jem carstairs will be the light at your side (mizpah) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-12-27 04:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, jem carstairs, tessa gray |
Who: Jem Carstairs and Tessa Gray
What: Discussing their new situation
When: Backdated: Mid November
Where: A Park
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete!
Tessa had had a wonderful day so far. They had spent most of the day walking around the Chinese American Museum, lunch and now they were walking through the park in the late afternoon. The weather was good, if a little crisper than normal, but she barely felt it for the company she had by her side. “Have you enjoyed our day, Jem?”
Since Halloween, Jem hadn’t really been sure where he, Will and Tessa stood aside from knowing that they all felt the same way about each other. He’d spoken to Will and had his questions answered, regarding Will’s personal feelings so now he had thought it would be a good idea to do something with Tessa and find out her personal feelings. If Jem could get all of his questions out of the way then he was certain that he’d be more open to the fact that they all felt the same way about each other.
So, he’d asked Tessa if she’d wanted to spend the afternoon together and so far had been having a good time with her. “I have.” He smiled at her as they walked, the backs of their hands bumping every now and then, “You know….this almost reminds me of our walk to the bridge. In the dreams. You’ve dreamt of that, right?” At times it was hard to keep track of what exactly Tessa and Will had also dreamt about.
Tessa smiled at the memory of that. “I have actually,” she told him. “Although then we were walking as friends. Now…” she grinned and slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow as they had in the Dreams. “Now I hope we are more than that,” she blushed as she admitted quietly, hoping she wasn’t overstepping herself.
Jem smiled, glad that she had dreamt that. Not so much what had followed, but the part on the bridge had been really nice. “Well, what you probably didn’t know at that time was that I had feelings for you then.” He glanced over at her as she slipped her arm into his. He was enjoying this closeness with Tessa despite still being a little nervous around her, “And of course. I mean, after Halloween, of course we are.”
“I didn’t actually,” Tessa smiled, ducking her chin a little to mask the grin spreading on her face. She decided to tease him back a little. “I had no idea how you felt...until you kissed me in your room that night,” she gave his arm a gentle squeeze with the hand at his elbow. “Until then I had thought you the perfect gentleman,” she told him coyly.
Jem’s brows rose slightly as Tessa spoke, “I kissed you?” Jem certainly hadn’t dreamt about that yet. “The last thing I dreamt about was talking to you in the library of the Institute shortly after Mortmain tricked us and Will and I ran into Mrs. Dark.” It was a little strange to have dreamt about his cat having almost been used as a vessel for a demon. “So, it sounds like I’m a little behind you.” He wondered why the dreams came quickly to some people and slowly to others.
“Oh no! I’m so sorry Jem,” Tessa stopped walking, as she realised she’d possibly spoiled some of the Dreams for him. “I didn’t mean to spoil the Dreams for you,” she told him genuinely.
“It’s quite alright, Tessa. I’m not upset at all.” Knowing that at some point, in the dreams, he’d get to kiss Tessa wasn’t the worst spoiler he could get, “I’m sure I’ll catch up to you soon.” He didn’t know for sure just how much further Tessa was in the dreams than him, but he assumed it wasn’t terribly far.
“I hope so, I wouldn’t want to make another faux pas like that,” Tessa told him, still embarrassed that she had revealed part of the Dreams to him. “So in case I might, let us talk about you,” she gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “How are your studies going?”
Smiling, Jem leaned over and pressed a light kiss, which was more a brief brush of his lips, to Tessa’s cheek to show that he wasn’t upset at her. It was over almost before it began and he quickly answered her question, “They’re going well. There’s a music recital that I’ll be conducting a piece in, but I’m also contemplating auditioning for a spot to play in.” Jem had never actually played an instrument for anyone aside from Will or Tessa and those times had been because they’d come in while he was playing.
Tessa grinned as he kissed her cheek and she cast her gaze away briefly, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks at the touch of his lips against her skin. “You’ll be conducting? Oh that’s so wonderful James! And a solo piece? Oh, please audition! Will and I love your music so much, you should share it with the world!” she enthused, beaming at him with pride.
“Yeah. It’s nothing big. Nothing to get too excited about.” If there was one thing that James Carstairs was, it was modest when it came to things he’d accomplished. He didn’t like to brag or constantly remind people of what he could do and that was one of the things that made him Will’s opposite. Not that these qualities were bad ones in Will either, “I almost feel like it’d be cheating a little though. I may have practiced the violin for a long time in the dreams, but in real life it just came to me.”
“There’s a phrase for that: natural talent,” Tessa leaned in a told him with a proud smile. “And you should be celebrated for how incredibly good you are with the violin. Music has always been in you or else you wouldn’t have been drawn to conducting. Maybe that was all a...latent skill paving the way for your future Dreams to be built upon,” she suggested as an explanation.
“That’s a possibility.” Jem hadn’t thought about that before, but it did make sense. Just cause he hadn’t started dreaming until he’d come to Orange County didn’t mean that deep down music hadn’t always been a part of him. He just hadn’t known it until recently. “I suppose it won’t really be cheating then.”
Tessa smiled at him sweetly. “James my dear, I highly doubt you would ever cheat anyone. Music is in your soul and it makes you all the more beautiful, my love,” she grinned and kissed him on the cheek this time, holding his cheek with her other hand before continuing their stroll. “When is the recital then?”
Jem wasn’t sure if it was from the kiss or Tessa’s words, but he felt his cheeks flush slightly and a small smile crossed his lips before he spoke, telling Tessa when the recital was. “The audition is this weekend.” Knowing that Will and Tessa were both supportive of him auditioning for the recital, it gave him even more confidence to do it and to share his music with others.
“You will be outstanding James,” Tessa told him confidently, rubbing his arm as they walked. “Is it a closed audition or might Will and I be able to attend?” she asked. She would love to be in the room for him as he took this step, but if she couldn’t then she would be just outside waiting with Will.
“It’ll be a closed audition.” Jem said, still smiling as they walked. He liked knowing that Tessa would drop what she was doing to come see him simply audition for something as small as a school show. “But I can give you a personal performance, if you’d like.” It did feel a little strange when he thought about how he used to not be able to play any instrument and now every day, for a couple of hours at a time, he would pick up his violin and just play without even thinking about what he was doing.
“That’s a shame, but I’m sure Will and I can be there when you come out so we can celebrate,” Tessa told him with confidence, rubbing his arm with her hand. “And I would absolutely love a personal performance. Could you perform for us at Christmas?” she asked.
"I think I can do that." Jem would have to come up with the perfect arrangement for a Christmas performance for them. "Shouldn't be too much work there."
“Excellent! Thank you,” Tessa grinned up at him happily. This was going to be an amazing holiday season and she couldn’t wait.