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Feb 11, 2015 20:30:00 GMT -5
Post by Damian Moore on Feb 11, 2015 20:30:00 GMT -5
“Bring the food. Even if Dahlia cared she wouldn’t be able to stop me from eating in there.” Damian admitted with a small smile and a shrug. Then he approached her, got as close to her as he had since they met‒which was only a couple of feet because he would probably die otherwise‒and grabbed the fritos and the cream cheese and motioned for her to follow him into the living room with his elbow. On the way he passed a mirror and had to do a double take, a strand had fallen out of place and he twitched as he looked at his reflection. He could risk looking like a narcissistic freak that only cared about the way he looked or he could sit there uncomfortably trying to be as normal as he could knowing the one thing about his appearance that he ever had control over wasn’t the way he wanted it. His shoulders dropped as he set the bag of fritos down on the table near the mirror and quickly adjusted the stupid strand of hair that mocked him and probably made him look like an idiot to the perfect stranger. With that done his twitching ceased and he grabbed the bag again and continued their tiny trek to the living room.
Once there he set the food down on the table, pulled his water bottle out of his jacket pocket to sit there with it, and went to turn off the game he had been playing before he fell asleep. He expected Natalia to make herself comfortable while he switched it over to the TV and put the volume low just so there was noise in the room. Silence made him even twitchier so he hoped this would help him relax a little. “Sorry… Can’t stand silence…” he said as he looked back to her, nervously kicking the ground and refusing to meet her eyes for fear of seeing judgment in them.
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Feb 17, 2015 20:38:23 GMT -5
Post by Natália Rosario on Feb 17, 2015 20:38:23 GMT -5
Nat blinked as he grabbed the fritos and cream cheese. She opened her mouth to protest but by then it was too late. She shrugged it off and simply followed him. She slowed her steps as he stopped at the mirror and watched as he fixed his hair. Not wanting to possibly offend him, she bit back her smile and tried not to watch it. She personally thought it was adorable but wasn't quite sure why it bothered him enough to fix it. Regardless, it simply made him more interesting to her. Then again, a lot of things were interesting to the she-cat. She learned a long time ago that nothing in the world was old or worn. Everything was new and fresh if you knew where to look. If you didn't, you'd leave a very boring life.
Boredom was something Nat refused to accept. She took a seat on the floor by the coffee table, leaning back against the couch. She looked up at him as he spoke again and smiled softly. Honestly, she was the same in a way but she found a way around it.
“I don't mind, but if you take the time to listen,” she started, “the world isn't a silent place.”
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Apr 15, 2015 21:23:03 GMT -5
Post by Damian Moore on Apr 15, 2015 21:23:03 GMT -5
Damian’s eyes shifted up off the ground to look at her. He was honestly quite surprised by the response and overall lack of judgement that came out of her despite his weird quirks that left others looking at him like he was entirely insane‒he hated that look, he wasn’t insane, just different. The lack of such a look coming her was a pleasant surprise for him, then again she was Dahlia’s friend so he shouldn’t be so surprised that she was kind. A small blush colored his cheeks as he looked at Nat and he wasn’t sure why, it was a feeling he was unaccustomed to so he brushed it off as he sat across from her at the coffee table. “I suppose that’s a fair point… But silence allows my thoughts to wander to dark places… I don’t like dark places.” He told her with a meek voice before he sipped is water.
He let silence creep over him for a moment, trying to recall how people that weren’t weary of normal everyday interactions conversed while also finding himself wishing less and less for Dahlia to come home. “So, Nat… You’re not from around here, right? I’m assuming since we’ve never met… Where do you live? What do you do?” he inquired and then he tugged the corner of his lip into his mouth, he wasn’t quite sure if that was appropriate to ask‒his two modes in life where “police officer” and “anxious little brother” and this was far from either one of those two comfort zones so he was a tad nervous about conversing.
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Apr 21, 2015 15:54:59 GMT -5
Post by Natália Rosario on Apr 21, 2015 15:54:59 GMT -5
Nat nodded at his explanation. She could understand it. She didn't agree with it, but she understood. Sometimes certain memories were hard to bury and ran too deep and painful to look past. She certainly had those moments, but over time she learned that when you let the dark stuff win over, you just lose. In the end it wasn't worth it, but she also knew it was something Damian had to learn on his own. It wasn't up to her to tell him not to let the bad stuff bother him. It wasn't her place so she kept her mouth shut about her opinions for now and chose to focus on his questions.
“I currently live in New York City as a high school history teacher,” she said. “I'm also the swim coach.”
She added that last part as more of an afterthought. It was just more a part of her than anything else. She practically lived in the water so that was something she automatically went to when asked what she did. Sure the coaching was more volunteering but it was still something she did regularly so why not point it out. At least that was her philosophy in most situation. Be proud of who and what you are and own it whenever you can.
She fell silent for a brief time after answering him, her attention turning to the television. She tilted her head thoughtfully before turning back to Damian. Without warning she reached out and poked him three times, much like a curious child would do to get an adult's attention.
“What about you?” she asked. “What do you do?”
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Apr 25, 2015 0:39:43 GMT -5
Post by Damian Moore on Apr 25, 2015 0:39:43 GMT -5
Damian nodded along to what she said but then silence swept in and he spaced out for the most part. He wasn’t thinking about anything in particular until the moment he felt her poke his side not once but three times. This immediately pulled the hybrid out of his thoughts and back into the reality where a stranger just touched him. His PTSD acted up before he could even think and he got defensive. His fangs popped out, his teeth were barred, and his eyes grew red. He was ready to strike if something were to go after him but there was no danger. No father there to beat him into submission. No reason to be defensive at all really. The only thing there was Natalia and he suspected that she couldn’t even hurt a fly.
He was embarrassed and his cheeks grew bright red as his eyes returned to their usual shade of blue and his fangs disappeared entirely. “I’m… I’m sorry… I umm… I suffer from a little bit of ummm… Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and you caught me off guard there.” He hung his head in shame over his reaction and suspected she would want to effectively end their conversation. He deserved after going into attack mode from a sudden poke to the side. “I’m a police officer... By the way…” he muttered while keeping his eyes trained on the ground. His bottom lip disappeared between his teeth as he mentally chastised himself for his overreaction.
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Apr 26, 2015 18:35:30 GMT -5
Post by Natália Rosario on Apr 26, 2015 18:35:30 GMT -5
His reaction to her pokes caught Nat off guard, but while most would see fangs spring out of someone's mouth and answer in kind, Nat waited it out calmly. It took her mere seconds to realize it was a defensive action and so she merely sat there. Then again, if he had tried to attack her, she would have probably done no more than dodge him. She didn't hurt anything unless in self-defense. Even then she would have to be in fear of her own life. So, she didn't make a move to answer his aggression. She simply acted as though it didn't happen. She simply turned her gaze to the ceiling to wait for him to calm down and only looked at him when he spoke again.
She frowned slightly at his explanation. Honestly, it sounded dreadful. One would think that she would understand things such as PTSD and the more common concept of personal boundaries, but despite her age she didn't. It wasn't that she was rude about it or anything. She was just bubbly and persistently wanted to be friends with everyone and anyone she met. She never intended to make anyone uncomfortable.
“I probably should warn you then, I do things like that a lot,” she said. “It's not intentional, but it's not always conscious either. Personal bubbles escape me a majority of the time. I can only promise to try being more thoughtful.”
She felt bad seeing him so embarrassed over his reaction. It wasn't his fault. She knew that and she really didn't want him to feel bad about it. Instead, she decided a change of topic was due.
“I was kicked out of my village once,” she said. “First turn and all, I ended up traipsing through another in my birthday suit. Seriously freaked out the locals but they handled it well. Then again, it was 3,000 years ago. Roughly. Their expressions were priceless though. It was an interesting experience.”
Okay, perhaps, that was oversharing, but she was hoping it would get him to relax a little at the very least. Everyone had their issues and they all dealt with them differently.
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