The Other Real World (open)

[Annabelle Hennessy]

OMG! Annabelle shivered at just the thoughts, but somehow managed not to squirm in her seat, or miraculously make any noises such as squeals of excitement or sighs of longing, all of which she felt. His words flowed like poetry and she was amazed that he could come up with such vivid imagery off the top of his head. She couldn't compete, so she didn't even try, but responded in the manor which she could. If I said yes, to it all, would you hold it against me, or worship the revelation?

[Indigo Noble]

Oh, wow. Indigo was a bit breathless and a little overwarm now. Damn. There was a definite difference between this and a message full of emoticons sprinkled with phrases like so sexxxi and hotr then gerard way. He blinked at the message and read it again, then stretched his fingers before settling them lightly back on the keys. He took a slow breath, then wrote his reply and hit send.

let lips worship as hands do. give me my sin again.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle smirked at the lines from Shakespeare. He didn't look like the type that would read tragic plays, but she was trying not to judge a book by it's cover. He also didn't look like the sort that would be able to make her wait with anticipation to hear his next words. Ah Romeo and Juliet, a quote-worthy couple indeed. So tell me, do you kiss by the book? She wasn't sure if he knew the play well enough that he'd catch the line she'd said as an altered version of the next spoken words. The movie had a great kissing scene in between, but she had no clue how that would be possible over the computer.

[Indigo Noble]

Romeo and Juliet? That was familiar to Indigo, but he neither knew the couple nor where he'd gotten his quote from. It sounded like she'd quoted back, so he Googled do you kiss by the book. Apparently it was from a play. He clicked the top link so he'd at least have a clue what was going on, since she thought he knew. Crap. Apparently Romeo didn't get another line in before they were interrupted. He went back to SparkNotes and tried again.

“You kiss by th’ book,” can be taken in two ways (1.5.107). First, it can be seen as emphasizing Juliet’s lack of experience. Many productions of Romeo and Juliet have Juliet say this line with a degree of wonder, so that the words mean “you are an incredible kisser, Romeo.” But it is possible to see a bit of wry observation in this line. Juliet’s comment that Romeo kisses by the book is akin to noting that he kisses as if he has learned how to kiss from a manual and followed those instructions exactly. In other words, he is proficient, but unoriginal (note that Romeo’s love for Rosaline is described in exactly these terms, as learned from reading books of romantic poetry). Juliet is clearly smitten with Romeo, but it is possible to see her as the more incisive of the two, and as nudging Romeo to a more genuine level of love through her observation of his tendency to get caught up in the forms of love rather than love itself.

Crap. So which one did she mean? She couldn't be saying he was a good kisser, since he hadn't even pretended to kiss her, so she either meant that she wasn't experienced, which she'd already told him, or that he was unoriginal. A slight frown formed on his lips.

How boring would that be? Indigo typed, then sat and stared at his message. She'd thrown him for a loop, and he just hoped his response was appropriate to whatever she'd said.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle thought about what he'd just said, or rather typed, before being able to put it in context. She'd seen the plays with Juliet swooning as she'd said the line, and had been thinking of it like kissing perfectly. With his reply, she analyzed the line again and could see how he could interpret it differently, as in a rulebook. Her mind wandered at the idea of an actual book, and she recalled the time she'd sat in this very shop looking at books on a somewhat similar topic. A few of those books were anything but boring, and had left her astounded with their contents.

Normally she'd never admit to even looking at such books, but their conversation was so abstract and hypothetical that she didn't think mention of the existence of such books would be reprehensible. Well, I guess that would depend on which book you are following.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo's slight smile returned. What books are you reading? he typed, then quickly backspaced. Any you'd recommend? He sat and stared at that one for a moment, debating whether or not to send it. They'd been playing a while now, and with a glance up at the latest picture of her, he hit backspace, replacing the words with a response he hoped he wouldn't regret.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Somewhere in her brain that was failing her, Annabelle knew that it was just an icon, on a computer. But she couldn't help the feeling of excitement along with the giddy irrational thought, OMG! He gave me a kiss!! She let her eyes dart in his direction again, and caught the curve of his lips from beneath his fringe. Her eyes lingered on them long enough that she wondered what they would feel like.

It took considerable effort for Anna to remember that she was in the middle of a conversation, of sorts, and pull her attention back to the little picture in the box. She chastised herself for conjuring up daydreams of a silly crush on a boy that she'd just met, had no chance with anyways, and all over a animated smiley face. She pondered what she could possibly send in response before finally settling on her first thought. Tease.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo's breathing hitched at the response. His usual response, Come here and I'll do it better wasn't going to work, not even remotely, and there was no way he was typing it. He hadn't entirely forgotten that she was actually in the room with him, even if he hadn't thought about it in some time, so what was he supposed to do? He'd written himself into a corner, and his first thought, getting off his ass and kissing her, was impossible. No way. If he stood up, she'd probably tell him she'd been kidding and throw him out into the snow, which he'd also forgotten about until now.

Is that a challenge, my padawan? he wrote at last. It was a bluff, a major bluff, and he didn't think he could do anything if she said yes. He hoped she'd give him a set-down and he could retreat.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna's first response was to gracefully try to back down, if there was such a way without showing how big of a chicken she was. I usually don't snog on the first date..... But luckily she thought about it before sending such a lie; Chase, Michael, they'd both kissed her upon the first time meeting them. Hitting the backspace until the line was empty, Annabelle couldn't believe her history with guys was that....forward.

She knew she was curious and impulsive at times, but she'd usually been shy around guys and would have never thought of herself in such a way. Upon further inspection, she realized two guys in the years she'd attended was nothing, even if that first kiss with both of them happened within weeks of each other. There had been others that she'd found herself attracted to, that she'd entertained the possibility of dating, but nothing had come of those interests.

She stopped her internal assessment of her interactions with previous guys long enough to remember the one sitting so close, yet what seemed miles away through cyberspace. She wished she knew more about him, if he really was the ladies man he'd make him out to be, or if there was more to him than that. She didn't want to admit to wanting more than flirting, just to have him laugh and turn her down. Worse, she didn't want to snog him, only to have him disappear tomorrow and never hear from him again. She typed a pathetic cop-out that didn't say anything one way or the other,and didn't give herself time to rethink before sending it. Forgive me, I should never dare to challenge the Master.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo's heart sank, despite the fact that he'd gotten exactly what he'd hoped for. Don't lie to yourself, he thought. He might have wanted her to turn him down, but his secret hope, one he was sure any guy would have had if they were lame enough not to even want to try kissing her, was that she'd have set aside her laptop and...

He pulled a slow, deep breath, chastising himself for the thought. He wasn't locked in a bathroom somewhere, he was in the room with her.

You'll learn, young padawan. He hit send before he could over-think more than he already had.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle tilted her head as she stared at the words, not sure if they were a put down or a promise to continue this exchange. She decided to go with the later, or else the conversation was at an end and she knew she didn't want that. Yes, she had reservations about him, as well as the game they were playing, but she didn't want to screw up any chance she might have. She wished she could just make up her mind if she should be encouraging him or protecting herself from a pending rejection. Forcing herself to stop being so negative, she opted to continue as they had been and didn't think about just how forward her message might sound.

As a Ravenclaw, I am always very attentive to my studies.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo's body tightened at the thoughts her new response conjured up. There were so many layers of flirtation there, and he almost felt out of his league. Almost. He reminded himself that he was the master, that when he was in front of his laptop, he was second to none. His lips curved again, and he flexed his fingers, then typed up his own response. He reread it as he reached blindly for another handful of chips.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

While waiting for his response, Anna couldn't sit idly and just let the seconds tick by. She reopened her twitter and began sorting through the comments to her last update. They ranged from encouraging her to flirt with abandon, to warning her of the dangers of strangers in storms when no one could come to her rescue. She took the last time with a grain of salt; Indigo didn't seem to fit the profile of that type of stranger. She had scanned the first few entries and was in the middle of reading one from an avid poster when she reached out to snag a few more snacks from the bowl. She'd just curled her fingers around a handful of crisps when she felt a hand on top of hers, catching her completely off guard.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo's heart stopped and his head jerked up reflexively, leaving him with an eyeful of someone he'd been gazing a bit too intently at on-screen. It could have been a moment, but felt like minutes before he thought to pull his hand back, a flush creeping up his neck and into his face, blue-grey eyes dropping, as he murmured a low sorry. His hand, still burning, sought out the touchpad on his laptop and made quick work of closing her picture, as though by seeing him, she'd know what he'd been looking at.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle had frozen as well, initially out of shock, but then curiosity. She thought perhaps his touch had been an intentional move on his part, acting on the words they'd been typing. She searched the face that was momentarily not concealed by his dark hair and instantly knew he was just as surprised as herself. Before she could even think to react, Indigo had drawn away and she was forced to admit a sense of disappointment. Their exchange over the computer had left her nerves strung tight, expecting. Her gaze remained locked on him a moment longer before she caught the color coloring his flesh that she was all too familiar with.

Annabelle had a hard time processing this new information. She was the one that was always flushed and embarrassed; guys she'd been around usually didn't have that problem. She slowly pulled her hand back, the snack forgotten as she pondered what she should do. She should have responded to his apology, assuming that was what the muttered words were, but she'd been caught up in processing the cause of his blush. She glanced at her computer screen thinking he might have responded and was waiting on her, only to find that her words were the last sent. She racked her brain for something to say to break the ice that was easily consuming them and typed up the words that she couldn't get herself to say out loud.

If you wanted to hold my hand all you had to do was ask.