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 Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:03 pm
Being a senior counselor might be stressful at times, especially since he didn't feel like he was getting any sleep at night, but there were rare times during the day that Chris was able to just relax. Well, he was still on duty, but he was the first to jump up to offer to supervise the campers that wanted to take the canoes out on the lake. And what better way to do that but take a canoe out, himself??
But he didn't want to go alone. Not at all. Where would the fun in that be? Paris had been kept out of many of the water activities due to it being 'that time of the month', but he was determined to make sure she had at least a little fun while they were at the lake.
"Come on, you'll like it. You liked the sailboat, so why not?" he tried to reason, although he was still grinning from ear to ear as he lead the way down the hill, almost walking backwards at points to make sure Paris was still following behind him. He was pretty certain he got her at least interested enough to walk down with him, but getting her in a canoe might be a different story.
"It won't be for long, so you won't get burned. Are you even putting on sunscreen? You're looking kinda pink," he added with a frown, before almost slipping down the rest of the way as his foot caught on some wet leaves. Ugh... Rain sucked...
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Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:36 pm
Paris was trying to avoid as many water related activities as possible, not because he didn't like the water -- although he wasn't a very strong swimmer -- but because wearing a swim suit presented a pretty big problem. Luckily, his excuse of "oh, I'm on my period" had worked pretty well so far. The minute he'd said it, Chris had stopped trying to get him into the water, and had instead showed him a variety of sympathetic looks and asked a series of "can I get anything for you?"s that caused Paris to wonder why girls whined and moaned so much when going through this stuff.
But he was still wary, and he walked carefully down the hill after Chris. "I put more sunscreen on a little while ago," he reassured him. He did not want to leave camp blistered and as red as a lobster.
Smiling lightly, he stifled a laugh when Chris nearly slipped. "If you were paying more attention to where you're going, you wouldn't nearly break your neck like that," he said, walking closer to him to grab onto his arm and steer him around in the right direction. "You don't have to keep trying to convince me. I'll go out on the lake. I just don't want to get wet. I didn't even bother bringing a bathing suit since I knew I wouldn't be able to swim."
He'd been wearing skirt after skirt since they got there, which wasn't exactly conducive to a lot of physical activities, but he'd thought he'd been getting by pretty well.
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Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:05 pm
Chris grinned as Paris took hold of his arm, not worrying about making sure she was following him any more. "Really? That's great! I won't make you put on a life vest... Unless you want one? I doubt anything would happen to make you fall in. Unless I have to jump in for some strange reason, like the campers knocking each other in for some reason... They better not. But yeah, don't worry about that," he rambled, obviously excited about the opportunity to get out in a canoe with Paris.
He was comfortable in boats. Out on the water was the only place he would feel comfortable with his feet off the ground. He hated planes since he had no control over those, but boats were different.
"Hey! No running!" he shouted at a couple of the over excited campers, watching as they frowned at him. "Go put on some life vests, please. It's a rule that all campers need a vest," he explained, watching as they went to do that, before carefully pulling his arm away from Paris so he could help get the campers' canoes out and into the water.
"Sorry, give me a few minutes," he said with a weak smile at Paris, before turning back to get the kids in. "Actually, can you help me pass out paddles, please?" he wondered, not thinking it would be too much of a problem, but if he didn't want to do that, then he would be fine with doing it, himself.
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 5:41 am
Paris listened to Chris ramble but didn’t really comment much on the topic of a life vest, though he may have rolled his eyes a little bit – not in annoyance. The action was sort of… complacent, as if he’d expected Chris to start fussing about such things. A life vest wasn’t going to do much to keep him dry, just prevent him from having too hard of a time if he somehow made it into the water. He wasn’t the best swimmer, but he was good enough to float there and keep himself above the water if something happened.
“Just don’t tip the boat and I’ll be fine,” he said, moving out of the way as some of the kids rushed passed them.
He let go of Chris’s arm so they could work on getting the canoes ready. “Sure, I can help,” he said with somewhat of an exasperated smile. “I’m not completely useless when it comes to all the water stuff.”
He passed some of the paddles off to the kids who’d excitedly gathered around them, only having to pause once to shout the warning “Don’t you dare hit someone with that!” before they were helping the kids into their canoes after making sure they all had their life vests on properly. “Remember,” he told them, “you don’t go too far away from us, and if we tell you to come back, you come back immediately. Do something dumb and no more lake privileges for you.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 6:25 am
He blinked at Paris's authoritative orders for the children, not knowing why he felt impressed. Well, maybe it was because he had such little faith in the other counselors to actually make appropriate threats when it came to the children and making sure they were safe. So instead of saying anything to them, himself, Chris went about getting their own canoe ready, putting one foot inside it to keep it against the shore, before holding his hand out to Paris to help her in.
"Thanks for helping," he said, making sure she had a paddle before he followed in after her. Using the paddle to push off of the shore put them behind the children, watching as they raced off. Well... some of them did. Some were having a bit more difficulty. Ah well... they'd get it eventually.
"Are you having fun here?" he started cautiously once he was sure the campers wouldn't do anything stupid for the moment. "I know it's been raining and you're not getting much sleep, but... you've been having fun, haven't you?" Because he definitely wanted her to enjoy herself...
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 8:21 am
Climbing into the canoe, Paris first made sure he wasn’t going to sit in anything wet before lowering himself down. His skirt had already gotten a little damp from one of the kids splashing around, and he wasn’t all that enthused about taking on any more water. Once he was settled, he waited for Chris to finish climbing in as well, then tried to use the paddle he’d been given in a motion that seemed as if it would get them somewhere, trying to mimic what Chris was doing to see if that worked.
“I might not seem like it, but I’m actually pretty decent with handling kids,” he commented. Or at least he thought so. He could have been handling this a lot worse, or just refused to come altogether.
“And if I wasn’t having fun, you’d know,” he told him with a smile. He was quite capable of making his displeasure known, after all. “I mean, there’s been a few problems here and there, but nothing big.” Just a fight he’d broken up, and Peter causing some minor problems with his phone. “Besides, this is all new to me. It’s not bad. Cabins could be nicer, but better that than sleeping in a tent or something. That wouldn’t really be my sort of camping.”
And while he and Chris hadn’t been able to spend as much time together as they did when they didn’t have all these responsibilities, they still had a few moments each day for some conversation – “conversation” used loosely in some instances -- and Paris had other things to entertain himself with anyway, so he didn’t have to depend on Chris so much for that while they were here. He didn’t mind hanging out with Lily at all. She was nice and extremely helpful, and they had dance in common so it wasn’t like they were without things to talk about.
“It’s nice to get away from the city for a while. There’s not really much to worry about out here except a bunch of kids.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 11:57 am
Chris smiled at the pretty blonde with the nice legs sitting in the front of the canoe, pulling up the paddle as they floated along, figuring the campers were fine for now. No one was throwing anyone in and they were all in life vests. He probably needed to relax more, anyway.
"I'm glad... Thank you for coming," he said, trying not to fidget on his bench too much. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to hang out with you as much I would have liked. There's more to do than I thought there would be," he said with a sheepish grin. Of course, it didn't help that a handful of the counselors were a bunch of morons. Not all of them, of course, but many still acted like children, themselves. What made them think they would be responsible enough to watch after a hundred screaming kids.
"I guess I shouldn't bother asking you to go camping with me, then?" he wondered, only half joking. Well, he liked going camping with his older brother in the summer. Staying out in tents, hiking to different places in the mountains and just staying out of the city for a while. Ah, oh well... If Paris wasn't the kind of girl who liked those kinds of things, he would just continue going with his older brother and they would be fine. Sometimes they could convince Peter to go with them... but that was usually only because Michael and Peter actually got along. He didn't understand how, though...
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:15 pm
"Nope. No actual camping. This is more than enough for me," Paris said, glancing over his shoulder to talk to Chris.
"And I wasn't really expecting us to have a lot of free time here anyway, so don't worry about it," he added in regards to Chris's initial apology. A moment later, his face split into a teasing grin. "But I won't stop you if you want to make it up to me when we get back. Think of all the missed chances we've had for dates since we've been here. We'll have to play catch up."
He paused. Having to turn his head to look over his shoulder at Chris was going to get a bit uncomfortable very quickly. He looked around to examine the seat of the canoe to figure out if there was something that could be done about this. "Is there any way I can turn around? Showing you my back isn't really conducive to talking, and then how could you stare at my beautiful face?" he joked. He knew Chris was more likely to stare at his legs than anything. "Or should I not? I don't want to tip us over."
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:32 pm
He laughed lightly when Paris nixed the idea of going camping. That was fine, he would just stick to his usual plans, then. Maybe his parents would go with them this year. If his dad got time off work, at least.
Chris nodded when Paris accepted his apology, but her next comment and the look she gave him had his eyes widening just a bit in innocent surprise. Oh? Either way, he still grinned at her, nodding in agreement. "I'm fine with that," he said, not thinking that was anything unreasonable. "Did you have any idea what you wanted to do? Or any requests, I mean?" He wouldn't mind going any place she wanted. Maybe a museum trip would be fun? It would be different than just eating out all the time. Or maybe a ballet was playing?
"Oh, uh, yeah," he started, before pausing to laugh lightly. Her face was beautiful, so of course he would want to look at her. He wasn't just obsessed with legs! Er... not that he was obsessed with legs... just... whatever... "Yeah, you can turn around if you want. You don't really have to worry about steering. I can take care of that," he said, reaching out to offer his hand to help her turn around. "Just lift up your legs to turn around on the seat. Or one at a time..." That worked, too...
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 3:22 pm
"Oh, no, I hadn't really thought of any place to go. I was just kidding," he said, carefully lifting one leg over the seat as he'd been instructed and placing it on the other side. "Not that I'm going to complain at all if you want to take me out. I'm probably the wrong person to ask when it comes to where to go, though. I don't know a lot of places. Well, I mean, I do, but not, like, good places."
He pulled the other leg up as well, swung it over, and was then facing Chris. "That's better," he said, still smiling widely. He fiddled with the paddle a little bit, but he didn't do very much with it since Chris didn't seem to mind taking care of it. Paris was sure he'd just end up getting them both turned around if he tried to help anyway.
"We could always just hang out somewhere... not public," he tried, attempting to come up with something new and different. What did people do when they didn't go out? Stay at home? He'd interrupted Ladon at home once...
"You've never showed me your place," Paris pointed out. He'd learned already that Chris had his own apartment, which was nice because it meant they wouldn't have to worry about any meddlesome parents. Parents made everything so complicated. "We could always just stay in for the night. Watch a movie or something. I could cook dinner. I'd offer my place, but I'd rather hold off the meeting with Dad, if you don't mind, and he's home a lot at night so it'd have to be yours."
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 3:46 pm
"Oh, okay..." he said rather awkwardly, trying not to sound too disappointed by Paris's apparent joking. He really wouldn't mind trying to make up for the time they weren't going out, but he wasn't going to really argue with-- oh, Paris didn't mind? Well, that was definitely good! Chris went from slumping just a little bit in disappointment to sitting up straighter as he tried to think of a good place to go.
"We can go to my place," he said, not trying to sound too enthusiastic about it. He didn't want to move too quickly or whatever. Er, he just didn't know how long it should take before he offered to have her come over. When he'd dated Skye, he'd been living with his parents, so... there wasn't much he could do about that. But now that he had his own place... Er... that meant he probably had to make sure everything was cleaned up... And that there was actually food in the 'fridge.
"You'll have to tell me what you want to cook so I can get it. I don't have a lot of food there..." he admitted, a bit sheepishly. He usually went out to eat if he didn't want something like... a sandwich.
"And that's fine... It's not like you've met my parents, either," he said, nodding in understanding, although he did shift a little, trying not to seem too nervous. "But, uh... I was wondering... if you wanted to be my girlfriend..." He paused, wondering if that was too soon and going on to add, "I mean, we've been going out for almost two months... and I enjoy my time with you, so... I was just... but if that's too soon, then it's fine. Or if you don't want to, that's fine too," he quickly explained, before shutting his mouth before he got into rambling too much.
Maybe he should change the subject?
Awkward....
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 4:01 pm
Paris was about to say something along the lines of "oh, you pick. I can make whatever you want" when Chris continued rambling on and got to the point where he sounded so painfully awkward it was almost pitiful. He'd noticed that Chris tended to do that -- the awkward thing -- when he was getting on a subject or doing something that he worried might be too fast... or that he might receive a "no" to. Like Paris had ever said "no" to him before...
He almost didn't catch it, too preoccupied with staring at Chris and noting the way his posture changed when the Awkward Talk began, as if he could see the confidence just seeping right out of him. It took him a moment to realize he'd even missed something important, and once he did he was startled and ill-prepared to respond. He wondered at first if maybe he was hearing him wrong, but the way Chris was going on didn't make it seem as if he had.
So... he'd just been asked... to be Chris's girlfriend?
He hadn't... made that up in his own head or something, had he?
He didn't know how he felt about the little "girlfriend" label. He'd wanted it before, if only because it meant he'd have Chris around for a while longer, which was a circumstance he was intent on continuing even if he wasn't truly serious about the whole "relationship" thing. He liked going out, he liked having money spent on him, and he liked the ego boost it provided. If he happened to like Chris a bit, too, well, that just made things easier.
But now that he'd been officially asked, he wasn't sure how to answer.
"...what?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 4:22 pm
Ah, well, s**t... That hadn't really been what he'd meant to happen. And he definitely didn't mean to lose his confidence when things like this came up. It was just... awkward for him, especially considering past events in his life.
Of course, when Paris didn't seem to have caught what he'd asked... er... or maybe he had just... that much bad timing. Great Chris... Just great.
"Um... yeah, sorry," he floundered, wondering if he should just drop the topic entirely or to try again. He did like her, and she was the first one in a long time that he'd even considered asking out after Skye. Heck, seeing Skye again made him even more sure that he wanted to have a relationship with Paris... er, well, as long as she wanted that, too.
Chris straightened up a bit and took a deep breath before trying again. "Would you like to be my girlfriend?" he asked again, forcing himself to keep his mouth shut after that, not wanting her to think he was unsure of it. He did want to be boyfriend and girlfriend. He thought that two months of dating was a good time to just... take another step...
Right??
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 4:38 pm
... right...
What the hell was he supposed to do?
He should tell him the truth. He should just get it over and done with and tell Chris how much of a fool he was.
But if he did that, then what? He went back to going out with guys who didn't appreciate him, who didn't buy him anything more than drinks, and who expected the same things all the time. Back to his previous former "dating" circuit, to the guys who, when he thought long and hard about it, weren't always worth his time. He hadn't minded it before. Really, he hadn't. And if he had, it had only been on the rare occasion that he came across a complete a**. Otherwise, he was pretty much okay with seeing anyone so long as he got what he wanted from them.
When had he started wanting more?
Probably when he'd first started seeing Chris and realized nice, generous guys meant a lot of nice things...
s**t. What had he done to himself?
"... yes..."
He didn't even realize what he was saying until the word made its way out of his mouth, and then it was too late to take it back. And then he wondered if he even wanted to take it back, and his thoughts spiraled so far out of a control that he could barely even think at all.
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 4:49 pm
Whatever confidence he'd built up to re-ask the pretty blonde sitting across from him was... quickly fading again with her hesitation. Was it that bad to go out with him?
His ego was boosted a bit when she finally said 'yes', and he grinned in excitement that she was actually going to give him a chance at being her boyfriend, but then his wariness to her hesitation came back up and he sunk back down a little.
"Really? I mean... I won't be upset if you say no," he insisted, although he was pretty sure he would be a bit devastated. Especially since he didn't know what he did wrong for her to not want to be his girlfriend and all that. What if he smelled funny? He thought he did his best to stay clean and smell nice. Or maybe he was just trying too hard? What if she was just intimidated by him? Or thought his awkwardness was much too lame. Which it was... and he was trying to fix that, but there wasn't anything he could do at that very moment.
"I mean... if you're sure, that's great! I, uh... thanks..." he said softly, not wanting to push his luck, but also wanting her to know that he really did appreciate her answer. It was nice to know that he was worth spending time with. Not that he didn't have friends to spend time with! He had really awesome friends, but... a girlfriend was a little different than, say, Zee or Lily...
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