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Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Night » 02/15/2018 3:08 AM

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Ryland never had quite moved on enough to consider dating. Sure, Theo had insisted - loudly and quite often - that he should go out and meet people that were still on his same corporeal plane of existence, but that didn't mean he actually wanted to. It probably said something about him that he had a hard time relating to the living. What precisely that was, he couldn't say.

As such, when Magenta had approached him about setting up a blind date he'd been more than a little hesitant. He didn't want to disappoint her, but staring into his closet he was beginning to suspect he was a tad too easy to give into her cheerful demeanor. He pulled on the nicest thing he could find - a pair of slacks and the cleanest flannel shirt he owned - and hoped for the best. He was only a tad late to the restaurant because of his freakout; he would count it as a win.

Too bad he had no idea who he was looking for.
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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Silver » 02/15/2018 7:42 AM


A lady was never late.

Inspire got up earlier than usual to make sure that everything would be perfect for her date tonight. She wasn't so sure she wanted to go on a date, but she promised Maggie she would do it. She loved her friend more than she hated the idea of going out tonight, so out she would go. Even if her interest was tentative at best, she could not let herself show up looking any less than her best.

She spent easily an hour on her makeup, making sure her face looked dainty and elegant. Her eyelashes were unnaturally long, and they accented her large blue eyes perfectly. Her long royal blue hair had been sitting in its curlers all night, and when she finally let them out and tidied them up, they sprang to life like a jackrabbit. It took her way too long to pick out the perfect dress. There were just too many that she adored. She ended up going with a classy tiered pink skirt and a button up black jacket over the top with three quarter sleeves. The addition of a matching scarf, purse, and hair clip made the look complete. She chose her favorite jackboots with the chunky heel and a subtle but sparkling necklace to accent her eyes to put on just before she left.

"There's nothing to worry about, darling," she told herself in the mirror. "It'll be fabulous."

She arrived at the restaurant just a little early and asked for her seat. Once she got to her table, she was a bit surprised to find out she was the first one there. She took the time to check her hair once more in her compact. When she looked up, she noticed a confused looking young man at the entrance. Was that perhaps her date? No better way to find out than to ask!

"Oh, Ryland, over here dear!" she said, waving her arm dramatically to get his attention. If that wasn't him, she would be a little embarrassed, but she wasn't the type to worry about stuff like that.



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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Night » 02/16/2018 8:49 AM

Ryland would deny it if anyone suggested he had jumped when his name was called. He cleared his throat, waving off the woman behind the desk and trying not to blush too noticeably. He certainly didn't stumble over his own feet when he made his way towards the table. He offered a shy smile to the blue haired woman, suddenly at a loss for how one began a conversation. He sincerely needed to get out more.

"You must be Inspire." A wonderful way to state the obvious. He held his hand out to her in greeting. "It's lovely to meet you. Thank you so much for agreeing to dinner." Ryland settled into his seat across from her, wincing as the chair scraped too-loud against the wood floor.

"I'm sorry I'm a bit late, I just..." The red that tugged at his freckled edges deepened, and he laughed at himself. "I couldn't for the life of me figure out what to wear. It's been quite some time since I've been out with a beautiful woman such as yourself."

He folded his hands on the table and pinned his eyes downward, biting at his lip in an effort to keep himself from rambling. He couldn't help that his mouth tended to run when he was nervous. The fact that this was meant to be somewhat romantic only added to his anxiety. What if she didn't want to see him again?

And oh god, what if she did? There was no way he was agreeing to go on a blind date again, no matter how much Magenta pleaded. He was more than happy to stay alone forever in his antique's store.
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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Silver » 02/16/2018 10:14 PM

Inspire would be lying if she didn't feel revealed to see him jump at the sound of his name. It definitely would have been embarrassing to call out to the wrong person. She smiled sweetly at him as he approached the table and finally sat down. He seemed a little nervous, which she could certainly understand. It wasn't uncommon that people were intimidated by her beauty. She just couldn't help it!

"Yes, darling, I'm Inspire. Lovely to meet you. It's no trouble at all, really." Even though she used flowery words like 'darling,' the way she spoke made her sound very genuine. She wasn't nearly as stuffy as the amount of eye makeup she wore would suggest.

She was definitely sizing up his outfit from the moment he came into view. It wasn't the sort of high fashion she was used to, but she could tell that he put some effort into it. She smiled at his comment, imagining him agonizing over which color flannel to wear. It reminded her of her dear friend Cider. In fact, she could imagine her wearing exactly the same thing.

"No worries at all, you look very nice," she said. The compliment about her looks didn't go over her head either. Blind dates weren't usually her thing, but she could get used to this kind of treatment.



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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Night » 02/18/2018 3:34 AM

Ryland gave her another shy grin, busying his hands with spinning the drink coaster. "Thank you!" He hid a pleased smile aimed down towards the table. Then came the awkward realization that he had no idea what to talk about. Social cues never had been his strong point, even when he'd spent the majority of his time amongst the living. He cleared his throat and asked the first question that came to mind.

"So how do you know Magenta?" Which, as far as questions were concerned, probably wasn't the worst way to start a conversation. It seemed alright to want to know where she had met their mutual acquaintance, right? Though he likely should have asked something about her instead, like her favorite color or what sort of work she did. He was already screwing this up.

Ryland was grateful when a waiter appeared to take their drink order shortly thereafter, glad to have the attention drawn away from his own awkwardness even for just a moment. He asked for plain water, despite knowing that a touch of something alcoholic would sooth his nerves. He didn't think he needed any encouragement to make a fool out of himself.
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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Silver » 02/18/2018 8:15 AM

She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but this fellow seemed quite shy. It reminded her of a good friend of hers, actually. Now she had nothing against shy or timid people, but she had to wonder why her friend thought it was a good idea to set him up with someone as boisterous as her. All she could do was trust Magenta's judgement and proceed with a smile.

"Oh, Magenta and I go way back," Inspire said. The memories they had together made her bright teal eyes sparkle, and the tone in her voice suggested she cared very deeply about their mutual friend. "We grew up together in the same little town, and you know Magenta, you can't be around her and not be her friend!"

Inspire gave the waiter a charming smile and asked for a pot of jasmine tea and a side of sparkling water for herself. Perhaps she would have a proper drink with dinner, though it would depend on how the evening was going. When he asked for just water, she found herself wondering why. She would offer to buy him something nice if she weren't so worried about embarrassing him. She didn't have trouble paying for the meal if he found it difficult. In the end, she just let it go without hinting that she found it strange.



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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Night » 02/24/2018 11:23 PM

Ryland couldn't help but agree. "She doesn't give you much of a choice does she?" The corners of his eyes turned up in a grin. "Some people are just likable that way I suppose." Such people probably didn't have nearly so hard a time on a blind date as he was having. Inspire didn't seem to be nearly so flustered, either. Maybe Theo was right - he really ought to be spending more time out in the real world. At the very least he needed to go see someone about his social anxiety.

A thought for another time. He shuffled his coaster around and tried to remember the questions that Theo had posed to him to ask on his date. He'd been having a little bit of a meltdown at the time, so he felt it was only fair that he forgot pretty much all of them.

Ryland thanked the waiter and then folded his hands in his lap to keep from fidgeting. "So what do you do for a living?" That seemed a safe enough topic. "I'm an antiques salesman." He added, preemptive of the question being turned back his way. It may have been the most boring description of his job, but somehow he wasn't sure that he should go advertising that the antiques he sold were haunted by the spirits of the dead.

It wasn't exactly a huge selling point. Not for the normal antiques shopper, anyway.
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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Silver » 02/25/2018 7:35 AM

Inspire just smiled and nodded in response to his question. She didn't know anyone with more friends than Magenta. In fact, here she was with one of her friends, and she had never even heard of him! She had no idea how she managed to find the time to keep up with all of them. Life was just too busy to tend to that many people.

"Lovely," she cooed at her teapot as it was handed to her. It was a delicate little thing that fit in well with the rest of the decor. "Thank you dear," she said, accepting her glass of sparkling water as well. Though she was kind to the waiter, her attention remained on her date the entire time. Likely to his dismay, of course.

"Oh, an antiques salesman! How lovely! I just love antiques." Inspire beamed. Finally he seemed to be opening up a little bit. As much as she loved to talk about herself, she was very interested in his profession. She imagined a whole cute little shop full of sparkling old jewelry and fine china. It entirely slipped her mind that ugly things could also be antiques.

"This bracelet I'm wearing is an antique!" The topic sparked her memory, and she held out her delicate wrist to show a bracelet that was in style a long time ago. It had obviously been cherished and cared for over the years, but its style betrayed its age.



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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Night » 02/27/2018 7:40 AM

Ryland thanked the waiter for his water, immediately pulling it towards him and taking a sip to aid his parched throat. He settled it on the coaster and watched the condensation of the cool glass form a ring around the base. It didn't do much for his nerves, but it gave him something other than his imminent social failures to focus on. The same could be said for the bracelet.

It was a beautiful little thing, obviously well maintained and cared for. He wouldn't have guessed that it was older than a few weeks at the most - which probably didn't say much for the sorts of antiques he normally handled. It wasn't untrue that the majority of antiques were ugly things. He was always surprised when people actually purchased anything in his shop, as a lot of it was awfully gaudy. Then again, his primary customers weren't generally looking for something to match the rug - they were looking for the special sorts of "enchantments" that the spirits attached to them offered.

Most people thought that he was some kind of magic. It was a bit of a farce to let them believe it, but far better than telling them they were buying the souls of the dead. He'd learned the hard way that people didn't take too kindly to anything involving the supernatural.

"Oh wow!" He said, instead of any of that. He moved to reach out and grab her wrist to inspect the bracelet, but stopped himself. Not everyone enjoyed being grabbed by a stranger. His hand hovered awkwardly above it before folding and coming to rest on the table beneath her hand. "You must really take care of it, it looks brand new! It's very pretty." Ryland's smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "You'd be surprised what sort of wrecks people bring into my shop trying to get a little extra cash out of them. No one wants to hear their grandmother's super special dining table is worth nothing when half the varnish has been scratched off."
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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Silver » 02/27/2018 8:23 AM

"Thank you," Inspire said, withdrawing her wrist and laying her hands back on the table once she was sure he had a good look. It seemed for a moment like he was going to grab it for a closer look, but for whatever reason decided against it. She didn't mind, really, but she wouldn't say anything. He obviously dropped his hands for a reason, and she wasn't one to draw attention to awkward moments.

"It was given to me by a dear friend," Inspire's expression softened. Just thinking about this particular friend put a warmth in her face not yet seen this evening. It was hard to hide her sheepish smile. "It was a family heirloom, but it... didn't match her style, so she let me take care of it for her." She idly rubbed the gem on the bracelet with her finger as she spoke. 'Didn't match her style' was the best way she could think to say, 'wouldn't be caught dead in fancy jewelry.'

She put the back of her hand to her forehead in a dramatic fashion and said, "Oh how could they?" The thought of someone destroying a beautiful old table through neglect really made her sad. It was like that one time her little brother tried to use her favorite sweater as a toy for the cat...

"I guess that's the difference between a true antique and something that's just old," she mused.

Now that her tea had time to steep, she set a cup in front of herself and gently filled it from the pot. There was a second cup to go with the set, likely given to them intentionally so that they may share. She offered the second cup to her date with a smile. "Would you like some tea? It smells just lovely. A nice flowery Jasmine."



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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Night » 03/06/2018 2:04 AM

Ryland couldn't help but giggle a bit at her theatrics, though he did cover it well by hiding his face behind his hand. He nodded his agreement. "Yeah. A lot of people think that anything old must be valuable. My mom used to watch those antiques television shows when I was a kid, and all those reactions that those people have when they get told their hundred year old bottle caps are essentially just ancient trash pretty much describes running an antiques shop to a T." He felt his shoulders loosen a little now that the conversation had moved onto familiar ground. This he could talk about. It was just all the little romantic gestures and social cues - he didn't know how to do any of that and he was a bit scared to try.

"Most of it is just that - old. But every now and then someone brings in a real gem." He hesitated for a moment before drawing a small golden pocket watch from his shirt pocket. It was well polished, but didn't appear to have been well loved in its past life; small scratches cut across the patina, and the hinges looked a worn. Theo had told him not to bring it, that he didn't want to come along, but Ryland had been unable to deny himself the unconscious support of having a friend nearby - even one that really couldn't help much in a pinch. Especially given that Theo seemed to be hiding himself away amongst the clockwork.

"An old man brought this in a while back; it doesn't look like much, but it's very well made and quite old. I probably couldn't sell it for much of anything, but... Sometimes even things that don't have a lot of cost have a lot of value, don't you think?" He settled Theo's watch on the table, where he didn't have to worry about accidentally holding hands if she wanted to touch it. Not that he would be against holding hands overall, he just... wasn't quite sure he was ready for that level of interaction. "Mostly to the people that have it already. The table didn't mean much to me, but it does to the person that tried to sell it to me. I think in the long run, it's better that some things can't really be worth anything to everyone. I'm sure that man would have been awfully upset when he didn't need the money to know he'd gotten rid of it."

Ryland eyed the teapot before nodding. "Sure, I'd like that. Thank you!"
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Re: Thinking Out Loud [Silver and Night]

Postby Silver » 03/06/2018 8:57 AM

Inspire had a look on her face that suggested she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. He had her full attention as he spoke about his work. In truth, she was pretty happy that they so quickly found something they could talk about. This was probably why Magenta had chosen the two of them to set up in the first place.

"Oh it must be exciting," Inspire said wistfully. She was still imagining an entire shop full of beautiful old jewels and lovingly hand made furniture. "Each day you can open the door and never know what's coming though." It's why she loved photography, really. Every time she pulled out a camera, there was no way of telling what she would capture. The thrill of catching the perfect shot always drove her to improve her art and expand her horizons. She wondered if it was like that for him, too. It probably wasn't as glamorous as she'd like to imagine, but she liked the fantasy.

"It's beautiful," Inspire said, looking at the watch from afar. It was simple, not at all like the fancy and elaborate things she usually liked, but she felt like she somehow understood it. Like the watch had a personality all it's own. The little dings and scratches were just part of the character.

Inspire laughed sheepishly and blushed slightly, reaching to touch her bracelet once more. It was the first time she had shown herself to be flustered since they met. "I really know what you mean. Sometimes knowing where it's been makes something so much more valuable."

"Ah, yes, tea," she said. Her demeanor turned to normal and any hint that she was blushing under her makeup was quickly gone. She gently poured them each a cup. She moved expertly, making sure that not a drop of liquid spilled or a single leaf of tea escaped the pot. "Here you are, dear," she plunked the teacup, which didn't have handles, right in front of him.



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I'm just here for the psych assessment.
I'm just here for the, for the...

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