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 Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:58 pm
Her face felt warm under his hands, her expression part flustered, part amused. Gale smiled and leaned back again, relaxing against the pillows, this time with both hands under his head. But the smile faded, his expression shifting, first to concern, then to frustration, then to a bit of sadness and finally understanding. He had been oblivious to what had gone on between Sherry and Jake, but now that it was brought to light, he could see it, he could see the push and pull sort of relationship, because Jake had presented himself as the type of person incapable of making room in his life for another human being. And Sherry, if what Stormy was saying was true, was the opposite, trying fruitlessly to convince someone to change who didn't want to change.
"But people treat me like a child."
It was more reminiscent of Gale's own feelings than he cared to admit, especially since coming to Deus. It had only been months later, after he had managed to be the first in their awakening group to be promoted, that he had managed to gain some semblance of respect from the others (except for Bix, who had been the only person to treat him as an adult and not a child who wasn't supposed to be there), but only a little, and from a very select few.
He remembered the terrible fight with Rep - a beginner, cutting him down as easily as a stalk of grass.
Stormy had moved closer now, and Gale didn't protest as she moved his arm, settling it down around her as though it had meant to be there all along.
"I was worried too, at first," he said, after a moment. "Not because I was afraid you would say no, though it was partly that. But because I was hoping that I wasn't...how do I say this..." He struggled for the proper words. "I was worried that I was projecting. That I was letting any lingering feelings towards...towards Eva be the basis of what I wanted. I was worried that I would hurt you because you might think you were just a substitute, that I was using you to replace someone."
His expression softened. He ran his hand gently along her back, curling closer to her.
"Stormy, you're not a substitute, and you're not a replacement, and you're not a mistake. You're just you, and I realized that somewhere along the way, that I really just...I wanted you."
He was slightly embarrassed; he'd never been this open with another person except for Leslie, and that had been a long time ago, eons in the past. But his chest felt tight, and his heart felt as though it were going to explode out of his chest at any moment with all of these feelings.
He moved his other arm to wrap around her, Gale half tilting on his side to keep her close, one hand smoothing down the back of her head, his fingers sifting through her dark locks. Then he pulled back a little and, hesitating a little, he kissed her forehead, lingering longer than before before laying back down.
"I was willing to wait for you as long as it took for you to turn to me, and now here we are."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:38 pm
She sniffled thickly and closed her eyes, wishing he would have just lingered a little longer. "Mmm." Stormy gave a weak smile. "I only had to hear that, like, a hundred times, huh?" And possibly a hundred times more if doubt ever struck her down. But unlike Gale, she was finding herself relaxing at those words, unwinding and uncoiling so that she could turn a little more to face him, so that she could better adjust her arms to fit around him and stay close for cuddling.
"Sorry. I sort of did that . . . thing . . . again. With the atmosphere. The mood."
She curled a little closer and hoped his hands followed suit.
"I charge things. Negative, positive, sometimes both, sometimes neither. I can be manic or depressive, happy or bitter, dreamy or very, very awake, here and somewhere else at the same time or alternating, in imagination or in reality, or I could be all of the above. Every human being has so many possibilities lying in wait for them, and every possibility brings out even more possibilities as a result. It's almost like realizing there's chaos theory inside me, Gale," she whispered. "Played out this way, tried that way, what about this, what about that. Always, always thinking about something. Thinking too little, thinking too much, avoiding thinking, thinking in circles . . . Afraid something'll burst, something'll break, something'll snap, just by the pure power of thought."
It was almost amazing how languidly she clung to him, given that her chest was tightening with the subject.
"Have you ever felt like that?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:48 pm
He liked the way her arms felt around him, just like how he liked how his arms felt around her. And he liked the way she seemed to just fit herself next to him, like she'd always been there, like there was a space for her right there. And with her it was warm and pleasant and beautiful.
Gale lifted a hand, idly stroking back stray strands from her face as she spoke, curling one dark band of auburn colored hair around a finger before he let it go, smoothing it back away off of her shoulder.
"All the time," he admitted quietly, and tentatively he shifted positions, turning onto his side so that he could rest a hand gently on her waist, his other arm beneath her head. "Sometimes I feel like there's not enough air in the room for me to breathe, like something will just explode if I'm not careful.
He slid his hand down until his arm was wrapped around her, Gale pulling her closer, close enough that he could rest his forehead against hers, his eyes half shut. "There are too many choices in this world; too much chaotic interference. One path goes one way, another goes that way, it's never easy and it's never clear. Sometimes we don't even pick the path, the path picks us."
Gale closed his eyes fully now, letting out his breath slowly.
"I don't want to see you break."
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:31 am
"All roads lead to Rome."
She paused, then added, "All paths lead to the same end," to echo what that one horsewoman had said, and shivered a little. But it was easy not to feel cold enveloped like this, and in fact Stormy's normally chilly extremities were quite warmed up after all the close contact. She did still blush, but at least it wasn't like the scarlet fever from earlier, and it wasn't because she felt awkward either--rather, because she was surprised to finding herself agreeing with Gale wholly.
"It's funny, though . . . because thereis so much chaotic interference in life, it's surprising things can happen in a way that makes it feel preordained," Stormy murmured, feeling her heart skip a beat at the new position but soothed by the touch of their foreheads. It was a meeting of the minds in more than one way like this. "Like the bear charm. And maybe sometimes the paths do pick us and we have no choice, like seeing shadows, or who our partner is. And others still try many paths and only come to their calling after a few tries. But despite the randomness of the universe, I like to believe that things happen for a reason. That we were chosen to fight, to become protectors of the human race, because we simply were meant to be. That there is such thing as Fate and karma that dictate and balance the lives of Man. It's so much better than believing in a world that's spiritually desolate and has no meaning behind its events . . ."
Thane, who had remained rather quiet ever since his advice had been pointedly ignored, rustled ominously in her mind. < < You wag your fleshy mouth organ too much. Continue and you will not have a voice come tomorrow. > >
That's an exchange I'll take. Because Gale was somehow catalyzing her rants, and she didn't want to stop until sleep or something else interrupted. Writing had always been her way of venting things, and talking had just been to sort through her thoughts; now they seemed to be mixing.
Now if only her cold would go away and she could stop feeling gross and also her poor dress and her hair and her everything. Then it would have been perfect.
"I won't break. I just crack," Stormy explained, lightly gripping the back of his vest for want of something to do with her hands. Were they okay there? Should she move them? Should she touch his hair or poke his cheek or skim his neck or find his hearbeat? Details, details. "Fissure and leak until I'm empty. You've watched me crack twice. Well, three times counting the balcony . . . It's a messy affair if I break, though, so I try to avoid it. But." She sounded a little prouder. "My mind's not the only thing like a fuzzy rubber ball. I bounce back, I bend, I try to be flexible. Sometimes it means mood whiplash, like I've been putting poor you through all morning--sorry, by the way. But it also means that I can take more stress than you think."
Just not the emotional kind.
"So~ I'm curious. Have you figured out why I'm Stormy? Or is it too early to ask?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:10 pm
"Mmmm," said Gale, and smiled a little. "So the bear thing was a sign, then. A preordained thing that was meant to happen. Which kinda sounds like a rhetorical statement, or maybe a redundant one, but considering I just picked that charm up because I thought it fit you without actually knowing your real name, well..."
He gave a soft laugh. "Protectors of the human race. I like the sound of that."
He also liked the sound of her voice, the way it grew softer in some parts and louder in others, the cadence of each sentence, the quiet formation of certain words, each spoken delicately and meaningful. She spun tales with her voice, long, lyrical tales, even when the subject was something unpleasant or something hard to bear.
Gale felt her hands against his back and opened his eyes a little, enough that he could see her face.
"I don't want you to be empty either," he said quietly, and lifted his hand, tenderly stroking the backs of his knuckles down her cheek until they trailed down her jaw and dropped away, feeling the warmth of her skin against his fingertips. "Empty is just as terrible as broken, and I don't want either one for you."
He moved his hand back to her waist, holding her close, and the proximity of them made him nervous and excited and scared all at the same time, his heart fluttering a little in his chest because he wasn't sure what to do, he couldn't possibly know how to do everything because he was just so new at this and what if he was doing it wrong, what if he was getting too close too fast - but then, they'd spent so much time together already, they'd made so many memories together, and not just superficial ones, close ones, ones that meant something - and Stormy had already had a boyfriend before, she knew what to do, even if that thought made Gale feel a little irrationally jealous, and was it normal to want to kiss someone all the time, because he really just wanted to kiss her again but he also didn't want to because she had already said not yet, that she didn't feel ready, and he respected that, but what if he was doing it wrong?
I don't know what I'm doing, Gale thought.
"Too early," he said, with a small smile, though his cheeks were pink. Their foreheads were still together. "I'm going to take my time learning about you because I want to savor each moment I spend with you."
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 4:38 pm
"Isn't that what we are, though?" she pointed out with a little smile. "Protectors of humanity against Fear? Better than cannon fodder with talking weapons. Or even canon fodder with just one n. Maybe this is all one big story and we're just characters..."
Her face colored suddenly at the brush of his knuckles, an unexpected if light push for the day. It was different than just holding her face in her hands because anyone could do that, just like anyone could pat her head or touch her arm. Stormy ducked her chin a little shyly out of instinct, instantly regretting it as the tightness made her cough--she sealed her mouth with a wince so it wouldn't get on Gale. "Ah...I-I'd rather be empty than broken, if I had to pick," she told him after clearing her throat. "You can still function if you're empty. If you're broken, you have to take the time to pick up the pieces and it's terribly tedious..."
She paused, then tried a tease to lighten the mood. "You care a lot for someone who's just started dating," Stormy noted with what she hoped was a light smile, opening one eye to look at him. "But fair is fair: take your time trying to unravel the enigmysteryparadox~ I will sit and sing little ditties and look very amused while you do, like a musical Cheshire Cat, possibly while curling around you like the caterpillar's smoke too~"
She sucked in a breath and tried to put on a grave and deep voice. "Whooo. Aaaaare. Youuuu?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 5:47 pm
He gave a small little laugh, poking his nose against hers in a quick, silly reenactment of a Eskimo kiss before shifting his head back again. "You make it sound almost like we're superheroes," he said, with light amusement, and then added, in a slightly goofy, lower voice, "The story of Storm Girl and Gale Wind."
But then his expression softened, and he could see the blush that spread across her face as Stormy ducked her head, her hair falling down across her face. Her shyness made him shy as well, Gale shuffling a little, wondering if he should put a bit more distance between them - which he did, after a moment's thought, moving his forehead away from hers and sliding back, just a few inches.
"I cared for you a lot before we started dating," Gale reminded her, the blush on his face deepening at the mere word. "And I'm really okay with the - what did you call it, the curling thing? I think I'd be good with that too."
He laughed a little, and added, "I don't know - maybe you should tell me who I am."
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 7:11 pm
Stormy made a soft pleased sound at the Eskimo kiss, happy to indulge it--up until her nose started to other and twitch. It was good of Gale to have pulled back, because within seconds she had curled back up to hide her face and sneeze, eliciting another long groan. "More like Nyquility and the Gale Wind," she said with a small laugh, wiping her nose on her sleeve--why not, she was already pretty gross. "Ughhh, everything hurts..." If this had been her bed, she would have dug under the covers and not come out.
It would have been preferable to hiding her surprised look under her hair. It shouldn't have been surprising to hear Gale say he had cared that much even before dating--he'd certainly shown it--but actions and words were very different beasts. She scratched her nose with a self-conscious smile, unsure what to say to that and instead skipping it over. "The curling thing? Well it's like cuddling, just...more invasive and binding but without actually binding?" She slapped her cheek lightly. "I mean, takes up more space. Like a hug and a cuddle had a baby. Uhhh...huggle? Huggle sounds good, since huddle's taken~" Yes, huggling would occur once she felt better!
"Now! Why would I tell you who you are?" Stormy asked with terrible amusement. "It's too early to tell for me too, because it's just the first day. What I'd say now is just absolute made up nonsense--different than the nonsense I normally say," she added with a grin. "For instance, what if I told you I think you're a cat? Super affectionate when you want to be, yowly to everyone else? And also very warm and nice to hold~ Or what if I said you're not a cat, but a cat in the hat? Are you only available on rainy days, do you watch out for children, is your companion a fish? Or perhaps two fish? Red fish? Blue fish~?" Stormy cracked herself up.
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:06 pm
He couldn't help laughing at her sneeze, turning his face to press it into the pillow, muffling the sound and his smile. Even with the fact that she was sick, in a mostly ruined dress, Stormy was still adorable, her cheeks flushed pink.
"Curl hugging," Gale repeated, lifting his face to turn it back to Stormy. "I like this. So what needs to happen is that you need to feel better so we can do this...curl hugging thing, because it sounds very appealing."
<< Dork. >> said Jinhai, who had up til now been silent, and Gale mentally rolling his eyes. He raised an eyebrow at Stormy's description, slightly taken aback, his cheeks coloring slightly, but he was still somewhat pleased - a pleasure which turned into amusement after a few seconds, Gale laughing.
"Available on stormy days," he replied cheekily. "And Jinhai maybe could be considered a fish..."
<< Excuse me. Dragon. >>
Fish works too.
Reluctantly, Gale disentangled himself from Stormy's arms and sat up, tugging gently on her arm to pull her with him.
"Come on," he said. "You need a bath."
A pause.
"Er, not because you smell bad or anything, but because we're still in our terribly ruined cruise ship clothes and everything has the scent of salt and the ocean. And besides," he added. "Warm water will make you feel better. You can use my bathroom, I'll wait til you're done."
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:21 pm
Stormy days sldfkjaldfja and thus she cracked up some more.
Oh God did her head and throat hurt. And oh did she not care.
She remained curled a little on the bed as Gale slid away, flopped and too lazy to move after the fact even as he tugged her arm. "I do, but ughhhhh," she whined. "Your bed is, like, super soft . . ." Although huggling . . . huggling . . .
Then she paused.
"If I did take a bath, you'd have to give me some clothes from my room," Stormy warned him. "Or else I'd . . .have to steal some of yours. Which I shouldn't," she added hastily, before that turned into an awkward topic all its own. "Sick, first day, sick, shouldn't push the envelope, also sick I'll have you know."
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:27 pm
She was still flopped on the bed. Gale tugged on her arm a little more, reaching down to poke her side affectionately. "Come on," he said. "The sooner you take a bath, the sooner you can come back and curl up on it again, and then you'll feel much better."
"Plus," he added, a little shyly. "More cuddling."
He arched a brow and smiled, letting go to move over to the dresser, ducking down to pull open a few drawers, digging around for a few moments until he found what he was looking for. There was a small click as Gale pushed the drawers shut again and then he straightened, walking back over to the bed.
"Here," he said, and held out a slightly wrinkled and a pair of black sweatpants. "You can wear this, partially because it'll fit you, and partially because I'm too lazy to actually go to your room and find you clothes."
Gale smiled, reaching out to lightly flick his fingers over Stormy's hair.
"Come on, sicky, up and attem."
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:45 pm
Or she could totally borrow, sure why not. Stormy squinted at the shirt with a sniffle, trying to judge how baggy it would look on her. She did have a small figure, but . . . Well okay, it'd do. Look, even with a functioning bra she was a little self-conscious okay. It was his things not her things and therefore different somehow.
"Fiiiiine." She sighed and crawled off the bed, landing on her feet with a small thump. Taking the offered clothes and draping them over an arm with a lazy smile, she then reached up with her other hand to pat his head. "Thank you, kind sir~ Won't be but a minute," she chirped before walking a few steps and stopping.
". . . Where's the bathroom again?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:04 pm
He smiled at the pat, and then put his hands on her shoulders, propelling her to the door on the left side of the room. "Through here," said Gale, and pushed it open to reveal a very quaint little room with a white tile floor and pale yellow walls. On one side was a simple, white porcelain bathtub and shower, complete with shower curtain, as well as a tiny sink. A cup with a toothbrush sticking out of it, as well as a set of dark red towels were the only indication that someone actually used the room.
"It's not very big, and you might have to fiddle with the tap a little," said Gale apologetically. "It's pretty finicky sometimes, but it works."
He let go over her shoulders and made his way out of the washroom. "Take your time, I'm gonna go freshen up myself in the other room and then I'll meet you back here."Ol-j-man asdkfansdf fiddling with my stupid tablet drivers freaking things
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:58 pm
She hummed a little as she was directed, pleasantly surprised to see it was sunny even in the bathroom. "I can handle finicky~ See you in a bit."
After the door closed, she didn't immediately go about undressing and showering just yet. Stormy turned a curious eye over the layout of the room, how the plumbing fit, how the personal affects were arranged, memorizing details for the moment. She didn't like to disturb items when they belonged to someone else, because things had a special order like that. And it was more special because they were all Gale's, and this bathroom was his, and that room was his, and that bed was his, this house was his, oh dear God that bed was his and they had been cuddling and coughing and sneezing oh dear sweet Mary and Joseph--
It only hit Stormy after the fact (typical) that Gale seriously cared, because once again actions and words were two different things, and the divide seemed even greater in her hazy mind. She peaked at herself in the mirror warily, wincing at how her eyes still had a hint of pink in them from the crying earlier, and how her nose was red, and her hair was frizzy, and her cheeks felt stained still, and her dress. Her dress. She whined softly at how the sea water and the battling had torn at it, knowing it was petty to mourn a particular outfit but unable to help herself. Stormy didn't often dress up, and she'd done her best to feel pretty, mission or not. Now knowing what she looked like, she had to wonder how Gale could see past that image, the sick, red-faced yet somehow a little more pallid at the same time, mussed looking thing looking back at her.
I need a shower. Baths took too long and were a luxury she wasn't about to take advantage of, offered or not. Baths were for pampering anyway, and she didn't feel like she needed to be.
It was nice to peel herself out of her dress and stand under a steady stream of hot water; the steam seemed to take more than just the salt water off her, but also some of her troubles as well--everything just evaporating into the air and leaving her warm and cozy. Whatever tension she'd had originally was soothed the longer she showered, and when Stormy eventually came out of the bathroom, she looked very much at peace--even if she was borrowing Gale's clothing, which she'd thought was a step not taken for at least a month or so into dating.
Then again, who was she kidding. Schedules for dating? Maybe there was no right or wrong answer to when steps could be taken, though to her it felt like there had been so many things happening in one day that she couldn't believe it was just the afternoon. It wasn't a few days, or a week already?
Was this what it felt like to date the right guy? Was it like this every day? Orrrr was she getting ahead of herself, lost in the glamor of hormones?
Either way, Stormy leaned against the wall, her dress draped over one arm, a used towel on the other. Her hair still felt a bit drippy (it always took ages to dry; she'd considered cutting it), so she kept it around just in case. Gale had told her to wait there, and so she did, humming a song to herself as she swayed in place.kurotomato ;AAA; /touches gently from afar
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 10:26 pm
Gale let Stormy take his own bathroom and made his way out of his room and down the hall towards the much smaller guest bathroom, where he slipped inside, closed the door, and leaned his back against it, staring up at the ceiling with his face very red.
They'd just been cuddling. On his bed. In his room. In his house.
What.
How long was one supposed to have been dating before they did such a thing? Was he moving too fast? He was moving too fast, he knew it, but he simultaneously wanted to have everything at once and savor everything slowly as it came, which was confusing and vaguely frustrating. To be fair, he'd wanted to be closer to her for a while now, but this was the actual dating part.
Dating. They were dating. He was dating Stormy. He was dating Stormy.
He lightly slapped at his reddened face and took a deep, steadying breath. Taking a few steps forward to turn on the shower, he managed a glimpse of himself, and promptly grimaced. Torn shirt, torn pants, torn vest. He'd long since lost both his gloves and the jacket that went along with this particular suit, which was rather a shame, since it had been his only nice suit. There were dark water stains all along the legs of his pants and grit and sand made fuzzy, irregular patterns on his sleeves.
And he'd let Stormy cuddle with him while looking like this. Gale put both hands on his face in mild consternation before sighing.
After he'd taken his shower and put on a pair of sweats of his own (he had several pairs, thanks to a) Nick stealing one or two herself, and b) they were comfortable), paired with a dark blue teeshirt with the British flag on it, Gale slung his towel around his neck and went down the hall back to his room, where he found Stormy leaning against the wall. She looked - well, adorable, in his clothes, and Gale found himself smiling as he walked towards her.
"Cute," he said, and flipped his own towel over her head, playfully rubbing at her still damp hair.
"Feel a little better?"
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