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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 14, 2012 15:49:17 GMT -8
Gabrielle hadn't really been sure when she was to meet up with Rust, so she'd just showed up when the cafe had opened and stuck around. She had picked a table in the corner of the room and turned it into a mini craftshop, the surface littered with scraps of paper and colouring pencils, an envelope, a pair of scissors and a sellotape dispenser.
She hunched over several sheets of A4 paper that were heavy with little pictures and pieces of stone, chips of paint or threads stuck to them, writing her name slowly at the bottom of one with a fountain pen. Now and again, she'd look up and around, keeping an eye out for Rust before getting back to what she was doing.
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 14, 2012 16:18:12 GMT -8
Whistling as he left his lesson with Mrs Ze, Rust made his way over to the cafeteria area. He'd felt the best he had in a long ass time. First, Mrs Ze had worked her magic on his cheek and healed him up. Then she'd basically had his back throughout his explanation of the Secernia incident. Finally, he'd had another good talk with Ace and started organising the party for next week.
Everything was going swimmingly.
And now? He was off to meet the OTHER of his best friends here. A certain Gabrielle Viaris. He hadn't seen the tanned girl since Monday and boy oh boy, did he have a lot to tell her about the past week.
To be honest, he was fairly nervous about this. Everyone else had been insanely good about it, but Rust couldn't know how Gabrielle was going to take the news.
Or if she'd already heard it. The rumours had been flying over the past four days. How he'd beaten up Secernia for no reason and threatened to do more if she told anyone. Whilst he'd restored some of his reputation today...the beating up women rumour had had a four day headstart. Already he could feel a few stares and the mechanic bristled as he walked the halls.
Keep cool. remember what Ace said. Count back from 10...
By the time he reached 0, he was at the cafeteria and there was Gabrielle. He smiled finally and walked over.
"Afternoon, Miss Viaris. Missed me?" he greeted with a grin.
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 14, 2012 17:38:14 GMT -8
"As much as I'd miss having herpes, if I ever had them." Gabrielle said, looking up. She waved as she spoke, realised there were bits of sellotape stuck to her fingers, pulled them off and waved properly. She reached over to the second chair at the table and pulled it out for him.
"How've you been?" she said, giving him a small smile. If she had heard the rumours about him, she gave no sign of it.
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 14, 2012 17:40:06 GMT -8
Rust grinned and nodded back, seating himself at the table.
"Well, that's just a hurtful thing to say at all, Gabrielle." the mechanic mock pouted. "Anyways, what are you up to? You seem to have opened up your own little craftwork area here. Big project or something?"
Nice...seems she doesn't know about the rumours.
He didn't answer her question, just waited for the answer to his, first.
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 14, 2012 17:48:32 GMT -8
"Don't mock my letters, Rust." Gabrielle said, holding up one of the heavily decorated pages. It was filled, margin to margin, with her writing except were she had stuck on pictures and things. One of the pictures was the one of Rust doing the peace sign with his name underneath in ornate letters and a small arrow connecting the two. Below that was a picture of the beach, with 'Really pretty beach' in the same lettering.
"Now you know why I asked for Friday when we met on Monday." she said, looking at the page herself. "It's, uh, kind of a monstrosity of a thing."
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 14, 2012 17:51:54 GMT -8
"Your letters again?" Rust chuckled. "Man, and I thought you were kidding about those things. Alright, I'll consider them off limits, how's that?"
The mechanic blinked as he saw his own picture.
"Huh...I'm worth going on the Letter To Mami And Papi?" he said aloud, tilting his head to look at himself. "I do NOT look good in that picture... Man I must have been having an off day."
Rust nodded at her timing.
"No kidding...you want some help with it?"
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 14, 2012 18:05:55 GMT -8
Gabrielle blushed.
"W-well, you're one of the only people I've m-met here. Why w-wouldn't I put you on the letter? They'd want to know, and I don't mind them knowing as long as they d-don't think anything because, I m-mean, there's nothing to think." she said quickly, in one, surprisingly non-stuttered rush.
She stopped, put a hand up to indicate that he should give her a minute, took a deep breath, and exhaled.
"I'm f-fine. Just got a l-little carried away there." she said, then shook her head. "I don't need help with the letter. I was just finishing it off while I was waiting for you to show up."
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 14, 2012 18:10:53 GMT -8
Raising an eyebrow at her stuttering again, Rust just calmly waited for her to finish until he gave his word. He'd gotten used to her little quirks now.
"Hey, relax girl." he offered, as always. "Chill your beans and take your time."
Nothing to think? What did she mean by that, exactly? Ah well.
"I can tell you got carried away," the mechanic agreed. "You were nearly going a million words a minute again. Still, you wouldn't be Gabrielle without it, would ya?"
He gave her a grin before continuing.
"So, you nearly finished? Hope you didn't put anything TOO insulting about me there. Or mention the story with the girder." Rust shuddered. "Lord knows I don't need your folks or your sister thinking I'm some kind of dumbass."
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 14, 2012 18:23:03 GMT -8
Gabrielle grinned and tapped the page, where there was a stick figure drawing of a stickman with long hair being stuck up on by what might be a girder, if girders had legs and menacing expressions and were drawn poorly.
"Don't worry," she said, "I'll just tell them to consider it your Confession and papa'll have to keep quiet. By the way, do you want a muffin?"
She started looking through her bag, which was slumped on the floor, next to her chair.
"The phone is fine, by the way. Sort of. I ran a lighter over the crack and it kind of melted it a little. But besides that, it's still working. Anyway, what have you been up to?"
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 14, 2012 18:28:43 GMT -8
"What is it with you and fire, Gabrielle?" Rust muttered with a smirk. As the girl offered muffins, the mechanic's stomach decided right at that moment to let loose with a monumental growl. He blushed.
"And I'd love one thanks. You're an absolute godsend." he admitted. He still pouted at the girder drawing. It was a total accident! He didn't mean to headbutt a girder!
"Confession, huh? Long time since I had one of those... They still use the little booths as has that upgraded? S'been about 8 years since I last went to church, so..." Rust shrugged. "Actually, speaking of which, got a slight confession myself. I've already told Ace and Mrs Ze, but...you kinda deserve to hear it from me too."
As he said that, a few students passed by, shot Rust a dirty glare from behind and carried on forward, hurrying and whispering. The mechanic withered a little before recovering.
"Well, have you heard the rumours lately?"
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 15, 2012 15:48:15 GMT -8
Gabrielle took out a small plastic tub with muffins in it. She cracked open the lid and slid him over one, then left the tub open on the table.
"Well, they've replaced the seats, if that's what you mean. I'm not sure how you're meant to upgrade a confessional. Not like they can take them elsewhere either. ...Priests tend to get in trouble if they bring folks home for their confessions." Gabrielle said, then caught the people's dirty looks at Rust and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm taking it I should have?"
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 15, 2012 16:02:43 GMT -8
Taking the muffin with a quick thank you, Rust began to unwrap it from it's paper holder and took a bite out of it to stop his stomach from growling so much. He gave her a slight nod at her question, his mouth being too full to answer.
"Basically..."
And for the third time, Rust explained all. Alora, Kikime, Secernia, Himself, Ace and Mrs Ze. All leading up to him meeting with Gabrielle.
"And...that's what happened." he finished. "Kinda didn't know if I'd honour our arrangement today, but Ace, bless her heart, got me out the funk and Mrs Ze managed to finish the job. It's just..."
He frowned slightly.
"Recently I've been getting...false memories? Dreams? I dunno, but the same things happen in them, except I'm in the right this time. Like sometimes Secernia insulted my mom first...or Kikime threatened me with scissors or something. But that couldn't have happened, right? Or I'd have remembered it..."
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 15, 2012 16:13:49 GMT -8
As she listened, Gabrielle's body language shifted subtly. She moved back in her chair, drawing herself away from him slightly. At first she hunched up her shoulders and lowered her head a little as if she was trying to make herself seem smaller, then she drew herself up to make herself larger instead.
"That's... certainly some news." she said as she twisted her fingers together, voice slow. "Maybe you did get a c-concussion or something."
She looked away.
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 15, 2012 16:23:38 GMT -8
Rust noticed.
The pit of his stomach dropped out entirely.
Oh god...I horribly misjudged this...
He'd assumed the more he talked about it, the better it would get. The less guilty he'd feel. But that was only because his audience was Ace, a girl who was the biggest tomboy Rust had ever met, and Mrs Ze, who was an incredibly laid back teacher in regards to this sort of thing.
Gabrielle was not either of these two women. And the mechanic had failed to realise that.
Oh...
There was an incredibly awkward silence for a few minutes before Rust looked away, surveying the rest of the hall.
"Err...well..."
....goddamn it...
"Well...there's a party coming up next week in Ace's dorm...next Friday and everyone's invited. Would you be interested or....are you busy?"
Change the topic. Change the topic quick. CHANGE THE TOPIC!
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 15, 2012 16:40:56 GMT -8
Gabrielle's jaw dropped. She stared at Rust in disbelief at what was either his sheer audacity or stupidity.
"Y-you just t-told me that you f-fucking threatened a girl not to talk when you hit her and then y-you invite me to a p-party?! I c-can't tell if that means y-you're genuinely n-not an abusive a-asshole or just a fucking r-retarded one!"
She noticed a few people looking towards them and switched to quieter tones.
"I'm not kidding, what's your fucking angle here, huh? What are you going to try do, g-get me to gang up on her for talking? Because clearly she's said something if it's gotten around."
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 15, 2012 16:48:30 GMT -8
Rust winced visibly.
"...you're right. That was stupid. Wasn't thinking. Wanted to change topic." he said glumly. This meet up was proving to be a worse idea every time he opened his mouth. "This...ach god damn it."
Count back from 10...
Even with this advice, his frustration was still growing. He just couldn't explain it right! What the hell was going on with him?!
"No! Nothing like that!" he called back, before trying to quieten down too. "I'm just...GAH!"
He stood up from the chair, holding his face with one hand. The AA flickered for a moment before disappearing fully.
"Thanks for the muffin. I'm getting some air. Sorry for scaring or upsetting you."
With that he turned and went to exit the Cafeteria area. He noticed the stares again, but bit his tongue. If he said anything now...he'd be proving them all right. All of them and their thoughts about him.
I can't tell if that means you're genuinely not an abusive asshole or just a fucking retarded one!
The AA flickered again, this time brighter, before the mechanic finally managed to exit.
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 17, 2012 9:50:37 GMT -8
Gabrielle did nothing to stop Rust, just glaring after him like everyone else until he escaped through the doors. Then she instantly regretted it.
That was stupid, godamn stupid and godamn hypocritical to boot. She'd done worse and acted dumber about it for even dumber reasons and now she was losing her shit at him? She could almost feel Father Valance's disapproving look and hear the speech he'd give her. Let he without sin cast the first stone, Quixote, you have got to stop acting like this.
Fuck.
Gabrielle cursed, then grabbed her bag and ran after him. She stopped short at the door, turned and glared at the other students.
"What, haven't you ever seen someone get upset when people spread shit about them before?" she snapped. "And don't touch my stuff!"
Okay. So there'd been no real reason to try shame them for looking at that spectacle, but it did make them look down.
Gabrielle went through the doors, spotted Rust not too far ahead and ran after him.
"Hey, wait up!"
She grabbed him by the wrist, bracing herself just in case he had a little 'slip' here too and pulled him back.
"I said wait up, godammit."
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 17, 2012 10:08:31 GMT -8
Rust felt the hand grab his wrist and whirled round, the AA erupting into life with a straight punch aimed for Gabrielle's face...
...only to be caught by the wrist by Rust's free hand, actively stopping the spectral arm from knocking into his friend. Judging by his face, a fair amount of mental exhaustion and physical exertion was needed. With a grunt and screwing his eyes shut, the AA slowly de-materialised and left Rust with one hell of a headache.
Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.
Wincing and rubbing his head, he still didn't pull himself out of Gabrielle's grasp just yet.
"What? What do you want?" he asked, trying to get this over with. He'd already bollocked himself enough for a week, he didn't need Gabrielle adding onto it, god damn it!
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 17, 2012 10:41:24 GMT -8
Gabrielle winced as the Arm appeared, again bracing herself for impact. It took her a moment to realise just what was going on and she tensed up slightly, trying not to move or make a sound until the Arm had disappeared, lest she break his concentration. Once it had she relaxed and looked at him worriedly.
"H-holy fuck, are y-you okay?" she asked, "T-that looked bad. Are y-you hurt?"
She looked down at the floor, still holding his wrist.
"I d-don't want anything. I j-just wanted to s-say..." she looked up at him. "S-sorry."
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 17, 2012 11:23:35 GMT -8
Rust let out a deep breath.
"I'm fine, Gabrielle, just...Gah." The teen rubbed at his head some more. "I try to keep it covered up and stuff, but I've been pretty majorly stressed recently."
He looked up at Gabrielle, sincerity in his eyes.
"Don't apologise." he said, quite seriously, meeting her gaze. "It's my fault. I'm... I'm really sorry, Gabrielle. I didn't mean for any of this but..."
He sighed and picked himself up.
"I...guess, that's why I'm here right? Controlling it so it doesn't pull this kind of crap off in the future. It's part of the reason I was so nonchalant. Kinda thought if I could laugh about it, I'd be less stressed. Guess I need to actually talk about it seriously a few more times, huh?"
The mechanic then blinked a few times.
"Err...can I have my hand back now please?" he asked, with a slight grin.
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 17, 2012 12:51:18 GMT -8
Gabrielle shook her head, apparently determined to take at least most of the blame.
"N-no, I should have given y-you the benefit of the doubt. I just... I j-just lose it whenever s-someone says 'd-d-don't tell anyone'." she mumbled, apparently having greater trouble saying the last part of the sentence than usual. " Even if they have a g-good reason, like not w-wanting a b-bunch of assholes who d-don't know shit to be p-passing fucking judgement every time they walk by. It's my own p-problem."
She looked down at her feet again.
"Well," she said hesitantly. "If you want, you can talk to me about it? I don't know how good it'd be, maybe I'm the entirely wrong person, but I do get wanting to control... that kind of thing."
She tilted her head.
"Have your what back?" she asked. She looked at her right hand then her left one, squeaked, and dropped his hand.
"Ah s-sorry! It wasn't even your hand anyways!"
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 17, 2012 13:45:08 GMT -8
Rust just smiled at Gabrielle, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
"Hehe...yeah. I'd like that Gabrielle."
A wicked gleam shone in his eye for a moment.
"That IS if you're willing to come to the house party this Friday. It's gonna be in Dorm 5, couple of my friends, Ace and Jacob are hosting."
Then he realised he was changing the subject. Again. Annoyingly.
"Ahhhh, let's get back to the topic at hand here." Rust said, again awkwardly. "Basically, I'm sorry for taking off like that. And my wrist totally counts as part of my hand. "
He grinned, not as widely as he used to however.
"Apologies, crappy jokes when I'm nervous."
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 17, 2012 14:40:02 GMT -8
"I don't know. Will there be a lot of people there? It's a party, of course there will be, why the fuck am I asking..."
Gabrielle shifted from foot to foot uneasily. She bit her thumbnail and frowned. A party. Okay, she could do that. What did you do at parties anyway? Try not to insult people, get drunk and hope someone doesn't rape you while you can barely realise what's happening, wear uncomfortable shoes and make small talk. She could probably do that.
She paused and gave him a horrified look. "I don't have to w-wear a d-dress or a skirt, do I? I rather j-jump off a bridge than inf-flict that on people. And look, it's no b-big deal. You were f-freaked out, I g-get it. We should maybe get back in there though, before I have to throw some schmuck through a w-window for stealing my stuff."
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Post by JDGreat on Jul 17, 2012 14:58:33 GMT -8
Laughing a little at her anxiety, Rust just began to walk back towards the cafeteria, by her side.
"No, you don't have to turn up in a dress or skirt. This is just a house warming party and if I know Ace, she'll basically be in jeans and T-shirt. Though you wouldn't look bad in a skirt, honestly." he told her. Years of training by his mother and her friends there, folks. Never imply that they won't look good in something, it never ends well.
Opening the door back to the Cafeteria to allow Gabrielle back in first, Rusty winced slightly as he heard a few whispered comments but otherwise said nothing.
10, 9, 8...
"Where were we sitting, mate? I kinda completely forgot in the confusion." Rust admitted guiltily, looking around.
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Post by SarahSyna on Jul 18, 2012 10:18:06 GMT -8
"Well, if it's just like that, then I guess, okay... Wait, you know-uhwhat?"
Gabrielle did a double-take at the compliment. She stared at him at what could be very close to sheer shock as she stammered out a quick and awkward thanks. She ducked in through the door quickly and pointed out the seat.
"Uh, over in the corner there." she said, craning her neck to see from this distance if anyone had nicked a muffin or rifled through her bag. "Looks like nothing's gone."
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