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 Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 6:03 pm
Zia sniffled and tugged on her coat. The long cashmere artifact from her past was a temporary fix since the holes in her ratty hoodie had made the cold a bit unbearable. It looked awkward with her jeans and sneakers, but a coat was necessary. Especially since she had been living like an alleycat all month. She didn't mind as long as she kept busy, which she had. Orpheus kept her busy.
Analyzing him was a puzzle. Finding him was a hunt. And then acclimating him to their arrangement, the types of resources in her 'lab', the rules about his identity and hers, that kept her busy too. And she may have shared more about her personal life in casual, passing conversation then she meant to. It was awkwardly easy, when you were talking to someone who already knew the basics and could understand the shorthand of your everyday life. She'd decide how she felt about that creepy aspect of their 'friendship' later.
But it all had to end and it left her empty, tonight of all nights. She cycled through her options. Another night like Christmas, with a bottle of tequila and her books in that aluminum temporary structure? Crashing on Noah's couch? Lily's? She hadn't even decided yet, but she did start walking home. Maybe Magiore wouldn't be home and she could sneak in and mirrorwalk somewhere warm, or maybe get her car.
She stopped outside the building, staring up at the familiar loft window with a heavy sigh. The lights were on. "Oh... he's home..." She mumbled breathlessly to herself, surprised by how depressed it sounded.
And the presence of another figure on the sidewalk made her twitch. "...What are you doing here?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:32 pm
There was one word to describe their relationship, or lack thereof, and it was: Complicated. Sailor Orpheus didn't help the situation on Pascal's end, but neither did the fact that Pascal practically pretended nothing changed. It didn't really change, did it? Okay, maybe he was disgusted with her for being so ******** abusive but whatever he accepted her apology that night as Sailor Orpheus even if she didn't know it. He didn't think anything of their lack of communication past that as a sign of anything critical because he was a busy man and he often got a little too into his work. He didn't forget about her, not at all.
Zia was a constant thought in the young man's mind and so was her birthday. He hadn't seen her or spoken to her but that didn't signal to him that anything was done and over with even if he had practically told her he hated her and didn't know if it could be fixed. He may as well have stomped all over her heart and pranced away giggling something about how she was such an easy lay considering all things said and done. Nothing had really been said though, or done, and here Pascal was standing there like the creeper he was.
"What do you mean what am I doing here?" He groaned, tapping his fingers along the strap of his messenger bag.
"It's your birthday, isn't it?" He couldn't remember if she'd told him or he'd seen it on her ID from all the alcohol she consumed but he was fairly positive she had the shitfest of a birthday smackdab between Christmas and New Years. It was no wonder she wasn't out getting drunk somewhere to celebrate the new years, her lack of family and Pascal being an a** all in one.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:46 pm
Zia hugged her arms and frowned at some other spot to her right on the landscaping, like she was annoyed he didn't know what she meant by 'what was he doing here'. She had always called him, showed up at his place. She'd never once invited him over. Even if she considered them still friends she'd wonder what he was doing here, even though it'd probably be seen as a nice surprise he was reaching out versus the confusion she felt right now.
And it was an annoying confusion.
She sniffed and rubbed her nose and would blame it on the cold, and certainly not that just seeing him standing there made her feel like crying. Especially when he brought up her birthday. It was like a stab in the gut. She hadn't seen any of her friends, outside of ********* yesterday, and at the most there were probably some facebook and voicemail messages unseen and unheard on her phone.
"Yeah," She mumbled. "That still doesn't answer my question," She added with a little more volume she had to muster up. "What are you doing here? I thought you hated me."
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:01 pm
He didn't hate her, at least not all the time. He had been frustrated, and even when he wanted to hate her he still hadn't managed to kick her out. He allowed her to stay and eventually she had made things up to him but perhaps she missed the memo. He may have been fairly negligent but he wasn't about leave her alone on her birthday, even if this was probably the first time he'd ever been even outside her apartment. She'd never invited him in, which sort of left him suspicious of what she hid from him up there. It was a thought for another time though, maybe, as Pascal looked at Zia sniffling like she was about to cry.
"I hate a lot of things, don't be confused by that. However, if I hated you I certainly wouldn't have this for you," he said, pulling out a small box from his bag and holding it out to her. Inside was an accessory Pascal knew she definitely didn't have anything like but he wasn't sure how she'd appreciate it. It was a mechanical rose, gears and all. It even blossomed like love or something terribly gross like that. Whatever the reason, he'd been tinkering with it since he'd met her since he thought she was quite beautiful and he was going to give it to her sooner but s**t sort of sidetracked him into wanting to punch her and her thinking he hated her and their relationship pretty much halting. She'd convinced him to forgive her without even realizing it and since then he'd used all his free time to finish it.
Now it was a way to convey his feelings which were a poor mix of apologetic and a strange sincerity of something not love but similiar to that? Something that said we should keep seeing each other because I don't entirely hate you. Conveniently it also summed up what he was doing here without any awkward or embarrassing words.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:28 pm
"I--" Zia was going to pick a fight. She would not stand here and cry and admit he hurt her. She would fight him and make him leave and forget about him with her next one night stand. This was a resolution she made and forgot instantly when he held out the box.
Her brow knit and she stared at it like it was a puzzle before she took a few steps closer and took it from his hands. Her cold fingers fumbled with it for a moment before she extracted the trinket. And then her face softened and she ended up choking out a small laugh. She felt so gross, sniffling from the cold and trying not to cry still and her stupid heart feeling like it was going to flutter out of her chest like she was a stupid schoolgirl.
"It's very pretty," She sniffed again and delicately played with the gears while she just kind of stared at the rose and gnawed on her lower lip and tried not to look up at him, afraid she might lose it. It was her first and likely only birthday present of the night, and it had to be from him.
"Thank you," She murmured, and still definitely afraid to look up.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:57 pm
Zia's softening expression brought a small smile to Pascal's face even if she laughed afterwards. It seemed to be misplaced while afterwards her fingers delicately played with the gift he'd given her. He was relieved to hear that she thought it was pretty, at least, and then that she was thanking him for it.
"You're very welcome, I made it just for you."
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:10 pm
Zia played with it a bit more before she finally glanced up at him, realizing how close they'd gotten when she stepped forward. "I... I love it, I just..." She felt like she was choking out words. She had so much trouble with social situations, and this one seemed complicated even by well adjusted people standards.
"If you don't hate me, then what are we doing?" She ended up blurting out, and trying not to sound angry. "I... I mean... I thought we were at least friends. And then you've been so cold and then... and this... and... I mean," She cringed at how badly she was botching this. Neurons were firing but word to mouth process was failing. badly. "I mean, it's not just sex, is it...?"
She could feel her heart pounding in her ears and the sudden realization of how stupid she'd look if he said yes to that hit her and she scrambled to speak before he did. "It's okay if it is, I just... I don't know what's happening..."
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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:25 pm
The longer he knew Zia, both as Pascal and Orpheus, he realized just how broken she really was. As sadistic as it was: It kind of made him happy to know that she was at least a broken as him. Right now she seemed a little more broken than normal though, appearing to Pascal like a broken puppy who had been abandoned a few too many times. Perhaps he should have handled her beating him up better than practically throwing her away until he could forgive her. This was as much his fault as hers.
Pascal stepped forward, a small swagger in his steps as he made it within her reach. He placed his hand around her waist very boldly, his golden eyes falling down onto her hazel ones. He leaned in a bit and he whispered quietly into the fumbling woman's ear, "Do you want it to be?"
The choice was hers.
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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:50 pm
Zia loved it when war and all the blood and guts of life played out in hysterical theatrics. And this was so deliciously theatrical.
There were options here. There was the shy, demure reaction. The sexy, confident reaction. The detached action star who walks away and leaves him wanting. There were so many options.
She wasn't cool enough to pull off any of them.
Instead she muffled an awkward 'mrph' sound at the boldness and her train of thought devolved into 'oh god oh god he's whispering in my ear what'. "I... uh..." Well that was enough to decide opening her mouth was a mistake since she practically gasped like a moron. Her muddled brain was struggling to process. It wasn't fair, she didn't know what to do here, the question wasn't fair. And she had trouble staying on trains of thought she didn't want to be on. Her brain was trying it's hardest to react in a not stupid way, and answer his question, but it already jumped to 'wow he's warm and it is cold' and back to 'oh god he's touching me'. Which led to her realizing she wanted to touch him. So bad. And god damn it, why was he so pretty?
But motivated by the fact they were standing out here in a the cold and likely would the longer she stood there paralyzed by her own misfiring brain, she fumbled the rose back into it's box for it's own protection, and to remind herself it was there. "It's not, is it." It was said like a statement of fact, even if it was technically a question. In her mind it wasn't.
"Let's go somewhere else," She finally said, and the obvious answer was go up to her stupid loft already. Except there was still that roommate she was avoiding. "Uh... my car's right around the corner." And hopefully obvious excuse was not obvious.
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:33 pm
Pascal didn't make any outward objections to her decision or her suggestion they go to her car but he did make a glance upward to the window she'd been looking at earlier with an eye of suspicion. He didn't want to question anything when he was still basically walking on thin ice but his mind couldn't help but wonder.
"Very well," he said with a ginger smile. Obvious excuse was obvious but he wasn't about to jump into those icy waters.
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 8:58 pm
Zia didn't know where they would go, she had just decided her idiotic gibberish in front of her apartment building was not the appropriate place for anything. Especially if Magiore was going to appear and ask where the hell his rent check was.
"Wait," She said, stopping and leaning on the side of her Impala, pursing her lips and playing with the front of his shirt. She had clearly regained her composure, finally, since she was first caught off guard by actually seeing him standing there. "So if we're celebrating my birthday does that mean you have to do whatever I want?" She asked in a cheeky tone that some people might've found worrisome.
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 7:11 pm
Pascal stopped rather abruptly when she told him to wait, wondering if person she'd changed her mind, however the feeling of her playing with the front of his shirt subdued any thoughts following that train. She was finally regaining herself from the shock of the night, it seemed, and Pascal couldn't help but grin when the next words came out of her mouth. His reply was so simple, he didn't even have to think.
"Anything."
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Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:16 pm
"Anything?" Zia kicked one ankle over the other as she relaxed in her lean, her fiddling with his shirt tightening to a solid grip as she tugged him along like she expected him to go along with the incline.
She kissed him, and in an aggressively intimate way that seemed to confirm any predictability in which way the night was going.
At least until she broke it and seemed to glance him over, breathing out a light 'hm' while she kept her grip on his shirt and the very close proximity to his face. God he smelled good for some reason. She did miss him and his pretty face.
And suddenly she finally said a flat "I dunno," That abruptly changed the mood.
"You know, you hurt my feelings," She said, sounding flat and unamused, still holding onto his shirt like she was afraid he'd flee if she let go. "Look, I don't care if this isn't a relationship or anything stupid like that," She rested her forehead on his, still frowning-- more like pouting, really-- but taking careful note to try to curb some of the accusatory tone out of her voice, because she was genuinely sincere about the following and didn't want it to sound like a joke or teasing. "I don't care what we're doing as long as we stay friends." She was still acting like if she let go of him everything was going to fall apart again, even though one hand that came up to rest against his waist was hindered by the box she was holding. "I don't have a lot of friends, okay, and I-... I really am sorry for whatever I did."
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:34 am
The kiss had sure been something and it definitely lead him to believe just how the night was going to progress, and when it stopped and she murmured a small hm followed by her unsure feelings his mind was screaming one thing: YOU GOT TO ******** BE KIDDING ME! His face showed something different though, small concern. Was he concerned, well yes, but his concern and his expression of concern were on two different topics.
He very well might have stomped away like a child had she let go of him, flailing around screaming something about how wishywashy girls were. Instead, he stayed under false pretenses, waiting to hear out what she was going to say or do. If she was going to hit him again he swore this was going to be the last time he came back but she didn't and instead she apologized again for whatever she did. She also kind of threw his entire romantic gesture out the window: Friends. ******** ZIA, ******** was no wonder guys said girls were fickle because there were girls like Zia. First they said they wanted to be more than friends with benefits and then they said they wanted to remain friends. Pascal, being the smart man he was, didn't interrupt her. He definitely wanted to though because everything this woman said was a contradiction to the last thing she said. This could end in two ways: Fighting or loving, and it was kind of hard to tell which way it could roll at this point.
"I'm right here Zia," he said, caressing her cheek in the progress.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 7:33 pm
His concern spread to Zia like an infectious disease. She was scanning his face for a cue, some way to go, some sort of feedback so she could keep faking like she knew what she was doing.
He wasn't giving one. And she cringed. "I'm not saying it right. Ugh..." Maybe it wouldn't be so hard if she knew how to do this thing even before her social mannerisms got all scrambled and rearranged with a cat's. "I mean it's not what I mean, I know you're here and I-- I mean, ugh..." Frustration was building. She was hating herself more and more for this totally lack of ability to communicate or articulate thoughts and feelings.
This was the worst possible moment but Zirconia stirred in the back of her mind and refused to tolerate having to watch this bullshit, and suddenly Zia let him go to pinch the bridge of her nose like she'd been stabbed in the temple with an ice pick. "Oh god," She mumbled, trying to play it off like a migraine from hell.
And seized by the panic of losing her physical body at any moment she ended up blurting it out in the most childish of terms. "Look, I really like you, okay? Not like... like... like just friends but friends and then something else and I just meant to say I missed you, okay? I missed you and it hurt because I actually really do care what you think of me and I don't care like that about anyone else and I just feel like I do better when you're around. I like myself better with you than without you." And it was like suddenly everything got very still and quiet and she was left feeling weird and stupid and flushed with embarrassment. "I-- I didn't want to do this, this isn't where I meant to go with this, can you just pretend this never happened and drop your pants or something?"
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