Forge (themaker) wrote in mutanthaven, @ 2009-11-30 19:59:00 |
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FORGE: The sound quality of the speakers was better than even Forge could have hoped for. Every note, every key, every pitch was as clear as ringing crystal, and it was a stupid thing to think, but he swore he could almost taste the sound that flowed from the set of four he had spend the last few days working on. If this what being a lover of music meant, consider him converted. Pleased with his work, Forge abruptly shut the music down, and pushed the speaker set together so they sat neatly upon his table - coincidentally the same table his leg had been sitting on not a week earlier.
This was his thank you gift, to Lila. The metals she had given him had allowed him to finish his leg, and while it still needed a few minor tweaks here and there, (he was also still debating about whether or not chroming it would be dorky) it was almost completely done.
And so now he waited. He'd sent her a quick text message earlier inviting her down and for some reason he was having a terrible time concentrating on anything else. Constantly was he looking toward the door, over at the clock on the wall, at the security footage on one of the large monitors at the back of his workshop, waiting for her to appear. As of yet she hadn't, and he fretted she wouldn't show up. (She was already at least three minutes late).
LILA: Lila was off doing some thinking of her own. Since her own little revelation in the grocery aisle, she had been playing over certain facts about and moments between her and Forge. She specifically focused on the time after things were no longer casual between them but even some of the moments before that. She had been kicking herself over how blind she had been and wondered how long she had felt -- if it was before the earthquake or when she was visiting him in the hospital. She couldn't figure out when this started and wasn't sure what she was going to do about it because Lila had no reason to do nothing about it. It was that uncertainty that kept her from jumping at his text, only heading down to his workshop after she reasoned she had no good excuse to ask for a rain check.
She showed up in his security footage, heading down to the workshop a little bit after he sent it. She came to his door at her usual pace, perhaps with less swagger but all dolled up as usual. She knocked on the door and waited for the usual signal that she could come in. Perhaps she could have teleported into the workshop from her room, but she was trying to limit her little trips to space for the time being.
FORGE: He was at his door before she even reached it, having seen Lila on the cameras from down the hall. He did, however, wait several seconds after she knocked before pulling the door open, doing his best to keep his smile as low key as possible. He wanted to surprise her, and Lila could always read him like a book. (Not that Forge was particularly hard to read, anyway, but she usually did a much better job than most.)
"Lila." He greeted her with a little more enthusiasm than she would have probably been used to in the past. He took a brief step back to let her in, but also because he wanted her to see him standing unaided without him having to point it out (though he dearly wanted to). Two feet firmly on the ground, no crutches or walking stick or wall to lean on. He was still seeing a physiotherapist once a week, and walking unaided became painful and difficult after an hour or so, but he was managing. And the beauty of his new homemade bionic leg was that it moved with the same fluidity as a human one, and so adapting to it was made relatively easy. "Hi." He realised he was staring at her, wondering if she had done something different to change her appearance - Forge was suddenly struck by how stunning she was.
LILA: The door opening caught her attention and she plastered the customary smile, surprised to find that she couldn't think of one of her clever or witty openers to say. She stepped into the workshop, letting the door be closed behind her. Something was different about him and almost immediately her eyes fell onto his leg. Her mouth hung open for a second and she pointed at his leg, her fingers almost itching to hike up his pant leg so she could get a look at it. "Is that it? Did you finish building it?" She knew Forge was good with machines, but she still couldn't believe it. She hadn't left him alone with that metal for maybe a week and he already had a functioning leg. She wanted to see it. And her enthusiasm for the project got her to temporarily forget her own awkwardness.
FORGE: Forge couldn't hide his grin at her question, and he nodded quickly, "Yeah, I did..." A pause, as he bent slightly to roll up his pant leg, "It's not completely finished yet but--" He fell silent as he continued to push the material up, slowly but surely revealing what looked like it could have come straight out of a terminator film. Complicated beyond belief, wires and rods and motors formed the shape of his limb, four hydraulic cylinders completed the upper part of where his thigh would have once been. As he lifted it, the tiny motors in the ankle and the kneecap whirred and buzzed and the sensor in the kneecap flashed a couple of times. "The metal you found me was perfect. Easily malleable, and so fucking strong..." He lowered it slowly, shifting his weight easily from one foot to the other, before asking, with almost a painful sort of reluctance, "What do you think?" He never realised how much her opinion mattered until now.
LILA: She bent over and tilted her head to get a better look at the leg as he had rolled up the pant leg, her hair falling to one side as her eyes ran over the machine. She barely even recognize the pieces of metal she had gotten him, seeing how he reworked them into the parts he needed for his bionic leg. Her eyes were wide as she scanned it while it worked, mesmerized by the complex mechanics -- she knew he would have built something fully functional but it was still surprising how many parts and pieces that would require. She barely heard his appraisal of the metal she got him. She stood up straight, tucking some hair behind her ear. "I'm very impressed," she gave her assessment, lacking the usual slyness with sincerity in its place. "That did not take you long at all."
FORGE: He offered her another proud smile, before jerking his head over toward a table littered with empty coffee mugs, "I haven't slept much. I really wanted to get it done - once I had the parts it was simply a matter of..." Of What? Forge could never really voice how his particular ability worked. Often there was no pre-planning to what he did, he'd think about it briefly, imagine it, and then let his hands do the work. While his leg had taken a little extra work in that he'd actually drawn up some plans, once he had all the materials, his plans meant nothing, and hours upon hours would fly by without Forge even looking at them. "...Putting it all together." He finally finished lamely. A shrug, "You know what I'm like." A somewhat awkward pause, as he stared down at his feet thoughtfully, before his eyes snapped up and he cleared his throat a little, "I--uh. I made you something. As--as a thankyou." He gestured toward the speakers he'd made her. "Over there."
LILA: She blinked as if she didn't comprehend him, looking past him. "You... made me something?" She hadn't expected anything in return. Well, maybe a few words and some modest shuffling. But really, she had felt as good as she was going to get over the gesture based on his reaction alone. Lila moved past him to approach the work table that held the speakers, slowly maneuvering through the workshop and past all of Forge's other projects. She stood at the table and looked over the speakers before she ran a hand over one of them, knowing what they were but still speechless. The internal debate from earlier had returned and she didn't know what to say.
FORGE: If there was a human aspect Forge did enjoy about his work, it was watching the expression on another person's face, when he showed them the work he'd done for them. Lila especially, whose entire face lit up with interest and curiosity and pleasure at something so simple as a set of speakers (and an admittedly really awesome sub woofer). "You can test them out, if you like..." He brushed past her, fingers lingering on her elbow before reaching out and hiting the 'PLAY' button. "You can't buy sound clarity, like that " he told her matter of factly "you'll get a real precicse frequency when you're mixing, because they don't run off your regular dyanamic type of speakers..." He pushed the volume up, briefly filling the workshop with music, and offered her a quick smile. "Figured I'd make something you could use..."
LILA: Lila glanced over her should at him, perfectly aware of how close he was. The urge to close the distance between them was fierce but at the same time, she had some unanswered questions. She wasn't sure if she could just grab and kiss him until she resolved her conflict. Forge's gesture of gratitude solved some of the mystery she had regarding her feelings for him and gave her some strength to say what came out of her mouth next, the words just falling out. "I think I fancy you," she admitted finally, her body turning to face him and not shying away from being so close to him. "And to be frank, I don't know what to do about it." Forge was the one fixing things and solving problems. She put her current conundrum on the table and hoped maybe, he could help her solve it.
FORGE: He watched her carefully for a few moments, letting the gravity of what Lila had just admitted sink in, mulling what she said over in his own mind for a few moments. It certainly wasn't something he'd been expecting from her; Lila had always appeared to him as something of a lone wolf, she had her fun, she did what she wanted. There was a depth, to her, obviously, one that she did not readily let others see, but this admission, was most surprising. It was something he himself had toyed with from time to time, but had always assumed it had been purely one sided.
Forge closed the space between them in a single step, slowly reaching out to run his fingers against the side of her neck, thumb running over her cheek and staring quietly into her eyes. And then he kissed her. Roughly at first, pulling her into him with a hunger he didn't quite expect, but he softened after a moment, lingering a few seconds before pulling back. His lip quirked upward ironically, "You think I always have the answers?"
LILA: The time before he kissed her, Lila grew nervous, hiding her hands behind her back so that she wouldn't wring them or see them shake. She could keep a brave face on only for so long and when he touched her, she tensed. She never did anticipation mixed with uncertainty well and she just wanted him to put her out of her misery. When he did, her stomach did a different type of flop that she'd experience from casually kissing someone, especially new. Her hands emerged from behind her back, unsure what to do but eventually grabbing hold of his waist to steady herself.
Lila let out a small laugh when he asked his question, still trying to catch her breath and make sense of what it could mean. She'll just take his actions at face value and assume it was a good sign. She nodded after a moment, pressing her lips together. "Uh, yes... because I certainly don't have them," she looked up at him. "Didn't anyone tell you this is how it works?"
FORGE: "Well..." He regarded her thoughtfully, one hand still resting lightly on her shoulder, thumb caressing the side of her neck a little absently. "That's hardly fair now, is it?" He was joking, obviously, but more out of necessity, mostly because Forge didn't have the answers. Not to this. Even if he did, it would mean bearing himself once more to her, leaving him emotionally vulnerable and ready for any kind of humiliation she might inadvertently throw his way. Not that she would but Forge liked his walls where they were.
After a long, quiet pause he drew a deep breath, "I --I like you, too. If that's worth anything." Wow, did that just sound like a line straight out of Degrassi? Forge frowned, despite himself. "What I mean is--I wouldn't be against us giving...whatever this is a decent run through." He closed his eyes, a look of pain flashing across his expression momentarily - mostly because he hated being this honest, "You make me happy, Lila. I like it when you're here. I seem to--I function better when you're around." It's the only way he could sum up how he really felt - he worked when she was near. He felt better and his thoughts were clearer and he could breathe easier. "So...yeah." He shrugged, avoiding her gaze, "That's...where I stand. I guess."
LILA: She moved her hands from his waist to contour his neck as he spoke. It was definitely more than she was expecting from him, because honestly she didn't know what to expect -- even if some of it as awkward. Hell, she would have been temporarily satisfied with more kissing but she interrupt him. She tilted her head to try to get him to look back at her. "Hey..." she said quietly, not sure she could disclose much more of her own feelings on the matter. Admitting it in the first place was a miracle and she was still figuring things out for herself. "Hey," she repeated, pressing a light kiss on his lips. "You're not the only one not knowing what they're doing," she offered, really unsure what else to say. She was not in the habit of dissecting her feelings, much less when she hasn't had a chance to sort them out herself.
FORGE: He offered her a weak little smile, nodding, glad that she seemed to be stuck in the same position that he was. Brushing a lock of dark hair away from her eyes, he tilted his head to the side, pursing his lips thoughtfully, "Wanna go for a walk?" A fairly innocuous question, really. Forge felt like some fresh air, and for some reason being outside always helped clear his head. (He also secretly wanted to test his leg out on different terrain, but she didn't have to know that.) "Maybe we can get some dinner while we're out..." Did he just ask her out on a date? Quite possibly.
LILA: Really, leaving this room was the furthest thing from Lila's mind. She'd be fine just locked up here with the two of them and this work table, thank you very much. It took her a second to comprehend what he was saying -- not only was she in a different frame of mind, but any talk of romantic strolls and dates was a concept so foreign to Lila, she classified it as stuff other people did. But, well, she hadn't tried actually the whole going out thing just as she's never really liked anyone enough to admit it. So who was she to knock it before she tried it? She nodded before she opened her mouth. "Yeah, sure. We can definitely... do that," she said with a small degree of uncertainty.
FORGE: Part of the reason Forge wanted Lila out in public was due to him not wanting to get too close to her. Physically. Maybe he wanted to move slowly, maybe he just wasn't in the mood, whatever. But he knew Lila, and he knew her fondness for intimacy, and Forge subconsciously wanted to avoid that, at least for now. Forge was well aware that their relationship prior to this had been based heavily upon sexual compatibility but for some weird reason (one he refused to admit to even himself) he just wasn't ready to start that back up again, no matter how much he physically wanted her.
He saw the reluctance written quite plainly on her expression, and forced a wide smile onto his face, "Great. I'll- uh- I'll get my jacket." He kissed her quickly once more before moving past her and disappearing into his tiny adjoining bedroom to retrieve his jacket and a walking stick, just in case. "Anything you need?" He asked, pausing at his doorway and trying his very best to avoid the...tension that had seemed to suddenly fill the room.
LILA: The instinct to follow him into his bedroom and possibly pounce him was strong. She didn't know how else to express herself really so she was still in shock of what was happening. She stood, waiting for him to get his things, and turned her head when he came out. "I... don't think so." Really, she'll be fine when they get out of the room and were in public. It would help her shake the lustful feelings for the time being. "You ready to go?" She plastered a smile on her face, sliding her hands into her back pockets.
FORGE: "Yeah, ready." He mumbled, moving to her side and placing a hand on the small of her back to gently guide her toward the door. Was he really ready? Oh god, he had no idea. Right now he desperately wished things could be easy - even this, whatever this was, that seemed so perfectly simple on paper was so incredibly complicated in the flesh. He sighed as he closed the door to his workshop behind him, steeling himself for whatever was to come.