Ziggy Redleaf (gimme__shelter) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2011-04-05 12:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-08-14, gabby, ziggy |
All your life you've never seen a woman taken by the wind
Who: Ziggy and Gabby
Where: Scarlet Oak Park
When: afternoonish
Since Gabby’s dad was a little less concerned about letting her out of the house after the news seemed to indicate that the end of the world was not still in the immediate future, Gabby was hell-bent to get some sun and to enjoy being outside. She drove to the park alone since she had been cooped up with Urist all this time. She definitely loved her familiar, but the fox had done nothing but lecture her on how she should clean up her “potty mouth” and how even her thoughts weren’t lady-like enough. Pffft. Gabby had never really been a girly girl, so getting her to act even remotely feminine was a losing battle. Her mother had tried when she was younger, and even then she had just wanted to be outside and play cops and robbers with the boys. The only time she felt she looked like a woman was when she danced, and even then she had more of a fierce edge than most of the other girls she’d taken lessons with. At least she thought so. Putting her car into park once she’d pulled into the parking lot, Gabby grabbed her ipod and put her ear buds in as soon as she’d gotten out. She walked off into the trees, trying to find her favorite spot. There was even a little bit of a path that led to where she came to think, and to dance, if she felt like it.
Stepping into the little clearing, Gabby’s eyes lit up as she saw that her little grove was empty. Sure, dancing on grass in the midst of a forest wasn’t the best idea in the world, but Gabby was careful not to do anything that required some fancy footwork. Lost in her music, Gabby closed her eyes briefly, letting the music move her. As soon as she got to more challenging part of her dance, she started to feel warm, and happy. She was totally in the zone, and should have been paying more attention to her footing. Tripping over a root that had grown far out away from the tree it belonged to, Gabby tumbled over and face-planted. She tried to put her hand up at the last second, but it was too late and she got a face full of grass and dirt. She got up gingerly, rolling her shoulders and testing out her balance to see if she’d hurt anything. Once she’d finished making sure she hadn’t broken anything, she counted the bruises she would probably develop and dusted her hands off. “Nothing wounded but my pride, it seems.” She rolled her eyes and sat down on the ground, letting herself rest before she would get back up and try again. Far away from that damn root.
Just because he was a fire elemental didn’t mean Ziggy didn’t appreciate nature. That was one thing he took away from his hippie family. He wasn’t able to tend to flowers and gardens like his sister was able to, but he still admired them. And Ziggy wasn’t the type of guy to stay in the house all day, either. Seeing Fable again after so long was great, but after breakfast Ziggy was out the door to explore this town some more. Granted he got sidetracked by the lovely park and lost in the woods, but that was to be expected from the guy. At least he brought his guitar along to keep himself occupied and eventually plopped down by one of the trees to play by himself. Nothing but the elements around him and some girl dancing. ...wait, girl?
When he heard someone coming along, he poked around the tree he sat by and noticed some girl in the clearing who just... danced away. Not really what he expected, but it made him smile. Glad to see he wasn’t the only crazy who found pleasure in sitting out in the wilderness and enjoying the moment. He had fun watching her dance about in her own world, up until she fell over. That made Ziggy jump to his feet relatively fast. He didn’t want to startle her anymore, so he placed his guitar gently against the tree and carefully made his way on over to her. “Hey! You alright?” The least he could do was make sure she didn’t have a twisted ankle or anything. Ziggy had no issues carrying her back to her car if need be. Wouldn’t have been the first time.
Gabby was mid-sulk after falling--really, as much yoga as she did and as good as her balance was, she shouldn’t have let it happen. Her mouth was fixed in a scowl when she heard someone come up. Her eyes widened and her face turned bright red as she realized the guy had seen her fall. “Fuck my life. You saw that?” Gabby rolled her eyes and sighed, trying to pull a smile onto her face. “Would you believe me if I told you that never happens to me?” The smile she wore turned sheepish as she shrugged lightly. “I think I’m okay. Nothing feels broken, at least. I probably have a few bumps, but I should live.” Gabby blinked a bit once her initial surge of embarrassment passed, and she took a closer look at the guy. She wasn’t shy about checking him out, either, and she crossed the line between looking and ogling in about two seconds flat. “Unless you’d like to check for yourself.” Recovering quickly, Gabby smirked and winked at him.
Getting to her feet, she dusted off her legs, her shorts not doing much to protect her legs. Her new black chucks had dirt all over them now, and she wiggled her toes in her shoes as she studied them. Gingerly she walked up to him, doing her best not to limp. Her shin was a bit sore from the fall, and she could see a bruised scrape beginning to swell up when she glanced down. “Gabby, the graceless wonder. Or, graceless today.” She reached out her hand, offering it to the very attractive good Samaritan. “You should be careful. The roots here like to reach out and grab the unsuspecting traveller.” Gabby continued to look at the guy like she may or may not be undressing him with her eyes, grinning fit to split her cheeks. “New in town?” Gabby didn’t know everyone in town, it was true, but she did pride herself on knowing a lot of people. And this guy she would definitely have remembered.
Wow, and Ziggy thought he talked a lot. Not a bad thing by any means, though. In fact, it made him smile while she rambled up, even more when he caught those eyes of hers doing far more than looking him over. Like Ziggy ever minded. Girls could stare all they wanted, he’d just kick it back and soak it up. “Sure, why not,” he replied in regards to believing her never falling over before. Ziggy was rather clumsy with his hands, but not his feet, so maybe she was the opposite? A bit out of place for a dancer, but then again, he was an artist, so whatever worked. As for checking himself? Ziggy just laughed, rather amused by the situation. Well then, he hadn’t expected to run into while wandering the woods, but looked like it was a good plan in the long run. “Ziggy,” he took Gabby’s hand firmly to give it a good shake, “the new guy, apparently.” Once he released her hand, he gave her a suspecting look and just smiled. “Why, do I like, reek of ‘new guy’ or something?”
Gabby had always been told that she talked way too much, and it might even be why her friends had shortened her name from Gabriella to Gabby. She didn’t really see it as a bad thing, and if people had a problem with it, they definitely didn’t have to talk to her. She liked the way she was, and only saw her talkativeness as part of her being friendly. “Good. I’d hate for your first impression of me to be that I’m just a klutz.” She smirked, trying to throw off the rest of her embarrassment. She certainly didn’t want anyone to think she wasn’t the best at what she did, even if there were more talented people around. Gabby appreciated the firm hand shake, and gave his hand a good squeeze with her own, smiling. She noted that his hands were the same temperature as hers, which was odd considering her skin ran a lot hotter than most peoples’. “Nice to meet you!” She chuckled lightly, leaning in to sniff conspicuously. “I can definitely say that you don’t reek. I’m a lifer, and even if I don’t personally know everyone, I’m pretty good at recognizing people.” Gabby checked Ziggy out again. “I would remember you, trust me. Unless you’re a hermit and have been living under a rock somewhere?” Maybe Gabby was wrong, but she was positive that she’d remember a face like Ziggy’s. She smiled, resting her gaze on said face.
A lifer? That was a new phrase for him. Maybe it was a Michigan thing, he didn’t know, though from the way she kept talking, he decided to assume it meant she had been there her whole life. He didn’t realize the town was that small that people would peg him to be the new guy. That was totally fine in his book. Meant more attention would come his way. “Nah, don’t live under a rock. I like to breathe now and then.” He chuckled at his words, reminding himself he did live with rocks, as in earth elementals, but that was just a recent discover in the scheme of things. “I actually just got here yesterday. Flew in from Cali.” Gabby seemed nice enough, and definitely talkative, so might as well take advantage of that... along with her wandering eyes. Haha! Barely been her 24 hours and I got a cute girl eyeballing me. Scoooooore. Shit, if she was going to play that way, then Ziggy had no issues returning the favorite. What? Cute girl was cute!
Gabby didn’t think anything of the way that she spoke. She wasn’t sure if it was a Michigan thing, or if it was more just how she and her close friends talked. “Good, ‘cause I’m pretty sure breathing is essential to being alive.” She smirked, knowing that she probably sounded a little bit more like her father than she meant to. He was such an air-head, and liked to state the obvious a lot. “Really? What’s California like?” Gabby had never really traveled all that much, and other places were exciting. “And what could have possibly been interesting enough to bring you across the country?” It went unspoken that it had to have been something pretty important or special. Gabby couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to leave the Golden Coast. What she’d read about it was really nice. Beaches and warm temperatures year round. It sure beat the months and months of snow that they had here. Despite her adaptation to water and cold things, she did get tired of the snow after a while. Gabby studied Ziggy’s face, trying to determine just how old he was. “Have you already finished college?” She was probably guessing wrong, but she figured she’d give it go. She swayed from foot to foot, her music still blaring from where her ear buds hung around her neck.
Actually, now that he thought about it, he never really been asked what California was like, seeing he was in the damn state his entire life up until now. Though only thing that went through his mind was that people would expect the entire place to be like Hollywood, just like how everyone expect New York to be the city. It really wasn’t. Even during his time in LA for college, it was far more different than most people imagined. “I come from northern California, so it’s a lot more lush and laid back in comparison to some of the cities. We used to joke around that it wasn’t really California and just southern Oregon.” He laughed a little at that one. “But yeah, I just finished college back in May down in LA. Went to art school and now I’m out here to teacher the kiddos in high school.” Ziggy was really proud of that part. He loved helping others and this was just a dream job come true. Far more than a lot of his friends could say right now with the economy. “So uh... what about you? With college and stuff.” Slightly awkward to be striking up a conversation with a stranger in the woods, but hey, she was pretty to look at and this was by far not the strangest meet he had ever had.
Never having been to any of the other states besides the ones that bordered Michigan, Gabby was definitely more than a little sheltered if she would admit that to herself. She had never been in a city as big as New York or LA, and honestly it was an interesting idea to go visit one. Ann Arbor did not count, and she’d been to Detroit enough to know that it was still not as interesting as she thought Scarlet Oak was. But maybe a different city would be exciting. She laughed along with Ziggy, smiling and toeing the dirt with one shoe. “Well that sounds better than I would have thought.” Big cities were nice, but their novelty always wore off pretty quickly after the first few visits, at least for Gabby. “Oh, yeah? What kind of art?” Gabby definitely liked the class, even if she was not very talented at all. It was a good creative outlet and it had helped her in other ways when she was in high school, like managing stress. Even if it looked like garbage to other people, it was just another way besides dancing for Gabby to get out any unwanted emotions. “That’ll be good for the high schoolers, I think. To meet someone from another state with another way of looking at the world.” Gabby was also without an actual job, so she definitely envied him the luxury. It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried looking, she just hadn’t found anything she’d liked enough to do to earn money. An excuse, but still. “I go here, to the University of Michigan. I’m studying dance to become a choreographer and instructor.” She blushed a bit. “I could dance before I could walk apparently, although that makes no sense to me. But that would also be why I was pretty horrified that I fell on my damned face.” She smiled sheepishly. “You excited for school to start up?”
“A little bit of everything. I majored in fine arts, so I’m big on paint and sculpture, but I’ve used every type of medium at least once.” Ziggy had no issues with trying something new. Change was a good thing, after all. “I’m excited about it. Just hope the kids are, too. High school can be a tough crowd.” Or at least Los Angeles had a tough crowd. He just hoped no one pulled another knife out on him. “And what about you, miss dancing queen? You excited? Just don’t get too excited or you’ll trip and fall again.” Seriously, he wasn’t going to forget about that and if he saw her again, probably remind her of it, but Ziggy did it all in good fun. Besides, the fact Gabby was in college meant she had to be close to his age. He had no problems befriending someone who had so many benefits pinned to them. Just as long as she didn’t trip over him. Then they were all set.
“Even the craze from the 60’s where they used darts and paint filled balloons? ‘Cause I’ve been meaning to try that one, and never had a good enough excuse. Unless of course its not a real craze.” Gabby was only half joking, it seriously did look like fun. At least the movie the Princess Diaries had made it out to be awesome. Now all she had to figure out was if she had some good aim with a dart. “I think you’ll be alright, most of the younger kids I know here are pretty nice. So long as you don’t mind the supernatural.” Shaking her head at the teasing, she shrugged lightly, trying to keep her cheeks from turning red again. “I’m looking forward to it. Guess I need more practice if I keep falling down in front of every hot guy in the area. My teachers would be ashamed.” She sighed and frowned dramatically before grinning like an idiot. “Though if I do get too excited, you’ll be sure to catch me, right?” She smirked and did a little bit of her break-dancing toprock before she tucked her right foot behind her left knee and let her body fall into a drop. She caught herself with her left hand and her right foot and grinned up at Ziggy, waving her right arm in the air. “Ta-da!” She got back up on her feet and dusted her hand off on her shorts. “That’s about all the break-dancing I can do here without breaking myself.” Okay, so Gabby was a bit of a show off, but what self-respecting fire elemental didn’t want attention? She had never met even one, so far.
Oh god, balloon art. Ziggy cracked up over that. Some people had the strangest ways of going about creating art. “Not sure if it was so much a craze as it was over-hyped by the media by a few artists,” Ziggy pointed out. Good to know those art history classes paid off. “...but maybe I’ve tried it out.” That grin of his screamed ‘yes,’ even if he wasn’t being entirely upfront. It was more fun that way when it came to flirting. Maybe he would have some willing students try that out. Ziggy would have loved that. Any enthusiasm over art was better than taking the class for a supposed easy A. Though for now, his eyes were glued on Gabby as she pulled off some dancing moves before him. Ok, now that was hot. He just smiled to himself while leaning up against a tree and watched. The girl definitely had some slick moves and Ziggy wished he could show off for her as well. It was in his nature, after all. “You would fit in so perfectly in LA. They’re pretty big on break dancing. I can’t do it to save my life, but I certainly enjoy watching.” Gabby was so nice on the eyes, he couldn’t help it. “And catching. You know, in case you trip over your own feet again. I’m an excellent catcher.”
Ziggy’s laugh made Gabby smile, and she brushed a stray hair behind her ear, her hand lingering against the skin of her neck. “Well, maybe it would be something to do for a rainy day? Or a sunny one. You interested?” The tone in Gabby’s voice suggested that she meant something a bit more than just balloon art, one of her brows lifting mischievously. She was definitely enjoying the flirtation; Ziggy seemed like he was a nice person, and Gabby definitely liked when people had more than just looks in their arsenal. Gabby was actually guilty of taking art for the easy grade, but she’d ended up liking it a lot and taking it again before she graduated. She was no artist when it came to that sort of stuff, but she could definitely appreciate it. It had been soothing and fun. Now dancing? That was where Gabby truly shown, and she was happy with the way Ziggy had watched her, her eyes alight with pride and happiness. Dancing always made her feel better, no matter what was happening. “Oh, yeah? I can see that, I would love to visit and go around and see it sometime.” Gabby loved to watch, too; there were some truly talented people out there, and she was constantly browsing youtube for anything new that someone had come up with. She always loved the challenge of out-dancing someone, even if it was only remembered for a moment. Nodding towards Ziggy’s guitar, Gabby smirked. “Well if you can’t dance, it at least looks like you can play. Unless of course you just bring that with you to help you pick up chicks.” Not that he needed it. “And hopefully if I ever do actually trip and fall again, you’ll right there to save me.” She took a few steps towards him and purposefully dug the toe of her shoe into the dirt, effectively tripping herself up.
Was she suggesting they get together again? Like as in a date? That struck a pleasant chord in Ziggy, trying hard not to smirk too much at the thought. Because doing some art with a pretty girl meant they’d get paint everywhere and then they’d have to wash up, which meant getting their clothes off and- “Yeah, why not?” His voice was anything but innocent. Ziggy sucked at being innocent. Looking over to his guitar, he chuckled to himself when Gabby semi-called him out. He did love music and jamming with random musicians, but sometimes it was the perfect tool to get a girl’s attention. If only he could recall the amount of times he sat outside of a girl’s window to sing them a song while strumming on his guitar until they paid attention to him. A few times resulted in them calling the cops, but he didn’t care. At least they talked about him come morning. “Yeah, because it was totally my idea to wander in the middle of the woods to pick up all the hot chicks I could find here.” Ziggy could play relatively well and he was about to go grab his guitar to show Gabby until he spotted her falling. He couldn’t tell if it was done on purpose or accident, but the guy was quick on his own feet, briskly rushing to her side so she could land in his arms. Keeping a secure hold of her, Ziggy looked down at her and grinned. “See? Excellent catcher. On my resume and everything.”
Gabby could be good with subtle, but mostly she was on the wrong side of confident and forthright. Generally people didn’t understand that part about her upon first meeting, and so she usually toned it down just a hair if she was interested. And she was definitely interested in Ziggy. And if they would turn out to be really great friends then Gabby saw it as a win. “Great!” She smiled, the smirk on Ziggy’s face making her grin like an idiot. “What are your favorite colors to use?” Okay, so that was a little bit of a lame question, but if she was talking about paint, maybe it was allowed? Her mind had taken into account just how messy painting was when you were being careful--- and how much paint would get everywhere with the way that they intended to use it. She liked paint fights, although she’d gotten in trouble enough in high school for them that she figured she would have gotten it out of her system. But the idea of having to clean up afterwards was still intriguing. “It’s a good idea, so why not? There are a lot more people that appreciate nature here than you think.” Gabby’s thoughts flew to Bella and she knew she would have to gush to her about Ziggy. Maybe they could all go out sometime, enjoy the town? A moment into Gabby’s falling charade and she was safely in Ziggy’s warm arms. She reached up to place her hands on Ziggy’s back once he’d grinned down at her. Her face did an impressive color change and she smiled back. “Glad I didn’t have to make a fool of myself more than once today. Thanks.” She placed the back of her hand on her forehead for dramatic effect. “You saved me! What ever can I do to repay you?” Her eyes danced with mischief as she smirked up at Ziggy, resting her hand on his arm.
This girl just made Ziggy laugh. He meant no harm in it by any means. Her brief theatrics had him forgetting about the question about colors and paints. Besides, why think about that when there was a perfectly cute girl in his arms? And was she blushing just then? Ziggy thought she did, which only made the fire elemental grin some more. “Well, I like to think I’m a fair man, so I take all sorts of things as payments.” He continued to list off things while slowly standing up and helping Gabby back onto her feet. “Caffeinated drinks, concert tickets, cookies, art supplies, guitar strings.” He shrugged and feigned some innocence as well. Two could totally play at this game. “I don’t know, maybe even a date that consisted of a town tour. I’m pretty reasonable and flexible. I’ll let you think about it.” That said, he gave Gabby a wink. The day he didn’t flirt with a girl was a sure sign of the apocalypse.
Laughter was usually very contagious where Gabby was concerned, and she chuckled along with Ziggy, glad that she could get him to laugh. He was even more enticing when he laughed, if that were at all possible. She let him help her stand up, smiling up at him while he listed off his acceptable bribes. She tapped her lips with one finger, making a show of thinking about all the things he suggested. “Well, it just so happens that there are plenty of stores that we can go to and check out! They might be on the small side, but I’m pretty sure all your wants and needs would be covered. There’s an awesome music store that’s pretty close to the Starbucks, if that helps?” Gabby smiled, hoping she was not failing at continuing to look innocent. “And as many times as I have traveled this town, it would be nice to use it for something good. I would love to play tour-guide!” Gabby did not really have to think so much about whether or not she would want to spend more time with Ziggy. Especially when he winked like that. She shrugged lightly, trying to play it off like she wasn’t super excited. And failing. “Whenever you feel like.”
Ziggy wasn’t a big Starbucks fan - damn the corporations! - but the rest of it sounded pretty damn awesome. He had a feeling Gabby would do an excellent job showing him around while being good company. This was perfect on all sorts of levels. How could he possibly say no to any of this? “Hmmm, sounds intriguing,” Ziggy smirked while rubbing his chin as if he was pondering harder on the situation than he currently was. “I might have to take you up on all of that. Not sure when, though. Still need to get settled into the living situation and work deal. You know, be an adult for a change of pace. But how about this....” He patted at his pant pockets until he felt the lump that was his phone and swipe it. “I’ll let you plug in your digits here and I’ll let you know the very second I’m available for some quality tour guides.” Being charming as ever, he extended his hand out to Gabby for her to take the phone and go to town on it. He just prayed it wouldn’t be a prank number that would land him on textsfromlastnight.com in the next week.
Gabby raised an eyebrow, grinning. Intriguing was a good thing to be, in her book and she hoped her skills as a tour guide wouldn’t be too shoddy. Hell, she’d lived here her whole life, so it couldn’t be so hard, right? She knew her little town like the back of her hand, and she hoped she knew how to make it interesting. Granted, not everything in the town was exciting, but she would definitely try to make it that way. “Ah, yes. Being a grown-up does take precedence.” She was not going to mention just how little of that she really did, since the only adult thing she did was drink and go to college. She blamed her dad for wanting her to save money, and putting it all towards college. Gabby’s eyes followed Ziggy’s hands for a moment before he pulled out his phone. She smirked and took it from him, typing in her number with her name. In the notes section on the contact information, she typed in the words ‘hot brunette’, the smirk deepening on her lips. There was nothing wrong with a shameless reminder, or at least she hoped there wasn’t. She handed his phone back, smiling. “Sounds good, though you may want to book your tour as soon as possible, my calendar fills up fast.” Not exactly a lie, as she did spend a lot of her free time hanging out and doing crazy things with her friends. She offered him what she hoped was an innocent grin, but the light in her eyes didn’t quite match. “Good luck at your new job! I’m sure you won’t need it, but still.” Gabby was a little reluctant to just leave, but she did need to stretch out her leg to make sure it wasn’t too injured. “I guess I’ll see you around?”
Score! He got the cute girl’s number. Or hot brunette, according to his phone once he got it back. That so-called innocent grin of hers left Ziggy smirking. He had a funny feeling she’d be good times. “Thanks. I’ll take all the luck I can get.” Being the youngest teacher at the high school was going to be rough, but he’d do his best. He just couldn’t wait to teach art. “And good luck with your dancing and not falling.” Leaving wasn’t something he exactly wanted to do just yet, but sooner or later he’d have to leave and find food or something. At least head back to his new home so Fable didn’t worry about him. He quickly darted behind one of the trees to retrieve his acoustic guitar and began to walk by Gabby. “Was a pleasure meeting you, my dear. You better believe you’ll be seeing more of me in the future.” Even if they didn’t have their tour date in the near future, he planned on making his name known in this town. That’s how Ziggy rolled. Another smile and another wink towards Gabby and Ziggy was on his way.