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Tweak says, "Helloooo, baaaayby!"

Milo Greer doesn't have to listen to this (imnotlistening) wrote in gooseberry,
@ 2017-01-05 01:03:00

Entry tags:

! log, hazel keating, milo greer

WHO: Milo Greer and Hazel Keating
WHEN: January 4, 2014. Evening.
WHERE: The gardens.
WHAT: Scaring the bejeesus out of each other.
WARNINGS: None! Except hilarity? ;D

Milo could've sworn when he set out for his walk that he had been able to actually see where he was going. Surely he wouldn't have gone anywhere at all otherwise. If he were being honest with himself, though, he knew he likely would have still gone out. It was just fog. How bad could it be? His hypothetical scenario would've included such a question, and now he knew the answer to said inquiry. Pretty damn bad. Milo would've sworn if he spoke, though there was a definite grimace of irritation on his face as he attempted to navigate his way through the gardens. The paths were obscured by clouds of thick fog, however, which meant he made a lot of stumbles over loose twigs and debris. Had anyone been around, and really they could have been and he just wasn't aware, they would have marveled at his ability to sound like a stampeding elephant in the forest.

Ironically, such obvious noise was something he could really use at the moment. He kept startling himself as shapes appeared in the corners of his vision, each time making Milo think a person had come out of nowhere. He was tense as he squinted through a particularly dense cloud, wishing not for the first time that he could actually hear. He'd kill to know he wasn't alone out here. In the darkness. Unable to find his way back easily.

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lilwitchhazel
2017-01-05 07:57 pm UTC (link)

Hazel was just going to check on her plants at the greenhouse and it was going to be fiiiiine and her trip was going to be quick and not scary despite the fog. Except she was finishing up and now it was really kind of creepy outside and she was regretting her decision. Why on earth did she think a stupid plant was worth this horror?

She was going to do it, though. She was going to be an adult and get back to camp all by herself because she was 16 now, and a Coppertale, and probably there was nothing in the fog. Gathering up her courage and her bag, Hazel started out from the greenhouse with a stern face. Things would be fine. But only moments into her walk she felt disoriented, as though she had looped around even though she hadn't.

The girl stopped and bit her lip, considering asking for someone to come save her because, really, this sucked. Maybe that wasn't the worst idea. About to pull out her journal she paused, staring out ahead into the fog. Oh god. Was that a person? Or a tree? Or an evil tree person? Did she just hear a noise behind her? Or in front of her? This was really all too much.

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imnotlistening
2017-01-05 10:43 pm UTC (link)

Peering through the grey, Milo could feel his face scrunching as he concentrated. Was something moving up ahead? Did it look like a person? His heart quickened a beat as he tried to work out what he was saying and how he felt about it. Would it be a good thing? Or was it something more sinister? There was no secret that weird things happened in the woods, as proven by the anon posts, so he wasn't entirely sure how to feel about this. Except that, you know, guys weren't supposed to be scared of the woods at night.

Attempting to shake off the sudden feeling of jitters, which was unsettling, Milo took a few steps back. He wasn't running away, of course. He just needed to...go the other way. Yeah. Without turning around, since the creepy things always somehow overtook you faster when your back was turned, Milo took another step back. He was trying to move slow, like this was no big deal in case anyone could actually see him through this mess, but his steps were a little quicker than he would've liked to admit.

Sliding a bit over some bushes, he felt himself suddenly connect with something very solid. Immediately, he jumped, whirling around as he felt his heart speed up ten fold.

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lilwitchhazel
2017-01-05 11:09 pm UTC (link)

Hazel was maybe starting to convince herself there was something really in the fog and that something in the fog was going to kill her. It was the end. She was standing stock still, just staring forward, trying to decide if she should pull out her wand just in case when something bumped into her back.

"HOLY SHITBALLS," she practically shrieked, scrambling to turn and aggressively shove whatever it was that had run into her away because she was not going down that easy, evil tree monster! She didn't even think to grab her wand then, so ready to just try to beat whatever it was with her bare hands; it was ultimately probably a good thing because she's a lot less intimidating without a wand, and a lot less dangerous.

Her eyes desperately sought out her attacker in the fog only to see...Milo?

"What the hell?!"

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imnotlistening
2017-01-05 11:18 pm UTC (link)

Of course Milo didn't hear Hazel's exclamation, but even if he had been able to it wouldn't have mattered. By the time she'd reached out her hands to shove him, he'd already raised his own as if trying to threaten some weird form of karate he'd seen in a B grade movie. Or, more accurately, do a really good impersonation of Kuzco from Emperor's New Groove. Stumbling back as he was shoved took care of the weird karate-chop hands, though of course he still couldn't see who it was. Not at first. The solid push made him believe it was an inhumanly strong creature of the night, however.

His heart was pounding as he tried to peer closer, the expression of fear turning to eyes-wide shock when he spotted his foe. Hazel. All pint sized and spitting mad. Damn she had a lot of strength for someone so small. Milo swallowed, trying to attempt a manly look of disinterest now that he knew he wasn't about to be axe murdered. It wouldn't do for her to see his fear. Or was that bears?

"I could ask you the same!" he signed aggressively, able to see her expression and infer the own accusation in her words. "Who sneaks up on a deaf person?" His lips moved, just in case she wasn't well-versed in sign. Not that it mattered at the moment. They were both probably just relieved the horror movie ending had been postponed.

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lilwitchhazel
2017-01-05 11:38 pm UTC (link)

For a moment Hazel put her hands on her head, trying to calm the shaking that was definitely not happening in her limbs. She was so, so happy she didn't leap at Milo to attack like she had pretty much been planning to do when she though she was about to be murdered. It took her a moment to focus on his hands and his mouth and shit she forgot she had to try harder to communicate with the Ribbonfin boy; she was very much not well-versed in signing. While normally she wouldn't care about this at all she was currently trying to calm her racing heart and was feeling a little less charitable.

"You bumped into me dillweed. Your problem's stupidity, not deafness." Hazel knew it wasn't stupidity either but probably the irrational fear she had just been feeling herself (and totally saw in Milo), but it was easier to just call him stupid. She spoke a little more slowly for Milo's benefit.

"What are you doing out here anyways? Go home!" Something she had very much wanted to do before, but...now she just sort of wanted to crawl back into the greenhouse. Maybe she would.

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imnotlistening
2017-01-07 09:34 pm UTC (link)

Milo was grateful for the way her lips seemed to move more slowly despite her obvious fear. The fog was so thick that it would have been hard to achieve his normal level of efficiency when reading lips. His heart was still pounding, so it was harder to make out what Hazel was saying than even the fog made it, but he definitely picked up on the gist of it. He was stupid, this was his fault, blah blah. Girls.

"I didn't bump into you! I think it was mutual bumping," he retorted, moving his lips for her own benefit. Milo hated speaking normally, but this weather made times call for drastic measures. "You're problem is no situational awareness. And grumpiness." He added, his own frown tugging down his lips as he looked down at her. Hazel was practically spitting she was so mad. Awesome.

"Me?! What about you?" he shot back, clearly more aggravated that she seemed to be insisting he should go home because obviously he was deaf. "What do you think I'm trying to do right now?" It was so hard to find your way back, and that little bit of uncertainty flashed in his eyes though Milo wasn't looking directly at Hazel for fear of being burned to cinders so. Maybe she didn't see it.

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lilwitchhazel
2017-01-08 01:10 am UTC (link)

Hazel only wanted to kill Milo a little bit, and most of that murderous rage was because she was still amped up and she was annoyed that she was still amped up. At least they seemed to be communicating somewhat effectively

"I was standing still," she said before throwing up her hands. "Oh my god, whatever, fine, Hazel is the worst, mutual bumping your dumb ass. Ugh." Her grumpiness was slowly turning into something of a pout as she glanced around, totally not checking the fog for monsters. "I was making sure my plants were doing ok."

She huffed. "And I'm not grumpy or whatever. Look, just.. ugh, whatever." A pause. "Are you ok? It's freaky as hell out here." If he wasn't going to admit he was freaked out a bit she would. It was a sad little attempt at an olive branch.

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imnotlistening
2017-01-09 10:27 pm UTC (link)

Milo had gotten pretty good at reading people over the years, which meant he could tell how mad she was. Still, it looked like she was cooling off little by little, which is exactly what he was doing. Mostly because he had to focus on reading her lips in the fog and couldn't stay mad with that amount of concentration being used.

"Not the worst," he corrected, feeling more of his own olive branch tendencies surface. "Maybe like the second worst." He even managed a slight smile as his hands moved slower, choosing to ignore her 'dumb ass' comment. "Plants? Like for Herbology?" Milo couldn't comprehend why anyone would have plants for fun. He killed things that grew in the earth just by looking at them.

Taking a deep breath, he watched Hazel as she seemed to lose even more of the fire. "I'm fine. Just...disoriented," he admitted, expression grudging. He didn't want to say he was scared exactly, but he felt this was a good compromise. "I got turned around trying to get back."

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lilwitchhazel
2017-01-09 11:27 pm UTC (link)

Hazel was trying to be helpful in her talking but... really, she was just speaking slower and maybe standing a tiny bit closer than she normally would otherwise. She felt a little bad, but not bad enough to try to poorly sign at him; it would have mostly been made up anyways and may have just confused him. At least she was definitely cooling off though, her ire rarely lasting for long anyways. She hmphed quietly at his assertion that she was only the second worst, his words drawing a bit of a smile up from her despite herself.

"No, they're for Artificing." She rolled her eyes. "Yes for Herbology, dummy." Even if she was getting less angry she certainly wasn't losing any of her sass. "...yeah, it's not hard to get disoriented in this crap. I got mixed up just leaving the green house, but..." Hazel glanced around, frowning. She almost started speaking while not looking at Milo before remembering that she should probably continue to be somewhat accommodating.

"Um. I think you're supposed to go that way? It looks sort of... lakey that direction. I guess even if it is the right way though it'll suck getting back. I'm really not looking forward to my walk."

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imnotlistening
2017-01-10 01:27 am UTC (link)

Despite how good he was at this whole lip reading thing, the fog mixed with how agitated Hazel was meant he was missing some things she said. He scrunches his face a little at her, obviously missing her sound effect after his attempt at humor, but the smile is definitely not missed. Milo found himself relaxing a bit, especially since the missed words were fortunately mostly when she called him things like 'dummy', though her expression still spoke a thousand words.

"Hey my mom likes plants that don't have anything to do with class, so." His own eyes roll, though it was more for show at this point. He wasn't really mad anymore, just embarrassed to be caught looking like a scaredy cat in front of Hazel. Her words about getting lost ironically were lost on him as she turned away, and he nearly threw up his hands in frustration. That was his move! Other people weren't supposed to do it to avoid talking to him.

"We can walk together," he said quickly, her directions barely finished before the suggestion came. Milo didn't want to admit to being scared, but he also knew trying to act like he was protecting Hazel wouldn't go over well either. "That way you won't bump into me again," he added with a smirk.

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lilwitchhazel
2017-01-10 11:38 pm UTC (link)

Unable to help herself, Hazel raised an eyebrow. Go together? They were going in opposite directions - Milo must really be scared. She considered making a little bit of a joke of it at first, the laugh almost bubbling up in her, before he quickly realizing that Milo honestly had way more of a reason to be scared than her. She was pretty freaked out and she could hear things coming... her fellow Gooseberrian was missing an entire sense to help him deal with the danger of whatever was out in the fog. If there was any danger. But there definitely was. Hazel grabbed Milo's arm, looking more determined than angry now, though a hint of a pout remained in her expression.

"I'll take you back to Ribbonfin. So I don't bump into you again," she announced, deciding to give his ego a pass this time. She hoped that the walk to the Ribbonfin campsite would shore up her courage for her own trek back to Coppertale. If they made it back to his campsite surely she could make it back to hers on her own, right?

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imnotlistening
2017-01-13 01:38 am UTC (link)

Seeing the eyebrow raise, Milo seemed to realize how ridiculous his suggestion was. Of course it would be a bit of a hike, but it was better than wandering around lost separately. At least finding his way back from Coppertale would be easier since it was a path he had traveled more than this one. He could see the wheels turning in Hazel's eyes, which was pretty impressive considering the fog, but he didn't have time to correct or explain himself before she was grabbing his arm.

Milo had to turn his head to keep his eyes on her lips, but as soon as he realized what she was saying, he tried to resist. "No! I will take you back," he insisted, managing to disentangle his arms so he could sign, emphatically pointing at her when he said you. Guys weren't supposed to be helpless babies, and he didn't think Hazel was helpless either. It was just the gentlemanly thing to do.

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lilwitchhazel
2017-01-14 12:22 am UTC (link)

It said something about Hazel that her first assumption was that Milo was being stupid or scared, not polite - this was not something she was going to really think about though. The Coppertale looked rather put off as he pulled away from her, her hands immediately going to her hips.

"No way, dude. First off just because I'm kind of small doesn't mean I need an escort, second of all last time I checked you're the one in a bit of a rough spot here with the whole not hearing things shit." She pointed to her ears, scowling. "At least if something is coming to murder me I can hear it - just let me help you out. I won't even tell anyone." Now she was rather determined to take him back to Ribbonfin, some of her fieriness rearing its head again. In her mind though she was being very diplomatic about the whole thing. "Don't be an idiot."

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