Author Topic: Anything But Numb  (Read 44905 times)

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Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #195 on: December 29, 2008, 12:45:09 PM »
"I just want a phone so that I can call you," Tau shrugged.  "I think a cell phone would be good, because then I could use it anywhere and I could also send you text messages, in case you were performing and I shouldn\'t interrupt you with a ring," he pointed out solemnly, knowing the theory behind such a notion but not having even the vaguest idea about how to execute his plan.

"Tomorrow, do you think you could go with me to a cell phone shop to buy one?"

Offline Harlequin

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #196 on: December 29, 2008, 12:58:33 PM »
Acquiring a cell phone through legal means. That would be an adventure. "Love to," she told him, smiling brightly, surprised and delighted that he was willing to go so far in order to keep in contact with her.

Of course, as he got to know more people, there\'d be more uses for the cell, but she\'d always be the first. Petty? Sure, but at least she was honest with herself about it. She was surprised, however, that he had managed to get  along without any sort of phone for as long as he had. Admirable, yes, but sooner or later everybody had to step into the 21st century.

One snag: she remembered he said he slept during the day (as she did), and that, typically, was when stores were open, "We\'ll probably hafta go during the day, though," she warned, "Maaaaaybe early evening."

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #197 on: December 29, 2008, 01:04:43 PM »
"That\'s fine," he told her, excited by the prospect of a trip on the morrow.  Since he\'d decided he wouldn\'t be going in to work tonight (unless they beeped), he saw no reason why they couldn\'t prepare for their trip that much sooner (the fact that it was early and he wasn\'t super tired didn\'t faze him in the light of their phone-buying excursion coming that much sooner if they could fall asleep now).

"Do you want to go to bed with me?  We can go when we wake up, then," Tau told Morgaine logically, turning the television off in his enthusiasm to get everything started that much more quickly.

Offline Harlequin

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #198 on: December 29, 2008, 01:21:16 PM »
Why yes, I think that would be delightful! We could have a pillow fight, and then, and then –

Morgaine bit down on those words, to prevent their escape. It was just too damn easy. She did let go of her smile, however – though by this time it had morphed into a grin as she watched him move about the room. "Uh, how about I take the couch?" she suggested, perfectly willing to suit his desire to get up and go – hell, she was excited too; it must have been catching, "We\'re gonna hafta stop at my place in the morning, though," she told him, "Just so I can get some stuff, drop off my guitar, all that."

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #199 on: December 29, 2008, 01:38:35 PM »
That gave Tau pause and he turned a frown towards her, worried by a couple of things that she\'d said.  "I will ride in a car while you ride your bike, right?  And you don\'t want to share my bed?" he asked innocently.

Offline Harlequin

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #200 on: December 30, 2008, 08:08:40 AM »
"Suit yourself," she said, "But the bike really isn\'t that bad. Face your fear, big guy! Builds character!"  As an appalled look came over his features, she relented, "Fine, fine, take the car. We can meet at the place if you want, or you can follow me to my place and I can ditch the bike, whichever." She quailed at the idea of riding in a car (which, undoubtedly, would have a roof) but she could deal with it for the twenty minutes it would take them to get where they were going, if Tau chose that option.

The second half of his question wasn\'t so easily answered, and she paused. Was now the time to be honest? To tell him how she felt? Did she even know, really, how she felt?
No, no, and no.

She\'d slept in the same bed with every member of the band any number of times (singly and all at once – the all at once had only happened the one time, in Toronto, and had been interesting. The only two of them to get any actual rest were Vivianne – who talked in her sleep, and Ami – who snored like a bear.) So why was there a problem now?

Simple: she wasn\'t – and had never been (except for a shirt-lived crush on Joe) – physically attracted to any of her other real friends; otherwise, they wouldn\'t be her friends any more.

So she lied through her teeth, "Naw, couch is fine."

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #201 on: December 30, 2008, 11:21:44 AM »
"I... want to see where you live," Tau confessed in a small voice, accepting her second assertion that she would sleep on the couch because he was still hung up on who would get where and how.  There hadn\'t been room enough for him to ride on the bike with her that day, because she\'d had her guitar, why would things have changed?  Because they were no longer strangers?  Maybe there was some room on the bike with her and the guitar, but only some room.  Not knowing him, maybe she hadn\'t wanted to be that close to him but now that they\'d wrestled and were okay with touching one another...

"Are you sure there would be room for me on the bike with your guitar?" he asked finally, obviously having given it a lot of thought.  He wanted to see where she lived, it would make no sense for him to follow her there in a cab or a work car just to look around for a few moments, then get back in his car to travel with her to the shopping centre.  It would be a better idea to squeeze onto the bike with her, even if it would scare the shit out of him.  He trusted Morgaine enough to assume she was a better rider than Ami and would care about him enough to go more slowly... but then he thought of the way he\'d seen her ride that day and all such assurances left him.  In fact, his face paled and he swallowed nervously as he waited for her to tell him that he was right in remembering that there wasn\'t much room.

He\'d have have to take a car after all, oh well... right?

Offline Harlequin

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #202 on: December 30, 2008, 11:47:42 AM »
"Oh yeeeeah." Morgaine made a face. Guitar. Right. She hadn\'t actually expected Tau to accept the offer, and – judging by his pallor – he wasn\'t exactly thrilled about the idea to begin with. Nice of him to be polite about it, though.

But he wanted to get to know her, right? And that bike was as much a part of her as her thumbs, or eyes, wasn\'t it?

"I could leave the guitar here," she offered, face alight, "I mean, y\'know, if that\'s cool with you?"

Oh God, she suddenly thought, Your place. Your place looks like warzone. A slutty, sinful warzone. She bit down on her lip, and her eyes narrowed, momentarily critical, D\'you think he\'ll notice?

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #203 on: December 31, 2008, 12:55:17 AM »
Tau took a very obvious deep breath and held it a moment, giving her offer some thought.  What tipped the scale, in the end, was the fact that she offered to leave her guitar at his house - her guitar.  He knew that such a gesture was akin to an amputee leaving their prosthetic limb behind, a doctor foregoing his medicine bag or a child leaving their teddy bear.  Morgaine\'s guitar was her most prized possession and the fact that she offered to leave it at his house in order to take him on her bike spoke volumes for her dedication to helping him.

He was immensely flattered.  He exhaled to a shiny smile.  "That is perfectly fine.  See you in the morning, then," he exclaimed cheerfully, hastening over to her to kiss her cheek before hurrying into bed.  He left the door open, shrugged off his jeans and climbed in in his underwear, ready to fall asleep so that he could wake up that much sooner.  Of course, in his haste, his lacking hospitality skills came to the fore and he didn\'t turn off any lights, show Morgaine where switches were (not that it was complicated) or offer her a blanket and pillow to use on the couch.  He dozed out there on the soft arm all the time, so extra supplies were not something he had the understanding to realise she\'d need.

He had spare pillows and another blanket, but would Morgaine think it was prudent to go into his bedroom and ask?

Offline Harlequin

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #204 on: January 01, 2009, 09:23:18 AM »
Well, that had seemed final. Felling like she\'d missed something crucial, the singer frowned at her back as he left her there, presumably to repair to the bedroom, and to the world of dreams beyond.

She waited there for a little bit, listening for the noises that would tell her that he was up and about; brushing his teeth, using the bathroom – doing the little things people did before they went to bed.

Nope. That was it. The end.

Sighing indulgently, the singer got to her feet, and set about the task of locating the lightswitches, flicking them off as she found them. The last of them was the one in the living room. Before she went to extinguish it, however, she paused in Tau\'s doorway, just to watch him, once again, unsure if he\'d actually gone to sleep that quickly or not, and – Jesus Christ, how had she missed those scars? He was fucking covered in them.

She lingered perhaps a little too long in the doorway, cataloguing the ones she could see; old battle wounds, it seemed – except for the nasty-looking ring of knotted tissue around his right calf. Perhaps she\'d ask about that one, later. None of them could have been pleasant to receive. She shook her head and came back to herself, and made to move away and flick off the light – unless he\'d noticed her there, and had something to say.

Otherwise, she\'d retire to the couch, blanket and pillow forgone in favor of letting her host sleep. One of Morgaine\'s many and varied talents was – incidentally – being able to fall asleep anywhere, in nearly any condition, regardless of what was going on around her. (Well, alright, most of the time, when extraordinary sleeping conditions had to be made, it was less actual \'sleeping\' so much as \'passing out\', in Morgaine\'s case.) And so, wold speak to him when she woke.

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #205 on: January 03, 2009, 01:27:20 AM »
Tau had believed himself too excited about Morgaine staying in the house and their excursion in the morning (though not their mode of transportation en route) to sleep, but had found that, once his body hit the welcome softness of his mattress, he would have no such trouble at all.  He was exhausted from enduring a day filled with so many highs and a not-small amount of physical exertion; as soon as his head hit the pillow, his eyelids drooped.

He didn\'t even have the strength or co-ordination to get the sheet and blanket pulled over himself and the heat in his apartment wasn\'t so great that he didn\'t feel the cold... but he was instantly too tired to think much (and especially to move).  He roused slightly from his first (catnap) slumber when he sensed Morgaine standing in his doorway.

"Oh, hey," he mumbled sleepily, unaware of how long she\'d stood there or how long he\'d been dozing.  He struggled to lift his head and look at her.  "Take one of these pillows," he invited, aware of how cool it was now that he was away from her heat and barely clothed (dutifully, in his underwear, no matter how much he hated it).  He indicated one of the extra three on the bed near his head.  "You gonna\' be warm enough out there?" he queried, his poor hospitality skills improving rapidly as he started putting himself in his guest\'s place.

Offline Harlequin

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #206 on: January 03, 2009, 08:41:36 AM »
"Huh?" Morgaine jerked upright , snapped out of her reverie by his words, "Oh, uh, sure," she said quietly, creeping guiltily into the dark room to grab one of the indicated pillows. "Naw, I\'m cool." Morgaine was wearing considerably more clothing than Tau, and barely noticed any chilliness in the air. "Go back to sleep," she told him as she began to back out of the room.

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: Anything But Numb
« Reply #207 on: January 03, 2009, 12:51:45 PM »
"Mm\'okay," he mumbled, settling his head back on the pillow to do just that.  "But come back if you get-" he instructed, his sentence deteriorating as it progressed, like a wind-up toy losing steam, until the last word didn\'t even come out.

Despite his eagerness to spend time with Morgaine and take her shopping so that she could help him get a phone that would call her, the cat\'s unique ability to be awake one moment and slumbering hard the next had overtaken him.  He was fast asleep.