Verity Renee Marlowe (justhearmeout) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2009-07-15 08:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-06-08 |
An Informative Non-Date
Who: Artus and Verity
When: 5:00pm
Where: Olive Garden in Ann Arbor
Verity arrived at The Olive Garden in Ann Arbor promptly at five. She generally ran a few minutes late every now and then, but she was always on time when it mattered to her. Since they were eating in a nice, semi-casual place, she wore a pair of jeans, sandals and a white peasant blouse with her hair pulled back from her face. She didn't want to look like she was dressing up since Verity really preferred to wear whatever was comfortable, but she felt like she looked okay. After making sure she had arrived before Artus, Verity was seated near a window in the back. There were only a couple other filled tables around, so their booth was somewhat private, which was nice since she figured Artus might be more willing to talk about his book without prying eyes or eavesdropping ears. Verity sat there and waited, trying not to chew nervously on her lip. She rarely ever got nervous. Verity liked to think she had some confidence, but after her talk with Loren, she was starting to probably read more into this whole thing than she ought to.
Artus was usually dependable, reliable, and completely on time. Unless of course he was frantically working on a book and then he was bound to forget details. Or, now, if he was finished with a book and worrying about what to wear and what to say that night, he apparently would arrive exactly 38 seconds late. Shame on him! He didn't know why exactly he was placing so much importance on this event, well he did, he was just in denial. A girl like Verity would never be interested in him, so he shouldn't be so eager to make feeble attempts at conversation and then see her explode when he admitted he had already forked over the bill before either of them stepped foot in the place. He fixed his glasses as he looked around for her, finally noticing her golden blonde hair and walking over to her. He felt self conscious even though she had yet to spot him. Maybe dockers and a polo was the wrong route to go. He even wore the loafers. Because old habits died hard for young Artus. He must have looked absurd, his eyes were so wide as he stood by her side. "Sorry I'm late." He told her before slipping into the other side of the booth. "Have you been waiting long?"
Verity glanced up when she saw him approach and she smiled, straightening a bit against her seat. "Hi! No, I've only been here... maybe a minute, or so?" He looked nice the polo shirt and dockers, though her eyes hadn't drifted low enough to catch his loafers before he sat down. She wondered if he was ever the type to wear ripped jeans and rock band t-shirts. Probably not, but that was okay. "How are you?"
Artus gave her an uneasy smile, mostly because he was terrified. He wanted to tell her that he was just some stupid guy and she didn't have to meet with him ever if she didn't want to but he kept his mouth shut. "Well still, I shouldn't have made you wait." He insisted. He only wore something more casual than his attire at the moment when Delphine got her hands on him. And even then it could be disastrous. "I'm very good how are you?" Pulling at his shirt, he finally caught her eyes. And this probably terrified him more than anything else. "You look really nice."
"You didn't make me wait," Verity said with a laugh. "I literally just sat down a few seconds ago, so don't worry about it. But I'm doing good! I'm glad you called." She smiled when he said she looked nice. "Thanks. You do too. I'm regretting wearing white though, since I just know I'm going to get spaghetti sauce or something all over myself."
Artus' eyebrows raised slightly at her mentioning she was glad he called. But why? Why would you want to talk to me? He hated being so insecure, but he couldn't think of any reason that he wasn't afraid. "I'd offer to trade shirts but...you know." He said motioning between them. He'd look pretty funny in her top. "I can make a mean napkin bib if you'd like one when the food gets out here." He'd probably be wearing one too that night. He might cover his shoes with napkins after the cheese incident at the mall with his sister. His loafers weren't cheap. Not that he really cared. He'd gladly toss them out if Verity disapproved of them.
Verity laughed. "I don't think you would look that great in a peasant top," she teased. Assuming that's what she was wearing. That's what the girl at the store had called it when Verity bought it a few weeks ago. It didn't look very peasant-y to her, but what did she know? "Napkin bibs? You know, that just might be necessary. I'm sure we'll get plenty of odd looks from people, but it's better than walking around with marinara stains, right? Did you want to order any wine or would you rather stick to something else?"
Well at least Verity wasn't sadistic like his sister. "You know I'd have to agree." But the sad sad fact was he knew by experience (ie a very evil twin sister) that he made a pretty convincing woman. "Napkin bibs are far better than the plastic ones you get at crab places. Very high class. And I'm used to people looking at me strangely." It wasn't very often you saw a 23 year old in loafers, after all. "No, no, wine is fine." Or at least he hoped it was, he had never selected any by his own self. However the menu often had wines to go with the meals so that was definitely a plus. "How was work?" The last time they had seen each other she was on her way to go to work, and Artus had been half tempted to go in to see her there but decided it would be well, creepy of him to do such a thing. So he held himself back.
She laughed again and nodded. "I'm all for classy bibs." She turned her menu over to look at the wine list. She loved Rieslings and decided to order a bottle, since she fully intended on paying for their dinner. She had remembered her ID, thankfully. Being twenty one meant you still got carded. All the time. "Work was... work. Nevermore's been pretty busy since May... people have questions and they want answers, you know?" We should go to the park after... the noodles are way too overcooked!... I spit in the douchebag's food for... Verity winced and re-focused, concentrating hard on the menu rather than the voices in her head. Maybe she should have invited him to her place for dinner. Small and private, and it was very rare for her to hear random conversations from previous tenants in her apartment.
Artus scrunched his nose up in concentration. If he said the name of the wine the wrong way he would feel like a fool but he was not going to play point and order like some five year old. His knowledge of the world, sadly, did not include wine facts nor pronunciation skills. Artus had since forgotten that there was any age difference between him and Verity, two years wasn't that big of a gap anyway. "Not every questions need answering. Sometimes it's just good enough to know that there isn't a definite answer. Not everything fits into a mold." He was speaking of his sister and how she definitely was not some sort of monster because she was bitten by a werewolf. He was distracted but, he did notice her wincing. "Verity what's wrong?"
Verity didn't know much about wine either, she only know what tasted good, and she tended to try and remember those names. She glanced up at him and smiled. "No, I know. And to be honest, we can't always answer everything, and there's not always a book discussing what they're after. Even knowing what we all know now about what's out there, there's still a lot we're in the dark about." At his question, she shook her head and set her menu down, still smiling. "Nothing's wrong, I promise."
"Well that makes sense." He said with a nod. He wanted to be persistent and ask Are you sure? but refrained. Figuring he was already boring her he scanned the menu nervously. "What do you think you're going to get?" Italian food. It had been quite some time...honestly he'd like a little bit of everything, but restaurants didn't work that way - just his mom's kitchen.
"I am thinking something with a white sauce," Verity said with a grin. "That way if I spill it on myself, you won't be able to tell. Probably the fettucini alfredo. I haven't had that in a long time. Is there a particular wine you like?" She didn't mind ordering it if he had no preference. Verity had no issues in making decisions when other people couldn't. She had no patience for the 'whatever you want', 'no, whatever you want' banter.
"I was thinking about getting the seafood alfredo." Artus said with a pleased laugh. Great minds really must have thought alike, that or it was a coincidence he wasn't going to chalk up as one. "...I don't know much about wines." He said with a small smile. "Do you have a suggestion?" He wasn't afraid of asking for help at the moment, because she seemed pretty knowledgeable, at least about what she liked. And it was better than taking a stab in the dark.
Verity shrugged casually, eyes still skimming the menu. "I really like white wines, so maybe we'll go with that if you're okay with it." Setting her menu down, she smiled at him. "And I love the seafood alfredo. Maybe I'll get that too... you can't go wrong with shrimp and pasta. So once we order, you're going to have to tell me about this book. If you're up for it, of course. You don't have to give me any major details or anything if you don't want to."
"I'm more than okay with it." Artus replied, smiling wider and feeling relieved. Now he wouldn't have to feel bad about pronouncing wines the wrong way. "I can tell you all about it of course. I just can't let you read it until it is okayed by my sister. If it isn't, then I'll still let you read it, but you might just keep it then. And you can feel special because you'd be the only one who ever read the whole thing besides myself." At least now they were talking about the book because then he wouldn't have to be interesting or funny, she was a literary goddess, and any information he could give her about the book would be more than enough to keep her happy. He wasn't a wonderful man filled with heartwarming things to say - just an awkward writer who didn't know much beyond what sounded good on paper. Artus was probably just as good as communism at this point - wonderful on paper, terrible in real life.
She was about to reply when the waiter approached to take their order. Verity added two glasses of the Riesling wine with their order and waited until they were both finished and the waiter was gone before she turned her attention back to Artus. "So, why do you need your sister's approval? Not that I mind waiting, because I don't," Verity promised with a smile, "but has she been helping you with it, or something?" Verity highly doubted that she would be the only one to read Artus's book. He would get it published, and it would definitely sell.
Artus shook his head as he tucked a bit of his hair behind his ear. "No it's not that." This was going to sound weird coming out. But he had to say it, he knew honesty was the only route to go. "It's about her in a lot of ways. Well her and me and not her and not me in a way." It was hard to completely explain but he would attempt it. "With it being so personal I don't want to let it out into the world without her approval."
Verity could understand that. A lot of authors took their own life experiences and interspersed them into a novel. Most of the time those experiences were exaggerated, but they usually had to be. "Then you're probably better than a lot of authors out there," Verity told him. "Some wouldn't care what their family or friends thought before trying to publish something so personal. What's your sister like?"
"I'm still trying to get to know what she's like now. We lost contact for two years. My mom kind of went crazy and kicked her out. And the moment I stopped looking for her, she found me, here of all places." Not Olive Garden in particular, but Michigan. "I'm really really glad I took the job, even more so now." He had a lot of things to be happy about. A job, a new book, reunited with his sister, and dinner with a lovely woman.
"She found you? Wow..." Verity smiled and leaned back against the booth. "That's pretty amazing. I imagine you two have a lot to catch up on, and a lot to learn about the other. What was she like before you lost contact?" Verity constantly dreamed about finding her dad, although she had never actively tried. She didn't know if it was fear that he wanted to see her too, or fear that he wouldn't.
"By accident. Our love for mall food kind of did the trick. She went after my pretzel." And then got cheese on my shoes and then made fun of me for them. "We do. She's not the same at all. I mean, in some ways it's like she hasn't changed at all. But in very big important ways she is different." Like she doesn't need me anymore. He was trying to subside his own insecurities, but he wasn't the best at this. "She's always been a very silly person. Very trusting too - which meant I had to protect her from things a lot. Without her, I just kind of fell apart. I mean, she's my twin, we did pretty much everything together and then she wasn't there. So if you had met me two years ago, you probably wouldn't recognize me right now either." He kind of rambled on but it felt good to tell her. That she was interested. And that he could finally say it so it wasn't something that he had hidden inside of himself.
Verity lifted an eyebrow in surprise. Twins. That sort of changed everything, didn't it? "It seems like an amazing coincidence that you were both here, in Michigan, in the food court wanting a pretzel," Verity said. That sounded like a premise for some book, or movie. "Fate's an interesting thing." Fate was a bitch actually, in Verity's opinion. It certainly had never done her any favors. And it had taken Jason away. Verity felt her throat close up, but was thankfully distracted by the waiter as he set their wine, breadsticks and salad in front of them and promised their food would be up shortly. Verity grabbed the metal salad spoons to put some in her bowl. "I think everyone changes after awhile. It's just sad that you couldn't be around when she did." Her expression was one of interest as she glanced back up at Artus. "What were you like two years ago?"
"It isn't much of a coincidence when you realize how much we both love Auntie Anne's." And that much was the truth. He could survive off of them alone and never grow tired of their buttery salty, warm goodness. "So you believe in fate then?" He gave her a small smile. He wasn't exactly sure he was going to chalk finding Della up to fate just yet, though he did often pray that he would find her. Artus sat up a little in his seat as he waited to get himself some salad. "She changed for a lot of reasons, I just wish she didn't have to change at all." But everyone changed right? Every single person. "...Well...Normal." He said and laughed because there was no denying that he was not a normal 23 year old. He wasn't even close to being a normal 23 year old.
"I've always been a big fan of the pretzels they have at baseball games," Verity admitted with a small smile. "The big, thick ones with all the salt? And I've got to have mustard too." She took a bit of her salad and shrugged one shoulder casually, answering what she swallowed her food. "I believe in fate, sure. I don't think all of our choices are predetermined, but I think fate plays an active role in what happens in our lives. Or maybe I just want to believe in it, so I have something to blame when things don't go the way I want them to." Verity set her fork down to reach for her glass and take a sip. "Change is inevitable. As much as you don't want it to happen, it does. The easiest thing to do is to go with it." She smiled at Artus, ignoring the snippets of past impressions that continue to find her ears. "Normal? What would you consider yourself now? You're certainly not abnormal."
"Mustard?" He couldn't help but make a face. "I'm half tempted to take you to the mall right now and introduce you to the world of pretzels and cheese because mustard doesn't even come close to how awesome pretzels and cheese is." He shrugged realizing it probably wasn't that big of a deal to anyone but him. He got himself some of the salad and carefully ate some as well. "Well if you're only going to blame the bad on it and not put the good on its shoulders as well it sounds more of a scapegoat than anything else." He was willing to accept the idea of fate in someone's life as long as they took the good with the bad as fate. "What would I consider myself now? An old man." He laughed but despite his sense of humor about the subject it was true. Paul on a pogo stick it was most definitely true.
"Hey," Verity protested with a mock frown. "Don't diss the mustard. It's delicious. But since I'm always open to new experiences, the next time we go out, you can take me to Auntie Anne's and try to convince me cheese is better than mustard." She set her glass down, smiling at him again. "No worries. I think about fate when something good happens to me too. I have a very intense love hate relationship with that kind of thing." It had been fate that led her to Jason, and fate that had taken him away. How was she supposed to feel about that, really? Her eyebrow arched at his assessment of himself and she picked up her fork again, wondering if he was joking. "An old man? Artus, you can't be serious. Why would you consider yourself an old man?"
"The mustard might be good, I'll give you that, but the cheese? Specifically the cheese at Auntie Anne's? You'll forget mustard ever existed!" He teased. Had she just said the next time we go out? Why yes, yes she did. Wow. He must have been doin something right for her to say that, all this time he had been feeling so self consious and stupid and she had...enjoyed his company? Or was she just saying it to be nice? He bit down on his lip, deciding to debate this later. "I am serious." He replied with a shrug. "I'm an old man because of the way I dress and act. Be honest, how many 23 year olds have you met that call this casual wear?" He said tugging at his shirt. "I have horrible social skills, I avoid going out in public...I haven't had a girlfriend since...high school...and the only thing that has really been somewhat sucessful in my life is my career." Now how did that not sound like an old man? "Would you label me otherwise?"
"Okay, okay, Mr. Cheeseman, I'll take your word for it. We'll have a mustard versus cheese test at the food court when we go," Verity said, laughing as she rolled her eyes teasingly. She picked up her wine again and watched him as he spoke, her eyes watching the way his lips moved, and his mannerisms. He really seemed to believe what he was telling her. That he was an old man because of those few things. She sipped her wine and set the glass down carefully before responding. "I wouldn't label you an old man, no. I wouldn't really label you anything at the moment. For one thing, you're twenty three years old. You're not old. Two, I don't see you walking around with a cane and complaining about back problems. I've only been around you twice, but I don't see any 'old man' traits in the way you act either. Your social skills are just fine, obviously, as we're sitting in a restaurant together and having a decent, interesting conversation. You're also in public," Verity pointed out simply. "I would hope that you wouldn't be out with me just to appease me or something. I would hope that you were out with me because you wanted to be. And I haven't had a boyfriend since I was in high school either, and I hope to god that that doesn't mean I'm an old woman." She paused and watched him with a calm expression on her face. "So no, to answer your question again, I wouldn't label you an old man at all."
"You don't just have to take my word for it. Soon you will experience it, fall in love with it, and renounce your mustard loving ways." He was certain of this. "Well you're very nice." He said completely stunned. He didn't know how to react to her response. "I am here because I want to be. And high school for you was only two years ago. It's been five for me. And if you're a guy you get a lot of questions when you go that long without so much as a phone number from a girl." Despite the loafers and lack of skill in the love department, he was most certainly not gay. He just became overwhelmed with the loss of his sister, and before that...well there was no one that caught his attention. "There's nothing old womanly about you. I find you quite exciting. Which is why I still can't figure out why you want to hang around me."
"I'm twenty one," Verity pointed out. "High school was three years ago. And if you haven't found anyone interesting enough to spend time with, that doesn't mean you're an old man, that means you have high standards." Which made her wonder why he was out with her. Verity folded her arms on the table and leaned toward him a bit, her eyes studying his face. "I'm not overly exciting," she admitted. "But I want to hang out with you because I find you interesting. And I think you're attractive, loafers or no loafers. I don't view you as an old man at all."
"Three is still not as much as five." Five made him sound desperate. Five made him sound like there was something completely and utterly wrong about him. There was but he was trying to ignore the fact that he didn't know how to let anyone in enough to see the real him anymore. Keeping everyone at arm's length was much easier than risking losing important people again. "You're exciting to me. You're 21, confident in who you are, unafraid to talk to strangers, willing to try new things, getting a proper education. I mean already you're sounding like...Like you shouldn't even want to talk to me. I'm still trying to put my life back together. Well put it together at all."
"Are we really arguing over whose love life is the most pathetic due to years out of high school?" Verity grinned, finding the conversation somewhat humorous. She didn't bother leaning back yet, as it was much more interesting being a bit closer to him and being able to see his eyes behind those glasses. Or rather, what went on behind those eyes. "I may be all those things, but I still have issues, just like everyone else." Rarely did she let anyone know her deeper than what she showed on the surface. Maybe that was something else they had in common. "I want to talk to you, and eat dinner with you and... I think I've proven that enough already. I don't want you to cage me in this category of people who shouldn't want anything to do with you because our personalities might be a bit different."
"...Yes?" Artus replied with a shrug and a smile. The way she was staring at him it was unsettling in a good way. Like she really cared about what he had to say and what he was thinking. That was most unusual to him. He figured her words were to make him feel better, like he wasn't as big of a weirdo as he knew he must have been, or at least seemed. "I'm not saying that our personalities might be different so I don't want to talk to you or that I am going to drive you out of here but..." He had a lot of problems with getting to a real and lasting connection with anyone. "I lost what made me me and I'm still trying to find out what I am." Because having a dependency on his sister couldn't last forever, even if if they found each other again. Clearly it wasn't what she wanted anymore.
Verity took that into consideration as the waiter interrupted once more and placed their food in front of them. After a few moments, they were alone again and Verity pulled her napkin from the silverware to place on her lap. She picked up her fork and studied Artus for a moment before pushing a stray strand of hair from her face, back behind her ear. "So are you saying you just want to be friends?" Maybe that wasn't what he meant, but if he was trying to find himself, or something like that, maybe he wasn't looking for a relationship. Verity didn't know if she was, but she at least wanted to make sure they were on the same page before anything else happened.
Artus took her words in wondering if this was her round about way of saying he was ten kinds of crazy and this was most definitely not to be considered any sort of date. "...Is that what you want me to say?" He was terrible with this sort of thing and despite telling himself that he did not want to show his emotions his face went red. He was embarrased, more than that he was entirely sure he had blown any and all hopes of ever actually doing something with her again.
Arching an eyebrow, Verity didn't know whether to smile or not. Maybe she was just a tad bit confused? "Well, no. I'm just... I guess I was getting that vibe from you? Or maybe I was just misunderstanding." It was Verity's turn to turn a soft shade of red as she laughed a bit and lifted a hand to her forehead briefly. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm talking about." She felt embarrassed all of the sudden and wanted to quickly remedy that. "I like who you are, for the record... I mean, who you are now." Maybe if she stuffed her face with alfredo, this would all pass over with minimal humiliation.
Artus closed his eyes for a moment, accidentally kicking her under the table as he shifted around mentally beating himself up. His eyes popped open. "I am so sorry!" He was just the world's biggest idiot today wasn't he? "Verity, I like you very much. Which is why I'm acting like a complete fool. I'm out of practice and low on luck apparently. And you? You're exciting, refreshing, too cool, beautiful..." Everything he wasn't. "I can't believe my luck right now. Girls like you should be hanging around supermodels."
She nearly dropped her fork when he kicked her, and rather than getting upset, she stiffled a laugh and shook her head. "It's okay, Artus. You're not acting like a fool at all..." It really seemed like he didn't have a lot of self confidence. Maybe that was part of the whole 'finding himself' thing. Verity felt herself smiling though, flattered by his compliments, even if she didn't truly believe them of herself. "I'm not really the supermodel type. I like you too. I mean, we've only talked twice now, but I like you. So... if you want to see me again, after this, I'm not going to say no." She was trying to be obvious about the whole thing, but not completely blunt. She didn't want to seem too forward.
Artus felt a small surge of confidence with her last words. "That's really good to know." He replied before picking up his fork. He could finally eat now and not fear he was going to throw up all over her or something equally as childish and terrible. He smiled at her sheepishly as he twirled some of his food onto his fork. "Maybe we can do something that isn't me talking about myself next time?" Because somehow he always accidentally made everything about himself and that must have been getting old for her.
"What fun would that be?" Verity asked after taking a small bite of her food. "I like hearing about you. Like I said, you're interesting. But we can do anything you'd like to do. I'm not overly picky. I like trying new things." Having someone new to do those things with was always a plus. She looked up from her food, attempting to hide a smile, and eyed him curiously. "Do you like to dance?" She was betting he would tell her he didn't dance, but hey, you never knew.
"There's lots of fun in that." Artus insisted. "...Dance? Me?" He hadn't attempted dancing in quite some time. "I could try it I guess..." He'd feel lost the whole time and look like a fool but he normally did. "We could go dancing and then next time go get pretzels and go to the movies?" See both of those things didn't require him to talk about himself. Which made it even more perfect.
Both eyebrows raised in surprise and she had to finish chewing before she actually choked. Lifting her napkin to wipe her mouth, Verity looked at him again. "You would really go dancing with me? Like... to a club to dance?" She usually had to try and drag Loren along with her, or one of her girlfriends, not that she had many. But if she could get Artus to dance? That would probably be a pretty big triumph.
"I know what dancing entails." He said with a nod. Hopefully she wouldn't ask him to go to Heme because he wasn't exactly sure he could sit through going to a place like that without feeling completely uncomfortable and mildly angry. "And yes I would do it." He was 23, which meant he had to start acting like he wasn't already retired and watching his grandchildren getting married and having the time of their lives.
Verity really had no desire to go to Heme. Okay, that was a lie. She did want to go. It sounded and looked fascinating. But it was hard to find people who wanted to go with her, so she figured she would have to go alone some night. She definitely wouldn't be taking Artus there. "Wow. Okay, then. We'll go dancing sometime. And get pretzels at the mall." She smiled and dug into her food again. "See, we've already got a second date lined up."
Artus looked a little frightened but very happy. "It seems that we do. I'm still not sure why you want to be with me but...I'm definitely going to take this as a good thing because it most definitely is just that." He smiled down at his food, eating another bite. He'd definitely have to get advice from Della before going out and dancing in public, but he was bound and determined to have a good time there and here.
"I'm glad you think so," Verity said with a small grin. Though she hoped maybe he would gain a bit of self confidence. She didn't see anything wrong with him, and obviously there was someone, or multiple someones, who had made him feel a bit inferior. It wasn't as if Verity was some prize or anything. And she definitely didn't belong with supermodels. "So I still get to pick your writing brain soon, right? I imagine you'll probably be getting busy soon, with a new book being published. So only if you've got time."
"Oh most definitely. You wanted to hear about the book didn't you?" He was suddenly finding it easier to talk about himself. Of course talking about the book wasn't quite the same as talking about himself. "Ask me anything." He laughed. "And I highly doubt that things will be getting all that busy for me, editing is a long and scary road, just so you know." He smiled mostly to himself. "I'll tell you anything you want to know."
"Well, I know it's about your sister, in a roundabout way." Verity took another quick bite. It was good and she was hungrier than she thought. "Is it fiction? Non-fiction? A memoir? Do you like it better than your first novel, since this one is more personal?" She paused thoughtfully. "Was your first one somewhat personal?" Verity grinned and picked up her wine. "I could bombard you with questions all day, so I'll try to choose the ones I really want to know."
Woah, Verity really came prepared didn't she? She was far better than any of the people who had interviewed him previously. "It's fiction, definitely not a memoir. I definitely cannot write one of those as I know Delphine would just die if everyone knew it was about her. And I don't think I could even begin to compare the two. They're just so different. Both are personal. The first was stories I made up when I was a kid with my sister. It was definitely a way of reaching out to her and trying, however unsucessfully, to find her again. Both were really a labor of love because writing can be a real escape sometimes. But this book, as much as it is about her and based off of what happened to us it is also very much not about either of us. Delphine is not my wife and I have no intentions of ever even thinking about her in that way. Because that's wrong on so many levels. I just thought it would be easier for people to relate to - and easier for me to write if it wasn't so outright about the two of us. Because if you're not a twin, you don't understand the bond. I don't even understand it really so how could I even begin to write about it you know?" He joked. "Maybe you should go into this field. Interviewing. You've got a natural knack for it."
"Spouting off a bunch of questions all at once?" Verity grinned and then shrugged. "I don't know if that's really a natural knack for interviewing as much as it is a knack for being annoying and nosy. So what happens in this book? You keep mentioning that it's about you and your sister, yet not really at the same time, obviously, because you have to change things up enough for it to make sense... you said your mom kicked her out. What for?" And now she was being more nosy about his personal life than the book, but she figured that the two were entwined enough that he wouldn't mind answering her.
Artus blinked a couple of times. He felt bad because he really should have asked Della if it was alright for him to share such personal stuff with Verity, but he also wanted her to know, and for her to trust him. He had to seem shady since he kept leaving out major details. "Seriously, you're asking better questions than the people who get paid to do this stuff." He shrugged. "The truth is, I knew about all this stuff going on before the Light of May because some asshole bit my sister, forever changing her." He scooted in closer, as this wasn't exactly dinnertime conversation, not that he wasn't keeping his voice low already. "My sister is a werewolf, and we found out by her attacking the family on accident. It tore our family apart, my mom kicking her out. She needed us then more than ever and just as simple as that my mom told her to leave." He let out a sigh and took a bite of his food before continuing on with the conversation. "So the book is about this man and his wife and his wife gets turned into a fox and leaves him because she doesn't need him anymore. And all he ever does is dream about foxes until he finds her again and realizes that she's changed so much that what they had before could never be the same. That she would never really love him again. It's about losing someone you need and thought would always need you to find out that they're probably better off without you."
Verity had more or less forgotten about her food while he spoke, although her fingers still wrapped around her fork. She supposed she should have been expecting something to be supernatural related, but it had just sounded like normal family issues to her when he first started talking about it. In a way, it reminded her of Jason, who'd been bitten. Only he had needed her, even if he hadn't wanted to admit it in the beginning. "I'm torn between being absolutely fascinated," she said finally, "and feeling depressed." Because it sounded like an intriguing story, but a sad one at that. And Verity avoided sad things as much as she possibly could. "Do you really think your sister doesn't need you?" That much she doubted, and given Artus's personality so far, Verity was sure he was misreading his sister, or feeling insecure about his sister's new life.
"She doesn't need me. I don't see why she would. I just feel so stupid now, this whole time I was looking for her I could only think of how much she needed me to protect her from all the bad people out there. That if she didn't have me she wouldn't be able to cope. I think I was really the one who was unable to cope without her. And I can't just step back into that role of protector. She's stronger than I'll ever be and every time I try to do something for her, I end up messing things up, not helping them." He bit down on his lip, uncertain of what to say. The novel did sound terribly depressing but it was such a weight off of his shoulders to finally say it. To stop pretending that none of this had happened and that every time he tried to help some stranger out it was him trying to help his sister. "It's just weird when your own sister, and best friend, looks at you and all you see is this stranger."
"I think family will always need one another, no matter how old you get, or how much you change." That was what Verity wanted to believe anyway. Not that she had much family. It was only she and her mother, and it had always been that way. But they lived in different towns now, and Verity only saw her mother from time to time. But she still needed her. They still needed each other. "Maybe she doesn't need you to protect her anymore, but that doesn't mean she doesn't need you. It's probably just in a different role. One where you can be supportive, and be there whenever she might need someone to talk to. Or even when she just needs someone to laugh with. You might see a stranger, but you've only just rediscovered each other. You'll get to know the woman she is now, and I'm sure you'll love her as much as you loved the girl she was before she got bitten."
"My family is messed up. They don't even want to be around each other anymore, how could we need each other?" And how could Della need him when every time he was around her he managed to make an ass of himself? "But that's just it. I don't understand why she had to change. She was so great before, confident, happy with who she was, and now - now she's just so afraid of everything." But the same could be said of himself. He fell apart too when she was bitten, it could probably be said that he took things even worse than she did. Which was saying a lot.
"You really don't want to be around your family? And your sister doesn't want to be around you?" Verity questioned. It seemed to be more of an issue between Artus and his sister than his parents. But then again, she didn't know the whole story. "She's probably afraid because her entire world has changed. You can't expect her to stay the same person after something like that. All you can do is try to adapt to the person she is now. That doesn't mean you can't have a relationship with her. You just can't have high expectations of what that relationship will be."
"I never said I didn't want to be around my family though I don't really know how things can ever be mended with my mother. What she did wasn't really forgivable." At least in his mind. You never turned your back on someone who needed you. But even then he knew that he would always help his mother and be there for her if she needed him. His mother could turn her back on them but he could never fully shut her out. He scratched the back of his head and blushed. "I am so sorry, I'm unloading all of this baggage on you. You just wanted to hear about my novel, you didn't want to sort through what makes me so - tense and frankly a tad bit scary."
She shook her head quickly and reached across the table to touch his hand. "Really, it's okay. In a way, this is about your novel, isn't it? The inspiration behind it. What you've based it off of. I feel like I'll have a lot more in depth knowledge of what it really means when I read it. I honestly don't mind hearing about this, if you're willing to talk about it. Sometimes that's all people need, you know?"
His eyebrows lifted slightly when she touched him. It had been so long since such a simple gesture of concern was done that it easily sent a smile to his face and butterflies to stir within his stomach. "I don't need to talk about it though." He insisted, though his tone of voice and face said differently. "I just need to move on." Which he was terrible at. "Which was why I needed to write the book. Get it all out and just be honest about it so I could move on."
"Talking about it will help you move on," she pointed out before pulling her hand back and going back to her food. "Otherwise you just repress, and that's not healthy. Who knows? Maybe your book will help you and your sister discover each other again. It could bring you closer. Does she know about it?" Verity wasn't sure how she would feel if someone wrote a novel about her, fiction or otherwise. But she hadn't been in the kind of situation Artus had. Verity had dealt with loss, but it was much more permanent.
"She does. I told her about it but not in detail. Just that she'd have the right to tell me not to publish it. She doesn't know how much it means to me though. Or how much she means to me. I'm just bad with words. I mean, saying them. Verbally." Obviously! "But writing them out? I don't know sometimes I wish I could type out everything before I had to reply." His fingers twitched as he mentioned this, like they were chirping away at his laptop. If Verity stuck around, she might make it into the revision somehow. Artus liked to do that though. All of the characters in his first novel? Based off of childhood friends.
Verity nodded. "Maybe reading it will help her understand where you're coming from better. And I think you're doing just fine... verbally," she added with a smile. "I think at this point, with your novel finished, all you can do is just take things as they come. Whatever her reaction is, the fact is, the book sounds like it's been your therapy, something you've needed. Sometimes you can't worry about what everyone else is going to think. Sometimes you have to do what's best for you."
"And what's best for you Verity?" Artus asked looking her in the eye. "What do you need to put first?" Artus didn't much like talking about himself, but that wasn't the reason why he asked her this. Maybe he was reading a little too deeply into things but Verity seemed so certain about her words that it almost felt like they were a mantra of sorts to her. Okay so he probably was reading into things too deeply. But she had yet to complain about anything and there he was pouring his life out to her. She was keeping her parts of the puzzle pretty well hidden - not that he had really asked anything personal at that point.
Verity was very much like Artus in that she didn't like talking about herself. She could tell him her favorite movie, and music and color. But anything deeper always seemed to make her freeze. So she smiled a touch at his question and picked up her wine to take another sip. "It all depends. I take it on a case by case basis." That was a simple enough answer, but she didn't really know how to respond any other way.
He tilted his head not fully appreciating her answer. "What about in this case? On this day?" He was only bound to become curious about her after telling her so much about himself. He felt so vulnerable in that moment and she was keeping her guard up. It wasn't really fair, not that life ever was.
"On this day, in this case," she began carefully, "I think I'm already doing what's best for me. Being here, eating dinner with you." Verity knew he had probably needed to talk about his book and his sister, even if he claimed otherwise. So she felt like sitting here and listening to what he wanted to talk about was what she needed to do.
Leaning in closer to her, Artus gave her a small smile. "That's not what I mean but we'll let it slide." He wanted to know more about her. All about her but he was alright with waiting. Building trust. Even if she had gained nearly all of his, however accidentally it was.
She smiled, at least appreciating that much. She didn't like being pushed to talk about herself. When she was comfortable enough with the person, when she knew she could trust them, that's when she tended to open. Unfortunately that didn't happen often. "So then tell me more about yourself," she suggested, twirling her fork in her pasta. "Give me some simple stuff... what kind of movies do you like? Guilty pleasures, favorite novels... what's your favorite color?"
"Ah now we get to the normal interview questions!" He teased relaxing back into his seat and letting out a small laugh before eating again. "I like movies that make you think. Of course, I also really like badly done martial arts movies. My sister and I used to watch those for hours and hours. That's one thing about me that's never changed. As far as reading, I think you'll find me boring and pretentious if I tell you my favorite novel so I'll side step around that one and let you know that I own every single dungeons and dragons novel. I do mean all of them. And I've read them all." He wasn't really ashamed of that. Nerds were cool right? "Favorite color would be brown. And guilty pleasures?" He scratched his head on that one. "I guess the dungeons and dragons thing is probably the closest thing I've ever felt guilty about liking anymore."
"Thinking movies, badly done martial arts, brown, pretentious novels and Dungeons and Dragons..." Verity trailed off, staring at him for a second before she laughed. She had half expected him to give her some really crazy answers. But he seemed like the reliable sort, so she wasn't overly surprise. "Okay well... I like total popcorn flicks. I love watching things blow up, people running in slow motions and a dozen or so plot holes. My favorite book is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, my favorite color is navy blue and I think my guilty pleasure would have to be... romantic comedies. Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks... I'm there."
"Not all of them are pretentious. Just my favorite, well especially my favorite." Maybe ten years ago it would have been alright for him to say his favorite book aloud but with his generation it became like this snobby I love it and if you haven't read it you're below me thing. "You should really watch badly done martial arts movies because they have all of those things - explosions, wrongly done slow motion, and of course gaping plot holes that if you tried to jump over you would probably fall into the abyss." He smiled at this. He was in need of a kung-fu marathon and soon. "Charles Dickens, now we're talking." Artus said with a laugh. She seemed more and more like him. Plus navy blue and brown went together. This was the part where Della would slap him if she knew what he was thinking and say Stop picking out wedding colors you turd this is a first date. Get back to the conversation. Even if he wasn't quite picking out wedding colors or china patterns. "So I take it you're a fan of You've Got Mail?" Yes he would admit to seeing that movie however silly it sounded. It was about books and writers and okay it was also a total chick flick but he didn't care. Tom Hanks lured him in, he'd see just about anything with Tom Hanks in it - like most Americans. "Happiest moment?" He asked hoping it wasn't too personal of a question. It was a lot better than asking about her saddest though.
"I love You've Got Mail. All those formulaic movies are alright with me," she said with a laugh. They were definitely a guilty pleasure, and not something she'd frequently admit to people. "But I'll give awful martial art movies a try. We'll see if I can get through one without turning it off before it's over, but if it's as awesome as you make it out to be, then I'm sure I'll love them." At his question, Verity paused and took another bite of her food while she tried to think of the best way to answer. She didn't really think she had one. Not to say her life was miserable, but she couldn't really choose one moment to define as her happiest. Swallowing, she took a sip of wine and then shrugged. "I don't know that I have one yet. I have happy moments, but I don't think I have a 'happiest'. What about you?"
"I think you'll find that they are quickly addicting. You might as well just clear a day off of your schedule so you can do a marathon. They're that good. I'm going to have to see if Delphine wants to watch one now." And then he got the idea that maybe Verity would want to watch a movie with them. That would probably mean that stupid Maurus would want to come over too and watch it with them but Artus probably couldn't avoid the overly angry man for his whole life right? Especially if Delphine was going to continue dating him. "Maybe sometime we could all watch one together?" He'd worry about the jerk later. "Happiest moment was definitely seeing Della again. I'm not sure that something could top that." Of course it could though. Weddings, children being born, things like that was what people often cited as their happiest moment.
"Sure." Verity wasn't terribly sure about sitting down to watch a movie with his sister yet... at least not until it seemed like their relationship was a bit more solid. Artus seemed so unsure at the moment where he stood. She smiled, figuring that would be his answer. "I imagine finding your sister again would be the epitome of happy moment. It'll be hard to find something to topple that, no doubt. Maybe you can just add to the happy moments instead."
"Well this night is definitely adding into the collection of happy moments." He admitted with a small smile. Verity was nice. Well she was a whole lot more than just nice but niceness was an overwhelmingly good quality as far as Artus was concerned. A kind heart went farther in his book than just about anything else. "What's one thing I wouldn't think about you from looking at you that's true?"
She felt her cheeks flush just a tiny bit, thinking it was rather nice knowing someone was having a good time with her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been out with a guy who wasn't just a friend. It had been awhile. "I would add it to my list of happy moments too," Verity said. "Something you wouldn't know by looking at me? Uhm...I can play guitar? I can't sing to save my life but I can plunk out a song or two. If that counts."