Arkasel Redfield
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Science.... Not Always The Answer
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Nov 23, 2010 5:35:13 GMT 10
The fiery Louisianan confirmed his suspicion that it had been a bad day and added a mention that she would have hated to have to repeat it. He nodded as he agreed, "I could understand why. There's a few days I rather never have to relive myself" he replied as he did his best not to think of the few that struck close to him and made him the way he was, closed off and scared. But hanging out with Adelaide had been a huge boost for him, he'd felt less awkward and actually come a bit ou of his shell in the short time since knowing her. Normally he would have ran and hid but Adelaide seemed to have a sort of charm to made him act differently, he didn't know what it was but for once not knowing was a good thing for him, he was afraid he'd ruin it if he knew.
She surprised him but when she suddenly blurted out that she liked hanging out with him, it was some what stunning that someone actually liked hanging out with him and it took him a few moments to comprehend that as she knocked back another shot of her drink and he managed to snap himself out of it and try to boost his confidence up as he hit back his own with a mention of first times for everything to try and make it easier.
When she grabbed his arm but it made him falter a little before she tugged away and he found himself committed to what he was saying without a way out of it. He told her he straight up liked her to and it had been fun in the two times they'd met, the stupid little grin being let loose because of the drink that he would have normally hidden under a tightly held serious face. She asked back with a simple word of assurance before asking if he was sure about it. She shook her head as he opened his mouth but and told him not to answer it as she knocked back another swig and she swayed a little on the counter.
"Trust me... It's not often you'd hear me say something like that. So when I say it" he said before knocking back his drink as well and setting it down, letting it buzz a little as he sighed in pleasure of it. "I mean it..." he added after, standing right in front of her as he tried to look her in the eye whilst she was moving and he himself was swaying a minute fraction.
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Nov 29, 2010 13:05:58 GMT 10
After he told her to trust him, Adelaide briefly looked at Arkasel, then looked away, then frowned slightly. The redhead opened her mouth slightly, as if she was going to say something, and then closed it again. It took her a few moments of deep thought before she finally nodded and looked back at Arkasel, meeting his eye contact.
“Okay.” It was all she could say that assured her she wouldn’t make a fool of herself. A small smile came across her face and she looked away again, this time a bit more comfortable.
It was interesting business, certainly for Adelaide. She had grown up around her group of friends, so they’d known each other since they were tiny. Making close relationships with strangers was another thing entirely. It was fascinating hearing about what they went through, what made them into who they are, and what makes them tick. Adelaide enjoyed it too much to give up, but this was fairly new territory for her. She’d had close friends before, but there was a definite difference in this one, she was sure of it.
Before she could say anything more that would make her feel as uneasy as her last few words had, Adelaide lifted her beaker to her lips and looked down into its depths. The redhead knocked her head back and took in the other half, all at once. In hindsight, it was probably a bad move, but at that moment, she didn’t care.
After putting her beaker down onto the bench next to the rest of the booze, Adelaide was straight onto talking again.
“Sorry if I come on too strong.” The redhead said, unzipping her black hoodie and sliding it off her pale shoulders to reveal a similarly black tank top. The warmth of the alcohol was finally getting to her. One of her radioactive green bra straps had stuck out, so she tucked it back under the tank top and continued. “I’ve always forced myself to be really open with my emotions. I feel like I have to tell people how I feel as soon as I feel it, or else I could put them into the same position my parents put me into.”
Adelaide put her hands onto Arkasel’s shoulders and gently pushed him to the side before putting her hands back onto the bench and lifting herself back onto the ground. She began to amble, slowly, across the room.
“My folks didn’t say much to me at all. I mean,” Adelaide turned back to look at Arkasel over her shoulder, “We’ve probably spoken more than my father and I have spoken.” She continued across the room. “He could be this amazing man and I wouldn’t have a clue what to give him for father’s day. I always tried though. At first it was homemade things like macaroni pictures, but after I realised that he didn’t offer a word of thanks, I began to give him professional things like ties and pens. Real expensive ones at that. It was the same reaction. He’d look at it, then silently give it to a maid who would put it away somewhere. I never saw any of my gifts again.”
The redhead stoped a little away from Arkasel. She laughed, uneasily. “Sorry, I was rambling again. What I mean is, I work for constant feedback, so if any of the things that I do annoys you, or makes you feel uncomfortable,” Adelaide turned back again, her whole body facing the tall boy this time, “Just tell me, okay?”
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Arkasel Redfield
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Science.... Not Always The Answer
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Nov 30, 2010 12:45:17 GMT 10
Telling someone to trust him was a big deal to Arkasel, he didn't feel safe saying it to most people out of fear he would mess up royally and let everyone down. So saying it to the young lady had been big for him as she looked up to him for a moment before away with a frown. That made him feel like he had said to much and automatically like always when he felt this way he did what he always did and reached for the container, pouring a large drink and knocking it back in one go, his face straight for a moment before cringing as he shook his head and telling himself to stop being so stupid in his head.
But all it took was one little word from her to make the taste near vanish and him to focus on her again, that and the sight of a small smile confused him greatly as he tried to understand the confusing girl who held his attention more than he thought someone could. She looked away again and he agreed that maybe things where strange at the moment, enough for him to pour another drink that he chose to sip that time. Both seemed to be hitting the drink quite hard, he knew his reasons for it being nerves and attempting to block out memories but he wondered what hers where for trying to match his pace.
She apologised for coming on to strong as Arkasel shook his head while she removed her hoodie and let it drop. He didn't get a chance to reply but after she adjusted herself and fixed her bra strap that he looked away from for a moment to his drink as he took a sip she spoke once more. She explained that she always had to be open with her emotions to make people understand how she was. He gave a gentle nod before she took his shoulders and pushed him aside for a moment, as he stepped with the momentum and spun on a heel to lean against the bench that she had left.
It made him realise he was still in the lab coat which he slid off quickly in a fluid motion before letting it hang over the bench behind him. The black longsleeve clung to his thinner frame quite closely but with still some baggy room to move a little. It didn't help him look like less of a heroin addict however being pale and long-haired with bloodshot eyes and bags. He watched as she paced across the room and made a mental note that it might be time to stop her drinking rather soon before she got to stumbling point all over the place.
She continued across the room walking further away, letting the distance grow as she spoke to him over a shoulder. Her story of trying to get her parents attention sounded harsh and the mention that she had spoke to him more than her father made him pang a little, even more so as she said he could have been amazing yet she didn't have the chance to find out. He wished he'd had even something close to that as a father, maybe he wouldn't have had to grow up all of a sudden when he was a child and lose so much of his adolescence.
"It sounds like they may have been busy people... He didn't know how to connect with his child so he thought others would be better... At least that was something albeit not much" he replied as he looked into his drink before he heard the voices of his family when he was younger. Always shouting or asking for help from each other and then that of his father yelling about being excluded. It made him angry and he felt his grip tighten on the beaker as he took another swig of his drink.
But she stopped a little distance from him before laughing a little and explaining again how she depended on feedback and that if anything annoyed him or made him uncomfortable as she broke into a minor silence for a moment. Before facing him again, he only noticed her body move from peripheral vision with his own focused on the glass and memories that made his hand clamp tighter. She finished again telling him to tell her to which he nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, but so far you've done nothing to annoy me... Rather you've saved me from another night of drunken delusions of my own family" he replied as he looked up to her again. "I don't think I could compare on any front but I'm sure that if it came to relations my father comes out worst... I mean he ran off and left us, left me to grow up quickly and realise the worlds cold and cruel" he said as he the alcohol took control and he blurted out.
"You work for feedback in hopes of understanding and making others feel comfortable which I envy... I hide away from fear, fear that I'm a freak that should never leave the lab" he added after, slightly slower as he felt the anger and sadness swell and little before a crack and a shooting pain. He looked down to see the beaker in his left hand had broken, a few shards fallen in the glass and a larger one with some smaller pieces had sliced into his hand. It took a moment for the reaction to settle in as he hissed and set it down on the bench, pinching out the shards slowly as he tried his best not the drunkenly shove them in further. "Shit... Sorry, I got carried away" he said as he dropped a smaller one into the beaker, trying not to look at the girl in shame that he had just messed things up again and lost a potential friend.
His father was right... he was a useless freak.
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Nov 30, 2010 14:26:38 GMT 10
Arkasel offered a few words of support toward Adelaide’s parent situation, saying that maybe they were busy and her father didn’t know how to connect, to which the girl could just shrug.
“Sure, it’s possible. But then again, a lot of other things are possible. Maybe I just wasn’t good enough. Maybe they wanted a boy to take over the family business. Maybe I drank too much, or wasn’t home enough, or wasn’t talented enough. Maybe I played the wrong instrument, or did my hair wrong, or because I stuttered until I was seven.” Adelaide waved her hands about over her head, her voice rising. “Or maybe I just wasn’t Adelaide enough!”
The redhead lowered her hands and shrugged again, this time like she hadn’t raised her voice. “Point is, I don’t know. I’ll never know.”
Adelaide put her hands up to her head and ran her fingers through her hair. She listened as Arkasel assured her he’d tell her if she screwed up. He met her eye and spoke of comparing their fathers, and that his would come out worst every time.
“I believe you.” Adelaide said, quickly, but Arkasel was already speaking again of her feedback strategy. He talked about how it worked, where as his was to hide.
It was obvious that Arkasel was becoming unstable, perhaps from the alcohol, but the emotions seemed too much for him to handle as Adelaide heard a little crunch from his side of the room.
“Jesus Ark!” Adelaide exclaimed as she took no hesitation in running back towards him.
The redhead used her right hand to steady Arkasel’s bloody hand, and pushed away his other hand with her left hand. The wound didn’t look too severe, at least, it was nothing that Adelaide couldn’t handle.
More worried about him than anything, Adelaide turned and ran to the doorway of the room. “Just give me a second!” She said, finding the first aid kit’s bit red plus symbol very quickly and pulled it from its holder. The redhead returned to Arkasel’s side and opened up the first aid kit on the bench, to review its contents.
Among other things, the first aid kit held the basic needs for a drunken accident: gloves, antiseptic liquid, bandaids, gauze and tweezers. Adelaide took no time in putting on the gloves and grabbing the tweezers. She put her right hand under his left, again to steady it, and began to pull out the bloody pieces of glass.
“There aren’t all that many bits of glass in here.” Adelaide said, quietly. She didn’t need to speak any louder. They were standing quite close, but the redhead didn’t even consider the idea that she might be making him uncomfortable. She pulled him a little closer, to get a better look at his hand as she pulled out the pieces of glass. Her hip finally decided to rest against his in a comfortable position that made it easier for her to get at his hand.
“The cuts are quite shallow.” She said, gesturing with the tweezers to the three cuts that were now pooling blood into his hand. Blood began to dribble down onto Adelaide’s supporting hand, but the glove protected her, not that it mattered. “I should know; I’m kinda an expert.”
Adelaide then turned her left arm just so that it revealed a spider web of scars, a few big, but most of them tiny, running from her upper arm to her elbow. “I went through my friend’s window. Too much to drink.” She explained. “Does it hurt?”
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Arkasel Redfield
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Science.... Not Always The Answer
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Dec 1, 2010 6:01:05 GMT 10
"Maybe" agreed Ark as Adelaide agreed that his ideas where a possibility but then again so where so many other ones, before going higher pitch and saying she wasn't enough. "Then they where blind..." he said after as she mentioned that she didn't and would never know. "You where accepted to here, that alone shows that you are gifted and special beyond what they could have ever hoped for. If they can't see that then they wouldn't have seen anything else" he added after, the drink kicking in as he felt himself feeling worse for her.
He went further but as the drink had gripped hold a little tighter, making his lips loser than he wished as he reassured her she was not being bothersome and that as families went his father was an example of bad parenting to the higher degrees. She said she believed it as he went further agreeing that her methods worked wonders for her as she relied on emotions and understanding, before giving up that his was to hide away. A fact that he was none to proud of since it made him sound like even more of a basket case.
But the mention of his father brought back more memories that eventually made him snap as he tried to control himself, crushing the beaker in his hand and slicing it open as Adelaide shouted at the noise and dashed to him while he picked away at the glass for a moment before she pushed his hand away. She looked at it for a moment before running off and telling him to wait a moment. He did as he looked to the blood and felt the overwhelming wave of shame smack him, he'd screwed up and let loose he'd proved he was nothing but a freak and couldn't hold it together.
She returned moments later with the first aid kit and prepared herself as she set to work removing the glass in an almost professional manner for a drunk. She tried to reassure him that there wasn't to much glass in his hand quietly but he still felt to ashamed to talk, instead keeping his eyes at his shoes as he tried to keep his head down in a useless manner. She was right beside him with no-one else in the room after all.
The closer movements she made to hold his hand nearer and resting against him top make it easier didn't make it any less worse for him. He'd have felt better hiding away in his room for the night and bandaging it up till morning with the way he was. She added the cuts where shallow to which he nodded as she mentioned that she was an expert, he knew they where to. Not just because of his biological knowledge but also from knowing first hand of deep cuts on the scars over his torso.
She revealed her own scars on her arm, a few along her forearm to elbow as she explained she had got them through an incident with a window. She asked almost instantly after if it hurt and he shook his head to reply. "No... I've had a lot worse... Torso has more than your arm on it's front" he said quietly as he kept his gaze on the ground and kept his other hand at his side clenching to deal with the pain.
"Sorry... I just never got along well with my family.. Always been the black sheep I guess" he said after a moment to apologise, trying to be nicer and offer an explanation that he nearly never gave out. He just didn't think his life story was of interest to anyone, not when they had their own to worry about.
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Dec 1, 2010 21:56:34 GMT 10
When Arkasel commented that she must be special and gifted to have been accepted at the school, Adelaide smiled to herself. She liked being praised, and having someone like Arkasel acknowledge that just made her happier. If her parents weren’t going to pay attention to her, at least someone else would have to.
Arkasel then continued on to talk about his father, to which he became visually unsettled and ended up crushing his beaker. As Adelaide began to fix him up, using the tweezers to pluck out the few bits of glass that were lodged in his hand, she asked if it was hurting him. He replied no, but it was obvious from the way his body was tensed as she laid hers against it that he must have been feeling something.
The redhead mentally urged her hands not to tremble at the thought of her body touching his so closely, and was a little embarrassed that she was too drunk to realise that she could be making him feel uncomfortable.
Arkasel commented that having such a cut on the torso was worse on the pain scale than the one on Adelaide’s arm, to which she nodded, pulling the last large piece of glass out of the boy’s hand and putting it into the broken beaker with a small “clink”.
“Oh, I know. I’m the drunken nurse for my friends back home. What else could I expect being the only girl in a group of teenage boys? I once pulled a shard of metal about this big,” Adelaide gestured with the tweezers, to show its length, “out of my friend’s shoulder; they were trying to make a bomb or something stupid. Lucky I was there, or else none of them would have taken him to the hospital.”
Arkasel then apologized for the breakage, and commented on the fact he was an outsider in his family. “Ah, you’re preaching to the choir, boy.” She replied, “You don’t need to make excuses. I’m just glad you’re letting me patch you up.”
Adelaide pulled the last of the glass from Arkasel’s hand and dropped it into the beaker. “Okay, are you ready to wash away the blood?” She pointed to the sink that was built into the counter next to them.
Adelaide turned on the tap and washed the majority of the blood from the tweezers and her gloves, then beckoned for Arkasel to come over and wash away the blood. She offered her arm towards him and said, “You can squeeze my arm if it hurts too much. And don’t pretend it doesn’t hurt.”
With a smile, Adelaide flicked her wet gloved hands into the sink, the tap still running with cold water. Suddenly, the warmth of the alcohol seemed lost to her now, and though still drunker than she needed to be, a shiver ran up and down her spine. She glanced at her hoodie, but she couldn’t risk taking off the gloves. Instead, the redhead stood, goosebumps erupting over her arms, waiting to disinfect Arkasel’s wound.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Science.... Not Always The Answer
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Dec 2, 2010 3:12:53 GMT 10
Well the night had taken a strange twist as the conversation had switched to families, Adelaide it seemed was under-appreciated by her own and that annoyed Arkasel. She was one of the few people to give him a chance and not betray him, that was an incredibly rare quality to him and for her parents not to see it must have made them blind. But it didn't stop there as he felt himself lose a bit of control over himself mentioning hi own family and wound up slicing his hand wide open with shards from his makeshift glass.
Adelaide had been quick to react and grabbed the first aid kit and gotten to work on cleaning the wound and trying to talk him through it, asking if it hurt as he denied it. Of course it did but the alcohol made it lesser and his natural tolerance to pain was rather high so it was less than it should have been. He did his best to remain clam but, to try and slow the blood flow from pumping so quickly and being this close to Adelaide made him feel a little uncomfortable but at the same time he liked it.
She told him how she played nurse back home to her friends and the things they had done, it made him feel a little better that he was in safer hands that knew what they where doing. He didn't trust his own at the moment, namely since he found the pain to be a sick pleasure to clear his head. But he would never admit that, it would make him seem like a major grade freak that would be in therapy almost instantly. "Sounds like you where a proper angel to them all to be there when they needed it" he replied quietly, slowly regaining his compsure but still ashamed of what he had just done.
He appologised for the beaker and explained how he felt like the loner of his family, to which Adelaide told him he wasn't alone on it and that he didn't need excuses but that she was happy just that he was letting her fix him up rather than leaving the wound the way it was. The last of the glass was gone and he felt his hand a lot emptier as he had the urge to clench his fist but held back on it since he knew better than to. She asked if he was ready to clean his hand to which he nodded and kept his hand steady, following her slowly after she had gone as he let the pain die down slowly and clear his head.
Reaching the sink she told him he could use her arm if it hurt to much and before he could speak she added not to pretend it doesn't hurt. "I know it will, but I've had a hell of a lot worse... Thanks" he replied as he placed his hand under the tap and the water hit it harshly and he felt the pain surge further, he bit his tongue as he held off crushing his own arm while the water cleaned it.
After a few moments he looked over and noticed Adelaide shiver in the cold for a moment as he sighed. "Grab the lab coat if you want. It's baggier so it'd be easy to get on without contaminating the gloves... Besides you look cold" he said as he tried to convince her to warm up while he finished cleaning his hand before removing it and letting it dry for a moment and waited for the sting of the disinfectant.
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Dec 3, 2010 17:51:00 GMT 10
Adelaide couldn’t help but blush a little when Arkasel said she sounded like an angel to her friends, but she kept her head down and focused on her work. It was rare of a girl like her to be shy, but she was a teenager after all.
“I didn’t really have a choice; they didn’t have anyone else. We were a motley crew of parentless teenagers, Lost Boys, if you will. Everyone had their own fucked up family situation: some like mine, some like yours, some orphans.” Adelaide smiled slightly, still looking down at Arkasel’s hand. “We cherished each other because we were our own little family. Just having each other made everything worth it. I guess now that I’m here I feel like I’ve abandoned my children or whatever. And I guess my way around it is to branch out and try to make friends with everyone.”
The redhead shook her head, as if to shake the sappy thought from her mind.
She watched as Arkasel washed his wounded hand in the cold water. Glass wounds were annoying, and stupidly painful, but they were a common drunken accident. Adelaide was just glad none of the glass fragments had entered his wrist, or else they would have been in even bigger trouble.
Adelaide was clearly cold again, and Arkasel offered for her to put the lab coat on as a way of not contaminating the gloves. It was still going to be a tricky manoeuvre, but she could pull it off. The redhead moved around to the edge of the sink and plucked the glove from her right hand very gently and rested it on the side of the sink, inside out. She then returned to where Arkasel’s lab coat lay over the back of a chair. She picked it up and eased her left hand into the arm hole as slowly as she could, so as not to touch the edges with the glove, and as soon as it was on, put her right hand through the other arm hole.
It took a few minutes, but the lab coat was finally on, and even thought it was fairly thin it kept the cold out. She felt a little silly having stolen the coat from her patient, but Arkasel didn’t seem to mind. Adelaide was honestly nervous at first, hoping that he wouldn’t feel awkward with her wearing his coat, and prayed that she didn’t look to ridiculous in it.
The redhead returned to the sink and put her glove back on, ready to disinfect the wound. The bottle contained a brown liquid, to which she dabbed onto a piece of gauze.
“I hope you’re ready for this.” She said, holding Arkasel’s hand open with her left hand. She paused for a second, before touching the gauze to his wound, wincing at the idea of the pain.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Science.... Not Always The Answer
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Dec 4, 2010 1:23:23 GMT 10
Adelaide told him how she was often playing nurse for her friends back home and having to clean up their wounds for them. He told her that she seemed like a godsend of an angel for them and she ducked her head down with a little colour in her cheeks. It made him feel a little awkward that he made her that way but at the same time he felt a little better that he seemed to be able to pay her a compliment she could enjoy without insulting her.
She explained the situation of them all being the lost ones without parents that held together with similar situations to herself and him as well as on their own. Her little grin returned once more and he felt a little better as she told him how they where like a little family and everything was worth it for them. He had to admit he had a little pang of jealousy stab into him at the thought of it, having other people who knew what you'd gone through... Well it just would have maybe made things a little bit easier back home or at the school rather than hiding away on his own.
When she said that she felt like she'd abandoned them and tried to branch out to make new friends to compensate for it. "No you haven't... You've just taken a small sabbatical of sorts for a little while, you'll see them again soon. Besides you could make friends with anyone here easily enough" he replied before he stuck his hand under the tap and let the cold water wash away the blood and try to seal off the capillaries so he didn't continue to bleed out. It was painful but he wouldn't admit to her that he was suffering, not when it was clearing his head and making things easier.
But he noticed that she seemed chilly from a shiver and told her to take the lab coat to keep herself warm without risking contamination. She didn't disagree as she moved away after removing a glove and stuck it onto the sink. The water had numbed his hand rather severely by this point and he felt a lot better as his head had cleared fairly well before he heard rustling and the finally slink of the material sliding as she managed to get the coat on her. Looking around for a moment he noted that it was rather large on her but that was expected when it stopped at his shins with his own height.
She was back at the sink quickly enough with her glove back on and the bottle of disinfectant at the ready with the gauze as she dabbed it on. She told him of her hope that he was ready for it to which he nodded as he removed his hand from the water before she took it in her left hand to hold it open. She paused for a moment before touching it to his hand and wincing in herself at the idea of the pain.
Arkasel himself crunched his face a little at the stinging sensation and bit his tongue with a groan as he straightened it out. "Nearly as bad as the alcohol I think for stinging, probably does a bit of a better job disinfecting it but" he said with a weak chuckle as he shook his head. "I don't think you need to wince, you're not being cleaned up... Thanks but" he added after as he noticed her reaction to it. It was strangely nice to be taken care of, for once it meant he didn't have to rely entirely on himself and have no-idea if he was right or wrong.
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Dec 4, 2010 23:55:19 GMT 10
Arkasel reassured Adelaide that she hadn’t abandoned her friends, and that she would see them again soon. The redhead was pleasantly surprised that he was capable of comforting her in such a way, causing her to bow her head again and smile slightly.
“Thanks Ark.” She mumbled, before she glanced over to watch him wash the blood away from his hand. She could imagine the stinging pain, and sympathised, but what was it exactly that made him crush his beaker in such a way. If she remembered correctly, the boy was getting a little frustrated, talking about his father. It was understandable, to say the least; even the sight of his black eye made Adelaide upset.
When the redhead imagined what a father should be, she didn’t imagine someone who ignored their children or who left their children to go out and gamble, and especially not someone who would physically abuse their child. She imagined a kind man; tall but comforting, with big brown eyes and rough skin. He’d want to take his children out to get ice creams when they are young, and when they grow older to give them space, but let them know he is there to help them. He’d want to fix their problems and protect them from the harshness of the world. He’d want to get Father’s Day presents from them, and be happy with it no matter what it was. He’d love his daughter.
Adelaide turned her head away from Arkasel and scowled, but at that moment, a chill ran up her spine. Her companion kindly offered her his lab coat, to which she put on with mild difficulty before replacing her glove and coming to disinfect his hand.
When Arkasel caught her wincing at the thought of being the one who was getting disinfected, she sighed, with a small grin.
“Blame my imagination, not me.” She said, quietly, and continued to dab at his hand until the gauze was a little more pink that brown, and Arkasel’s hand was thoroughly disinfected.
The Louisianan dropped the piece of gauze into the sink, still holding her patient’s hand in hers and reached across him to pick up the bandage and a clean gauze sponge. “Hold still.” She said, concentrating. The gauze sponge was placed over the cuts, followed by the end of the bandage, which she deftly wrapped around his hand tight enough to stop it from falling off. “How’s the pressure?” Adelaide asked, but continued to wrap the boy’s hand, starting by going to just under his knuckles, before doubling back and circling his wrist.
“I’ve never been quite good at this last bit.” The redhead mumbled, finishing off the roll of bandage and attempting to tuck the end into itself to stop it from unravelling.
It took a few attempts, but she finally managed to get the end of the bandage to stay put, which left Adelaide feeling strangely triumphant for such a small feat. Without realizing it, the girl kept her hands holding Arkasel’s, half admiring her work, and half something she didn’t acknowledge, but as soon as she registered her actions, Adelaide looked up and let go.
“Sorry. I’m still a bit too drunk for my own good.” She said, tucking her hands back into the ridiculously long sleeves of the lab coat. It was strange; the sleeves didn’t seem so long on him. “But then again,” She thought, “He is so much taller than me.”
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Arkasel Redfield
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Science.... Not Always The Answer
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Dec 5, 2010 7:45:29 GMT 10
It seemed his pathetic attempts to try and cheer Adelaide up had worked as the Redhead replied quietly with a thanks as he assured her that she hadn't lost her friends and could make numerous new ones if she truly wanted to at the school. He knew it could happen, hell he'd watched it for nearly three and a quarter years at the place with other students and classmates, he'd just never been able to manage it himself and chosen instead to remain hidden away. His only friends in that of further research and text books and a bottle that he made sure was never empty but maybe that would be changing a little. ”Don't worry about it, just keep it in mind” he replied to her as he held his hand under the sink.
Washing the blood from his hand stung a little but it died quickly enough as he was able to relax and let it rush over him with the numb feeling. He still felt ashamed for breaking the beaker but he was doing his best to try and hide himself from it, he knew he should have had more control over himself but when he thought back to how his father had treated his family, just left and then come back expecting everything to be fine... Well it made him snap. If there was one promise Arkasel had ever made that he would never break it was that he would never wind up like his father, even if that meant staying alone so as to not risk having children that might know of the disgrace of a man.
Still it was to remain a promise and just that, he didn't know if it could ever be kept but he would make sure it wouldn't be broken to as he noticed the girl shiver in the cold. He told her to get the lab coat to warm herself up, himself in a black long-sleeved t-shirt meant that the cold bit at him less but with one sleeve rolled up and the cold water hitting his skin in parts it did remind him of it. She got it on quickly enough and took his hand as she prepared to clean it as he noticed her wincing at the thought of it. He reminded her that it was him at the end of it and not herself to which she said to blame her imagination. ”What ever you can imagine is a thousand times worse than it ever really is” he replied before she pressed the gauze to him.
She told him to hold still as she cleaned it and he kept his other hand on his forearm, gripping tightly to ease the pain as he crushed his grip upon the skin. It was an annoying as hell feeling but he knew it for the best, still it was easier to in letting Adelaide do it than himself. He just felt a little more at ease with her doing it rather than attempting it himself in his dorm at this hour. A moment later she set to work on wrapping his hand with the bandage as she asked if the pressure was sufficient. ”It's good, a little tighter perhaps” he replied as she continued to dance the cloth around his knuckles and wrist.
She quietly admitted to not being to good at the last part of the performance as she tucked the bandage away and he nodded as it took her a few attempts to get it in place. Her hands rested on his own for a moment as he judged the tightness and enjoyed the minute moment of physical contact. But all of a sudden she suddenly dropped his hand and looked up and apologised as she mentioned she was still to drunk for her own good. ”You're quite all-right... But perhaps the reason why you find that last part so difficult...” he replied as he ducked over to the first aid box and lifted out the surgical tape before turning back.
”Is that this makes it a thousand times more simple” he replied as he tugged a length off and lifted out the scissors in a humorous one handed attempt as it took a moment to cut the tape. He managed it however skilfully enough before placing it over where the bandage had ducked in and wrapped it around his hand to keep it in place. ”But it was a very good wrap... Thanks.... It would have taken me a lot longer to do by myself” he replied as he leaned by the sink after heading over, the low lighting of the lab making it almost like it was lit by a series of candles than florescent tubes.
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Dec 8, 2010 0:17:04 GMT 10
Arkasel did his best to reassure Adelaide that she hadn’t lost her friends, which was nice of him, though it seemed to her that he was just saying it to make her feel better. It was unknown to her whether he actually cared how she felt about her friends or not, and seeing that they had only met the day before Adelaide leaned toward the latter. The more she thought about it, it was possible that Arkasel just wanted her to feel better, for if he didn’t care he wouldn’t have attempted to cheer her up. The more Adelaide pondered the matter, the closer she came to realising the extent of her intoxication.
“It shouldn’t matter,” She thought, smiling at her own fly-away thoughts, “whether or not he cares about my feelings towards my friends. He’s a nice guy. I should just focus on the fact I’m enjoying my time with him.” Adelaide was a little embarrassed at the fact that Arkasel had caught her wincing at the pain of the cold water washing his wound, but she shook it off. He then said what she was imagining was much worse than it really was.
Adelaide nodded. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. At least, it won’t be worse than the disinfectant.” She said with a mild shrug and a small smile. “But you shouldn’t worry. I’m here for ya’.”
When she finally did begin to clean his wound, she watched as the pain was reflected in his facial expression, and the way he crushed his forearm with his hand. The redhead didn’t really know how to comfort her friend, so she assumed the best thing to do was to just finish cleaning his wound. It didn’t take long after that to get to the point where she could wrap his hand, so when he asked for the wrapping to be a little tighter the redhead complied. Similarly, it didn’t take long for her to finish the wrapping process and confessed that she wasn’t good at keeping the bandage together, to which Arkasel came up with the simple solution of using a piece of medical tape. Adelaide attempted to help her patient with the medical tape, but he eventually got it on his own.
He then thanked her for wrapping up his injured hand, commenting that it would have taken much longer on his own.
Adelaide smiled and snuggled further into the warmth of the lab coat. “You’re welcome. I’m just happy to help.” She was silent for a moment before continuing with a short breath. “So talking about your dad really pisses you off, huh?”
The redhead attempted to put her hand onto Arkasel’s left shoulder as a way of comforting him, but instead just raised her right hand and stopped. She giggled, incredulously, at the fact that the sleeve of the lab coat made her hand invisible. She soon stopped though, and put the sleeved hand onto Arkasel’s shoulder and looked up at him, with sincere eyes.
“I really wish there was something I could say to you to make you feel better, just like I wish there was something someone could say to me to make me feel better.” Adelaide let her hand slide down his shoulder to his arm, stopping just short of the bandage. “It sucks, but there is nothing that anyone can say to make our hard feelings go away, because if there was, I’d be saying it to you.”
The redhead looked at Arkasel’s black eye; at the detail of the purples and the edges that would eventually turn a greenish yellow before it completely healed. It was sad that things happened like this, but in all honesty, Adelaide would rather be struck by her father than made to feel like she didn’t exist at all, though it was highly likely that if she were in Arkasel’s situation she would feel the opposite.
“Say Ark?” Adelaide began, leaning her left hand on the counter and slightly tilting her head to the side. “How come you’ve told me about your father, but not your mother? What’s she like?”
The Louisianan sincerely hoped that the wasn’t poking into dangerous territory, but she was naturally curious, and the fact that Arkasel so easily let her patch him up in the way he did would have to count for at least one positive female during his childhood. Adelaide watched her companion silently.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Dec 8, 2010 17:18:53 GMT 10
Adelaide wasn't to happy with the thought that she had lost her friends for moving to the school it seemed to Arkasel and in his usual defencive matter he did his best to try and cheer her up despite having no knowledge as how to. As far as he was concerned she shouldn't have been depressed or sad for things at the amazing school and wealth of students to make friends with her attitude... If there was anyone who should be depressed out of them so the others could be happy he felt it was best on himself, after all who would notice one more scientist drop off the earth.
They moved on quickly enough as she began to wash his hand and winced at the thought of it, to which he reminded her that the imagination made things a hundred times worse. She agreed and that the disinfectant would be worse with a shrug and a grin before telling him not to worry since she was there. "Yeah well I've done this enough times to be stronger to it... But thanks" he replied quietly as she got to work with the cleaning fluid to which he cringed at visibly and crushed at his arm in an attempt to focus his mind off the pain. He was expecting it to sting but he forgot that each person used a different amount of pressure when cleaning, as it turned out he used more than Adelaide which dulled the pain on it and why he hadn't expected quite as much from it.
But as quickly as she had cleaned it he found her wrapping it up and asking if it was OK to which he told her tighter would be better. She did as he said and fixed the bandage a little more before attempting to get it tied after a few goes and contemplating how to fix it. He gave an answer via the solution of tape which took a few moments to fix but once he had done so his hand was in perfect shape. Thanking her again, he told her how it would have taken longer on his own, a painful truth since he would have had to pick all the glass shards out by himself which would have resulted in tears and much more blood loss.
She told him she was happy to help as she wrapped up tighter in the coat, letting silence linger a moment as she queried if talking of his father pushed him to the brink. Arkasel mearly went silent for a moment and looked to the ground at his left side as he nodded gently a few times and bit at his top lip. "Yeah... Guess you could call it my *button*" he replied quietly as Adelaide moved closer to lift a hand to his shoulder before stopping and giggling as he looked up a little to see her sleeved appendage missing it's hand as she placed it on his shoulder. He'd become so solemn at that moment he couldn't even see the humor, it made him feel more worthless.
Her reassurance went further as she told him that she wished of something to say in the same way that he would to before letting her arm slide down to the bandage as he looked up properly after a moment as she told him that it sucked and that if there was something to say she would say it to him. "...Thanks..." was all he could manage back after a moment as he caught her staring at his black eye and he felt the shame hit him once more. "Sorry if it's distracting... It'll be gone soon enough so long as I don't get hit again" he said after, looking away to the side so only half of it was visible.
But she still held on and moved her body to lean against the counter to look up to him as she asked how he'd mentioned his father but not his mother before she went further to ask how she was. It genuinely made him give a small guffaw of a laugh as he shook his head with a sigh. "Honestly? She gave up on me when I was thirteen years old and focused on the other kids. I was the quiet one who didn't get invited to parties, did his work and studied in his room. She had my younger sisters and brother to deal with the madness of" he replied as he looked down to the counter with a gentle nod of his head.
"Guess I was just quiet enough to slip under her radar most of the time" he added after with a small heart-broken smile at the thought of it.
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Dec 11, 2010 20:29:15 GMT 10
As she cleaned his wound, Adelaide smiled to herself. It tickled her that Arkasel thanked her in the tentative way that he did whenever she offered him support or complimented him. It seemed like he was always on the defensive and was waiting for a harsh word or a mocking tone. Luckily, Adelaide didn’t get her jollies from insulting people. Instead she worked more towards networking, obviously, and forming a reputation that balanced between friendly and fiery.
Once done with cleaning his wound, Adelaide got to work wrapping it and responded to her patient’s request of tighter bandages with ease. Arkasel then took over the securing of his bandage, which didn’t bother the redhead in the slightest; it was his wound after all. It didn’t take long for the curious girl to ask why the boy had crushed his beaker in such a way and whether it had anything to do with the mention of his father. He replied solemnly, which was understandable. She then offered a few words of support, letting her companion know that she felt similarly about her father, and if there were magic words to fix everything, they would have been said. He replied with a small thanks, again making Adelaide feel like giggling, but the feeling stopped when Arkasel caught her looking at his black eye and turning his head away, ashamed.
The redhead let go of his arm and caught hold of his chin, turning his face back so that she could clearly see his eye again. “I wouldn’t say it’s distracting. Actually I find it...” she paused as she thought of the word that she wanted to express her feelings, “fascinating. Proves that there is more to you than science. And the story behind it proves that you actually give a shit. I find it fascinating. Honestly, I can’t wait to figure you out.” She let go of his chin and let her hand drop to her side.
Adelaide hoped that her words didn’t offend, and that they didn’t embarrass, but that they were found in honesty and accepted as truth. It was true that she wanted to get to know him, she was sure of it, but of what she would find deep in his mind, in the dark corners that people were afraid to look, scared her, but also spurred her on. Adelaide listened as Arkasel informed her of his mother’s ignorance to her son, and just nodded. She highly doubted that Arkasel’s mother ignored him in the same way that Adelaide’s parents ignored her. If it weren’t for the maids and the elderly black cook that fed her every day, the redhead would have died when she was an infant.
It was at that moment that Arkasel shot her the most heart-wrenching smile imaginable. She couldn’t help but move in close and wrap her arms around the taller boy’s torso. At that point, Adelaide was past caring whether it would make him uncomfortable. At that point, she needed the familiar warmth of another person’s body to make her feel safe again, like there were good people left in the world; after all, kids like them needed to stick together. Adelaide had seen one-too-many kids embrace such hatred for their parents that they were driven to do the unimaginable. The redhead rested her left cheek against Arkasel’s chest, hoping desperately that the boy would realise from the painful sigh that escaped her lips that the hug was for her.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Dec 13, 2010 13:29:17 GMT 10
Cleaned and wrapped up, Arkasel was once again in good shape without the risk of infection hitting him like a truck down a motorway thanks to his guests assistance. However he felt ashamed for losing it and causing the wound in the first place, he thought he had himself under control but it appeared that with alcohol's influence he didn't have as much as he first thought. The wound up sharing the fact that if there was something to say to make everything better they would, something that made Ark drop his guard a little. Normally he was ready to be assaulted by any insult the world could fire at him, something he had come to assume of people with the way school and life had been when younger but right now he felt a little safer around the girl, like he didn't need to permanently keep a mile high wall up around himself.
But when he caught her looking at his eye he turned away out feeling like a freak once more and said it would be gone soon enough if he kept himself out of trouble. However Adelaide had a different idea as she took his chin and turned his head to face her once more. She told him it wasn't distracting but rather after a momentary pause that it was interesting and proved he was more than just a science nerd. Elaborating further that the story proved he cared about things only made her want to figure him out further before she let go and his gaze fell again. "I'm not that difficult, Just quiet" he replied as he kept his volume low.
She prodded further and asked about his mother to which Arkasel was brutally honest. She genuinely seemed to stop caring so much of his social being and instead focused on his sister three years younger, brother of six less and sister nearing ten. Sure she kept him alive but as far as she could have been concerned in his eyes he was just a lodger who kept to himself and avoided everything else. It made him break into a broken, sorrowful smile at the thought that that she must have cared a little about him if she'd still made dinner for him.
But staring at the counter with a small nod left him off guard as the girl moved closer and grabbed on tightly to him as she hugged tightly and stuck her head on his chest. He was stunned for a moment with both hands raise to head level to avoid colliding with her before he heard the sigh come from her and stood for a moment frozen. But for once he realised what it was that someone wanted and he let his arms lower down over her and around her back as he hugged back. He didn't know hugging to well, he was just doing what he'd seen in films and hoping he did it right. But for once it felt nice to be in contact with someone, without fear of having a foot or a fist directly thrown at him after.
It was happy, happy enough to almost make the bad memories go away for a moment.
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Dec 15, 2010 0:37:38 GMT 10
OOC: Sorry if this is too intimate. I'm trying to write Adelaide as honestly as possible, but if it bothers you I can change it a bit.
IC:
Adelaide gave a gentle chuckle as Arkasel professed that he wasn’t hard to understand, but his general quietness made it seem that way, the reason for which was that he said it fairly quietly. She looked at her companion and breathed out in a relieved kind of way.
“I don’t think you can see how interesting that is to me. The quieter you are, the more I want to spend time with you. I like puzzles and illusions. I’m actually pretty good at magic tricks, but they don’t count that as a talent here, so I had to use my harp skills to get a spot.” The redhead grinned, trying to lighten the mood a little before she moved on to the thing she really wanted to know about; his mother.
The topic wasn’t far behind, but just asking something that seemed perfectly normal turned out to be the opposite. Arkasel’s mother didn’t seem any better than his father, causing him to shoot Adelaide what seemed like the most heart-breaking smile. The redhead couldn’t stand looking at him without wanting to comfort him in some way, but more than that, she couldn’t stand looking at him without wanting to be comforted herself. As a result of this, she wrapped her arms around the boy and held on, taking great notice of the feel of his shirt against her cheek, and how it bundled up in her hands as she held it, and how it took him a few moments to know what to do with his hands. It seemed like he didn’t know how to handle himself in such a situation, something that was hardly surprising, but just the fact that the older boy didn’t push her away, and didn’t speak made all of Adelaide’s actions to that point feel worthwhile. It seemed like it was a little inappropriate, but as soon as she fell into his arms, the redhead realised how long overdue it really was, and it was just a matter of chance that Arkasel was on the receiving end. Although this was true, she felt that because she had chosen to hug him made her feel slightly better than it would have a stranger.
Suddenly snapping out of her rainbow clouded world of her reducing intoxication and Arkasel’s warm body, Adelaide opened her eyes, embarrassed at what she had done, but not at all willing to pull away. “Sorry Ark.” She mumbled into his chest. “I couldn’t help it.”
She paused and pulled enough so that she could rest her forehead in the centre of his chest, before deciding that it would be best to let go. Her grip on the back of the boy’s shirt slackened and she let the material slide through her hands as she reluctantly pulled away, eyes on the floor as if she were a child and had just been told off.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Dec 15, 2010 7:36:38 GMT 10
OOC : Don't worry about it, I prefer honest muse replies since it makes things more interesting. It takes a lot to bother me IC: Arkasel replied that he wasn't difficult to figure out but rather that just being quiet and hiding away made it seem like it, it was a tactic that worked since if anything he had the art of not being noticed near down to a tea. But Adelaide responded by telling him that he didn't see how interesting he was to her with that attitude and that the more silent he was the more she wanted to spend time figuring him out. She went further about being good at magic tricks as well as loving puzzles but they didn't count that as talent enough for the school so she used her harpist talents instead. It made him give a small guffaw of laughter as he shook his head as he looked to her grin that made him feel a little lighter spirited. ”I know the feeling with puzzles but Illusions and Magic never took me... I always thought of how they where done to quickly and lost the appeal of the unknown” he replied in admittance. He did love to see some tricks but sadly he could often figure out how a lot of tricks worked rather quickly which ruined the spirit of mystery, just one more disadvantage to being a nerd obsessed with knowledge. But then the conversation turned to his family life with his mother and he told her the truth, that he was the black sheep that got overlooked since it avoided trouble. He had a thought at the end that he just wasn't worth the trouble of keeping tabs on so he got overlooked, a small broken smile at the thought of it that he made her life easier but it didn't help himself to much at thinking he was worth something. That seemed to trigger something in the smaller girl as she lunged at him and grabbed on tightly, he stood stunned and afraid to take action until he heard the sigh and something trigged in the back of his head. His arms had dropped to her back and he hugged back in return as he thought was right, it had been a long time since he'd been hugged, sometime when he was around twelve if he where asked straight headed. But at that moment his answer would have been never, this was something new to him, he actually felt like he was on some use to the world and feeling a lot better for being cared for. They stood for a few moments in the silence as nothing seemed to need to be said before Adelaide spoke into his chest and told him she was sorry and couldn't help it. He shook his head gently as he looked down to her head, ”Don't be... It helped” he replied quietly as she shifted herself so that her forehead rested on his chest and her hands loosened from his shirt. But she began to move away against his arms as he realised and let them break against his will and fall back to his sides after a moment. A fleeting moment of comfort gone, something that he thought was the way everything. There was no way to make things feel better for a period, they always had to fall through and away eventually, it was the reason he usually distanced himself from people but at that moment he wanted the exact opposite of distance. He wanted to be as close as possible to her
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Dec 19, 2010 20:09:50 GMT 10
Adelaide nodded along as Arkasel spoke, claiming that he was fond of puzzles, but illusions were a different story. Almost instantly, the redhead’s left hand shot into her left pocket, taking hold of the pack of cards held with a rubber band that sat there, ready to shower them from one hand to another in the way that she spent five summers perfecting. Reluctantly, Adelaide let go of the cards and put her hand on the counter behind her. The cards were more of a last resort for a friendly meeting gone wrong. If she did it right, the tricks could always put a smile on a face, if only for a second. The redhead decided that she didn’t need to convince her companion how great card tricks were; she was happy enough with the way their conversation was going already.
Adelaide nodded knowingly, and after a brief pause, she spoke. “Yeah, I figured you’d say something like that. You’re the type, aren’t you?”
Conversation quickly went another way, though, and moved on to Arkasel’s family life again, focusing more on his mother than his father. The taller boy spoke about his mother’s lack of interest in him, being the oldest sibling, and he seemed to be ignored. It was then that he sent her a heart-breaking smile which Adelaide couldn’t ignore.
The redhead reached out and put her arms around his body, relishing the feeling of being close to someone again, something that hadn’t really happened since she left home. It was much too long for her to go without feeling the warmth of another person’s body, along with other things, and most of the people that she had met so far were on the defensive and wouldn’t get closer than mild friendliness. She was happy to be in someone’s arms, even if it only lasted a few moments, and Adelaide could help but wish she could hold on to it forever, but for fear of making him uncomfortable, the redhead let go and apologized for being so familiar. Arkasel didn’t seem to mind though, his quiet reply confirming the opposite, giving her a strange sense of welcome.
It took a few moments, but she eventually lifted her gaze from the floor and looked up at her companion, searching for some type of meaning behind his words. It seemed like there was nothing but truth behind his confession that their brief embrace helped him, so Adelaide decided to push it from her mind and tackle the much greater problem of moving on in the conversation without letting there be an awkward silence in which she would probably say something completely idiotic.
The redhead stood, still in close proximity to Arkasel, and fidgeted with her hands, trying not to focus on the seconds ticking by without a word.
“Sorry, I’m kinda drawing a blank, here.” She said, her eyes darting back to the floor. It wasn’t a normal occurrence for the girl to act in the way she was, but something so personal happening between them made her feel more vulnerable than was really necessary, and the fact that she enjoyed having his arms wrapped around her so much made her feel a little embarrassed. Adelaide then realised how lucky it was that she had disengaged herself from him at that point, out of fear that she wouldn’t let go. It was the most comforting thing that had happened since she had arrived at the school, and pulling herself from that situation took some self-control.
The only thing she could really do at that point was to let Arkasel carry the conversation forward and hope that she hadn’t caused him to be uncomfortable, or at the very least, hope that she could stop herself from appearing like she was just waiting for another opportunity to touch him.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Dec 20, 2010 8:30:04 GMT 10
As the discussion changed to that of Magic, Adelaide told him of her love for the illusions and puzzles and he admitted he enjoyed puzzles to but that magic held nothing for him with an over analysing mind. She made a movement to her pocket for a moment before stopping and moving back to rest against the table at her back. He was curious as to why she had moved like that but instead held back, not wanting to seem prodding at her. But she continued the conversation further by mentioning that she figured he'd be the type for puzzles before asking his confirmation. It made him chuckle a little as he nodded, ”Yeah, guess being a nerd does that to you” he replied.
Then the conversation changed to that of families as she asked of his mother, to which he admitted to his past and home life that made him sound like he was another forgotten memory. It made him break into a sorrowful smile, the thought that him being gone didn't change anything it made him hurt a little but also feel better that he didn't risk bringing any trouble to his family.
But this seemed to trigger something in Adelaide as she grabbed onto him and hugged tightly with a sigh that made him realise without thinking that it was more for her benefit than it was for himself. But he hugged back, for once feeling safe and that he was doing the right thing rather than fucking up as always. But eventually she apologised for it and slowly let the hug break as she moved back, his own arms reluctantly falling away as he lost the feeling of safety after.
He told her not to be sorry and that it had helped, quietly albeit from feeling like he had made things awkward for her. But instead the two stood quietly near each other, neither seemingly able to think of something to say after. That was until she admitted she was drawing a blank for conversation as she looked to the floor again that made him nod to agree. ”I know the feeling, never been good at the conversation myself” he replied quietly as he lent his hip against the counter.
”I guess you needed a hug to then... You ok?” he asked after a moments silence, deciding to throw his normal rules of staying away from issues out the window. If she was willing to risk finding out about him and the hells he had the least he could do was try to return the favour. Especially when she'd made him feel a lot better and not ran in fear after he'd snapped about his father and caused self-harm.
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Adelaide Peyroux
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Post by Adelaide Peyroux on Dec 21, 2010 22:42:32 GMT 10
Adelaide scratched the back of her head, feeling fairly awkward about the way she had latched onto Arkasel without a second thought, and apologized for being so bold. Her companion told her not to be sorry, and that her hug had helped. Unconvinced, the redhead fell silent, and let the conversation drift off, making it extremely hard to think of something to say. She apologized again, this time for not being able to make conversation to which he replied quietly that they were in the same boat.
The redhead continued to stare at the floor, and rubbed her hands together, annoyed at herself. “Um, yeah. I’m usually good at this, but for some reason...” She was at a loss for words. She felt embarrassed but tried to forget about it.
When he asked her if she was okay, Adelaide paused and frowned slightly, before glancing up at him and forcing a smile. “Yeah. Don’t you worry about me.” She brought her hand up and rubbed her shoulder, gently massaging her usual ache back down.
It was hard enough for her to keep up a friendly persona all the time, but she never really expected Arkasel to be the first person to ask if she was okay, because, truth be told, she wasn’t okay. Dropping everything from Louisiana and coming to a boarding school in a completely different country was hard enough, but leaving every one of her boys behind was too much, especially when she realised that there was no way to make sure that they were alright. The only way she could check up on them was to phone Diego, if he was even sober enough to pick up.
The redhead sighed and looked up at Arkasel’s face. A genuine smile suddenly spread across her face as she dropped her hand back to her side. “Besides,” She teased, “I’m not strong enough to crush a beaker with one hand, so we’d best not go into my history too far.” She let out a little laugh and, her spirit raised once more, reached out and poked her companion in the arm.
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