself to hold her horses. "Two're from the Renaissance," she informed him happily, the peppermint chocolate bark seeming to disappear from her hands with how much she was mindlessly nibbling. "Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Nevada got me Lilo and Stitch, too! And I got a few more converted in my bag--"
Wait, right, presents! Hastily Stormy dusted her fingers of crumbs, most of which ended up falling into her tea--not that she minded, it'd probably give it an interesting taste. Remembering to set the cup and saucer on the table before she accidentally sent it flying, she leaned over to the bag and dragged it over, digging inside and producing one large rectangular box, followed by a smaller one she set on top. Neither were wrapped, so he could clearly see one was from H&M while the other was from the Disney store. "You need more clothes I can steal," she informed him with a cheeky smile, encouraged by how he was starting to come back out. Maybe keeping it lighthearted really was the key.
The larger box contained a peacoat, while the smaller one was a simple shirt.
"It helps that you're not much taller than me," she added, grabbing a handful of chocolate-coated coffee beans to offer him; what he didn't take would end up popped all in her mouth at the same time. "But now you can't complain if I take one of your coats~ And mind you, they make some really nice stuff for guys . . ."
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Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:58 pm
"I've never seen Lilo and Stitch," Gale admitted, a bit sheepishly as he broke off another piece of chocolate to put in his mouth. He chewed slowly, swallowed, and then added, "But my childhood wasn't exactly, you know, the most childhood-like."
He ate another bite and then set the chocolate down, brushing his hands together to get some of the crumbs off. Gale reached for the first box and pulled it open, unwrapping some of the tissue paper to reveal a very nice, very soft coat, which he lifted out of the box with a look of admiration.
"It's lovely," he told Stormy, and smiled at her, folding the coat back into his lap. "And you can borrow my clothes anytime, you don't even have to ask."
The next shirt he rolled his eyes at, but it was good natured, Gale smoothing a hand over the face of the dwarf and giving Stormy a side-eyed glance. "Thanks," he said, and hesitated a moment before leaning to kiss her cheek. "They're both great, thank you."
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Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:35 pm
"Careful what you say, I might just listen to those suggestions~" She looked a little too happy for something as small as a kiss on the cheek; it was overcompensation of her insecurities she hoped weren't noticeable.
"But that's okay. The funny thing about Disney is that it's timeless," Stormy said with a fond look. "Childhood, teenagerdom, adultland, it's all in there--so you can get from it what you want, when you want it. More than that--" She stopped abruptly, not having meant to translate that thought into words. Though not that it was partially out . . . "More than that," she continued anew, her hands curling into each other in her lap, "I suppose you could call me a child at heart, too. An idealist. I can't give you a childhood, but . . ."
Childish, she wanted to say, childish. She didn't even remember where that point was supposed to be going and back-pedaled again before the path opened up too far.
"Those were for Christmas," she said abruptly, blinking as if astonished Gale could think she'd only taken the time to get him two gifts. Flapping her hand at him to wait a moment, she dug into the bag and pulled out two more: one a small box, and the other was lumpy and unidentifiable due to the fact that Stormy had put in the effort of wrapping it. And by wrapping it, that meant taping a whole lot of what looked like journal pages around it, each with Gale's name written on it in various styles (as if someone could mistake it for someone else).
"And these are for your birthday!" she chirped, setting them down on the space between them; her hands retreated back to their original position, coy and anxious.
The first box was a set of lambskin leather gloves with a small fox fur trim, the inside lined with cashmere. The second present was almost out of place next to it, consisting of two items: a converted DVD of the Peter Pan Diamond Edition (she had no idea what that meant, but it was probably spiffy and was the only thing in stock) and a plushie.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:19 am
He didn't notice the overly part of her happy, just the happy part, and it made him feel somewhat more comfortable. Gale smoothed a hand over the coat again, a pleased expression on his face, and then tilted his head towards Stormy, a smile tugging at his lips.
"You'll have to introduce me to it, then," he said. "I missed out on most of my childhood, so you can help me make a new one."
The "those were for Christmas" confused him, Gale squinting at her, and then at the packages that she heaped into his lap. He blinked owlishly down at them, trying to comprehend that someone had actually gone to all this trouble just for him, and then reached for the first package.
The gloves were so soft. Gale tried them on immediately, reveling in the warmth and the comfort. "They're wonderful," he told Stormy, before tugging them off again and setting them carefully aside to open the others. Peter Pan, one of the few movies that he had seen as a child and that he had always loved, and then a stuffed horse that made him smile.
"Cute," he said with a laugh, and squished it a little. "I'll need a name for it, hmm..."
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