|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:12 pm
Still left in the dark about what had occurred within the Crystal Caves, one Gale Gentry could be found still sitting on the steps of a little yellow house in the towns, knees drawn up with one elbow resting on his legs, his chin in his hand. His mobile phone was held in the other hand, Gale absently scrolling through the series of text messages received.
They were all from one Stormy Ortega.
He recognized the name, of course - Stormy was...
...well, he wasn't sure exactly what she was.
<< A girl. >>
Yes, thank you, he thought sarcastically, and flipped through a few more text messages. Most were familiar to him, but some were relatively confusing. Images flashed through his mind, pictures here and there, like scenes from a movie flashback.
He remembered her, but there was something missing, something very strong. It was like a picture that was half shrouded in shadows, and the thoughts confused him. Gale flipped his phone shut and stuck it back in his pocket, frowning a little, his thoughts drifting towards the incident on the beach.
He felt strangely lost somehow.Ol-j-man wow this is a terrible tag please feel free to hit me
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:32 pm
Conserve power, they said. Try to make your phone last. With Merlin gone the power was fluctuating and diverting to more critical systems, and without having real Life knowledge she couldn't do anything more than patrol and swallow down the feeling of thinking things were missing from her mind . . .
More than that, Stormy was now aware that something was off about some people; one only had to glance at Twitter. And that made her a bit frightened about whether the people she knew had been tampered with somehow on their odd journey into that other world. Nevada seemed fine, as did Roland judging from Twitter . . . She had yet to check on her brothers but was mildly put off about it, as neither had tried contacting her (which was, of course, the obvious first step here). And she had no worries about Miss Candace or Cap'n or Mister Lex, so . . . that left Gale really.
Who had also yet to message her. And whom she had also yet to message as well. Stormy felt off when she thought about him, because everything looked as though they should be in place in her mind, but . .. she had no point of reference for it. They'd apparently decided to try out a date, but she didn't know what it meant in the end--though they'd kissed, that much she remembered . . . Was that to balance out the time he'd taken her to his house until she felt better? That made sense, but . . . the feelings didn't.
They were sort of making a vortex inside of her right now. A tiny storm within a little Stormy.
She stared down at her phone and tapped the back of it idly for a few seconds. No point in putting it off now that they were on high alert, she supposed . . .Quote: Text to Gale:Where can I find you? Are you okay?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:13 pm
His phone buzzed in his pocket, startling him. Gale reached down and dug it back out, pressing a few buttons on the screen until he could squint down at the tiny, neatly typed letters now appearing.
It was from Stormy.
Gale's stomach gave a funny little twist as he considered his reply. For a moment he wasn't exactly sure what to say, his mind feeling as though it were full of sawdust, but then he remembered their instructions to conserve power and hastily typed out a quick message:Ol-j-man Text to Stormy:I'm at my house. I'm okay. Ol-j-man Text to Stormy:Are you all right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:39 pm
One buzz later and she had her information. Stormy didn't bother answering (again in the quest to save power) and simply strode out the dorms. Okay, think. You went on a date, you had fun, you kissed (on your bed) and you sort of kind of soured it at the end. That was the most recent memory at any rate. The rest seemed intact too: snow dog, hot cocoa, missions, infirmary . . . It was only one little scene at his house that seemed missing.
Was that bad or good? Hmm . . . She ignored Thane's obvious opinion on the matter and continued to walk and think.
The text didn't say anything about whether Gale had lost any memories or not, which worried the worrier in a worrisome manner. She had lost track of him in that other place which, now that she remembered it, made her feel pangs of guilt. Had he been alone, or had he found a group or a partner to stick to? She should have tried harder to find him . . . It had been too easy to get caught up in her own personal journey--one that had reminded her of too many things she wished she could bury back down again.
But the water had been stirred and now she had to wait for it to settle again.
Gale's house was, as ever, a ray of sunshine against the other houses, and confusing emotions or not Stormy felt a little better as she approached. It was a safe place there, one where she had danced and recited poetry and lounged on bed and couch and watched movies and cuddled and . . . something else she couldn't put her finger on.
Her chest tightened with some nervousness at the impending reunion as she stood before the door, fist raised to knock. What was the mantra again? One step at a time.
Thump. Thump. Thump, went her knocks. She looked about suspiciously, the alarm still echoing in her ear. At least the town was still safe . . .xkurotomato btw her hair is cut at this point (gotta do the memory solo where she'll do it~)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 12:58 pm
He turned the phone off for now and set it beside him with a small sigh. The little yellow house in the center of town had no power, and everything inside was shrouded in shadows, the weak sunlight through the window not accomplishing much other than to provide at least a little bit more clarity. Gale paced back and forth in the living room, a frown on his face, idly tapping his fingers against his leg.
I remember...the ship.
<< Yes, good. >>
...and the...kissing part...
<< Making progress now. >>
Gale pressed his fingers to his temple. But I can't remember...how we met or...or what led us to where we are now and that is incredibly frustrating, not to mention very weird.
A knock at the door startled him out of his thoughts, Gale glancing upwards. Swallowing a little, he took several steps towards the front hallway, hesitated for a moment, and then finally reached out and pulled the door open.
"Hey," he said quietly. "Er...come on in."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:26 pm
Stormy didn't know what laid behind Gale's door, so even the extended seconds of pause was enough to make her even more nervous. Thus she was a little startled when the door did finally open--but there he was. He matched her memory, so thankfully nothing had changed there, and she felt her heartbeat skip and rise. But his greeting was...oddly lackluster and hesitant in comparison to what she did remember.
Her heart promptly forgot its energy and sank.
"Hey," she greeted, forcing herself to look happy anyway as she stepped in. "Glad to see your house is still a little ray of sunshine." God, what was she even doing here...This was what happened when she followed her impulses.
Stormy moved beyond the threshold by only a few steps, hands clasped as she turned to him. It was weird, not feeling the usual swish of her hair against her neck; that nakedness made her even more self-conscious. "How're you doing?" she asked. "Everything here going okay?" Just had to keep it simple, keep it casual until she figured out the extent of the problem. Don't think about it too much.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:32 pm
What lay behind Gale's door was relatively simple:
Darkness (the power was still out).
He pushed it open and stepped aside to let her in, the expression on his face slightly nervous, a little anxious. A part of him wanted to reach out and gather her into his arms, give her a hug and tell her how relieved he was that she was safe but why that was he couldn't say for certain. And he felt rather stupid for not knowing, that was for sure.
"It's er...well, it's still standing, at least," said Gale, with an almost suspicious glance around as though he half expected a fog dragon to come and destroy it again. He closed the door behind Stormy and then stood there awkwardly, fidgeting from one foot to the other.
"Everything's okay," he said. "Did you want some tea...except I can't make tea because the power's out..." He finished his own sentence with a sort of exasperated sigh. "Well, at any rate, have a seat..."
He glanced at her again.
"You cut your hair."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:11 pm
"Yeah . . . It endures, like you do," she found herself saying, and then was glad for the darkness within as it hid her embarrassment. Was that too forward? They were friends, yes, she knew that much, but . . . still. The urge to hug him was still something to battle as well, so she kept her hands clasped firmly to avoid making an awkward scene out of an already somewhat stiff reunion.
She could at least smile a little at Gale's offer for tea. "It's okay, the power outage won't last long . . . Then we can toast with tea and hot chocolate, right?" But there it was again, the flat statement about something she thought he would have a little more of a reaction to. Or maybe she was feeling more vain than usual . . .
"Uh, yes! Yes, I did." Stormy hesitated, very aware of her neck being naked like that was a problem somehow, baring more skin in Gale's house and all. "I, uh . . . Do you," like it, "think it looks okay? Not awkward cut or anything?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:54 pm
He was touched by her comment, Gale lifting his eyes to give her a slightly shy look.
"Thanks," he said softly, and gestured to the little couch. "Have a seat. And hot chocolate sounds quite nice right about now, as a matter of fact."
He studied her for a long moment, his eyes sweeping over the new, shorter hair and something in his stomach twisted. One of his hands lifted as though of its own accord and moved towards her, his fingers drifting through the auburn-red strands, trailing downwards.
"...you look lovely," said Gale quietly. "Very lovely."
He realized what he was doing and his face flushed pink, Gale drawing his hand back quickly. "Sorry," he said. "It's just.."
There were about ten thousand things that he wanted to say and ten thousand things he couldn't say or had no idea how to say. He wanted to hug her and kiss her and just stay with her but why that was, why he had these odd sort of longings escaped him, and it frustrated him. He could remember kissing her (very vividly, in fact), and he remembered holding her, dancing with her -
- but he didn't remember meeting her or even how they had gotten to the dancing or the kissing or the hugging.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:13 pm
She was quite stock still when he reached out to touch her, half from the shock of how oddly intimate it was to feel his fingers brush against her hair, half because something in her quivered with familiar pleasure--deja vu even. But for whatever reason, things were still not matching up.
< < The lock. > >
You mean that dream . . . ?
It wasn't exactly outlandish at this point, but . . . God, Stormy had to fight the urge not to knit her brows and despair for a moment at how confused they were both getting over something her heart seemed determined to say was simple (while her mind continued to flip flop as always).
Nevertheless, she would take "very lovely" because it was better than them both floundering some more.
"Thank you," she answered with a sheepishly smile. "Did it myself. A-And it's okay! Really. Before the power went out, people had been acting weird on Twitter too . . . Maybe it's a side effect from our Rift trip."
It didn't comfort her. Should she just ask him what he remembered, or . . . ?
"I'm not bothering you, am I? Like, uh, if you were in the middle of something . . . Iunno . . ." Stormy rubbed an arm self-consciously. "It's sort of been a lot to take in the last few days, too, so . . . Holding up okay and all?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:39 pm
He wanted desperately to understand, but it was like the fog that had dissipated outside had instead moved inside of his head, making everything fuzzy and confusing - and as someone who normally held things together as best he could, it was extremely frustrating to not have all the pieces to this particular puzzle.
He raised an eyebrow. "It's pretty impressive for someone who did it herself," said Gale lightly, and moved to sit on the couch, perching at the end of it rather than sinking down into it like he normally would.
"Ah," he said. "The rift...thing. Yes."
It was still somewhat fresh in his mind, bright and ugly and chaotic, and a part of him still did not quite understand it whatsoever. Gale's eyes flickered towards Stormy, his heart thumping very fast in his chest.
"No, no," he said hastily, half turning towards her. "You're not...you're not bothering me at all," he said, drawing a small breath because it was taking a great deal of effort to keep himself from reaching out and pulling her into his arms.
"Nothing's really been happening here, other than having to do anything in the dark," said Gale, and he gave her a little half smile, slightly hesitant and a little shy. "It's nice to have someone here to talk to, after all; sometimes it can get pretty lonely."
He cleared his throat. "What about you?" he asked. "Holding up okay?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 10:23 pm
"I-Impressive?" She wouldn't have gone that far, but . . . "Thank you," she mumbled with a voy look, a hand unconsciously reaching up to grab for strands that were not located higher up. "It'll be easier to manage this way at any rate."
She hesitated when they reached his living room, unsure if she felt like sitting or standing or how close she wanted to settled by Gale. Eventually she moved to sit on the opposite end of the couch, sinking into it for a moment before turning to face him. There was a weird tingling in her head the moment she had sat down, reminding her that the block seemed to happen while they were still on this particular couch . . . Gale also seemed to have an odd moment of stress himself, if she was catching those nuances of his right.
At least he didn't mind having her here; Stormy didn't hide the relief on her face as she smiled a little better for his sake. "You know where my room is, right? You could've stopped by," she gently teased, hands in her lap. "You wouldn'tve bothered me either." The idea of him being alone made her chest tighten--but then, it would have for any friend of hers.
"I'm, uh . . ." Her smile faded a bit, though she forced a chuckle. "Stable, I suppose," she answered, remembering the last time she'd used that word. "There are weird gaps in my memory, but it could be worse. I could've been in the Infirmary again, huh?"
. . . Maybe that was a bad joke.
"At least the sun is shining, right?" she was quick to point out. "That's a nice change. Even if it means the barriers are . . . gone."
She's forgotten as well that she was no good at small talk. Fffffffff.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 7:31 am
He somehow felt that it might have been better for him not to touch her, but he hadn't quite been able to help himself at the same time, his body moving of its own accord. Gale tried to ignore the way his stomach seemed to flip flop as she sat down on the end of the couch, and he fiddled with Jinhai's ring, his face still a little flushed.
"I could have," he conceded, and then paused. "But I...well, I don't know," he admitted finally, and took a small breath. "I'm having...a difficult time since returning, it's been a bit of a downhill ride for me."
He remembered the girl at the beach, the way she had seemed to know him and then her stunned expression when he had been confused, as though she couldn't quite believe it. She had tried to hide it, tried to act normal, but he had always been somewhat good at discerning little nuances, and he had not missed the crestfallen look on her face before she had told him her name.
Eva. Gale took another breath, shaking his head just a little as though to clear it before tilting it towards Stormy.
"No, I'd rather you not be in the Infirmary," he said, and then realized what she had said before then as well, his expression flickering.
"You...you have weird gaps in your memory," he repeated. "So do I. I feel like there are...pieces missing."
His fingers curled into a fist on his knee.
"You're missing," he mumbled, his head beginning to hurt.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 7:50 am
Keep it together. Stormy remained placid on the outside as he spoke, even as her worst fears were being confirmed: someone had forgotten her. Maybe not all of her, but enough to have them revert to that awkward period again.
"I see." She offered him a small, sympathetic smile, forced herself to stay relaxed even as her heart began to ache; it was good, she realized, to disassociate her inner self and her outer self. "It's okay, I feel awful guilty about the stuff I forgot too! But there has to be a way to remember," she said with more conviction than she felt. If she kept it casual, then maybe they could both relax a little. Make the impact less harsh.
One step at a time.
"Um, if I may...What did you forget?" Stormy asked him, noting the way his hand clenched his knee and wishing she had the gumption to reach out and hold it. "A lot of little things or just, like, larger pieces?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:13 am
Something in his chest hurt. Gale tried to push past the awkward feeling that had settled over the both of them and give Stormy a reassuring smile, but it came out as more of a grimace than a smile, and he felt his face flush.
He gave her a careful considering look. "Not all of you," he said finally. "I remember...I remember dancing with you. I remember the ship."
A look of concentration on his face, Gale pressed his fingers against his temple, trying to keep the ache in his head at bay. "I remember...your room," he said, and his face was flushed, cheeks pink. "I remember telling you...that I liked you," he said softly, and turned to look at her, biting his lip.
"But I don't remember how we met," he said. "I don't...know know how we got...there," he said, indicating the "room" memory. "I don't...remember why we're..."
He trailed off, feeling stupid and insecure and awkward and everything in between.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
