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Post by COLIN COX on May 31, 2013 4:26:04 GMT -8
With three in the morning came the inevitable influx of thoughts, and a rush of emotion that could only be described as a sweeping wave of longing and pensiveness that crept upon him like the night. It hadn't been triggered by anything in particular, no-- all he had been doing was scrolling through his dashboard, too tired to even correct people who were wrong on the Internet. But that nagging voice at the back of his head that sang him into sadness every so often enveloped him at the exact moment the clock struck three, swarmed him in a storm of shadows that threatened to take hold of his insides and spill them out. In a matter of seconds he had fallen into the space between lethargy and listlessness that whispered not okay, and with that he slowly closed his laptop, setting it on the windowsill and gazing into the night. He sighed.
This was probably just a sign that he needed some sleep, he thought. Julie was still in the shower and they'd been planning to watch a movie together after she was out, but in that moment he suddenly didn't feel like any silly horror films. Aimlessly browsing the Internet wasn't going to make things any better, and besides, in his current state, he was more likely than not to get upset or angry by some of the stupidity that had the potential to appear on his dash. He didn't usually get all up in arms about much except literature, and tended to be civil more often than not when he engaged in debate, but he had a feeling that something was likely to trigger him into anger at this point and send him on one of his rare spiels about something he more often than not pretended not to care about. It was just one of those times when it seemed as though everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong, and the little good things in life had amounted to nothing-- Colin had never been a positive person by nature, preferring to keep a guise of neutrality in lieu of his bleak outlook on life as a child, and all of a sudden, in a matter of seconds, it was back.
(you're just a LIAR just a cheater you shouldn't even trust yourself)
Not bothering to turn off the lights, the blonde felt his head hit the pillow as he stared up at the ceiling. Sure, he was in a better place than he had been years ago, but there was still so much that needed to be changed and fixed, and the little things that he hated that he had no control over that would never change at all, no matter how much he tried and wanted and wished. He was at least grateful that he could find beauty in imperfection, but it was just times like these that made him question whether it was worth his while trying. At least there was one thing that he could count on, though, and the thought did make him smile a little as she walked into the room.
"Hey Julie." ____________
4th May 2012, 3:02 am
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on May 31, 2013 14:11:49 GMT -8
The hours between day and night had always been their's.
Since the very first time they had met in the early hours of the morning, back when they had just been usernames on a computer screen instead of lovers, they had always been most comfortable at night. It had started with a few words, some traded sentences, until she found herself telling him all her secrets. Some things could only be said at night, and that became more and more true as they grew from acquaintances into something more. Only lonely people were up in the middle of the night, but the two of them were lonely together.
Back then, she used to stay up all hours of the night because it was preferable to sleeping, if she could even sleep at all. When she tried to sleep, she'd just end up thinking too much. During the day she could distract herself with a million and one things to do, but at night when the world was sleeping, she she was alone with only her thoughts to keep her company. And that was terrifying in itself.
It was different now, of course. A lot had changed over the course of the last two years or so, and she wasn't alone anymore. Where once she had hated the place between sleep and awake, night and day, dreams and reality, she now loved it. It was where she and Colin could talk about any and everything, could be completely honest with each other and spill whatever was on their mind to the other. Because Colin was always just a touch away, and it was the single most comforting thing in the world to have him stay up all hours of the night with her.
Their song put it all into words for them; 'there's room for two, six feet under the stars.' A place that didn't exist that only the two of them could be in at a time.
Which was why when they started going out that they began to do dumb things together at 1, 2, 3, 4 in the morning. It wasn't uncommon for one to sleep at the other's place for the night, even before they moved in together. That was how Julie's obsession with dumb horror movies at 3 a.m. had developed in the first place. She had grown an unironic love for dumb movies of all genres, and didn't mind sitting through 2 hours of bad acting in the slightest. There was just something about shitty directing and production and CGI that she enjoyed; maybe it was her inner-masochist showing itself? There was just nothing she'd rather do on a Friday morning than curl up with her favorite idiot and watch a cheesy B horror movie.
Julie returned to the bedroom in one of Colin's shirts and a pair of old sweatpants, towel drying her hair as she walked. This was an especially bad movie she had heard plenty of good things about- she paused at the doorway when she caught sight of Colin, frowning ever so slightly in concern. Something was up. His laptop was closed and on the windowsill, his head back on the pillows and staring blankly up at the ceiling. He noticed her and gave her a small smile, but it was obvious to her that he wasn't okay. 3 in the morning tended to do that sometimes; she would know. That was when she had first opened her heart to him, with words over a screen behind an online alias.
"Hey." She gave him a smile in return, dropping the towel to the floor as she slid into bed next to him. The movie could wait; Colin was more important. "What's wrong?" She asked softly, her tone missing all the usual jest and cheer as she found his hand and laced her fingers through his. Whatever it was, she'd slap it out of him.
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Post by COLIN COX on May 31, 2013 16:40:26 GMT -8
"I'm okay."
He'd once heard that if you told a lie enough times, you would grow to believe it, that if you constantly spoke the same words some day they would ring some truth. But he'd learned the hard way that the aforementioned claim was utter bullshit. No matter how many times you minced the truth, spoke a lie, it took some massive force of willpower to start to convince yourself that it was real, a strength of the mind that he was either unwilling or unable to produce. Whether it was a good or bad thing, he wasn't sure; he could act and pretend all he wanted but Julie saw through him every single time.
Yet it was a lie that commonly fell from his lips, the one falsehood that every human being was entitled to speak without any repercussions. I'm okay, I'm okay, as though lying to other people would do you a favour. One would think that it had been told so many times that it no longer held any merit in the eyes of others, but most people seemed to be able to accept it as truth. He had to be grateful, however, that Julie wasn't most people. There was no sense lying, and he could be as honest as he wanted with her without feeling pathetic or weak. Colin smiled sadly, glancing up towards his girlfriend as he patted the spot next to him.
"It's just... It's just one of those nights." She would know what he was talking about-- one of those nights where thoughts took over and emotion washed over you, when there was a disjointedness between your perception of yourself and who you really were. As Julie took his hand, he squeezed it back, continuing to speak, tone soft and eyes clouded with pensiveness.
"You know the feeling when things that you can't change start to bother you all of a sudden, when you thought you were fine with them and accepted that they're probably going to be that way?" There were many things in his life that he wished could have gone differently. He knew that there was no sense waiting or wishing when it came to these matters, but he couldn't help it some days. When Ivan updated him on how his own twin sister was doing. When he got the occasional message from her, full of text-message kisses and eight-bit hearts. When he glanced at photos of him as a child, laughing and smiling with her, a sister who had grown so far from him that they didn't know who each other were any more. Somewhere down the line things had gone awfully, horribly wrong, and he couldn't even pin his finger on whether it had been his fault or not any more. It all seemed like a blur, a mess, a childhood that had ended the day she'd realised he had been lying the whole time, a mark of when she'd learned the hard way that he wasn't her mirror image, the dark side of what she saw every day when she put on her makeup in the mornings.
"Cherie. I don't know if there's a way I can hope to fix that mess."
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on Jun 1, 2013 4:44:45 GMT -8
The thing about lying to others was that it was often a selfish act, a way to protect yourself rather than protect them. People often cite that the reason they lie to loved ones was to keep them safe, to delude them into a false sense of security when in reality there were sharks swimming in the water. If you really love someone, shouldn't you tell them the truth up front, rather than trying to dance around them and keep them happily out of the loop? It was usually only a matter of time, however, until they find out. Until they realize they've been played the fool, have had the wool pulled over their eyes by someone they loved and trusted, and it's no one's fault but your's.
It was one thing to lie to strangers and acquaintances, to assure them that, yes, of course, everything was just peachy, nothing to worry about. Because they often don't matter, don't touch your life in any way. But within the safety of your own home, within the walls of your room, saying 'I'm fine' when you obviously weren't wasn't an option.
She frowned at him when he said he was okay, moving in closer to him. She didn't say a word to pry the truth out of him; she knew he would tell her eventually. She knew that she did the same thing sometimes with him, saying she was fine when she obviously wasn't. Old habits die hard, and putting up a wall between herself and someone else was simply second nature to her. That wall came crumbling down with Colin though; there were no carefully constructed words between them. So she waited for him to continue, and when he finally did-
'One of those nights' always sucked, no matter what. She knew what he meant right away, as they'd often stay up all hours, talking through one of those nights until morning. She played with his fingers as he spoke, nodding at his question as she listened to him. When you felt like your thoughts would drown you where you were, and that sleep wouldn't come no matter what; those nights it was nice just to have someone stay up with you, to hold your hand and tell you it'd be okay.
She felt a pang in her chest at the mention of his sister. She didn't know the first thing about siblings, but she knew Cherie meant a lot to Colin; that their distance effected him more than he liked to admit. Julie didn't always know what to say, not when it came to this, but she could try. She brought up her other hand to his face, her touch soft as she met his eyes. "Of course there's a way," She squeezed his hand as she continued, "You're going to patch things up with her." If only the two of them would actually talk though. She and Ivan had discussed the two of them once before, and they had both agreed Colin and Cherie were dumb asses in the worst way possible. Maybe they should just lock them in a room together until they worked things out. Yes, that sounded like the perfect solution. She'd have to text Ivan later.
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Post by COLIN COX on Jun 1, 2013 10:38:42 GMT -8
There was no need to lie to Julie, no need for facades of strength or barriers between them. He had told her more than he had ever spoken to even his closest friends, and she too had afforded the same to him in return. It was only natural for him to try to keep up the pretence for a few seconds so that she wouldn't worry, but there was really no need for it, and that was why he shed it as readily as it had surfaced. A small smile crept up on his lips as soft hands caressed his face, and he squeezed her hand back in response, not wanting to let go. Colin knew that he and Julie could very well survive without each other, that they had their own lives that didn't revolve around the relationship and their own groups of friends, but having her around was definitely a great help. She was the Anne Shirley to his Gilbert Blythe-- they might have butted heads and fought over the stupidest things, but when push came to shove they had always been there for the other.
"That's the problem," he sighed. "She won't talk to me." They'd had this conversation several times; he had accepted the fact that he and Cherie's relationship could have been irrevocably damaged at this point, though, but it didn't mean it hurt any less. Cherie, Cherie. Cherie. Even the name seemed to be foreign to his lips, a mixture of fruit and alcohol that described someone who he didn't quite fully know, a name that he would never get quite used to after all the passing years. As a child Ivan had called her her Chorizo, but he was the one that had put it into popular use; it had been exacerbated by the fact that their last name was unfortunately Cox. She'd been Chorizo to him until that fateful day when they had been fifteen, and since then it had been Cherie all the way, punctuated by the occasional Sis that sounded more forced than anything else, as though he was trying to remind her that he was still the same person that he'd used to be, that he was still her brother. "I've tried. It isn't as though I haven't made an effort to reach out."
But between the awkward coffee dates and the text message conversations that died after a few lines of text, Colin sometimes wondered whether it was even worth a shot at all. She had shared a womb with him. They shared the same DNA. The fact that she refused to treat him like anything but a casual acquaintance hurt, and he wondered sometimes whether she even wanted him in her life at this point. But they were siblings, right? He was her brother, wasn't he? Surely there was some sort of way to patch this up.
"It's a two-way street. I can't really do anything if she won't reciprocate."
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on Jun 1, 2013 13:48:48 GMT -8
Idiotsssssss.
They were both idiots. The two of them. No wonder they were twins, they both shared the same dumb brain. If she wasn't trying to comfort him, she might have told him as much right to his face. Colin was just one of those people; you couldn't really coddle him. You had to kick him in the ass if he was going to get anywhere or do anything. But she couldn't say as much about this; she didn't know how to deal with sibling problems. So she'd just deal with Colin's whining how she usually did: by kicking him out of bed at 3 in the morning.
"Okay, get up." She let go of his hand and nearly shoved him off the bed, her tone serious and her expression deadpan. "I'm serious, c'mon! Up!" She got out of bed herself, tugging off her sweatpants as she grabbed a pair of her jeans off the floor. Pulling them on, she turned to fix him with a glare. "Get dressed and meet me at the door. Move it!" She buttoned up her shirt all the way as she stomped out the door, letting it close shut behind her with a click.
Of course, she wasn't really mad, and Colin knew that. Julie snatched up her purse off the couch in the spare room before making her way to the front door, sliding on a pair of shoes as she waited for Colin. When he finally appeared, she fixed him with a hard stare before telling him, the slightest hint of a smile in her voice, "We're going for coffee." Nevermind that it was 3 a.m. on a Friday morning and most places would be closed; but she was pretty sure she remembered a 24 hour cafe within walking distance of their building. It wasn't far at all.
Grabbing his hand, she proceeded to lead the way out the door, turning only to close and lock it behind her before walking them down the hall without another word.
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Post by COLIN COX on Jun 1, 2013 14:27:57 GMT -8
To be fair, he should have seen it coming-- there was nothing like a good kick in the backside to get him to stop whining and start doing something. Colin couldn't help but smile as Julie gave him a heavy shove, telling him to get out of bed. She probably did have the right idea, but he wasn't quite feeling it, even if he knew it was good for him. Though he had a good feeling that he was going to lose this battle, the blonde grabbed one of the pillows near him, covering his face with it. "I'm too lazy to move, Ju," he began, but the girl had tugged off her sweatpants and changed into jeans. There was no stopping her now that she'd gotten the idea into her head, and he sighed as he heard the click of their door.
"Fine," he muttered under his breath, trudging out of bed with a soft groan. Grabbing a plaid button-up shirt and a binder from where they lay draped over his chair, he sighed as he got out of his pyjamas and put them on. Colin pulled on the pair of jeans that were nearest to him on the floor, not wanting to bother rummaging through the closet they shared. The fact that he was getting out of bed was as much of an effort as he was going to make that night, he wasn't going to bother trying to look even semi-decent. He grabbed his wallet from where it lay on their study table, slipping it into his back pocket, and walked out into the kitchen that also doubled as a hallway for their tiny apartment. Julie was there, announcing that they were going for coffee, and Colin let out a long, affected mock sigh.
"You're incredibly demanding. Has anybody ever told you that?" But his actions seemed to differ from his words as he slid into his black Converse, knowing exactly where the two of them were going to go. There was a 24-hour coffee place near where they lived that also made an excellent chai tea latte, which might or might not have been a factor as to why the two of them had ultimately agreed to choose this place rather than somewhere slightly more spacious. That, and they were tiny; they didn't need a lot of space. Allowing her to grab his hand, he let her lead him down the hallway, and now it was his turn to chuckle.
"You know, if we want to use fake identities like we talked about the last time, I don't think we should go a place where we're going to go again. We can save that for later..." He paused. "Or maybe we could go somewhere different? It's not as though we're going to be sleeping any time soon, anyway." Was that a hint of spontaneity? Maybe. Not quite, since they had been discussing this for weeks by this point: he hadn't expected to be doing it today, that was all. Grabbing his trusty phone, Colin opened up his Yelp app, typing in '24 hours coffee shop' and watching the red dots pepper themselves around the map of Los Angeles.
"How far do you think we should go?" He was definitely already feeling better.
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on Jun 1, 2013 15:07:58 GMT -8
Julie pointedly ignored Colin's sigh, knowing full well he wasn't as bothered by this as he was pretending to be, just as she wasn't mad at him in the slightest. He had every right to be sad, sure, but if it was one of those nights, only a 3 a.m. coffee run was going to cheer him up. Maybe she should consider making this a regular thing? Hmm. She pulled him along down the hall towards the stairs, retorting to his comment about her being "demanding," "Yes, you, all the time." She turned to stick her tongue out at him and finally cracked a grin. It was for his own good that she was so bossy, he should be grateful!
"And I don't feel like walking all over LA just because you don't want the graveyard shift to recognize us, in the off chance they work the night shift and the day shift." She replied with a roll of her eyes, as they finally reached the stairs and she began to take the steps two at a time, cheerfully hopping her way down each floor. One of these days she was going to kill herself by doing this, but taking the stairs one at a time was boring and slow and not worth her time at all.
She reached the bottom first and waited for Colin, bouncing on the tips of her toes. "Let's go slowpoke." She nearly sang as she grabbed his hand again, shoving open the door and taking a deep breath of night air. Julie wasn't a scientist, but she firmly believed night air was entirely different from day air; not just because it was generally cooler at night, but because there were less people breathing it in, and therefore they weren't contaminating the air with their disgusting breath. #fact
Turning to face him as they walked, she said, half-joking and half-serious, "I think I'm going to be Sally Sparrow, you?" Because how could she possibly miss a chance of being one of her favorite characters from one of her favorite episodes featuring one of her favorite monsters? Oh sure, the Angels weren't exactly terrific, but out of everything they had been introduced to from the more recent series, they had scared her the most. She wasn't a fan of Moffat by any stretch of the imagination, but still, he had managed to pull off that episode pretty well. Either way, Julie had loved Sally- the best companion that never was. Or maybe she should go for someone else instead... HMM.....
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Post by COLIN COX on Jun 1, 2013 15:59:51 GMT -8
"Julie, we might get recognised. I'm not sure if it's a good idea--" But he was silenced by a roll of the eyes and the sight of Julie leaping down the stairs, and he heaved a sigh, slowly trudging down the staircase after her. She knew what she was doing though, and he knew that where she was carefree, he was way too cautious for his own good. Part of what had been difficult about this relationship in the start had been him having to let go, to acknowledge and realise that she was going to do things that he considered dangerous or crazy, while he in turn would get absorbed in his books and stories and forget to take care of himself. It was just their differing natures, and at the end of the day they had come to realise that she would come back to him just as he would pull himself out of a fantasy world and return to her.
Though on the surface you couldn't have thought that there were two more different people, deep down they were more similar than most would think. Such as when she grabbed hold of his hand once again and mentioned that she was going to be Sally Sparrow, a character whose death had caused her to scream in protest at his computer screen. Colin was surprised that she hadn't flung it across the room, to be quite honest, and even more surprised that Moffat had produced an episode that was semi-decent. You didn't want to get him started on his he felt that Moffat had ruined Who for generations, or how he'd reduced all the female characters to love interests or props for the Doctor. Sass did not necessarily equate strength, and it drove him absolutely crazy-- yet he felt the need to watch every episode religiously. It was the closest thing he would ever get to doing drugs.
"Rory... Rory Pond." Colin smiled. That had been a ship that he'd been able to board. Some of the writing had left much to desire, but at least they had been cute. "I'm their love child." Even if he didn't look anything like either Arthur Darvill or Karen Gillan, television logic would dictate that they'd find a way to make it work. Besides, this was Dr. Who. Anything could happen, and a little defying of genetics would probably cause the fandom to not even bat an eye.
No, scratch that. The fandom was always going to find something to whine over. It wasn't as though they were going to find out about their 3 a.m. escapade, though, he thought as the two of them continued down the street. He took a deep breath of night air.
"It's a nice night to be out," Colin said. "The lovely scent of a lack of human beings."
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on Jun 1, 2013 16:27:48 GMT -8
"Rory Pond and Sally Sparrow. What do you call that, a cracked ship?" She asked teasingly, elbowing him slightly as they made their way down the sidewalk. She didn't realize that she had just used the term wrong, but she didn't particularly care. Julie wanted nothing to do with Colin's fandoms and ships; he had tried to explain it all to her countless times, but she just did not get it at all. Maybe someday she'd finally have a moment of clarity and come to understand the appeal of crying over a ship at 4 in the morning.
Today was not that day.
Tomorrow wasn't looking good either.
Swinging their arms between them, she took a deep breath and let it out in a dreamy sigh. The cars that usually clogged the streets were strangely absent at this time of night, and the street lamps cast their shadows across the pavement as they walked. It would have been normal to feel a little nervous, walk a little quicker and glance fearfully behind you every few feet. Julie was hardly normal though; this might as well have been an afternoon stroll through the park with her boyfriend, rather than an early morning coffee run. "It is nice." She agreed softly, squeezing his hand and glancing up at the dark sky.
"But you know what would be nicer?" Again, the mischievous tone returned to her voice as she glanced over at him, green eyes shimmering as she continued, cheerfully, "If you were wearing something other than a plaid shirt---" All of a sudden, she froze in place, an expression of pure horror creeping on her face as realization hit her like a ton of bricks. No, how did she not notice before they left?!
"We're matching."
She let go of his hand to pluck at the plaid shirt she had thrown on after showering earlier. This couldn't be happening. This had to be some kind of cruel, sick joke. Someone please wake her up out of this nightmare, because she never wanted to be caught dead in a matching couple outfit, never mind a plaid couple outfit. She had just needed something to wear to bed, and now she was walking around with this on. "Ugh, this is terrible! Why didn't I change before we left---"
Another realization hit her, this one a bit more subtle, as a slight blush found it's way on her cheeks. She immediately stopped tugging on the plaid shirt, not entirely sure what to do with herself. Well, crap. She glanced up at Colin, and offered him a sheepish grin as she remarked, as casually as possible, "And I forgot to put a bra on."
Woops.
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Post by COLIN COX on Jun 1, 2013 23:00:43 GMT -8
"It's a crack ship. It's not cracked as in broken, but crack as in the drug." Then again, this wouldn't have been the first time that he had tried to explain shipping to his girlfriend. He didn't understand what exactly she didn't get about crack shipping, or shipping in general. It wasn't that she didn't want certain characters in certain TV shows to just kiss, or to just bang. Everyone shipped things, it was just that Colin was a little more intense about it than most. He didn't think it was that incomprehensible. You couldn't watch television without having feelings. You couldn't have feelings without wanting fictional characters to do the dirty. He was sure that deep down, some part of her did know what he was talking about. She just didn't want to admit it. Julie had sunk to many levels of nerdiness in the process of getting to know him, so he supposed that this was one of the few things she was trying to salvage. Too bad, because he wasn't going to let her. Maybe. He paused in his tracks as he felt her stop, raising a brow. "Julie, what's wrong--"
Oh.
Now it was Colin's turn to grin as Julie glanced down at her outfit, then at him, and then realised that they were both wearing plaid. Right. A snicker escaped his lips as she started plucking at his shirt rather melodramatically, groaning about how she hadn't changed before they'd left. "Too late," Colin said. "No turning back." He was definitely going to hold this against her, but honestly, had she expected him to wear anything that wasn't plaid? He had been quite certain that she'd known him for long enough at this point. Walking up towards her, the blonde gave her a little kiss on the nose. She was so cute when she got agitated over the smallest things. He was about to comment that at least the world would know they were going out, knowing that it would embarrass her even further, but it was just then when she mentioned that she wasn't wearing a bra. Now it was his turn to freeze in his tracks.
"W- what?"
Despite how long he'd been going out with Julie, there was nothing like springing this kind of thing on Colin to send him into a blushing, stuttering mess. The blonde flushed, the fact that he was in such close proximity with her making the situation even worse. Wasn't he supposed to be used to this? They'd been dating for two years at this point, it was getting ridiculous. Nevertheless, he managed to barely stutter out, "D- do you want to go back and get changed?" It was up to her whether she wanted to, but that was a twist he had definitely not expected. A day in the life of Colin A. Cox-- embarrassing himself, one stupid moment at a time.
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on Jun 2, 2013 4:23:09 GMT -8
Kill her now, this was so embarassing. Julie made a face as she glanced down at her chest; the plaid sort of hid the fact that she didn't have a bra on, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad? At Colin's stuttered question she shot him a shark's grin, all teeth as she retorted, "You're the one who just said too late, no turning back." She poked him in the cheek, amused by the blush spreading across his face. Boy, was he dumb. Granted, she was pretty dumb herself for forgetting, but it was kind of worth it if she got to wipe the smug smirk off his lips in the blink of an eye. It had taken all of a second; how fun!
She shrugged her shoulders, grabbing hold of his hand again. "Whatever, it's not that big of a deal." She was already out and walking around without doing her hair or at least putting on some lip gloss, a little plaid wasn't going to kill her. And as for the bra... it was just a quick 3 a.m. misadventure. It wasn't like she was meeting the queen of England or anything. No big deal. It was all for the sake of cheering her boyfriend up, so she really didn't mind in the slightest. "We're almost there anyway, c'mon." She began tugging him down the sidewalk, a slight grin on her face as she led the way.
"So, crack as in the drug. Cracked would make more sense though, wouldn't it? If a ship has cracks in it then it'll sink, and that's kind of what happens with crack ships, right?" And she was back to their previous conversation, like none of that had ever happened. What? It wasn't exactly the end of the world; besides, she wasn't worried about the graveyard shift remembering her. This was no big deal at all. But still, how did she manage to forget to put a bra on? Holy crap, was she a dumb blonde or what? How do you even forget something like that??? It was practically second nature to her by now, she had only been doing it since she hit puberty. It should have been the first thing she did when she got out of bed, ugh she was an idiot-
They had reached what was usually a busy interaction during the day, but now it was completely deserted, with all the lights flashing yellow. Even the pedestrian crossing sign was blinking red, and she grinned as she remarked, laughing slightly, "Shall we attempt to ford the river, or should we wait for a ferry?" These were treacherous waters, after all; just look at all that empty asphalt. They were going to be waiting here for hours until the light turned green. (Literally and figuratively speaking, of course.) But their destination was so close, she could almost taste it... seriously, it was right across the street. She could see it from here.
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Post by COLIN COX on Jun 2, 2013 7:01:23 GMT -8
"I- w- well, that applied when you were talking about the plaid shirt. How was I supposed to know the fine print when you hadn't even put it out there in the first place?" Colin flushed once again, wincing a little as she poked him in the cheek. At least she wasn't calling him cute, which was probably the only thing that could have made this entire situation worse. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes, but she then grabbed hold of his hand and declared it not that big of a deal-- well it was up to her after all, but it did mean that she wasn't actually wearing a bra in public. Plenty of women didn't wear bras in public, and he knew that; heck, on winter days he would pop to the store without binding with the help of a large hoodie. But the fact that she had so specifically pointed it out bothered him, and not even in a bad way, or a way that got him all hot and bothered, or anything-- it would, however, definitely linger at the back of his head.
There was just no winning, was there? Either way, she continued leading him to the cafe, a smile on her lips as she continued to speak, returning to the topic of crack ships. That sank. Well, that kind of did make sense, he had to admit, but it wasn't as though he was going to let her know that. He heaved yet another long-suffering sigh as he explained shipping to her for what seemed like the umpteenth time-- it was almost as though she was messing this up to agitate him, or something. "Well, that's the terminology. You'd be surprised how many crack ships have actually made it into canon. Like Gamzee and Terezi from Homestuck. Everybody thought that it was just a joke but they ended up becoming kismeses." That and Sally Sparrow/Rory Pond was apparently canon that night. He didn't know how the fandom was going to react to that, but forget the fandom: this was one of the times that he was quite glad to be off the Internet and out of his fantasy worlds, and smack in the middle of reality with a person he loved. They had reached an intersection, and she was asking whether they wanted to attempt to cross the river, Oregon Trail style. Now it was Colin's turn to lead the way, glancing left and right to ensure that there were no cars before crossing the street.
"Oregon waits for no-one. Hurry up, pilgrim, before we all die of dysentry on the way." That had been one of the common links between their childhoods, of which there were definitely more than one would imagine. They both shared a love of video games and television shows, as well as horror movies. On the surface it would seem like they would be the last two people in the world to fall in love but deep down they had a lot more in common than one would think. In the early stages of his relationship he'd definitely wondered what people would think, especially her friends-- surely she could have done a lot better than, quote unquote, a plaid-wearing cereal obsessed bibliophile. But when he'd realised she didn't care he'd stopped caring himself, and he was just glad to have her and that she had him in return. Soon, the two of them had crossed the street, and he smiled, raising a brow at her as they found themselves outside the coffee shop.
"We've reached the general store. Supplies, anyone?" With that, he pushed the door open, leading Julie in as he walked up to the counter.
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on Jun 2, 2013 9:38:54 GMT -8
(Of course she was purposefully messing up and playing dumb just to infuriate him. What kind of girlfriend would she be if she didn't? Besides, it was fun making him sigh and try and explain just why, exactly, two different characters from two different series could be in a ship, or what an OT3 was, or what the point of fanfiction was. Yes, she had zero interest in it, but that didn't mean she couldn't use it to mess with Colin every now and again, right?) She frowned as he used a Homestuck example, throwing around names like 'Gamzee' and using a word like 'kismeses'. "Are you making those names up? You're making those names up, aren't you." She made the 'watching you' motion with her hands, glaring at him as she did so. "I'm on to you."
Julie had tried to read Homestuck, on Colin's insistance, and she hadn't gotten past Act 1. She tried, she really did, but it was boring and the characters didn't have any arms but then they magically did? And the art style was weird, and John didn't really do much of anything. (Colin kept insisting that it got better, but if it couldn't get her interested in just the first Act, why should she continue trying to like it?) But she was about 90% positive she didn't read about any Terezis or Gamzees hooking up, so he had to be fucking with her. She just knew it.
She laughed as he led the way across the street, warning her that they would die of dysentry if they didn't move it. She was glad she had dragged him out of bed now; he didn't have that look in his eyes anymore. It made her smile a little wider, and she squeezed his hand as they safely forded the river. "You lost 1 wagon axle, 2 wagon tongues, 8 oxen, and Julie drowned." She said in a complete monotone, her expression blank. "Nice going, dork. I hope you're happy." Still, she followed him into the cafe, surprised to see that they weren't the only ones awake at this time. There were actually a few other customers in the shop, though the two of them were the only couple there.
Leading the way towards the counter, Julie stopped to squint up at the menu. "Do you know what you're getting?" She asked Colin in a stage whisper, as she debated the pros and cons of getting a pastry to go with her coffee. It was only going to be just one little pastry, but at the same time it was going to be a 3 a.m. pastry. A 3 a.m. pastry that probably wasn't freshly baked out of the oven. But she was also kind of hungry. What a dilemma! Glancing down, she caught sight of the tired-looking woman behind the counter and grinned to herself. The woman looked like she wasn't in the mood for any silliness or fake names. Perfect. "You order first, I'm still making up my mind."
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Post by COLIN COX on Jun 2, 2013 12:19:17 GMT -8
Dark browns behind glasses scanned the menu behind the counter, written on a chalkboard for a bit of old-school charm. There were a lot of interesting options, including a hazelnut caramel latte that sounded delectable to say the least, and a sugar and toffee mixed drink that he could have sworn sounded just the littlest bit like Butterbeer. Perhaps he'd get that, do something differently for once. Though he had a gut feeling that when push came to shove, he would probably end up getting the usual chai tea latte instead: he never seemed to be able to order anything else, even if he always thought to himself that he should. Whether he was going to order food or not wasn't even a question-- it was a struggle to get him to finish his meals on a daily basis, let alone eat something potentially filling at three in the morning. He turned back to his girlfriend, answering her statement about the Oregon Trail before going up to order.
"So if the real Julie drowned, what are you? Julie the Second?" He was, of course, referring to the toy dog that she'd named after him. "And we got to Oregon, so that really wasn't a big loss. Nice to know that you're so disposable, though: it'll make you better bait than me if we ever carry out one of our plans." This was referring to the numerous ways that they had devised to kill people together. Giving his girlfriend a little nudge in the side, Colin started walking up to the counter, though not without turning back and saying, "By the way, Terezi and Gamzee do actually exist, they just appeared later in the comic, and they were actually a generally crack ship that became canon. There you go." With that, he strolled up to the barista.
"Can I please have a sugar-- I mean, can I please have a chai tea latte?"
The words escaped his lips before he could stop himself. Colin inwardly palmed his face. Why did he even try most of the time? The teenage girl took down his order, and Colin added, "The order's for Rory Pond, please. Yeah, I know," he shrugged, noting the girl's incredulous expression, "It's hard being the child of two companions. You have a lot to live up to. No, don't look at me like that-- it's actually my name." Wow, she was a Whovian as well? Who would have guessed. Though Rory Pond sounded reasonably normal, so he hoped that she would believe it. Now, if only Julie would come and support his statement by coming in as the second half of his new crack OTP.
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on Jun 2, 2013 14:18:14 GMT -8
Julie rolled her eyes as he nudged her, giving him a look that seemed to scream 'please tell me you're really not that dumb.' "No, the Julie who drowned was just a fake. As if I'd risk my life crossing a river when you're the one behind the reins." Of course she trusted Colin with her life, but there was no way she'd just let him think he got the upper hand in a what if scenario. That was part of the fun of their relationship though- always trying to one up each other was more of a game than anything else. "And please, like you'd double-cross me."
They were partners in crime, after all. <3
She didn't have time to shoot back a reply before he stepped up to counter to place his order, but that didn't stop her from shooting his back with a glare. He was full of shit, she just knew it. He just thought he was so smart. That's why while he was ordering, she pulled her phone out and did a quick search. A few seconds later, and as it would happen he was... right. Oh. Well then. She definitely wasn't telling him he was right though. Not in a million years.
Of course he would get the usual order. She watched the exchange between the barista and Colin, trying not to giggle at the look on the girl's face. Just as she suspected, the girl was having none of their shit this morning. Stepping up next to Colin, she smiled pleasantly and said, cheerfully, "I'll have one black coffee, please." What could she say? She liked her coffee black like her soul. She almost cracked up as she said, straight-faced, "And that's for Voldemort." The barista actually groaned at that, and Julie turned to Colin with the cheesiest smile she could possibly manage on her face. Worth it. Sooo worth it.
The blonde shot Colin with a look as she fished her wallet out of her purse, and slammed the money on the counter with a smug expression on her face. Beat him to it. He was going to say he had just let her pay, but that was a lie and he knew it. Taking her change from the barista, she thanked the girl and stepped away from the counter to wait for their coffee. Nudging into Colin, she asked, with an entirely way too pleased with herself grin, "So, is Rory and Voldemort your new crack oh-tip?" (And yes, she pronounced it exactly like that.)
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Post by COLIN COX on Jun 2, 2013 15:22:16 GMT -8
She had to be joking.
Colin turned his head to his left to look at Julie, who had oh-so-casually ordered a black coffee as Voldemort. He felt his jaw drop a little with the realisation that it technically meant that Rory Pond was now dating Voldemort-- he was all for cross-fandom shipping, but this was ridiculous. They were supposed to be inventing cute OTPs and OC ships, not creating a monstrosity that could be up there with the likes of Tinky Winky/Barney in terms of worst crack ship to have existed on the Internet. (Don't ask him how he ended up finding that-- it was not something he was proud of doing, and it was an episode that he certainly didn't want to repeat.) He was so stunned by her sudden declaration that it took him half a second to register the fact that she had paid, and the barista was giggling madly at the two of them; she then ushered them to the side where they would wait for their drinks. Once the girl's back was turned, Colin turned to Julie, who was once again butchering fandom terminology in a way that only she could.
"O. T. P. It's three letters, read it that way." He didn't know whether he was irritated or amused. Probably more amused than irritated, but because he was dealing with Julie he was going to showcase the latter. He rolled his eyes, folding his hands like a child. One of his friends Theo had referred to him as tsundere back when he had been in his weaboo phase, which he supposed kind of fit the way he was acting then. Though it wasn't as though Colin acted like this on a regular basis. It was just because Julie induced him to do it, and not his fault. He was perfectly civil and nice to most other people, though admittedly he wouldn't have had it any other way. Acting like dicks to one another was part of the dynamic of the relationship, and whether he would admit it to her face or not it was incredibly fun.
"And for the matter, it isn't. Voldemort isn't capable of feeling love, remember? It would end terribly for poor Rory Pond." Now he had to smile as he bumped his hip into hers. Colin wasn't one for public displays of affection most of the time: at the beginning of their relationship, even holding hands or quick kisses in public had been embarrassing to him. But it had slowly come to feel absolutely natural to him. The waitress put down their drinks on the counter, giving them both a wink, whispering under her breath, "I'm one of you too." Colin chuckled, returning her whisper with one of his own.
"Actually it's just me. She's a non-believer," he said, reaching over to collect both their drinks, balancing them precariously in his hands. He had never been the most co-ordinated person in the world, and he could already feel his hands wobbling. His eyes scanned the cafe. They could either take a seat near where they were, or they could sit in a corner far away where they could just talk without being disturbed. Well, that wasn't exactly the easiest of decisions. Great risk, great reward he supposed? Colin gulped, turning to Julie. Help.
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on Jun 2, 2013 16:43:20 GMT -8
His apparent irritation did nothing but add fuel to the fire, her grin widening as she poked him in the side. "Oh-tip." She replied stubbornly, enjoying this way too much. She was never going to stop messing with him, especially if she continued to get reactions like that look on his face when she said her coffee was for Voldemort. It was always going to be worth it, and it was never going to stop amusing her to no end. She did wrinkle her nose a little as he smiled and bumped their hips together, debunking her new cracked ship. So rude.
"It's unrequited love then. Rory meets Voldie and falls in love with his gleaming bald head and slits for a nose. But then Voldie kills him, and it's all very tragic and heart-breaking." She let out a long sigh, her lip wibbling slightly at the thought of poor Rory dying at the hands of the man he loved. What a love story. And the best part was, with some digging she could probably unearth a preteen writing stories about them on the Internet. Maybe that's what she'd do tomorrow night, and then she could read them to Colin until he died from poor grammar and bad characterization. "Poor Rory." She declared woefully, resting her head on his shoulder like it really was just that woefully sad.
Julie watched Colin and the barista's whispered exchange with interest, and as he grabbed their drinks she whispered to him, "Did you join a cult or something?" With all the time he spent on Tumblr, however, she really should have known. It was a cult of sorts, though thankfully she didn't have to worry about him sacrificing chickens and painting blood circles on the living room floor. If she came home from work one day and found that he had done weird voo doo crap while she was out, she was going to take his cereal and dump it all in the trash. That would show him, joining a cult without inviting her.
Raising her eyebrows slightly at him, Julie couldn't help but grin once again as he shot her a pleading look. Well, he did try, she'd give him that. She glanced around before picking out a table, by a window on the opposite side of the cafe from them. Turning back to Colin, she stepped close to him and practically laughed, "Hand over the coffee, and no one gets hurt." She gently took the drinks out of his wobbling hands, a half-grin on her face. She loved Colin, she really did, but she really didn't want the coffee she just paid for to go spilling all over the place. He could try to be helpful some other time.
The girl led the way through the maze of tables and chair, walking through the quiet shop until she reached their destination. And would you look at that, not a single spilled drop. Who would have thought years of waitressing would actually be good for something someday? She sat down and immediately plucked a packet of sugar out of the dish on the table. She smiled to herself as she shook the contents of the packet into her drink, stirring before finally saying, her tone all at once suddenly very serious, "Okay, so picture this."
She paused to blow some of the steam off her coffee before taking a sip, and continuing, completely poker-faced, "Coffee shop ah-wooh, with Voldemort as the barista and Rory as the cute, quirky hipster who keeps coming to the coffee shop where Voldie works, waiting for the right chance to ask for his number." She stared at him from across the table, a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth the only indication that she might of been joking. This had to be the single most awful thing she had ever said out loud, and yet she didn't regret a single thing.
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Post by COLIN COX on Jun 3, 2013 2:56:09 GMT -8
It was why he'd chosen to work in a bookstore rather than wait tables at a cafe-- he was fairly certain that if he had decided to do the latter, he would have been fired in a matter of days. Colin said nothing as Julie effortlessly took the drinks out of his hands, striding through the maze of tables and chairs while Colin quietly followed. There were things that he was good at, and balancing was not one of them. No, this was one aspect of his life where he would quite gladly concede to Julie, and rightly so. His girlfriend set the drinks down, and he sat down across her, giving her a little kick in the foot as she poured a packet of sugar into her drink.
"Maybe I did join a cult. I'm going to have five wives and thirty-three children from each of them, and soon I'll be worshipping E. L. White as my true god. I'm only here because I'm still making an attempt to evangelize you." Colin raised a brow, giving her the look that read Really, Julie?. But it was then when she mentioned Rory and Voldemort in a coffee shop AU, or well, butchering the pronunciation of AU in general. The fact that she managed to think of an alternate universe off the top of her head did show that there was hope for her yet, but the fact that she wasn't willing to take fandom seriously dismissed all faith in her that he'd ever had. Then again, this was the girl who had found his old Game Boy back when she'd been at his place for Christmas and played through all the Pokemon games, before getting her own 3DS so she could challenge him to a final battle. She'd even made a point to call all her rivals Colin. She was just as fanatical about certain things as he was, she just expressed it in a different way.
Julie kind of reminded him of a Pikachu. Small, blonde and electric. Granted, the same could probably be said of himself, but he'd claimed her as Pikachu first. She could pick another Pokemon for him if she wanted. Taking a sip of his chai latte, he smiled, giving her another light kick on the shin. "You're not even trying to understand crack shipping the way I do it. At least my version of crack ships works in parallel universes. How's Voldemort supposed to pass an interview at a coffee shop without scaring everybody, anyway-- I don't discriminate, but I would be mildly afraid if someone walked into my establishment without a nose. That, and I'm sure that the Death Eaters would never sink so low." At least she hadn't read his old fanfiction from when he had been a young teenager. It had been terribly written and would remain buried in the abyss of Internet forums forever. Setting his cup down, Colin closed his eyes, leaning back in the chair. The soft sounds of the acoustic guitar music were definitely calming, as well as the ambience of the place itself with its dim lights and wooden decor.
"Thanks for dragging me out here," he said to Julie. "I feel a lot better already."
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Post by JULIETTE DUBOIS on Jun 3, 2013 5:44:04 GMT -8
Oh, this was the first she was hearing about his planned army of 165 tiny blonde children. She almost wanted to point the absurdity of what he was saying, but that'd just be stating the obvious. Colin knew full well that he was being ridiculous. Instead, she raised her eyebrows at him in return, trying not to laugh as she replied, "Thank you for trying to save my soul, but I'm definitely going to hell for wearing plaid in public." Among other things, that was probably her most incriminating crime that she'd burn in hell for eternity for.
Spoiler alert: she hadn't actually thought of this AU off the top of her head. She had been looking up Destial out of curiosity and found a million and one coffee shop AU's. It worked for her purposes in this conversation though, so she wasn't complaining about. And please, don't get her started on Pokemon. It had been a complete accident that she found his old Gameboy, and obsessively played through every Pokemon game until she beat every Gym Leader, beat the Elite Four, and completed the Pokedex. When she had finally played through each game until there was nothing left to do, she had become so depressed that not even ice cream could make her feel better. Until Colin had mentioned that there was a new game coming out for the DS, then she had dropped everything to play her way through that game too. Currently, she was busy trying to catch one Shiny of every Pokemon in every game.
(And she may or may not have changed her phone's ringtone to the wild Pokemon encounter battle theme. And changed Colin's ringtone to the rival battle theme. Don't look at her like that, okay!?)
She took another sip of coffee and frowned at his comment on the absurdity of her AU. How rude. You didn't see her poking holes in his dumb ships, he should leave her dingy alone. Of course, she had to jump to the defense of her Voldemort/Rory coffee shop AU. "Wow, if they didn't hire him just because he doesn't have a nose, he could easily sue. It's discrimination against the physically handicapped, and they can get in some serious trouble. Besides, with his magic he would probably be their best employee, how could they not hire him?" She rolled her eyes before continuing, a smile on her face, "And maybe they're just using the coffee shop as a front in order to kill more Muggles." No one would ever suspect the nose-less barista to be the culprit of the mass murder outbreak in the city. No one.
When he leaned back and closed his eyes, Julie smiled softly to herself, the dimple in her cheek showing that it was genuine. She was happy to hear that he was feeling better, that she had pulled him out of his funk and cheered him up a little. She nudged her foot against his under the table, trying not to let her grin leak into her voice as she drawled, lazily, "Who said I did any of this for you? I just wanted some coffee." But that was a lie, and he knew it.
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