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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 1, 2012 2:35:39 GMT -5
He questioned whether the perfume was one she owned, and she shook her head. Mia’s had been a gift from her aunt, if she remembered right. Of course, it was so long ago when her mother first received it that she could have been mistaken. “No,” she told him. “Its from the 40’s, actually. Vintage. My mother wore it.” She tried not to let that be opening up. It was simply moving on, accepting things in the past that happened, and not letting them affect her. It was unimportant information. A detail. She’d be okay with that. It was a process. Nell was joking about the flower thing, because she understood not everyone particularly liked the smell of their element. She didn’t really get off on dirt, after all. ”I’m sure that Thunders aren’t particularly drawn to the smell of electrical wiring,” she said. A lot of people liked the smell of sulfer from matches, so it really was just subjective, she supposed. She remembered his thing with peppermint, something she actually learned before they were friends. Nell couldn’t help but getting a little excited about the mention of brownies because she agreed whole-heartedly with that. Instead, she did step on her foot with her heel this time and simply nodded as she bit her cheek with the slight pain.
She waved her hand. ”Don’t blame me for the fact that you’re a sugar whore.” It was almost funny to hear him get so excited about ice cream. Adorable, actually. He wasn’t being fair to her or her shifting emotions and decisions. ”Don’t think I ever had that,” she said when he answered with cupcake ice cream. Sure, she liked sweets—she always found it odd when she met people who didn’t, but they were out there—but she didn’t make it a goal to try as many ice cream flavors as she could. Besides, there was a reason she stayed as healthy as she was when she ate as much as she did. She tried not to limit herself too much, but she could at least resist the temptation of candy if need be. She didn’t think Josh had such limits. ”Dark…chocolate? Can you tell the difference in ice cream?” Nell was breaking her own rule of no sub-questions, but she tried to pretend that she didn’t. She was just curious, since when it came to ice cream and other things like that, she couldn’t tell the difference.
His next question made her groan, although it was more playful than anything. “I can’t choose that,” she said, her voice an almost-complaint. ”There isn’t a language that I don’t like.” She scratched the back of her head, always feeling like she wasn’t giving a satisfactory enough answer. Even though that shouldn’t matter. She should have been more worried about talking too much. Keeping that in mind, she capped off again at her next words. ”I’d like to learn Russian though, for my third language. I already like Russian literature. And German…” And that was it, she had to stop else she’d ramble, and she didn't want that. Nell kept her thoughts to herself, that it’d be nice to be multilinguistic, so she could go all over and talk to different people of different cultures, read books like she did in Spanish (and with some effort, Italian), be able to not worry about language barriers when it came to other people. ”What’s your favorite saying?”
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jan 1, 2012 3:05:38 GMT -5
The fact that Nell liked the smell of her abusive mother's perfume was like a riddle to him, a question that would not be asked and thus he had no answer for it. He was not going to pry into the reason that she liked the scent, merely accepting it as fact and nodding to show that he had heard. The fact that she was telling him even the vaguest thing about her mother gave Josh hope, the graduate not realising that she was simply trying to move on and not actually showing any signs of trust. "The smell of burning flesh is a total turn on, though," he said in a low, mockingly seductive voice. He couldn't hold his composure for very long and laughed. "God, no, that smell's awful." He might have liked the smoky scent of his fire or the sulfur smell of matches but he had no attraction to the scent of cooking flesh. It could turn his stomach and he was glad that he had a strong one. Burning hair smelled just as bad. Speaking of the Thunder elementals, he supposed their electrical burns had similar effects but felt no pity for them. There weren't many Thunders that he could tolerate nowadays. "You're calling me a sugar whore, Ms. My-Favourite-Scent-Is-Bacon?" His gray eyes were glittering as he raised his brows at her. It was so easy to laugh, to joke, to relax. He was still dropping his voice lower than he might have if they were at home because he didn't want to disturb the other diners but apart from that, it may as well have been just him and Nell sitting here.
"That's settled, then," announced Joshua in an important, decisive tone. "When it opens in the summer I am taking you out for ice cream." He didn't even give a second thought to whether or not they would still be together by this time. Joshua's confidence was a strength at times. Once the doubt was pushed aside he was able to be at least partially optimistic, or at least able to remove his pessimism from the equation. He did not want to break up with Nell, did not want to think about breaking up with Nell, and so he didn't entertain the thought. To him it didn't seem likely even if he was a bit scared about her wavering attitudes the past few days. He hadn't done anything to really wrong her. Besides, this was going pretty well. "I can tell the difference," he mused, frowning thoughtfully. "So I'd like to say yes, but I can't speak for others." He wondered if Nell had ever tried it but decided that her question had suggested otherwise. He didn't even know if she liked dark chocolate but then again, they hadn't come across anything she didn't like while they were together. They'd found a food that she couldn't have, finally, but she had liked that too. She just wasn't allowed to eat it without fearing an allergic reaction.
He listened curiously as she spoke of the languages, interested in this part of her life because he, too, aspired to learn more than just French and English. He knew that he wanted to learn Spanish so that he could understand Nell better when she went off on her rants of excitement or anger but he wanted to learn others, too. "I've always wanted to learn German," he said, seeming a little excited that they had that in common. "Maybe we could study it together some time." He liked learning and he liked Nell, so doing something like that with her appealed to him. Of course, there was always the possibility she'd rather do things by herself. He'd accept that, even if he'd be a little put off by it. They were different people. "My favourite saying? Hmm... I don't really have a favourite, but one that comes to mind..." He thought for a moment and then chuckled. "'It is only the ignorant who despise education' is something I used to bug Annabel with whenever she complained about school." She would respond by throwing something at him or swatting him with her book. Then she would ask for his help, to which he would usually agree. "Do you ever wish we didn't have to hide our powers?"
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 1, 2012 3:43:33 GMT -5
Nell wrinkled her nose when he spoke of burning flesh, her expression caught between a grimace and a smile. ”That was sufficiently disturbing, thank you,” she told him, shaking her head. She was more amused than disturbed—actually, she wasn’t very disturbed at all and so it was easy to move on. Why can’t it be easy to move on in real life? She had a very strong desire to bang her head against the table in frustration. Instead, she chose to keep enjoying herself, as if her happiness was something entirely involuntary. Her mature comeback to his teasing was sticking her tongue out and blowing a raspberry, her expression impassive. Once again, her joking demeanor took a dive when he stated as a fact that he was going to take her for ice cream in the summer, as if he was so certain of the future. And what if they did last to summer? What would happen after that? Nothing’s built to last, even if it does last for a while. ”All righty then,” she said, none of her concerns coming through in her voice, in her face. She accepted Josh’s claim that they taste different as fact, lifting her eyebrows and nodding a little as she seemed to store this information away in her brain. After all, ice cream flavors are serious business.
Josh brought up studying German with her, and she wanted to lie to him and tell him that she didn’t want to study anything with him, that she didn’t even want to be around him. But he appeared so enthusiastic about it and she wanted to give him whatever he wanted. ”Okay,” she told him, ever the acquiescent one. She figured German would be easier than Russian because it was in the same family as the languages she already knew. Slavic languages were something else entirely. But you’re really going to stay with him? She bit her lip as she thought, her mind on Josh as he spoke. Nope, not good at the distance. ”Of course you would love saying that,” she said, though her voice was fond instead of mocking. She scolded herself for her affection, the fact that she couldn’t just accept the fact that she really needed to let go if she wanted things to be her way. If she was going to look out for herself, then…Then loneliness is the only option? Her situation was steadily becoming a catch-22 the more she thought about it. If she stays with Josh, she’ll end up getting hurt, if she leaves she’ll be lonely, another thing she wanted to avoid. There was no way to win.
She leaned back in her chair when he asked his next question, careful not to lean it back on two legs and risk taking a fall. ”Sometimes,” she said. It wasn’t something she really thought about, because she’d accepted as a way of life. It was hard to imagine things any other way, especially since it was Josh who informed her of why things needed to be the way they were. ”It would be nice not to hide,” she said. ”And it would certainly make life easier.” But then again, life wasn’t easy and therefore even if people wished it, it would never happen. The optimist in her wanted a world like that, one with no alliances and no fear of being found out for something that cannot be accepted in society. Conflict and fear of the unknown and the yearn to learn about the unknown were just facets of human nature. She could accept that. ”Unfortunately, there’s a reason why things are the they are.” Nell was doing a good job at hiding her powers anyway. She didn’t like to grow flowers out of nowhere for the hell of it in public places, even if she could disguise it as a magic trick or sleight of hand. She’d just stick with card tricks. Thinking of cards brought her next questions to mind and she said, ”Do you like to gamble?”
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jan 1, 2012 4:54:39 GMT -5
Listening carefully to her response, Josh found that they were in agreement. While it would be nice to use his heat and flame without having to worry about someone freaking out and the government catching wind, the laws and secrecy were in place for a reason. People always wanted what they couldn't have and if they couldn't get it willingly, they'd take it by force. For the government, that meant kidnapping and a battery of tests. He did not want to end up in some high-security facility strapped to a table while they took his blood and tried to recreate the elemental strain of DNA. "That's true," he said. "That aside, their research is actually pointless. They can't create our gifts, we're born with them." It was like a lion and a tiger, really. They could breed if they were forced, they were in the same class of species, but they were not exactly the same. Elementals had not been given their powers by radiation or freak storms. He knew from his Elemental History studies that they had been around since the beginning of time, always lesser in population than mortals but never as secluded and wary as they were in the day's age. There used to be entire civilizations of pure elementals, able to use their powers in every day life without fear. History is history, no use dwelling on it. But it had been a good question to ask, he felt. "I'm comfortable with the laws myself. I understand the need for them and I've got no real reason to rebel." Most rebel activists had their powers stripped from them.
He thought of poker and how much he enjoyed it, of late nights spent around a card table with a couple other guys and a few beers each. "Yeah, I like gambling," he said honestly and without shame. He had money to spare and was not as reckless with it as some. "I've not got an addiction, though, thank goodness." An addiction to gambling with the amount of funds he had access to would be disastrous. Donovan was generally lax about what Josh could and could not spend money on as long as he didn't do anything ridiculous but he'd skin him alive and leave him out for the scavengers if he ever squandered all of the hard-earned riches of the Dale clan through a simple game of poker. To make sure this didn't happen, Josh usually took a set amount and called it his limit for the night. No matter how much fun he was having, he'd back out of the game once he'd gone broke. If he came away with more money than he'd started with, it was a good day. If he didn't, that was too bad. He wouldn't be stupid enough to waste more of it on trying to get back the original. He knew a guy who had became homeless thanks to spending his rent on gambling. Josh had met him when he was fourteen and still hanging around the gang—the man had holed up in an alleyway to get out of the cold. Josh had quite liked him and wanted to help him out with his powers but at the time he did not have anything subtle like heat. Instead, he'd used the five finger discount to get him something to eat and had talked with him about poker for the next half an hour. He wondered briefly where the guy was now, but did not dwell on it for too long as it was time to ask his next question.
He had been keeping track in his usual, obsessive manner, and knew that he was now on his eighth question. They were getting closer to the end of the game and he only hoped that they could finish before their food arrived. He did not want to be stuck talking with his mouth full but also didn't want to delay the game until the end of the night. Maybe Nell would be in a better mood on a full stomach but she already seemed fine to Josh so he didn't have any misgivings. "Say you were marooned on an island," he said, and gave a bit of a smirk. He was not going to ask the classic and corny 'what three things would you take with you?' because generally when you were stranded, you didn't have a choice. Plus, it was typical. Instead, he inquired, "Would you rather try to find a way off the island, like a raft, or would you wait for possible rescue?" Though it was a relatively random question, he figured one could learn a lot about a person judging on their answer. Joshua figured he would probably try for the former—he was a strategist that would like to find a way off the island and a pessimist that wouldn't believe anyone was showing up to save his ass. Of course, in reality he'd probably curl up into a ball and shake. Building a raft sounded great in theory until you considered the fact that islands were surrounded by water. Very, very deep, drowning-certified water. He would be terrified. So actually, he thought on a second once-over of the options that he might try and wait. It all depended on the circumstances, he supposed, and as he did not plan on being shipwrecked he might never find out.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 1, 2012 18:19:10 GMT -5
She didn’t doubt Josh’s lack of a gambling problem, because that was something you noticed. So, she merely sing-songed, “You gotta know when to hold ‘em, and when to fold ‘em.” Nell stopped herself before she went into a Kenny Rogers imitation. She loved gambling, especially when it was being played for food. Sometimes she entertained the thought of playing blackjack for teddy grahams with the children, but then wondered if that would be something appropriate to teach them. Of course, she learned a lot of the games when she was little, but she stuck to teaching the young’uns the simpl ones that don’t involve any gambling, whether it be for M&M’s or actual money. A lot of the times, she was broke, so she didn’t enjoy playing with money herself. And no one ever seems opposed to playing for candy instead. Thinking of how much she enjoyed card games made her wonder for a moment if that’s something she’d like to do with her future. Maybe she could be a blackjack dealer at a casino or something. Then she thought of the fact that she didn’t like how casinos had no windows, and scratched that off.
Not much thought had to be put into the next question, because the answer was painfully obvious. ”I’d definitely try to get myself off the island, no question about it. Or at least try, because that’s better than sitting on your butt and waving your arms at every plane that goes by.” Nell didn’t want to wait for anyone to rescue her if she had the means to get by herself. She liked to believe she was crafty. She made it out of the country without her family catching on until her father screwed it up for her. She survived for years in a house when there was always the risk of her mother going too far. She’d spent her entire life surviving, it’s what she was best at. ”I’ve seen Cast Away, I know what to do.” Of course, she was joking. The truth was she’d do rather well if she was stranded anywhere. Mostly, she knew a lot of things necessary for survival. Plus, she’d waited before for rescue, she’d relied on others to save her. It never worked out. What if the coastguard never comes? What if you expect someone to come for you, and no one even notices your existence? She was letting that question cut a little too deep for her liking.
Nell realized again how she was falling into the game so easily by putting so much thought into her answers, and forgetting that she wasn’t supposed to be answering these questions or responding or…doing any of it. It was easy to forget, much easier than it was for her to try and let go. So, she put a little effort into keeping her questions simple. That’s the only thing that was saving her at this point, the fact that her questions were so simplistic. All she had to do was keep that up. ”What question are we on?” she asked. Half of the question was honest curiosity about how far they’d gotten, the other half was because she wanted it to end just so the torture would stop. However, she was well aware that it wouldn’t end just by giving up in the game. It didn’t matter what they were doing, Nell just knew that the simple thought of leaving Josh was painful to consider. And she was still measuring what would be more painful: slipping away from him before any damage could be done or stay with him and risk being abandoned? Instead of lingering, she moved onto her next question. ”If you could only have one electrical appliance to use, which one would it be?”
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jan 1, 2012 18:55:34 GMT -5
It seemed they shared a similar desire for independence and strategy when it came to island escape, though Joshua would be much more hindered by his jarring fear of the surrounding ocean. However, he supposed that there were stories about people overcoming their fears for the sake of saving themselves or something similar. "Yeah, I don't think I'd fancy being stuck there for too long, either," he frowned. Stupid water, hindering his imaginary progress. Then he laughed and said, "Though I could make a damn good flare." In a few seconds flat he could produce a massive bonfire or a fiery streak through the air, able to get the attention of anyone looking in the way of the island. He was taking his own question a little too seriously by this point but he figured that was alright. This game was fun to mess around with, over-analyzing the questions that were completely irrelevant such as Nell's about superpowers and his about being stranded on an island. "I reckon we'd stand a better chance if we were together. I could focus on trying to get people's attention and you could build a raft so we could get the fuck out in the meantime." Now he was going from serious into joking territory all over again. It was true, though, in a way. Nell could probably build a beastly raft using her control over earth. It was amazing sometimes how each of the five elements came in handy for different reasons. His fire was wonderful for keeping the temperatures manageable in the winter.
"What, find a volleyball and name it Wilson?" He had seen the movie himself with his parents and sister. He didn't watch a lot of movies alone unless they were things like documentaries or horror movies but their home theatre meant that Donovan and Patricia had often been able to talk him into watching various films with the family. He was a bit surprised when Nell asked what question they were on but also realised this gave him a perfect opportunity to bend things a little bit. "This next I ask will be my eighth, if that tells you anything." Which meant that the question she was asking would be her "ninth", when it reality Joshua was asking his second-to-last question. He didn't really know why he was lying to her. Mostly because he didn't want her to expect anything special for the final question. He kept the number close to what it actually was so she didn't expect anything, believing because she'd asked that she hadn't kept count herself. This was interrupted briefly by the arrival of the cheese bread and Joshua's gray eyes lit up as he took some of it immediately. "Help yourself," he offered to Nell, then bit into one of the segments. It was warm and fresh and just like he remembered, sufficiently distracting him until he'd polished off two of the already rather large pieces. He decided to stop after that, just so that he didn't absolutely gorge himself. "I love that stuff," he said fondly about the bread, taking a swig of the water he'd ordered with it to wash it down.
Her question made him think, as all good questions in the game tended to do. He was silent for a long moment, giving in to temptation and taking another piece of the bread to chomp on while he considered his answer. There were a lot of electronics in the world and he didn't really know which one would be most beneficial. "I think I'll go with the fridge," he said slowly. "I mean, I could live without most everything else but it would be a real pain not to have a fridge." He didn't rely rely much on electronics save for the basics of living like ovens and air conditioners. The toaster, oven, air conditioner and quite a few others could be rendered unnecessary by his powers if he were really desperate. He couldn't keep food cold, though, so that would be a pain. "Good question," he complimented with a light smile. Then it was his turn again. This is the last one before the finale, he acknowledge to himself, even though he had lied to Nell about it. He wondered whether she was expecting him to think hard on his last question or just ask something relatively normal like all the others had been. They'd both asked big questions the last time—he'd asked her out and she'd asked him ever-so-eloquently if he'd like to sleep with her, which he remembered had flustered him quite a bit. His lips twitched fondly at the memory. "If you could get rid of one month in the year, which one would you choose?" He then thought about it himself and decided that maybe February could go comfortable. Valentine's Day wasn't too important to him and it was cold and snowy. Ugh.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 1, 2012 19:54:37 GMT -5
Nell circled her pointer finger next to her head in mock celebration. ”Whoop de doo, you’re a human flare gun, too,” she said, keeping her voice low. Not that she even had a naturally loud voice, but when making comments like that, you didn’t want people to hear. It was very hard not to laugh at what Josh said, and so she didn’t try to resist now. ”Yeah, I think we’re ready for it, ese. Teamwork.” She really wished that it could be easier for her to just stare at him blankly and not laugh with him or enjoy herself and she wished she could be stronger. But that’s not how love worked, huh? ”No, I mean grow a long, beautiful beard,” she said as she stroked her chin. Since she never kept count because she often got lost in the game, she took Josh’s word for it, and wished that it was closer to the end. Why is this so difficult? The worse part is that it didn’t even really bother her that they weren’t as close to the end as she thought they were. She shouldn’t have kept playing with this game. Nell blinked at the cheese bread for a moment, before snapping out of it and taking a piece. Like Josh, she didn’t want to end up eating so much of it and get full off it. Even though that was near impossible for her. Well, she did get full, but a lot of times that didn’t last long. She decided that maybe she was not blessed with a high metabolism—she was cursed. Sometimes she even wondered if she had a tapeworm, but didn’t want to go to a doctor to find out. Besides, she’s had her diet for a while, if it was a tapeworm she’d have gotten sick sooner.
Of course, Nell agreed with Josh’s choice of keeping a refrigerator around, but that was only to be expected. It was something she believed that should be a necessity for everyone, since food was so important, and therefore she applauded Josh in her head for his response. ”You could always do it the old-fashioned way and store food in a cellar. Or salt everything.” She’d be worried about parasites in the meat and all that, but that wasn’t something Josh had to be concerned with. He had it pretty easy, actually. Well, save for the whole vitamin business, but that didn’t need to be stored in the fridge. It seemed they both kept running these questions into the ground and taking them seriously. That’s why she liked the game, even when she was trying to force herself from enjoying it. Nell didn’t want to stop talking to Josh, or being happy with him. Every time she thought of this, it terrified her. She waved a hand in front of her face in a pompous gesture and sighed. ”I try.” Actually, she wasn’t trying for good questions, she was trying for innocent, shallow questions. Okay, some of them weren’t too shallow, but she was trying to keep them from showing interest. She knew it wasn’t working, whatsoever. She had to say, she didn’t really like his question because it was so difficult for her to consider taking time away. ”Ack, no, I’d rather add on a month,” she said, but that hadn’t been the question, so she instead thought about it. It’s just a little game, that’s all. Doesn’t matter what you say, you’re not getting closer to him. That reassured her enough that she believed she could play this game as long as need be. Even though it made her wonder…would she want to keep Josh as a friend if she broke up with him? No, that would still be hard. She was attracted to him in every way, and losing even his friendship would still be hard. Is that why her father kept leaving everyone? Because connections were difficult to have. ”January, methinks. That way winter is shorter and spring is longer. And I don’t think any holidays are in January.” But then she’d have to think about the people who wouldn’t have birthdays, and that was rather sad. She couldn’t think of taking off a month without making a list of pros and cons in her head. It was how she naturally thought. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t running low on questions, which would have made it easier. She could have even suggested an end to the game. But she didn’t want to. ”Do you prefer pens or pencils?”
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jan 1, 2012 20:29:16 GMT -5
He grinned at her protest, glad that he'd found a difficult question. It hadn't been as hard of a choice for him because he wasn't considering any birthdays or anything of the sort when he decided which month he'd like to oust. All he knew was that December and April were staying in his calendar no matter what his final choice ended up being, because his own birthday was in April and he thought the year would be quite a lonely one without Christmas. "New Years, Nell," he pointed out. True, it was only the first of the month, but it would be rather unfortunate to be stuck in the limbo of a certain year forever. Of course, they could always just push it to February the first or the final day in December. And I'm over-analyzing things again. The thought was cheery and amused. He liked how seriously the both of them were taking things because it provided a good source of entertainment. There wouldn't be as much fun to the game if they didn't actually think about their answers. "February, for me. I don't care much for Valentine's. It's just that holiday when all the chocolate goes on sale afterwards. You know... scratch that, let's keep February." He laughed as he thought about it. Alright, maybe Valentine's Day had more use to him than he'd originally considered. He quite liked chocolate and when it all went on sale it had about the same effect as dragging him to the store and telling him to get whatever he wanted, because that was precisely what he did.
"Pens," he said without hesitation. "Pencils are a nuisance and besides, pens write much more smoothly." Joshua had a rather neat script when it came to writing but it was more emphasised when he held a pen in his hand. If the pencil's tip needed sharpening then the curves were wider in places and it threw everything off. The only problem with pens was that you couldn't correct mistakes as easily, so he usually had a bottle of white-out handy whenever he was working on something for school. He'd never use white-out on a final draft, though. He liked those to be neat (though he usually typed them up, anyway). Then it was his turn and oh god am I really going to do this? Even though he'd realised it recently, he hadn't really considered just how quickly he was going to have to make his decision on whether to back out or follow through with his plan. It could either go very well or it could go very badly, and Josh was a little worried that the latter might be the case. He was confident in Nell's good mood and completely unaware that she'd been spending the entire night trying to distance herself but he wasn't so confident in this decision. You said you'd do it. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't back out unless the outcome was obviously negative and he couldn't predict much of anything right now. Fuck it, I'll just go for it and—and see what happens.
The ring had cost a small fortune anyway, as most good ones do, and so it would be a bit of a waste if he were to change his mind. Taking a breath, he cast Nell a smile as he stood up from the table. For all she knew he could have just been getting up for a bathroom break but that was not the case as he kept his attention on her. "I lied," he confessed, the smile still playing on the edges of his lips. He was nervous but he was in a good enough mood that he didn't really look it, thank goodness. "This is my final question, and I figured I'd save the best for last, so..." Barely conscious of the fact that they were still in a public place, for his attention was focused on his girlfriend, Josh pulled out the ring, got down on one knee and in a voice that for his nerves was remarkably steady, asked her, "Will you marry me?" He hadn't really planned what he would do if she said no. He guessed that he'd just nurse his rejection in private and wonder if she was really sure about their future together after all. What Josh did know was that he loved her enough to go through with this. He didn't care that they were a bit young—no one said they had to get married right away, a ring was just a promise that they would... some day. And that was okay with him. He was a patient guy. After a long pause to allow that question to sink in, for the volume of it to be spoken, he said, "I know it seems a bit sudden, but... I wanted some way to promise you that I, at least, am not going anywhere." His gray eyes held the meaning of the words. Her sister had died, her parents abandoned her, the rest of her family too. But he wouldn't. He was staying, at least as long as she'd be willing to keep him around.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 1, 2012 21:11:33 GMT -5
Nell wagged her finger and said, ”Just make February the new year. Or cut February out because I never got the point of a leap year.” Of course, if they were serious about it, they were debating cutting out months that were there for a reason. Though she had to think of all the different ways time could be measured, and what would happen if they changed the system that had been in place for years and…too much philosphy for a simple question. She waited as he also cut out February then brought up the after-Valentine’s Day sale and shook her head. Of course. She would miss Valentine’s Day for the simple fact that she liked giving candy to people. But she could do that any day. Even though it would be rather random. ”Well, at least we don’t have to eliminate any months from the calendar, so I think we’re safe.” She tried not to think any harder lest she go into another inner-monologue about the socioeconomic repurcussions of fucking up the system. On the matter of pens and pencils—her last desperate attempt to keep from getting too personal—she didn’t know whether to agree or disagree. ”I have to say mechanical pencils. Replaceable led. That’s where it’s at.” She lifted her glass as if toasting to the wonders of mechanical pencils, still biding her time and wondering when their food is going to come.
Trying to keep her bored expression up now—it’s not working, whatsoever—she merely blinked and raised her eyebrows when he said he lied, her fingernail returning to its tracing of the glass’s rim. Why would he lie about the final question? It seemed rather ridiculous for her, but then again, Josh was always a strange guy. She’d pretty much given up on understanding him, and just accepted the things he did. Apparently his last question was a good one because he had to stand and—what is he doing? She simply became more and more confused when he got down on his knee and pulled out a ring and…Nell chuckled at his question, thinking he was messing around with her. She waited for his next question, his real question, but it wasn’t coming. Her smile slowly slipped from her face as her mouth formed the nest word before she could even get it out. ”O-oh!” This was happening? Right now, in this moment, this was actually happening? Josh looked serious, he was acting serious, oh god, this is serious… ”Oh…uhm…uh…wow…er....” She was so shocked she wasn’t even aware of what she was saying. Her mind stopped processing concepts after she registered that he wasn’t just pulling her leg. ”You…were…planning this?” she asked slowly, as her mind started working again and she could actually register that this game…he played it for this purpose?
You want to get away from him, she thought, and she knew that wasn’t true. She listened as he spoke again, her eyes studying his face, half of her still wondering if he was joking. His words resonated in a way that made her want to believe him. He was making a promise. But promises could be broken, right? ”My father left my mother,” she said, though her voice was weaker than she wanted it to be and she knew that she was giving in. She wanted that argument to help her, the fact that marriage hadn’t kept her father around, but then she wasn’t thinking about her parents. She was thinking about herself and Josh and what she wanted. Nell didn’t want to leave. And so she stopped measuring what would be the bigger risk—staying with Josh and taking a chance or leaving him and spending the rest of her life alone. ”Okay,” she said, and realizing that her voice was shaking she said more certainly, ”Yes, I’ll marry you.” Did those words just come out? She was pretty sure they did, and she was even more sure that she didn’t want to take them back. Marriage was a big thing, it was big commitment, and that was the clincher—it was commitment. She trusted Josh, and she hoped that would be enough to make sure she didn’t end up hurt in the end.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jan 1, 2012 21:43:42 GMT -5
Everything was funny when you were nervous, and so Joshua had to fight to keep his expression calm and complacent when Nell chuckled. His instinctual reaction was to laugh as well even though it wasn't exactly funny at all but he managed with his self control to keep things serious. He figured if he waited another couple of seconds, then surely it would sink in to his girlfriend that he was not just messing around with her. That would be a pretty expensive joke. God damn it, that was funny to him as well. Much to his relief, she seemed to be overcome with realisation after a moment or two and his lips twitched as she stammered over her words. She wasn't really saying much but he'd forgive her the surprise. He knew how absolutely random it had been, after all. "For about a week now," he confirmed when she asked if he'd planned it, wondering if she would notice the time frame and connect the reason why he'd decided to do things now. He'd never given a whole lot of thought to their age because in truth it didn't matter to him. If their relationship wasn't meant to last then it would go sour no matter whether they waited seven months or seven years. It had only been a little over a year since he'd met her but it didn't change his decision at all. He wondered what she was thinking as she reeled from the shock, wondered whether she was doubting it or whether she was going to trust him and say yes. He really, really hoped that it was the latter. Now that he'd went headfirst into the situation he realised just how crushing it would be if things went wrong.
He didn't say anything to her comment about her parents, though his own came to mind. He was pretty sure that they'd been pretty young, too, and it had worked out alright. Donovan had certainly insisted that it didn't matter. He had trusted his father on this one. Patricia didn't even know yet. Her voice shook as she spoke but it was the word that sent a sweeping sense of mingled relief and affection for her through him. Okay. That's a yes, isn't it? She confirmed it a moment later in a more stable tone and now he couldn't help a soft laugh to release the pent-up nerves. It sounded weak with the relief that he felt. "Okay," he said, repeating her earlier word, and he slipped the ring on her finger before offering to pull her to her feet and into an embrace. They were in a public restaurant, he didn't want to be too disruptive to the other patrons in the place. Sitting back down, he kept his hand on hers and smiled at her. "I love you," he said, very seriously and with a strong conviction. He was sure of the words—more sure of them than he'd ever been, really. This is a promise. This is forever. Forever was a hell of a long time, but if it was Nell then he was perfectly alright with that. "I want you to know that. Don't forget it, okay?" His gray eyes were light and almost teasing as he added the last part. "I'm sort of running out of ways to prove it, here—you certainly don't make my life easy!" And now he was grinning like an idiot because he was so relieved and happy that it had worked out well.
So I guess she's my fiancée now? It was a strange thought that brought back memories of his confusion at the start of their relationship, when he'd had to keep reminding himself that she was his girlfriend and not his best friend. Now everything was hilarious again, but it was more because of his glee than nerves. They were fading, now, the reasons for them gone. "As for your parents," he said, "there are always going to be risks. Everything is a risk. It'll just make it that much better when we do pull through." His voice was confident and smooth. He believed his own words as they came out of his mouth because it had been Nell who'd decided for him. If she had said no, he'd be doubting himself and his decisions right about now. But if they were both sure, then what was there to doubt? Pessimism wasn't getting in the way of his relationship—hell, no, he wasn't going to let it. He didn't want to consider break ups and make ups and problems and all the millions of things that could happen to tear them apart. Because they hadn't happened. There was no use building bridges for the chasms that didn't exist, now was there? "Besides, look at my parents," he pointed out with a chuckle. "They still act like they're newlyweds sometimes and they've been married around twenty years. They married young, too, Nell." Exhaling, he said in a light tone, "Great. Now I wish the food would hurry because I wasn't lying earlier when I said I was hungry."
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 1, 2012 23:21:55 GMT -5
It was amazing to consider that Josh had this in mind for a week, especially when she traced it back to what happened a week ago. He’s not going to be like the others. That’s what she wanted. She wanted him, she wanted to know that he wasn’t going to one day leave her. And htat’s what he was giving her. So that meant she should accept it, right? That’s what she thought. Then again, she may have just been thinking about the fact that she loved him and she wanted to be with him and she wanted to marry him. He seemed so relived when he repeated her words, and she realized just how nervous he was. A week. He’d been planning this for a week. If she had any doubts about what was going on, the ring on her finger was something very concrete and so was his body as she wrapped her arms around him. And just like that, they were engaged, he was her fiancé. It seemed so quick and painless. Nell didn’t feel any regret, or any desire to take back her reply. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but she couldn’t see why not. Love had to be enough, it needed to be enough.
Sitting again with his hand on hers, she felt the strange urge to cry when he said that he loved her and that she shouldn’t forget it and this was just the greatest moment. ”I won’t,” she said, and laughed weakly when Josh said that he was running out of ways to prove his love. ”I’m sorry. I really should never doubt you after all you've sacrificed.” she said, biting her lip as she looked down. She did feel guilty for that, because she loved him so much and sometimes that was scary. Like when someone who was supposed to be stable in her life leaves her. When everything else is uncertain, she couldn’t help but let that weakness affect her other relationships. Even though she wasn’t certain about a lot of things and she felt hurt by the abandonment of her father, she was certain that she wanted to keep Josh around. And she had faith that he would stick around. His proposal meant that, right? ”I love you too.” She believed now that it wouldn’t be a mistake, because she realized over the last week that he had this mind, she couldn’t leave him. She didn’t want to be like her father and she wanted to take the risk. And recognition from the law helped with that, stabilized it. But she knew now that wouldn’t be what kept them together—he wanted to be with her, too. Love should be a stronger glue than anything the law said.
Nell’s conviction strengthened when she thought of how Josh wasn’t her father and she wasn’t her mother, and they were completely different people with different lives. The future was still a scary thing. It was just as blurry as it had been before there was the threat of the trial, but a lot less scary. Even though there would always be the chance that she would be hurt. But that was just a part of life, right? Besides, if the future could be perfectly fortold, it would get boring, wouldn’t it? And if she could be certain about one thing, about who she spent it with, that would be reassuring enough to think about that big forboding space of time. He brought up a good point with his own parents, that they’d lasted so long and they were still in love. ”Right,” she said on a sigh, a smile brightening her features. ”The future is just…scary sometimes. I didn't grow up with any example of...happiness, really.” But she met his eyes and her smile widened to show that it didn’t matter. She was okay with that. It would take a little bit to get used to the fact that she was engaged now, because that was big. ”Really? I almost thought that you told them to wait so you could do this.” She said, lifting her eyebrows as she took a sip from her glad. Engaged. Wow. Engaged. To be married. She was regressing back to her first reaction of absolute shock. It would take a little while, she realized.
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