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 Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:45 pm
G E E K U "Oh, no, she uses bell peppers. Sometimes she stuffs them with spiced up meats, but that's on request only."
Nye finished his soup shortly after Ivie's place was pushed aside. He did more of an exchange thing with the cheesecake box and his bowl rather than just shoving it aside. Reaching for a knife, he propped the box open in a way so that Ivie couldn't see the cake and made a big show of cutting it up as he spoke. "His mum still has two kids in the house, unless Steven moved out already. Tim's only like, 17, you know. He took some weird course on cosmetology in high school and Jean-Pierre knows his mom. The kid's some sort of prodigy, though, 'cause he's about as good as Allison is."
He picked up a plate and quickly scooped a slice of cheesecake onto it, that super pretty vanilla kind with chocolate swirls throughout, and pushed it towards Ivie. It was to note that his slice was slightly smaller, to match mainly his dislike of sweets and confections. Cheesecake, though, he didn't mind as much.
The box was set aside as cake forks were passed out and Nye called to the waitress to order some strong-sounding type of coffee. He refused to touch the cake until it was brought to him in a timely fashion. "All I know is that I was a terrible teenager, and if I have to raise more than two kids that are anything close to that, I'll probably have a mental breakdown and do that thing where I shave all my hair off. You seem like you were alright to your parents, though."
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:12 pm
"Ooooh~, I see. That wouldn't be so bad, then." She thought, anyway. She'd never actually had stuffed peppers. Dinnertime in the Callegher household wasn't a particularly exotic affair: roast, bbqs, stews, soups. That was the staple, anyway. "He is? He looks older...or more mature, older isn't the nicest way to put it, is it? Can you have prodigies in hairdressing?
Ivie piped down when the cake box was open, trying to peep around indiscreetly to see what was inside. She failed, so when Nye presented her cheesecake across the tables, she was genuinely delighted. "Ohh, pretty!"
Now came a problem. She wouldn't start her cake without Nye, that would just be rude, but he'd ordered a coffee. That took time. It took a lot of resistance, and linking her fingers together under her chin, elbows under the tables, but the red-head managed to restrain herself from just digging in.
"Yeah, you strike me as the terrible teen type, to be blunt." A giggle. "Not to sound vain but I was. I was pretty good my entire childhood, really, which is why my parents decided to have another child...they got twin girls, one picky as hell and the other convinced she was a very messy boy. No more after that, you can imagine!"
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:03 pm
G E E K U Ivie would have to get used to ... exotic dining. Nye could never, ever get enough of new things. "He's just short for his age, but otherwise he's plenty mature. And you can have a prodigy in anything."
Nye was inwardly amused at Ivie's... obvious temptations. He was on the verge of telling her to dig in already when his coffee was set down in front of him with a smile. Nye thanked the waitress and picked up the mug, first warming his hands with it, and then taking a sip. He cut off a piece of cake with his fork only to really signal Ivie rather than for his own enjoyment. Hell, as soon as he swallowed the first bite of cheesecake, he had to take a gulp of coffee.
Totally not used to that amount of sweet, but at least he was discreet about it? "To be blunt, you seem like the type. Your sisters sound like they drove your parents mad."
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:51 pm
"Oh gods, do I?" Ivie wasn't sure whether to be worried about this or not. "Well, they were more...difficult rather than maddening. Lots of activities. You know how it is."
There's always that mid-point between trying new things and having the cash to do so. Oh, and the time. Ivie might have been on her own now, free to eat what she wanted, but she rarely had time to do anything more than throw an instant meal in the microwave either at home or work. When she did have time, she didn't want to spend it cooking of all things. She'd rather spend it doing more exciting things. Like eating cheese cake.
Speaking of which, Nye had his coffee and had started so she quite happily took a decent fork-full which vanished into her mouth. Ivie's love of sweets was confirmed as her eyes shut happily, a smile lighting up her face before she practically emitted sparkles of delight.
"Nye, where on earth did you get this? You have to tell me, I'm making it my second home as of now."
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:04 pm
"I do, I do. I drove my parents mad with all the boxing stuff I did." Nye was completely waiting for that reaction as he sipped his coffee, mainly to hide that handsome smug grin of his. It was gone by the time he lowered the mug to take on a slice of cheesecake, of course.
Ah, she wanted to know the bakery. There was no harm in telling her, of course. "Oh, the place is just a few blocks away. Can't remember the name of it for my life, but that entire street smells of sweets. So just... follow your nose once you hit Main?" Were the sparkles tangible, Nye would have probably tried to catch them. He himself seemed to sparkle a little at times (although not as prominently as a certain fop in a certain mastermind's head may), but that was alll in the fangirls' heads.
The fangirls he liked to think he had.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:09 pm
"I'll be sure to check it out when I get a chance." Ivie replied enthusiastically, taking another generous mouthful with an almost dopey smile on her face. Hey, it was easy to make her happy. "If I'm three hundred kilograms by next Christmas, though, I'm blaming you!"
She giggled happily, polishing off her slice post-haste and making sure every possible crumb was scraped clean on her plate before she set her fork down. Were she at home she'd have tucked into another one, possibly two, yet this wasn't home and it was Nye's cheesecake after all. The last thing she wanted to do was promote that she was greedy when it came to anything sweet.
She was. But that's not the point. Time to wait for Nye to finish.
"Boxing, hey? My sister wanted to do that but my parents drew the line. Does it hurt a lot?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:54 pm
Nye put his hands up in a truce-like manner and gave her a nod. "Blame accepted. My goal is three hundred and one kilograms by next month."
He tried to polish off the cheesecake as fast as he could, but there were frequent breaks for coffee in there. Really, he did try, but... how did people like this stuff? It was insane and it made his tongue want to chop itself off with a butcher knife. "It doesn't hurt until the morning after. Adrenaline is an automatic pain reliever. I may not look it, but uh," Nye paused to raise his arms up and flex his muscles. He even sent an eyebrow waggle in Ivie's direction. "Tickets to this gun show are kinda hard to get."
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:00 pm
Ivie poked her tongue out at Nye before reaching over and stealing a bite of his cake. "One step closer to it." she replied contritely, before sitting back.
"Doesn't sound like my sort of thing then. I'll stick to gym and..." Ivie broke off laughing as Nye did the cliche arm-flex, waggling his eyebrows. "You're horrid, you are. Hairdressers aren't meant to have muscles, you know!"
Gunshows. Blah. Not that she minded Nye's little display there but it did bring up some rather unpleasant memories. Blah indeed.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:04 pm
Nye put his arms down back to the table and allowed himself a bit of a chuckle. "You tell me that after needing to hold a pair of shears up this way and that for eight hours, five days a week and sometimes Sundays. You need at least a little muscle for that! And warding off rabid fangirls, but that just comes with being... you know. Me."
Nye pushed his plate delicately towards Ivie, as if there was this HUGE portion of cheesecake on it. He really could not take any more, his sweet tooth was putting up a shield (if he even had a sweet tooth). "Take it. I don't know how you do it, you are my hero, but I can't have another bite of it. I need like, celery or something now."
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:00 am
"A little, maybe, but not that much! I mean, come on, I push wheelchairs and move patients around all day but I have next to no muscles, now do I?" Ivie was wearing a long-sleeved top under all her jackets and couldn't be bothered taking it off, so she didn't bother to demonstrate her lack of muscles. Her eyes lit up as the cake was pushed towards her and she would have felt bad...but then, Nye did seem to be having issues with it. "How you can't like sugar I don't know. It's life giving!"
Nye's cake was quickly pulled into a vanishing act and within five minutes, Ivie had it stacked atop her own and had sat back happily. "Fangirls, eh? Am I going to have to worry about them mauling me 'cause we had cake?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:49 am
Nye finished his coffee about as quickly as Ivie finished off his cheesecake, so they actually ended up needing the check a lot sooner than Nye had thought. Once the little black folder-like thing (he never knew what to call them) was placed on the edge of their table, Nye flipped it open with one (muscular) finger.
Now, he knew from experience that Ivie did not want her tab covered, so he had to actually do some math that time around (really, the only reason he covered people's tabs half the time was so that he could avoid doing math) and place down a ten for his meal and tip. The bill was then slid over to Ivie.
"Well, Iduno. They might, might not. Some of them are just vicious, though. I'll protect you with my... muscular bod." Another flex of the arms, another eyebrow waggle. There may have been little left from his boxing days except a firm grip and a nice upper body, but he did like to joke around. Not in the salon, of course, or good ol' JP would make him carry boxes.
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:11 am
Aha, the boy could be taught! Ivie sent him a smile before quickly working out what she owed. Five dollars. This was starting to sound like last time. She slipped her five dollar note on top of Nye's and flipped the bill shut. They didn't need change, from her math, so she simply left it on the table.
"I'm sure you will, though if you do have fans, I have a suspicion that might be just what they want." She had to snicker. The mental image of Nye doing the flexing in an attempt to protect her, only to be tackled by a vicious horde of fangirls, was really quite funny.
"Shall we go and grab Lizzie then? Has she grown any? I hope she - " A sudden clap of thunder cut her off mid-sentence. It was so sudden - the day had been sunny when they'd entered - that she yelped quietly and jumped, staring outside in bewilderment.
"Oh no..."
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:17 am
Nye looked outside as soon as the rain started pounding on the window beside them. Lots of the couples seemed to find this a time to snuggle up under a jacket, but Nye's eyes glistened with something a little more daring than that.
"You have an umbrella?"
"No..."
"... Let's go then."
Nye wasn't very abrupt at all in standing up from his rather comfortable seat, but the fact that he began stripping out of his peacoat got him some bewildered looks, particularly when he offered it to Ivie. "Put that over your head, we're going to my place anyways so I can just change clothes there while you play with Lizzie. And yes, she has grown. Frighteningly so." So much for being the runt of the litter, that one.
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:23 am
A little perplexed at having a peacoat thrust in her general direction, Ivie took it out of instinct rather than gratitude. "What, hey! Nye! You'll catch a chill if you - "
Nye seemed to enjoy cutting her off. She'd been about to give the coat back to him when he grabbed her wrist, tugging her out of the store after him. The rain was falling fast and heavy by this point and, seeing as the man wasn't taking no for an answer, Ivie complied and pulled the peacoat over her head, feeling rather silly but staying relatively dry. The coat was thickly lined on the inside, she noticed as they dashed through puddles and darted from shelter to shelter. It smelled of Nye, too. Lemons and vanilla. Interesting mix.
Rain was slanting into the bus-stop so it was a good thing they didn't have to wait long, the wind having picked up and the temperature icy. Thankfully the creaky, lumbering hulk of a machine had working heating. At this point in time that was enough to make one forget about the rock-hard steats, graffittied windows and strange urine like smell. Public transport. Charming.
The ride wasn't long. Ivie had pursuaded Nye to take back his jacket though felt it would do little good with him already drenched, and so wouldn't let him put it on until they reached his stop.
"You might dry out a little in here, at least." She told him sharply, knowing she'd feel bad if he got sick. Fifteen minutes later saw his shirt dry at least, though the denim jeans were still clingy and soggy. Still, it was better than nothing.
The rain, if anything, had become harder as the two slid down the bus-stairs and onto the pavement, dashing the last one-hundred meters from the stop to Nye's apartment building. Ivie sighed in relief as the doors shut behind them, blocking out the wind and the wet.
"I'm investing in a bigger bag." She sighed, shaking a few droplets of water from her curls. "So I can carry an umbrella from here time on. Now, which way?"
"Nye, boy, is that you?" A creaky voice wafted from one of the lower floor rooms as an old woman peaked out, her scraggly grey locks pulled back into a bun. "If it's not too much trouble, could you - Oh, you have a lady friend with you again, mm?"
You could almost see the old woman's eyebrows waggling. "Nevermind then boy, have your fun while you're young." The head vanished back into the back rooms where one could vaguely make out the sounds of the midday soaps playing. One of Ivie's eyebrows rose.
"Again, mm? I'm not going to ask."
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 12:55 pm
Nye was entirely too glad to be out of the rain. It was kind of a sorry sight, seeing him soaked and shivering, and yet laughing like a fool at the same time. Not only was running definitely not his thing anymore, but he hated the cold (therefore, the uberthick peacoat). Determined to redeem himself from the weird stuff from his landlady, Nye simply shrugged as he began to head upstairs, rubbing his arms all the while. "She thought Lizzie was my girlfriend until I formally introduced them yesterday. This way!"
And so Nye lead her up three flights of stairs to an obviously slightly abused door (you couldn't ask Nye the amount of times he's kicked that thing and expect an immediate answer) with rustic-looking locks adorning the center part of its right edge. Nye had to dig around his jean pockets for a key, but even when he caught hold of it, his shaking hands had a little trouble inserting it into the lock and twisting it.
With a mild shove, the door swung open and Nye ushered Ivie in before himself, and then closed the door. The first noticeable thing was the sound of little paws pattering against the red hardwood flooring as a little golden retriever puppy, slightly bigger than she was upon coming into the Hemmingway household, went scattering towards Nye. He crouched down with his arms wide as Lizzie near ran him over and got up on her hind legs to give his already wet face a thorough washing. After much laughing and petting and scratching, Nye stood up and Lizzie turned her attention towards Ivie. Timid due to lack of recollection, she trotted right up to Ivie and instead of leaping on top of her, just started with sniffing her pant legs and trying to get at her hand.
Soaking wet and still rather cold, Nye began stripping out of his shirt and down to his wife beater while making his way to his room. "Make yourself at home, I'm gonna go change and I'll be right out. No way we're going to the park today, so I guess I'll just order pizza if that's alright with you."
'Home' to Nye was... not something considered home for most young men his age. The one-bedroom apartment Nye resided in was equipped with a bedroom (obviously), a medium-sized kitchen spilling right into a living room, and a bathroom tucked in somewhere in a discreet corner. Small, but Nye didn't need much (and didn't want to pay for much more).
Nye's living room floor was first and foremost covered in a rich, dark red rug that looked comfortable enough to sleep on. The cream-colored sofa that stood atop it had a leopard-print throw thrown haphazardly over its back and a dog bed by its side. Nye also seemed to bother investing in a large bookshelf for one end of the room, complete with an armchair to cuddle up and read in, and a table for his not-so-flat screen TV. A modest size for a spontaneous bachelor.
There were DVD cases almost everywhere on top of it, and below it, a few gaming consoles, a few blocked out of sight by the small coffee table that Nye had covered with all sorts of magazines. Was that the latest issue of Vogue under that coffee cup?
By the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room, there was a laundry basket all prepared for the chute, but obviously not gone through it yet and chock full of Nye's clothings. Lighted from overhead, the kitchen cabinets were a polished cherry with glass windows and a few pots and pants thrown atop the (faux?) marble counter in what Nye probably attempted to call cleaning. Someone was living the life, for sure.
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