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 Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 12:36 pm
Talia was very warm, and she snuggled closer to the source of the warmth, though she wasn’t really sure what that source was, and as she was waking up a bit more, she did find it a bit strange that it was below her rather than atop her like a blanket would be…and the fact that it was moving…
For a moment, she stiffened and after opening her eyes and staring at Zac, their emotionally charged…well. At least on her part emotionally charged conversation came back to her.
Her eyes moved over his face, and for a moment, she tried to force her mind to remember him. Tried to get something. Anything.
They had been close. In love. And now? They were kind of on the road to becoming friends. More than friends?
Her feelings for Rosie were still complicated too, but…talking about a future with Zac was almost as easy as breathing. And clearly…falling asleep on top of him and drooling on his chest was as easy as breathing too.
It was interesting…what the body could remember, even if the mind didn’t, and that was why she leaned down, rubbing noses with him. “...It’s time to clean the basement, Zac.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 1:53 pm
Zac didn’t open his eyes; either he’d been in some between state of sleeping and waking or he’d been resting his eyes. He gave no indication that one was more plausible than the other and groaned miserably when she said it was time to clean the basement.
“You sound like you’re in too good of a mood, I don’t know if you’ve looked how crowded it is down there recently.”
He forced his eyes open and lifted his head, just slightly, so he could poke her nose with his own.
“Did you sleep okay?” …Because, he probably could have just stayed there for another hour or six. She was warm and comfortable, and it didn’t sound like anyone else was up and moving around.
Evan might have left for work all day, and Soleiyu was unpredictable. He didn’t know what Ahri or Tobias were up to, or what this new guy might be doing, but he told himself he wasn’t going to worry about it. Talia trusted him, and–well, she trusted more than he did, but they’d see what would happen. He’d meet him later. For now, it was just him and her.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 2:32 pm
“Yeah, well. It was a nice nap so. I suppose I am in a pretty good mood. Yeah, I slept okay…what about you?”
Now that he was awake too, Talia felt suddenly shy, rolling off of Zac and stretching slightly, giving a small noise as her back popped. “...Oh, that was unexpected but not unwelcome…ah. Yeah, it’s going to be a big task but. I’m a big task and you keep insisting you can handle it…so what’s a little basement clutter to a hell of a lot emotional clutter, hm?”
She thought about holding her hand out. Thought about helping him off of the couch, but instead, headed towards the kitchen, expecting him to follow.
She put a pot of coffee on for him, and grabbed out a can of soda for her and blew out a breath, shaking her head.
“You’re not half bad to sleep with, you know.”
Talia paused, and then shook her head. “I…wow. That came out so poorly. But. You know what I mean. I hope.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 3:27 pm
Zac groaned as he pushed himself up. He had to sit there for a few seconds to calibrate, and rubbed at his face briefly before he pushed himself up. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I’m a good mattress. I’d put a little more into it if we were sleeping together.”
He rolled his shoulders and stretched until his own back popped, and he cracked his neck before he followed after her.
While the coffee was on the pot, he pulled out a box of trash bags because he knew there was junk down there every bit as much as he knew there was some treasure, too. The fewer trips up and down the stairs, the better.
He just hoped that if they were going to renovate it they could at least do a good enough job that it was worth the trip. Or the cost of leveling the backyard enough that they could get a door leading out.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 3:32 pm
Talia snorted and shook her head, turning to look at him, and reaching to fix his sleep mussed hair. “Yeah, yeah. Well. Maybe when we get a room alone again. No promises though.”
She was quick, pecking his cheek lightly and then scampering down the rickety stairs, flipping the light on and pausing at the bottom.
Okay. So yeah…it would need a lot of renovation but…it was a nice space. There was a good chunk of a room that could be walled off, away from the laundry area…and it could be comfortable.
It wasn’t even that messy, so she wasn’t sure why Zac kept whining about that, there was clutter, but that was normal for basements, wasn’t it?
It felt normal. “Okay, so where do you want to start? Should we just open the boxes and start tossing what we don’t want? Like a quick first sweep and then a second one to keep narrowing things down?”
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 4:47 pm
She’d moved so quickly that Zac had no idea if she was serious or just teasing him. He’d pushed himself up so he could follow after her.
“Save the sweeping for later if we can help it. When we moved–Cambria, Evan and I–we were in a hurry. So we just loaded up a truck and moved it all. But we had all of Cambria’s furniture and all of mine, and we didn’t want to get rid of anything unless we had to. We paid the moving guys, so we just got it all together. Some of Tobias’ stuff is down here, too. Things he wanted to bring when he purified. Ahri’s the easy one, he didn’t come with anything. Evan had a few bags but that’s it.”
There were a number of boxes and plastic bins; he nudged one with his foot and it was heavy enough that it hardly moved.
“Let’s start with the boxes. We’ll make a trash bag, a donate bag, and a keep pile, that work for you?” he asked, and wiggled off the lid of the nearest large plastic bin.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 6:19 pm
Talia hesitated. “So…there’s some things of mine you think? Old things of…I mean. From when I was Cambria?”
The idea was…interesting, even if a little overwhelming. “Do you think there’s anything from when I was little? I…Well, I know we should be cleaning but now I kind of just want to have a treasure hunt for my old junk…maybe…maybe if I’m lucky I’ll remember something…”
She doubted it but. God, it was a good thought.
“...If you find anything and want to like. I don’t know. Waste time and tell stories about us, you’re welcome to do that too, Zac. Just in case you were worried that I wouldn’t want it. I do want it. Today, at least.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2022 6:46 am
“There’s definitely things of yours down here. Looks like this box is yours,” he said as he began to fish around through it. “There might be some things when you were little. This is partly a treasure hunt, if we’re going through the boxes we’re bound to find some. I know you’ve got a few stuffed animals, I don’t know how old they are. You’ve got a photo album, there are some pictures of you as a kid, I think. I know we’ve got at least a few of you in some Halloween costumes. Little Christmas dress, too. It’s around here somewhere,” he promised.
He resisted the urge to chew on his cheek but glanced up for a second as he began to pull out things for he to look over. There were a lot of clothes in this one, but as he moved them to the side he was already seeing things that were hers.
“What type of stories do you want to hear? I’ve got plenty.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2022 4:47 pm
Talia swallowed, moving closer to Zac, eager to look in the box. “...Any stories you want to tell me. Anything you can remember. I would really love to…hear anything. Everything?”
There was a large…cheap looking white unicorn with purple accents, and she reached out for it, stroking the rough fabric of the hair. “...Is this really mine, or is this a prop? Faustite had lots of props but…I honestly can’t imagine you doing that. For one, and no offense but you’re not that kind of scheme-y. And…you had no knowledge I would want to go to the basement and look through old boxes…so…tell me the story of this. Why is it down here…and why do I have such a cheap unicorn toy? It’s big but like…good lord. It feels cheap…”
She looked at him, her eyes narrowing. “...were you cheap? Were you a cheap date, Zac? Should I be worried?”
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2022 8:07 pm
Zac inhaled, forced his gaze to the ceiling, and then exhaled as he looked back down at her. “Do I strike you as the ‘cheap date’ kinda guy? You were spoiled as hell. We got that at the fair. This thing was like seventy bucks. But, you really wanted it, so I wasn’t leaving without it.”
A little smile tugged at his face as he looked at the thing and then at her. “Do you like it? I can buy you better ones. Unless you want me to go win you another one. But I don’t think the fair’ll be back in town for a while.”
If she wanted him to win her a prize, he could. Win her over the old fashioned way.
Not with schemes or tricks or props.
“We could find something else to do if you wanted to go have some fun some time.”
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2022 11:25 am
Talia gave a small grin and squeezed the ridiculous unicorn, humming softly. “Maybe I was the cheap one then. Making you spend all your money to get me this when I could have gotten something a hell of a lot better for that amount…but…the fact that you worked so hard for me is really sweet…and I would love to go with you to the fair when it’s back, yeah. If you’re asking me.”
She drew in a long breath and looked up at him, managing another smile, though this one was a little more unsure than the last. “Well…I would love to know everything. And I would love for you to plan a date for us too. Somewhere with prizes. But…” She hesitated and chewed her bottom lip. “...No, can we legit…can we go to that kids place? With the pizza and the rat? Can we go there on a date, Zac? Please?”
At this moment, it sounded like the very best, most fun plan she could have ever thought of.
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2022 1:33 pm
Zac seemed surprised, like she’d pulled the rug from under him. It wasn’t an unpleasant situation, it was just surprising. She wanted a date? It felt like last week that she was hating him for taking Faustite out of the equation so she could get out safely.
“Cheese? You’re asking me for the Cheese place when we live with Evan?” He laughed, because the idea had just thrown him for such a loop. “Yeah, I mean. Easier than a place that needs reservations.”
His heart had skipped a beat but his stomach had twisted. In a way, it felt like trying to date again after losing someone very dear to you. Cambria’s spirit was here, but this wasn’t her. It wasn’t their relationship. Talia seemed to resent him sometimes, even now.
In a lot of ways, he’d toned down his feelings. Cambria had always been his outlet; he could talk to her and she’d help him sort things out.
Zac hadn’t had anyone to talk to about this.
He did what he always did when he had a problem, he just bottled it up. Let it fester. Let it drain him.
He hadn’t come to terms with how to mourn Cambria. He accepted that Talia was like her. Had her starseed, had her spirit. Sometimes she did something that made him think Cambria was still in there.
But, he knew.
He’d known that she was probably gone as soon as the Chaos took her. But, at least she was safe here. Free of Metallia’s impulse. She could be herself, whichever version she wanted.
In some ways, it felt like trying to move on before he’d finished grieving. The wound was still raw, but he didn’t have anyone close enough to talk to. He’d pushed them all away. It was for the best–Talia had said it well earlier. He had a lot of people that wanted to kill him.
And, he might have deserved it. But he thought he should get at least a little credit for not killing all of them.
“Maybe they’ll have good prizes, we’ll see what I can win you this time. You want to go tonight? If we’re not too tired from going through all this stuff. Or maybe tomorrow. I’ve got time, I’m off for the next few days unless I want to pick up overtime.”
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2022 8:20 pm
“Well, it’s not the same kind of cheese! That one’s pizza, and Evan’s is…I don’t know. Good stuff. Sometimes you just want the junk stuff! And sometimes you want to be serenaded by giant rats while you win more tickets than three year olds, yeah?”
She swallowed and shrugged, looking away. “I’d love to go tonight, actually. If you’d be all right with it. Thanks for listening to me, Zac. You know. You can rant to me too. If you’d ever want to. I’d like to feel useful. Obviously.”
Since she didn’t. And since he was the only one who knew of just what was in Talia’s heart…well.
Maybe he could help her feel useful.
“And maybe after, we could go to your wonder and you can help me punch you a bit? That might be fun too. Just for…you know. Practice.” For when the Chaos came. As she knew it would. She wanted to be ready. Or, as ready as she could be.
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Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2022 9:07 am
Zac snorted, because he did not want to be serenaded by giant rats. “You’re the only girl I know who wants to load up on shitty cheese and pizza and then go do a workout afterwards. Just don’t hit me so hard you make yourself throw up. Can’t waste all that junk cheese.”
He shook his head, but his bemused smile lingered.
“Tonight, yeah. If we don’t finish this today, there’s always tomorrow, too. If you and your friend can handle staying in my room for a night or so longer. He or I can sleep on the couch if it’s too crowded.”
Even if he still wasn’t sure who was in his bedroom, he’d rather make sure Talia was safe than worry about that. What was he going to do, steal bedsheets? The ring? Doubtful. Soleiyu could probably just track him down if he did anything nefarious anyway.
“Just know that you’re useful. I like having you around. I’m glad we get to run out and do something quiet. You sure your friend is going to be okay if you’re gone for a few hours?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2022 9:23 am
Talia shrugged. “Yeah, that sounds good, but…we could do the punching tomorrow, I didn’t think about the cheese. And he’ll be fine, I’m sure. Sol is still here,and he introduced him to Evan so…just because I’m the best doesn’t mean I’m his only friend. But…that’s fine. I…want to spend some time with you. And I wish to…I don’t know. Stay around I suppose.”
She hesitated and nudged the male gently, before going back to rifle through the boxes again.
It would work out. Most likely. Hopefully.
…She kind of wanted it to, at least.
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