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 Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:05 pm
It was a beautiful day. Summer was less than a month off and the skies above Destiny City were an eggshell blue with puffy clouds frolicking along like massive sheep. Daphne had pulled out a chunk of her savings, summoned up her courage, and gone shopping. As a result, her wardrobe was now full of adorable pairs of shorts, tank tops, and various t-shirts and sandals. She was head to toe in various shades of minty and sage green, hair piled on top of her head and held in place for a messy style all her own.
It was with this newfound confidence with a heaped-on stack of happiness from lunch with Elzo that had Daphne bouncing into the candy shop for the start of her afternoon shift. It was one of the few times that she and Zac overlapped though it was never for more than an hour at the most. It was enough though.
She'd danced her way through the first few minutes, helping customers, until the usual shift-change lull started. The boss was good -- she always knew when the lulls came and they were almost never understaffed. Placing her chin in her hands and elbows on the counter, Daphne smiled at her friend. "So Zac, when do I get to meet your girlfriend?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:17 pm
"Er... m... my what now?" Zac blinked at her, pausing mid 'tray' as he layered in a fresh arrangement of chocolate-coated fruits.... he was treating the chocolate-blueberries like a biohazard.
He did however toss her a dried-strawberry (likewise chocolate coated) before continuing.
"Uh... You realize I don't um..." he waved a hand and stopped, not even trying to continue whatever he'd been trying to say.
"Ah...what brought up that question?" He said trying to change the topic. Last time it had come up with a girl he'd been talking to Audrey... and... well she laughed when he said he was interested in gents.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:29 pm
The fruit was deftly caught and brought to her mouth with a smile, the strawberry disappearing rapidly as the bluenette rolled her eyes. "You don't what? Don't date. I mean I know you're shy and all but everyone dates. Even I got lucky enough to get a date or two once upon a time. And lemme tell you I'm one of those girls who never got asked out until..." she hesitated, remembering. She hadn't gotten asked out until she joined the Negaverse.
Funny how so many taboo topics could so easily work themselves into your life so that stories could never really be told with any accuracy. "And that's what brought up the question. You seem pretty shy but there has to be someone. You're kinda cute with all that shyness and you always seem to be off somewhere in space." Fingers twirled a strand of blue hair around her finger before it dropped and Daphne reached out to filch another strawberry.
"So tell me about her."
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:34 pm
"N...no I don't mean... I mean I have...dated, disastrously in the long run of it....and... stuff, I mean we're still friends but..." he paused and took a deep breath. It was far to easy to remember his mother's reaction to the fact that he once admitted he 'liked' Dem.
"... I've... never... 'dated' a..." he stammered for a moment, popping the lid back onto the tub of chocolate fruit and burping it to keep them fresh before he continued.
"I... never dated a -girl." he said carefully with a half wince of anticipation before he popped the tub back under the counter where it belonged.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:05 pm
The remnants of the strawberry made it about halfway to her lips before the bit about never dating someone of the female sex had her pausing. "Oh? But...oh! Ohhhhh!" There was a bit of surprise and following that, understanding. Well, being so short and cute he probably did attract guys on the borderline who weren't into manly men. And to be fair Zac probably did need a prince more than he needed a princess by any means.
Hunh.
Shoulders rolled and she shrugged it off. "Well, there goes the Daphne Xanis perception meter. I could've sworn you were being broody over a girl but I guess you're being broody over a guy, huh? This Dem dude or...someone else?" Eyes lit up and awkward interest turned into scandalous intent as she laughed and poked him in the ribs, all alight with curiosity.
"Now you have to spill the details, you scandalous harlot you!"
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:11 pm
"ACH!! Ohgod!!" He struggled and squirmed under the poking inquisition. He wasn't even sure if this was better or worse than his Mother's reaction to be honest.
"I can be broody over GIRLS I'm just not... I mean I only ever really... I'm not... God damn it that tickles!!" He said trying to shove himself to one side to free himself from the assault without knocking any displays over.
So there MAY have been a girl... maybe. "It's NOT Dem!!" He added wrapping his arms around his ribs and lifting one knee between them trying to defend himself. "I'll tell you I'll tell you just stop tickling!!"
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:15 pm
Laughter echoed off the walls of the store as she poked and prodded Zac Bantock into submission, not realizing that she was probably being quite the bully. The only difference was she wasn't trying to do anything more than make her stalwart co-woker laugh or even crack a damn smile. Smiling was good for the soul and at this rate, he wouldn't have any left!
It was Daphne's job to make sure he kept part of that soul. Yeah sure it was all semantics and a pretty ideal locked up in her decidedly strange head but it was what kept her going day after day -- pretty ideals in her weird brain. Everyone had to get up for something and hers was this.
Fingers curled into a fist and rapped once gently against the side of his ribs before she slid back and straightened up the display they'd mussed with the tussle. "Deal then. You tell me all about your scandalous love life and I leave you alone!"
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:23 pm
He sagged with relief against the joint of the angled counters he had backed himself into before rubbing his palms over his ribs like he could wipe away the 'tickle' sensation that still felt like it was crawling over them. He felt at least a little bad about tickling Ever after that, not... totally but at least a little.
"It's really not that -scandalous-..." he said blushing deeply "I... first dated a dude who was My room mate before he ended up dropping out, we had a few arguments and... just kind of went separate ways but we still talk. I... had... I.... I don't know I guess you could call it idle worship on... ONE girl...
I mean I've liked girls before but I never wanted to... yeah.. but she's..." he sighed and folded his arms looking distracted. "She's... She liked this guy better who beat her up lots of times, lied to her, then said he loved her and...god... she left all her friends for this a**, I'd almost rather she'd stuck with...well... she thinks she's happy and I never -really- told her so...yeah."
He shrugged and waved his hand and said "And... now I'm, I don't know... 'seeing' someone else, I don't think I could call it 'dating', I mean we finally went to see a movie but generally speaking I think he'd head for the hills if someone said we WERE dating...and that's it...nothing more exciting than... I don't get out much and when I do I bat for the home team...badly."
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:11 pm
Daphne'd listened quietly though her face had gone through at least half a dozen emotions before settling on something that probably should have unsettled Zac somewhat. Hands on her hips she poked very lightly at his side just once to get his attention out of wherever his mind had gone and she held the hand out.
"So lemme get this straight. You had a roomie as your boyfriend but it didn't work out." One finger ticked off. "And then you really had a burning flame for this girl who has, apparently, the biggest a*****e on the planet for a true love. But you never told her how you felt so you're still nursing feelings?" Another finger ticked. "But there's this third guy who doesn't seem to want a relationship but that's kinda where you are anyway." A third and a bemused expression as curls shook.
"Sounds like me you need to go find this girl and beat her up. You play sorta clumsily for the home team so maybe switch batters up a bit? I dunno. Seems like you're in a really weird pickle but I definitely think you should, as someone who cares if nothing else, get that girl away from that dude. He sounds like such bad news." Oh the irony if she only knew!
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 4:17 pm
"I can't just..." he sputtered, the idea of finding Lina and 'beating her up' even if she WAS 'batting for the other team' just seemed... Well.. wrong somehow. Oddly given Tanz involvement it felt rather like toe stepping, not that he wouldn't defend himself if she started something but trying to be the instigator just... well it put him in mind of what he'd done to Castor -for- Lina while she was still Linarite... didn't sit well. Not that he could tell Daphne that.
"I can't just beat her up!" He finished. "And...besides the thing with the guy works out well enough, I'm tired of fighting with this whole... relationship nonsense, someone always ends up hurt and I knew THAT before I even tried it, I -should- have known better than to try at all really... I don't know ANYONE who 'dating' has been any kind of improvement in their life in the long run." He grumbled.
"Besides if she's HAPPY with that kind of thing... and she... she probably wouldn't have taken it seriously anyhow."
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:28 pm
Leaning over, Daphne slung an arm around Zac's shoulders and gave him a friendly squeeze. "Well since you never told her you'll never know, now will you? And hey, I'm pretty happy with my relationship." Light lit up Daphne's entire face just thinking about the domestic bliss that she was one half of. It was all so painfully ironic if the other could only see or remember their alter identities. Zink was pouring his heart out to the one person he hoped never found out about his feelings.
"I'm convinced that pretty much anyone can be happy with relationships if they try hard enough and put the effort in. It's not always a bed of roses but it can be a bed of daisies if you're patient enough." A bad metaphor if ever there was one but she couldn't help but beam again, thinking all the while of the sapphire daisies that grew like a carpet in the gardens of Castor.
Yes, Daphne had a good life.
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:33 pm
"... daisies seem like they would be more friendly than roses, daisies don't have thorns..." He said confused by her metaphor... Her mention of daisies didn't help his mood any either, not remembering that Linarite had liked them too. He sighed heavily... "I guess... Maybe...I don't know, everyone says that but everyone I know has divorced parents or is cheating on someone with someone else... and they have to work hard to CHEAT but I can't imagine that's real happiness.... glad you're happy though... I mean... I hope it works out."
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:23 am
There was a sad but fond smile as Daphne corrected Zac. "Not everyone. Until they died my parents were very much in love with each other...and they only died recently." Fingers were crossed behind her back and a mental prayer spoken against her speaking of her parents in such a way. To Daphne they might as well have been dead for while they existed she couldn't hug them, couldn't speak to them, couldn't hide in the pretend safety of their arms while the world fell down around her.
Tanzanite had demonstrated, quite clearly, that Daphne could never go home again.
"Maybe that's where I get it. Though I never thought I'd have a boyfriend let alone a husband, so I don't think I'll ever get the opportunity to cheat." Irony again that she was staring at someone who would be more than happy to allow her to do that. And she knew of at least one other who would be more than happy to take her in if Castor cast her out.
The bell over the door rang and popped both teenagers from their increasingly depressing thoughts, and eyes lit on the clock. "Hey, want to take this one and then go off-shift? It's about time anyway."
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:56 am
Zac blinked out of his mope in surprise, then nodded, count on her to be the light of reason, he appreciated it, he needed it with Linarite gone. a sort of outside force to keep him grounded.
"... I could have bet you'd find someone, you're too nice to people NOT to...that's not a common quality in this world." He said and offered her a more genuine smile even if it still had that edge of sadness. "Sometimes even the people who say their...good, are just ... covering up something nasty inside don't you think? History written by the winners and all... So... keep being you."
He said and then as he moved to go to help the customer... darted a cautious hand to poke her in the ribs.
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