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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 6:36:55 GMT
The rainstorm had come along suddenly. Before anyone knew it, it was downpouring, and the cafe instantly cleared out. People needed to get home, make sure their house wasn't flooded. A lot of houses on the island didn't seem to be cut out for this kind of weather.
It also made walking home a drag. Valerian didn't own a car of his own. Hell, he didn't even have a local driver's license yet. Walking was much easier, much more economical and just cheaper in general. He worked at a cafe after all. It's not like it paid copious amounts of money, even if it was a tourist locale like Nova Athenis.
Thankfully he had at least invested in a sturdy umbrella. London was a rainy place, so a nice umbrella was imperative. Not one of those flimsy ones that upturned in the slightest instance of inclement weather. No, this was a good umbrella and it was definitely going to keep him dry on his trek home. Well, at least his head and hair. He couldn't say much for his shoes.
The cafe owner let most of the staff go home early today, and that included Valerian and a few of the other workers. As he was gathering his stuff in the back, he bumped into Maribelle, one of the other wait staff there. He didn't know her that well but they were coworkers, of course, so at least they had some contact.
That didn't mean he was going to be the one to start a conversation, however. No. He had nothing to say and he really just wanted to go back home, where there were warm dry clothes and hot things to drink.
@maribelle |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 7:17:13 GMT
| | | here i am
a rabbit-hearted girl
frozen in headlights
it seems i've made
the final sacrifice | Of course it would start raining right now. Of course! Maribelle glared out of one of the cafe's windows at the water pouring down from the sky, practically turning Main Street into a river. People tried to take cover under bags and newspapers or pulled their jackets over their heads with little avail as they darted through the onslaught of rain. Any attempts to shield oneself from the rain storm seemed futile, leaving those who braved it soaking wet anyway.
The redhead groaned, looking down at the too-small jacket in her arms. There was no way that thing would cover her enough to not get soaked to the bone within minutes. If only she had checked the weather before leaving home, she would've been smart enough to bring a rain coat instead, or an umbrella, or -- even better -- both. Hindsight's 20/20, Maribelle thought bitterly, pulling the jacket on. There was no way she could make it home without ruining her makeup and hair, which she had spent so much time in the morning working on.
Just as the young woman turned to head out the door, she bumped into a tall dark figure. Glancing up, she recognized one of her coworkers, though it wasn't one who she talked to very often. He was usually quiet and didn't converse with the others that much, but it was hard to ignore someone who was so big, especially compared to her shorter, petite stature. More importantly, however, he was holding an umbrella.
"Oh!" Maribelle exclaimed, brightening up instantly. "You're... Valerian, right?" Thankfully she had managed to remember his name. Her hands clasped in front of her as she smiled up at him with her sweetest smile, silently praying he wouldn't turn her down and leave her to a cold, wet misery. "I know we don't really talk that much, but I was wondering if you could do me a huge, huge favor. I'll make it up to you somehow, I promise!"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 17:22:21 GMT
He wasn't planning on talking to the girl, but she seemed hellbent to start a conversation. He sighed. She didn't even want to talk, she just wanted to use him for a favor. He had a feeling it was because he had an umbrella and she didn't have one at all, but he shouldn't put the cart before the horse.
He'd never really talked to her before at all besides random work chatter. Val was never one to be terribly talkative in the first place. But it still bothered him that all she wanted was just a favor. Not even a conversation. But he couldn't do much about that, especially when he never really talked in the first place.
"Hmf," he simply said. "What exactly would this favor be?"
His voice was guarded and almost a bit cold, but that was just how he came off to others, or so it seemed. Val was a bit intrigued by what she said, making it up to him, but how would she even do that? Repay him with a similar favor? It's not like it really mattered. But before he could do anything, he had to wait and see just exactly what she wanted.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 23:32:47 GMT
| | | here i am
a rabbit-hearted girl
frozen in headlights
it seems i've made
the final sacrifice | The man didn't seem quite as friendly as Maribelle would've hoped, and her chipper attitude waned a little from his cold reply. Had she said something wrong to offend him somehow? Maybe asking for a favor right off the back like this when they hadn't even talked prior. Biting her lip a little, Maribelle paused before she continued to speak.
"Well, I mean, you don't really have to if you don't want to," she began, hoping that would seem a bit more polite. "But, um, I didn't know it was going to be raining like this, so I didn't bring an umbrella or anything..."
The redhead smiled up at him with what she hoped would be her friendliest smile, though considering the type of person she was talking to, she couldn't help but doubt just how effective it was. More likely than not, he was probably going to turn her down, and she'd have to trudge through the cold, unforgiving rain anyway. Still, it was worth a try, right?
"Since you have an umbrella, I was wondering if you could help me get home?" the girl asked as sweetly as she could. "I don't really live that close to here, so I'd really be thankful if you could!"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2014 1:10:11 GMT
Ah, yes, how did he know she would ask him about his umbrella? If he had betted on it, he would've won — but why would he place bets against himself? That was irrelevant. He had guessed correctly, that was it, and even though it seemed to be very inconvenient for himself...he didn't want to say no.
Valerian wasn't mean. It was raining horribly out there and if she walked home as she was, she'd get soaked. Maybe she would get sick. And even though he barely knew her, he didn't want her to get ill. Being sick was no fun at all and he wouldn't wish it on someone he barely knew, let alone had no bad feelings for whatsoever.
Sighing, he pulled on his jacket and zipped it up, pulling his long ponytail out from underneath. Most people would wear a hat or a hood in this weather but he couldn't risk hat hair. Valerian was not vain, but he liked his hair to be a certain way, and head-coverings just ruined that.
"Fine," he said curtly, grabbing his things and heading for the door. "You'll have to lead the way, I guess."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2014 21:59:33 GMT
| | | here i am
a rabbit-hearted girl
frozen in headlights
it seems i've made
the final sacrifice | Maribelle couldn't help but feel apprehensive when Valerian didn't respond right away. Instead he silently pulled his jacket on, not even looking down at her. It seemed like he was considering whether or not he wanted to help her, and she was having a hard time reading his expression. By the looks of things, it seemed more likely that he was going to turn her down after all. Her jacket would do little to protect her from the horrible weather, since she really only wore it because it was cute, not practical. That wasn't her fault, though; it started out like it would be such a lovely day!
When he finally spoke up and agreed, she couldn't help but grin broadly up at him. Thankfully she restrained herself from bouncing up and down excitedly, not wanting to scare him off when he finally offered his help.
"Oh, thank you so, so much!" Maribelle practically squealed. "I'll find a way to pay you back for this, honest!"
Gleefully, she followed him out the door and into the rain, scooting a little closer to the taller man to try and avoid the cold droplets. The street was now starting to clear out, since people had already made it back home or decided to take shelter from the rain for now. The sidewalks had basically turned into one big puddle, and her shoes were eventually soaked with the cold liquid, causing her to shiver a little. The sooner Maribelle could get home, the better.
"My house is this way," she said, gently taking his arm with one hand to steer him in that direction while she said so.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2014 2:29:56 GMT
She squealed, and he wanted to wince. Did the girl have to be so loud and obnoxious? Valerian supposed squealing in happiness was better than screaming in anger or sobbing in sadness, so he would take it with a grain of salt. As he went to the door she followed him, and stepping outside he unfolded the umbrella with a quick extension of his arm, lifting it to cover him and the girl he was now bringing with him.
Thankfully he had worn his boots today, and the thick soles traipsed through the puddles on the sidewalk with ease. He noticed that Maribelle's shoes were soaked and he did feel a bit bad, even if she was kind of being inconvenient. Then again, if it was a real problem, he would have just declined her request.
She had pointed in the direction of her house. Valerian understood, and was going to head that way. And then he felt her hand on his arm, tentatively resting in the crook of his elbow, and he glanced down at her with a slightly bewildered expression. It wasn't even anything special just a slight touch to the arm. Val didn't even know why his initial instinct was to tense up like that.
"Er, right," he said, and continued on in the direction she steered him in.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2014 21:53:52 GMT
| | | here i am
a rabbit-hearted girl
frozen in headlights
it seems i've made
the final sacrifice | Maribelle grimaced down at her soggy shoes, sure that her feet were slowly freezing into blocks of ice which each step she took. To make matters worse, a cold breeze had picked up, and was blowing against their backs, spraying even more cold water under the umbrella and pretty much soaking her legs as well. The girl shivered as it hit her, moving even closer to Valerian, completely oblivious to his discomfort.
“Ugh, why does it have to be so damn cold?” she muttered under her breath, sliding her arm around his a little more. He was very warm, and she didn’t think she would be able to properly detach from him until she returned to her apartment again. Though the thought finally occurred to her that maybe Valerian wouldn’t be so thrilled about that.
“Umm, I’m not bothering you, am I?” Maribelle asked, looking up at him. “It’s just so cold, and this jacket isn’t really good for this kind of weather. I didn’t think it was gonna be so cold and wet today…”
Really, she was going to start checking the weather every day before work from now on so this sort of thing wouldn’t happen again. Though, truth be told, this was kind of nice...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 1:54:13 GMT
It wasn't necessarily bad that Maribelle was so close to him, Valerian just didn't know what to do. He was never much of a ladies man; most of the time he was too intimidating for women to come talk to him, and if they ever did get to know him the realized that he was probably the biggest dork in the world and eventually phased out of his life.
In other words, this was just a little awkward. Not bad, not good, just awkward, and Valerian didn't really know what to do other than just continue to walk forward, hold the umbrella steadily, and nod a little as Maribelle talked.
He held off on his nods when she finally asked if her actions were bothering him. They weren't, really, but he was feeling a bit uncomfortable. It was the strangest feeling and he didn't think he could properly describe it without sounding weird or nonsensical, so he simply lied and shook his head.
"Er, it's fine," he stammered. "I'm cold as well, so I apologize if I seem...stiff, or anything."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 2:47:09 GMT
Maribelle smiled up at him after he reassured her he wasn’t too uncomfortable with her clinging to him like this. She was thankful for that, because he was very warm and she didn’t want to let him go anytime soon. He was very warm, much warmer than she had anticipated, but she definitely wasn’t going to complain about that anytime soon. The warmth she was getting from him slowly began to spread through the rest of her body, and to be honest, she had to resist from just laying her head on his shoulder (he was at the perfect height for her to do that).
“Well, maybe we can warm each other up!” Maribelle suggested cheerfully, giving his arm a little squeeze. “Or, at least I can try. You’re kind of really tall and stuff, and I’m, well… not.” |  prima
donna
girl ♡ all i ever
wanted was
the world @valerian |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2014 7:30:17 GMT
He was really trying to be decent, he was. But Val couldn't deny that Marie was an attractive girl and he also couldn't deny that he was a pathetic virgin. When she mentioned warming each other up, his mind started to fall into the gutter, and though he tried his hardest not to, it just wasn't prevailing.
"Er, what exactly did you have in mind?" he asked nervously, wondering what exactly Marie's plans were. Maybe she just wanted a spot of tea for all he knew.
They continued to walk on through the storm, the rain coming down in lazy sheets as their shoes sloshed through the growing puddles. He was starting to feel even worse because her feet looked soaked, and his feet were quite dry in his boots. Still, he couldn't help that she didn't dress for the weather, even if he did feel a bit guilty.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2014 2:28:02 GMT
Maribelle didn’t realize the way that phrase sounded until after she said it, and she couldn’t help but blush a bit once she did. Sure, she wasn’t shy about sleeping with sleeping with a guy, but that didn’t mean she wanted to just bring it up like that like some sort of floozy. She didn’t want Val to get the wrong idea. And besides, when it came to Val, well… she didn’t really want that sort of relationship with him.
Not that she wanted a relationship with him. They had barely talked after all, and it was kind of silly to jump to that so quickly, right? Besides, Val didn’t seem all that interested in her anyway.
“Oh, um, well…” Maribelle tried to backpedal a bit. “When we get to my apartment, you can come in if you want to get out of the rain for a little bit,” She replied cheerfully, smiling up at him. | prima
donna
girl ♡ all i ever
wanted was
the world @valerian |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2014 2:58:00 GMT
His fears were put to a bit of rest when she reassured him that everything she had in mind was innocent. Or, at least that's what she said, and that's what he would keep it at. Sure, it would be nice to have some kind of intimate relationship with a woman but it's not like he was ready to hop into bed with some random girl that he barely knew. Besides, she was basically just using him as a way to get home without getting entirely soaked by the rain.
"That would be nice," he mused, walking along still. He hoped that it wouldn't be too much longer; an umbrella could only keep you so dry, after all. Even though he was pretty well protected due to his jacket and boots, he was cold, and being outside in the rain and gloom did nothing but remind him of England.
"Do you have any tea?" he ventured. If he was walking her home with his umbrella, he figured the lease she could do would be to make him a cup of tea. He could really use that right now. "Preferably Earl Grey."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2014 4:52:49 GMT
Maribelle couldn’t help but smirk a little at his reply. He was just so… British. Though really, his accent was cute (and if she was going to be even more honest, she thought he was just cute in general, even if he was a bit standoffish). She turned her head to the side and let out a little “hmmm,” trying to remember what kinds of tea she had at home. There might’ve been some Earl Grey she had received as a gift, but didn’t really find to her taste, buried in the back of her cabinet somewhere.
“Yeah, tea sounds good,” she replied, looking back up at him with another smile. “And I think I do have some, so as soon as we get back I can make it for you. It’s the least I could do.” She gave his arm a little squeeze. | prima
donna
girl ♡ all i ever
wanted was
the world @valerian |
maribelle van der berg |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2014 5:05:23 GMT
When she mentioned that yes, she was going to make some tea and that she probably did have Earl Grey, his spirits brightened a little. Maybe even a little smile was eked out of him, but he wasn't the type to just grin crazily like this girl was, apparently.
"Well, thank you," he said, trying not to enjoy this too much. As much as he enjoyed being alone, being with other humans was nice too, and this girl was nice enough. Plus she was pretty easy to look at in the first place, so it wasn't horrible to spend some time with her even if she was just using him for his umbrella.
They walked for a bit longer in near silence and he looked around. This part of town was different from what he was used to, so he hoped that maybe they would be getting closer so he could get out of the wet. Briefly he wondered what he was going to do when he was inside, getting her floor all wet, but he'd jump that hurdle when he got there.
"Are we almost there?" he asked, looking back down at her through his dark fringe, studying her a bit.
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