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Tweak says, "Are you good? Or Bad?"

William Scott Dale (putthekettleon) wrote in genome_project,
@ 2012-01-07 10:17:00

Entry tags:

january 2012

Who: Will and Lucy
What: First date
Where: Frye's Leap Cafe
When: Saturday evening
Rating: Low

It was very possible that William had all but lost his mind. And with everything that had transpired over the course of the last month, who could blame him really? It was abnormally impulsive of William to ask a girl out on a date like that. And yes, it was very much so a date. He had, after the fact, analyzed the situation thoroughly. This Lucy Ramsey was not like most other girls. He wasn't exactly sure why. He just knew that she was made of far more different stuff, and Will actually seemed to enjoy that. She wasn't pushy or overbearing like other girls his age. There was just the right amount of ebb and flow between them, or at least there was online. Perhaps a face-to-face meeting would prove otherwise.

Upon their agreement, he set off alone toward the cafe. It was difficult in this day and age to get a feel for a woman's way of thinking. Women enjoyed independence and a sense of empowerment. Will didn't want to take that away from anyone, though he still believed in the old ways. Be it the fact that as a child he often loved the stories of King Arthur and his men, of chivalry and courtly love, or just the idea of treating women with the respect they deserved, Will was set in his ways. When he arrived at the cafe, he stood outside to wait for her. Despite the bitter cold, he wanted to make sure he wasn't going to miss her just sitting all snuggly warm inside. Besides, the men of old had to endure far more for the pursuit of their love, didn't they?

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putthekettleon
2012-01-15 05:29 am UTC (link)

"Renown," he said in an almost perfect imitation of a British accent. "You're going to have to forgive me. I can't now for the life of me remember what play is showing at the Sapphire. I mean... after all, I have been busy dodging those snow plows these past few weeks." Bad snowman joke for the win. Will was doing a hell of a job trying to keep his nerves to himself. He did not want to project how he was feeling to everyone around him, as he certainly did not want to ruin anyone's evening, especially not Lucy's.

The lack of chairs didn't stop Will from being a gentleman. He waited for her to sit before taking a seat himself and finally peeling off his coat. He shuddered slightly though more from the nerves than from the cold. There might have been a slight darkness to his eyes under this light, but other than feeling nervous, Will had no other feelings. Alan was honestly the farthest thing from his mind at the moment. "Anyway... did your day go well?"

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brave_heart
2012-01-15 05:32 pm UTC (link)

"Ba dum tshhh," she replied for a rim shot off of his joke. She brushed her hair back wondering how exactly to put it all while heading back to the booth. "It's called Spring Awakening. Big musical with some of the younger talent or at least the characters are mostly teenagers. Dealing with growing up in late 19th century Germany. It's really dark though. I don't think anyone wants to method act in that or they might end up with some depression." that was good enough wasn't it? Did He really need to hear about abortions, suicide, and sex all over the place? Especially when suicide was not something she wanted to bring up at all. "Not a show for little kids by any means. Potter Musical was fun though."

Lucy tossed her coat in ahead of herself before sitting down. It was comfortable enough and gave her the hopeful opportunity of settling in before the color in her cheeks was a blush rather than just cold. "Long if anything. Though once you get people to relax with each other long enough to have some fun you can get some really interesting things out of improv. Especially when you make them go around the entire group to tell a whole story from beginning to end. Hoppy the Turtle's new years resolutions was... Fascinating to say the least. And before I forget..." She reached through her purse, rummaging through a few things before she came back with a brightly wrapped pop-top can and a sandwich bag with two fortune cookies. "New Years Eve favors from Sapphire Stage. There's one there for you and one for Mary Ann. The can is just full of candy and such."

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putthekettleon
2012-01-15 09:20 pm UTC (link)

Will nodded as she spoke, settling into his spot across from her at the booth. He'd heard about this play before, but he allowed her to speak. Her voice was enchanting, and he knew just by looking at her that she was not only well learned in the performing arts, but she also enjoyed it greatly. "I've heard a few of their songs. I'm actually curious to go see it. Will you have a role in it?"

He chuckled a bit about Hoppy the Turtle. "I wonder how Hoppy the Turtle got his name. Perhaps his new years resolution was to not hop so much and be a real turtle for once?" He was curious to know more about this improv class, as he didn't think it was something he'd be very good at. Before he could ask, she had produced some gifts for him, and he smiled as he reached over for them. "Thank you. I feel terrible now for not bringing you anything. My new years was..." He shook his head a bit.

It was a good thing the waitress had stopped by to ask for their order. Will was about to fall into some introspective silence that would have made it very difficult to recover from. He ordered a chicken meal with an iced tea. Once the waitress had taken their orders, Will asked, "So this improv class, is it through the college?"

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brave_heart
2012-01-16 05:29 am UTC (link)

Lucy tried not to bite her lower lip to show how nervous she was at the idea of him coming. Thankfully it was more because of who he was than the idea that she was going to trip all over trying to impress him. Stage fright was not going to be something that she had ever suffered from no matter who was watching her. Besides her worst critics had already seen her. The other one would require a video camera and no matter what she was going to hate her own performances. "Ilse. She's a little like Luna Lovegood with being a little out there and the hopeful one. Even on the darkest day there needs to be a little bit of light." She tried to cover herself looking over the menu even though she knew all of it.

"I think he lost his actual name in a poker game. I can't remember for sure how that happened. Maybe it was a bet on the big race that they had to switch names." Lucy just smiled over at him though. "It's no trouble. I said I would bring them and a little chocolate rarely hurt anyone. It won't make things all better, but it helps. And if it does even a little bit then it's worth it. Besides it's a commonly known rule of all things that if you're not having a good day that nothing has calories in it." She nodded once enthusiastically.

"Ice water with lemon and the club sandwich, please." Lucy smiled at their waitress even as she was heading back to the kitchen. If needed she might be a good distraction later in wanting to get out of there. So far though everything was okay. "Ah, no. Sapphire does a lot of classes for aspiring actors and just workshops. Dad teaches 99% of them, but occasionally I take over."

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putthekettleon
2012-01-16 06:52 pm UTC (link)

At least she certainly had a way of brightening up a conversation. Will just grinned at her. He wasn't all that much of a talker himself. He just liked to listen to others. Perhaps some might consider him to be nosy, but he never used what people said against them in any way. He had considered long ago going into therapy and just listening to people's problems, but he wasn't sure if he would actually be able to help anyone that way. His job now assured him that he would help people. "That's a very good way of thinking. I can't wait to see it. Should put in a reminder to get myself a ticket."

He nodded as the waitress brought their drinks. He thanked her and took a sip of his tea. "So he's got a gambling problem? He doesn't seem to have very good luck either. Thank you though." Not many people remembered after a month or so that your family had just suffered through a great tragedy. He was still trying to pick up the pieces not only from his own life but from his sister's as well. No one on the outside knew that though. "Every little bit does count, though I still fully intend to get you something."

Will raised his eyebrows at her in surprise. He wasn't aware she was expert enough to run one of these workshops herself. "Impressive. What are these workshops like? I mean, what are some of the things you do?"

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brave_heart
2012-01-17 08:47 am UTC (link)

There was really no right way of telling someone nicely that you didn't want them to come to your show. maybe by the time they were doing it he would have forgotten all about it. Somehow William Dale did not seem like the sort that was just going to forget something like that unless she purposefully made him forget. "She's probably my favorite character in the play." And Ilse wouldn't go making people's memories disappear. she'd take the past and try to go on with life.

"Hoppy is a very troubled animal. Then his best friend was an ostrich who tried to teach him how to stick his head in the sand and Hoppy tried to teach him how to stick his head in his shell. Curious pairing, but apparently they worked out together." Lucy would have almost had her own fun just trying to figure out what the whole story was there including Hoppy's motivation. It was one of those things that she just did with most circumstances. The motivation of a first date was fairly simple in most cases: get to the second date. She just waved him off a little. "It's really nothing, William. If it brightens your day then all the better."

She stirred around her water a little just thinking. "Oh any number of things. Improv is one of my favorites because it's mostly a bunch of games that get people to think on their feet. We've had a mask making class before which was more arts and crafts. Scene classes can be a few classes depending on what you're doing. Much the same as with monologues but you don't have to worry about your groups trying to kill each other before the end of those. Script study, body and voice control, how to audition... There's a lot."

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putthekettleon
2012-01-23 08:21 pm UTC (link)

"You seem to relate to her well. Is that why she's your favorite?" Will didn't know much about acting, but he knew quite a bit about stories. And acting was just people bringing stories to life. In his experience, the best characters were the ones he could relate to. He wasn't into the typical action heroes like Indiana Jones and Luke Skywalker, though he was rather impressed by them. No, Will preferred the more real characters, the ones who took journeys to the center of the earth and had to raise themselves out of nothing to become heroes in their own way.

He laughed. He actually laughed, and it was a melodious sound to behold, filled with an innocence that seemed almost beyond him at this point in his life and after everything he'd been through. "Well, at least he's not a racist," he said with a nod and in as serious a tone as he muster. "And what if getting something for you is going to further brighten my day? What then?"

He slowly smiled, just glancing at his tea as if it contained all the answers in the world. "I must say I'm most interested in your improv class. I tend to be introverted, and mother believes something like that will help me open up. She's a dear woman really with the best of intentions, but she knows little of my ridiculous stage fright. It's quite debilitating."

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brave_heart
2012-01-26 07:13 am UTC (link)

"Mostly relate. In some ways... She kind of reminds me of a friend." If one could call Josie Allen really a friend. Their viewpoints differed as well as their backgrounds but that didn't mean that she couldn't try to see some good in the other girl. Though the more she thought about Josie, the more she could draw some parallels between her and Ilse. "I still need to learn how to take a bad thing and make it work out for the best."

His laugh was oddly relaxing, like he might have broken through a layer of nervousness. in some ways she kept talking just in hopes of keeping there from being some sort of awkward silence going around the table. Easier to keep the conversation going than to have to revive it from the dead. "Turtles are one of the least racist creatures there are. Plus they have protection from the others who aren't so nice to them in return. Like skunks unless their name happens to be Flower. If doing so would make you happier though then I suppose I shouldn't argue with you on that point and just give in."

"Oh, there's a lot of people who would even like to be real actors who can't completely get over their stage fright. Kay for example. You put her up on stage with the rest of our so-called extended family around and she's fine. Bring in an outsider and she's back to making sure someone didn't run off with a prop cigarette." And woe be to those who came between a Ramsey and her duty to Sapphire Stage... "And I haven't taken any psychology classes like I've considered, but pretty sure that introverted can't be just fixed. It's just something you are. And so far you seem to be doing fine with me."

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putthekettleon
2012-01-29 09:15 pm UTC (link)

Will nodded. He could see how characters could be associated with people around you. As unique as most people were, they always still had something in common with someone else. "That's a pretty difficult thing to do sometimes... depending on what the bad thing is anyway." He didn't want to think about whether or not he had taken Alan's death and had been able to make it work out for the best. He'd tried his best to help him family deal with their grief as he dealt with his own by himself, but tonight was not the night for self-pity, lest he completely ruin his chances with this lovely lady sitting across from him.

It was a good thing she kept going on about the turtle. Every time he got too quiet or into thinking about less than happy thoughts, she always managed to pull him out with her speech. He liked that about her. In a way (and she likely had no idea she was doing it), she was helping him feel normal almost. "Was never much of a Bambi fan. It wasn't easy explaining to Alan how animals could talk in movies but not in real life." It was also hard getting Alan out of his head, but that was Will's constant inner struggle.

He had to think about it, but he was considering just popping in on one of these seminars, if only just to see what it was all about. Okay fine, maybe he had ulterior motives in the form of a pretty little Ramsey girl, but the idea of getting him out of his shell (no turtle puns intended) and giving him a few distractions from his most recent loss was starting to appeal to him. "I have a long way to go," he simply said. It was a good idea she didn't know what all was going on in his mind. And then, their food came. Will smiled at the waitress and then over at Lucy.

"Bon appetit."

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brave_heart
2012-02-02 04:43 pm UTC (link)

Lucy wasn't sure what was quite compelling her but she reached out across the far side of the table from where the waitress would eventually show up with their food and just left her hand slightly over the half way point, palm up. If he didn't take it after too long though she would stretch out her fingers and make some comment about possible impending carpal tunnel doom from too much knitting. She still had a blanket she wanted to get done for the car seat if the new parents were even accepting gifts from her at this point. She wanted to be able to offer him some small comfort though. "Between Bambi and The Fox and The Hound, I think Disney was just out to scar us all for life in one way or another." Then with even her oddity, was there possibly someone who could talk to animals? The thought all on it's own was a little scary. Who knew what animals talked about and everything they probably saw? Talk about a peeping tom(cat).

In all honesty, she would have been more than glad to have him even if it was just for a random afternoon of doing nothing that wouldn't have to involve him paying. Then when your parents owned everything it was easy enough to ask the boss in private if they could just happen to lose his form of payment. At least if he didn't go paying for everything in cash. If nothing else she would have been willing to front the money out of her own paycheck just to see that he was having a happier time. Potential future date or not, he was still insisting on paying for dinner and she still wanted to be able to cheer him up a little more than just with fortune cookies. "Or only as far as Sapphire Stage which is at it's furthest maybe two miles away. I'll see about finding a class schedule to send you however so you can look it all over." And maybe she would see about trying to teach again that day.

"Tu parles français?" It might be a common enough phrase, but she was still curious. It didn't stop her from grabbing a french fry and start eating.

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