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Post by Willow Wenlock on Mar 3, 2010 10:47:56 GMT -5
It had been a few days since she'd seen Silver, and Willow couldn't help that she was still replaying some of those moments in her mind. The crack she’d made in the code, how they had kissed over the books, and then kissed in the hallway. Now she wondered how she hadn’t seen it coming, the last time they had been working together it had happened to.
As Willow sat back against the tree she had first kissed Silver under, the bark rough underneath her skin she couldn’t help a small smile. Spring had finally started to sprout underneath the cold, the first tendrils fighting to grab hold while winter still fought. Life was emerging beyond the wasteland of winter, and she couldn’t help but compare it to herself and Silver.
She hadn’t expected him, but out of history, past, and her own determinations to be grounded in books, she had found someone that fit there with her, encouraged her to grow beyond the winter where she had been staying. Each kiss like a tendril trying to lay root until they had decided that perhaps dating was the next logical step. But had it been logical, or rooted in something deeper, something more?
Willow couldn’t help grinning she had come out here to clear her head, to think about something other than her nerves and where Silver was. Her homework had helped distract until she had finished it all, and now she just wondered. Instead, here she was thinking about Silver again, even as she looked over the clear lake and imagined what it would look like in the summer, her thoughts still hovered around Silver.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 3, 2010 11:24:14 GMT -5
It was finally warm enough to spend some time outside, and Dare had jumped at the opportunity. He was still wrapped up in his coat, but the snow boots had been abandoned for canvas shoes, and gloves and hat were shoved into the bottom of his book bag.
He was working on a piece of pumpkin bread as he walked, heading for a sunny stretch of grass near the lake when he spotted a familiar head of silver hair beneath a nearby tree. He considered a moment, recalling the last time he'd talked with someone by the lake, but pushed the thought away. There was no guitar here to tempt him, so why shouldn't he have company? He altered his path.
"Hey, Willow," Dare called. He gave a brief wave, hoping he wasn't interrupting anything. "Heavy thoughts?"
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Post by Willow Wenlock on Mar 3, 2010 11:38:04 GMT -5
Despite thoughts that had been following her for a few days now, Willow was grateful for the interruption, anything to take her mind off of what she had been thinking about lately. Her head turned at her name, noting a tall boy with a fringe of colored hair in his face, and she couldn't help the blush that covered her face. Dare, Silver's brother.
Well if she hadn't been thinking about Silver before, she might have been now, she somehow doubted that Silver had told Dare. He'd left she had decided, the morning after their talk, right away, so he couldn't have told Dare right. She let her face curve into a smile as she waved back at him, "sometimes heavy thoughts are necessary," she noted his heavy coat, when she wasn't wearing anything but a soft thin cardigan, "they can keep you warm."
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 3, 2010 11:45:38 GMT -5
Dare didn't miss the direction of Willow's gaze, and his lips quirked into a self-deprecating smile. "Not warm enough," he said. "I can't wait for spring." And he couldn't understand how everyone was already walking around without jackets on; he'd wear his coat until it was uncomfortably warm before switching to a hoodie.
"Mind if I sit?" he asked as he approached. It was a courtesy, since he didn't expect her to turn him down. They'd had fun talking the last time, and she didn't look like she was trying to get work done now.
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Post by Willow Wenlock on Mar 3, 2010 11:56:16 GMT -5
Willow chuckled as she moved over a little bit, "please, sit. I could use a break." From her thoughts, not her work, no that she had compulsively done until she could do no more. "So, are you from someplace warm then? Cause this is pretty much the start of spring here." It was almost humorous watching people who had come from warmer climes try to adjust to a drizzly dreary England. But if you looked hard enough, then you could see the green coming, the promise of summer. "Summer is your best bet for warm."
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 3, 2010 12:05:28 GMT -5
"It wasn't warm enough til May last year," Dare said. "Spring's supposed to be warm." This was when the rain tapered off and things were supposed to wake up. "And yeah, Southern California. Walking distance from the beach." He realized he hadn't seen a beach since SWIM, since the edge of the lake didn't count. He still owed Michael a trip to some beach or another. He'd have to bring that up at home.
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Post by Willow Wenlock on Mar 3, 2010 12:09:57 GMT -5
"Welcome to Britain then," Willow said with a soft smile. "If you're lucky enough to see a beach here, it isn't the basking kind." Most beaches that were accessible to the general were ports, she supposed there were some swimming beaches, but it was so easy to take a jaunt to another European country for a nice beach. Southern California, Willow thought sounded, hot, not just warm.
Willow tucked her knees up against her chest and looked out over the water, "I can't imagine living someplace like Southern California." She gestured to her cardigan, "I wear this here, versus your coat. I can't imagine what I'd be wearing in California." It might equate to nothing more than underwear for all she knew, she'd be that hot.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 3, 2010 12:15:23 GMT -5
Dare's lips quirked, forming into a crooked smile. "Bikinis, all year round," he teased. He pulled the strap of his book bag off over his head and dropped it as he sat on the grass next to Willow, folding long legs up in front of him. "Seriously though, just regular clothes. Same clothes year round, with a hoodie in the winter, shorts in the summer." Some people had worn coats and gloves, but that was overboard, in his opinion.
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Post by Willow Wenlock on Mar 3, 2010 12:19:44 GMT -5
"Seriously? A hoodie?" Not that she had much room to talk, after a lifetime here, she'd only had to wear really heavvy coats this winter, during that peculiarly snowy bit. She shook her head, silvery strands flying about her face, "but then you have less to fill your wardrobe with. No hats or scarves, or," she trailed as she looked over at Dare, his hair perhaps making a bit more sense now.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 3, 2010 13:06:14 GMT -5
Dare shrugged about the hats and scarves. "We have them," he said. "Just not those massive things you wrap around your face to keep the snow out." Markise had told him about a hundred times that his scarf was going to be more decoration than warmth, and go figure, he'd been right.
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Post by Willow Wenlock on Mar 3, 2010 13:37:25 GMT -5
Willow couldn't help the laugh that came with that thought, imagining woolly beasts trudging through the snow. "You make us sound like Abominable Snow people." She shook her head again as she turned it to look at Dare. "Why did you move here then? Or was it just for the experience and then you met your partner?" It made sense that even with a father who was born here that if they lived farther away it would be temporary, and then they would go back eventually.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 3, 2010 13:55:14 GMT -5
Dare's smile faded and he lowered his head slightly, his fringe shifting further forward with the motion. "Our mom died," he said, "and I guess like, Dad thought he'd try to get in with his family again or something. His family's out here, so we moved." The experience had been hell, but yeah, he'd gotten Michael in the bargain. He couldn't regret that.
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Post by Willow Wenlock on Mar 3, 2010 13:59:37 GMT -5
Well, she hadn't been expecting that, Willow told herself. It didn't make sense, after the other night....Silver hadn't said anything. "Yeah, I get how that is. My dad died a couple years ago of cancer, right after I left for Beauxbatons." It had been part of the reason that she'd left. "Are you ever planning on going back to California?" At least there would have some good memories of their mother.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 3, 2010 14:09:31 GMT -5
Dare shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "I mean, I'd like to, but I don't think Michael would be into it. He's happy out here. I am, too." That last was true enough, but he'd had to tack it onto the end. He was happy here because he was with Michael. There was nothing to say that he wouldn't be happier on the beach again, but he figured he was doing better here than Michael would there. Michael resisted change whenever he could. "Maybe we'll take a vacation out there some day."
He pulled a deep breath and forced a smile, trying to push the thoughts away. They were more likely to vacation in Paris again, but no part of him could regret it or wish for something different, not after the honeymoon.
"Sorry to hear about your dad," he said, wanting to move on, but not at the risk of blowing off something that big. "It's hard, real hard."
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Post by Willow Wenlock on Mar 3, 2010 15:35:46 GMT -5
Willow turned her face out over the lake again, eyes awash with memories of him, "yeah. But I guess I'm glad some days that he's gone. It's better for him than it was those last days." She slid her hands down her pants, nervous energy needing to soothe and mend things. "And he'd tell me to change to subject to something more entertaining." She turned her head back to Dare, half a smile somewhat forced there, her dad had wanted a party when he'd died. Said it wasn't fun to think about him staying behind, if he wanted to do that he'd be a ghost. "Like, have you ever taken a day and gone down to Gloucestershire? Once a year they roll cheese down the hills there, although no one can remember why."
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