Who: Ford Harper and Rory Brynn What: Ford keeps Rory company When: Saturday, June 22, 2019 (backdated) Where: Rory's house Warnings: None in particular
Ford was nervous. Which was probably stupid, he told himself, because it wasn't like he hadn't spent time with Rory before. He liked her, considered her a friend, despite their short acquaintance. But what had happened to her, and to Thorne...those were touchy topics, and he didn't want his one actual friendship in Snowcap to get weird—but he couldn't afford, nor did he want, to lose ground with his twin, either. It was selfish, he knew, but he couldn't actually help it. In one case, anyway, his life literally depended on it.
He apparated to the coordinates and awkwardly juggled a box of assorted cookies and a bottle of wine in one hand while he knocked with the other.
Rory didn't honestly know what in the hell had possessed her.
She did want company, but Ford... He was Thorne's brother—his twin—and this could seriously cause problems between the two of them. She didn't want to be that person. She didn't want to cause a divide in brothers who were just now learning of each other just because she was lonely. It wasn't who she was.
When she opened the door at his knock, she looked more like a girl her age usually did. Hair up in a simple ponytail, t-shirt, yoga pants, and socks. She also looked as tired as she felt lately. Still, despite all that and her nerves, she gave him a soft smile and moved so he could enter.
"I really am sorry. If this is interferin' with her plans today, ya don't hafta stay if ya don't want to. I don't wanna get ya in trouble with Thorne or anything." She was giving him an out if he thought his brother would be angry with him being here.
Rory understood Thorne's animosity. Really. How could anyone really like someone like her being around? There was a reason people were generally distrustful of Veelas and their ilk, wasn't there.
But... the little half-breed would also be lying through her teeth if she said she didn't want him to stay.
Ford had been one of the few people here in Snowcap she'd become actual friends with, and Rory knew she could certainly use a friend right now.
Ford didn't exactly want to admit that he rarely had plans, so he settled for, "It's not, promise. And anyway, I was worried about you. I texted you, remember?" He came inside and held out the items he'd brought, intentionally ignoring her comments about Thorne for now. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it all, but especially the way she sounded so contrite about the whole thing, when she was the one who'd been bitten. "I didn't really know what kind you liked, so I just asked a random person to pick one," he said, a bit sheepishly, nodding at the wine. "But I figured I couldn't go wrong on these." If it was cheating to buy a box that had five different kinds of cookies, he was willing to accept that.
Rory smiled softly, reaching out to take the box and wine, graciously. "Mah hero." There was nothing mocking in her statement, it was as honest as it could get. "You really don't know how much of a life savah you are."
And yeah, okay, maybe it was a little much, but there was a little much of everything right now for the young woman. She appreciated even the smallest bit of kindness right now.
"I don't suppose you'd let me hug ya, huh? I didn't wanna assume aftah that last time." Better to ask and be told no, right? At least, after that whole mess last night.
"I don't know about all that," Ford said, rubbing the back of his neck as she relieved him of his packages. He was watching her, wondering whether it would be appropriate to offer her a hug, when that question came out of her mouth. He laughed, then realized that probably wasn't exactly the most appropriate reaction when she seemed so down. Stupid nerves. "Sorry," he said, and put his arms around her before it had a chance to get any more awkward and screw the whole thing up. "It's just, I was about to ask the same thing, so kinda funny."
He didn't step back immediately. It seemed like she might need this right about now, if wine and cookies were heroism. "What do you mean by last—" and he laughed against in spite of himself. "Oh, you mean in the medical ward. I'd forgotten that bit. It's not that I don't like hugs. I just didn't know you, and you knew Thorne, and he and I weren't exactly...." And there was that name he hadn't intended to bring up again, slipping out anyway. "Anyway, I'm always willing to hand out hugs."
Rory was quick to wrap her arms around his neck at his affirmative and held on tight, eyes closed tightly. It felt good to just have someone holding onto her. After the previous night's fiasco, she just needed something simple. Something that grounded her.
Ford's kindness grounded her more than she thought it would.
She couldn't help but hug him a little tighter for a moment before she released him. "Thank you." It was soft, it was hesitant, it was almost fragile. But there was no way around it.
"Do ya wanna watch a movie? Or eat? Or… I dunno. There are swings outside, books… Ah'm usually much bettah with company. Ah'm sorry."
"A movie would be good," Ford said as he released her, watching her face for some hint of how he should react to her right now. New as their friendship was, this was not the Rory that he'd come to expect, and he wasn't sure what that meant. "No books. I mean, I like to read, but it's too hard if anyone else is in the room. I'm not all that good at sharing silence. It makes me want to ramble about random things. Obviously."
He shuffled on his feet for want of any more appropriate movements, waiting for her to lead the way. "So, uh, what sort of movies do you like?" It seemed like such a silly, benign question to ask after everything that had happened the previous weekend, but maybe that was exactly what she needed. "Lately it seems like most of what I watch is a sort of research for my podcast. Flavor research, that is. I do get my informative content from actual information sources," he added with a laugh.
"Sometimes silence can be alright. I mean, when ya find someone you can have a comfortable silence with, that's always nice." Rory, well, she had yet to find that person. It seemed whenever she thought she had, something happened. Maybe it was her. Maybe she sabotaged things without meaning to.
"But movies work well, too." She smiled again and reached out for his hand, leading him into the living room. As she settled on the couch, drawing her knees up and settling her chin atop them, Rory gestured to the entertainment center. "There are a lot of them in there. Take yer pick. Ah'm pretty sure Ah've seen them all at least once, but I still like watching them."
The movies she had ranged in genres. A lot of Disney, a good bit of comedy, a few actions, a couple of horrors, even the expected chick flick or two. "If you see one that ya thank might help ya with yer podcast, we can watch it, too."
Eyeing the movies, Ford suddenly felt like he'd fallen into a test of some sort. He knew it wasn't really—probably—but it did seem like the sort of choice that could set the evening off on a good or bad foot. Though, considering they were all hers, he supposed he technically couldn't go wrong. He went with a comedy he'd seen before, because laughter seemed like the thing that was missing right now, and examined the equipment for a moment before finding all the right controls and inserting the disc.
Of course, his second unofficial test of the night was where to sit. Side chair would be weird, so definitely couch, but the other side or middle cushion? He almost groaned aloud, knowing he was overthinking it, and sat down next to her. The opening menus and their music started, and he reached for the remote to start the movie itself. "Is the volume okay?" He'd gotten a pretty good feel for what was normal for people that weren't him, but better to ask.
There was no test. Rory had never been that kind of person. Underhanded tactics like that, they never meant well for any kind of relationship - be it friends or something more. At least with Ford things were easy. There was no real worries about what he thought of her because if he thought something bad, he wouldn't be here, right? He wouldn't be worried about her. He wouldn't be volunteering to spend his Saturday trying to make her feel better. And that thought alone made Rory feel like maybe everything was going to be okay.
Once he'd settled on the couch next to her, the little blonde laid her head against his shoulder, watching as the familiar menu flickered across the screen. It was a good movie he'd picked, one that usually had her laughing. But still, she glanced up at him and bit her lip, nervously. "Is this okay?" Might as well ask before she continued to lay her head there, even if she'd already done it. It was a little uncomfortable, but his presence was comforting enough to overlook that.
Ford went still as she leaned her head onto his shoulder, mostly out of surprise. For a second, he wasn't sure if she was still talking about the movie, or if she meant their position on the couch, but he decided to make an assumption and go for it. "Yeah, it's fine, it's just—" He twisted a little, slipping his arm out from behind her and letting it fall around her shoulders. It felt a bit more natural that way, even though having his arm around a girl was probably one of the least natural things he'd done all weekend. "Better?"
Yeah, he was right. This was better. More secure in a weird way. Maybe it was the way she was feeling so damn insecure about everything lately but this felt infinitely better. "Much bettah," she agreed, shifting so that she could curl around him a little more. Her arm moved around his middle as she settled, but her eyes never left the television while she did. Hopefully she wouldn't spook him. He was kind of a grounding point at the moment. And the cuddling was really, really nice, to say the least.
Well, this was a thing that was happening. Ford had a pretty girl who smelled nice and whose soft hair tickled his cheek with every slight movement snuggled into him, and he felt a bit like a deer in headlights. It wasn't that he was tense, exactly. He'd been truthful in telling her that it was fine, and the way his arm was draped was comfortable enough that he could relax into the position. The problem was that he now wasn't sure if he was supposed to say anything else, or to simply sit and watch the movie.
Simple, right. The point of a movie was supposed to be that it filled up the silence so that he didn't feel the need to do it himself, but it wasn't entirely working in this case. It helped that he didn't know what to say, so that kept down some of the potential mindless chatter. Eventually, though, he settled in and a few good laughs at the jokes in the movie drew him in. If his arm tightened a little around Rory every time he laughed, then he couldn't really control that, could he?
To be fair, Rory wouldn't have cared if he talked through the whole thing. She'd seen all her movies more than once (or at least once) so she knew the details and anything she didn't know, she usually caught around the second or third time around. For this movie in particular, this would be the second time she'd watched it, so there were things here and there that she'd missed the first time around. It didn't hurt that the jokes and antics made her laugh when nothing else seemed to be doing the trick.
Maybe it was the movie. Maybe it was the company. Hell, maybe it was both. Rory wasn't going to question it. As her grandaddy used to say, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth".
With every laugh from Ford, his arm wrapped a little tighter around her. Rory found she didn't mind it. It only further solidified that feeling of security. And with every tightening of his arm, she burrowed further into him, comfortably. It wasn't until the movie ended that she looked up at him and smiled. And the idea struck her.
"If ya want... you can put in somethin' that would help ya with yer podcast. Bat around ideas... tell me some stories." If he didn't want to, that would be alright too. He could just choose another movie and they could continue to cuddle right here in silence. Either worked for her.
"The movies usually help if I'm trying to get the right feel for something. Like...." Ford was quiet for a moment, eyes on the ceiling as he tried to come up with a good example. "Well, the easiest one was that I did a whole series where Gawain talked about his wild days during the 1920s, and I watched The Great Gatsby to sort of get the mood in my head. I actually don't know what my next one is going to be about, though. I'm always a couple of months ahead in recording, just in case, but I'm starting to lose my cushion. Things have been too...hectic while I've been here."
Biting her lip as she looked up at him, she wondered if offering her help would be a good thing. Every time she'd tried to help up til now had ended up badly or awkward, but… she was who she was.
"Anything I can do ta help?" She could, at the very least, make the offer. Ford was helping her more than he knew. More than even she knew, probably. And he'd always seemed to make her feel better whenever he was around. It didn't seem right not to try to repay that.
"I'm not sure, honestly," Ford said with a shrug and twist of his mouth that wasn't quite a smile, but also wasn't a frown. "I've never had trouble coming up with content before. Usually, it's these bursts of inspiration followed by several months of recording everything, and then there's a rest period. This rest period has just been longer than usual, so I'm starting to get antsy. I mean, I've got bits and pieces of things written, ideas jotted down and all, but nothing cohesive enough to make into full episodes. Ever have this feeling that you're on the edge of something great, but you can't quite find the best place to jump?" He laughed. "That's probably a terrible analogy, but that's sort of what it feels like."
Rory shook her head, chuckling softly. "Not a bad analogy. Probably could be applied to a lotta thanks right now. I mean, I get it. Sometimes you could have tha best plan evah, but it's tha execution that stumps ya."
She settled back against him, glancing at the television where it displayed the same menu it had at the beginning. "Wanna watch anothah one? Or do somethin' else?"
It seemed silly to watch the menu as it repeated itself, but Ford was pretty comfortable and so hadn't really put much thought into anything beyond that first movie. "What do you want to do? You're in charge. I'm just the company." He grinned and gave her a little squeeze. "I don't have a preference, really. I promise I can attempt to be quiet if you just want to read or something."
Rory shook her head, her fingers raising to you with her hair a little nervously. Why? Because of the words that were about to come out of her mouth. They could be taken a lot of different ways and she really didn't want to spoon him. Or make things awkward.
"I like hearin' you talk. Ya usually end up sayin' somethin' that makes me laugh or smile… or feel good. An' when ya talk about somethin' that ya get excited about, her eyes kinda light up. There's this determination or focus, I don't know which. But there's an obvious passion. That passion is somethin' so many people lack. It's an incredibly attractive quality, ya know."
That last bit had her ears turning red. She hadn't meant to say it but it had come barrelling out of her mouth just the same. Like a word vomit that just wouldn't stop.
"Sorry…"
Ford rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and turned his face away, embarrassed and more than a little pleased at the compliment, but entirely not sure how to respond to it. "Thanks," he said, because that seemed like a good start. "I don't know if I really have much, like, determination or whatever, for anything other than my podcast. Though, I guess you couldn't really tell if you looked at the file for my next episode." He laughed a little, but quickly sobered. "But the truth? I don't really have much else. It's pretty easy to be focused when there's one thing fighting for that focus."
Rory thought about that for a moment, lifting her head from his shoulder to look him in the eyes.
The way he explained things made it seem as if he really had nothing else. While she didn't believe that for a minute, she wasn't going to argue the point. She was tired of arguing. So instead, she simply asked a question.
"Is there anything else ya want ta be focused on? Somethin' else ya think ya'd want more? Or just somethin' else in general?" she questioned, curiously. For her, she had multiple things she enjoyed. Her job, fishing, horseback riding... but she'd never seemed to center on just one. It was almost hard for her to pick a single, solitary thing that she'd want to do more than the others. But that didn't mean that other people had that same hang up.
"Not really. It's hard to explain." Ford shrugged, and turned away again, unsure how to turn the topic in any way that wasn't awkward. It was his own fault for letting conversation drift that direction, for making the comments he had now, but he hadn't realized that she'd glom onto them so much. It was strange thinking that she cared enough to ask the questions that she was, but he was strangely wishing now that she cared a little less.
It was a cop-out, and he knew it, but he also knew how that topic always went, and he wasn't going there. Especially with someone who knew Thorne.
"We should watch another movie," he said, attempting a bright voice that he knew didn't sound natural. "You pick this time."
For a moment, the look on Rory's face fell. She was messing things up again. She had to backtrack. "Sorry, I didn't mean ta pry." Moving off of him, she slipped from the couch and towards the movies, pulling another comedy from the shelf and making the trek to replace the movie that was currently in the player.
Once that DVD was started and the other replaced on the shelf, Rory moved to the kitchen. She needed a water. Something to do with her hands for a second. Anything to make herself back the hell off.
So, she got two bottles of water from the fridge, popped the cork on the wine, took a healthy swig, replaced it, and brought Ford the other water.
When she settled back on the couch, she was careful not to crowd him. If he wanted her closer, he could make the decision to draw her in. She wasn't going to make the decision for him.
"It's not—" Ford started, and then forced himself to not talk for once as she chose the next movie. It wouldn't do any good if he wasn't willing to reopen the subject, and since he wasn't, all he could try to do was somehow get past this awkward moment.
Except, she was gone for a few minutes, and he was starting to feel more and more like maybe he'd upset her, and he wasn't sure how to rectify that. Or maybe it was because she'd already been upset, and he just wasn't helping like he'd thought he could? He didn't know. All he did know was that when she returned to the couch and set farther away from him, the atmosphere was different. There was none of the leaning on his shoulder, none of the casual conversation they'd had when they first entered the room.
He could smell that she'd opened the wine, and he wanted to ask if it was any good, but even that felt awkward. So he sat, watched the movie, laughed at all the right places, and wondered where in the world things had gone sideways.
She smiled at the movie when it was funny and drew her knees back up into the couch as she watched it, laying her chin atop them.
She hadn't meant to make things awkward, but she supposed that's all she'd really been good at lately. Still, he'd come all the way over here to check on her. To try to make her feel better. Was it really his fault if she messed it all up?
"Thank you."
It was said in a moment of silence from the movie. An effort to try to make things a little easier. A little better. She didn't know if it would work or not, but she had to at least try.
It surprised him a little when she spoke up, but Ford smiled what he thought was a pretty normal sort of smile at her. "Um, sure. I mean, no thanks necessary, really." Then he went back to the movie.