InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "SHUN the nonbeliever!!!"

Deirdre Gwyneth McCrery (naturallygwyn) wrote in inpoormerit,
@ 2010-04-10 22:50:00

Entry tags:

jamie

I'll Take the High Road
Who: Gwyn & Jamie
When: Afternoon
Where: Golf-4

She didn't know this Jamie bloke, and yet his invitation nagged at her as she stared at the screen, fingers poised over the keyboard for a reply. Gwyn didn't know what she was going to say, however. She probably would never have given it another thought were it not for the fact that he had told her he was a fellow Scots. After several internal moments of debate- for talking to herself aloud was barmy, for one, and led to a nauseating number of smells to wallop her senses- she got up, grabbed the world's shortest shower and then finally left her cottage-flat-thing.

It was difficult, but she tried very hard to keep her mouth closed as she moved through the village. Even the slightest intake of breath through just the tiniest parting of her lips brought a mind-blowing mélange of smells to her nose. She wondered if it would be possible to find any duct tape around; taping her mouth closed was beginning to look more and more like a viable option at this point. Her stomach churned when she thought about the experience that had been breakfast... and then dinner. Gwyn never thought it would be possible to smell each and every possible ingredient in her food- including the bloody preservatives. That had almost set her off food forever.

As she approached the Gulf block, she saw the wrecked window of one of the cottages and assumed it was former domicile of that woman, Drina. Just seeing it sent shivers of fear running down her back. Jamie had suggested something about a werewolf, but... It was just ridiculous, right? Things like that just didn't exist. The animal tracks leading from the broken window, however, gave her significant pause. She stopped just a moment and crouched down, tracing the lines of what looked like huge paw prints with her hand just above the ground. She parted her lips and took the smallest breath. Wet earth and grass and some kind of animal scent fell on her tongue, making her head swim. The latter was so faint that she thought it might be hours old, maybe even left over from those wolves that had wandered through town.

She stood up again and moved on to Golf-4. On approach, she began to wonder at how she had reached the irrational decision to come in the first place. Something told her that he might be able to help, however, and so she knocked on his door. As she waited for his answer, she began to wonder if she should have brought something, like a baked good or something. Ah, well, this was all impulsive anyway.

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_intherough
2010-04-12 08:26 pm UTC (link)

He hadn't gotten another reply from Gwyn so he had pretty much assumed that she was through speaking with him. It didn't quite matter to him whether she blew him off or actually did take him up on the invitation. Although he didn't know exactly what he could do for her other than be companionable. So once he figured out she wasn't going to send him a message back, he had grabbed the acoustic guitar - his guitar - so generously provided by the Commissioner or whoever.

Jamie had been plucking out a random tune that he thought was familiar but he couldn't quite recall the title when there was a knock on his door. He glanced over in surprise then slipped off his couch. Cautiously, he opened it and peered outside through a crack. A red-headed girl and not someone he recognized. He opened the door fully, guitar in one hand and the other pushing his glasses up on his nose, "'Lo. Can I help you?"

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naturallygwyn
2010-04-15 02:04 am UTC (link)

Gwyn was half-torn between leaving and remaining as she waited at the door. She had heard a few chords coming from what she took to be a guitar before she knocked, and wondered if she should have warned him that she was coming over before actually doing so. Ah, well, usually once she'd made up her mind to do something, there was nothing to it. She was actively staring at a place on the door frame, a tiny chip of paint almost urging her to reach out and peal it off.

She resisted the temptation, however. She wasn't a complete nutter.

She was saved from a moment of OCD by the opening of the door. Gwyn glanced at the bespectacled lad, and couldn't help but smile. It was a closed-lipped smile, of course. It fell a little when he greeted her, though. She supposed she had it coming, though, just showing up like this. Taking in a deep breath, she barely opened her mouth and more or less mumbled, "I'm Gwyn, we spoke on the computer."

Not taking in a breath didn't help at all. A cacophony of smells filled her mouth and nose, almost making her sick. She paled. It was all teenage guy smells: deodorant, soap, faint dirt and... the woods? But it wasn't just him, there were smells coming from his cottage too: dust, old cleaning supplies, laundered sheets and- oh, Lord. Had something died in there?

Her stomach clenched, and she pressed a hand to it with a groan.

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_intherough
2010-04-15 02:15 am UTC (link)

"Oh!" Jamie blinked in surprise, setting the guitar down by the door and opening it a bit wider, trying to be welcoming. "Sorry, I wasna expecting you so suddenly. Rather seemed like you'd decided to ignore me which I wouldna blame you for." He was decidedly much more cheerful now that she was introduced and he knew exactly what he was supposed to be doing. Well, not exactly but if she was here then maybe she needed something which hey... That was what he'd offered.

His eyebrows furrowed together as she suddenly seemed to get ill and he stepped towards her, reaching a hand towards her upper arm, "Are you alright, lass? Do you need to get inside and sit?" It probably had to do with the smell thing. Of course, he had thought of another explanation for her increased sense of smell. Only he wasn't sure how to bring it up tactfully quite yet.

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naturallygwyn
2010-04-15 02:40 am UTC (link)

She smiled a little more widely at the sound of what she could only call home. It was sad, but it almost brought tears to her eyes. "I'sna yer fault. Shoulda replied to your computer letter...thing," she said between clenched teeth- which probably made her look manic. She closed her lips and took a deep breath. Everything went muted again, tolerable. "Thanks fer offerin'. Thought it might be good ta see someone from home, or thereabouts."

Gwyn glanced down at her arm, where his hand rested- rather than being put out by the unasked for touch, it was strengthening, anchoring. She gave him a weak smile and nodded. "If ya don' mind," she mumbled, really just trying to keep the worst of it at bay. "Mebbe some water too, if you'd be s' kind?"

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_intherough
2010-04-15 02:55 am UTC (link)

The more she spoke, the more comfortable he felt as she very much sounded of home. And he was homesick. And deeply patriotic but that was neither here nor there. "Message works. Or note," he said in an amused sort of way although she was starting to give him the willies from the expression on her face. It was a little too... Rachel Berry. "Aye, definitely. I am glad y'came."

He nodded and stepped out of the way so she could come in. Once she was inside, he took the time to shut the door and headed automatically for the kitchen. "Make yerself comfortable. My cottage is your cottage," he offered in general custom. He searched through his fridge until he found bottled water which he brought to her without further ado. "Is this merely social or did y'come to see Golf-2 as well?"

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naturallygwyn
2010-04-17 07:31 am UTC (link)

Her smile took on a more wryly amused look. Gwyn waved a hand a little dismissively. "I'm rubbish at comp-uters," she murmured through barely parted lips. "Never have done well with them. It's rather like they were put on this earth just to plague me." Her expression warmed at his tone. "'S very kind of yeh t' say."

Walking inside, she took a glance around; it immediately reminded her of her brother's old room. She took a seat on the smallish couch to one side of the room, and then waited for his return, her fingers curling around the edge of the cushions to keep from fidgeting too badly. Gwyn smiled again, however, when Jamie came back into the room with a bottled water. She murmured her gratitude before filling her mouth almost greedily with the cool water. It stunned her, how it hit her tongue like a force of nature. She wanted to keep the gulp resting against her tongue forever, but the lad's question demanded a response.

With utmost reluctance, she swallowed and then offered him a shrug and a wry smile. "It started out as social, t' be sure, but I did stop by th' place. It... smelled like an animal ha' been through there or somethin'. 'S that where that woman was livin'? The one from the Commissioner's comp-uter letter?"

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_intherough
2010-04-17 02:52 pm UTC (link)

"Weel, not everyone can be a god of technology like I am," he said in a puffed up sort of way. He knew perfectly well that he wasn't a god of technology but he was pretty good with it. Still, he was really just trying to be funny. He waved dismissively at any implications of kindness but said nothing in particular about it.

It seemed to take forever for her to swallow her first gulp of water but if her sense of smell was getting all whacked out then that probably had something to do with it. He settled on the arm chair to one side, not wanting to crowd her too much. It was really rather funny how she pronounced computer - almost cute even but in that childish sort of way. "Aye, that's where. I'm right glad that 'animal' was the main scent and not blood... Ye do nae happen to recall how many human scents were about do ye?"

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naturallygwyn
2010-04-23 01:20 am UTC (link)

She laughed at his levity, and decided that he was a nice bloke. It felt a little weird to be laughing, as odd as everything was at the moment, but it was absolutely what she needed to get through this. She took another drink as Jamie sat, and then a few more. It seemed to be the only thing that helped the nausea that hit her every time she opened her mouth.

Gwyn cocked her head to one side a little at his question, and as odd as it sounded to her just thinking about it sent her memory back to it. It was more than that, though: it was sense memory that was being triggered. Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember, but just concentrating wasn't helping. She took in a deep breath, blew it out, then took another drink of her water.

Letting it rest on her tongue, she closed her eyes and thought back. "Jus'... one, I think," Gwyn said slowly after she had swallowed. "Very faint an' a lot older than th', ah, dog... or wolf-thing. I'm not really used t' smellin' things like this. 'S not normal."

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_intherough
2010-04-23 02:39 am UTC (link)

Laughter was the very best medicine - that was what his mother told him although usually that was about the same time she was trying to shove a mouthful of the nastiest cough syrup down his throat... It was like she was trying to make up for it because usually there'd be some kind of comedy movie offered afterward. Usually, it worked and he forgave her for the cough syrup.

She apparently decided to really consider the question and he leaned forward a little as he watched her. So there had been another human there besides him and Cathair and some dude that'd run off. And the bloody great wolf. That was probably Drina. Still he had to be sure, "Can y'guess if it were male or female?" He flickered a smile at her, "No, it isn't but I do appreciate ye trying to remember."

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