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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 23, 2012 1:40:58 GMT -5
On one hand, Nell would have been perfectly content with staying in the hotel room for the entire honeymoon, but on the other hand Paris called. She'd never been to a city like it. While Maple Hollow was full of nature and mountains and lakes, and New York had its parks but was overtaken by skyscrapers, Paris was full of trees. It may have been odd to take such a fancy to that sort of thing, but Nell loved that on every street -- no matter how different each one was -- she could find a different tree shading outdoor cafés and Parisians enjoying their petit noir. The most enjoyable thing about the city, however, was that she was there with her husband. Every time she thought of Josh that way, she wanted to giggle out of pure happiness. She hadn't come down from the high that the wedding gave her, and she hoped she never would. How could she? She was forever connected with the man she loved, and everything in her life spoke of it. The rings on her finger, his wedding band, and her last name that she had been happy to go through the paperwork to change. It was still hard to believe that she was married, a wife. Even after the fanfare of the wedding, she still liked to repeat Mrs. Dale in her head, liked to know that it was her real name now.
She'd heard people claim that marriage meant sacrificing a lot of things, the chance to go to many places one of them. But for her, it was the opposite. Josh could afford to do it, and while she liked to be the provider unto herself, it meant they could give in to wanderlust whenever they had the free time. That was something that may have been difficult to come across, though not because of being married. Josh would be going to medical school, and he already dedicated so much of his time to studying. And she had was in college with a job and volunteering on the side. Sometimes it felt like they intentionally made sure they had no free time. So she would enjoy this trip as long as they were here, because when they went back they'd have to return to their busy lives when the most they saw each other was at home. But they had all the time in Paris and they could do whatever they wanted. It was exhilarating. Paris was the most romantic city in the world, and she wanted to get her fill while she could. It was almost hard to believe that Spain was so close by, the only other European country she'd ever been. She felt as if she were slowly covering the old world.
While Nell had a desire to explore Paris as much as she could, she was definitely shy about it. She figured that Josh would be more confident considering he was exceptionally more fluent, even if it was Canadian French, but she had definitely experienced dilemmas, especially with street signs. Sometimes she did have to wonder if some of these people came with subtitles. She believed she'd have done better in Italy, the time between hearing and comprehending the language shorter because of its similarity to Spain. Nell hoped she hid it well, that she didn't have a blank expression when her brain buffered the words she heard. She tried her best, and luckily there were quite a few people who spoke English. Even if their accents obfuscated the language sometimes, she was still thankful when she happened upon a native who had a decent grasp on English. It was a nice reprieve, but she relied on Josh to do a lot of the talking. Meanwhile, she would enjoy being the mute wife who just smiled and nodded and took a few minutes to form what would hopefully be a perfect response in French.
With the weather so temperate, she felt comfortable in just a blouse and jeans, her hair thrown up messily. Even the streets were pretty, which she couldn't pay much attention to as she stood by a streetlight with Josh while picking out which blocks they should head for. Honestly, she didn't know why she held a map. It wouldn't help her, and it made her feel like a tourist. After a quick scan with her eyes, she folded it up and tucked it into her bag. "How about we go to Rue Montorgueil first, find somewhere to eat," she said, taking her husband's hand in her own, and holding his arm with the other. Rue Montogrueil was a hub of activity, restaurants and boutiques and she was almost positive the mall was there. "And then the wine tasting! Oui?" Even her voice sounded excited. She was ready to paint the town red and see what she could before they had to leave and she'd have to share Josh with the world again. For now, Paris was a sanctuary of street markets and history. Sometimes it was jarring to think about the fact that she was walking the same streets Matisse may have walked, Hemingway, Picasso, every great artist and writer there'd ever been.
With the help of kind natives, anything could be found eventualy. Rue Montogrueil was busy, as expected, but as she'd come to find, not overcrowded. It was never the hustle and bustle of most cities. They found the Au Rocher de Cancale, a cafés and restaurant, and sat outside. "What do you think you're going to have?" she asked curiously as she looked through the menu herself, slowly sounding out the words in her head and figuring out what they were. She was determined to be as non-touristy as she could be, even keeping her camera in her purse and not having one that hung around her neck. It had been easier in Spain, she could have very possibly passed as a native, but Paris was a different story. This was France, they ate snails and that was something definitely cringed at back home. But she was willing to try anything. This was the time for adventure, time to spend with her husband.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 24, 2012 15:37:32 GMT -5
DARLING WILL YOU PLEASE TAKE A WALK WITH ME? .WE COULD COUNT THE STARS AND DISAPPEAR After the initial high of the honeymoon had worn off and Joshua had paid attention to the beauty of Paris instead of just the beauty of his wife, he found it to be every bit as interesting as he'd hoped and imagined. At night it was gorgeous and the view from their hotel window did not disappoint, during the day it was full of life and colour. It was not as nature-filled as home but the excitement of being in a new and unexplored place was enough that he appreciated the change of scenery. It was even easier to appreciate the city with Nell at his side, for he enjoyed most activities a lot more when he had the chance to share the experience with her. What better a place to spend your honeymoon than in the city of romance? He had delighted in checking into the hotel, knowing that they were 'Mr. and Mrs. Dale' instead of 'Mr. Dale and Ms. Shepherd'. They were linked, now, more so than they had ever been. They were married. There was still a part of it that didn't feel real, a part of him that kept twisting the silver band around his finger as if to verify that it was real. After all the months of being engaged, after all the time spent waiting, now their marriage was a real and documented thing.
As a Fire elemental, Joshua could get by in most temperatures, but he appreciated the moderate weather and the fact that he did not look like a freak for not wearing a jacket to fend off a chill. He also appreciated that most of the world agreed with the use of Celsius and not Fahrenheit, for though he knew the formula for converting and was otherwise capable of looking up a converter, it was nice to avoid the hassle of going that extra mile. He was content to allow Nell control of their direction, for it was food that they were deciding upon and there was no contest for who was more of an expert between them. As she glanced over the map he glanced around the city, gray eyes taking in the scenery before flicking back to his wife in time to see her pocket the map. His look was expectant, wondering if she'd found anything of interest, and she confirmed his curiosity a moment later. "Oui," he agreed, a smile touching his lips. "Perhaps later we can pay a visit to La Maison Stohrer as well. I'd definitely like to check it out." There was little question as to why he wanted to go—it was a bakery and there was not much Joshua liked more than sweets and pastries. Besides, the place had a history. A place that could satisfy both the history lover and the sweet tooth within him? Why the hell not?
There were plenty of other places around the area that called to his desire to explore but there was also plenty of time left in their trip. For now, it was hunger that called to his stomach and demanded sustenance so Josh was more than happy to oblige. Once they'd found Rue Montorgueil, he found himself momentarily overwhelmed by the amount of activity. The pedestrian-only street was bustling with locals and tourists alike while they walked underneath colourful store awnings and past uniform buildings of sandstone-beige. He caught snippets of conversation from those around them and was pleased to find out that he understood much of what was being said. Having taken several years of French both in and outside of school, he knew the differences between Canadian and Parasian French and could adopt his speech accordingly. If there was one thing he didn't want, it was to embarrass himself in front of the native-speakers.
He didn't know much about the Au Rocher de Cancale, nor did he need to. It was a cafe, they were hungry, that was that. The building looked aged and he wondered how old it was. Had it always been a restaurant? What was it's history? He forced himself to concentrate on the menu instead. His curiosity would not outdo his hunger, not now, anyway. "I don't know," he mused as he scanned over the choices. "Being vegetarian certainly doesn't help my choices... most of the main courses involve meat somehow." Vegetarian Problems. He was frowning thoughtfully as he scrutinized his options more carefully, glad that there were English descriptions as well. For the tourists, he guessed. "Maybe this dish here with the mushrooms and potatoes, I'm not sure..." There were a few meatless sides but his hunger wasn't that easily sated. I guess I could just order more than one, he reasoned with himself. After all, it's not like we're short on funds. Being rich had advantages, especially when it came to travelling. Glancing up from the menu, his gaze found Nell's. "You?"
I WISH YOU COULD SEE .YOU'RE THE ONLY GIRL I'VE EVER DREAMED OF ARE YOU SATISFIED?
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 25, 2012 0:00:05 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] i love paris in the rain Down in Paris they walk fast. That is unless they're walking slow. And in cafes they look away That is unless they look right in. And in the gardens I get lost That is unless I'm getting found. And if you are the ghost of New York City Then won't you stick around? Ne me quitte pas, mon cher, ne me quitte pas.
Nell giggled when he said that they had to check out La Maison Stohrer, that short moment between confusion and comprehension delaying her reaction. When she realized, though, it was no wonder why. "You really want a croissant, don't you?" she joked, laughing again. She was usually a cheerful person, usually found smiling even when alone, but even now it was noticeable just how happy she was. When she realized just how giggly she was, it embarrassed her. Usually she covered up her inner feelings, but she couldn't hide her love for Josh and how happy she was to be married to him, to be in France with him. She and her handsome husband taking Paris by storm. "But yes, later. First I have to make sure you get fed, mi merido," she teased him fondly. He was like a little kid with his sweet tooth, and she'd always found that endearing. And perhaps unhealthy, because she worried about him with his vegetarianism and his love for candy. His health was paramount even above her own, needless to say. "Then we can get candy." It was funny to think that the usually excited about everything Nell was probably less excited about the bakery than forever stoic Josh. Of course, he wasn't jumping around with glee, but she knew that whenever candy was around his interest meter went up. Meanwhile, the food is what she looked forward to.
The café looked like something out of a painting, what Van Gogh's starry terrace looked like during the day. All of the city felt like a painting come to life, maybe because that's all she had before. Still-lifes that presented a foreign world to her, one that she would never imagine being a part of. It gave her a fluttery feeling in her stomach when she thought about it that way, the fact that she could go anywhere she wanted with Josh. Whom, at that point, was considering his (limited) options from the menu. "It doesn't look like they have too much in the way of vegetarian," she said, rubbing her neck with her hand and feeling bad for her husband. Sometimes she forgot just how many types of food he had to avoid. She wouldn't be able to do that herself, as she knew just how much meat and poultry she consumed. "Why don't you try one of the meat dishes, then?" she chirped. "You never told me why you're vegetarian, but you're not allergic to anything are you?" She figured that as long as he didn't have a physical aversion to meat and poultry that he could experiment, go crazy. Live like the Parisians did, eating fine food. "Maybe there's something on here you might like if you try..." she told him, scanning her eyes along the menu. The ones she did best on were the ones that had similarities to either English or Spanish. She was confident if he tried some good French food, he might not have such a difficult time finding dishes to eat. As someone who believed food was something to be passionate about, the fact that he purposely avoided certain kinds baffled her. But she came to terms and tried to understand his lifestyle. At least he wasn't doing drugs. Just not eating cows.
Nell considered his question, feeling some stage fright. Even while she decided to be confident when she could be, asking directions from people and holding a conversation, messing up any language was embarrassing. She felt like she would be somehow disgracing the French people, who she really did respect. She chewed on her lip a moment before lifting the menu from the table in front of her to show him, tapping a finger against the item there she couldn't pronounce. "I can make out that it has pork in it...I think," Next to her fingernail it read choucroute garnie, and she did not really want to try pronouncing that, wondering how many letters would be left out. But she laughed and put the menu back down in front of her. "I'm really just tempted to close my eyes and eat whatever my finger lands on." She had zero reservations. And she was pretty sure that the French didn't use okra in anything. Of course, coffee was a must. She didn't want to order black, but she also didn't want to order some strange combination of things by mistake, so she did her best when it came to pronunciation. "Merci," she said, knowing that at least that was right. Or well, she hoped. Until she remembered all the different formalities in every language, even Spanish. Usted was formal, tu was personal, and French was just all over the place with its words.
She rested her hands on the sides of her chair, crossing her legs. "I really hope I didn't just order a death by guillotine or something," Nell said. She figured that her husband would appreciate the reference. And while she was concerned about bungling her words almost constantly, she believed they gave madame guillotine a rest in 1799. At least she wasn't picky on her coffee.
tag: joshywa <3 notes: *dies from feels* outfit : clicketh.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 26, 2012 12:12:19 GMT -5
DARLING WILL YOU PLEASE TAKE A WALK WITH ME? .WE COULD COUNT THE STARS AND DISAPPEAR Nell understood him more than anyone else, her joking tone bringing a soft smile to his face. "You know me so well." He would certainly hope they knew one another well. It wouldn't do to get married to someone he wasn't comfortable with. He noticed her smiling and laughter, noticed more than usual how happy that she was, and it pleased him to think that he had that kind of an affect on her. Her happiness meant a lot to him. He had proposed to her in an effort to show her exactly how much it meant and now they were strolling the streets of Paris as man and wife, married at last. He chuckled at her teasing and reflected on all the times she'd ensured he didn't starve himself while studying for an exam. "If you say so, ma cherie," he returned, grinning. He was pretty hungry and so he definitely wasn't going to argue with that one. Nell was lucky in that Joshua was careful about his diet and his consumption of sweets. He knew that they weren't the best things for his health and so he tried his best to be cautious about it.
Having been vegetarian for over half of his life, Joshua was more than accustomed to the limited menu options when it came to dining. It was cost-efficient to avoid the staples such as steak and lobster and other pricey meat dishes but to someone as wealthy as Joshua that was not the issue in the least. Sometimes he did tire of restaurants serving the same old things for their vegetarian options, like those with his diet were an afterthought tossed in only so that they didn't have any complaints. He suppressed a sigh. Ah well. He looked up at Nell and blinked in surprise when she suggested trying one of the meat dishes, as if she'd just suggested he try and build a rocket to the moon. It was not something people suggested to him often and had it been anyone else, he'd have politely declined and went back to perusing the menu. As this was his wife, though, her suggestion gave him pause. "I... no, I'm not allergic," he assured her. He supposed it was theoretically possible that he was allergic to some meats due to the fact that he didn't eat any of them but he didn't have allergies that he was aware of. "I've been vegetarian since I was six. It involved a rather traumatizing conversation over dinner that I've never really forgotten." He chuckled at the vague memory. He hadn't liked the idea of eating anything that was once as alive as he was and so vegetarian he had become.
Still, as an adult he was able to consider things without the sort of disgust that he'd possessed as a disturbed six year old staring at his plate and trying to overcome the fact that the chicken was formerly a clucking, egg-laying, breathing creature. Furrowing his brow in thought, he returned his gaze to the menu. "I suppose it couldn't hurt. We are in France, after all, it doesn't seem fair to shirk the experience." He remembered the trip to Spain and how he'd been unable to try a lot of the local classics. Food sampling added a lot to the travel experience—a literal taste of another culture. He nodded softly to himself as if confirming the decision. Now that nothing on the menu was forbidden to him (a strange but rather freeing feeling), he had a lot more things to ponder.
His gaze found the dish that his wife was referring to. "Choucroute garnie?" he said aloud, mostly so that she had the pronunciation for it. "Do you think that's what you'll get? I still haven't decided, myself..." There were plenty of choices but the fact that he was vegetarian meant that he hadn't tried or at least could not remember the taste of most meats. He knew chicken had been the meal of choice when he'd made the decision to switch his diet but he didn't know what it tasted like. "Confit de canard... duck, would that be any good?" It might have been silly to ask Nell seeing as everyone's taste buds were different but he wasn't sure who else to trust. "And I guess I'll have to try the escargot," he mused, chuckling. Snails. He wasn't sure how he felt about snail but it was a classic, he figured it couldn't hurt to suck it up and try it. "Maybe some French onion soup, too... I'm not used to having choices." Even the French onion soup was traditionally cooked with beef broth. He'd had a vegetarian version of it once at a restaurant and found it to his taste and so he found himself wondering whether the original would be more appealing.
I WISH YOU COULD SEE .YOU'RE THE ONLY GIRL I'VE EVER DREAMED OF ARE YOU SATISFIED?
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 31, 2012 0:34:28 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] i love paris in the rain Down in Paris they walk fast. That is unless they're walking slow. And in cafes they look away That is unless they look right in. And in the gardens I get lost That is unless I'm getting found. And if you are the ghost of New York City Then won't you stick around? Ne me quitte pas, mon cher, ne me quitte pas.
Nell felt the butterflies in her stomach when he used the French term of endearment. Even better to think of how she could call him merida now. And even though they'd recently gotten hitched, had known each other for three years, there was still things they kept learning about each other. And that was pretty impressive. She would have remembered had he told her that his parents decided to inform him of the once-living status of what he was dining on, and that's what made him avoid those kinds of foods. So she nodded in acceptance when he said that he wasn't allergic, which was reassuring. She knew it was possible to be allergic to a lot of different foods because of their ingredients (like being allergic to eggs making you allergic to everything from cake to most dinners) but it would really suck if one had a an allergy to meat in general. Nell couldn't imagine what Josh's parents might have said to him to turn him away from meat, though that was because of the different ways they'd grown up. Her family couldn't have afforded vegetarianism -- it was great when they could have meat since it was the most expensive food to buy. "Sorry for opening those old wounds," she said facetiously, considering she didn't think it was too bad now that he had the capacity to joke about it. Still, for him to swear off anything that had once had a face must have been intense.
Being that Josh didn't sound like he was at all adverse to the idea of trying one of the dishes that served meat, she also figured that she could sway him a little bit. Vegetarianism would always be weird to her, she believed, because to her all food needed to be enjoyed. Barring those that a person had an allergy to. But how did one tempt a vegetarian and pull him to the enlightened side of quiches and turkey dinners and shepherd's pie? He answered that for her when he said it couldn't hurt. Nell spread her arms, palms up, and said rather excitedly, "Great. Cause you know, when in Paris..." She supposed doing as the Parisians did meant drinking a lot of wine and surrendering to the Germans. She was good with the drinking wine part, but Nazis didn't sound as fun. "And you know, if you don't like it, then it will be just a little misstep in an otherwise great vacation." She didn't think that Josh not enjoying a meat dish he got would be enough to ruin the entire honeymoon for him. The possible scenario of him just giving up and deciding to go home early was an amusing thought, however. In any case, she really was glad he wanted to try it at least, considering that she knew in Spain he couldn't have eaten much considering sixty percent of it was seafood. At least ten percent was potatoes.
Josh spoke the French aloud for her and she pursed her lips contemplatively before nodding. "Yeah, let's go with that," she said when he asked if that's what she planned to order. He was her best bet for her pronunciation problems, so she would do her best to imitate for the server. "Since I'm an omnivore, I want to play roulette with all the menus and just take my chances." She had that luxury, knowing that pretty much everything she ate she would enjoy. As long as it was prepared well, of course, and she had no doubt in her taste buds. Her husband asked about duck, and she took a moment to think about it. "I like it. Kind of gamey, but a lot like chicken." Some people didn't like the gamey meats, but she didn't know if she could say anything for Josh yet. Escargot was definitely a step up from any vegetable dish, and it was interesting to think about trying. She figured it couldn't be much different from shrimp and other small animals. French onion soup was another good choice, and it was surreal realizing all the things he hadn't been able to eat before. That life was certainly not meant for her.
After they ordered and they were given our food -- which smelled great, as all French cuisine seemed to smell -- she waited eagerly for Josh to take a bite into his. Of course, not without tapping her hands on the table and chanting, "Do it and your cool, do it and your cool," as if he was being dared to chow down on a playground mud pie. It wasn't half as grotesque, though, but it was an adventure for him, considering how many years it had been since he'd last eaten anything that had been alive. Though, really, vegetables had once been a living organism so she supposed the better word would be animal. He wasn't a vegan, and veganism may have worried her even more because that seemed to have a lot more risk factors. It seemed like defying the course of nature to not give what the body needs. Meat substitutions worked, but it didn't mean she ever stopped being a mother hen. She was just happy to see that Josh was decided to take a leap into the world of meat.
tag: joshywa <3 notes: *dies from feels* outfit : clicketh.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 31, 2012 19:41:17 GMT -5
DARLING WILL YOU PLEASE TAKE A WALK WITH ME? .WE COULD COUNT THE STARS AND DISAPPEAR At six years old, the mere idea that his food had once lived and breathed just as he did had horrified him. Now, twenty-one and a grown, married man, Joshua was easily able to laugh at Nell's words and shake his head. "Ah, you can thank my parents for that." He assumed that Donovan and Patricia had not anticipated the reaction that their son had given. Though very intelligent and above the average reading level for his age, most of the books he had read thankfully avoided the delicate subject of butchering innocent animals for human consumption.
His wife seemed rather enthusiastic about his sense of adventure, a fact that brought a smile to his lips. Usually rare, he found that in Nell's presence it was much more difficult to stop smiling than to start. She made him happy. He hoped she knew. "Do as the Parasians do," he finished with a nod. It sounded like a plan to him, at least, even if there was a twinge of anxiety. Should he really be doing this? He had been a vegetarian for as long as he could remember and suddenly jumping ship (even for a short time) was definitely a step. Was it forward or backward? It doesn't matter. It can't hurt. With that simple thought, he shrugged off any concerns he may have had. He found the whole concept of activists a bit fruitless anyway. He could respect what they were doing in trying to promote vegetarianism and animal welfare but they would never eradicate carnivores completely. Animals would always be slaughtered, meat would always be a staple of many family dinner tables, so he didn't feel any sort of guilt as he locked in his decision to order. "It's definitely been great so far." He wasn't one to allow a botched meal to ruin his entire day—or in this case, his entire vacation. "I'm spending time in Paris with my beautiful wife, what could go wrong?" His tone was light and carried a joking air.
He considered her words for a moment. "Like a raccoon. Except you don't get stuck in people's walls or rummage through their trash cans." Raccoons were cute but they were a source of many a home-owners agitation. They had to keep locks on the bin lids outside in order to avoid the crafty little critters having a field day. He laughed and reminded her, "Well if I'd ever had chicken before..." He understood what she was getting at, though, and so his amusement was not accompanied by an eye-roll. Gamey. Huh. He figured it meant the meat tasted wilder, but what did that mean? He'd never had any regular meat to compare it against! If Nell likes it, I guess it can't hurt to try. There was some flaw in his logic, like the fact that Nell would eat almost anything for example, but he was confident enough to give it a shot. He placed his order in what he thought was decent French, guessing that the waiters might know English as well but deciding to spare them the trouble. It was always easier to converse in your native language.
He made idle conversation with Nell until the food arrived and then gave his plate a critical inspection. The smell coming off the meat caused a weird tug in his stomach due to the fact that it was not something he usually ate but it was not enough to deter him from tasting it. What did deter him was Nell, her chanting causing him to laugh. "Jesus, babe, do you want me to choke?" He was kidding, though, and after laughing it off he cut off a portion of the meat and stabbed a fork into it, sticking it into his mouth and hoping for the best. At first he was not sure what to expect—what did you expect when you hadn't a clue what something was going to taste like?—and he made a face as he chewed slowly and tried to figure it out. It was unlike anything he'd ever tasted, predictably, and he furrowed his brow after swallowing and tried to figure out how to describe it. He couldn't. "It's... not bad," he said in order to assure Nell that his uncertainty was not out of disgust. "Gamey, I guess." He chuckled. Well, at least now he had a taste to associate with the description? He took another bite, deciding that it was not half as awful as it could have been. "It's good," he concluded after another bite or two, then joked, "So did I pass your little initiation?" He took a swallow of coffee and popped one of the roasted potatoes that came with the dish into his mouth. Now that's what I call good. Potatoes were possibly his favourite of all foods. Still, the decent taste of the duck meant that he was a lot less intimidated by the thought of eating snail—no matter how gross they looked. He decided to try those afterwards, though, not wanting the tastes of all the different foods to interfere with one another. "How's yours?" He predicted that the answer would be positive, this was Nell, but he decided to ask to be sure.
I WISH YOU COULD SEE .YOU'RE THE ONLY GIRL I'VE EVER DREAMED OF ARE YOU SATISFIED?
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Nov 1, 2012 18:47:29 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] i love paris in the rain Down in Paris they walk fast. That is unless they're walking slow. And in cafes they look away That is unless they look right in. And in the gardens I get lost That is unless I'm getting found. And if you are the ghost of New York City Then won't you stick around? Ne me quitte pas, mon cher, ne me quitte pas.
Nell grinned when he said that it had been a good trip so far. It would have been odd had he not enjoyed the trip, because she couldn't imagine anyone going to France and not enjoying their time unless they lost their luggage, or had an encounter with some unfriendly Parisians, or ended up on the news as missing because they were kidnapped by a drug cartel. As none of those things has happened, she believed they were doing good on the honeymoon meter. Even if Josh did like to spend his time studying, even he needed a vacation sometimes. It was even better when he called her his wife, let alone beautiful. She didn't think it would get old any time soon. "Never say 'what could go wrong', because in movies that's when things go wrong. And I'm not going to be happy if we end up as those tourists who go missing." She figured it would be hard for a married couple to go missing, especially in a place like Paris. Maybe if she wandered off if they'd gone to Mexico or some place like that. "But as long as with my sexy husband." She winked, and tried to keep it from being creepy old man style, instead sexy style. Though she was pretty sure she couldn't pull off sexy, she got an A for effort.
Nell blinked when he compared her to a raccoon, trying to remember if she knew what one looked like and whether or not to be offended. Well, pretend to be offended. She understood by now that he wouldn't call her a pig or something. Though Winston was very adorable. "I don't know how to respond to that considering I've never seen one before," she acknowledged, "but thanks." She knew what they were and what they did, but in all her years she had never laid eyes upon one. Which she supposed was a good thing, considering the fact that she didn't want any late night encounters with any wild animals. "I guess that makes you a giraffe." She knew what those looked like though she had never actually seen one in real life, but they were tall herbivores and that suited Josh very well. Nell put up her hands in surrender. "I don't know what you did in the times before you were traumatized." He might have had some meat before whatever his parents did to him that turned it off. Maybe they tried to force feed him when he was stubbornly not eating? Now she was curious about that, though didn't want to push him. Because though she joked about it, he seemed to have been traumatized to some extent.
When he laughed she tilted her head down so she could eat her own food without being a distraction to poor Josh trying his first duck. Nell felt like she should take a picture, it was a pivotal life-changing moment. And she had to say, duck was a strange choice to start from, but she appreciated his daring behavior. It was thrilling, really. So she waited to hear what his opinion of his meal was, and looked back up when he said it wasn't bad. Gamey, and she had hoped that wouldn't be something that turned him off from meat forever since not everything tasted like duck. But then he said it was good, and she smiled. "Not bad, but good? That's a success." She nodded her head before appearing to be in thought for a moment. "I do think I'll have to consult with the other omnivores, though I'll think they'll agree that trying goose first is pretty gutsy. You pass in my books." She wondered now if it would be an easier feat to get him to try other meats. Thanksgiving was coming up, and she was thinking of making a turkey and trying to get Josh to have some. It would definitely be better than goose for him, she believed, though it wasn't one of the "fancier" meats.
He asked about her own meal, and of course she wasn't going to be lukewarm about food and explaining just how good it was. No, her eyes grew wide and she chirped, "It's great! Though that's to be expected. I mean, sauerkraut is more the Germans thing, but the French can take any food and make it good. That's my new belief." It would be the mantra in her head during this entire trip. They probably had their own spin on Spanish dishes, them being neighbors and all. It wouldn't be surprising for the countries to be exchanging recipes. After she finished off her meal and coffee, she leaned back in the chair and draped her hands over her stomach. "I suppose we should head toward the bar." She was actually looking forward to it because she liked wine and knew enough about it that she wouldn't just be drinking to drink at a tasting. Unzipping the purse she had hung on her chair, she took out the map and slid it over to Josh. "You're in charge of that," she said needlessly. It wouldn't be in their best interests to let her lead them through Paris streets in search of a wine bar.
tag: joshywa <3 notes: *dies from feels* outfit : clicketh.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Nov 3, 2012 15:47:12 GMT -5
DARLING WILL YOU PLEASE TAKE A WALK WITH ME? .WE COULD COUNT THE STARS AND DISAPPEAR Despite not being nearly as much of a cinephile as his wife, Joshua was genre savvy enough to understand some of the basics, like how going into creepy and dark basements when you hear a noise is never a good idea. "Great. Now if we end up in a river it's going to be all my fault, huh?" He was smiling as he said it and he took a sip of his coffee afterwards. He hadn't been much a fan of the stuff when he was a kid but he had definitely acquired a taste for it once he'd hit high school. He had to admit that the French knew what they were doing with their blend. "Hey, at least we were smart enough to tell people where we were going. That already puts us ahead of the idiots-in-movies game." Though he played it all for jokes, Joshua couldn't imagine how frightening it would be if you really did get kidnapped in a foreign country with the realisation that your family back home hadn't a clue where you'd gone. That was a good way to be shit out of luck. He couldn't hold back a grin when she called him sexy, liking the word choice. He was a fairly confident person and thought highly of himself but that didn't mean a compliment from his wife wasn't capable of making him feel pretty damn amazing.
It surprised him when she said that she'd never seen a raccoon before. It had made sense when he'd told her about fennec foxes and she'd been ignorant to their existence but a raccoon was much closer to home—right in the backyard sometimes!—and so this one took him a moment. It wasn't the first time she'd caught him off guard with something, though, and he recovered quickly from it. "They're cute," he assured her with a chuckle. "Annoying as hell, of course—not that I find you annoying!—but pretty adorable." He interrupted himself with laughter in his voice, trusting Nell to understand what he was insinuating. "Next time the staff warn me about raccoons around the garbage we should go out and investigate." He usually trusted that the locks on the bins would hold and that he had nothing to worry about but if Nell had never seen a raccoon then he figured it was time to change that. Pictures were never as good as the real thing. He instantly understood why she'd likened him to a giraffe but decided to play around a bit, rubbing at the sides of his neck and frowning as if he was concerned about something. "My neck is not that long, Nell, be nice." Dropping his hands back down, he shook his head. "I'm sure I ate meat but I can't remember the taste." It had been far too long for that. After a certain period of time, the taste of all foods started to fade from the memory. He could often remember if he liked something or not but the actual taste was harder to recall.
The mental image of a council of omnivores judging him for his meat-eating adventure was amusing enough to bring a smile to his lips, though he managed to keep any actual laughter at bay. "Is it? Huh." As he didn't eat any kind of meat, it hadn't mattered to Joshua which one he tried first. It was weird to consider that he liked the taste of something he'd sworn himself off of for his entire life but he easily shrugged it off. He was not the type of person that constantly doubted his own decisions. Confidence could be an asset in times like these. Nell was much more adept at talking about her meal than he had been and he wondered if she knew the origins of a lot of foods thanks to her interest in it. Though Joshua was highly intelligent, there were a lot of things he did not know. Still, sauerkraut sounded German and so it wasn't surprising. "I'm not the best judge but if they can make meat taste good... well, that's a pass in my book." He went on to eat the rest of the food that he'd ordered, making comments to Nell on the taste as he did so. He found the snail to taste more like butter and garlic than anything else, not that it was a bad thing, and he decided that he really liked the soup. Shame it was made with beef broth. It did, admittedly, taste a little (all right, a lot) better than the vegetarian version. I wonder what else I'm missing out on? Nell could probably write a book on all the excellent foods he needed to try.
After the adventure of trying all the different foods, Joshua was gladdened by the prospect of the wine tasting that they had planned to follow it with. He wasn't as schooled on wine as Nell probably was but he enjoyed the taste enough that the prospect was good. She slid the map over to him and put him in charge of locating the bar, something that didn't surprise him. He did not need to ask to understand that Nell's sense of direction wasn't as good as his own. He frowned at the map every now and then as he worked out where they were going, then looked up and gave a decisive nod. "All right, I think I got it." He did not know Paris very well and so there was one case of turning down the wrong street but he managed to find the way in relatively good time. "And we're here." There were going to be quite a few other people hanging around but the thought didn't bother Joshua as it once would have. He still wasn't the most social guy on the planet but he'd come to accept that not everyone was out to get him. It helped with things like this.
I WISH YOU COULD SEE .YOU'RE THE ONLY GIRL I'VE EVER DREAMED OF ARE YOU SATISFIED?
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Nov 3, 2012 17:08:51 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] i love paris in the rain Down in Paris they walk fast. That is unless they're walking slow. And in cafes they look away That is unless they look right in. And in the gardens I get lost That is unless I'm getting found. And if you are the ghost of New York City Then won't you stick around? Ne me quitte pas, mon cher, ne me quitte pas.
Nell nodded her head at his reply. Unfortunately, she was the kind of person who honestly believed that she could get herself out of those types of situations, but not because of the movies. Simply because she was an optimist. "Exactomundo." Hypothetically speaking, if something like that happened and it actually was his fault, she wouldn't blame him. She had a tendency to do that. But she had at least gotten better about shifting the blame onto herself. Though sometimes she just couldn't help the way her mind worked and how she viewed things, even if they were through a warped tunnel vision. In any case, she was thinking of several real life cases were couples have gone missing before. Like the couple that had gone scuba diving and went missing, never to be found. Sometimes reality was a lot worse than fiction. "Hey, you know if we do end up in a movie-type kidnapping, we can always MacGuyver our way out of it using some improbable plot device." Something in the vein of chewed gum, a rubber band, and a hair pin.
She didn't realize she had surprised her husband with her admittance to never having seen a raccoon before. Half of the time she didn't know that she surprised him in any way, because the world she lived in was one where she had about zero knowledge of half the animals around the world. She tilted her head, pursing her lips in consideration when he said they were cute. And annoying. But she laughed as he corrected himself. "All righty then, looks like the raccoon is my spirit animal. Because I'm trusting that you're right here, and that this thing doesn't look like Skeletor." 80's cartoon villains were always the creepiest. And the only cartoon villains she had knowledge of, other than Swiper the Fox. She tried not to worry about that too much. "Ooh, an animal that hangs around garbage. Your comparison is looking so much better now." She smiled quizzically, though honestly she didn't mind the resemblance to the raccoon they apparently had. Even though she did have limits with food, and those limits were garbage cans. Nell gave a crooked smile as she watched him rub at his neck as if to see just how long it is. Shaking her head, she took a sip of her coffee before she spoke. "I don't know, have you ever tried to eat leaves from a tree out back? I think you could do it." The unfortunate thing was that she had a very disturbing mental image of Josh with an extended neck eating from one of their trees and she shook her head to dispel it.
While she did not know much in the area of animals and popular television shows, she did excel when it came to food. Maybe it was in her blood, part-Italian and half-Spanish. Her father had made it a point to teach her a lot in the art of caring for herself, and that meant teaching her how to boil rice when most kids weren't allowed to even go near the stove. "I guess when the Germans occupied, they must have left the recipe here." The German occupation really was the reason that the French had the dish. Even though it procured the French version of something she liked, she didn't think that the invasion would ever be a good thing. She pointed a finger at Josh after he spoke, though it wasn't accusatory. "Meat does taste good, you are just misinformed and traumatized." Or a possible combination of both, but again, she didn't know enough of what had transpired to make a real guess at it. Either way, she was glad that he had stepped out of his comfort zone. She had always wondered if it was a personal thing against eating animals that had made him vegetarian, but seeing as it wasn't he had a chance to try other foods.
As she had been excited about eating food, she was just as excited about wine tasting. Though it wasn't too wise, considering she was a lightweight. She just liked to believe she was a heavyweight, and that maybe she was desensitized when it came to wine. Trusting Josh's directional instinct more than her own, she simply walked with him and looked around at the sights, free from the burden of having to stare at a map. She grinned when he said they were there, immediately going in and paying the woman behind the bar. She looked to her side and saw a lit balcony with people lingering, the tables set up with different kinds of wine. "Ooh, fancy schmancy," she said under her breath. She figured they could first go around the tables inside before heading out to the balcony. One of the ones she spotted was Alsace, a white wine and she figured that it would be best to start off there. Pouring one glass for herself and Josh, she told him, "Now let's pretend we're sophisticated intellectuals and make intense faces at the glasses." She picked it up and swirled it around while narrowing her eyes, as if the wine had done her wrong before sipping it. "Tastes like the vacation home I had in Prague as a young child," she said with an pompous voice. "You?" Nell blinked at her husband, her expression as blase as someone who had come here millions of times before.
tag: joshywa <3 notes: *dies from feels* outfit : clicketh.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Nov 3, 2012 23:55:41 GMT -5
DARLING WILL YOU PLEASE TAKE A WALK WITH ME? .WE COULD COUNT THE STARS AND DISAPPEAR Much more of a realist than either an optimist or pessimist, Joshua didn't have high hopes about their hypothetical kidnapping. He was confident in himself but not enough to believe that he had high chances of escaping from someone that was armed and dangerous. Then again, we're armed too. A smirk touched his lips as he was reminded of their elemental powers. They had more on their side than most realised, though the fact that the government might take interest if the kidnappers reported being set aflame or wrapped with vines was enough to remind him of the risks. He was glad that this was all in theory anyway. He didn't like the idea of being kidnapped—who would? There were services that allowed you to pay for the kidnapping of yourself or your loved ones and he just did not see why anyone would want that experience. "Or I'll just burn the place to the ground," he said, chuckling as he spoke out on his earlier thoughts. "But MacGyvering it does sound more fun." Because fun was totally what they should focus on for their not-kidnapping invented experience, right? Totally.
He had acknowledged upon getting into a relationship with her that his then-girlfriend did not know everything that most people did about the world and all its inhabitants. It endeared him to her, really, he found it more adorable than exasperating most days. Then again, he found everything about Nell adorable and he was admittedly quite biased on the subject. It was hard to believe that the bistro in Paris had once been a table in Tim Hortons where they discussed Josh's experiences with streaking and Nell's interest in the trapeze. We've really come a long way, huh? "Spirit animal indeed. Mostly because they will eat anything. Seriously." He shook his head. He always joked that Nell was like a trash compactor but at least she didn't get her meals by rummaging through the actual trash. That was more than a little gross to think about. Nell pointed out the trash thing and he ducked his head. "Hey, you compared me to a freaking giraffe," he shot back, though he was smiling. "What do you want from me, woman?" This, right here, this laughing and joking was one of his favourite parts of their relationship. He loved how comfortable he felt around her and how easy it was to simply trust Nell to understand him. There was no need to stumble over his words apologising for the comparison to a trash-rooting menace because she wasn't getting angry at him about it. "Next time I want to guest star in a horror film I'll be sure to do that." Seriously, the mental image of having a super long neck like that was freaky stuff.
Joshua nodded a non-verbal agreement, mouth full of soup so that he was unable to give any comment on the matter. Not that there was much else to be said. He had to laugh when Nell corrected him. "All right, babe, I'll give you that one," he said fairly, smiling. His face hurt from all of the grinning and laughing he was doing but it was a good kind of pain. Being in France with his wife definitely beat sitting at home and cramming for exams. He might not have minded school but there was a difference between being tolerant of something and preferring it over other things. "Though I'm still not sure how I feel about the snail. Escargot, sorry." He correct himself with a twitch of his lips. "Didn't taste like much of anything but I kept picturing slime trails." He shook his head. That wasn't the best mental image to adopt when you were eating something. Thankfully his iron stomach had helped him to remain thoroughly undisturbed by this. He'd ate them all, that was something.
He never really felt out of his element around people who thought themselves sophisticated, though this was most likely due to being raised with rich parents that spent their time at fancy parties and country clubs. He did look down on those who looked down their noses at others, though, and so he was slightly wary of their companions for the evening. He chuckled, catching her comment. "Hopefully they won't catch on to the fact that we don't belong here." His tone was light and had the air of a joke about it, though he was still curious about the sorts of people participating in the tasting. Most of 'em are probably fine. Just because some people had a sense of superiority didn't mean they all would. He accepted the glass that Nell handed him and decided to play along with her because why not? He honestly didn't give a shit what random strangers thought of him. Lifting his chin as if he thought that he was somehow above the quality of the place, he gave the wine a sniff as if that would affect anything before sipping at it. "Like a summer evening on the back porch of the mansion," he said, maintaining a careful poker face. "I've had better, of course, but what can you do..." It was pretty good, actually, he was just making a point of being a snob. It was fun.
I WISH YOU COULD SEE .YOU'RE THE ONLY GIRL I'VE EVER DREAMED OF ARE YOU SATISFIED?
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Nov 4, 2012 22:05:28 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] i love paris in the rain Down in Paris they walk fast. That is unless they're walking slow. And in cafes they look away That is unless they look right in. And in the gardens I get lost That is unless I'm getting found. And if you are the ghost of New York City Then won't you stick around? Ne me quitte pas, mon cher, ne me quitte pas.
Her husband was piquing her interest in these animals, being as all she knew was that they ate trash and were apparently adorable. Like her. It really was nice that he thought she was adorable, it gave her the usual warmness in her gut whenever she earned a compliment from him. Even if it was a comparison to a trash-eating animal. Josh countered her own comparison of him to a giraffe. She was quick to defend the animals. After all, she would only call her husband by the best of the best in the animal world. If there was an animal that studied all day and forgot to eat, she would have called him that. "Giraffes are the coolest things. Did you know that they can eat over seventy pounds of food a day? I read that in a book once." Which meant that he probably knew about it. Unfortunately, the books she had read left out raccoons -- apparently they're not too well respected in the animal community. The ones she did know about where examples from biology textbooks, elephants and snakes and zebras and wildlife found far away from where she lived. She sighed resignedly. "But I'm sorry I hurt your feelings," she said before turning her head away, as if not wanting to give this apology. If she had actually hurt his feelings, she would have been much more emphatic and passionate about her apology, that was for sure. She tilted her head when he commented on that being the stuff of horror cinema, and gave it a moment to consider the possibilities. "You know, giraffes have the same vertebrae as humans. So what if you totally just did a transplant and grafted skin...okay no, never mind there's a lot of reasons that wouldn't work. Let's just leave it to the horror movies." She quickly finished that off, pursing her lips in frustration with her realization. First of all, it would be in the vein of The Human Centipede, and no one wanted that. For another, giraffes had huge bodies and organs to keep from passing out with their long necks.
Nell didn't often get the chance to feel strains of pride in her life, save for she won some sort of game and that was when she shook hands with the other person and complimented them on how well they did. Though it wasn't totally deserved, she did feel pride that she had gotten him to try something knew and out of his usual realm of food. Veggies were good, of course they were, but what made them better was a main dish of meat. Josh noted that he didn't know exactly how he felt about his escargot and she supposed that was understandable. She didn't know how she would feel about anything that left its DNA in a slick trail where it went. "Hey, do you mind if I try some?" she questioned. She at least knew about them, considering she was always transplanting them out of her maze. "These little guys are always sabotaging my garden. Maybe I can get some passive aggressive revenge." She knew it was better to ask, rather than stabbing a fork in someone else's food and risk having them slap you across the face. Food theft was not something most considered to be an okay thing to do, even if you were a couple. She only reached a fork over to her father's plate sometimes, just so she could be rewarded with a blank stare that she imagined meant she had ruined everything for him.
Nell tapped a finger against her lips in the universal sign of "shh" when Josh spoke of blending in with the crowd. No one will ever know they're actually a wealthy married couple from Canada. It took a moment to realize that Josh ran in the kind of circles that spoke very highly of their summer homes in Prague, or of their Swiss Bank accounts. This fact was easy to forget considering he didn't act like that type of person. It would have made him even more intimidating to her when they met, as if the lack of smiling and friendliness wasn't enough. In any case, neither of them acted like the kind of people who felt the need to brag about their mansion to anyone they met. She imagined that some rich people felt the need to slip it into conversation whenever they could. "Hello, my name is Donald Trump, have I told you about my estate?" She nodded her agreement when Josh played along, and it was at that point she found it difficult to keep a placid expression. "It's very sweet," she said, and it was, yet not as bad as her 20's socialite tone of voice suggested. It was rare to find a sweet white wine, so it must have been noveau. "I prefer a smokey flavor." She couldn't help snorting then before she was actually giggling, which she predicted would only get worse throughout the night. They would have fit in better if they'd been talking in French, but Nell didn't want to trip over her words every time she spoke to her husband. Even if it meant labeling herself as a tourist, so be it. It wasn't like she wouldn't speak in the language with natives she saw.
So it didn't take long for her to start mingling with the other people who had come, standing around the tables discussing their opinions on wine, prior wine tastings. She tried her best to keep up with the conversation, though she notably spoke a lot less than she would have been speaking were she conversing in English or Spanish. She could easily ask the easy questions, names and where they were from and why they were there. And she could also discuss the actual wine and the flavor, though that took a little more effort. However, she didn't predict any major mishaps when the couple had stricken up conversation with an older Parisian man on the balcony. It was obvious that the amount of wine she had been drinking was beginning to take effect with how red her cheeks were, but she managed it well. As the conversation turned to how the wine was made, she decided to make her opinions known. "Je n'ai pas vraiment préservatifs." I don't really like preservatives. That's what she had wanted to say, and therefore she was confused when the man simply blinked and walked away. Nell didn't try to stop him, but it was pretty odd. Maybe he was an eccentric old man? She turned to her husband and said, "He must not have liked the wine." She lifted the glass she held, still half full, and swirled it around. She was enjoying it, though she figured by this point she'd be enjoying anything.
tag: joshywa <3 notes: *dies from feels* outfit : clicketh.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Nov 6, 2012 2:06:25 GMT -5
DARLING WILL YOU PLEASE TAKE A WALK WITH ME? .WE COULD COUNT THE STARS AND DISAPPEAR Apparently Nell knew a lot more about giraffes than she did about raccoons and he listened with interest and raised eyebrows as she told him about their eating habits, barring their vegetarian diet so similar to his own. "Wait, wait," he said, setting down his cup of coffee to lift a hand in a 'stop' gesture. Hiding a smirk, he said in a serious tone, "You've got this all wrong. You are clearly the giraffe in this family." He was, of course, making a joke about how giraffes ate a ton and Nell could eat more food than most of the people he knew. It was impressive given her height and it was something that had always baffled him. He accepted it, though, much like he accepted all of her other little habits and traits. Of them all, it certainly wasn't the weirdest. "But no, I didn't know that." He knew many things but the daily food consumption of giraffes had never come up in his life before. Knowledge was power, though, so he saw no harm in gaining more of it. "An apology," he said in a disdainful tone. "How Canadian of you." It was easy to avoid laughter, even as he picked up his coffee for another sip. He didn't think he'd ever done a spit-take before, actually. It was probably a good thing that he also wasn't easily disturbed, for Nell's words might have horrified him otherwise. That was the point, he guessed, horror movies and all. "The Human Giraffe isn't as catchy, though," he said, as if this argument was the most important thing wrong with the idea. "Besides, giraffe print is probably out of season. Can't have my pals at the country club judging me." He actually didn't care about fitting in with the other rich folks and socialites that frequented those circles. He did his own thing. If they accepted him, fine. If they didn't, he considered it their problem. He'd married a woman from The Bronx, after all, he didn't really care for their types.
Given that Nell was his wife, Joshua certainly didn't have a problem with sharing his food. She could have stolen half the plate and he wouldn't have batted a lash, simply ordering more if he was all that hungry. Then again, Nell was not such an impolite person and he appreciated the courtesy even if it wasn't required. "Oh, sure, go ahead," he said easily, nudging the plate closer to the center of the table so they could both access it freely. "So how do they taste to you?" he wondered. His lip twitched as he added, "Like revenge? Probably a little less sweet." He didn't know if snail was something that he would ever order again if he had the chance. Not because it was horrible but simply because there was a much wider array of food from which he could choose. The duck was definitely better, though the vegetarian in him suggested that the French onion soup was the best. Meat, like everything else, would be more of an acquired taste. That was if he decided to ever branch out again after this. France was a special occasion, this was something that he usually would not do. Did Nell realise how much of an affect she had on him, how much she could potentially convince him to do? He was lucky she was a good person, that she was convincing him to try meat instead of murder.
What would have become of the pair if he'd been another rich and upper-class snob who looked down on all those with less money than his family's own? He guessed that they certainly wouldn't be standing together with rings on their fingers and wine glasses in their hands, pretending to be much more disdainful than either of them actually were. Whatever the case, he was glad things had turned out the way they did. "A bit," he agreed, though he didn't know wine as well as his wife. Whiskey was more his area of expertise. It tempted him to drink more than was probably safe and it was a good thing he knew his limits. Not that he was abiding by such limits tonight, however, especially not at a wine-tasting. It was more like wine-drinking, like a good excuse to sample from all the bottles without committing to any of them. Nell was apparently feeling the effects before he was but he did not bother to stop, didn't think about how it was probably best that he stayed sober and made sure they were all right. He was not as far-gone as she but the fact that he did not stop drinking was a sure sign that he was going to get worse instead of better.
Though he was not one for strangers, Joshua had no issues with chatting to the man on the balcony. It was a good excuse to practice his French and he felt that he was keeping up nicely, using Parasian French to avoid the judgement against the more Canadianized version of the language. He was proud of Nell, too, and how she was holding up (though as her husband he certainly noticed she was quieter than usual)... until her little slip of the tongue seemed to offend their conversational partner. For a man who spent a lot of time suppressing laughter, it suddenly became very hard to maintain his composure so as to avoid embarrassing his wife. Laughing at her in front of the other people wouldn't be good manners, now would it? He didn't think so. He wanted to inform her of her mistake immediately but it took a moment or two for him to be confident in his triumph over the giggle-fit. Lips pressed together and eyes bright, he took a careful breath and replied, "Ah, Nell..." Nope, nope, he was struggling with the laughter again. He swallowed it down with a careful sip of wine and tried again. "I think the word you're looking for is agents conservateurs, Nell. Preservatives, right?" His lips were fused firmly to keep out the chuckles that threatened to bubble to the surface. Be nice to your wife, he scolded himself. Wife. He still couldn't get over the word. "Preservatifs... ahh, il signifie condoms, Nell. Il était offensé parce que tu dit tu n'aimes pas preservatifs." At least he had managed not to bust at the seams laughing at her? He tried to keep his explanation as kind as possible, hiding a smile and hoping she wasn't too mortified by her first negative tourist experience in France. At least the food was good?
I WISH YOU COULD SEE .YOU'RE THE ONLY GIRL I'VE EVER DREAMED OF ARE YOU SATISFIED?
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Nov 7, 2012 2:22:43 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] i love paris in the rain Down in Paris they walk fast. That is unless they're walking slow. And in cafes they look away That is unless they look right in. And in the gardens I get lost That is unless I'm getting found. And if you are the ghost of New York City Then won't you stick around? Ne me quitte pas, mon cher, ne me quitte pas.
Nell shouldn't have felt very sentimental over a simple sentence, but the phrase in this family got to her. She had always wanted one, a real one. She considered all her friends a part of her family, but there had always been that secret desire to belong somewhere. And now that she'd married Josh, she felt that sense of family. It made the idea of having children with them, their own family, much more viable. "I think the real issue at hand is that you think I'm an animal," she said. Were she a different kind of woman, this could have turned into an argument but she knew Josh well enough by now to know that he didn't really think she resembled a gangly giraffe. Nell supposed she was comparable to any animal that could eat twice its weight in food. Rather than getting offended or arguing, she felt very gleeful about having information that her husband didn't. She liked teaching him things. Like the glory of meat products.
She pouted when he expressed disdain over her Canadian apology. Even when joking, it seemed to be in her nature to apologize too much. "I'm sorry I'm not more of a New Yorker." To be fair, she didn't have the chance to become like a true New Yorker. Then she realized she had apologized again and said, "I don't understand why my naturalization needs to be for another year when I clearly am a full-blooded Canadian." And she felt like a Canadian after living in the country for so long. It was her home now, and sometimes she forgot she wasn't legally considered nationalized yet. Josh seemed to think that her idea wouldn't be very good considering the Human Giraffe didn't sound too good. "Sounds like a superhero," she observed. She'd prefer to think of that than The Human Centipede. She was pretty sure that movie scarred her. Then Josh mentioned giraffe not being in and she wrinkled her nose. "I think this has taken a turn for the morbid." She had the image of someone wearing a giraffe pelt to a country club and she didn't know what to do with that.
Nell was glad that Josh was being liberal with his food, though it didn't seem that he enjoyed the escargot too much. It made her a little worry, but she was ready to try anything. Of course, she wasn't being as adventurous as her husband who had tried meat for the first time. She took one and inspected it as if she would take her time and enjoy the moment she got her vengeance on them, meanwhile not thinking how they're the little slimy buggers crawling around her garden like they own the place. With his question, she thought on it for a moment. "It's...weird. Acquired taste?" Nell supposed it was something she wasn't used to. She didn't think she'd even tried anything like snail before. "I guess it's how meat tastes to you, huh?" But she actually really liked it the more it settled and she took another one. It might have been unsurprising, but she wasn't really aware of what other people thought about her diet. Josh made his opinions known when he compared her to a raccoon. That certainly said something about what others thought of the fact that she had what was comparable to an iron stomach.
An iron stomach that could handle liquor, as well. That was one of the benefits for her drinking, when she was so small. She could keep up conversation for a while and it would make sense because she would be working through her swimming thoughts like a pro. Unfortunately, she had also been speaking in a language that she never had a reason to use in excess before coming to Paris. It hadn't bee the wisest combination, lots of drinking and speaking in a fairly new language. But she had thought she was doing good, even after the man left their table. It wasn't until she looked at Josh and noticed that he seemed to be fighting something off that she felt a little bit suspicious. It looked like he was going to smile but didn't want to. She didn't know what of, but it was there. He told her the french words for what she wanted -- preservative. And she side-eyed him. "Wait..." she said, and her slow cognitive functions proved just how bad off she was. "What did I say?" She really didn't think it was anything too bad, or the reason the man had walked off. Nell kept looking at her husband suspiciously, sure that it couldn't have been anything too terrible. If it had a similar sound to the English word, then it had to be something close in French, right?
Wrong. It took a few moments for her to sort through the French, but she knew the English word that certainly stuck out. As if her face wasn't red enough, a heavy blush crept over her cheeks. Her eyes grew wide in her head. "No," she whispered. What she meant to say was that she didn't really like preservatives, what she ended up saying was I don't really like condoms. The man had every reason to walk away from the married woman with her husband who felt the need to voice her dislike of rubbers. She quickly swiveled and reached out an arm as if she could catch him, yelling, "I didn't mean to say condoms!" Her voice carried well across the balcony and there was a drop in voices before people picked their conversation back up. In that moment she realized that she was a little more drunk than she first thought. The man had disappeared, and it shouldn't have mattered to her but she was going to be remembered as that tourist in his mind. She would never see him again, but it did mean something to her because she would like to be thought of that nice lady who did not even mention the word condoms. She slid behind Josh, gripping the wine glass in both hands. "Maybe if I hide no one will know it was me," she said under her breath, taking another sip of her wine. Maybe if she got drunker she would be able to forget about this and the man who she had probably scarred for life.
tag: joshywa <3 notes: *dies from feels* outfit : clicketh.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Nov 7, 2012 8:26:56 GMT -5
DARLING WILL YOU PLEASE TAKE A WALK WITH ME? .WE COULD COUNT THE STARS AND DISAPPEAR Calling your wife an animal wasn't usually the best idea if you didn't want to be put in the doghouse for the night but Joshua was confident he could get away with it given the circumstances. "You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals," he said lightly, waving a hand with a sip of coffee. He prided himself on how easily he kept the laughter at bay despite singing the song in his head as he spoke. The conversation had slowly dissolved from sensible chit-chat into insanity and that was perfectly all right with him. He and Nell had proved time and time again that they were capable of rolling with each others punches.
He realised right away when she apologised for apologising, at least technically, and he had to laugh at that, setting the cup of coffee down so that he didn't pitch forward and spill it on his hand. Fire might not have been able to burn him but boiling hot liquid would do a number on his hand. He could heal it but he preferred to avoid injuries altogether. "I'm more of a New Yorker than you are. Perhaps we were swapped at birth." And he thought of it in the context of a joke rather than applying their murky pasts to the situation for they were on vacation and he was happy and the darkness that often clouded his thoughts could not reach him here. He felt content, he felt safe. "What." It wasn't phrased as a question but now he was imagining a caped giraffe. "What powers would the poor fucker be stuck with?" He didn't know all that much about super heroes and so he couldn't think of any good ones off the top of his head. He'd be able to reach things on the top shelf of the grocery store, a woe of many a short person. Joshua had never had that problem himself but he imagined his wife had different stories. "Halloween is coming up, we have an excuse." Maybe they'd been watching too many horror films. Though he wasn't much of a movie-goer he allowed exceptions around the holidays when everyone seemed intent on movie marathons and the like. He didn't like to be a party pooper.
Weird. That kind of summed up the snails, if he were honest. Weird with a side of chewy. "Definitely," he agreed as he popped another one into his mouth. Not bad and not particularly good. Edible but strange. He honestly wondered where a lot of food originated from. Who had first seen a snail sliming its way across the lawn and thought, 'Hey, that looks tasty?' He wondered at the sanity of some of these people, including the ones who'd first thought of eating any animal's innards. "Sort of. It's... different, that's for sure." Hard to describe because he'd never tasted anything like it before, at least not that he could remember. He wondered if he would eventually go on to actually acquire a taste for meat. Joshua supposed it all depended on what the other kinds tasted like.
Hard as he tried to hide his amusement from her to help his wife save face, the strain in Joshua's expression must have given him away. Or was it in his eyes that she'd detected it, or simply the way that he hadn't agreed with her about the wine? Whatever the case, Nell caught on and Joshua was forced to collect himself enough to explain what was going on. It was hard and involved more self control than even he was used to but he eventually managed an explanation that wasn't interrupted by loud bursts of laughter and rib-clutching. He caught her blush and knew from her horrified expression after several moments that she had worked out what he'd said. He probably should have explained in English so that she would have understood quicker but the alcohol he'd consumed was affecting his thought process. It was making too much sense to him to speak French right now and so speak it he did. He started in surprise when Nell called after the guest who she had offended and even someone as confident as Joshua felt rather uneasy with all the eyes suddenly upon them. This is turning out well, he thought, though he felt worse for his wife than he did for himself. He wasn't the one who'd just informed a total stranger that he wasn't particularly fond of condoms. Pro-choice and all that?
He turned his head, gaze following her as she slid behind him to escape the critical stares of their fellow wine-tasters. It was like he could feel the judgement in the air, like they'd just wandered into the Thunder dormitory at the Academy. In his drunken state he found himself wondering if any of the people in the room were elementals and how many elementals are there in France, anyway? He had to remind himself that they were far away from home where their kind were more common and the idea that they were in a room full of people who might treat them like freaks if they knew somehow didn't make the situation any better. He was pretty far gone himself by this point and he felt warm, though he was not sure whether this was the fault of alcohol or embarrassment. "Should we head out?" The night was drawing to a close and though they could have stayed there a bit longer he had a feeling that Nell would be more than happy to leave the place. Hopefully they wouldn't bump into any of these people in the city when they were a little more sober. He'd prefer not to run into them again. "We could go back to the hotel or... or something." He hadn't planned that far ahead yet. Right now getting out just seemed like a swell idea.
I WISH YOU COULD SEE .YOU'RE THE ONLY GIRL I'VE EVER DREAMED OF ARE YOU SATISFIED?
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Nov 8, 2012 0:42:15 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] i love paris in the rain Down in Paris they walk fast. That is unless they're walking slow. And in cafes they look away That is unless they look right in. And in the gardens I get lost That is unless I'm getting found. And if you are the ghost of New York City Then won't you stick around? Ne me quitte pas, mon cher, ne me quitte pas.
When she recognized what he said, she bit her tongue for a few moments, trying to resist the urge that anyone must have felt whenever faced with such an opportunity. Eventually, she couldn't take it and decided to say nonchalantly, "So let's do it like they do on the Discover Channel." Realized just how bad the actual lyrics were, she took a moment to look around. "I really hope that that's a popular song here." But she was rather nonplussed so she didn't worry too much -- not like she had screamed it out to the world. The worst embarrassment had yet to come.
She shook her head when he put down his coffee and laughed, trying her best to look offended as she pulled a frown. Of course, Nell did not like to think of her husband as an asshole or the general New York City stereotypes because she didn't have that image of Josh. Okay, so he did have a bad temper and wasn't the friendliest of people. If that didn't make him a New Yorker, she didn't know what did. Developing a taste for boiled goose might help. "You know, I could believe that. Maybe a roving hoard of moose kidnapped you from the hospital in New York and dropped you off." She didn't even think that moose could fit into a hospital and that was a terrifying thought. But there had to be a reason that someone so suited for the big city being in Canada. Josh posed a very good question about the powers of a giraffe. "Well...it'd...it'd be able to..." she held her hand up like she was about to say it would be able to fly before picking up her coffee. "It could do things." What would a Human Giraffe do? To her, it didn't sound like the funnest superhero to be. Sounded pretty awkward, actually. The only animal superhero she could think of was Underdog. "Oh! Okay. He could talk like a person." She said it if not just to show that she could come up with a power for this thing that could not even exist, realistically speaking. Nell was big into superheros, it was easy to think something up.
It was really a good thing that Josh decided to try his best to keep from laughing, considering that Nell didn't know what to do with herself and it would have been worse had her husband started laughing at her misfortune. She wished that when she got drunk she didn't care about what others' thought about the things she did and say, but she could still be incredibly embarrassed. Like when she felt the heat of what must have been dozens of eyes. Only then did she think about what she would have told the gentleman, how she could have possibly made this better. I'm sorry, I actually really like condoms, they're awesome. In this state she didn't realize her best bet was to inform him that she had meant preservatives instead. Now it was simply too late, and she was hoping that she could disappear. Josh made a very good suggestion, though, and she finished off her glass. "Sounds like a plan, mi amor," she said as she placed the glass on the table and began pulling him by the arm out of the bar. "Au revoir, addio, adios!" She was yelling out to no one in particular, just being a rowdy drunk lady who was trying to forget about her unintentional Freudian slip. Did that even count? She had been pretty sure that préservatifs meant preservatives. It made perfect sense! She kept going over it in her head, repeatedly, her mistake and the guy walking away and her husband looking like he was about to burst. At the same time she was wondering if it were physically possible for her to melt into a puddle because right about then, that would be completely okay.
Once out on the darkened Parisian streets, she let go of Josh and looked around, scratching her head. Even at night, the city was beautiful, lit up by the lamps and with a few people lingering around, heading home for a day. Despite her mistake, for a moment she felt like she fit right in. "Should we...we go somewhere? Just like go? Where should we go?" She questioned, her voice very serious. Nell didn't know if she wanted to return to the hotel yet or not, she was uncertain of what she really wanted to do. Except what she usually enjoyed doing when heavily intoxicated, and cuddled with Josh. She wrapped her arms around his middle, as if trying to be as much of a nuisance as possible, and thought about how she would love to bake something right about then. "We should get brownie ingredients," she said conspiratorially. That would definitely cheer her up and help her forget about the fact that she had even said the word condom in polite company. Brownies fixed every problem, or at least that's what she had learned whenever she was completely smashed. "Where can we find brownie stuff? Do you have the map?" At least she had enough sense at this point to know a map would help them. Or at least him. He would be in charge of the map, while she would continue to cling to him so as not to lose her balance. She had probably drunk more wine than she'd ever had in her life combined.
tag: joshywa <3 notes: *dies from feels* outfit : clicketh.
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