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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 4, 2011 19:41:53 GMT -5
Nell wished that a new year and going into college would fix her. That everything would change on its own, fix itself and make it right again by some cosmic power that she didn’t know about. It didn’t happen. And her moods were as somber as ever, and they seemingly rubbed off on Gwen. Just like its owner, the car just wanted to sleep. She popped the hood to discover that the engine block was frozen. It seemed that her cars never did good in the cold. After getting it towed to the shop, she asked Josh if he could give her a ride to work. She as hoping once she got to Blackjack, she could just focus on the people and getting them drinks and the mindlessness of her work. Work helped sometimes when she didn’t want to feel bad or didn’t want to think. Bartending came easy to her, it was something that over the last year of doing, she’d become rather good at. She was fast, and friendly, and she knew more about alcoholic beverages than anyone would ever need to. There was some pride in that, but not much, because that was something she could only use in one profession. After being dropped off, she walked around the side and headed in through storage. She’d expected to get right work as she walked behind the bar, but she saw one of her bosses, Mark, fussing with one of the beer taps. When he spotted her, he nodded and something told her that he was a little…off.
“Nell, can I see you in the back?” She looked up from tying the apron around her waist and smiled when she replied, ”Yeah, sure.” In the back were a few offices, their doors halfway open or otherwise shut completely. She knew without even looking in that they belonged to the higher-ups, several of her bosses. But only one wanted to talk to her, and she felt the nervousness eat at her stomach. She had never been called back there, she only went on her own accord if she ever did. Mark’s door was halfway open, and she tapped on it, disturbing it a little. ”Come in, Nell.” She was half-hoping that someone else would be in here, sitting in one of the chairs so that it turned out it was an issue with the bar itself and not her. She had no such luck. Nell sat down without instruction to do so, and Mark cast her a smile before starting in, apparently busy with something else, seeing as he wouldn’t turn around from the shelf behind his desk. ”How old are you, Nell?”
She blinked, surprised at the question, and answered, ”Nineteen. Why?” It felt very much like an interrogation now, but she tried not to let her anxiety show. He wouldn’t be asking this question for no reason, after all. ”Well, Eva has given me reason to believe that’s not true.” She recognized the name of the cocktail waitress she’d become friends with ever since getting hired. Nell hadn’t spoken to the girl lately, but apparently Eva spoke to Mark. ”How so?” she asked. Don’t act suspicious, you don’t have anything to hide. But she did, and she had a feeling that Mark understood that. ”She told me about a trial a few weeks back?” He lifted his eyebrow, but she didn’t respond. ”Apparently you were a fugitive. And your real name is Nell Sinclair Fuentes.” He finally turned completely around and she saw that he had her W-4 forms in his hand. ”Nell Sinclair Fuentes turns out to be eighteen-years-old.” She knew that she should be answering now, give some sort of explanation or excuse. But she had none. She didn’t have anything. ”I’m sorry,” was all she could come up with, her fingers in her hair as she looked anywhere but the man’s face. Still, she could see the falsely sympathetic look on his face, as if to tell her that he was just doing the right thing. What he was supposed to do. ”You understand that I’m going to have to let you go,” he said matter-of-factly.
Nell heaved a sigh, closed her eyes. Yeah. She understood that. She always understood that this shit would catch up to her. ”Yeah, I know.” Her voice was resigned. When she stood up, Mark shook hands with her as if he hadn’t just fired her. As if everything was just fine and dandy for her and this was just a minor occurrence in her day, like eating breakfast, or watching television. She left the offices, past the bar, and stepped outside, huddling into her jacket. The cold numbed her thoughts for a moment, helping her focus on something other than the fact that she was out of a job and she didn’t know what to do. What she wanted to do. I want to sleep, she thought like a child who’d just gotten in trouble. And she suppose she had gotten in trouble. It could have been worse, right? Even as she thought it, she didn’t know how. She didn’t know what could happen to make it worse, but she knew if she thought the words or spoke them aloud, she’d just be tempting fate. That’s what the movies taught her, anyway. Nell shifted from foot to foot, trying to warm up and attempting to figure everything out. But she couldn’t. Not today. Not the next day, or any time soon, it seemed. Sighing, her breath coming out in a puff of smoke, Nell took her phone from her pocket and called Josh. ”Can you come pick me back up? I’m not going into work today.” Or ever. She didn’t add that part on. She felt bad enough for asking him to come back and take her home.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Dec 5, 2011 7:57:05 GMT -5
Josh had no qualms about dropping Nell off at work—even if she didn't like to ask him for things, he didn't mind helping her out in any way that he could. He bade her farewell with a smile and a brief kiss. "I'll see you later," he said, pulling away from the bar and back onto the quiet streets. He had things that he had to be doing today and so it was even less of a hassle to drop his girlfriend off at work on the way. Crazy as it sounded, he almost envied her the benefits of a paying job. One might not have assumed that a spoiled rich kid would ever want to work a day in their life but he'd always enjoyed the feel of having something to occupy himself. He didn't have any volunteer hours at the hospital today and so his 'errand running' was mostly just picking up stuff for school and grocery shopping. He didn't expect Nell to understand his diet and stock her fridge for his benefit so he was pretty self-sufficient on that front. He drove at a fairly relaxed pace and pulled to a stop in front of a red light, humming the tune of a song that came onto the radio. Feels like it'll be a pretty good day, he mused to himself, tapping his fingers on the wheel as he waited for the light to change green. It was the residential side of a busy intersection and so the light changes always seemed few and far between. Normally it might have frustrated him but this morning he was strangely complacent toward everything.
He heard his phone ring just as he was turning the corner, the familiar ringtone surprising him. Did she forget something in the car? He always made sure to answer the phone to Nell as soon as he could no matter what he was doing, just in case it was serious, so he pulled off into an empty lot in front of a boarded up pizza place and picked it up. He blinked as she spoke, not entirely sure what to make of it. It was quite unlike Nell to just decide that she wasn't going to work—or anywhere else, for that matter. He remembered how stir crazy she'd gotten during her time of illness when she'd not been allowed to leave her house for fear of infecting the population or worsening her sickness so he couldn't fathom why she would want to skip out on work. Nevertheless, he replied, "Sure thing, I'll be there as soon as I can." He'd made quite the progress on his little trip and was almost at the store he'd been aiming for but he decided to head back immediately. What if she was sick? He couldn't really decide on any other reason that she'd want to leave work unless perhaps she'd gotten her hours wrong and walked in on someone else's shift. Eh, I can always come back later. So he pulled back out of the parking lot and drove into the other lane heading toward Blackjack, taking a less commercial route in order to speed up the trip.
He found Nell outside of the bar and looking quite cold as she huddled into her jacket, a fact that worried him. "What's up, babe?" he asked, brows pulled together to create an expression of mixed confusion and concern. "You look freezing—why didn't you wait inside?" Even as he spoke the graduate glanced around and then let a small pulse of heat wash over them both. He knew that it was dangerous to use his powers carelessly in an area populated by mortals but he really didn't care. Nell was more important than the rules, at least to Joshua. There was still the fact that he didn't really understand what was going on. She'd been fine when he'd dropped her off at work and now she was... what, exactly? He wasn't sure. "Are you feeling sick?" After the fiasco that was her last illness, any possibility of Nell coming down with something was not one that he wanted to entertain. He knew now more about why it had freaked her out so much but that didn't mean he was any less ill-equipped when it came to dealing with it. Even though he wanted to be a doctor, that didn't mean he could just wave his hand and instantly cure anyone and anything just because he wanted to. Don't I wish? He was also kind of hungry, something he'd planned to remedy by picking up something to eat when he was in the grocery store, but he kept that complaint to himself. Again, Nell was more important. Once he figured out what was going on with her, then he could worry about himself.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 5, 2011 17:43:28 GMT -5
Nell felt bad about calling her boyfriend, now that she thought about it. He probably had things he wanted to get to. She could have just gotten the bus or something and left him alone. Spent her time alone in the apartment, that is if he wasn’t planning on going home. Think about what she would be doing about getting a new job. Yeah right. She knew full well she’d be fast asleep, trying to cover up everying with a pleasant dream or two, so she wouldn’t have to worry about life. Sometimes, she still felt as if she was unprepared for this life, for adulthood. She had no experience, no parents to ask about certain things—What’s financial aid, how do I fill out these papers, questions that children should be able to ask before being shoved out into the blinding light of the real world. It got to her now especially, and she didn’t even feel like she could ask her father about it. He would probably help her, but there was that huge part of her that yearned for independence. It was at odds with the part of her that wanted a mother and a father to hold her and tell her that everything would be taken care of. She didn’t need to get a job, or live in an apartment, or take care of herself. But that’s how it always was she supposed, and she pushed a fist against her mouth, afraid that she was encouraging tears.
She was thankful when Josh came back, and felt greedy for it, selfish. Seeing the concern on her boyfriend’s features, she fixed up a small smile to try and assuage it. ”Did I pull you away from something?” she asked apologetically, disregarding his own question. Maybe she really should have given a bit more explanation over the phone, but she didn’t know where to begin, and she felt if she said it out loud, it would scare her. It was her first time being fired, after all, and she didn’t know exactly how to react to that, what to do about it. She gave a short laugh when he asked why she didn’t stay inside, and bit her lip when it sounded too bitter. ”That…wouldn’t really have been appropriate.” She fussed with the belt of her jacket, thankful when she felt the onset of heat that could only have been caused by a freak weather pattern or Josh. Taking a breath, the change in temperature making it less apparent, she decided that she might as well explain. ”Uh, they let me off. Fired me, I guess.” She winced as she said this. It sounded like she did something bad, like break the taps or melt the ice in the coolers, but then she remembered she had done something bad. And it hurt just a little bit to know that she had been considered a liability, and that Mark probably thought of her as a bad person for what she did. The fact that she’d been underage, and a murderer would probably spread, and there would be little chance that she’d be able to keep any friends from Blackjack. She realized she was imperceptibly shaking, and worked on calming herself done.
Nell scratched the back of her head when she told him, ”Evie told Mark about me being underage and the whole trial deal,” she said with a shrug. She realized she should probably stop calling the girl by her nickname, but she didn’t even hate her for what she did. Maybe after the shock wore off, but she couldn’t feel anger at something she knew that it was right for the girl to do. ”Turns out that you can’t escape your past by changing your last name,” she said with a sardonic half-smile. The name ‘Shepherd’ didn’t make her intraceable, but maybe eventually it would all fade and stay behind her. But the fact that she was a liar would always remain, and that’s what Eve knew her as, what Mark thought of her as. ”Who’da thunk it.” She realized that now she was bordering on bitter, and she should stop and so she blinked at Josh before saying, ”I think I’m just gonna go home now.” The words sounded very depressing to her and she felt a lump rise in throat. She’d just stay home and probably go to sleep so that her bitterness wouldn’t foment into something else, and it would help in just getting over it. Or dealing with it some other time. She just couldn’t be bothered right then, and hoped her boyfriend would understand.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Dec 5, 2011 18:10:42 GMT -5
Even though he had been going somewhere, Joshua shook his head at the question. "Nowhere important." It could wait. He didn't want Nell to feel bad about making him come and pick her up, after all. His hunger was easily pushed aside in favour of more important things—it was the main reason that he often forgot to eat whilst studying. He tended to be easily distracted by whatever he was focusing on and right now that focus was on his girlfriend and her predicament, whatever that may be. Her avoidance of his earlier question had not gone unnoticed by the graduate, who was currently debating the reason for that in his head. Had it been on purpose? He was pretty sure that Nell had heard him. Though he did speak a little quietly at times, Josh had enough of a presence that he made himself heard. Besides, Nell wasn't likely to be ignoring him. So then why did she? He disregarded it for the time being and inquired about how she was faring in the weather, instead, seeing as even he could feel the biting chill against his skin. "Huh? Why not?" He knew that she'd changed her mind about going to work but it would be rather inconsiderate of the people that she worked with if they made her stand outside in the snow just because she was taking an off day. He didn't know any of the people that worked there very well—he'd spoken to a few of them whilst hanging around and waiting for his girlfriend but knew none on a personal level.
Things fell into place with her next words, however. It took him several seconds to really process what she was telling him, really grasp what Nell was saying. Let her go? Fired her? Though it was not Josh himself who had been fired, the feeling of crushing reality was still present in the air. With all the shit that his girlfriend was dealing with already he knew more than anyone that she didn't need any more stress and pressure. Perfect. Just fucking perfect. This is exactly what she needed. He had been optimistic and hopeful about how her depression seemed to be managed as of late and even if he'd just been deluding himself into thinking things might get better, this certainly wasn't going to improve anything. "Oh, Nell, I'm sorry." He embraced her gently, chewing the inside of his lip as he pulled away. This was unfair to Nell! He had half a mind to go into the bar and find whomever was responsible but then she continued and things went from bad to worse. "They... they found out?" He was both sympathetic and horrified by the idea. He knew as well as she did that Nell couldn't hide who she was—who she had been, rather—but to have it hit so close to home was horrible. Now she was out of a job, out of her paycheck, because of something that had been out of her control.
Except it wasn't, not really. Sometimes Josh hated the small and logical voice poking at the back of his conscience. Nell was breaking the law, they didn't have a choice. He understood that full well but it didn't increase his liking of whoever had fired his girlfriend. It didn't matter that they had to, that they didn't understand her depression and what this might do to her. He understood and so this was a great cause for concern to him. "Do you think you'll be alright?" He knew that she probably wasn't in the best of shapes at the moment but he was wondering how she was taking this. The fact that she just wanted to go back home was not an encouraging one. So you can just sleep away all your problems, as per usual? As soon as the thought flashed through his mind he felt guilty about it. She couldn't help the depression. If people could prevent that kind of thing then it wouldn't exist. He was growing frustrated lately with all of the sleeping she was doing and the lack of eating, the lack of the Nell he'd dated for months. I can't take that out on her. It wouldn't be fair. Not only that but he knew it would put a serious strain on their relationship if he started arguments based on the trial. It would probably make her condition even worse. "Are you sure, Nell? We could do something else, something... I don't know, fun?" He wanted to cheer her up somehow. How? He wasn't quite sure yet. "I'll take you home if you really want, but is that what you really want? I'm not doing anything, I promise. We could hang out."
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 5, 2011 21:20:01 GMT -5
She was glad to have Josh around during a time like this, especially when he pulled her into a hug and apologized for something they both knew was not his fault. There were a lot of times she felt guilty for hiding from him, adding him to the list of all the people she was lying to. But she let herself be comforted by the fact that she only wanted him to be happy, and not have to worry about anything. Of course, this development in events was not helping with that, but she couldn’t save him from everything. She still tried, very hard. She tilted her head to the side, shrugging her shoulders. ”I guess it was going to happen eventually,” she said, her lips tweaking into a bit of a smile. ”I just wish that it wasn’t Evie who’d said something. But she did the right thing.” She felt betrayed, but the better part of her defended her friend…ex-friend now? Could she even talk to the girl after this, when Eve put her out of a job? Nell would be able to pretend, but she knew it wouldn’t be the same. She would know what her friend had done, and what she most likely thought of Nell. Still, she wanted to talk to her and ask her why she’d done it, because she knew the illegal deal wasn’t all of it. People didn’t really snitch unless it was something they were forced into. And with a sick feeling in her gut, she knew the reason—Eve probably distrusted her now, knowing that she was a murderer, that she’d lied about so much. Nell resigned herself then into believing that she deserved this, because she did. Rather, she was asking for it in her choice of occupation. Sure, it was nice to pretend that she could be above the law for a little while, but reality was a strong force.
He questioned if she was going to be all right, and they both should have known where it would go. No one liked to admit when something was wrong, when they were upset, because they’d rather hide and handle everything on their own. Nell was no exception. And even though she didn’t believe them, the words came easily from her lips. ”Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she assured him, waving her hand in front of her face. ”It’s not the end of the world or anything. I can get a ne job. A legal job.” If only her faith in herself was stronger, she’d be able to feel more confident about finding something else to do. But she’d been bartending for a year, it was something she’d gotten good at and now…she just didn’t know what to do. She had bills to pay, student loans, and general living expenses and she knew she couldn’t just sit on her ass forever. Not that she even wanted to. Actually, she wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore. I certainly don’t want depression. ”I guess I’ll be looking through the classifieds. Oh, the joys of being unemployed.” Her light tone couldn’t eliminate the gravity of her situation, but she wasn’t going to break down in tears about it. She was going to bottle it and deal with it at a later date, while enduring it as it ate away at her mind. Like everything. She still wasn’t dealing with her problems, trying to find other ways to avoid everything. Nell could no longer repress, but she could sleep, and she could smile at her boyfriend and tell him everything was okay.
Josh didn’t seem to eager to bring her home, and she wasn’t aware of the fact it was because he knew exactly what she was going to do. She didn’t believe that he had any reason to worry about her habits as of late. The girl was hoping he’d chalk it up to extended jetlag, or hibernation from the winter. There were a lot of reason for her subtle changes in behavior, and she didn’t want him to pin down the right one. ”I—“ she started, pausing to actually think about it. She was out already, and she knew it would be better if she could stay out. It may help her feel better, maybe even more so than sleeping. Then again, there was the fact she was terrified of her future, especially now, and if she couldn’t sleep, she would be tempted to stick her fingers in her ears, squeeze her eyes shut, and hum a song to overpower her thoughts. After hesitating, she asked, ”Did you have anything in mind?” If he didn’t, it might be easier to just go home. But she wasn’t going to complain and tell him to take her home this instant, that she didn’t want to do anything. It was easier to get herself moving if she was already up and out. Plus, she’d taken her meds today, not that they were helping much now. ”Honestly, I don’t really know what I want to do, so I guess I’m up for anything.” She had already been planning to do something today, but that was quickly cut down. Her stomach ached, and she was still not hungry even though she hadn’t eaten much that day and she stopped weighing herself for fear of the number she’d see, and it didn’t help that it wasn’t only her depression now. It was everything eating at her.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Dec 6, 2011 17:44:12 GMT -5
Joshua hated the way that she said the words—the right thing, as if it was 'right' that she was now out of a job and in a low mood because of it. "This Evie girl... did you know her well?" He knew that she wasn't pleased about her situation, and who would be? It was unfair to Nell. At the same time, however, Joshua knew that it was fair, and that was what really hit hard. This wasn't just an issue about Nell being a murderer, this was the law. It was something too powerful to fight, something that both Josh and Nell had no control over. She might have beat the trial in New York but it did not put his girlfriend above the law, above the government that made the rules and pulled the strings. Sometimes he wondered why Nell had even chosen bartending as her occupation in the first place. If she was already on the run from the law and living in Canada illegally, why add an extra nail in the coffin by working underage? He had never asked and didn't plan on it now. He could go over all the questions in the world about her job—ex-job, now—and that wouldn't change the fact that she'd lost it. He felt sorry for her but it was not pity. Sympathy, yes, but Josh knew enough about hating pity that he rarely felt it toward other people. He also didn't sympathise with Eva, who in his opinion was a terrible friend even if she was 'obeying the law'. He understood that Nell's bosses had to fire her if they found out but they hadn't found out, they'd been told. "It might be the right thing in the eyes of the law," he said, "but it's still a horrible thing to do to a friend." He'd stick by that. Nell might have been loving and forgiving but he was a lot less so.
A legal job. Despite the fact he wasn't happy about her being fired, this at least gave Josh some semblance of hope. He knew Nell wasn't going to be grinning with enthusiasm at the idea of finding other work but it would at least assuage some of his concerns. He'd hated going into Blackjack with the constant worry that someone was going to ask themselves, "Hey, doesn't that bartender look a little young?" He'd have certainly noticed. I probably did. He couldn't remember much about the night that he'd met her. Vague bits and pieces but no names or faces came to mind. She'd told him a little about it when they'd met up again but he'd never really had the urge to pry further. It would be good to be able to visit Nell at work and not have to think on that kind of thing. Always taking on the role of the supportive boyfriend when he could, Josh gave her a light smile. "What sort of job are you thinking of?" The classifieds weren't guaranteed to have something that she wanted but for all Joshua knew she might have thought about it when he'd asked her about Blackjack and her new apartment. Looks like life made that decision for her. A part of him was glad that the Blackjack chapter of her life was over but he would neither dwell on this nor voice it aloud. It would be unfair to Nell to rub it in by reminding her of just how illegal and dangerous it had been. She knew that, he was sure. "Oh, you won't be unemployed for long," he said with a wave of his hand. "You're friendly, you're efficient, you'd be great at anything." And so maybe he was a little biased, but who cares?
That was the thing—Joshua hadn't thought that far quite yet. He was genuinely surprised at her agreement to hanging out and so he covered this shock with an easy shrug. Play it cool. Just as Nell was trying to hide her depression from him, he was trying to hide the fact that he knew about it. They were both doing a lot of deceptive concealment, looking out for each other, that kind of thing. It was both pathetic and hilarious if you really thought about it. "Nah, not really. I planned to just cruise around the Hollow and find stuff to get up to." This was a blatant lie unless grocery shopping counted as 'fun' but Nell didn't need to know that. He'd never mentioned his plans for the day when he'd dropped her off. Though they were very close and shared many things, it wasn't like they filled one another in on absolutely anything. "At best we can just drive around for a while and then go home if you change your mind, right?" As it happened, they were in luck that day. He took a long route that would eventually lead them back to Nell's apartment with the plan to think up as many things as possible. He was having difficulty with this until his phone buzzed—it was a text from a friend, inviting him to a party that wasn't too far out of their way. "He's an alright guy, never done anything to attract the cops. What do you say?" Josh knew that these parties could get a little out of hand but as long as they didn't drink he figured they'd be alright. "I'll just ignore him if you're not up to it, no big deal."
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 6, 2011 19:04:15 GMT -5
Nell shrugged, a half-smile on her face. She didn’t look very upset, just resigned, as if she’d taken it all in stride. She supposed she had. No tears, no tantrum, just a silent acceptance of what Mark had told her. ”We are—were?—friends. I knew her since coming to Blackjack.” To her, Blackjack had been a great oppurtunity. Corrosion had been her first option because they hadn’t asked too many questions, and it wasn’t like another crime on top of her multitude would be noticeable. Then Blackjack came along, and even though it wasn’t the safest bet, she’d saw it as something good. Especially with the people there, like Evie. She liked her co-workers, liked having a job. The environment suited her. She was helping people out—getting drunk of course, but that didn’t matter much—and she had people to work alongside. She liked the whole synergy deal. It had made her look forward to going to work tonight. But now she probably lost quite a few friends and she lost the energy along with her job. She searched his face for a few moments. ”You’re right.” Her answer was mild. He was right though—she wouldn’t have done that to Evie. They weren’t the same people, so it was a moot point anyway. Nell couldn’t control the actions of others, and did not yearn to. ”Well, what’s done is done. Que sera sera.” She threw her hands up, feeling the ache startin in her forearms like she hadn’t slept for a while, and dropped them with just as much enthusiasm. It sucked, but Josh didn’t need to hear that from her. He knew that it was bad, and she wasn’t going to tell him how she felt about it because that wouldn’t accomplish anything. It wouldn’t get her job back, and she’d just be griping about something he couldn’t fix.
His question sounded big, important, and scary because she didn’t want to think about it or handle the stress that her unemployment put on her. Not right now and not like this. Where did she see herself in the future? She didn’t. Nell didn’t know what she wanted to do with herself, what to do with all this freedom. Not expecting it, thoughts of how Tilly wanted to be a scientist like her father came to her mind, and she had to brush it off before she thought too hard into it and remembered that it was just something else her sister could never do. Nell didn’t want to be a scientist, she didn’t want to be like a Fuentes. At least she got that much. ”I don’t really know. Anything right now.” For some reason, she became aware of the fact that she was still shaking, and no she had the fear of what she was going to do from now on to scare her. She supposed she’d have to work her way up in whatever she did. But then she remembered that she was a college student, that she didn’t necessarily have to go and look for something she wanted to do for the rest of her life. A smile flashed across her face before it dimmed into a semi-content expression. ”Yeah,” she said non-commitally. ”I’ll just have to try.” She knew that a new job wouldn’t just come to her because of what Josh said—she didn’t really believe him saying she’d be great at anything, because she didn’t have many talents to speak of—and that she’d have to go looking for one. And that didn’t sound like something she was up to doing. Get over it, she tried to pressure herself. Maybe if she was enough of a mental bully, she’d be able to beat down the depression. The thought made a light smile dance across her lips—no, she didn’t think that was possible, and it just made the gape between where she was now and recovery larger.
Since there was no reason to disbelieve Josh, she nodded when he explained. Always giving the benefit of the doubt, she just to not instantly think of her boyfriend as a liar that way. It’s what she did for everyone—it was easier to trust than to not believe in anyone. ”Sounds fun,” she said with a light smirk. He went on to explain that they could just drive around, but she couldn’t promise that she wouldn’t fall asleep. She didn’t get car sick, and it was all to easy to just go off in la la land and sleep the ride away. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. He was being very nice to her, and she was feeling all the worse for it. That wasn’t anything new, since apparently everything made her feel bad, even her boyfriend’s attempts to cheer her up. She was a horrible person, and she got new evidence of it every day. ”Whatever you feel like doing is cool with me,” she said acquiescently, lacing her fingers behind her back. I kind of just want this day to be over. Again, there were things she wouldn’t speak out loud and that was one of them. She was making pretend that everything was a-okay, and doing a good job of it. No frowns, no tears, nothing. Nell was proud to say the least, and it made her more willing to go along with whatever Josh wanted, as long as she could hold it up. And when they were driving, she tried her best to stay away, propping her head up with her hand as she looked out the window. Josh’s voice caused her to turn and look at him. ”A party?” she said contemplatively. That meant excitement and movement, but maybe she could talk to people or something. Take her mind off of everything. At least she wouldn’t be the designated or be responsible for anyone else. There was a moment of silence before she answered, ”Nah, you don’t have to. I’m up for it.” She cast him a smile before asking, ”Where’s it at? And do I know him?” Nell tilted her head as she questioned him. She wasn’t really dressed for a party, but that didn’t really matter to her. Nothing really did at this point.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Dec 8, 2011 16:35:37 GMT -5
Noticing that his girlfriend was shaking, Joshua rested a hand on her shoulder for a moment. He wished that there was more he could do for her than just lend his support but he certainly couldn't get her old job back. Wouldn't that be the only thing that could fix this new low? No, he realised. There was a problem before this. The problems had started after the trial—ironic, seeing as that was supposed to fix everything that was wrong. He couldn't turn back time, couldn't prevent the abuse, couldn't stop things from happening the way he did. Perhaps he could be a good guy—a great one, even—when it came to his girlfriend, but Joshua was no god. He couldn't snap his fingers and put everything right again. That hurt, giving him a feeling of inadequacy when it came to the ones he loved. If he couldn't help, what was he supposed to do? "Things will get better," he sighed. It was an ultimate cliche but it usually proved true, right? How could it get any worse than this? He didn't want to consider such possibilities and thus promptly shut them down in his mind. "You'll get a new job, maybe a new apartment, too, and things'll look up." He couldn't say that he promised her because just like he couldn't really help, he couldn't make those promises. He had a large sum of cash that he could use to help her if she needed it but Joshua guessed that she wouldn't ask. She was too proud for that and he wasn't going to demean her sense of independence by offering unless it became clear she was really desperate.
Though a little baffled by how agreeable Nell was being, Joshua decided to take full advantage of this. Any chance to convince himself that things were not as bad as his pessimism suggested, he took. Maybe he was just using a temporary bandaid on a much larger issue but it would work for now. He returned the smile with a smirk of his own, relaxing a little. "He's got a house in that gated community," he said, referring to the upper-class area right before the 'mansion country'. "I don't think you know him, though." He wondered if this concerned her. He supposed that he could understand the fear of going to a party when you had never become acquainted with its host but he'd never felt such anxieties himself. His usual drive to head to such events was a need for fun—the alcohol induced kind. He dismissed the brief concern, deciding that she probably wouldn't have agreed to go before asking such questions if they were really a concern. "Don't worry, I'll introduce you." He liked to tell people that Nell was his girlfriend, it brought with it a certain sense of smug satisfaction. He was proud of the catch he'd managed to make. Hell, with his temperament he'd always assumed no lady would love him as anything more than a single-night fling. That had been alright with him at the time, he hadn't really cared much for romance, but now that he had a girlfriend to show off, well, why not? He tried not to be too obnoxious about it, though, and he never told people anything about Nell herself. That was her discretion to make.
Pulling into the driveway, Joshua noticed that the door was open and that several cars were parked around the road. "Well, if they were trying to be obvious..." He shook his head but shrugged it off. It likely wouldn't attract too much attention—for all the local authorities knew, it was a family reunion. The house parties generally only got broken up by the cops when things got too out of hand. Of course, with the drinking, drugs, and other misdemeanours, this tended to happen quite a lot. He got out of his own vehicle and headed through the door quite confidently. Seeing as he knew the guy, he wasn't afraid of any sort of rejection. His first order of business was to track down the host, giving a jerk of his head in greeting when he caught sight of him. "Hey Rich," he said with a somewhat friendly tone. He didn't mind the guy so much, even though he was obviously baked at the time being. "Sup, Dale?" He swept a bottle-green gaze toward Nell and smirked at her. "Who's your lady friend?" He didn't know whether to be suspicious of the other guy in case he was interested but decided to wave it off. He wasn't too jealous as long as people kept to themselves. "Nell? She's my girlfriend." Richard seemed to mull over something for a moment. "Nell, huh? You that chick that was on the news and shit?" Joshua scowled, not liking the way that he threw that out there so casually. "Hey, relax, man," Richard advised him slowly. "I don't care what you guys do as long as it doesn't get me busted by the cops, same as usual, you know?" Joshua held the green gaze with gray for a moment longer before nodding and relaxing his stance. He couldn't get angry at everyone that knew, after all. Nell was right—people were going to find out. A lot of people. "Come on," he suggested to Nell, moving away and into a different area of the house. "What do you want to do? I need to find a bathroom, first of all." He snorted. Bladder problems would only be made worse by consumption of soda, alcohol, or whatever else they had in this place. "Looks like they've got the drinks over there, I'll be back in a minute."
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 8, 2011 19:57:31 GMT -5
Nell nodded as he spoke, carefully wiping off smudges on the window where she had leaned her forehead. She hated causing damage to the car, even impermanent kind. ”Yeah, I don’t think I know anyone from around there.” It would make sense that Josh did, however, with his background. She didn’t know how many people he told about his wealth, since he never talked about himself really, but if they were around the area, it only made sense. He grew up in the Hollow, after all. Sometimes she wished she could have friends that are years old, that she had long memories with, stories to tell each other. “Remember that time when…?” never happened with her, and sometimes it made her sad. Sometimes she just brushed it off. Like now. ”Can’t wait,” she said with a smile that looked enthusiastic, and a slouched posture that betrayed otherwise. She was more going along with the flow than anything, which is what she usually did anyway. Take life for what it was, and all that. Party? Sure, why not? What’s that going to change? Her own thoughts were upsetting her, but she leaned back against the seat and cast a smile at Josh to ensure him that she actually wanted to go and that she wasn’t just doing it for his benefit in case he really wanted to see his buddy.
Her smile was easy when she saw the guy at the door, a little weary but overall faring pretty well. She was always comfortable with new people, enjoyed meeting them, as a matter of fact. ”Hey,” she said amiably when Josh introduced her, moving each of her fingers in a wave. She hadn’t been at all uncomfortable until he brought up the news, and Nell bristled, keeping the smile on her face before stating slowly, ”…Yeah.” Even strangers knew, she had to keep reminding herself. A part of her felt that Jane was probably enjoying that, even in prison—she had threatened to blow all this up, and in the end, it had gotten bigger than Nell could control. And now she was paying for it. Josh also seemed offended by the comment, but he was warded off. She mentally sighed, because she honestly didn’t plan on doing anything illegal that night. Rich didn’t need to worry. She was responsible, after all, and especially curteous in other people’s homes. She knew that a lot of kids took over the house if their parents left down, and so she liked to help clean up whenever she could so they wouldn’t get in trouble, and save anything expensive from getting destroyed by reckless teenagers. Nell followed, not too uncomfortable—new situations and places didn’t scare her, and she was usually complacent with them. She didn’t know anyone here, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to go and meet people. ”Uhm…I’ll find something. Meet new people, strike up conversation if they’re coherent enough,” she said with a grin, before nodding when he said that he needed the bathroom. She looked over to where he pointed out, and smiled back at him, waving when she said, ”Don’t get lost.”
Nell only drank socially or if the mood suited her, which was not a lot, so it wasn’t really the alcohol that drew her into the crowd. It was no fun to drink alone, so if she ever did it was with a friend. She saw people seated around a table, some with their shoes off, cards scattered before them. A moth to the flame, she headed over and sat down, not shy, as usual. ”Whatcha playing?” she asked her neighbor curiously, spying the bottle of Grey Goose, the cheap kind of vodka—alcohol was alcohol. Her companion grinned and said, ”Asshole. You know how to play?” She nodded—she’d played it before, but not as a drinking game. She told the guy this, and he explained to her the rules. The game wasn’t of skill, but of chance, and so whenever she was forced to take a shot, it was because she and another person had the same card. This didn’t happen too often with five people playing, but it only took three shots before she was completely out of it her throat and stomach burning something fierce. How did she know? Well, the room seemed to doing the ‘wave’ in a very sickening way, and every time someone called her the vice-president she giggled uncontrollably as if it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. ”You are all my citizens,” she said, holding up her hand as she stated this serious fact. Luckily, most of the others around her were either buzzed or completely smashed after the drinking game, and she didn’t have to worry about any strange looks. They all seemed to agree with her humor. She knew that once she started feeling like this that she should stop, but there were several problems: she liked vodka, even if it was the cheap brand, and now that she was past buzzed, her inhibitions weren’t anywhere to be found.
A new song came on the stereosystem and she squealed, a sound that soon turned into laughter seeing the drunkenly confused looks some gave her. ”I like this song,” she said very seriously, calmly, before snorting and laughing again. Soon people were getting up to come together in a mass of bodies that resembled an amoeba, and her companion was tugging on her arm, both of them laughing at nothing. She stood, and then leaned over, knocking the guy off balance a little before falling back on her haunches. They kept laughing until she inhaled to speak, and she shook the arm that his hand was gripping. ”Wait…Wait! My heels.” She fumbled with the tiny buckles on the sides, stopping as she was overcome with giggles multiple times, barely able to breathe. She finally kicked off her work shoes, and took the guy’s hand to help haul her up before both of his arms were around her waist and she was flailing her own around, laughing at the others who were dancing ridiculously, thinking that this was the paragon of comedy. If she had been uncomfortable with strangers before, it would have all been washed away by the alcohol.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Dec 11, 2011 10:22:25 GMT -5
Though he had been inside of this house quite a few times, finding a bathroom would turn out to be more of an adventure than he had expected. He knew where one of them on the ground floor was but after nudging open the door and realising that it was occupied by a very preoccupied couple, he decided that it might be best to look for another. This is a big house, it's bound to have at least two or three. Maybe even more than that—he was usually more focused on drinking than exploring when he was here. The next that he found was in use by a girl puking her guts out. He felt a little bad for her but didn't know her and so didn't offer his help to make her feel better. Call it cold, it was just his personality to avoid interference with that sort of thing. He had to go upstairs and through a crowd of pot-smoking guys stinking up one of the hallways before he managed to find a vacated washroom. He didn't really care about the smell of weed since he went to so many parties but it was strong and thick enough in the air that it permeated all of the nearby rooms. I wonder what Rich's parents are going to think? This was another thing that didn't usually cross his mind as he locked the bathroom door to prevent anyone else stumbling in. He knew that the Dale's would skin him alive if he trashed their house in a party and often wondered how some of his contacts got away with it. He couldn't exactly call them "friends" as they did not speak regularly enough for that but they were on his phone list so that was enough. He shrugged it off and splashed some cold water across his face to bring himself to a more alert state before unlocking and exiting his temporary sanctuary.
"Hey, man, want a hit?" He recognised one of the smokers as he made his way back—a boy from the Academy, the Earth dormitories. It didn't really surprise him to run into an Earth or Water elemental that got up to this kind of thing. They were nice people but that didn't mean they were free of their issues and problems. "I'm good," said Joshua, waving a dismissive hand. "It's not my thing." He didn't really care if some of them judged him as a pussy for being 'straight-edge' in the way of drugs. He wasn't self-conscious enough to be bothered by that sort of thing. They didn't, however, and the Earth elemental just shrugged. "Suit yourself. See you at school." Josh jerked his hand in farewell and took the stairs two at a time going down, quickly going over the path he'd taken in his mind. He couldn't quite remember how to get back to the main area of the house and so it took a moment of wandering before he found where he'd left Nell. She was now accompanied by an entire group of others, a fact that surprised him only for a moment. She was friendly, it happened. What did bother him a little was the fact that she was dancing with some other guy, but he did his best to wave that away. A little jealousy was natural but to act on it meant distrusting your partner. I trust Nell. She's just having fun. That was good, at least. He liked to see her smiling and laughing, it cheered him up, so if he had to make sure this random guy didn't put the moves on her then so be it.
He tapped his girlfriend on the shoulder to get her attention, giving her a bit of a smile in silent apology for the time it had taken him to get back. "Had to take a detour," he said, not bothering to explain this further. He wasn't long-winded at all and if he told you something it was usually only the bare bones of the story. He did notice that Nell was now absent of her shoes. "Where'd your heels go?" Not that he cared, he was just curious. He knew that those things could be a pain in the ass for girls and if Nell hadn't been so damn short he would have questioned why she put up with them in the first place. Her height made it almost a necessity to get a couple inches up, however, seeing as she was shorter than even a lot of the girls her age. Far shorter than Joshua, as well, who didn't mind either way. She minds, he thought, remembering how she'd joked around about a height complex when they'd been at prom together. As Joshua had never seen Nell drunk before, it did not occur to him immediately. He'd left her in a state of perfect sobriety and had assumed that the girl who was usually designated driver for these kinds of things would not have gotten herself into too much trouble. Even Joshua hadn't taken a drink yet. "What are you guys up to?" He gestured to the group in general.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 11, 2011 18:27:31 GMT -5
Nell was rather unused to getting drunk, since it only happened once or twice before. She had been hammered when she jumped off the roof, woke up the next day in her friend’s bed, the other girl slobbering on the pillow next to her and Nell trying not to move her head for the fact that she didn’t want saliva in her hair and that it was pounding something fierce. Luckily for her, the only repurcussions for her were a hangover. No parents would lecture her for coming home late and obviously shitfaced, she was responsible for only herself. Which is why she used that to be the responsible one for her friends. She didn’t have to do that tonight. Josh had driven her, she didn’t know these people, and she was just an island unto herself. Besides, drinking felt good. It worked better than the Prozac, that was for sure. The crash didn’t even worry her right now. She was more carefree than she had been in a while, and she was going to lose herself in that for as long as it lasted. It didn’t bother her when she felt his hands slip underneath the waist of her jeans, or that his head was right against hers and that she could smell his stale beer breath. It didn’t occur to her that maybe she shouldn’t be doing this with a random guy she just met at the party, because she wasn’t thinking, not even when she was tapped on the shoulder and heard Josh’s voice. She wormed her way out of Random Guy’s hands and threw her arms around Josh’s neck and kissed him full on the lips—luckily for him, keeping her mouth closed.
Pulling back, Nell kept her grip firmly on him as she rolled her glimmering eyes. ”Stupid detours.” In her mind, she was thinking of signs posted in the house outlining routes to take, and that made her laugh out loud. Rubbing her nose against Josh’s in an eskimo kiss, she sing-songed, ”I missed you. Don’t leave me again, okay? Even if you have to pee your pants.” She giggled again, apparently unable to keep herself from laughing at everything being said. Even the question of where her shoes had gotten to made her laugh, her arms no longer around Josh’s neck but gripping his waist, as if she needed his support to stay balanced. Wearing heels in this state definitely would not have been a good idea. She felt dizzy, but a good kind of dizziness. Like the world was shifting and new things were everywhere and everything seemed funny and exciting and happy. She removed one hand from her boyfriend pointed, moving her finger around and then blinking when she realized she couldn’t remember where she’d left her shoes. ”That’s a good question.” She snorted. ”They’re gone, vato. Poof! Just gone.” Nell said this with the utmost enthusiasm, as if truly believing her shoes had just disappeared. Someone apparently thought this to be hilarious, because another girl said, ”Dude, they’re next to the table. You’re so freaking stupid.” Nell laughed at this too, ducking her head a bit. ”That’s right,” she said as if having a sudden epiphany. She nodded to Josh as if to confirm the other girl’s words. ”They were annoying, you know, being all on my feet and junk.” This only caused more laughter, and she could now attribute some of the dizziness to all the laughing. Her sides hurt and she felt a little sick to her stomach, but that was nothing new.
Josh questioned the group of dancers and a guy holding a red plastic cup above his head as a chick he probably didn’t even know rubbed up against him. ”Partying hard!” There was a collective shout of approval, and Nell was sincerely hoping that people wouldn’t spill their drinks in their merry-making. She didn’t want to be stepping on anything that she couldn’t identify. Even as she thought this, she knew that she wouldn’t care anyway. She was too far-gone to be worried about that for long. ”We were playing asshole, and then it got way intense, so we needed a dance break,” she said conspiratorily, telling the story in her own words. ”I still won, of course. You know how it is.” She didn’t think anyone had actually one, but she thought she did very good, even though she was hammered now. It wasn’t even a lot of shots, but they were more than enough for her. She couldn’t even remember how many shots she ended up doing, whether it was for the purpose of the game or the fact that she liked vodka a little too much, but she figured it must have been at least five. Removing her arms from him, Nell took his hands and moved them to her hips, and grinned when she said in an intense Spanish accent, ”Dance with me, Senor Joshua. We will dance de night away.” This caused hysterics as she moved closer to him, trying to keep herself contained as she stifled her laughter by burying her face in his chest. Her efforts only increased the laughter, and she was close to tears when she pulled back and wiped her eyes.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Dec 11, 2011 19:01:48 GMT -5
Though wary of the boy that Nell was dancing with, Joshua tried to exhibit trust and not say anything about it. That is, until he noticed the male slip his hand below the waist. Now, Joshua was getting better with his anger issues, but he was not alright with some jerk at a party taking advantage of his girlfriend. It would have bugged him even if they were not together as he knew that Nell wasn't that sort of girl but he probably wouldn't have acted on it—as they were together, however, Josh took matters into his own hands. He raised an arm and suckerpunched him as hard as he was able, jaw clenched tight and gray eyes blazing. "Dude, what the hell, man?" It might have been more practical to just ignore it and not cause problems but his temper did not allow such sensibility. "That's my girlfriend, prick," he hissed. "Touch her like that again and I'll fucking castrate you." In his own sobriety it was a very valid and intimidating threat. He then felt a bit of anger toward Nell—Hey, why didn't she stop him? Having not yet had enough time to correctly diagnose his girlfriend's intoxication, he found himself feeling a little betrayed by her lack of action toward the other male. He almost considered snapping at her about it but he did nothing, not wanting an argument. Before he could get any further in his thought process, Nell was throwing her arms around his neck and stopping it short with a kiss to the lips. It might not have been with her mouth open but it was still enough of a distraction to deter his rage.
Then she spoke, and this immediately clued him in to the problem. This wasn't Nell—Nell didn't talk like this. Of course, there was the taste of the alcohol that he now identified and the fact that the boy's advances had went completely over her head and—well, shit, she'd drunk, isn't she? He wasn't entirely sure how to go from there. He'd never been around the girl when she was intoxicated before and so was quite surprised to see how different she acted. He chuckled a little as she spoke, noting that she didn't pull away but instead rubbed her nose against his. It didn't bother him. Quite the opposite, in fact. He liked the closeness of the contact and the way she moved her hands to his waist. They didn't usually fool around past kissing and casual things and even though they weren't now it was... different, somehow. Because she'd drunk, he acknowledged. As he was sober, he could make sense of her behaviour and why she was being so affectionate. And maybe he should have disentangled himself from her, kept an eye on her and made sure he didn't let her do anything stupid, but the selfishness stopped him. He could enjoy it for a little while, right? After all, I am her boyfriend. I'm not some random jackass. So he pushed aside his doubt and kissed her after she spoke about her shoes, smirking a little. "Looks like your shoes aren't the only thing you lost, babe," he joked. "Seems like your sobriety has walked off with them." Normally this would have worried him but, well... as long as he was around she'd be alright, right?
He blinked as she addressed him in Spanglish, trying to decide how he felt about that. She decided for him when she went into her little fit of giggling and buried her face in his chest. I shouldn't be doing this, he thought briefly, having a flicker of doubt in himself as he realised that he was taking advantage of her. It was pushed aside yet again though, using the same excuse. I'm her boyfriend, it's okay. But how far would 'okay' go? He knew that Nell was not in her right mind at the moment but he couldn't bring himself to pull away and find something more innocent for the two of them to do. "It doesn't seem like you can breath, Nell, let alone dance." He grinned and laughed a little, though he was not as uncontrolled as she. "Maybe I'm wrong? Show me your moves, then." He waved a hand as if to invite her to show off. He was also doing this for himself, selfish as usual, having successfully shut down that small portion of rationality for now. If he had been as drunk as Nell he probably would have been hitting on her and laughing just as hard as she was but sobriety dictated that this doubt would continue to linger, presenting itself occasionally. Self-absorption was a good buffer for morality, though, especially when it came to something like this. Hey, they never did anything like this. Why not take advantage of it while he could?
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 11, 2011 21:35:38 GMT -5
Nell didn’t forget that she had a boyfriend, she simply forgot that boys shouldn’t be touching her below the waist and something like that was not friendly or a dance move. Her mind tricked her into believing something like that was just him having fun, unaware of what kind of fun that was. She certainly didn’t expect Josh to clock him, even though she hadn’t forgotten his temper and violence, either. Nell stood in silent shock for a moment, expression impassive as she gauged the situation and listened to Josh speak. He threatened castration, and she forced a smile awway, trying to ignore how funny that sounded to her ears. That doesn’t sound very nice, she thought off-handedly. But then she snorted, thinking the situation so ludicrous right now. ”You punched him,” she commented unnecessarily, still attempting to refrain from a smile blooming on her lips. She blinked and asked, ”Uhh...why?” Nell was still oblivious to what Random Guy was getting at, and not only thanks to her naivete. Had she been sober, she’d have caught on quickly enough, but she wasn’t coherent enough now to even think that way. She wasn’t coherent enough for much at all, the only thoughts in her mind going along the lines of fun, dizziness, and wondering if there were any high places she could get to. Maybe get out of the house so the walls stopped spinning and stuff.
She didn’t even realize what she was doing with Josh may have been encouraging him to do something she wasn’t ready for. Nell’s actions were simply dictated by the pleasant warmth in her veins and the buzz she was enjoying now. Her thoughts were still simple, mainly focusing on the fact that Josh was warm and she was happy and he was kissing her, which felt quite lovely, if she said so herself. ”Hmm? Maybe they eloped,” she whispered, nodding very seriously. Then she furrowed her eyebrows together and pursed her lips. ”Hey, I have my sobriety, thank you very much. It’s just…taking a break.” She snorted and laughed at this. Nell was well aware that she was drunk off her ass, but that didn’t bother her. Didn’t reinstate the restrictions and inhibitions that she should have had, the sense that she should take it easy and sleep it off. A drunk Nell wasn’t a very safe Nell, and it was only a matter of time before took notice and became obssessed with something that shouldn’t have been very enthralling or found something completely reckless and stupid. ”Besides, Grey Goose is the nasty stuff, can’t get drunk off of that,” she said lightly, wrinkling her nose. Of course, she’d proven this theory wrong since she was obviously intoxicated.
Apparently Josh doubted her dancing integrity, and she took a deep breath. ”Oh ye of little faith,” she said in a falsely withering tone. ”You are very wrong, indeed. De Spanish are de most passionate dancers in de world, I should have you know. Dey are also the most passionate lovers in de world. Apparently, de Spanish do everything…” Nell leaned in so she could whisper in his ear, ”Passionately.” She stifled her laughter against his neck this time, her lips pressed against the base of his throat, unable to unattach herself from him now. Since her boyfriend had doubted her, she was determined to prove him wrong about not being able to dance when she was so giggly. Who can’t dance while laughing? she thought, and it was the most coherent thought she had since taking her last shot of vodka. She was feeling like she might need more just in case the buzz wore off, but she knew she’d like the better kind, not just the cheap stuff that people often brought to parties. She turned around so that she faced away from Josh, and pulled his hand further across her stomach before moving against him, pressed as close as she could get to him. Even though the song she had excitedly proclaimed as one she loved had ended, she was in a wonderful mood. Any song would do, as long as she could enjoy the feeling she had right now with Josh. Even though it was a feeling brought about by cheap vodka and the encouragement of other drunk people. Her smile was bright when she said, ”We need some flamenco music, methinks. I have too much Spanish passion for this.”
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Dec 11, 2011 23:59:34 GMT -5
Nell normally would not have been suppressing a smile when Joshua had just finished clocking someone in the side of the head, he was pretty sure of that. All the same, he rolled his eyes a little when she asked him why he had punched the guy. Isn't it obvious? he thought with frustration. He forced himself to remain calm for her sake. "Because—" Realising that it was going to do no good to try and explain his reasoning to a girl that was probably too drunk to comprehend it, he just shook his head. "Forget it." He sounded as irked as he felt, unable to contain it. He was not exactly taking it out on her as he was trying not to get too snippy with Nell herself but he'd never had the greatest control over his issues. Even though she was drunk and this was only partially her fault—the alcohol hadn't drank itself, after all—it wouldn't have been fair to flip shit on her. He knew from his own experiences that one was not turned into a total and complete idiot when they were in a state of compromised sobriety but neither were they the sharpest tools in the shed or brightest bulbs in their respective boxes. Deciding that he would let it alone for now and explain to her in the morning if her memories were a bit foggy and he asked again, he left it at 'forget it' and elaborated no further. He was quite sure that he'd end up being too short with her if he tried to explain away his anger toward the guy for taking advantage of her. He was still a little miffed about the fact she'd done nothing even if he did know why—or at least he thought he knew why.
He snorted a little in amused exasperation. "Except that you can," he said, "and you are." He wondered whether it had been serious and she thought that she was a lot less smashed than she actually was or if she was just horsing around. It was hard to tell at the moment considering she seemed to find everything hilarious regardless of whether it was completely serious or not. She'd even been amused by his anger which would normally have infuriated him—he hated people laughing when he was ticked off—but was not as irking as she was... well, drunk. People did and said stupid things when they were drunk. He reminded himself that he'd once threatened to shank her when his own sobriety had walked away from him and so decided to be at least a little more fair to Nell. She hadn't pulled out any deadly weapons or made any threats (yet). "But that's okay," he said, brushing his hand against her waist, kissing her again, savouring it this time. "After all, you've got me to take care of you." It was a horrible thing to suggest that he was taking care of her when he was doing quite the opposite—Joshua knew full well that he was taking advantage of her. Just like that boy had when he'd slipped his hand where it didn't belong. If she let him, would she...? He should have hated himself for thinking it but couldn't bring that feeling to mind. Now he felt the curiosity—how far would Nell be willing to go in her current state? Think with your head, not with your sex drive.
Her lips at his throat begged for a different kind of thought process. It was very hard to focus on doing the right thing when Nell was simply encouraging that curiosity, that longing. It was months into their relationship and they had nothing real to show for it except dates and memories. They didn't have that closeness that he wanted. Sometimes he thought about just giving up—he always stopped himself in these thoughts, convinced himself that Nell was worth the wait. But how long would that wait be? Maybe... not much longer...? "We should consult with the DJ," he joked. After dancing with her a while longer, Joshua gestured over to a couch and sat down, tugging Nell down beside him so that it was easier for him to kiss her without either of them suffering from neck pains as a result. Her heels would have helped but of course she'd abandoned them in favour of her intoxication. He leaned in and kissed her, much more passionate and insistent than usual. "What was that you said about the Spanish?" he said as he brought his lips lower, kissing her neck, her collarbone. "Something about... passion?" As he pulled away so that he could meet her gaze, his lips paused in their work so that he could offer a sly smirk. He pulled his shirt over his head, not even trying for subtlety now. His hands played with her shirt, now, being a tease before pulling it over her head. "Why don't you show me?"
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 12, 2011 18:53:10 GMT -5
Nell knew that her boyfriend was mad, but didn’t really understand why. She tilted her head to the side, but mentally shrugged it off. She wasn’t in a fit state to try and figure out what had upset Josh, even though she was a little nervous that she had missed something obvious. She didn’t even consider that for too long. ”Oh…okay.” Something like a dance partner being decked was normal for her, it was the usually inane things that have got her excited. In any case, she’d rather be with Josh than some random guy. Even though the vodka had made her more willing to do things that she wouldn’t normally, she still liked the feeling of being comfortable with someone she knew. It made her feel less like an island at drift and more stable. Probably because she could cling to him without feeling like a weirdo. She understood that you couldn’t do that to perfect strangers, even though she’d be fine dancing with one. Nell had had innocent intentions with that, even if the boy hadn’t, but she loved her boyfriend and she’d rather snuggle with him, thank you very much. He was more comfortable than a drunk stranger.
She rolled her head back as if considering Josh’s words and then retorted with a short and serious, ”No.” This made her chortle with laughter again, and she didn’t even bother to stop it. She knew she was pretty bad off, but didn’t know how bad. She was laboring under the delusion that she was merely buzzed. Maybe a little more. It was difficult for someone to gauge their own level of inebriation. In that moment, Nell had no reason to believe that her boyfriend was doing anything wrong. After all, she felt pretty damn good, not even caring that it was the alcohol in her system doing that for her. Even her state, she believe that Josh really would protect her from all the meanies out there. She giggled as she thought the worl, but didn’t bother to explain to her boyfriend what she’d found so funny. Instead, she enjoyed the kiss, glad that she could keep her giggles contained even though she felt them bubbling in her chest. ”I guess I do,” she said cheerfully, leaning her forhead against his. ”Whatever would I do without you?” Nell cooed, half-seriously as she still wore her smile like it was permanently stuck to her face. The giggles were only encouraged by dancing, and her cheeks were hurting by now, and the fact that she couldn’t stop only made her laugh harder, and she had to wonder if she’d stop finding everything funny.
She followed Josh’s lead, sitting next to him and gripping his hair in her fingers when he kissed her, trying to pull him closer. Now her head was swimming even more, but she ignored it. She bit her lip when he trailed his kisses lower, not bothering to stop him, because why would she? Nell blinked as he spoke, trying to organize her thoughts as they floated around in an inebriated haze. ”What about de passion?” she asked, feeling rather cocky that she could still form a coherent sentence, even though she laughed afterward, not being able to help it. It felt like a noteworthy success for her at this point in time that what came out of her mouth even made sense. She grinned when he disposeed of his shirt, not even self-conscious when hers was next to go, he was completely acquiescent. Even if she didn’t want this, she knew she would be laughing too much in resisting to be taken seriously. ”I really don’t think you can handle it,” she said as she leaned in closer, her hands resting on Josh’s shoulders. Her lips twitched in restrained laughter, and she tried to speak her next words as seriously as possible. ”It can get out of hand, you know. Just too much passion.” In spite of her words, she pressed her mouth against his, biting his lower lip as she smiled, the giggles thankfully dissipating a bit. Inhibitions gone, she was more confident to do things that would scare her sober, like moving her hands down his chest as she kissed him, fingers hooking into his belt loops and tugging.
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