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 Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 5:49 pm
Where did the best ideas come from? When one was taking a shower of course! Molly did her best thinking while showering…once she got used to not being awkward about having a male entity in her mind. But yes. The best ideas. Molly was staring up at the shower head as it went out of focus. She was recalling her last conversation with Gale, and it made her sad that the young man thought he was going to be alone forever…of course she tried to encourage him…he might find the right one, one day! But now worry set in…what if…what if something happened…and Gale never ever went out on at least one date!? Molly would feel like a giant jerk if that happened! Eager to help out a good friend, Molly thus came up with a brilliant idea. For one whole day, she would be Gale’s girlfriend. Yes. It sounded like a good idea. Just for a day though, and it was kind of like playing house! They’d pretend! But then Gale would get to know what it could be like at least once, and she could show him that there WOULD be someone out there who’d want him and maybe he’d get all the warm happy fuzzies, right!? Molly was so caught up in the thought of making Gale have a good day, and so caught up in special Molly land…she failed to see how any of this might be silly. She needed to run this by Bix though. Molly nodded her head vigorously to the shower head. It wasn’t like…uh…he was her…her special friend or anything…so technically she was still a free woman… but, Molly would just feel awful if she didn’t let him know her awesome plan, and hopefully he’d approve! Gale was his good friend! He’d want a nice thing for his good friend too, right? Right. Pre-planning was never really Molly’s strong point. She kind of happened to be a ‘take it as it comes’ kind of person…but this day she had in mind kind of needed some planning. Hopefully whatever it lacked in planning would be made up with in effort? Just a little bit. She had spoken to Bix, gotten the a-okay (thank goodness or else she was going to be a mess), and set aside some of her leave time for a Saturday, and then of course, had to get ready! Had to dress kind of nice for a ‘date’ right? Right. Molly stood at the portal, staring at her phone and biting her lip. Now…how to word this to Gale. HMMM… Text to Gale Hi Gale! If you’re not busy, might I borrow you for the day? I kind of have a mission that I need your help with! No Deus coat! Come dressed like a nice civilian please! That wasn't suspicious wording at all. Molly bit her lip harder. Oh no. What if Gale was busy today!? ALL HER PLANNING WAS TERRIBLE. Text to Gale But if you’re busy that’s okay! Really! Sent…oh wait... “ Butterscotch…” Molly whined, sending him another text. Text to Gale If you’re not busy and can come, I’m at the portal right now!
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 9:23 pm
The text arrived from Molly right as Gale had tossed his book aside, finished with it and utterly bored. He linked his fingers behind his head and stretched out on the rather uncomfortable bed, crossing one ankle over the other, a smallish frown on his face.
And, as usual, his thoughts turned to a certain someone - though Gale studiously tried to block those out, pushing them aside. It did no good to dwell on things that he couldn't control, after all - but all the same he was feeling a bit...despondent.
Especially now that Bix had found a girlfriend. Pressing his lips together, Gale tried not to let the feeling of jealously well in his stomach, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly.
His phone beeped.
Expecting another text from that one person, Gale sighed, dragged the mobile over, and flipped it open. But to his surprise, the text was not from Caelius, nor from any other Deus head. Molly's name flashed across the screen, along with a simple text.
Gale blinked, taken aback. He started to type out a message, but then -
Beep. Incoming message.
Another text from Molly. Gale stifled a smile, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and pushed himself to his feet, walking over to his rather sparse closet.
There had to be casual clothes in here somewhere, right.
Several moments later he arrived, wearing a simple teeshirt with the word "Sniper" across it in thick black, blocky text (a gift from Bix, oddly enough), a pair of nice jeans, slip on black shoes, a light jacket, and a black hat. Molly was, as expected, standing beside the portal wearing a pretty dark green dress.
"Hey," said Gale, lifting his brows. He slipped his hands into his pockets and tilted his head, rocking back on his heels as he gave Molly a curious look.
"What's up? You needed me for something?"
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 10:04 pm
Molly shifted from foot to foot anxiously. Oh dear…she hadn’t received a text back…what if Gale was super busy? What if she was going to be standing here all day waiting, because she didn’t want to stand him up if he did answer? Molly fretted, biting her lip until relief washed over her at the arrival of Gale. Immediately her face broke out into a wide smile as well. Wow! This was probably the first time she had seen him out of uniform too! “ Hi Gale, hi!” Molly greeted excitedly, and just wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. “ You look wonderful! Oh, thank you so much for coming! Thank you, thank you, thank you! It means a lot!” Not just for her, but hopefully for him as well! “ Ah, hmmm…yes! Uh…” Molly looked between him and the portal. Tell him now, or tell him on sight? Hmm…telling him on sight would probably help him focus more on the mission. “ Oh, if you don’t mind…I’ll tell you once we’re there! Now…if you’re ready…?” She smiled at him, and then went through the portal. It was like playing Plinko, really. Molly couldn’t decide on a city, so she just chose one at random. They would find themselves stepping out into an alleyway, and further down Molly caught sight of people walking down the street of what appeared to be a bright and lively shopping and entertainment district. Well….hopefully this would work! It’d be like an adventure! Another glance at the building they were next to, for future portal location, had Molly smiling widely as she pointed at it. “ Look Gale!” She cried. “ Starbucks! We’ll have to go there later…but oh…that’s right!” She leaned closer to the Death Trainee, eyes wide and bright. “ Are you ready to hear about our mission?”
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 10:53 am
She was as cheerful as always as Molly's arms wrapped around him in a big hug. Gale flushed a little, his cheeks red, but he accepted the embrace anyway, stepping back and offering her a small smile.
"You look...pretty," he said, struggling with the compliment, unused to giving them. Hastily he shoved his hands back into his pockets and stepped back, lifting his head to look back at Molly. "But ah, what are we...doing..."
He trailed off, glancing at the portal, and then shrugged. Curiosity made him step forward, and within moments they were both stepping out into a light lit alleyway with rough stone walls that led out into a bright, cheerful street that was crammed with various shops, restaurants, and other buildings. It was not the same rain streaked, grey streets of London, but it seemed a nice enough place.
"Starbucks?" repeated Gale, his eyes traveling along the road until they found the little coffee shop. Confused, his eyebrows drew together. "Yes I...I'm okay with that..."
He was distracted by the sights and smells of everything, so unlike Deus, but Gale dragged himself back to the moment at hand, turning to face Molly once more.
"Ah, yes," he said, back to business. "What are we supposed to do here?"
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 11:21 am
Gale called her pretty.
Awww! Molly smiled widely, wiggling happily. “Thank you so much! You’re so kind!”
But now, here they were…and Molly was uh…ready to inform him of their mission for the day. She went over her words again in her head before she looked down at Gale, clearing her throat softly. Molly tried to take some a semi-serious look, but it didn’t work out all that well, since she couldn’t stop the way her lips pulled up a bit. Side effect of being happy all day every day.
“So…” Dramatic pause for no effect. Molly was trying to gather her wits about her again.
“Our mission for the day, Gale…is that we’re on a date!” She paused, this time to let him digest that, and was smiling widely and expectantly at him. “For today, I’m your girlfriend!” She announced, clasping her hands together. “I thought it would be a nice thing for us to do and hopefully something you’d enjoy, because life is all about the experiences and memories we get out of it! So for today, I’m your girlfriend!” She giggled a bit.
“Um…just to catch you up to speed as well, so that you know…my favorite color is green.” Duh. “My favorite flowers are sun flowers.” Who didn’t see that coming. “I enjoy reading, preparing food, playing the fiddle, Canon Cats and collecting clovers! I’d like to learn how to knit one day, and maybe play the bagpipes too! I also want to get another tattoo some day, maybe another clover or a rose…but we’ll see…uh…what else…” Molly looked at her fingers… “Oh! I am twenty-one and my birthday is on March 17th…uh…I like all kinds of food…I’m open to anything really, I just like trying out new things with people…and I think that catches you up for our relationship status!”
Molly was just smiiiiiiling as she stared at Gale, waiting for him to partake in her version of speed dating.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 11:41 am
"You - " said Gale, and stared blankly at Molly.
"...you want me to what?"
He thought maybe he'd heard her wrong. That wasn't a mission, that was...yeah, no, definitely not a mission.
Awkward silence.
Which was followed then by a bit of stuttering, some redfaced blushing, some internal brain breaking, Jinhai laughing, and finally Gale stammering out, somewhat suspiciously and with more than a little confusion,
"Wait, but aren't you and Bix, uh..."
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 11:51 am
“…Uh…be my…boyfriend…for the day…?” Maybe she wasn’t clear enough? Molly’s brows furrowed and she rubbed her chin. She thought she had been pretty straight forward and informative…
Oh!
During the awkward silence, Molly just kept smiling with a tilt of her head, watching as Gale stuttered, blushed, broke, and then asked a question. Now it was Molly’s turn to go a bit red in her cheeks as she reached up to twirl a curl around her finger. “O…oh…! Don’t worry!” She assured. “I asked him before I planned this out! I mean…um…Technically we’re still just friends…but…um…he said it was okay, and that’s why I said it’s just for the day! He’s been doing so many nice things for me that make me feel really special, and I thought I could…um…pay it forward, if that makes sense? I want you to feel really special too!”
Cue more smiling and waiting.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 12:02 pm
Gale had the distinct impression that Bix and Molly were, in fact, not just "technically friends anymore" - if going off of the starstruck, happy happy joy joy look in Bix's eyes was any indication - but he didn't mention this, instead merely lifted a hand and rubbed it tiredly over his face.
Molly. Why.
It wasn't that he disliked Molly - in fact, she was a wonderful person and a good friend who had cared for him since their first meeting. But she had Bix and Gale...well, he had what he had.
And besides he couldn't have Molly cheat on Bix. That was just awkward.
...so very, very awkward.
But this wasn't cheating, since apparently Bix knew about it and it wasn't really a date, considering the lack of romantic feelings for each other on both sides, which meant that it was...okay?
Gale's brain hurt.
"I...guess that's....fine," mumbled Gale, reaching up to run a hand through his hair, which stuck up in odd spots. He slipped his hands back into his pockets and gave Molly a look that was curious, bordering on suspicious.
"...what are we doing?" he asked finally, the curiosity winning out. "I haven't, ah...ever..."
Back to TomatoFace Land.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 12:21 pm
Molly reached to pat the young man on the shoulder. She giggled. “Gale!” She chided lightly. “You’re not a ninety year old man, and that's not a good look for you!” She teased gently reached up with a thumb to rub it over his forehead, as if she was smoothing out some imaginary stress crease lines that older people had. “Everything is okay, I promise!”
Once Gale gave in, Molly brightened considerably, clapping her hands together excitedly. “Oh, wonderful!” She cried, and then wagged a finger at him. “Well, first, you need to tell me all about yourself!” You know, like how she did at first.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 9:37 am
"Yes?" said Gale, mildly suspicious, as he cast a wary glance up at Molly. The corners of his lips twitched, a slight scowl on his face, and he rolled his eyes, sighing. But her hand was gentle on his forehead, and the tension was gone, Gale rubbing the back of his neck as she stepped away. His cheeks lightly pink, he shoved his hands into his pockets and considered the question.
"I'm...Gale, but you knew that," he said hesitantly, all the while feeling absurdly stupid. "I'm...sixteen...but, er, you knew that too."
Somewhere Jinhai was laughing.
Gale blew out his breath. "I like reading and watching movies. My favorite food is fish and chips, but you can't get anything good around an island that serves its food on plastic trays with its own compartments. I like the color green. Contrary to popular belief, I am not Gimli's alter-ego, no matter what a certain albino might tell you. I like tea. I'm not a fan of the ocean, mostly because I don't really like swimming, but I like the outdoors and I like playing sports."
He stopped, looked at Molly, and asked hesitantly "...how was that?"
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:00 am
Oh my gosh. In Molly’s head, there was the sound of tires squealing and then the sound of metal crunching into metal. She knew Gale was young…like…maybe seventeen at the youngest…but…he was…really… sixteen!? Suddenly, a commercial song popped into Molly’s head that had scarred her for life when she had been watching television at 2:30 AM one day. Oh. My. Gosh. Her mind ran away with her. What if a police officer, who was enjoying his cup of coffee, saw her and Gale walking together, and then took a look at her and approached them with a stern look and said something like ‘ma’am, what are you doing with him’ and then Molly couldn’t lie because that was bad and she was like ‘….We…we’re on a date but IT’S NOT REAL ITS’S A PRE-TEND DATE I SWEAR OFFICER SIR’. But then the officer wouldn’t buy it and he’d arrest her right there and she’d go to jail for being a cougar and then Gale would be all alone and she would not pass go and not collect her $200 OH GOSH! Then she would have to shaw shank it out of jail because she had Mini-Pet Care duty tomorrow and she would not miss her time with the Canon Cats and disappoint Miss Clarice but then she’d be a wanted-suppose-to-be-dead person here and it’d just be horrible. On the outside, Molly just had a blank look on her face until she came to, her eyes widening a bit before they focused back on Gale. Luckily, she did catch everything that Gale had said, and after a moment a shaky smile appeared on her lips as she nodded her head. “ That was fantastic!” She replied. “ We’ll have to find some good food and some outdoor activities…hmm…” She tapped her chin in thought. She’d just say…he was her brother…if anyone asked…or…she’d say she was seventeen! Could she pass as a seventeen year old? Could Gale pass as older for what he was? Probably…but…oh dear…that’d be lying. Oh dear oh dear…she couldn’t go back on her plans now though! She really wanted Gale to have a good day! She snapped her fingers. “ Ah! I know what we can do first.” Molly smiled widely, and she was ready to get out of this alley now, and go find a map to orient themselves with. Well…a plan was a plan…and she was still going to be Gale’s pretend girlfriend for the day! Molly held her hand out to Gale and waggled her fingers. That’s right Gale. Hold it.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:26 am
He could almost see her mind exploding at the word "sixteen."
Gale sighed.
"Molly," he said plaintively, and reached out, waving a hand in front of her face. "Molly. Relax. I know I'm like - " He did some quick mental math - " - five years younger than you are, but it's fine. It's not a real date anyway. It's...well, we can say it's a practice date. Besides, you have Bix - I'm not interfering with that, especially since he would kick my arse if I did. It's a...friend-date."
That sounded weird, somehow, but it would have to do somehow. Gale sighed, trying to relax, and closed his eyes briefly.
And then opened them to find Molly holding out her hand to him.
Blank stare.
"...you want me to hold your hand?" asked Gale, his face turning a shade something similar to crimson. He had never held a girl's hand - well, he had, but it had always been in a dire situation, like running away or trying to help them. Never just...casually. Or romantically.
Awkward silence was awkward.
After a moment, however, Gale gave a small sigh, pressed his lips together, reached out, and slid his fingers around Molly's. They felt warm and small beneath his, and his face was now in permanent Tomato Land.
"Now what?"
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:44 am
Five years younger. Molly’s mind nearly broke again, but her eyes did widen and nearly sparkled at the word friend-date. She broke into a wide grin and looked at Gale like he had just brought Christmas in early. “That’s such a good idea!” Molly cried, clearly pleased with this new spin on things. “You’re so smart, Gale!”
She just waggled her fingers at him some more, smiling widely until he caved and held onto her hand. Molly made a small cry of joy and held into his hand firmly, just beaming at him. “Now…we figure out where we are!” She gave a sheepish laugh, and started to lead him out of the alleyway. She made a note to memorize where they had come out of for later, and looked back and forth down the bustling street until she found was she was looking for…a map! The young woman pulled Gale over to it, and looked it over, idly swinging their hands back and forth.
“Ah…okay! I got it…I know what we’re going to do first, if that’s okay with you!”
It was after this proclamation that after Molly came to her next stop, she gestured to what lay before them with a flourish, looking down at Gale excitedly. “What do you think!?” She cried, as they stood outside of a complex of batting cages with pitching machines.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 1:35 pm
Were those sparkles in her eyes?
They were, weren't they?
Obediently, Gale followed Molly down the street, trying not to flush too brightly (though that was next to impossible). He was pretty sure his hand was sweating a little (embarrassing), but he couldn't really pull away.
After a few moments of just walking, they wound up at...
"...what is this place?" asked Gale, lifting his gaze, his eyes wide as he took in the cages. "It's...you play baseball here?"
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 6:49 am
“ Ummm….Kinda?” Molly replied, swinging their hands a bit as she scratched her cheek with her other hand. “… The best part I think!” She giggled. “ You just bat here…the machine pitches to you, and you just hit the balls that come out! No running or bases, or scores…just hitting! My dad use to take me to some every weekend when I was younger.” She beamed at him. “ Come on, I’ll show you!” She then led Gale up to the window, where she got them some tokens for the machine, two bats, and two helmets. She then led him up to the cages, and she passed off a bat, a helmet, and pressed some tokens into his hand. “ You take that one, and I’ll take the one next to you…!” She paused, thoughtful. “ Would you like to see me do a run first?”
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