wind_dancer (wind_dancer) wrote in age_of_miracles, @ 2008-02-16 01:31:00 |
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If things and times had been different, he would have been taking her off to a nice dinner at some nice restaurant that normal teenagers wouldn't dream about being able to afford. If things were different, he'd be picking her up at her house in his newest sports car to drive her off to said dinner and maybe a movie afterward. But that wasn't how things would be. No. Tonight, he set up a nice picnic-style dinner in the conservatory. The food wasn't fancy and didn't consist of fancy pasta and steak dishes. Instead it consisted of Tortino pizza rolls, bagged salad with Italian dressing and white grape juice in plastic champange glasses. There were the small candles set up with some soft music playing somewhere within the glassed-in room. And then there was Julian. He was sitting in one of the wicker chairs, dressed in a pair of nice pants and a button down shirt with a small box sitting in his lap. And he waited. Very patiently. Sofia had serious been debating on whether she should come or not. She was supposed to be making a point. Ever since they had left the cabin in the woods, she hadn't spoken to him or even looked in his general direction outside of training, but...he was making an effort and no matter how upset she was about how he viewed things, she could look beyond his words and his ego and see him for who he really was. He was a nice guy. He tried to treat her right, at least it looked that way. She felt she needed to give him a chance, some sort of try anyway. So here she was in her nicest clothes. Her hair was left down, and she felt weird. Nothing was right. Everything was wrong, and she was going to see a guy she wasn't supposed to be talking to, but it was Valentine's Day. That was a day when everything could be set aside, right? She pushed the door to the conservatory open, biting her lip. There was a small envelope in her hand. She wasn't exactly getting an allowance, so she couldn't buy him anything. Instead, she made him something. "Hello?" She called nervously sticking her head in the door. Julian nearly fell out of the chair when he heard the door open and the voice. He was relieved. Completely so that she had showed up. He quickly stood from where he sat and ran a hand through his hair. She looked so nice. Beautiful. It fit his nickname for her, whether she liked it or not. No. He wasn't going to call her that. He had sworn to himself that he would do his best to not do anything or say anything that upset her tonight. He was trying to make up for the misunderstanding last month and he thought he was doing a pretty okay job. He took a few steps over to her and smiled. "Here." He handed her the small box and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Happy Valentine's Day. Oh, and--" he paused and stepped aside, gesturing to the small dinner. "I know it's not much, but I figured it was the thought that counted. And, hey, you get to spend the evening with me." He laughed, trying to joke and make light since she certainly looked nervous. Inside the box, once she opened it, she would find a gold chain with gold dove pendant on it. This was...not what she had expected. It was really thoughtful. It was really nice. He looked just as nervous as she felt, which caused her to relax a little more. Pulling her hair behind her ear, she offered her envelope, with the handmade card inside and took the box in exchange. "Happy Valentine's Day." The words came really quietly as she kind of stared at the box. He'd gotten her something. It was odd to feel how she did, not being able to get him a real gift like she wanted, especially when he'd managed to get something for her. She honestly hadn't even thought of Valentine's Day with him. That thought alone made her feel kind of bad. "You did not have to go through all this trouble...we are not..." They weren't what? She hadn't even opened the box yet, she was just...flipping it over in her hands, but he had gotten it for her and the curiosity was killing her. Brows furrowed as she heard the chain slide around inside before opening it. "Wow. It is...it is beautiful, Julian." No one had ever done anything like this before. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to act. She inhaled. Exhaled. "Thank you." And then she smiled. A certain weight had certainly lifted from his shoulders and he nodded. Glancing down at the envelope, Julian opened it, pulling the card from it. He smiled, reading it over multiple times before flipping it around a few times. He really did love her hand-made cards and thought they were better than any store bought Hallmark thing he could find. His smiled widened when she finally opened the box and shrugged a bit. "I'm glad you liked it. It...reminded me of you." He wasn't sure how, but when he had seen it, all he could think of was Sofia at that moment. Maybe it had to do with the wind and flying and the air and birds. Yeah. Something like that. "So! How about those pizza rolls, huh? Best pizza rolls out there." He was sure Fred could make better since Fred could make anything better, but Tortino pizza rolls were the god of all pizza rolls. He turned to head over to the small blanket and paused, turning a bit to look behind him, back at her and offered her his hand to take. She was happy he looked so pleased at the card. She'd drawn lame little hearts on it, and signed it...and put his name in there somewhere, if he looked hard enough he'd be able to find it. Maybe not today, but one day, within all the squiggles she drew. It was a nice thought. It really was. Because he'd notice it and see how much work she'd actually put into it. She'd been messing with it all day. It was a wonder her fingers weren't stained with ink. He said the dove reminded him of her, and she could think of lots of ways, but didn't want to do that right now, not when he was talking about pizza rolls. She was starving. The girl had been working so hard on the card, that she hadn't eaten yet. She didn't even realize it until the smell of food registered. When he offered his hand, she slipped her hand in it and smiled. "I think I am going to die before I get to anything in me." She laughed. "Julian. Will you help me put this on?" She said holding the box up to him. Julian paused in mid-step and glanced back at her. "Oh. Sure. Of course." He nodded and took the necklace from the box. Setting the box on a small wicker end table, he moved behind her. Working with the claw hook for a moment, Julian reached around her and let the charm rest against neck. He was never particularly good at this and when he finally managed to hook the necklace, he tried to move her hair from under the chain. He made a face when it got a bit caught and carefully worked the few strands free from the delicate chain until it seemed to lay nicely against her neck. He moved back around and smiled, satisfied with how it looked. He had done a bang up job with picking it out. "Just as I thought. Looks fantastic on you, beau--" He paused and glanced down, rubbing at the back of his neck. "It looks fantastic on you, Sofia." He paused and finally sat down on the fuzzy blanket he had set on the floor and held out his hand once more to offer assistance to her when she decided to sit. She could feel the cool metal drag against her skin, along with the brush of his fingertips as he tried to move her hair out of the way. She tried to stay still while he did it, but she wanted to look at him while he was this close. Maybe it was a bad idea to let him do it, because...well they were alone. Usually when they were alone, she seemed to forget why she was angry at him. He felt different. She felt different. Everything was different and kind of perfect in a way. It was odd how it worked out. When she thought about it long enough, some of the things he said were right, even if half of it was wrong. They didn't come from the same background though, and she had to take it into account at times. When he'd called her by her name, she took his hand and let him sit her down in front of the pizza rolls. "Everything looks wonderful." She said noting the bagged salad. Really, he'd gone all out. Pizza rolls were easy, but the salad? It was a nice touch. This was so cute she was half tempted to skip the dinner and just throw herself on him, but she was hungry so she picked up a pizza roll and fed it to him. "Thank you, Julian. You are looking very nice tonight too." It was half a ploy to keep him from talking, really, not that she didn't want him to talk, but once he opened his mouth, he'd find pizza roll in it. And it was truly the best pizza roll that he'd ever eaten. He already liked them, but having one fed to him by Sofia? Even better. He grinned around the roll, chewing it thoroughly before swallowing. "And you look quite lovely yourself." He'd already mentioned that, hadn't he. How she looked nice or lovely. He really couldn't remember what he had said, but he had said it. Things seemed to be going well in his favor so far. He wasn't pretending or acting. That was important. He didn't want her to think he was. He just wasn't use to not acting. Licking his lips, he picked up one of the plastic glasses and poured some of the white grape juice in to it and handed it to her. He, then, poured himself his own glass and held it up to her with a wide grin. "Cheers." The next moment, he tapped the plastic against plastic and drank down some of the juice in one, healthy gulp. He was quiet for another minute, for once, and finally sighed. "I'm sorry about the cabin thing. I really didn't mean for it ot happen like that. I really had every intention of finding that stupid group and .. yeah." He paused, glancing over at her and sighed. "Okay, so maybe I thought it would be cool to spend some time alone like that, but I didn't, like, plan anything. I just ... wanted you to know." After she popped it in his mouth, she popped one in her own and oh god, it was the best. She figured it was because she was so hungry, but it was good regardless, real good and she was loving it. "You said that already." Was her only response to him around the food in her mouth, hand lifted over it for politeness. Her eyes had nearly rolled into the back of her head when she bit into the pizza goodness. The drink was also very much appreciated as she smiled while the plastic cups tapped against each other. "Cheers." She said taking a healthy gulp of her own. She was starting to feel a little dizzy, but that was only because of the sudden rush of food and drink. It caused her to sway a little, but her body righted itself soon enough. It'd really been the first time that she'd ever heard him talk like that. Usually he was brimming with bravado of some sort, but when he talked now. When he said what he did about the cabin. His tone, his facial expression made her feel like she could trust that everything hadn't been a ploy or a trap. She couldn't think of a reason for him to tell her that, not while she was here unless he just wanted to. She was here, that meant something didn't it. She reached out taking his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "It does not matter." She meant it truthfully, because honestly. It was one of the nicer things that had happened to her since everything went crazy. He was one of the nicer things that happened to her since everything went crazy. She didn't think he understood that. Scooting closer to him on the blanket. She leaned over and pressed her lips against his. "Thank you, Julian." He had been something for her to focus on, something to guide her, even if he did not do it on purpose. He calmed her. He enraged her. He gave her direction. It was weird how that all worked out. He helped her define herself positively and negatively. "For everything." Well, then. He wasn't expecting that. Not at all. He wasn't about to complain, though. Heavens no. Julian grinned wide and chuckled, shrugging a bit. "I do what I can, you know." He laughed again and licked his lips after she kissed him. It was nicer than he had ever imagined and he'd give anything for another one. "You know, that was pretty nice. Mind giving me another one?" He smiled and leaned down closer to her, letting his lips linger closer to hers as he waited to see just what she would do. All she could do was shake her head really. He was absolutely incorrigible, though at times she wondered what it was like to be brimming with that much confidence. "Well...since you asked me so nicely." She said with a laugh and cant of her head. "I can not see why not..." Her voice dropped a little lower as he moved closer to her, gaze lowered to his lips for a moment before lifting to his eyes. It was scary to make contact like that. The eyes were the windows to the soul, and she felt like he could see everything she was feeling. Everything. Her eyes stared into his for a beat longer before they fluttered closed. Leaning closer, she pressed her lips against his again. This time the kiss had started off pretty slow and tentative, because had asked for it, but it lasted longer than the last one. In fact, their lips only parted when she needed to go up for air before pressing against his again. Her grip on his hand tightened a bit, though not in a strangling sort of way. He had to be careful. He didn't want to...go too far or let himself go too much. Not that he was going to press her against the floor and have his way with her, but they were young and, yeah, he had made out with his fair share of girls, but they didn't mean anything to Julian. Not like Sofia did. Fingers fiddling with her hair as he kissed her, lips gentle against hers, Julian pulled away when she did and smiled down at her. He finally let the strand of hair untwist from his finger and sat back a bit, taking another drink of the juice. "So, this mean you'll be my girlfriend now?" The lack of pressure was a good decision on his part. There was no telling how bad she might have freaked out of he attempted to lay her out on the floor or feel her up, though...the latter might not have had as adverse an effect as the former. It was still good that he was taking it slow, though. It gave her a sense of security, calm, and control. As long as there was some semblance of all those, everything would be fine. When he pulled a way, she chewed her lower lip. Then he asked a funny question, which caused her to cant her head and give him a look. "Are you asking me to be?" Like he really had to ask. Well, no. He did have to ask, but she didn't have to ask if he was serious. Julian grinned and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. You want to?" Since, well, while he wanted her as his girlfriend and he was fairly sure that anyone would want him as their boyfriend, he would be polite and ask. Being polite had gotten him quite a bit this evening, after all. It was silly to stop now. "It'll be fun." It was an off the wall way of saying 'yes' when she'd asked if he was asking, or was it? Some girls liked to lure boys into traps and then shoot them down. Sofia wasn't one of these kind of girls, though. It was kind of a roundabout way of asking if he was sure it was something he wanted. She pulled a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled. Wow, she was probably all obvious with the size of the grin locked on her features. She felt silly, a little scared, and her heart was racing a mile a minute. A lot of people weren't going to understand any of this and in all honesty, she really didn't care. "I would like that, yes." |