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 Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 12:23 am
Here she might have said something like, It's nothing that special, and yet there was no urge to self-depreciate for once. This time Stormy actually felt proud of those accomplishments and happily said, "Maybe I'll play for you one day, if I can get my hands on one." Nevermind that it had been a while since she'd even tried, the little stint in the cafeteria with Jerry notwithstanding--ever since Candace had approached her in her room a month ago, Stormy had wanted to pick piano back up. And what better reason would there be than to reacquaint herself so that Gale could listen?
"Hmm . . ." She squinted at him in thought. Gale had already mentioned not being a pet person, and he actually liked broccoli. "Please tell me you know how to play chess," she put forth.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:39 am
His smile widened, Gale clearly amused.
"I had to learn for a class when I was in primary school," he said. "I actually like it quite a bit, even though some people think it's a bit stodgy for them. And it wasn't a cat," he added. "I used to have a little budgie named Knickerbocker."
A pause, and then, "I wasn't exactly known for my naming prowess when I was five."
Gale curled his fingers around Stormy's playfully and said, "Back to you, Watson."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:41 am
Stormy's face lit up. "Excellent! I actually don't know how to play--I told you there were 64 squares on the board the first time we met, but I never actually sat down and learned. It looks like such an interesting game, though, and oh the chess metaphors..." She sighed dreamily, rubbing her nose on a sleeve. "Literary troves. You'll have to remind me what a budgie is again, though, Mr, Knickerbocker," she added with a little giggle at the name, leaning forward to ruffle his hair a bit on impulse.
"Let's see...I don't know how to fish, I don't know how to climb trees, and I don't know how to hunt."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 2:31 pm
"I'll teach you how to play," said Gale matter of factly. "We can trade. I'll teach you how to play chess, and maybe you can teach me a little piano. And a budgie is a type of bird," he added. "It's a little bird, he used to sit on my shoulder as a kid and just chirp contentedly."
Gale's brows rose a little at her next query, his thumb absently brushing over the back of her hand.
"Errrr...how about....the first...one?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 2:43 pm
She cooed at the knowledge. "Did he sing to you?" Stormy had to ask, because that would have been not only cute but Super Disney okay.
And oh, there was the triumphant look again as she shook her head, squeezing Gale's hand in return. "I really am a mystery enigma paradox if I'm stumping you like this~ I don't know how to climb a tree because I never had to," Stormy explained. "The one treehouse I had included a nice big ladder. My grandfather was a fisherman, so we used to do a trip here and there. And I went hunting with my Dad once in Texas. Once."
She paused, then turned a little pink. "Bonus: I don't know how to properly swim. I can dog paddle and tread shallow water, but that's about it...I was lucky Miss Candace and that other person pulled me out of the ocean at all."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:13 pm
"Nope," said Gale with a laugh. "He just acted silly. He wasn't exactly the smartest bird in the tree, if you know what I mean, but he was nice to have around, since I didn't, er, have very many friends when I was little except for Leslie."
His expression grew a little softer, a little sadder. Gale shook his head, trying to ignore the painful reminiscing feelings and focus on Stormy, raising his eyebrows.
"I can't believe you've never climbed a tree house. We'll have to fix that, everyone should climb a tree house at some point in their lives, even if everyone else thinks you're 'too old.'"
Her comment made his stomach flutter at the memory, Gale taking a small, sharp breath. His hand closed tighter around Stormy's involuntarily, trying to steady himself.
"When I didn't...when I couldn't find you," he said quietly. "I was so bloody scared I couldn't even think straight. I couldn't bear the thought of you not coming back, of losing you."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:40 pm
"I am," she said with an odd smile, "very unbelievable sometimes."
So Bix was right, he'd always been like that: very serious and at least a little isolated. And somehow she'd fallen prey to conversational pitfalls, because Gale looked as though he was near the veil between past and present, the thin dividing line she seemed to always feel one step away from, and it didn't look all too pleasant to be for him. Her expression softening, Stormy scooted a little closer, keeping his hand held.
"Then don't bear it," she said. "Because I'm right here, okay? Don't think about what might have happened, Gale, because that's a dark road that's hard to leave if you tread too far. There are trees ready to snare you with branches and vines of doubt, shortcuts that circle back on themselves the more you try to reason them out, and it gets colder the deeper you go from all the ghosts of 'what if' and 'what about'." There was a little rhythm to her words, like she was reciting a poem.
She turned a little wistful. "I know that place more than I should, so . . . please don't go there. It blots out any sun and doesn't have an end to it."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:52 pm
She was right, of course. They'd almost drowned - but they hadn't. They'd almost died - but they hadn't. Deus was full of maybes, if, ands, ors, and buts, and dwelling entirely on them did nothing except make a person miserable. Which meant that thinking about the possibility that Stormy could have been lost was useless, because she wasn't lost, she was right here in front of him, holding his hand and waiting for him.
Gale smiled a little. "Thanks," he said, and then sighed, leaning back on the bed until he was almost fully reclining, one arm beneath his head, the other casually swinging Stormy's hand back and forth.
"You're right," he said. "You're here, and you're unbelievable because you're you and I like that you're you, and you're chaos and magic mixed together, and this probably sounds extraordinarily cheesy, but I'm gonna say it anyway - I'm really happy you came to Deus, even if this place sucks."
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles lightly before letting go again, the smile still on his face.
"I'm glad I met you."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:12 pm
It was hypocritical of her to be telling Gale any of that, given that her nightmares were of drowning and suffocation and falling. But she would bare being a liar if it meant seeing that smile, if it meant seeing Gale at ease enough to recline on his bed and swing their hands like it was nothing at all, to hear him say he was glad she was there instead of somewhere else and dust her hand with a kiss because she mattered somehow.
"I don't think it sucks," she remarked after a few moments, wiping her nose on a sleeve again. "Believe it or not, in some ways this place is better than my old life. It's hard here, but I'm doing something. I have friends, I have a family, I have you now, and I have a goal for once in my life even if it's still general. Maybe," we'll die here, "it has its pitfalls, like . . . nearly dying, but death wasn't anything new to me before Deus anyway." The wistful look was back in her smile. "If it means I can be with people like you, or Nevada, or Miss Candace, or my brothers? I don't regret any of the pain that comes with the job."
Stormy hesitated, then laid her other hand on his knee, testing the limits of contact. Maybe it was strange to, considering they had been in an enveloping hug just downstairs, but that had been a moment all its own, encapsulated and isolated somehow from reality. This was here, not there, it was his room and therefore different and consequently had to be approached carefully.
"Freebies: I like to cuddle, I like to hold hands, and I like you, Gale Gentry," she said simply with a smile, her face coloring again with mixed pleasure and coyness. "I never got to say that, did I? O's might not be my favorite letter, but circles should always be completed. And I'm glad you stayed patient enough to let me meet you~
"Did you want to keep playing? Or did you want to do something else?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:44 pm
If he thought about it longer, it wasn't that bad, not really. They had to deal with Caelius, they were in life threatening situations on a near daily basis, there were times when Gale wished that he could be anywhere else but where he was, there were grievous losses -
- but there was also moments like this, moments where he could lie here and hold Stormy's hand and know that she wasn't going to pull away, moments where his heart felt as though it were going to burst out of his chest because he had never once felt the way he did right now before.
There were moments where he had met a girl like Stormy, after all.
He felt her hand on his knee and it made his stomach clench a little, Gale turning his head to smile up at her, his fingers sliding against hers - a smile that rapidly slipped away when he heard I like you, Gale Gentry, his face turning a very bright shade of red. He lifted his free hand and covered his eyes, trying not to show just how pleased those words made him, how abruptly nervous and shy he suddenly felt.
"I, er," he said, and tried not to sound stupid because he was her boyfriend now and the word was so new to him that he felt awkward and shy and uncertain and like he was going to mess everything up.
"Didn't you promise me some cuddling when we got back?" he said finally, his face still covered by his arm, voice slightly muffled.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:59 pm
At the sight of his reddened face, she immediately peeled her hand off his knee like it was hot iron, an apology on her lips. But Stormy waited until he responded first, that free hand curling lightly against her chest like it had run scared and was seeking comfort. "Sorry! Sorry. I-I should've mentioned, the cuddling bit means a lot of touching, and maybe I shouldn't be doing this anyway 'cause I'm sick, and . . ." What did people do to diffuse situations again? She tried a joke.
"Are you, um, sure you're up for cuddling?" she tried with a tentative smile. "You look more like you need a cold shower to me."
Pause.
"I-I meant since your face is red so you probably feel hot, so . . . so cold shower or wash might help . . ."
Pause.
"I think I'll . . . stop talking now . . ."
And now she was absolutely cherry red and covering her face in her hands because why couldn't she stop putting her foot in her mouth.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:15 pm
What did she just -
Did she just -
She did, she had just -
There was a long moment in time in which neither of them said anything, the silence stretching out between them thick and heavy and suddenly the room felt too small and too warm and then -
- and then Gale started laughing.
It erupted out of his throat and went on for several moments until he was almost teary eyed, Gale pushing himself to sit upright, his arms reaching out to wrap around Stormy's shoulders and pull her against him in a tight hug.
"You really are just too cute," he said, and leaned back, pressing the tips of his fingers against her scarlet colored face. "Really, really cute. I'm okay with the touching, honestly - in fact, I think that's kind of the whole point of cuddling - you just said that, um, you liked me, and that just sorta got to me, since I hadn't ever heard you say it before. Really, I'm glad."
Gale moved his fingers to the hand that covered her face, gently drawing it away so that he could see her expression.
"I'm glad that it's not just me with one sided feelings," he said softly, and smiled, brushing a few strands of hair away from her face.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:40 pm
Oh God what had she done. That silence was working her nerves up, made the room suddenly a little too hot. Okay it was over before it started, good game everyone, sorry it didn't last, thanks for coming to the show, let her just bow out and sink into the floor or something before she did something even more stupid--
The laughter startled Stormy with a small jump, at which point, if possible, her face grew even redder, and she gave a few nervous sounding chuckles that sounded more like coughs because laughter could be good or bad, and they were just starting out, and how was she just what is even. Even though she knew intrinsically because it was Gale the laughter was a good sign, Stormy's gut impulse was to want to curl up and wait until it was over because wow she was such a child.
She whined softly as she was pulled into a hug, immediately snaking her arms around his waist in return. Nonono, let her keep the hair curtain, let her keep the hair curtain, Gale. His fingers felt just a little colder to the touch against her face with how heated her cheeks were getting; she didn't even know she could blush this hard what the hell. "Would-be English major can't even English right," she mumbled, making a face.
Then Stormy took a deep breath and did her best not to cough all over Gale as she exhaled, daring to lift her head so they could have eye contact. "Did you know, I wanted to say yes in the infirmary," she admitted softly. "And I wanted to say yes on the boat too. And I thought it was just because there was pressure both times, like . . . centripetal force. The unseen compulsion to be drawn towards the center of something because something else is acting on it. I thought because we were in sort of romantic situations that it just fell on us like a mold we had to follow, and I was afraid've . . . I was afraid of a lot of things.
"But I know the rule of three. I knew that this was the third time I'd felt like this, and I never do, so . . . There had to be a reason I kept coming back to that center, to you. So think of this as, uh . . . Alice falling down the rabbit hole," she added with a self-conscious smile. "I want to know why this is, why I feel like this, if it makes sense. And obviously part of that road has already been paved with your winning smile~
". . . Also cuddling usually means facing the same way." She wasn't making any indication of turning around.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:04 pm
Was it even allowed to smile this much after going through such a terrible ordeal? The ricocheting of one emotion to the next was enough to give both of them mental whiplash, but Gale had already determined that the good in this sort of thing far outweighed the bad.
And as Stormy had already pointed out - focusing on the negative got you nowhere. They may have almost died - but they hadn't. It reminded Gale of a movie he had once seen when he was younger, and the line at the end:
"And, while Cinderella and her prince did live happily ever after, the point, gentlemen, is that they lived."
Maybe this wouldn't last. Maybe it wasn't meant to something extended for a long period of time. But for now, but for right now, it was enough. It was enough that he wanted to be with her, and she wanted to be with him.
Her arms around his waist made him smile, but the words that followed made his heart skip a beat - or two or three or four, perhaps - his face tinging a slight red.
"You know, I wasn't hurt that you said to wait," he said. "It stung a little, but it was the truth when I said I would wait for you. And it might sound silly, but if we hadn't waited, maybe we wouldn't be where we are now. Maybe all that time you spent trying to figure out what you wanted was what we both needed.
"I'm new at this," Gale admitted, taking a small breath. "I've never actually had a girlfriend - " girlfriend " - before, so this is all new to me. And I'm pretty awkward and probably will do stupid things. But as long as you're willing to try with me, well...I think we'll be okay for now."
He slid his arms away from her shoulders, sliding up to cup her face in his hands. "And last I checked, we were both facing the same way," he added softly, smoothing his thumb along her cheek and smiling. "So we know we're at least good at following directions."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:39 pm
Let her sink into the bed already. Directions were hard when you were flustered.
Tension left her, however, when Gale said he didn't mind waiting, because part of her had been afraid he was resenting having to. That when he had said things weren't going right for him back on the cruise, he included her with that. And that fear had been part of the pressure she'd felt put on her, the part that she feared most other than Gale actually getting angry with her for not saying yes automatically, or for playing the waiting game like some magical fairy godmother would come up and tell her what to do.
She smiled for him nevertheless, because it was nice to seem like she had planned all of that in advance somehow. That she had been able to clearly think and decide things for herself with all the time Gale had given. Puffing her cheeks against his hands just to be silly, she slid her face out of his grasp, scooted over, and settled herself alongside him with her back to the pillows, not quite lying back yet, but close to prime positioning for cuddling.
"I was in a bad place when you first asked me," Stormy said in an undertone, because eventually she came to the decision that he had a right to understand her thought process, however depressing and mood clashing it was. But she was Stormy: up and down, happy and sad, chaos and magic, and she often didn't get to stay on one emotion because something new was always coming on the horizon; and if Gale wanted to date her, he'd hopefully grow used to that. "What you have to understand is that when it was just Jake and Sherry and me on that mission, I understood something I had been seeing without looking at: and that was the self-destruction of two people looking for happiness in conflicting ways for each other. And when I realized in comparison that I was alone in that desert, I . . . got scared.
"We almost died out there, too. Under the sun I started hallucinating things. It wasn't, like . . . People say your life flashed before your eyes before you die, but I've never experienced it. It's always been pointillism: this detail, that detail, a color, a sound, the skeleton of an idea, a zoomed in image, a fleeting emotion." In a way, she practically described herself. "And the more I reviewed my life at Deus, the more I realized that I was very lonely. Not because I didn't have friends or anything, I did. But people treat me like a child. They tell me things like I'm strong and could take care of myself, but whenever trouble rears up, they push me back like I can't." A bittersweet smile crawled onto her face. "I guess the bad luck that follows me doesn't help. Somehow I always look helpless on missions. It was really bad in the Sahara, but at least I handled my own on the cruise . . . sort of . . ."
Stormy exhaled softly and finally sank into the pillow with a frustrated look, having forgotten what the point of her monologue was for a moment; a tangent within a tangent. She struggled to find it, then lifted Gale's arm and tucked herself underneath it.
"That was too much detail at once, sorry. What I'm trying to say was that I was jealous even of that very, very hazardous relationship Sherry and Jake had, because at least something was there. And I didn't think anyone would think me more than someone in mist to be friends with, or be that really childish Disney kid, because I don't act like a hunter should . . . I act like a kid in her parent's clothes." She lifted her eyes to Gale's face, the frustrated look gone. "So when the infirmary incident happened, I . . . locked up. I was scared of myself for wanting it so badly I'd take anyone's offer, so I told you to wait--but I was really telling myself to. It would've been self-destructive, I thought, if I'd said yes just so that I don't feel lonely anymore. And it wouldn'tve been fair to you either.
"On the boat," she continued, her voice growing softer despite the coughing, "I was guilty of not thinking about it enough. Not because I wasn't considering it, but because the stuff with that mission had thrown me off, and Thane's way of helping . . ." She winced. "It wasn't the infirmary; we were both very sober. At the mission briefing I wanted to just walk over and say yes, but there were so many people there, and Nevada was pushing, and I just . . . panicked? Because you know now I take things slow, I want time to come to the conclusions my way. And when you gave me that bracelet I wanted to say yes, but fear still stopped me again, because something like that happened before, and I was afraid I was making the same mistakes again.
"And the aftermath . . . Clarity came over me when I woke up in the middle of the night and saw you at my side. I realized that I wasn't afraid of the present, but afraid of the past, and afraid of myself too. I realized I hadn't been thinking of you as you, but someone else, and that I was waiting for the same traps as before because I thought I was only worth those sorts of attentions and not . . . not what you've been giving me. And that hadn't been fair either."
Her throat was getting dry. Stormy licked her lips and relaxed further against Gale. "So . . . the point of that rant was to say I'm seeing you for who you are instead of who I thought you were. I did have--someone--" she hedged the word warily, "before I came to Deus, but he was nothing like you. He was a mistake. And it was my mistake to assume it'd turn out the same with you."
Pause.
"And also that I'm glad you waited too."
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