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 Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:41 pm
Merric didn't do a whole lot these days as a civilian. He checked up on his parents and little sister every week or so, just to make sure they hadn't become targets of vengeful senshi or Chaos agents. He stayed relatively low on the radar, passing as a cashier in a music store during the day and patrolling at night. He'd sensed the giant congregation of Order and Chaos that night the warehouse burned down, and avoided it. Not out of dishonor, but simply because he didn't feel like it at the time.
Just as he had called in sick for work today, because he didn't feel like it. Besides, he needed a hair cut and he really sort of needed to go buy some food.
Unfortunate responsibilities of being human.
He stretched as he stood in front of the barber shop, running a hand through his shaggy hair. It was getting long and getting hot and he just wanted ti gone already. It would be so much nicer with shorter blue locks. He'd have them cut it so he could still spike it, but the long tendrils of hair were gone, save a thin braided rat tail behind his left ear (very a la Anekin Skywalker). He liked it better this way, less for someone to grab and hold onto, and cooler in the coming summer months. Besides, change was nice occasionally.
He made to pull his headphones up when he noticed a familiar head of orange hair - loopless of course. Well, she was back in town. He gave a shrug of his shoulders to himself. Not that it mattered. She'd left him after all, in a huffy flurry he might add.
What Nina Rothbart did with her life was no longer his concern.
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:02 pm
It was still so hard to really get used to not having all of her hair on her head. She hadn’t cut it for so long, that she had gotten used to the familiar weight of her orange locks that went to her mid back, but now…now she was sporting a pixie cut that peter pan would be proud of.
She had been doing pretty good for herself lately, and had been avoiding her ex boyfriend at all costs…though truthfully it hadn’t been that hard. Although…even when you tried hard to ignore someone, it was all but inevitable that one day they would pop back into your life…and sure enough…she saw a flash of blue hair in the crowd. Oh well.
Maybe she should go and say hello…or ignore it until it was too late to keep ignoring it.
That seemed like the best choice here, so Nina continued with her walk until she found herself bumping into—you guessed it. Merric himself.
Blinking her green eyes, the redhead sighed slightly. “Oh. Hello there. Long time no see.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:22 pm
She bumped into him, jostling him slightly. Grey eyes glanced down at the young woman, a pleasant if neutral expression on his face, and he pulled his headphones down. It was out of courtesy, and because Merric wasn't a total jackass to ex-girlfriends. Best to not burn all of the bridges, in case he needed to cross it again.
Still, it was hard to bite back the annoyance in his voice. She'd dumped him after all, and she'd thrown the fit, and she'd decided to excommunicate him. (He really liked to focus on that today.) Then just come back with a "oh, hi there" without anything else. He found it a bit rude, to be honest.
"The cut looks good on you," he said, slightly awkward. He resisted the urge to fluff her hair and simply glanced around the street for a moment. "Been keeping yourself busy these days, I'm guessing?"
Small talk, the bane of Merric's existence.
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:16 pm
Nina blinked and cleared her throat, reaching up and trying to tuck her hair out of her face, only to find that it wasn’t there. Still. Seriously, she had to quit that. It was a nervous habit, but…hey. It wasn’t…
She was stupid.
“Thank you…I like it. I know it’ll be nice this summer when it’s hotter than the sun, right?” She gave a little smile. “I like how long yours is getting. You’re looking pretty…handsome.” He was looking as attractive as ever. Maybe even more so.
Why didn’t she just talk to him before throwing a hissy fit. God she was so stupid.
“And yeah. I’ve been dancing a lot…same old, same old, I guess…what about you? How’s…how’s everything?”
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:41 pm
He rolled his eyes, staring at his hair. He... hated his hair, to be honest. It was too long and tangled so easily. Merric ran his hand through his hair and gave a sheepish little smile.
"I'm actually... thinking of getting it cut off. It tangles really badly and is going to be really terrible come summer." He glanced away from her, pink tinging his cheeks. Man, he swore he'd ignore her flirting if she'd ever come into his life again, but old flames died hard. The fact she'd called him handsome just threw him off completely. He really like her hair too, it was incredibly sexy that short and just made her look so fierce. He idly wondered how that worked when she powered up.
He cleared his throat, catching himself staring.
"Eh, things have been alright I guess. I've been... in and out of the whole night time running around lately. I work at a music store two blocks over, my apartment is messier than it's ever been, and I'm completely out of food. I've been... surviving I guess? I can't quite... figure where I am in life these days." He shrugged, futsing with his headphones for a moment. "Glad you've been dancing. I was worried you'd stopped after our whole... issues.
He let out a heavy sigh. "Which I'm... sorry for. I was a terrible boyfriend. Too focused in other places and not enough on you." Well there goes that mood, he supposed. But he was apologizing, so there was that?
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:47 pm
Nina hesitated and reached up, taking a piece of his hair between two of her fingers and giving it a little tug. “I mean, I can see where it would be hot this summer…but, if you just put it back in a ponytail…you’ll really have all of the ladies swooning for you…”
She would be, that was for sure, at least.
“Either that or I could come over some time and tie it up with ribbons and bows and pretty lace flowers. I could always do that too…”
The redhead grinned and then listened to his talking, blinking in surprise when he apologized. She bit her lip for a moment, and shook her head. “I’m sorry that I didn’t just talk to you. I just…I still feel so lost and…and angry. Bitter. I’m bitter about a lot of things, and I took it all out on you…and my hair…but…” She scratched the back of her neck. “I’m really sorry about what I did…I wasn’t thinking.”
She hadn’t realized that meeting up with Merric was going to alleviate some of her stress…if not most of her stress…she felt…good right now. Happy, almost.
“But seriously…think about not cutting it…you look hot. In the best way possible. Sexy, even…” Nina blushed a little and with great effort, shifted her gaze to her feet.
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:54 pm
His mouth twitched, a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. Flowers and ribbons and lace huh. She was going to dress his hair up in flowers and ribbons and lace huh. The smirk pulled harder at his mouth and he formulated a plan of... attack, to get her back for that statement.
He could pull it up in a ponytail, that was true. But spikes! Spikey hair! Plus no one could pull it. Maybe he'd have to do that whole bun thing dancers did. Less of a chance of someone to grab it.
(To be fair he only wanted one lady swooning over him.)
He smiled at her, genuinely and leaned forward to gently brush his lips on her forehead. "We made mistakes. It happens. We really need to get better at the whole talking to one another thing, though." He gently edged her chin up with a finger. "If you let me, I'll help you deal with the bitterness. Plus, you know other things." The grin he gave her flashed all of his teeth and rated high on the 'sexy' scale.
"But first. As punishment for saying you'll put ribbons and lace flowers in my hair..." The grin widened and he wiggled his fingers at her. "TICKLES!"
Fingers connected with her sides and he enacted Operation: Tickle Monster!
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 7:09 pm
She hadn’t expected this. She really hadn’t expected any of this…when she saw Merric again, honestly she had expected for it to come to blows and for her to just walk away sobbing or something akin to that…but here they were…smiling and…and he was kissing her forehead…
Nina swallowed hard and looked back up as he lifted her chin, feeling a burning sensation in the corners of her eyes. Well, this could very well end with her sobbing anyway. Was he asking for her back? Was this really happening?
Was he tickling her. Oh god.
Whatever burning sensation that was in her eyes left and she began laughing and flailing her arms. “Stop! Oh god stop!” She hadn’t laughed this much…in months, if not years. It hurt, and felt good all at the same time. Finally after several seconds she pulled away, doubled over, hands clutching her sides. “I give in! I give in! Enough, no ribbons!” The redhead laughed for a few more seconds and straightened up, looking up at Merric.
“So…does this mean you want to try dating again? You want to take me back…?” Because clearly, now she was asking…even though, if you had asked her ten minutes ago, she would have said hell no. There had been no way she would have wanted to be back with him…but hey…Love is love, and maybe it really couldn’t die so easily.
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 7:46 pm
To his credit, Merric actually thought before he spoke for once.
This was the... second time, this had happened. Clearly, they worked so well when they were in good spirits and happy. It was the anger and the rage filled sections that turned the whole relationship sour and evitably destroyed it. He worried that it was going to go all to hell, not three months later, and she'd be storming out because she couldn't just talk to him about it.
He guided her out of the flow of people into a small crevice between the shops. Merric gently threaded his fingers with hers. Did he still love her? In a way yes, in a way no. Yes, because it was Nina and she was wonderful in ways Odette hadn't been. Nina was fire, Nina was life, and finally actually looking at her and not who she had been cemented that he found Nina all the more attractive than Odette ever was to him. No, because he barely even knew Nina. Nina was an enigma and he was loath to fall for someone he didn't know.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't love the person he'd come to know. They'd skipped the dating portion, which probably screwed them over from the beginning. They'd just wound up awkwardly together after her corruption and the elephant in the room was too large to interact around.
They needed to do it right this time.
"I'm willing to try dating again, provided we do it right this time. We date, we hang out, we go see movies and whacky carnivals. Hell, I'll... take a ballet class with you if you want. We figure out who the other is, and then figure out whether the love is there or not. I'm not saying it isn't but... I barely know you Nina and I did a absolute s**t job of trying to learn who you are and help you figure it out too." He took a breath, straightening his shoulders.
"I'm willing to work at it, as long as you talk to me. Remember I'm here to help, you don't have to hide from me." He smiled at her kindly, caringly, and squeezed her hands. "Are you willing to work at us, Nina? Are you willing to let me in?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:01 pm
Nina blinked, walking with him between the shops and squeezing his hand when he took hers. It took her a long moment after his words died to come up with some of her own, but, she was smiling when she finally spoke, smiling and nodding. “I think…I think I would like that very much. Very much indeed.”
The girl paused, nodding. “I think you in a ballet class would be kind of adorable. But you seriously…I’m going to do up your hair with ribbons and bows if you’re going to dance with me.” She stuck out her tongue and laughed. “I’m willing to let you in, and I’m more than willing to do silly things with you….but I think I’m going to keep my space and not move back in with you, if that’s all right. I think that put a lot of strain on us as well, and I’d like to keep that away as much as possible.”
Nina gave a little nod, then leaned up, kissing his cheek. “Seriously…I want this to work this time…maybe we should take it slow and really start over…like, from the beginning.”
She pulled away from him and crossed her eyes, laughing. “Well hello there. I’m Nina. It’s nice to meet you.”
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Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 2:41 am
Merric chuckled and smiled at her. She was the most amazing person he'd met, she really was. She was strong, she was fun, and Merric was glad he could be there with her. He was totally alright with not moving in together; they needed time to figure each other out before then. They needed to fall in love all over again, really. He gave a mock bow, the smile morphing into a grin.
"Hey. I'm Merric. I play bass and sometimes sing. It's awesome to meet you." He felt sort of giddy and couldn't quite contain the grin on his face. The happiest he'd been in so long, it really was.
"So, Nina, whacha like to do?"
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