|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 10:52 pm
Stormy watched him approach with a girlish grin, going so far as to put a hand in front of her mouth and mimic a trumpet as she skatted the first few bars of "God Save the Queen". She didn't even bother trying to dodge the towel, instead making an "mmm~" under it, so peaceful it was almost comical. "A little, yeah," she answered as she slid it off and swung it lightly against Gale; she now had a thin aura of curly hair at the top of her head detached from the wet mass. "Nose cleared a bit from the heat, but I don't think it'll last long. I forgot to ask if you have pain pills or cough drops or tea and honey by chance, 'cause I think at this rate I'm gonna lose my voice since my throat hurts a lot." She didn't seem particularly perturbed about the fact, nor did she give any indication that she would limit talking.
"You clean up nice, though~" This time the towel twirled around his waist and back (she had tried to make it more of a snap like she'd seen in movies, but a fear of somehow doing it too hard made it . . .a rather limpid reaction). "It really is a shame about the suit and vest . . . Oh!" She blinked owlishly. "Did I leave some of that grime on your bed? Should we go clean the sheets? Did I trek something on your welcome mat or the couch downstairs while we're at it?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 11:50 pm
He caught the towel and tugged at it, grinning a little. "Glad to hear it," said Gale, and curled his hand around the towel, though he didn't do anything else except just hold it. He was being good, he was resisting the very strong urge to pull Stormy towards him and just bury his face in her hair. "And I have tea with honey downstairs in the kitchen that would probably be nice on your throat."
He let go of the towel and shrugged a little. "I'll get a new suit sometime later," he said, and leaned back against the dresser, his hands resting on the top of it. Gale's eyes flickered towards the bed briefly, squinting slightly at it, and then looked back at Stormy.
"I think the bed will be fine," he said lightly. "We just stayed on top of the covers, so if anything we can just get a new blanket. And don't worry about the downstairs, it'll be fine."
There was a moment in which he shuffled his feet, trying to figure out the answer to the puzzle of what do I do now? Gale suddenly feeling a little nervous in spite of himself.
"You think maybe you should sleep now?" he asked with a smile. "Rest will also make your throat feel better, you know."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:08 am
She bobbed her head once to all of this, musing. "I probably should sleep," she agreed. "I like sleeping. And napping. Beds are super warm and comfy, sleep is needed to make you feel better, dreaming is nice . . ." She trailed off, looking as though she had convinced herself since she yawned.
And then, abruptly, she smiled and tapped his arm with the towel, turned towards the stairs, and descended. "Time for you and time for me," Stormy recited airily. "And time yet for a hundred indecisions, / And for a hundred visions and revisions / Before the taking of a toast and tea~"
Rest would help her physically. Staying up with him would help her emotionally.
With light steps of her bare feet she went down the stairs and lead herself back to the kitchen. Remembering the last time she had been there, Stormy twirled once with a silly little smile and began to investigate his cabinets for teabags, already coughing lightly. "You're very organized," she remarked. "It's a nice change of pace. My room's a little messy to the outside eye, but I know where everything is. Controlled chaos~ Mi mami, my mom, she used to yell at me for making things get out of place--she swore I could do it without touching them even!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:15 am
"Sleeping is good, yes," said Gale agreeably, folding his arms across his chest, his eyes flickering as he caught the yawn. He knew she was tired, but he also knew that sleeping would most likely mean dark dreams, and neither one of them really wanted that.
But sleep was essential as it was.
He followed Stormy down the stairs, his ears still ringing pleasantly with the sound of her voice, the poetry lyrical and soft in his mind. She had found her way to the kitchen, and was in the process of searching for tea, apparently. Gale stepped up behind her and reached into a cabinet to her left, pulling out a small kettle and a box of Earl Grey.
"Less organized, more simple, I think," he said, moving with the kettle towards the sink to fill it with water. "As you can see by my clearly superior decorating skills, I tend to keep things minimalistic."
Gale put the lid on the teapot and set it on the stove, flicking the switch to turn the burner on. "I don't really keep a lot of things," he said, a little embarrassed by this fact. "Sentimental things, perhaps, but, er, I was never one for having much stuff when I was a child, so I sort of kept in the habit, I s'pose."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:12 am
"I like simple too," she agreed, stiffening just a bit when she realized he was right behind her before taking a breath. "Sometimes things don't need more added on to be just fine. Minimalism just means organization in that you have what you need where it ought to be and nothing else. Very clear cut and precise--sort of like how I imagine handling a snipe rifle works."
< < Sentimentality has no place here either. The less you think of the past, the more focused you will become in the present. > >
Stormy paused, then turned around and leaned against the counter, watching Gale put the teapot on the stove. "I was thinking back there," she began--because clearly she hadn't been up until now--and rubbed her temple to help assuage her headache. "And maybe I've asked this in the past, but I can't remember . . . Jinhai, is he nice to you? Was it ever rough?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:40 am
Absently he toyed with a packet of tea, turning it over in his hands as he gave Stormy a slightly curious look, Gale tilting his head.
"Nice?" he repeated, a little bemused, but then he shook his head, his blonde and white hair falling into his face before he pushed it out of his eyes again. "Nah, he's never really been rough to me. Rough on me, maybe a little, when we first started. We learned to get along with one another, though. I think at the beginning I was more, um...how should I say this..."
The kettle was whistling now. Gale turned around and reached for a potholder, wrapping it around the handle to shift the teapot from one burner to the other. He reached above Stormy's head and pulled down two teacups and two saucers, setting them neatly beside one another.
"We weren't seeing eye to eye at first," said Gale, picking up the kettle again and carefully pouring the boiling water into each cup. "We bashed heads a little - metaphorically speaking, of course. We argued a lot, sorta bickered and squabbled like two siblings. But we learned over time that it doesn't work - that this," he waved a hand at himself, at the silver ring on his hand. "doesn't work when we don't agree with one another."
Gale set the kettle back on the stove and reached for the silverware drawer, pulling out a pair of spoons and sticking them on the saucers beside each cup. "So we learned how to tolerate each other, first, and then we learned how to get along with each other, and then to rely on each other," he said, now setting a packet of Earl Grey on each saucer. He turned to Stormy, handing her one of them.
"Why do you ask?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 11:35 am
It was fascinating to be the one standing still as he moved, an eye of the storm while the wind whipped about it. She enjoyed the image and smiled to herself as Gale spoke, still listening but indulging the notion at the same time as her eyes followed his movements. In a way he was a force like this: perhaps not gale strength, but rather Gale strength, picking where to go and moving exactly there, defining particular points and keeping precise movements even if it was just getting tea made.
Stormy had to wonder if he was drawn to chaos because his nature was fixed.
"I was just curious," she answered simply, taking the teacup and saucer with a grateful nod. "I heard about those weapon golems we have, and I was thinking maybe one day I should meet him face to face." She'd also been thinking about how relieved she was to hear they had a symbiotic understanding, that maybe with time...
Stormy then heard an odd rustling sound from Thane and a soft growl. It wasn't like his regular noises of discontent, but...it almost sounded like he had agreed with Gale. It wasn't an assertive yes, it left room for interpretation. Stormy thought to ask, but all she got was the image of the dracolich curling around her again.
It still felt a little ominous somehow.
She clutched her tea a little closer to her chest, letting the heat radiate off it and give her a little bit of warmth. "I was also thinking about The Question," she added, blowing some air on her tea.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:01 pm
Gale lifted his teacup to his lips and breathed in the scent for a moment before taking a small sip. The warmth of it soothed him, melting into him like a blanket, and he smiled against the rim of his cup. He did love tea, and there was something just very soothing about it.
He slid sideways along the counter to gently curl his fingers in the hem of Stormy's shirt just to have something to hold onto, Gale taking another swallow of tea. He swung his arm sideways a little and shuffled closer, giving her a shy smile.
"If you need help with the golems, I can help you," he said lightly. "I've worked with them a few times now. Or, if you just need a bit of moral support..." He gave a little shrug, breathing in the scent of the tea. "Either way, let me what you want to do."
Gale took a swallow of tea and tilted his head a little. "The Question?" he repeated, a little bemused. "Which one?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:19 pm
She remained fixed in place as he moved closer, unable to hide her smile in return as he clutched the shirt. "Moral support?" she echoed, trying to make it sound more like a joke. "Funny thing to offer when meeting my own brain-mind partner. You do care~" Stormy sniffled and gave him a wink before testing the tea. Ahhhhh so waaaaarmmmmmm...Maybe a bit too hot still, but she already started to feel even more languid than usual.
"Which Question? That's quite a question, huh?" She lifted the spoon, licked it dry, and waved it as a baton. "I believe that everyone in their heart of hearts has a question they want answered. Sometimes it stays fixed throughout their lives, sometimes it changes. Sometimes it's positive, like 'is there some way I can help?' or 'what new thing can I do next?' Sometimes it's negative like 'can I do anything right?' or 'what's the point?' And sometimes it might not be answerable, like 'what is the meaning of my life?'"
She lightly poked Gale's chest with the spoon. "Remember in the Sahara how Death let us ask a question or a favor? I was trying to puzzle out yours."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:47 pm
"No, I actually don't care at all, I'm just some weirdo prat who keeps following you around," Gale deadpanned, and then grinned, unable to hide his smile as he leaned in and poked his forehead gently against the side of her head for a moment before leaning back.
"Ahhh," he said, and leaned back against the counter, the smile on his face fading a little. "It, ah...well, I'm not entirely certain what it would have been myself, actually. I was a bit...stressed at the time, I don't know where my state of mind would have been."
His expression flickered, a little sad.
"...maybe it would have been about Leslie," Gale murmured, his teacup up to his mouth again, his voice half muffled. "I don't know."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:37 pm
Maybe it was a little unfair to pry like that, but that was how her curiosity could be sometimes. She wanted to know about both the good and the bad--sometimes the bad just evoked more emotion, which Stormy knew she craved from others. Emotion meant something special, something more, and that was what she always strived for; even if it meant exceeding her grasp.
"It was a stressing time," she agreed mildly, sipping her tea. The cup remained at her lips. "Mine was about family too. It wasn't The Question or anything, but..."
She trailed away and found herself at her first wall since the day had began. While being with Gale made it easy to talk, there were still some things she was unable to say--physically unable to even, judging by how her throat closed over the words. So rather than speak, she acted, and scooted closer to Gale so she could lightly take ahold of his sleeve. "Sorry about bringing it up," Stormy mumbled. "You really uncorked a lot and sometimes the words just sort of...fall out of my mouth like some ungodly waterfall. I don't want to force conversation. I just get all these threads of thought in my head, and I follow them outloud sometimes not thinking of where they might lead."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:44 pm
He felt Stormy's hand at his sleeve and instinctively shifted closer, Gale reaching down to take hers, sliding his fingers together and squeezing gently, lifting his cup to his lips again.
"It's not..." he started to say, and then stopped a little, turning to set his mostly empty teacup down on the counter top, reaching to take Stormy's as well and set it aside. Then he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her silent, gentle hug, pressing his face into her hair for a moment.
"I like your thoughts," said Gale quietly and leaned back so he could see her face. He lifted a hand, gently running a few fingers through her slightly damp curls before linking his fingers together around her waist. "Sometimes my own thoughts get chaotic, and sometimes I don't know what I'm saying until I say it, and I am awkward and confusing and ridiculous and I probably do a lot of stupid things, and I probably will be very dumb in this relationship."
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "But hopefully we'll figure out our own rhythm, you and I, and we'll make our own paths soon enough and the conversation won't be forced, and the thoughts will just be what we want them to be. "
Gale sighed a little. "Now if only I could stop having eternal foot-in-mouth syndrome."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 6:33 pm
There was something about the smoothness of his actions that let her feel at ease, even though her head was stuffed and her nose was plugged and her throat would eventually go on to hurting again; being around him made her forget that she was sick. Her teacup was taken without resistance, his arms welcomed around her waist even if it took her a moment to react and return the hug--even after all the affection shown before, when there were pauses between them Stormy could still forget that someone would want to do this more now, that this overwhelming need for contact no longer had to be restrained so much. Or maybe her mind was addled from the cold and she was being silly about this again.
Either way, she smiled warmly at Gale, even as a small shiver went down her spine from his fingers teasing her hair. "Awkward, confusing, ridiculous, and chaotic . . . are you sure you're not talking about me too~?" she chirped, trying to keep things upbeat while sniffling again. "If it means anything, I think we had a flow going upstairs. And a little on the couch too when I look back on it. So we're off to a good start! You should see me when I get delirious or caffeinated, then things really get whacky~"
She lifted a hand from his waist to gently poke his cheek. "You told me once the way you vent is by talking. So if you ever feel like it, then talk~ It doesn't matter how weird or crazy you think it sounds so long as you get your thoughts out there somehow. I mean, have you been listening to me?" Stormy pointed out with a self-conscious giggle. "I called you The Cat in the Hat and talked about liquid sunshine and poetry and chaos and magic. That's not a line of thought most would go for."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:55 pm
The feel of her arms around his waist was comfortable, soothing almost. It was a comfort he'd never had before, and now that he could have it, now that it was right here in front of him, he kept feeling an instinctive, almost desperate need to move closer, to keep her in his arms, to just be close with her, even if it just meant standing beside her.
"Maybe one day I'll see what you're like when you're caffeinated," said Gale, with some amusement. "But until then, I'll take the awkward, confusing, ridiculous, and chaotic you, since I find that rather endearing."
He sighed a little and then smiled, nudging his forehead against hers. "I liked the liquid sunshine thing; there's something very poetic about that."
Leaning back, Gale reluctantly slid his arms away from Stormy's waist and picked up his teacup again, downing the last of it. "Come on," he said. "You promised me you'd get some rest, and you've gotta sleep so you can get better."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 8:20 pm
Gale had to drink his tea with Stormy still clinging to him because, soothing drinks or not, she wasn't willing to let go just yet. Especially knowing that she'd eventually have to sleep. "Caffeinated me is awful," she warned him, her words muffled slightly against his shirt. "Not endearing in the least. It's like sleepless me, but . . . hyper." She tried to make it sound as ominous as possible, then turned her head so she could be clearer.
"But until then, I'll take all of you as well, Will Turner~"
She still wasn't letting go.
"Should we tell someone about this?" Stormy stalled very casually, trying for an easy smile up at Gale. "I bet Miss Candace would like to hear~"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
