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 Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:23 pm
Meals at the Prytaneum tended to mean being surrounded by dozens of your fellow Chosen, and you couldn't come back later to cook alone if you didn't have any groceries. Brian didn't much feel like socializing, but he had to eat. There were times when he thought ahead to what was to be done for the week, especially when a trip to Hillgrove wasn't ideal, but he was all out-of-sorts. This was going to be the first time visiting home since being ousted from the force, and he wasn't looking forward to it.
Usually he'd have gone off to find some friends to enjoy his meal with, but he wasn't out to find anyone today. It was likely that they'd find him, but people didn't try all that hard to read him unless they cared, and not a lot of people cared.
What was everyone at home going to say? Worse, what were they going to think? He could only fend off others curiosity for so long. It was time to face the music, and he wasn't looking forward to it. His jaw was set when he sat at a mostly-empty table and stared through the tablecloth.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 10:08 pm
Sadly, his self-imposed solitude and important thinking time caved under the good intentions of one Misha Durand who appeared at his table with her own plate and a soft, gentle smile. Without waiting for permission, she set her own dinner down and slipped into the chair opposite him. Beneath the table, she stretched out a leg to press a foot against one of his. "Hey." Picking up on his mood, Misha was careful to keep her voice soft and gentle. She itched to jolly him out of whatever had created the deep crease between his eyebrows; it bothered her more than usual to see Brian so completely concerned about something. She told herself it was just because he was not usually a fan on emotion in obvious ways. She pressed her foot against his again, instinctively trying to connect with him. "What's up, Handsome?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2016 7:11 pm
Brian saw Misha coming, as he saw anything coming at him out of his periphery. It'd be dangerous otherwise. He smiled to her in what he hoped was a genuine way. The first foot-tag didn't seem to register. It might well have been an accident. He shifted his position slightly to allow Misha a proper amount of personal space without really thinking, and the second touch of her foot had him smiling over at her again.
"Uh! Not much," he said, but this was Misha. He wasn't about to try and leave her completely in the dark. "I'm heading home tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. How about you?"
Of course not-the-dark was never all that much in the open.
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2016 8:15 pm
Aha so that explained some of his mood, she supposed. Misha nodded, encouraging but resisting the urge to press him further. Brian was hard to read when he was at the top of his game but she felt like she had a better handle on him than most. Something clearly bothered him and it wasn't the quality of dinner. "Not much," she echoed. She shrugged gracefully. "No plans at all. Though I guess I should spend some time in the gym. I don't really have any plans to go home any time soon so I have to keep myself busy around here." Misha offered him her best smile that landed between sweet and wicked. "My Mom and Dad aren't too keen on me not coming home all the time so I'm not going to tell them about what a good son you are when I talk to them later on the phone."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:05 am
Brian's smile didn't change when Misha offered her own, and then he let out a laugh as he turned back to his food. It was an odd sort of sound, just a single "hah" with no real intonation.
A good son. Sure. A good son who'd gotten himself ejected from the force for being spontaneously absent for a week. His parents had to have quite a few questions for him. He held no illusions that they hadn't been trying to protect his feeling when it had first happened, and now with some distance and some good time to talk it over amongst themselves, they were likely some more defined version of worried and angry. He should probably try to see some of his old buddies too, but would they want to see him? What was the official story even going to be?
His smile had disappeared by now and his brows were relaxed. He'd slipped into stone-faced mode and begun picking at his food.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:34 am
It was like watching cogs in a clock wind and wind and then slow down. Misha watched Brian shamelessly as he processed whatever was going on in his head and finally, after a bit, settled on the stoic face that both amused and worried her. Wordlessly, she turned to her own plate and ate a few bites. Then she checked her friend's progress from beneath her dark lashes. Still nothing. Fork in one hand, Misha shifted her position until she could reach across the table with her other. Without a single comment, she found Brian's free hand and tangled their fingers together. It was the most sensible, easy, natural feeling in the world, she thought. She hoped he felt the same way. Even if he didn't want to talk, she was there. She squeezed his hand gently.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 5:33 pm
It was a lot easier to pretend you were unaffected when nobody was interacting with you. Brian was already worrying and he wished he wasn't, but his mind wouldn't stop whirring over people's potential reactions. Would everything change? He thought it might. His mother certainly had a penchant for worrying, and "I've been recruited into a group of magical soldiers by the Greek gods" definitely wouldn't allay her concerns.
Misha was Misha, though, and he should have known that she wasn't going to leave him alone. She cared, and he usually wasn't so guarded. His smile returned when she took his hand and he laced his fingers in hers.
"I'm gonna be fine. I promise." He'd have kissed the back of her hand if they weren't eating. Whatever happened, he'd be fine eventually.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:07 pm
"I know you will." The tone of her voice reflected her utter and complete belief in him. She raised her eyes from her plate then to study his face. Even though he smiled for her, Brian still seemed withdrawn and reluctant. Something about going home was really making him nervous and her stomach clenched in sympathy. Misha set down her fork. "Is there anything I can do? I'd like to help."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:54 pm
Brian's smile spread and his chin tilted as he considered the options. Well, he still owed her that walk on the beach, but it was getting much colder. Misha was a comfort, though... was it wrong for another person to be a source of comfort? Was he using her? No, he decided. That was what friends did. They comforted each other.
"Do you want to do something after I come back? I could probably use some company."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 8:21 pm
His question brought a slight smile to her lips and then his continuation widened the expression until Misha outright grinned at him. "I would love to." She gave his hand a little squeeze and winked. "You only have to ask and I'm entirely at your disposal. Of course, you kind of beat me to asking you first." Which was mostly true. She had wanted to spend more time with him but had not decided what kind of time or how to ask yet. She figured that simply sitting with him would give her inspiration. It usually did. Just like being with him offered calm and safety and she could forget the lake-house nightmare or the bayou or the birds. At least for a bit. She leaned over the table a bit, grin melting into a smirk. "We never got a real sleep-over in that haunted house, you know. No movies, no pop-corn."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 8:31 pm
"I think we can probably forgive ourselves that," Brian teased. It had been one hell of a night. They were lucky to have gotten any sleep at all! He still thought about that water-spirit and the feel of her neck in the crook of his arm. He hoped that she was alright, and not haunting anyone any more. Misha was good for healing, too. He remembered their evening on the beach and something flickered across his eyes, but only briefly. Hah.
"Does that mean you want to have a sleepover?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 8:40 pm
"Sure. Would I have mentioned it if I didn't?" Misha offered a one shoulder shrug and cocked her head to the side, watching him. "You know me better than that, Handsome."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 8:47 pm
Brian released Misha's hand.
"Well, you do tease me pretty relentlessly," he said, keeping his eyes on her while he stuck a chunk of potato in his mouth. He chewed politely, of course, and swallowed before continuing. "We can have a sleepover. Movies and popcorn shouldn't be an issue, but I don't have a TV." Yet. "Not here, anyway. I mostly have my computer." Maybe Misha had a TV. He hadn't been in her room.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 9:20 pm
Misha wrinkled her nose. That was a problem that she had not quite considered. "I don't have a TV in my room either but there's my laptop," she admitted. "I haven't had a chance to bring a TV back yet. Not that the one back in my apartment, well, my ex-apartment in Philly is a fancy one or anything." At Brian's faint blink, she looked down at her plate and selected a bite. Her own expression was unreadable. She chewed lazily before shrugging. "I'm not going back. At least not to that particular apartment. It wasn't a spectacular place, anyway. So I called some friends to put my stuff in storage until I can get back and sort through it."
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