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 Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:17 pm
Sometimes, Xavier didn't even bother to to back home after his patrols. It all depended on where he ended up - if he was closer to Bell's place, then that was where he went, instead - crawling into her bed sometimes before she was even home. It was the girliest bed he had ever seen, but damn it was comfy.
Then he woke up in the morning and went downstairs. Neither Bell or Ainsley were up, unless the first McMahon lady had stirred by his exiting the bedroom, reaching up on top of the pantry to bring down the box of chocolate cherrios he'd hidden there.
The last thing Bell needed was a 10 years old sister hopped on chocolate, but apparently a 19 years old boyfriend hopped on chocolate was fine. Um. From there it was to the fridge for milk, to the cupboard for a bowl, to the drawer for a spoon. Hell, he might as well have been living here by now, with the ease where he knew everything was.
Oddly normal moments in face of what he had been doing last night, and so Xavier sat, hair uncombed and loose, unshaved, and opened the tv at the lowest volume.
Class right there, folks.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:32 pm
It was always a welcome thing to find Xavier there when she returned from patrolling, or waking up in the middle of the night. It was comforting, and something to look forward to amidst a sea of monotony.
She awoke upon his leaving the bed, but groggily she scarcely moved to show it. As soon as the door clicked she burrowed her face in the pillow and let a few empty seconds pass before hauling herself up and out of the bed. She grabbed her clothes for today - a simple set of nicely fitted cotton pants, and a spaghetti-strap top. Definitely casual house-wear.
She hopped in the shower, giving Xavier plenty of time to consume his breakfast and morning coffee.
Morning routine, as far as hygiene went, complete, she headed down stairs. Xavier would soon find a set of arms draped over his shoulders from behind, and a chin nestled between his neck and shoulders. Bell ran her knuckles against Xavier's unshaven chin with a gentle, amused, smile. She might have commented before how she sorta liked it, bit if she hadn't she wasn't going to mention it.
"Morning," Bell said softly.
Indeed, chocolate wasn't really anywhere near what she'd consider a breakfast food, much less an acceptable flavor for Cheerios, but so long as Ainsley didn't know that such a thing existed, all was well.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:27 pm
Xavier would likely argue that chocolate was a perfect, if not the best, breakfast food option. Beside, it could have been worse. It could have been lucky charms.
It was mornings, moments like these, that made him wonder. This place was more of a home than his own apartment. His apartment always seemed empty and lifeless in comparison. But the last thing he really wanted to do was to try to go too fast, or to make decisions for her.
"Morning, sunshine." He smiled. "Did I wake you up ?" Concern, at that. Like always, like clockwork. He never meant it, but it happened all the same.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:02 am
The place one lived and the place one calls home...could sometimes be two very different things. It took a while for Bell to finally merge the two. It helped that she wasn't alone anymore.
"Even if you did," Bell began, taking a moment to stretch and yet maintain her draping status, "I'd just consider it an attempt to get me back on schedule. School starts soon, after all."
With that, Bell moved to make a cup, no, make that two cups of coffee. In fact, she didn't even think, she just made two. She didn't see that Xavier had made himself one yet. Even if he had, she doubted it'd be turned down.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:10 pm
Yeah, there was no way in hell he would ever say no to a cup of coffee. If he hadn't been a caffeine addict before, he sure as hell would be now, with shorter sleep nights that he ever had.
"Yeah, it does..." And then he'd be back to juggling way too many things at once. In a way, he wasn't looking forward to it, through, really, it couldn't be worse than Sovereign had been, for him. Having an actual interest in most of the classes would likely help. "We gotta go pick our schedule soon, don't me ?"
The dates kept slipping his mind.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:24 pm
Coffee completed and prepped, she set his cup before him, and sat down with her own. She was seriously considering getting one of those fancy coffee makers. The kind that has a billion different flavors to choose from, just toss in the right pod. That would be a good investment when school starts.
"Yeah. I think they have it where you can register for classes online but...you know me and the computer." It was hilarious, really. She got so easily flustered with it.
She worried a little about the balancing act poor Xavier would have with work, school, and Senshi-dom. Sure, he'd done it before but she'd always heard that college was so time-consuming. And while she didn't have to worry about where her money came from to keep a roof over her head, Xavier had to work for it. Hopefully it helped to know he was always welcome here.
That pesky male pride was another thing though.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:55 pm
Pesky male pride, indeed. Though, with the idea he had actually been pondering... would certainly make things easier.
But again, he would need to get over the male pride and his own second guesses first. There was an hidden vulnerability under all that pride.
Bell knew it all too well.
"I kind of would like to go get them in person, anyway." He shrugged. "Get to know the buildings and see where the classes I need are." Xavier liked the convinence of the digital era, but he liked not being late to class because he got lost even more.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 4:51 pm
"Yeah. The waiting to get signed up might be a pain but," shrug.
With any luck the classes she wanted wouldn't be full by then due to tech-savvy people filling in their own schedules. Then again, it seemed like they made sure the general ed classes like mathematics and English had plenty of openings. The rest well....there couldn't be that many theatre majors right? Teaching majors could be a little more iffy....
"Everything will work out," Bell gave a smile.
That could have meant a lot of things. School, life, other more magical business... For what it was worth though, it was at least some comfort. An attempt at least. No sense in being a Negative Nancy.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:19 pm
School was really the least of his worries, right now. Sure, it could go wrong, but it couldn't go catastrophically wrong. At least not compared to how badly being a senshi could go wrong, honestly.
"Through I have to renew my lease soon..." Was that an opening ? Perhaps it was. Maybe he wanted to see what she had to say before truly wording himself.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:34 pm
Indeed, things could go wrong, especially concerning this war, but one couldn't live entirely in the present. Just as much as Bell hated looking at the past, she seemed to keep an eye towards the future. Idle hopes and dreams, goals and plans are a great motivator to do what has to be done. Because without that, what would one do after this war ends? If it ever would....
"You don't seem too enthused."
Bell said after a moment of thought and shifted a little, trying to figure out her own tactic for this topic. Really, they must have both known what was on the other's mind. It was just an added slap that neither was very good about just coming out with it.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:43 pm
"Well, I was hoping to find a roommate this year." He shrugged, taking one sip of the coffee, finally. The tv was playing a some cartoon or other, now more or less ignored by the man who had turned it on to begin with. "But all the people who moved in the building were pairs already... Through I should probably be glad, in some way." He gave a chuckle. "Dodging around a roommate would have been complicated..."
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:08 pm
Bell gave a bit of a chuckle, "Even more awkward if said room mate turned out to be a Nega or something." Like-wise, she shipped at her coffee. "Advantageous though it it were another senshi."
Bell would have told Xavier the Jamie was looking for a place, last she knew, but that would have gotten her further from what now was some sort of goal. She took another long sip of her coffee as she thought about and then mentally rehearsed her offer, hoping for it to come out as casual and light-hearted as her previous comment.
"You could always stay here~?"
Five simple words, and Bell had mulled over them hard, considering all the possible replies and way the conversation could go from there, and all the little unspoken nuances...perhaps because she did know how fragile that manly pride was, and just what it all meant.
There was more than enough space in the house. The house didn't look very much lived in, save for the rooms upstairs. Everything else was showroom clean most of the time - lacking clutter because all that really belonged to Bell was in her room, and even that wasn't much. Bell scarcely used but a small percent of her closet and chest of drawers.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:08 pm
And there it was. One of them had finally gone and said what they'd both been thinking. It was something he'd talked about with his father, even, and Damian had told him that living with someone was a much different thing that living apart.
A sage advice, but with how often he was over, Xavier might as well be living here already. There were traces of him everywhere, if one looked - from the hygiene products he used to whatever food he decided to stash this time.
"You wouldn't mind ?" .... Duh, Xavier. "What about Ainsley, through ?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:33 pm
"Of course I don't mind. And I could use the extra set of eyes on her." She'd told him about her discovery right? That Ainsley was Sailor Hypnos? She couldn't remember...
"I doubt she'll mind."
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:07 pm
Actually, Xavier had missed this particular memo, and was still unaware of the secrets the youngest McMahon girl was hiding. It was perhaps better that way, else he might very well flip his s**t and wrap her and bubble wrap.
Through, really, it would be the best idea, wouldn't he ? He'd be further from DCU, but... a bus stop nearby, plus an actually working car ? Yeah, this wouldn't be a problem at all.
But this was a very important decision to take, through. "How about you ask her... And I think about this for a bit ? I do need to cancel my bail, get a truck of my things... That's gonna take me a few days at least."
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