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 Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:01 pm
The laughing was nice, the elbow was not. Still, he took it like a man and even took a few steps back to make it seem like she made more of an impact than she did (it did hurt a little, though), and he was too tired for retaliation so he let her get away. The gap was too big to stretch over and even give her a tap on the arm, so...too much work now.
"Man, shut up," he said, eyes narrowed despite his smile. "I know I look good, nobody's gotta remind me of that. If I had the ********' time, I swear..."
That was...a half truth at best. But he played his role pretty well.
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:11 pm
She stopped laughing, surprised at the narrow eyes. "Ah... sorry. Didn't mean to bother you... I just... was trying to be friendly, honest." It was a fear response, if a mild one, though whether it was at the idea she'd upset him, or at how his being upset might affect her wasn't clear.
She blinked in quiet surprise at his 'if I had the ********' time.' It surprised her, and changed some of the ways his behavior had her thinking about him. However, she looked down, though she added quietly "You have time now, don't you? If you get the chance, you should take it. Life is too short to not take your chances." She kept walking, a little slower now.
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:18 pm
Now that was unexpected.
Not that he did a whole lot about it other than keep pace with her. "I don't really?" he said, tone as even as it had always been since they first met. "Between workouts and training and doing courses and all the other s**t we actually have to do I'm pretty much dead tired most of the time." Another shrug, another sigh, another kick of the pebble. "Besides, I don't get the chance around here, so..."
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:25 pm
"I'm surprised on the second half..." She said, if still talking towards the grass, honestly. "There's a lot of single ladies on this island, and I can't be the only one who's seen that you're not ugly." She shrugged quietly, her fingers gripping her water bottle tightly. "But if it's more 'no one you're interested in,' well that's another issue and I wouldn't judge you for that."
She paused, then added "You need you time, though. Time to relax when you're not exhausted. Working too hard kills the soul." She paused again, then in a slightly softer, almost anxious voice, added "But I'm not trying to make you feel I am trying to make you do anything you don't want to. I just... I worry..." She trailed off, uncertain.
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:36 pm
Every now and again Rhys glanced over at her while she talked, all quiet and whatever. He wasn't sure what to make of it, if it was something he did or said or something. It was just...weird. He hadn't known her for too long but it bugged him, enough to get him to frown as he closed the gap between them and slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her into a sort of gentle, friendly-ish headlock. And that was a thing for him, because he was tall and he could do it easily to a lot of people.
"Stop worrying, it's freakin' me the hell out," he said, obviously concerned but possibly not expressing it well. "And yeah, it's more I'm not really looking or seeing anyone. Pretty girls, yeah, but there's pretty girls everywhere. I'm not gonna sleep with all of 'em." And that had always been his philosophy even before coming to the island. He wasn't gonna be one of those one and done kinda guys, or at least that wasn't the point, but sleeping around had never really appealed to him either.
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:44 pm
She actually eeped, and almost struggled when he grabbed her, eyes huge. When all he did was a headlock, though, she physically relaxed, still surprised and confused, but no longer panicked. She took a deep breath or two at his words, and then nodded, slightly.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to freak you out." She managed a smile, and stopped staring at the ground, though inside, part of her still worried. She was excellent at masking it, however, and unless some one had known her a very long time, the odds of them figuring out this fact was almost nil. "And all right. It's up to you, of course. I just like to see the people I consider friends happy, what can I say?" She gave a shrug under the headlock. "Different things for different people, I guess." She wasn't a one'n'done girl, but she did believe in some self indulgence, and if some one was a close enough friend, she'd consider it if they too were interested. She didn't always understand why others might not.
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:54 pm
The fact that she didn't kick him off and summon her weapon to chase him down was probably a good sign; an even better sign was that she actually relaxed in the hold, so he loosened it just a bit to make sure she could actually breathe easy but kept her close.
"Nah, I hear you. Guess if someone's worrying about me I'm not doin' too bad." He clicked his tongue at the thought and glanced down at her, studying her [removed](or at least what he could see from the rather steep downward line of sight he had at the moment) for a moment and wondering if she was anything like him when it came to masking her thoughts and feelings and whatnot. When the word "friend" came up again he only mentally flinched, having heard the word once or twice now coming from her. He still couldn't say anything about it and just kept on walking.
"Since we're on the topic, or still kinda are, what about you? Seen any guys around here that catch your eye?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 12:10 am
She relaxed just a bit more when he loosened the grip a bit, feeling like maybe she hadn't totally ******** up, and glad that this wasn't going to turn into something that... she sat on that thought, too, hard.
She smiled a little, up at him, given the awkward angle, and sighed some. "Hey. You're a decent dude. Not a judgmental d**k, like some of them, or batshit ******** insane the way some of them seem to be... Of course you're doin' all right." She was watching him, though, out of the corner of her eye, trying to see if she could read him at all, find out if he was still at all annoyed, despite the apparent indications otherwise. One never knew, after all, and sometimes the ones you got to trust surprised you.
But sometimes they didn't, too. However his question made her laugh in surprise, and she sighed. "Ehhhhhhh complicated? Like there's plenty of good looking folks of both genders, and on pure looks alone? Sure, some guys and ladies have. But so far, most of 'em have proven to be either in denial, one of the aforementioned judgmental dicks... maybe even both of those things... Or one of the batshit ones. Or taken. There's been taken folk too."
She wasn't going to rock the boat and say she found him attractive, because she did but not in a way that meant 'more then friends.' Sure, she'd consider sleeping with him, if he wanted it because he WAS a good looking guy, but she wouldn't risk ******** this chance at a friend up either by trying to make moves on him.
Also she wasn't actually 100% sure how to make moves on a person, since her previous experiences had been her exes and they'd done the move making, not her. It was another awkward thought that came up, to be dealt with LATER.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 12:35 am
Being called "decent" felt like a one-up from the last time a girl told him her thoughts of him, which was actually back before he woke up on the island. He remembered getting slapped in the face so it probably wasn't a pleasant conversation, but the specifics were already hazy. That was probably because he probably didn't care all that much what she thought, but still. Compliments were nice to hear.
As they walked he eventually let her out of the headlock, though his arm was still draped over her shoulders. "Yeah, no, I know exactly what you're talkin' about. I can't figure out half the people here, which is fine but I mean. If I was thinking about dating I think I'd be s**t out o' luck."
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 12:44 am
When the headlock ceased, the last of the tension in her shoulders drained, and she was walking alongside him in a really relaxed fashion. The honest fact was, despite not having known him all that long in reality, the way he behaved, and acted towards her, meant she trusted him more then anyone except maybe Joy on this damn island.
She laughed a little, and nodded. "I mean, I'm pretty sure if you wanted to, you'd find some one, but if that's not something you're really interested in, ******** it. You do what matters to you, and if you ever chance your mind, you can worry about it then." She shrugged, under his arm, in a nonchalant manner.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 12:50 am
The words "trust" and "friends" were just so far out of his vocabulary, but if he had to say something about Seren it would probably be...that he was just comfortable around her. It showed and he wouldn't hesitate to admit it, but saying anything more about their relationship would be a bit of a strain for him. But he was glad he could be a friend to someone.
"Yeah. For now I'll worry about keeping my a** alive. And yours too, while we're at it, since between the two of us you're more of the newb." He grinned, obviously amused by the thought.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 12:56 am
She laughed at his words, and said "Yeah yeah, I know. You got time on me here, I know. Still! I intend to get good." She grinned up at him, fierce and a hint of dangerous determination in it. "And some day I'll be protecting your a** as much as you've protected mine. It's what I'm here for, in the end, protecting people."
She didn't want to have to be protected, but knowing he would do his best to help her stay alive was more then she'd expect from most people. She was quite sure her parents would have watched her die with bored expressions on their faces. It was comfortable, and oddly warm, to know some one would want to.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 1:13 am
That was the kind of determination he liked to see in an athlete, though it helped to also have that as a hunter. Staying alive was as much determination as it was skill (and yes, luck) when they were out there. "The rate you're going, you'll get good pretty quick. And if you tack on the gym on top of training on the grounds and in the courses," he shook his head, "I don't doubt you'll catch up to me soon enough."
The walk was probably going a lot slower because they were tired, but it was pleasant. It was only kind of drizzling and it wasn't all the cold, made even less so by the fact that there was barely a gap between them at the moment. A brief silence had him thinking further ahead in his day--mostly just what was in the cafeteria for breakfast--before he sighed.
"Man, you know I used to wake up and literally not have to think about the s**t I had to do the rest of the day. It was home, job one, job two, job three if I still had job three by then, and then back home again. Bein' able to just think about breakfast feels like I actually took a step up in life."
Ah, the occasional deep thought.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 12:11 pm
She listened, as they walked, her head tilted up so she could sort of see his face, despite the weird angle. His words made her glow, just a little, with pleasure that he thought she was going to manage to get good quick. She hadn't had praise like that in... a long time, and it just felt so amazing to hear. "Thank you. I'm glad to hear that you think so..."
She found herself wondering, just for a moment, in the back of her thoughts, how it was she'd come to trust some one this much so quickly. It was a strange feeling, but... She decided it was what it was, and would run with it. She had a strong sense this guy, no matter what else might happen, was unlikely to betray her trust, and that wasn't a small thing.
His comments about work, though, startled her out of her deep thoughts, and had her craning her neck a bit to gaze up at him, wide eyed. Some one who understood the hell of three jobs just to survive! Some one who might GET her there! "It's DEFINITELY a step up from the three job hell life. Knowing I'd never have to try to fit three schedules into one week again was one of the biggest bonuses to coming to this place!"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:13 pm
He considered it a bit, turned the thought over in his head a little bit more before nodding, more or less agreeing. "Guess it is," he sort of thought out loud. "I never thought of not having to schedule as a bonus, I guess. I got so used to it, it didn't feel like I'd live any other kinda life." And while he said that his expression didn't change all that much. Reality had hit him hard way too soon for something like that to affect him too much.
Still, he looked down at her again, brow quirked. "You worked three jobs?" his tone was that of relative surprise. "I mean I can see you managing it with your kinda energy, but s**t. Kinda sucks to see that life on someone like you."
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