Current Timeline
<@Cecilia> Cecilia frowned at her reflection in the mirror in the en suite bathroom. It was getting late and she still had some last minute forms to fill out, a biochem paper to finish, another paper to start for mutant physio and then she had to think about doing her laundry...there was no way she was gonna go down to the DR today for another training sim.
<@Cecilia> Though she should be going, she thought. She needed to practice shooting and run some combat sims to overcome her problems with guns and so forth, plus she needed the exercise as her appearance so clearly stated. She sighed, thank Christ she'd had the foresight to sign up for gym, otherwise she'd be truly fucked.
<Fabian> Fabian was lounging on her bed waiting for her to come out of the bathroom...it seemed like she was spending more and more time in there. He knew he wasn't the most patient person in the world but he was all ready checking his watch.
<Fabian> "Ceeeee, are we going to head out any time soon?" He half-whined teasingly through the wall.
<@Cecilia> Cecilia's mouth twisted a little as Fabian whined through the door. "But I haven't finished counting all the tiles yet, Fab!" She snorted, teasing right back as she opened the door. "Here, you can come in. It's not like I'm naked or anything."
<@Cecilia> She sighed, running a brush through her hair. "I'll be just one minute and then we can go, alright? No whining now." Dammit, nothing's gonna fix this.
<Fabian> "We're going to the bathroom together? Seriously?" Fabian chuckled at that. "I think we skipped a few steps in comfort zones here, didn't we?" He sat up, leaning towards the door. "I think I can be patient though. I wouldn't want to ruin your magic."
<@Cecilia> "We're not going to the bathroom together!" Spluttered Cecilia, face completely red. "That's so awkward I don't even...gah!" She waved her arms a little. "I'm just letting you stand there! I'm not letting you watch me shower or anything, Jesus! I like my privacy."
<@Cecilia> "My magic?!" She laughed incredulously. "Now that's a riot. I don't have any magic. Just hard work." Which wasn't even paying off now. She scowled at herself in the mirror.
<Fabian> "Cecilia, breathe. I swear, it's not even hard to get you flustered at all, you've got to at least give me some challenge, now." Fabian just shook his head on the other side of the wall. "I'll be patient, so what are we doing?"
<@Cecilia> "Uh, I dunno..." she said, suddenly feeling stupid, of course she forgot to plan something. She'd been thinking of all the other things she needed to do that she'd just forgotten to plan for what she was supposed to be doing with Fabian...fuck.
<@Cecilia> "Just getting out of here, I need a break really badly, I'm really stressed out with this whole rally thing I'm planning with JP and schoolwork's just starting to pick up and..."
<@Cecilia> "I'm sorry, I have to ask this, but is my ass fatter?" she said suddenly, cringing almost as soon as she said it. Christ, why don't you just grab onto him and scream 'tell me I'm pretty!!!', said the critical voice.
<Fabian> "Good, that leaves us free to do anything we like." Fabian approved of not having plans; it made for more interesting outings. "Why are you stressed out about all this though? I mean, essentially you're planning a big mutant party and we're all ready security."
<Fabian> He arched an eyebrow at the question, though, and peeked out to survey the real estate. "No, why?"
<@Cecilia> "Because my pants are tighter that's why!" Said Cecilia, frowning. "You're sure? You're not just...y'know what, I shouldn't be asking that, you're always brutually honest." So she was just paranoid then? Actually, knowing her it was entirely possible.
<Fabian> "Please don't tell me you're getting randomly insecure." Fabian frowned at that thought. He'd much rather deal with a bigger ass than that.
<@Cecilia> "Okay, I won't?" She said, cringing a little. Shit, and this is why she should've asked Mayday...but how likely would it be that Mayday would give her an honest answer? Laura, then. "...Maybe a little..." she admitted, feeling like complete crap as she said it.
<@Cecilia> "It's the stupid pill!" She exclaimed, suddenly feeling defensive. "It's making me gain weight! That and all this three meals a day and snacks and crap! I've gone from third world caloric intake to first world a space of months!"
<@Cecilia> She threw her hairbrush onto her bed. "Look, it's fine. I'm sorry I asked. I'm just feeling a little stressed and it's making me paranoid about nothing. Again. Just...forget it. So do you have somewhere you wanna go or do you wanna hear my idea?" She said, trying not to get all teary and emotional. Stupid!
<Fabian> "...why are you all tense yelling at me?" This happened a bit too often for Fabian to really know how to deal with it and, well, he was naturally horrible at such things as well. "I get it, you're stressed. If you're so stressed then maybe you should do less?"
<@Cecilia> "Yeah...or set aside more time to do other things besides work," she said, the tension draining out of her. "...I'm sorry...I'm just feeling a bit down is all. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."
<@Cecilia> "...Do you want to go to Avalon?" She asked. "We can chill there and y'know, forget all this shit for awhile. Whaddaya say?"
<Fabian> "I personally like Vito's better but I'm not really in the mood, no." Fabian admitted but pulled himself up off of the bed anyway. "I think I need something new, shall we drive around until something looks interesting?"
<@Cecilia> "Alright," she said, grabbing her coat. "I'm up for that." Vaguely she wondered if she should bring along some posters since they were going out...but decided against it. She needed to make time for other things in her life. She couldn't just burn both ends always.
<Fabian> "So, why exactly are you back to stressing?" Fabian figured it'd be best just to get it over.
<@Cecilia> Cecilia shrugged as she walked down the stairs. "Many reasons, I guess." No, that was very non-specific. "I guess it's just I feel a bit overwhelmed with my work. Things are starting to pick up and I've got this rally to handle and such, it's a bit stressful..."
<@Cecilia> "...For the most part my personal life is turning out better this semester than last, though," she said. "I'm making friends with Laura and Jean-Paul, I think, so that's something."
<@Cecilia> "What about you? Are you good?" She asked.
<Fabian> "Now that we're back here you're my leading cause of stress." Fabian teased...although it was actually pretty truthful. "If you're so damned overwhelmed all the time then lessen your workload. Nothing's getting in if you can't concentrate on what you're doing so it's not paying off in the end."
<Fabian> "As far as the rally goes? Dole out the workload, simple as that."
<@Cecilia> "There's only two of us so far," said Cecilia. "JP says people tend to volunteer more in the actual rally rather than the planning. Which is typcial, I guess."
<@Cecilia> She winced as he mentioned she was the leading cause of his stress though. "...I'm sorry," she said sadly, opening the door to the garage and making her way to the car. "How...am I causing you stress?" She asked, somewhat fearfully.
<Fabian> "Then don't wait for volunteers, ask people for help, herd the cats and all that. It's not bothering him because he's probably used to the workload, no reason for you not to pull in recruits a little more forcibly. If you're going to let yourself get stressed when there are simple answers you're going to be right back where you were."
<Fabian> He sighed at the question. "Well, you always sound all twitchy and nervous if we talk about things like this so there's one bit and you let yourself get into this frazzled and overworked state often enough which I've noticed results more or less in tense yelling and defensiveness but we've all ready been over that."
<@Cecilia> Fuck. "I'm..." But Cecilia didn't really know what to say to this. 'Sorry' seemed hollow if she just kept saying it and nothing changed. And she was trying to change already so what else could she say? "...a Type A personality," she finished lamely.
<@Cecilia> She let that embarrassing excuse hang in the air for a minute before opening the car door abruptly and getting in the passenger side.
<Fabian> Fabian couldn't help but give her an amused 'bitch, please' look but just chuckled and pulled out of the garage. "Left or right for our unknown adventure?"
<@Cecilia> "Right...No! Left," she decided. "Everyone says 'right.' Where do you think we're going?" She asked, curious. She eyed him a little at the 'bitch, please' look "...I am trying you know.."
<Fabian> "I don't know where we're going, that's the point of unknown adventure." Fabian shrugged and went with her first answer. There was no backsies in unknown adventure, either. "Oh, if you weren't I'm sure we'd've driven each other insane by now."
<@Cecilia> "...You mean to tell me you're not insane?" She asked wryly, frowning a little as he went right. She'd said left! "And apparently left means right in Europe."
<@Cecilia> She decided not to pursue this further though, after all she was not the one driving, so really she had no say. "I realize I'm...difficult to live with sometimes," she admitted. "I get stressed out, I'm too harsh, rash and occasionally insecure. That and I seem to be incapable of letting anyone in... But I want that to be different and it will be different eventually...I like to think I've improved a bit..."
<@Cecilia> She shrugged. "I've wanted to throttle you too," she finished lamely. "You not always perfect either."
<Fabian> "First answers only in this game. If you take it back you're overthinking it." He gave her a bit of a wicked smirk. "Why? Does it bother your Type A personality?"
<Fabian> "Is this going to turn into a fight?" He asked, slowing the car down as she went on.
<@Cecilia> "...Yes and no," she said to the first and second question respectively. "...Even though it's unfair there's no takebacks..." She settled in, she was going to see this through, even if it was hard and tested her control freak ways.
<Fabian> Do not bang your head on the steering wheel, do not. Fabian was going to have fun, damnit, if it was the last thing he did and even if it was 'unfair'. "So, what are my imperfections?"
<@Cecilia> Cecilia eyed him suspiciously. "You seriously wanna know?" She felt like she was being led into a false sense of security here. And she was beginning to fear this was going to end in a fight. Things seemed to run hot and cold with them at times.
<Fabian> "Why not? I'll warn you though, some of them I'm not probably going to be working on." He put his smirk back on again as they drove into one of the closer towns. "Something here or keep going?"
<@Cecilia> "Further," she said decisively, gripping the inside door handle resolutely and straightening her shoulders.
<@Cecilia> "I...care about you more than you might ever really know, mi heroe...and you have a lot a good qualities." She felt she should clarify this. "But you've got a lot of bad ones too."
<@Cecilia> "You're stubborn, just as stubborn as me and that's really saying something. You're also moody, like I am. Hedonistic, patronizing and egocentric. Ruthless too, sometimes surprisingly so, in my opinion."
<@Cecilia> "Sometimes your sense of humour crosses the line..." she paused for a moment. Should she really go on? Well, she'd always been honest, if anyone expected differently from her they weren't talking to the right person.
<@Cecilia> "...A lot of the time I have to take things on faith with you, which is hard," she admitted. "I have to deal with less control over things than I like because you prefer to be in charge. I have to be stronger than I really am sometimes, or else feign strength, because you have little patience for weakness..." she looked out the window. "I'm sorry...you wanted to know."
<Fabian> "...you basically just listed off a bunch of stuff I like about myself...though I don't think anyone is quite as moody like you are but I'll grant you that I am." Fabian shrugged, really not all that bothered. He knew who he was pretty well. The car slowed down again as he drove up to a lake, thawed but no doubt still cold.
<@Cecilia> Cecilia eyed the water in the lake. Black as ink, black like...no, don't think of that. "You gonna tell me my faults now?" She asked, her eyes focused outside. "S'only fair."
<Fabian> "You're not good at getting how other people work and you're automatically defensive to the point it's hard to talk to you so sometimes I just give up the point because it'd be no good." Fabian offered a smile and parked the car, getting out to make sure he did, indeed, have his blankets in the car.
<@Cecilia> "...That it?" She asked, a little surprised it was that short. "Because mine was a lot longer." She sat up a little, watching him move around the car.
<Fabian> "You all ready obsess over your faults. I don't need to tell you yours because that'd just feed into them more. Those are just the ones that I think cause the most problems between us." Fabian shrugged. "You do tend to dwell on everything that's ever been wrong in your life, though, that might be another one."
<Fabian> "So, I'm going to go for a swim." He announced once he was sure they had enough blankets, toeing his shoes off.
<@Cecilia> Cecilia blinked. "...A swim?" She said, stunned. "But...it's cold!" She looked out at the water. "You might get hypothermia..." Annoyed as she was at the moment she still wasn't alright with him freezing to death. "Where's your swimsuit?"
<Fabian> "Nature provided me with one." Fabian shrugged at the last question. "And I've done similiar things at Ankka's place so this will be considerably warmer."
<@Cecilia> "You're shitting me," said Cecilia, scandalized and red-faced. "You're going to jump in there with no clothes on? Are you insane?!"
<@Cecilia> No way. There was no way. This couldn't be happening.
<Fabian> "Like you said, I'm moody right now and I need to do something to cheer myself up and I've decided this shall be my unknown adventure for the moment...that and driving around the area in a blanket afterwards. Bonus points if we get pulled over?"
<@Cecilia> Cecilia spluttered and flailed in her seat. "Y-You won't!" She exclaimed, knowing even as she said it that wasn't true. "...I can't watch," she said as more clothes came off.
<Fabian> "I'll not hear what I will and won't do now." Fabian called back as he stripped down. "Like you said, I'm stubborn. I do what I like and you can do what you like."
<@Cecilia> Cecilia tried to keep her eyes closed as Fabian threw everything off and wandered down to the water, though she couldn't help but peek out just a little with her eyes squinted. God he's pale, she thought. He almost blended in with the snow...and shit, he was serious when he said he would. "You're insane!" She exclaimed, stepping out of the car.
<Fabian> Damn was it ever cold. "For the record if you actually look? Shrinkage is a real thing so you're not to take anything away from what you're seeing here." With that he took to the lake, briskly swimming.
<@Cecilia> Cecilia spluttered and flailed in response. When she recovered though she scowled. "Crazy...absolutely crazy," she muttered.
<@Cecilia> She stood there for a long while just watching him swim around. Then, "I can't fucking believe I'm considering this." She stood there for a long minute, agonizing about it, knowing that Fabian had probably planned this from the beginning. So what was this? A take the plunge moment? A test? And if so, what did she do?
<@Cecilia> Grumbling and cursing Spaniards and their dirty tricks, Cecilia began toeing off her shoes and slowly, painfully, taking off her clothing. "Fucking insane," she muttered. "Shrinkage. What the hell? Why say that to me? Trying to make me choke."
<@Cecilia> Once that was done she slowly began walking towards the water's edge, forcing herself not to run or attempt to cover herself, despite surely being completely red from embarrasssment. Then jumped in, sinking down into the black water.
<Fabian> Actually, the water hadn't been nearly as bad as he had assumed it would be. He let himself float, relaxing, until he heard the sloshing of Cecilia joining him. "Thought you weren't going to come."
<@Cecilia> Only Cecilia's face was showing above the water, her hair brushing the surface like a weeping willow. "I wasn't," she admitted, wrapping her arms around herself beneath the black. Jesus, it was so cold! But at least she could say she was shivering from cold now. "But I did. And now I'm here."
<Fabian> "Decided it would be fun?" Fabian asked, shifting to swim back over that way.
<@Cecilia> Oh GOD. Now he was swimming over towards her! Still though she didn't move. Obviously this was some kind of test and she was determined to pass it. Even if she died of shock. She shrugged, "I guess I wanted to see what it was like. I always wanted to experience as much as I could before I die..." she said. "But also I didn't want to be scared all the time," she admitted. There.
<Fabian> If Fabian knew about the 'test' thoughts Cecilia was having he'd find himself regretting not head-steering wheeling earlier but he was happy to see her in the water hopefully enjoying herself. "Always a good way to be."
<@Cecilia> "Easy for you to say," she said, beginning to swim towards him. "You're never scared. Not that I've ever seen, at any rate."
<Fabian> His eyes rolled a bit. "Hell, I've told you of enough times where I've been scared shitless you know that's not true."
<@Cecilia> "Mm," Cecilia nodded. It was one thing to know but another to see in her opinion, but this was no matter. And now she was just inches from him...what to do? "I have no idea how to let anyone in. I don't know if I can," she said after a long while.
<Fabian> "You either will or you won't. There's no reason to angst over it too much, yeah?" Fabian shrugged his shoulders. "...okay, parts of me are too cold now, it's blanket time for me."
<@Cecilia> "There's a lot to lose if I don't," she said, eyeing him for a long minute though keeping her gaze firmly on his face before wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in for a kiss.
<Fabian> That helped get a bit more warmth back as well so Fabian was definitely not going to complain. "I'd say if you're worried about losing anything then you've all ready gotten passed your letting anyone in issues as well."
<@Cecilia> "I've been known to simultaneously push and pull people away," said Cecilia. "I'm complicated like that. Now be quiet," she said, kissing him again to make him shut up.
<Fabian> "Well, stop." Fabian got out between kissing along with a laugh at being told to be quiet.
<@Cecilia> "I'm trying, whaddaya call this?!" She said to his collarbone, shivering. "I have trusted you with everything! You've seen my boobs. There are no secrets between us now!" And oh shit. He'd seen her boobs. "Don't ever tell anyone about this. This is a secret."
<@Cecilia> "...I won't let my life pass me by. I might be afraid of losing things, but I'm more afraid of never having them in the first place...I said I'd change and I will...and hopefully you'll feel less stressed, mi amor."
<@Cecilia> She froze a little as she said 'mi amor.' Waiting to see what he'd say. She'd never said that before! Or any kind of known endearment before. Or at least she didn't think she had.
<Fabian> "One day we're going to work on your flailing about such things, too. It's beginning to feel like you're embarrassed about people thinking you've done anything with me, beginning to almost damage my ego here." He flashed her a grin though and started to pull her to shore.
<Fabian> "Come on up then, secret-keeper, if we don't get out things might actually freeze off after all."
<@Cecilia> "...Did you just use a Harry Potter term of endearment with me?" Said Cecilia, she'd seen the movies of Harry Potter after all. "You're such a weirdo."
<@Cecilia> She looked terribly sad as Fabian continued though. "I don't feel that way!" She cried, feeling like complete shit all of a sudden. "I'm so sorry, Fabi...never have I ever been so aptly named..."
<@Cecilia> Celia, you're breaking my heart. You're shaking my confidence daily. Oh Cecilia, I'm down on my knees, I'm begging you please to come home... Cecilia had never liked that song. She didn't think that Cecilia was a very admirable person, but now she'd gone and done something similar. "...I'm not ashamed of you...I want you more than I've ever wanted anything else..." she said shyly, looking away.
<Fabian> "Well, you do seem pretty hep on secrets." He teased her, shaking his head and making a run for the blankets. Oh sweet, warm blankets! He held hers out for her, behaving and not looking...too much. "I had hoped as much, I didn't believe that...you know I'm far too full of myself to have believed that."
<@Cecilia> Cecilia took her blanket, but didn't really bother to cover herself much, despite the feelings of embarrassment. No time like now to try to change. "Well, now I know why," she smirked, raising an eyebrow as she toweled off her hair, redfaced and slight tremors in her hands but for the most part okay. "...You're unbelievable, Fab," she snorted.
<Fabian> "Why's that?" Fabian asked, glancing back as he had expected she would have covered up. Oh, no she hadn't, well, there was that nice surprise.
<@Cecilia> "I couldn't tell you why in just a few words..." said Cecilia, taking in the view, throwing her blanket over her shoulders and reaching out a slightly shaky hand to touch Fabian's arm. Black on white...the contrast was something. "...But I can try on the way home."
<Fabian> That earned a quite pleased smirk. "Shall we then?" He asked, motioning to the car.
<@Cecilia> Oh yes, she knew just how to stroke his ego...and that sounded incredibly dirty. Thank God she hadn't said that out loud. She nodded, giving him a quick hug and skipping off to the passenger side of the car. It was cold! "Yes, we shall."
<Fabian> Fabian happily tucked his blanket in around him, grabbed their clothes and slid into the driver's seat and heading for home. "So, spill." He said, grinning.
<@Cecilia> "So on the drive here I tell you all your shit qualities and on the way back I tell you all your good ones?" She teased. Fair enough. "You're surprisingly generous, you don't take shit from anyone, you've survived so much on your own despite many people wanting your head on a platter, you care a lot for your friends, you're fun..."
<@Cecilia> "...You stuck by me when I was at my worst for reasons I don't entirely understand so you're loyal, you're charming, you make me laugh and you're not hard on the eyes...mostly though you're very brave, you had a lot to lose trying to make things right but you did it anyways even though it was hard..."
<@Cecilia> "I admired that," she said. "That's one of the things that impressed me most when I first met you...What about me?" She smiled. "Quid pro quo, Fab. Quid pro quo," she teased, smiling over at him from her seat.
<Fabian> "Well, I'll still argue some of those shit qualities are some of my best. I wouldn't be near as awesome without some of them." He laughed though, settling back and driving off back down the road as he listened to what she had to say.
<Fabian> A lot of what she said he couldn't honestly say he really agreed with but he wasn't about to argue what she thought were his good qualities. "Yours, hmm? Lets see, I enjoy your confidence...which is probably why that whole weight insecurity earlier threw me for a loop. You make your own opinions, you're stubborn. You've a strong sense of right and wrong that...while I may not always agree you handle things the best way I have to appreciate."
<Fabian> "I like your energy, your intelligence, and the fact I can generally find out what you're thinking about just by asking you."
<@Cecilia> "Congratulations, Fabian. You just complimented me satisfactorily," she said, smirking. This was wonderful to hear! Normally she didn't get so much as a 'you look pretty today.' But now she had many compliments at once! If Cecilia were one to preen, she would be preening right now. "We may have to have a sleepover to celebrate."
<@Cecilia> "And remember how I said I have to take a lot on faith?" She asked. "My attractiveness to you is one of them. I don't generally think badly of myself but I am a woman, Fab. One black woman alone in a sea of rich white people. I do feel insecure occasionally, it's hard to avoid completely," she admitted.
<@Fabian> "Well...buck up." Fabian shrugged as he told her that. "I mean seriously, what the hell?" He didn't quite understand the issue but, as far as he saw it, there wasn't a real issue, only a made-up one.
<Cecilia> Cecilia snorted and rolled her eyes. Well, she couldn't say she didn't expect a response like that...it just wasn't what she wanted to hear. But no matter, she'd just have to find her compliments in other things. Actions, looks and the like...and she could live with that for the most part. She shrugged, "It's a woman thing. Anyways it doesn't matter, I'll just assume you find me attractive until you stop checking me out, sound fair?" She laughed.
<@Fabian> He gave her another flat look at 'it doesn't matter'. "Obviously it does or you wouldn't have gotten all neurotic about it. This just isn't something to stress about because nothing's wrong."
<Cecilia> "Well...thank you, I appreciate it," she said, humming a little as they made their way back to the school, shivering a little and pulling the blanket a little closer. "So should I bother getting dressed to walk up to the dorms? Because I don't think so," she said conversationally, though she was a little redfaced again. "And if anyone sees me then fuck it. I'm not even gonna bother explaining this one. I don't have anything to be sorry about."
<@Fabian> "Ohho, look at you? First you're having your insecure moment and now we're ready to let it all hang out walking on inside, hmmm? Sounds like a plan for me." With that Fabian started driving a little faster.
<Cecilia> "Nothing is 'hanging out,'" said Cecilia, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not geriatric." There, saying that word in this context was punishment enough.
<Cecilia> "And I might've had an insecure moment but I sure as hell didn't hear you complaining back at the lake or this entire time," she pointed out. "Don't think I haven't seen your sly sideways glances, senor. Maybe I just want that to continue," she said, smirking despite being nervous. She could do this. It wasn't so bad really.
<@Fabian> "Until I warm up nothing much is hanging out for me either." Fabian had to admit, glancing down at his blanket and deciding it was time to turn up his heat. "You'll not hear any complaints, no worry there."
<Cecilia> Cecilia smiled as they pulled up to the school. "Good."
<Cecilia> "So, I have two roommates this semester," she said. "Shall we take our sleepover to your place and just hope Sean's either not there or so stoned he won't notice the obvious?"
<@Fabian> Fabian nodded. He knew he could count on Sean to shuffle out for the occasion. "Sounds like a plan, plenty warm in there."
<Cecilia> Cecilia nodded and stepped out of the car, throwing her blanket over her shoulder and walking through the garage towards the kitchen without a backward glance. "If Lehnsherr sees me like this I'll never live it down," she muttered only half-jokingly. Do not run, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Just walk in a calm and orderly fashion to the dorm like you do this everyday.