[If Hazel's still trying to figure out where they're headed, she's doing a good job at disguising the fact with playful banter. To which Josuke is morally obligated to respond to teasingly...]
You trying to say you won't come visit?
[Untangling his hand from hers so he can brush her hand away from his leg, Josuke turns his face away from her and crosses his arms. Despite being thoroughly amused, he is outwardly the very picture of a sulking teenager.]
And here I thought we had something special.
no that can't possibly have anything to do with it
You should've known better to expect something like that from the girl who caps her friendships at three people max.
[which means that once again this is all Josuke's fault. she knows that he's just playing along with that petulance, which means that Hazel doesn't need to take it seriously.
if he's not going to look at her and pretend sulk, she might as well get some sort of use out of his dumb ass in the meantime; with a nonchalant shrug at the loss of the handholding she just leans more heavily against him, substituting Josuke for the less comfortable window.]
Besides, who in their right mind would fucking let me in at all? I'd probably try to bust you out and ruin all their work on wild rehabilitation or whatever.
[although envisioning that is making it hard to keep up the facetious disinterest. something about replacing Josuke with Free Willy is just fucking hilarious.]
[...Josuke doesn't mind being a substitute for the window, really. In fact, he quite likes it when Hazel leans her meager weight against him, squishing against his side. Might make it a bit hard for him to keep pretending to be sulking, but with his girlfriend saying such sweetly heroic and endearing things to him, why would he want to?
Laughing as he uncrosses his arms and throws one around her shoulders, Josuke beams down at Hazel.]
You'd really come to my rescue, huh?
[If he had any idea she was envisioning him in the place of Free Willy, that half hug would become a headlock so fast...]
How'd I get so lucky?
[Their stop's not far off now, and before long Josuke's leaning into Hazel to reach for the cord. He gives it a quick pull, hears a little ding, and then shuffles to the edge of his seat, pulling Hazel along with him.]
There's about a five or ten minute walk once we get off the bus, but that's it. You ready?
[this is barely intelligible with how aggressively Hazel's mumbling, exacerbated by the fact she's staring very intently at her lap. it's a pleased sort of embarrassment, though, and when she finally glances up to meet his gaze there's a tiny smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.
she'll tell him about his stellar performance as the orca's replacement later, she thinks. right now it's nicer to let him think her intentions were pure and just enjoy the closeness in companionable silence.
it's a testament to how much she's already enjoying herself that she allows Josuke to tug her along without complaint; Hazel doesn't even do something shitty like go limp or dig her heels in just to be a pain in the ass, although it certainly doesn't keep her mouth from running again.]
I'll try and keep myself from falling apart after all that exercise.
Edited (I FORGOT MY STUPID HEADER AND DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE UNTIL LIKE THREE TAGS LATER) 2015-11-23 18:10 (UTC)
[As if digging her heels in or going limp like a rag doll would help her. By now, Josuke's gotten used to her rebelling in those ways and knows enough to just throw her over his shoulder if that's what it comes to. She's light enough that it'll be easy, and short enough that her fists and toes won't be able to kick at places too sensitive. And if she somehow managed to get close? He could always just princess carry her and watch her clam up from embarrassment.
Fortunately, such tactics aren't required right now! They're able to hop off the bus without too much difficulty, though Josuke doesn't exactly let go of Hazel when their feet touch country road. He's enjoying the closeness. More so now that it's just the two of them, even if that's temporary.]
Alright, I could cover your eyes until we get there, but that'd be a pain in the ass and I'm sure you'd find some way to peek anyway, so...
[He tilts his head so he can glance down at her.]
...where we're headed, it's a little ranch. They take people horseback riding along the trails, and a couple times a week they do evening runs. Thought it might be nice.
[if Josuke's quick enough, he'll notice Hazel's hand slithering back from where it had been holding onto the edge of his shirt previously. ostensibly it was to keep a bus patron from blundering in between them, but considering the fact that she'd held on until it was clear he wasn't letting go of her rather than as soon as they'd gotten off...
well, maybe he wasn't the only one enjoying the closeness.
she meets his gaze easily, that playfully quirked eyebrow quickly turning into something more bemused as Josuke finally just spells out the end goal. whatever she was expecting, it wasn't that.]
What, really?
[there's a part of her that wants to ask if he was aware she was making a joke with that wildlife rescue shit, but most of Hazel's expression right now is just honest surprise. it's such a thoughtful and nice thing to do that of course she has trouble wrapping her mind around it being for her. some things never change.]
[Surprise is nice. Really nice, if Josuke's honest. Hazel's the kind of person who's rather unpredictable herself, so being able to spring things on her that she doesn't see coming...that's kind of great. Especially if they're things he's sure she'll like, and she sure doesn't seem to hate this idea!]
Yup, really. Can't say I've ever really ridden a horse before, but how hard can it be? I mean, my great gramps can probably ride one like nobody's business and I take after him in some ways already, so I'm probably a natural.
[HAAAHAHAHAHAHA...no, he's not. He's sure gonna wish he was, though. Especially once she gets a good laugh in over how ridiculous he'll be on horseback. So much for being suave.]
[maybe he finds it nice, but to Hazel it's just an embarrassing display of vulnerability. her head snaps back to look forward again in short order, although her tone remains light and cheerful. she's tentatively going to let him know that she's actually kind of excited about this.]
You better hope so, because the last time I rode a horse was the fucking sixth grade and that was the trip that ended with an ambulance. No way I'm gonna be helping anyone if they've got problems today.
[an ambulance call that had nothing to do with the horses, actually, but that doesn't sound as funny in the joke. she's sure if Josuke actually cares enough for the details he'll nudge her for them anyway.]
[He has to ask, okay? Because it's not like he can heal her or himself, so knowing what he's getting himself into (never mind that it was his idea to begin with) might actually be helpful here.
As the sign for the ranch comes into view, Josuke asks...]
Was it you or somebody else that got hurt? Why'd an ambulance need to get called?
Oh my god, you look like you're going to shit a brick. Relax! I wasn't fucking jousting behind anyone's back or whatever.
[she is tempted, really and sorely, to just leave it at that and let the anecdote spiral into terrible vagueness just to drive Josuke crazy for the rest of the day. but Hazel actually wants to have a nice time, so she relents. not that anyone will know how nice she's being since this was an internal struggle!]
The girl who took us all up there for her birthday said that there was no way anyone could jump off the hayloft and stick the landing.
[a pause and a shrug, completely nonchalant. if anyone ever needed confirmation that Hazel was stupidly contrary even before death...]
Turns out after a certain height hay kind of sucks in breaking your fall? But it was totally worth breaking my leg, I was standing up even after they called 911.
[Josuke stares at her a moment before looking her up and down. And up again. Sure, she could put herself back together again now, a break like that'd be nothing, but he still feels obligated to say...]
I feel like I shoulda brought a tether or something to keep you away from the lofts.
What, you think I couldn't do it again? Because I could totally do it again.
[this is absolutely not the point and Hazel knows it - she's just distorting it on purpose to get a rise out of him. as to what she was thinking? probably something along the lines of BULLSHIT NOBODY CAN DO IT STEP ASIDE LOSERS, knowing her.]
Um, no? [He's totally not thinking that, please don't do anything stupid, Hazel! There's no need to be frightening the horses or their owners when you have to pick your body parts out of the haystack you come apart in!] I mean, I believe you could, but uh...
[He scrubs at the back of his head as they turn onto the long gravely driveway leading toward the ranch. There's already a few people up ahead getting out of cars, but it looks like an intimate gathering in terms of size. Not too few, but not too many people, either. Great for them and talking...preferably about things other than Hazel risking her neck performing deadly acrobatics!
Things like...]
...hey, in just a few days it's gonna be a month. Since, y'know. We first kissed at your place.
[the horses would probably love something to break up the mediocrity of their daily lives, what the hell do you know.
she's all ready to press on his hesitant denial in the name of self-serving fun, but then he goes and says that and suddenly Hazel is really interested in memorizing every detail of the ranch in front of them. wow, so interesting. horses.]
I didn't think you were keeping track of that.
[didn't think it was worth keeping track of, a follow-up comment that she keeps to herself because she knows it'll bug him. and maybe rightly so, since she'd arrived at that conclusion mostly due to the fact that she had that date firmly stored away in her mind.
a little wary that he might be able to sense the unsaid anyway, and wanting to bring this away from Josuke's next reply making her feel even more, she adds a jaunty little quip right after that.]
Or did Nysrog remind you?
[you know, the eldritch horror painting that knows their every romantic fumble.]
[Horses. People. Fences. More horses. More people. Oh yeah, trees and trails, too. So interesting. Fascinating. Wow.
...nice try, Hazel. He knows you're deliberately not looking at him!]
Nysrog? [Josuke huffs and shakes his head.] No way!
I thought it was worth remembering, and...
[Don't girls like it when guys remember that sort of stuff? So why does she seem to wanna avoid talking about it? Or to make light of the topic, at least? Not that it's serious stuff, but...well, it is kind of important. That they've lasted a month already, thereabouts. He's kinda proud of that fact.
But what if she's not? Maybe she's realizing that she's wasted a month with him? ...but that's not really like her. Oh no, what if she's thinking she's wasted his time?!
Josuke watches her...and then leans down to kiss her cheek.]
Anyway, I don't like forgetting anything we do together, especially stuff like that. Because, you know, I like doing stuff with you. And I really like doing that stuff.
[the kiss is unexpected, and it prevents her from ducking her head the way she wants to because Hazel likes the feeling of his lips on her and doesn't want to do anything that might disrupt even the afterimage.
that's mortifying enough, but it also means that Josuke gets a clear view of the way she bites her lower lip in place of the blushing she can no longer do. he keeps talking and she worries that lip even more because god she could probably die a second time right now. but...in a good way, for once. really good.]
Yeah, well, no accounting for taste.
[and she's going to leave it at that, except that despite her best efforts she's feeling an awful lot and for once wants to share a bit of it. Hazel's gaze remains on anything but Josuke, and her voice is so soft it could easily be swept away in the ambient noise of the environment, but it still manages to make it past her mouth. that's an accomplishment in and of itself.]
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deadtective) wrote2015-01-08 01:21 am
i kinda keep giving you stuff to tag tho
You trying to say you won't come visit?
[Untangling his hand from hers so he can brush her hand away from his leg, Josuke turns his face away from her and crosses his arms. Despite being thoroughly amused, he is outwardly the very picture of a sulking teenager.]
And here I thought we had something special.
no that can't possibly have anything to do with it
[which means that once again this is all Josuke's fault. she knows that he's just playing along with that petulance, which means that Hazel doesn't need to take it seriously.
if he's not going to look at her and pretend sulk, she might as well get some sort of use out of his dumb ass in the meantime; with a nonchalant shrug at the loss of the handholding she just leans more heavily against him, substituting Josuke for the less comfortable window.]
Besides, who in their right mind would fucking let me in at all? I'd probably try to bust you out and ruin all their work on wild rehabilitation or whatever.
[although envisioning that is making it hard to keep up the facetious disinterest. something about replacing Josuke with Free Willy is just fucking hilarious.]
well if you wanna take all the blame.....!
Laughing as he uncrosses his arms and throws one around her shoulders, Josuke beams down at Hazel.]
You'd really come to my rescue, huh?
[If he had any idea she was envisioning him in the place of Free Willy, that half hug would become a headlock so fast...]
How'd I get so lucky?
[Their stop's not far off now, and before long Josuke's leaning into Hazel to reach for the cord. He gives it a quick pull, hears a little ding, and then shuffles to the edge of his seat, pulling Hazel along with him.]
There's about a five or ten minute walk once we get off the bus, but that's it. You ready?
[MUFFLED BABY COME BACK IN THE DISTANCE]
[this is barely intelligible with how aggressively Hazel's mumbling, exacerbated by the fact she's staring very intently at her lap. it's a pleased sort of embarrassment, though, and when she finally glances up to meet his gaze there's a tiny smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.
she'll tell him about his stellar performance as the orca's replacement later, she thinks. right now it's nicer to let him think her intentions were pure and just enjoy the closeness in companionable silence.
it's a testament to how much she's already enjoying herself that she allows Josuke to tug her along without complaint; Hazel doesn't even do something shitty like go limp or dig her heels in just to be a pain in the ass, although it certainly doesn't keep her mouth from running again.]
I'll try and keep myself from falling apart after all that exercise.
no subject
Fortunately, such tactics aren't required right now! They're able to hop off the bus without too much difficulty, though Josuke doesn't exactly let go of Hazel when their feet touch country road. He's enjoying the closeness. More so now that it's just the two of them, even if that's temporary.]
Alright, I could cover your eyes until we get there, but that'd be a pain in the ass and I'm sure you'd find some way to peek anyway, so...
[He tilts his head so he can glance down at her.]
...where we're headed, it's a little ranch. They take people horseback riding along the trails, and a couple times a week they do evening runs. Thought it might be nice.
no subject
well, maybe he wasn't the only one enjoying the closeness.
she meets his gaze easily, that playfully quirked eyebrow quickly turning into something more bemused as Josuke finally just spells out the end goal. whatever she was expecting, it wasn't that.]
What, really?
[there's a part of her that wants to ask if he was aware she was making a joke with that wildlife rescue shit, but most of Hazel's expression right now is just honest surprise. it's such a thoughtful and nice thing to do that of course she has trouble wrapping her mind around it being for her. some things never change.]
no subject
Yup, really. Can't say I've ever really ridden a horse before, but how hard can it be? I mean, my great gramps can probably ride one like nobody's business and I take after him in some ways already, so I'm probably a natural.
[HAAAHAHAHAHAHA...no, he's not. He's sure gonna wish he was, though. Especially once she gets a good laugh in over how ridiculous he'll be on horseback. So much for being suave.]
no subject
You better hope so, because the last time I rode a horse was the fucking sixth grade and that was the trip that ended with an ambulance. No way I'm gonna be helping anyone if they've got problems today.
[an ambulance call that had nothing to do with the horses, actually, but that doesn't sound as funny in the joke. she's sure if Josuke actually cares enough for the details he'll nudge her for them anyway.]
no subject
[He has to ask, okay? Because it's not like he can heal her or himself, so knowing what he's getting himself into (never mind that it was his idea to begin with) might actually be helpful here.
As the sign for the ranch comes into view, Josuke asks...]
Was it you or somebody else that got hurt? Why'd an ambulance need to get called?
no subject
[she is tempted, really and sorely, to just leave it at that and let the anecdote spiral into terrible vagueness just to drive Josuke crazy for the rest of the day. but Hazel actually wants to have a nice time, so she relents. not that anyone will know how nice she's being since this was an internal struggle!]
The girl who took us all up there for her birthday said that there was no way anyone could jump off the hayloft and stick the landing.
[a pause and a shrug, completely nonchalant. if anyone ever needed confirmation that Hazel was stupidly contrary even before death...]
Turns out after a certain height hay kind of sucks in breaking your fall? But it was totally worth breaking my leg, I was standing up even after they called 911.
[IT WAS A MORAL VICTORY]
no subject
[Josuke stares at her a moment before looking her up and down. And up again. Sure, she could put herself back together again now, a break like that'd be nothing, but he still feels obligated to say...]
I feel like I shoulda brought a tether or something to keep you away from the lofts.
no subject
[this is absolutely not the point and Hazel knows it - she's just distorting it on purpose to get a rise out of him. as to what she was thinking? probably something along the lines of BULLSHIT NOBODY CAN DO IT STEP ASIDE LOSERS, knowing her.]
no subject
[He scrubs at the back of his head as they turn onto the long gravely driveway leading toward the ranch. There's already a few people up ahead getting out of cars, but it looks like an intimate gathering in terms of size. Not too few, but not too many people, either. Great for them and talking...preferably about things other than Hazel risking her neck performing deadly acrobatics!
Things like...]
...hey, in just a few days it's gonna be a month. Since, y'know. We first kissed at your place.
no subject
she's all ready to press on his hesitant denial in the name of self-serving fun, but then he goes and says that and suddenly Hazel is really interested in memorizing every detail of the ranch in front of them. wow, so interesting. horses.]
I didn't think you were keeping track of that.
[didn't think it was worth keeping track of, a follow-up comment that she keeps to herself because she knows it'll bug him. and maybe rightly so, since she'd arrived at that conclusion mostly due to the fact that she had that date firmly stored away in her mind.
a little wary that he might be able to sense the unsaid anyway, and wanting to bring this away from Josuke's next reply making her feel even more, she adds a jaunty little quip right after that.]
Or did Nysrog remind you?
[you know, the eldritch horror painting that knows their every romantic fumble.]
no subject
...nice try, Hazel. He knows you're deliberately not looking at him!]
Nysrog? [Josuke huffs and shakes his head.] No way!
I thought it was worth remembering, and...
[Don't girls like it when guys remember that sort of stuff? So why does she seem to wanna avoid talking about it? Or to make light of the topic, at least? Not that it's serious stuff, but...well, it is kind of important. That they've lasted a month already, thereabouts. He's kinda proud of that fact.
But what if she's not? Maybe she's realizing that she's wasted a month with him? ...but that's not really like her. Oh no, what if she's thinking she's wasted his time?!
Josuke watches her...and then leans down to kiss her cheek.]
Anyway, I don't like forgetting anything we do together, especially stuff like that. Because, you know, I like doing stuff with you. And I really like doing that stuff.
no subject
that's mortifying enough, but it also means that Josuke gets a clear view of the way she bites her lower lip in place of the blushing she can no longer do. he keeps talking and she worries that lip even more because god she could probably die a second time right now. but...in a good way, for once. really good.]
Yeah, well, no accounting for taste.
[and she's going to leave it at that, except that despite her best efforts she's feeling an awful lot and for once wants to share a bit of it. Hazel's gaze remains on anything but Josuke, and her voice is so soft it could easily be swept away in the ambient noise of the environment, but it still manages to make it past her mouth. that's an accomplishment in and of itself.]
I'm glad it's not just me.