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Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 18, 2010 18:48:23 GMT -5
As Will's arm went around her shoulder, she swallowed hard. He was making it ever so hard for her to keep it together. She wanted to say something about not meaning to steal his thunder with that story. In situations like that, it wasn't right to one-up yourself on someone's life, but she'd so desperate to tell someone for years now, and it had come out.
She buried her head in his shoulder, "I'm sorry," she said, unable to say anything more than that for the moment.
"Thank you for listening. And for not passing judgement." That had been one thing she had feared all these years, that people were going to judge her for what her brothers had done, like she'd chosen to let it happen.
Gently, she nudged him back down onto the bed, with the weight of her body, keeping her head where it was. "What was Anne like?" she asked, wanting to take her mind off herself.
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Post by togger on Jun 18, 2010 18:58:29 GMT -5
Will was silent, only nodding when she thanked him. He was a bit surprised that she wanted to lay back, but complied anyhow. She needed support. This was the right thing to do, he was sure of it. He heard her question, smiling as she said it. Anne was the only woman who he could ever think of consistently that would make him smile.
"Caring. Considerate. Best mother in the world, hands down. She taught me everything. She was also a bugger when it came to behavior. I picked my nose in church once and she rebuked me hard. Of course, the pastor wasn't very good and I had seen him coming out of one of the local nightclubs with three women, but Anne didn't care. She told me to respect others, even if they weren't perfect. It's hard to respect the nincompoops running around these days, but I try...and I need to...ok, I need to improve on that. She also made great mincemeat pies. Wonderful taste, not the artificial nonsense that they feed people now." He looked over at Annabelle, saying:
"You turned out great, you know. Even through all that nonsense. You should be proud of yourself." He drew her a little closer with his right arm so that she could lay her head on his chest, all the while making sure that his thoughts and impulses were under control. He would not allow himself to think about what any man would be thinking about in this situation.
He was better than that.
And he knew it.
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Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 18, 2010 19:10:12 GMT -5
"She sounds amazing," she said, and she meant it. She would have given a lot to have a mother who supported her like that, even if she told her off for picking her nose in church or something. Not that she'd pick her nose anyway, gross.
Anna sniffled as he spoke, "if you don't stop, you're going to get very wet," she said, rubbing her eyes with her hand, before placing it on Will's chest.
"You know," she said, blinking a little, "you're really not that bad yourself." She paused, "brilliant really." So what if he was rough around the edges? Right now, he was being the best person that Anna could have ever asked for, and he knew he was.
She fell quiet, listening to the sound of his heart beating steadily in his chest. She didn't want to make any sort of move, it would seem desperate in this situation, and that was not how she wanted to seem. And if he was a true gentleman, he would refuse her anyway while she was in this sort of state.
"Your heart is so strong," she commented, smiling slightly.
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Post by togger on Jun 19, 2010 21:31:10 GMT -5
Will laughed, responding:
"Of course it is. This is me you're talking to, right? Have to have a strong heart to put up with the garbage we see." He stared up at the ceiling of the room, not actually having any words to say...again. For once in his life, he wanted to enjoy silence, he wanted to enjoy company that he actually could associate with. It was probably a few minutes before he asked:
"Where in the world are the others? I couldn't believe that Luke or Oliver or even that Asian woman..Mei? Why weren't they on the cruise with us? In fact, where's the Venia?"
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Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 20, 2010 4:07:45 GMT -5
Anna chuckled softly before falling silent. Having a strong heart could also mean that it hurt so much more seeing all the things that they saw.
"I don't know," she said, frowning a little, feeling his shirt crumpled slightly against her face as she did so, "maybe they were in the ballroom and got knocked out in the confusion. Or were helping with the people injured. Trying to get them off the ship?" She was coming up with all sorts of excuses for them. "At least no one died." They both came close to being killed, but no one died.
As for the Venia... he was right, she didn't see it in the hangar bay. "I..." she didn't have an answer for that one. "They couldn't have left without us." That would be ridiculous. Surely someone would have said something, like Jack or Idina.
She sighed, "we'll figure out everything when we're ready," she said. She wanted this chance to relax. As she had wanted that on the Oceanic, and look what had happened. "What do you want to do?" she asked. To be honest, she felt like she could sleep there for a while.
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Post by togger on Jun 20, 2010 14:29:12 GMT -5
Will was bothered a bit by the absence of the crew...especially because none of them knew how to service the ship. The officers below him knew some things, but a lot of the programming required more of a sharp mind than those kids could ever have. It just didn't feel...right to be abandoned. He then heard Annabelle's question, which prompted his response:
"I was going to get a massage by this bed. You can join me if you wish." That's when the communicator in his ear drum notified him that someone was trying to reach him through his comm.
"Now who in the world..." He brought his free hand to his right ear and tapped once.
"William Blake?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"This is Alliance General Richard Corver. How's your leg?"
"Better thank you. The Alliance knows how to patch their own up, although your machinery could use a little work." There was a momentary silence before Corver said in a slightly frustrated tone:
"I will need you and McAdams at a briefing tomorrow morning at 0800. There are new developments that you and your crew need to see." Will would have rolled his eyes at an Alliance summons, but this time it was different: this affected the human race.
"Were you able to get into contact with your crew, Blake?"
"No. We don't know where they are."
"I'll see if I can find them. Corver out." Will looked over at Annabelle, saying:
"Tomorrow morning we have a meeting about those developments with the rifts." He was silent for a moment before he mentally requested the bed to massage him.
"Join me?"
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Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 20, 2010 14:49:50 GMT -5
Anna smirked lightly when he said she could join him in having the bed massage them. "I would..." and that was as far as she got before Will started talking to someone else. There'd barely had an hour to rest before the government was catching up with them. That wasn't enough rest, not by a long shot.
She made an 'ugh' sound when he said about the briefing, "better make these next several hours count," she said. Letting out a sigh, she said, "I would love to join you," before shuffling over a little so she could feel the full affect of the massage bed.
God, the massage felt good. She'd never had one before, given by a person, or a bed, but this was... "mmmmm," she murmured, "I see why you demanded the massage bed."
Looking over at him, she pursed her lips. This was slightly surreal, considering the start they'd had. Going from using their words like freshly sharpened swords to lying on a massage bed together. Huh, funny how things turned out.
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Post by togger on Jun 20, 2010 15:02:01 GMT -5
Will was completely silent except for an occasional murmur that was along the lines of "Finally, a machine that works like it's supposed to." He had closed his eyes about five minutes into the massage and a few minutes later, the engineer was fast asleep.
"Never!" Jessica threw an empty cigarette pack at Will's head to emphasize her point. He had asked for two pounds to get a drink and she had flipped out on him...as usual. They hadn't been at the orphanage for more than two days and she was already on a drug trip. Will hid behind his bed, gritting his teeth at the stupid woman that stood in front of him. Why was she so stupid? All he wanted was a drink! Jessica then proceeded to storm out of the room, muttering something about a man on Bridge street.
"William? Get out from over there child! Why are you hiding like a scared nanny-goat?" Anne walked into the room with a concerned frown on her face.
"She...she was acting crazy again." Anne's facial expression softened, motioning for Will to come near.
"Child, you don't worry about her. Now come on, I have some things for you to do, like take apart that rubber band launcher you made. I tell you, children these days have som..."
He awoke, sitting up quickly. How long had he been out?!
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Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 20, 2010 15:16:26 GMT -5
Will wasn't the only one who was fast asleep, Anna had dropped flat out a few moments after him, and her dream definitely wasn't about her past.
She woke with a start when Will sat up, her head hitting the bed with a thud as she fell backwards. "Ow," she moaned, before her eyes went wide. Holy mother... she had not just dreamed that... about Will... and... If she were alone right now, she would have screamed into a pillow or something. That was so embarrassing. What if she'd spoken in her sleep? Maybe he wouldn't have heard her, after all, he'd been asleep too.
"What time is it?" she asked, trying not to let her voice sound strangled, and failing. She hoped it would sound like she was groggy or something. "Will?" Lifting her head up, she looked round at him, "you okay?"
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Post by togger on Jun 20, 2010 15:43:43 GMT -5
"Fine." Will looked at her and smirked, saying:
"You look like a mess. I thought tactical officers were supposed to be ready at all times for battle. If only your general could see you now." He looked straight ahead, the wall responding with a soft, feminine voice that said:
"It is now twelve twenty seven am. Would you like a sampling of culinary..."
"No thank you darling."
"Very well, sir. Please link up with my system in order to satisfy any of your requests." Will looked back down at Annabelle. Even though she was a mess, she still looked oh so beautiful. He was proud of himself for controlling his hormonal reactions, which had been off the charts when he looked at her just a few seconds ago. He rubbed his eyes for a moment before saying:
"You can go back to your room if you want. Don't have to spend all your time with me."
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Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 20, 2010 15:54:08 GMT -5
Annabelle snorted with indginance, "not even the best officers can prevent bed hair," she said, flattening her hair, trying to calm herself down and force the butterflies in her stomach to stop. "And if my general was here now I'd wonder what sort of sick pervert he was." She coughed, clearing her throat. That hostility hadn't meant to come out, she was just flustered.
She flattened her hair out before looking back at him, "I don't want to waste this time here," she said, "for all we know they could be planting us back on the ship for the forseeable future after the briefing tomorrow." That was a high possibility, even if Will had to take it easy on his leg. Also, once they'd been to the briefing, who could guarantee that both of them wouldn't want to just be back on the ship, getting back to work, because they needed to.
"I'm going to go take a walk out by the lake." The fresh air would help to clear her head, maybe she could even paddle her feet in the water. She shuffled forward and off the bed, going to retrieve her shoes from the other room, leaving the door open between the words, "then you can be alone if you want..."
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Post by togger on Jun 20, 2010 16:04:39 GMT -5
Alone? He had been alone all his life. And this woman was quite possibly one of the best people he had ever met. No chance.
"Oh don't pull that. I'm coming with you." He got up, testing his leg to make sure that it was working properly. There was a minute throbbing in the kneecap, but other than that, the graft had gone well. Fantastic news.
"Women..." He said in a sarcastic tone, now waiting for Annabelle to join him. Another thought came into his mind: what had happened to the terrorist cell that had hijacked the ship? Was that woman still alive? He'd bring it up in the briefing.
"Coming, darling?"
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Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 20, 2010 16:11:52 GMT -5
Anna grinned as she slipped her shoes on, just what she'd been hoping he'd say. "Yes, dear," she replied, running her fingers through her hair quickly, before coming back through to his room, closing the door behind her. For the last 24 hours or so, she'd mostly seen him sitting down or lying down, so having him taller than her again was weird. Nice though. She was way too tall for her liking.
"Your leg isn't going to give out on you, right?" she said, opening the door, gesturing for him to go through, "ladies first," she smirked.
It didn't take them long to get out of the hotel and down round the back to the lake. The two moons that the planet had were reflecting light from the Sun onto the water, brightening up the area so they could see. It was a clear, cool night, a breeze blowing. She should have brought a jacket.
She was going to ask what he'd dreamed about, but that left him open to ask her, and she didn't want to admit anything. "Did you ever consider anything else, other than being an engineer?"
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Post by togger on Jun 20, 2010 16:22:47 GMT -5
Will cocked his head at her remark about ladies first, laughing slightly as he said:
"Touche."
It was a gorgeous evening and to Will's surprise, there were actually a few joggers out. A credit to New Earth's police system, which had threat sensor units lining basically every square mile of the entire city. Crime really had never been a problem here, but once the sensor units got placed, it became essentially non-existent. Will had been looking around at the surroundings before he turned to Annabelle, answering the question:
"A politician. Not one of those free loading morons that have polished teeth and even more polished bribes, but someone who knew what was right and wrong and acted on that knowledge. Too few people today don't know what right and wrong is." He offered her his arm as a manner of courtesy(Anne had taught him that as well), but also as a way of expressing his growing interest and feelings for her.
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Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 20, 2010 16:32:33 GMT -5
Anna looked across at him, and saw he was offering his arm to her again. She smiled as she took it, wandering a little. "Hmm, I can and I can't picture you as a politician," she said, "you have the presence and command of one, but..." she pulled a face, "I don't know, I can't see you rubbing noses with that lot without sitting in the back of the room and gagging every time one of them opened their mouth." As determined as he was, one politician couldn't change the rest, or how government worked entirely. They could strive to make it better, but she imagined it was just end up being frustrating.
Living on Earth, and seeing all the different cities, it was hard to believe places like this still existed sometimes. It was like the human race had been determined to ruin nature completely. And they mostly had on their own planet. If it weren't for all the carbon free technology, and carbon dioxide converters, their planet would probably be a barren wasteland.
"You know, when we first met, I wouldn't have ever imagined we'd be here now."
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