I Hate That I Love You || 1x1

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

A smile tugs at one corner of his lips, seeing her get embarrassed over the situation. He laughs briefly at her defense, something quickly extinguished when she brings up the two of them being on a date. He just kind of ends up staring at her, caught speechless, not knowing what to say to that. What he should say to that. He always knows exactly what he wants from someone, which lets him speak with intention and clarity. But he doesn't know what he wants from Jessie, and he can't quite come up with something intelligent to say. If it were someone he was trying to get into a relationship with, he'd be brazen about it. Confirm that it is a date. Clearly, that wasn't the case. So, he should agree and move on, this was nothing of the sort and he saw her point. The words got stuck in his throat. "We could be," he says vaguely at last, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. He usually liked when she lost track of her filter, but it seems to put them in a few difficult situations. "That would mean we've been on a lot of dates, though," he confides, aiming for a route less serious. "At this rate you'll be my most committed relationship," he jests in a tone somewhat grave. Which, however sad it may be, that statement would probably be true. His past relationships were very much with the wrong people.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

Nathaniel was glad that she agreed with him, both for the ease of their arrangement and as a stroke to his academic ego. Despite the insulting compliment she gave him, he can recognize it for the compromise it is, and he half-smiles. "Good to hear." As they fall into a working silence, Nathaniel continues to copy down results and organize solutes. As she finishes with one, he caps it and moves it to the back of the line, opening and putting the next material in front of her. His eyes linger on her hands as they measure things out, watching the accuracy with which she moves along with the experiment. He's pretty content with the quiet, interrupted only by their observations and confirmations. That's why he doesn't really notice it too much, and is almost surprised when she speaks up. He glances up at her, raising an eyebrow. He figured he was last person she'd want to strike up a casual conversation with. "Uh," he starts smartly, taking the calcium hydroxide when she's done with it and twisting on the cap. He opens the ethylene glycol and puts it in her reach, picking up his pen and watching for the calcium hydroxide reaction. "Not really. Just gonna go home and... read probably," he says, knowing he sounded lame. "Mom wants me to put up the Christmas lights so... might do that." He feels like he's about to start rambling about all the boring things he does in a day, so he clears his throat. "What about you?"

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ car role⇨ the third girl

Michael's laughter makes her knuckles turn white as she grips the wheel harder yet, embarrassment burning brighter. She could potentially, maybe, see how he might find her reaction amusing. Being on this end of the stick, however, she can only send him a scowl in response to his answers. A dumb little thrill strikes her at his statement of being attracted to her, even though it's a reference towards her earlier mistake, but she doesn't necessarily want to be attractive to anyone. Or, she doesn't think so, at least. She has more important things to worry about. Cutting him a dry glance because he was greatly messing with her morals, Audrey breathes out slowly to try and cool down her face. She never cared about this kind of stuff before, she doesn't want to dwell on why Michael was making her think about it now. "Right," she says tightly, pulling the car into the parking lot and finding a spot reasonably close to the door. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." She really wasn't. "Now get out," she commands flatly, pulling a hair tie from the center console and getting out of the car. The cool air on her face felt nice as she shut her car door, tying her hair into a quick ponytail. As much of an escape this is from him, she still has a whole shared shift to suffer through yet. She isn't sure her heart can handle the prolonged pulse fluctuations.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

As Jessie continues to stand there, unsure of what to say, she noticed that she kind of put him on a spot. She didn't mean to. She was just as speechless as him after her comment. After failing to come up with anything for too many times, she just hoped that he would be able to come up with something. She's a little surprised at he's taking so long though. She thought he would easily come up with a retort after the initial shock. In which, she would think he agrees this is not a date. He caught her more speechless when he didn't do that. She could feel her nerves spike up at first, but calms after the rest of his statement. Not by much though as even though he seems to be joking, his tone seems a little solemn. She isn't exactly sure how to respond first. "Well, I guess you would be mine too." she starts, trying to follow his route. It is the truth though, but she doubt is because of the same reason as him. She just hasn't really been in any relationships before. "It's probably pretty disappointing for it to be with someone like me," she adds with a nervous laugh, trying to self-deprecating, but it just ended up sounding more self-loathing. Way to go, Jessie. Why don't you just make this more even awkward? Her laughter quickly dies down into a sigh. Her shoulder slumps down before she shakes off what just happened. "Sorry... I kind of made things weird." she apologizes before explaining again. "So...I'm not going out with Nath. We weren't on a date. And that's all." There. Why couldn't she just say that in the first place? "Can we just forget this and move on to whatever we're doing?" she asks hopefully.

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel


Skylar listens to his answer as she writes down the result for the calcium hydroxide. She raises an eyebrow at his answers as she finishes off her notes. "Thrilling." she responses dryly to his plans. Although, while what he listed mostly sound like a bore, there is something she finds appealing in them. She can't remember the last time she had time to sit down to just read even if it wouldn't exactly be her first choice of activities to do. It almost sounds homey and something she hasn't felt in a while. It also reminded her that she probably should start putting up Christmas decorations around the house. Her parents used to put up decorations with her and the full staff around the house when she was way younger. Not so much now, but she still keeps up the tradition. She moves onto measuring out the ethylene glycol as he questions her about her plans. Just paperwork and a fancy dinner by herself. She frowns as reminded her of her phone call to her parents just before. Perhaps this wasn't such a good conversation starter after all. Her body tenses slightly, but she mostly remains the same composure. "Not much. Just planning out my parents' schedules and a dinner date by myself," she says, trying to sound nonchalant. By the time she finishes talking, she's already run through the whole testing process. She straightens up, stretching out her back for a minute before doing observations. "Maybe you should join me? It would be a much more interesting than any plans either of us has," she says half-jokingly before she begins writing notes again.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: Parking lot, then Mall || Tagged: Audrey

Michael lets out one last chuckle as Audrey park the car and commanded him to get out. He keeps his usual grin until he steps out. Facing away from Audrey, he lets out a small sigh of relief that she didn't seem to notice his slight change of tone just a few moments before. He kept it subtle, but he was worried that she would see through him anyways even if she was all riled up. She tends to call him out on every other thing, so he was kind of expecting to be called out again. He quickly regains his usual awesome and cool composure and started to walk towards the café. With Audrey, of course. Even though they are no longer in the confines of her car, she still stuck with him for this work shift. His mood drops once again as he is reminded that he has to work. It's even worse that it's Monday afternoon, which means it would probably be pretty slow. While he doesn't like to work when it's busy, he can at least have fun socializing with the customers. When it's slow though, then he just has to stand around and wait. Well, at least he has Audrey with him this shift again. Speaking of which, he wanted to say about what she said just before she told him to get out of her car. "Come on. It can't be just me," he says with mild disbelief. "Are you at least somewhat entertained?" he asks playfully with a grin, nudging her just slightly with his elbow. "Admitted. You don't mind me that much."

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Clayton frowns when she puts herself down, more so when she physically deflates. He was privy to the basic effects of both bullying and self-doubt, but as someone who put others down for fun, he never really cared. Honestly, when he's being mean to someone, it kind of slips his mind that they won't just brush it off eventually, because he forgets that there are people who are a heck of a lot deeper than he is. His confidence is a shield of sorts to negativity, and he could never understand why people couldn't just get up and get over it. Individuals like Jessie, though, who got pushed around for no reason, probably never even had the chance to make an attempt at confidence. He wants to assure her that it's not disappointing at all, but she asked to move on and the last thing he wants to do is draw that conversation out. So he nods to her request to change the subject, "Yeah." After a moment, in which he glances down at his camera, he decides to go about it another way. In one quick movement, he takes a few steps back and lifts his lens, pausing just long enough for it to focus, and he takes a photo of Jessie. The lens still has a neutral density filter on it, intensifying the contrast in the photograph. He taps the gallery button on the camera interface, glancing at the image to make sure it was good, which in his (non)professional opinion, it was, before handing the camera to Jessie to look at. "Model for me?" he asked, grinning crookedly. "Or if you're too chicken, help me find something more interesting to take pictures of than bare trees," he offered as an alternative, deciding it probably wouldn't be a good idea to put her on the spot like that.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

Nathaniel sends Skylar a sidelong look at her comment, thinking this had to be the flattest conversation he's ever had. Neither of them are quite thrilled with the other, leaving them with short, unenthusiastic responses. He's certain his answer is nothing short of mundane for her. From what he knows about her, he expects lavish outings, shopping with a group of similarly wealthy individuals, plotting the next mean thing to say to some stranger on the street. Something like that, anyways, he actually isn't sure what it is popular teen girls do on the daily. All he knows is that it isn't reading and putting up Christmas lights. While going through the motions of the experiment, he takes a moment to glance up at her, catching the slight displeasure in her posture and expression. It isn't much, and he doesn't know if it's because she's good at hiding it or it's something minor. He thinks she's too shallow for the former, so decides for the time being on the latter option. Her plans for the day are nothing like he expected, in fact it sounded rather lonely. She doesn't seem too concerned, but it's a little contradictory to her usual attention-seeking behavior. At her suggestion that he join her for dinner, he turns to her in surprise. It was honestly that last thing he was expecting from her, whether she was actually being serious or not. Sitting there, watching her take notes, Nathaniel contemplates what he should say. Also wondering if she is actually being serious about her offer. Finally, he narrows his eyes. "I'll take you up on that," he decides, figuring if anything he could try and sleuth out the mystery behind her character. Also, she probably had a pretty good dinner planned. "If it's not an inconvenience."

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ parking lot/cafe role⇨ the third girl

Walking through the parking lot with Michael, Audrey tries not to focus too much on any part of the conversation they had in the car. Hindsight was twenty-twenty, well and truly, and thinking about things she could have done or said better than what she managed only made her grimace. Instead, she set her thoughts on things like what homework she'd do today, how much spending money she had this week, anything distracting. The topics are brief in her mind, however, lasting little more than a few seconds. It doesn't seem to matter when Michael speaks up. Her attention turns to him and it takes her a moment to recall what he's referring to, then she rolls her eyes and looks away as he elbows her. "I'm not lying when I say you're annoying," she says and laughs a little, and there was that stupid smile she can't hide. She bites her lip in an attempt anyways, glancing up at him through her lashes because she isn't sure she wants to look at him fully. "But sure, I guess you're some level of entertaining," she confesses, opening the door to the cafe for the two of them. Having already been in a good mood, despite his little stunt in the car, his playful demeanor rubs off on her. She sends him a critical look, tugging on the end of her ponytail. "I would ask why you care so much, Michael," she starts off coyly, turning away from him only to wave at the person on register, then open the door to the break room. Audrey lowered her voice to a murmur, "But I think I already know." Then she winked and spun around to trade her coat for her apron.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

Jessie let out a small breath of relief when Clayton agree to her request so easily. She knows that their relationship is different now, but she still sometimes expects him would just keep going despite whatever she says. She feels bad for thinking of him like that now. It is what she is used to, though. She smiles slightly to herself since it's no longer like that. Her expression quickly changes to surprise as he suddenly lifts his camera up and takes a photo of her. He was so fast, she wasn't sure if she should pose or something. Before she could even start thinking of something to do, he's already taken the photo. She stares at him wide-eyed as he takes a look at the photo, still trying process what just happened. She broke out of her trance when he hands her the camera to take a look at the photo. She slowly takes it and takes it. The photo itself looks quite good with the composition and high contrast. She's not completely sold on her with an expression between looking shock and awkward. She couldn't linger on the photo too much as he once again surprise her when he ask her to model for him. She looks up at him surprised, though at his next words she pouts and glares at him slightly. While it's nice of him to offer her an alternative, she has a feeling that he would rather she agree to the former with how he worked and all. She gives him a pointedly look, which quickly morphs into a uncertain expression. She never model for anyone, so she's sure that she'll be no good. But for some reason, he seems to want her to. She looks to the ground for a moment trying to figure out what she should say. "Alright." she says firmly, looking back up at him. She ultimately decide to do it, her cheeks a slight pink colour. "I never done this before, so sorry if the photos turn out crappy." she apologizes beforehand. Glancing around, she's not sure how to start. "So, um, what should I do?"

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel


Skylar didn't expect Nathaniel to say much to her offer as she continues to finish her notes. She figures he would just scoff and brush it off or decline it with disdain. His response instead made her pause her writing. Her eyes widen and her mouth opens slightly in surprise at his answer. She glances at him. She never thought that he would actually agree to her offer. She forced her expression back to a neutral, trying to look not to fazed by it. She thinks for a moment whether or not, she should tell him that she wasn't being serious. She could no doubt use this moment for ammo later. She doesn't even why she is considering this, the answer should be obvious. For some insane reason, she decides to go against the obvious. "Very well. We'll be heading there right after this," she says simply, explaining the detail as she returns to writing her notes again. "Jeffery will be driving us there." This will at least make the evening somewhat interesting. It's better than just spending another lonely night at her house organizing whatever for her parents. She puts her notes and pencil down. She raises her head to look over their equipment and material. They were finished with the room temperature water and now need to do the rest. The rest with be a little more difficult with keeping a consistent temperature. She states this out loud before turning to Nathaniel and asking, "So, which temperatures next? Any good ideas on how to approach this?" Of course, she had a method in mind, but it seemed quite inefficient. He's come up a few decent ideas, so she figures she'll have to weigh in his opinion.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: Parking lot, then Mall || Tagged: Audrey

Michael smiles at the fact that she seemed more lighthearted than in the car even though she said that she does find him annoying. Although, he'a pretty used to people calling him that. He is also a little surprised considering how she was just a few minutes ago in her car, but he's not complaining. While he greatly enjoys when she is enraged and indignant, he also this side of her as well since it's such a rare sight with her being grumpy most of the time. He gives her a look of triumphant when she says that he's at least somewhat entertaining her. Stepping into the café, he greets the people inside with some waves and winks and finger guns. You know, the whole regular Michael Harrison routine. He turns his attention back to Audrey when she spoke again. He raises an eyebrow at her sudden change of demeanour. He stares at her as she turns and walks into the break room, a little confused by what she means. Plus, he was distracted and intrigued by this more coy and playful side of her that he doesn't really remember encountering back. Once her words settled in though, he felt a slight rush of panic. He quickly follows her into the break room, but slow down his steps before entering to not seem too alarmed. He composes himself first, deciding to play along with her. He puts on his work apron beside her. "So, you got me all figured out, huh?" he says in the same low murmur as her before. "What exactly do you already know?" He leans closer towards her as he spoke, the corner of his lip slowly forming a smirk.

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

At having ruffled her into a pout, Clayton feels pretty self-satisfied. He always does, and it could be from the fact he's bothered her, or because what he's said stood out enough to her to express anything. He remembers when she'djust brush him and whatever comments he had right out of her way. Watching the indecision on her face, he rocks his weight onto his heels and waits patiently. He really did want her to accept. She had a natural look to her that would appeal to the environment, and since he wasn't open about his photographic interests, he didn't usually have the chance to capture people. He hopes, too, that maybe he can take a good enough picture that she can see, without him having to say a word, that she was worth more than she expressed just moments ago. Discreet measures like that would be better, anyways, since he still wasn't sure where they were at. Did they even qualify as friends? Clayton smiles when she accepts his request, pulling his hands out of his pockets and taking a few steps back. "That's okay, I haven't done this before, either," he assures her, fiddling with the exposure. He glances up at her, shrugging. "Dunno, just act natural. But not too natural," he adds, somewhat joking because he's heard countless photographers say it before. For every Christmas card and family portrait. He nods his head in the direction of a heavy tree, a low, thick branch sitting at a height that would probably be just below his chest. "Probably be cool if you could sit on that. Bet you can't, " he challenges with a grin.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

Nathaniel hides a grin at the short-lived shock on Skylar's face. So she wasn't serious. He waits for her rebuff, pleased that even though she'll use his agreement against him, he got a good second of surprise out of her. She makes fun of him anyways, what's one more subject to the list? It's his turn to be shocked, however, when she goes along with it. Maybe he misinterpreted her expression. Or it was a long-running prank, though she didn't seem the kind to do something like that. She was more upfront. So he just presses his lips together and stares at his notebook, wondering what he just got himself into. "Alright." When she puts her pencil down, Nathaniel turns back to her and the experiment. "The best I can think for the cold is to externally ice the water and just check the temp before every test. Less ice for the cool, just enough to lower it," he suggests, ruffling his hair with his left hand. "As for the warm and hot, we can set a number on a hot plate and just keep the source water at the constant temperature." He sits back in his chair, propping his arm over the back of it. He lifts his gaze to her, since she seemed to have useful things to say. However rude her usual speech, at least she knew what she was talking about when it came to chemistry. "Thoughts?" he asks, somewhat expectant.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ cafe role⇨ the third girl

Audrey's glad they're alone in the backroom, and although she isn't sure how Michael would react, she thinks this is a pretty decent plan of revenge. For cornering her in the car over just one word, she wanted to get back at him just a little. She watches him put his apron on, eying his smirk as he leans close. "Well, you said it yourself," she says softly, and on a whim she reaches out to smooth the collar of his apron, using his nearness to her advantage. Her lip curls coquettishly and she meets his eye. She's not used to this type of teasing towards anyone, but she's seen it enough times to know how to go about it. Besides, she only has to keep it up long enough to make him uncomfortable. "You're attracted to me." Placing the same emphasis on the word that he had, she suddenly feels like she's more affected by her behavior than she expected. She wasn't quite practiced enough in this to be so confident. This would have to be cut shorter than originally planned. She tugs once on the strap of his apron before withdrawing and backing away. Turns out, she wasn't very good at going out of her own comfort zone, not even for a little payback. Still, she thinks she's made her point, and she turns away satisfied, making her way to clock in.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

As he tells her that he hasn't done this either, Jessie felt slightly less pressure than before. However, her uncertain returns at his cliche advice even though it seems like he was joking in a way. She looks over to the branch he was referring to before narrowing her eyes at his challenge. He does realize that he's talking to her, right? She might as well have left feet for all of her limbs. Nonetheless, she still approaches the branch as she is used to not backing down from him. And she did want to at least to get some good photos for him. When she got in arm's reach of the branch, however, she hesitated. The branch was around the height of her chest. She had no idea how to approach this. Some people climbed trees when they were kids. She was not one of those people. She stares at the tree, biting her lips, trying to think how to do this. Having never climbed a tree before, she figures the easiest way is just to pull herself up from the branch. She flings her arms over the branch and tries to give herself a push by jumping a couple of times. It didn't do much for her. She barely made it off the ground. She tries again, this time jump while grabbing on the branch. It seems to work better this time, but she still wasn't able to make it up. She tries a couple more time. She manages to make headway with one of her tries but soon found herself losing her grip. She tries her best to let herself down slowly, but she loses her footing and losing her balance as she let's go of the branch. Flailing her arms she strikes to regain balance, she ends up tripping and landing on her rear. "Ow..." she mutters as winces at the pain, still on the ground. She's lucky that it hasn't rained in a while, so the ground wasn't too muddy.

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel


Skylar half expected him to back down from her dinner offer once she confirmed it, but he didn't. Guess it's set in stone then, he'll be joining her for dinner. That's going to be an experience. Listening to his suggestion, she frowns slightly. She was thinking along the same line as him but was hoping that there could be a faster way to approach this. She sighs, but this isn't too much of a big deal. They're still able to get the experiment fairly quickly. "That was what I was thinking as well," she tells him. "We should do the hotter temperatures first then since they are probably easier compared to the cold ones," she suggests. "It will give us time to start icing down the water for the colder temperatures too since they'll probably take longer." Once, she says this she pushes herself away from the table and moves to the cabinets again. "You can start that. I'll set up the burners," she tells him before raffling through the cabinets again a burner. She finds one fairly quickly and begins to set it up. Somehow through the process, through either carelessness or just a rash movement, she accidentally burns her hand. She hisses as a reaction and quickly pulls away. It was a minor burn, but it still hurt. She shakes her hand from the pain, but at the same time was trying to not make it too much of a deal. She hated when people notice her mistakes. She especially didn't want Nathaniel to notice this. Although, it's not so easy when you're in pain.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: Café || Tagged: Audrey

Michael waits for her to return to her regular self as he is still leaning in close. His smirk drops in surprise when she doesn't and begins to smooth out his collar. He pulls back slightly at the action, mouth slightly agape and wide-eyed. He's little uncomfortable by the touch, but more intrigued by this unfamiliar behaviour from her. He meets her gazes and follows it in both shock and wonder. At her next words, he feels the same panic as before, but more intense. Realizing she did notice what he said beforehand. He watches her with a more tense expression as she plays with the straps of his apron and turning away. Once again, he strays a little behind as he thinks how to tackle this. If she's taking the unexpected route then the regular tactics he uses might not work. He'll have to do the same. He has to be unexpected. But unexpected how? He can't linger on this for too long or else, she'll win. He follows her, not having a complete plan. He hesitates before speaking. "...And what if I am?" he asks, voice oddly seriously and almost a little nervous. "How would you feel about that?" He goes quiet after that. This was definitely an expected route. He didn't even expect himself to say something like that. He has no idea what he wants out of this or why he even went with this in the first place. He tends to not think about his actions, but this is too much even for him.

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Glancing up once from his settings and registering what he saw moments later, Clayton looked up to fully appreciate the scene of Jessie attempting to conquer the branch. He remembers now the monkey bars from their first park meeting, and how much trouble she had with those. She sure missed out on some good childhood trends. Climbing things was his favorite thing as a kid, made him feel acrobatic. At first she's hesitant, contemplative, and he almost offers assistance. But then she's making a go of it, and he just stands back and spectates. The stubbornness she has in the face of his challenges is really quite admirable, in all honesty. She doesn't give up, and she does it on her own. More to be said than a lot of other people. She was fun, if he had to pick a word in the moment. Time spent with her was time he genuinely enjoyed. Surveying her, he tries not to laugh so that she doesn't get discouraged and give up, but it bursts out when she falls. Coughing, trying to temper it down, he paces over to where she's sitting on the ground and stops in front of her. Tripping seemed common place with her, and he wondered if it were just as usual when he wasn't around. He's surprised she isn't covered in perpetual bruises. Or a full body cast. Clearing his throat, Clayton manages to push away the laughter, but there's still an amused smile on his face. He holds out his hand to her so he can help her up, hoping she's not actually hurt. He probably should have given her assistance to begin with. It was pretty entertaining, though. "Want a lift? Or do you need to put some ice on that?" he asks, concern colouring his words despite the cheeky expression on his face.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

An eyebrow raises at her clear disappointment, but he doesn't say anything. He couldn't decide if she was more upset they had the same thoughts, or that she couldn't think of anything better. Either seemed plausible, not wanting to agree too much with the nerd and wanting to prove to have the top idea. Turns out they could agree on a lot, however, if the experiment so far was anything to go by. He was positive it wasn't indicative for anything outside of chemistry, but for the time being, they could work smoothly. He couldn't even imagine how dinner would go down. Probably just awkwardly staring at one another. "On it boss," he says, falling just short of sarcasm as he stands up, too. He heads into the small closet, a hallway type design that has another door into the neighboring classroom. From the freezer he grabs a small bag of ice, and he shuts the door securely behind him when he walks back out. He hears Skylar make a noise and looks over at her. At first he can't tell what happened, nothing seems out of place, but then he sees her shaking her hand. He quickly connects the dots and wordlessly moves to the sink, depositing the ice to the side for now. He rips a sheet of paper towel from the dispenser and runs it under cool water just enough to wet it. Putting too extreme a cold on a burn, things like ice, harmed more than helped. He knew from experience, and getting scolded by a tired nurse. Moving up next to Skylar, he carefully takes the hand she was shaking out and finds the burn, not bothering to ask her permission. He puts the paper towel on it, wiping away a few running drops of water from her hand. "Keep it on for five minutes, or run it under the sink," he instructed, realizing her hand was still in his and letting go. "Do you have any aloe vera or moisturizer in your bag?" Time to put his basic first aid knowledge to use.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ cafe role⇨ the third girl

Happy to have left Michael speechless, Audrey moves to log into the little machine by the door, even though it's a few minutes early. Coworkers were always amusingly thrilled by little reliefs like the precious seconds they got off the end of their shift. Her hand pauses above the buttons as Michael speaks from behind her, the words stealing her breath as she stands there, still. His tone holds such a gravity that doesn't fit their little game, and she's taken by a quiet surprise. What a forward thing to say. After a moment, she lowers her hand, and she turns to face him. Her eyes roam his face, searching. "I..," she trails off, becoming preoccupied with what the right thing is to say. Their conversation had definitely taken a complete left turn somewhere along the way, leaving her to wonder whether joking was appropriate or if honesty was in order. He doesn't seem to be teasing anymore, but she can't speak to the truth of what he was implying. Had she seen him this serious before? More important, how would she feel? The answer was always so clear to her before, so concise and prepared. The attention was not okay, not wanted, not desired in the least. That's what she replied to anyone else who said stuff like this. It didn't feel like the words fit the situation, though, and she didn't want to repeat the rejections she always did. It was different, this time. At last, she speaks with a timidity similar to his, but perhaps more apparent. "I guess... I guess I wouldn't mind all that much." Her teeth catch her lip, and she worries it briefly. "If you are, that is," she adds quietly, letting her eyes fall to the wall further behind him. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to maintain eye contact. Nerves, she realized, recognizing the tightness of her chest.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

Still recovering from her fall, Jessie whips her head towards Clayton as he burst into laughter. She glares him. Did he set her up for this? She didn't think so, but this would be something he would do if this was a few weeks ago. This whole thing reminds her of how he used to treat her and she suddenly feels an anger towards him that she hasn't felt for days. It dissipates a little when he offers a hand toward her. He does seem a little concerned even with his stupid expression, she couldn't be fully angry at him. This was partly her fault too since she could have ask her his help beforehand. So she couldn't blame him entirely. Her angry glare softens into just a slight frown. She's not taking his hand though since she is still a little angry. "I'm fine," she mumbles before looking down. She pushes herself off the ground. Right as she gets back on her feet, she feels a sharp pain through her left ankle. As a reflex, she lessens the weight that was put on that foot but loses her balance instead. She falls towards him, catching herself by holding onto his shoulders. She takes a moment to regain her footing. Once she does, she looks up towards him before realizing how close they are. Her face was inches away and her body was practical press against his. Her face reddens before she apologizes and pulls away. She doesn't let go of him completely though as she still feels her ankles hurting. She would have trouble standing if she didn't hold on to him. She looks towards the source of her pain and sighs. Guess she's not fine after all.

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel


Skylar continues to try to get rid of the pain. She quickly notices that Nathaniel seem to realize what she has done. It was inevitable. With her making so much commotion in a room with just them two. No matter how hard she tries to hide it, it'll still be pretty noticeable. Nonetheless, she still looks away from him, trying to not make a big deal out of this. She peeks at him when he approached her though, unsure of what he was going to do. She turns to him in shock when he suddenly takes her hand. Her first instinct is to pull away but stops when he places the wet paper towel on it. If she's wasn't speechless beforehand, she was definitely speechless when he wipes the excess water off her hand. She stares at her hand in his, barely registering his words. She wasn't used to much gentleness from anyone. She looks up slowly when he lets go. At first, she just stares at him, still surprised by his action before realizing what he asked. She turns away with a slight blush, walking toward the sink. "Uh, yeah. There should be some moisturizer in there," she says quieter than usual, as she turns on the sink and does what he told her. She opts for this option as for some reason she couldn't look at his face for the moment. Realizing what she's doing, she shakes her head to snap herself out of it. "I can deal with this myself. Just...continue setting up what we need," she tells him in a demanding tone. She tries to put her regular confidence in her words, but she still slightly faltered through her sentences.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: Café || Tagged: Audrey

At first, Michael looks towards her directly as he waits for her answer. As time goes on and she continues to form her answer though, he begins losing his confidence and let his gaze drop down to his feet. He was about to tell her to just forget about it when she finally answered. His eye widens in surprise and he slowly looks up again. He was sure that she was going to say the same things that she always did. An odd sense of happiness spread throughout him. He feels his mouth twitch into a smile, a genuine smile. "That...that's good to know," he answers, still quietly. "If I am," he adds like her. And it really is. But now what? Should he continue on with this? This was different from what they usually did. This type of things actually requires thinking. Does he seriously continue this? The first shocking answer that comes to his head was yes. Which is scary since he doesn't do seriously. But maybe he wants to try this time. He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. He can't do this. For reasons. Multiple reasons. They ultimately point to one thing though. He's a coward. He sighs to himself and does to go with the easy route instead. He tries to regain his regular composure as he walks towards her. He pauses for a minute when he is in front of her before clocking in before her. "Hey look, I'm here earlier than you." he teases her, trying his best to maintain his regular tone. "You better here or else you'll be late." He turns and walks out to the front of the store. He does his best to seem normal despite that he's rather disappointed at himself.

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

The expression on Jessie's face helps to sober him up, and he's left with a neutral eye as she refuses his help. Even the benevolent had pride, and he'd literally laughed in the face of hers. He was putting his hand back in his pocket when she trips, but manages to put a steadying hand against her side when she falls onto him. The fall must have been worse than it looked. Officially concerned, Clayton watched her carefully, trying to find pain in her expression. He blinks when she looks up. Finding hints on her face becomes a less necessary task when his brain is overcome by the word 'close.' It wasn't the first time, but he always managed to lose a little usefulness when she came too near. The loss of solid weight against him is somewhat alarming when he realizes he noticed the disappearance more than when it showed up. He lets go of her, bringing his steadying hand back to himself when he thinks her hold is enough to keep her standing. He follows her gaze to her ankle, frowning. "How bad is it?" he asks, not able to see from his angle but not wanting to move when she was using him for balance. Not that it would really matter if he could see, since he didn't have much experience with either sprains or breakage. He hoped she wasn't too bad off, though. "Hospital worthy?"

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

Nathaniel never believed Audrey when she'd told him once that he had a mama bear complex. The look on Skylar's face made him realize she was right. At the first sign of injury he'd moved without thinking. Without even caring who it was. The tone she takes up makes him frown, but ultimately, had he let her suffer he'd be paying the price. Partners and whatnot. He clears his throat, letting his gaze follow Skylar to the sink for perhaps a moment too long. "Okay, well, once the burn's cooled down, put some on. If it still bothers you, you should get it wrapped so it's not agitated." His tone is perhaps a little short, but he's still surprised at himself for taking her hand so casually. Nathaniel turns back around to find that the burner's pretty much all set up, and the ice he needs is back at the sink. Where she's standing. He could die, honestly, but he refrains from throwing his head back and sighing. He stalls by fine tuning the burner, but after a mere ten seconds has to pivot and make his way back to the sink. He only spares Skylar a glance when he steps behind her, reaching for the deposited bag of ice and quickly stepping away. Back at the table, he sets up the cool and cold systems and drops a thermometer in each, adjusting them as needed.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ cafe role⇨ the third girl

Audrey smiles faintly when he speaks, and after a moment of hesitation she looks up at him. He seems to be contemplating something, so she waits quietly, fingers lacing over her stomach. Her hands clench together when he goes to talk, expectant. She doesn't know what she wants to hear, if there's any one right thing for him to say right now. Throughout the conversation, she's become dazed and confused, lightened by her tripled pulse and shallow breaths. It gets worse when he walks closer, knuckles turning white and nails digging into skin. Just slightly, her eyes widen, and she knows she's blushing. What was he doing? Then she blinks, because suddenly he's talking and then he's gone. She's left to gape after him, stuck where she stands. After a moment she scoffs, whirling around to clock in and follow after him out the door. There's a little heaviness to her, something she doesn't want to label disappointment, but she's honestly relieved. That was an action she'd expect out of him. It was normal, safe. As much as she loved a good adrenaline rush, she had priorities to consider. She came up behind Michael, tossing her thumb over her shoulder to signal the employee from last shift to leave. The urge hit her to cuff him in the shoulder, but she thought touching him in any manner may be a bad idea. So she steps to his side and crosses her arms. "Is that how you treat everyone who plays taxi cab for you?" she asks, sending him a dry glance. "By stealing their attendance?" She stepped towards the empty register, logging into it and taking someone's order for a straight black.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

Still holding onto him, Jessie glances back towards him from her ankle with a frown at his questions. She looks back down and shifts her weight slowly to find the answers to that. She tries to wiggle her feet around gently. There was some slight pain, but it didn't seem like it was broke. She didn't think it was in the first plan considering she didn't fall from too high of a place. So, it was probably just a sprain. She tries to shift her weight slowly to see how bad it was. She winces slightly during the process, but it didn't hurt as badly as before. It was probably the shock that emphasized the pain when she first stood up. "It's not too bad. I'm pretty sure it's just a minor sprain," she says as she looks up at him. She would know, she got used to getting sprain every now and then with her clumsiness. She gives him a smile just to reassure him at she was fine. The smile tightens slightly when she realizes how she was feeling beforehand. She forgot about it momentarily with her ankle pulling her attention away. Her annoyance towards him grows back when she remembers. Seeing his concern expression, however, placates her. She sighs to herself, deciding not to linger on that for too long and instead bring them back to what they were doing previously. "I can still probably model for you if you want," she says softly. "You'll just have to help me around and it'll all have to be sitting poses," she adds with a sheepish smile.

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel

Skylar doesn't look towards him as he instructs her on how to deal with her burn. She still listens to him and nods when he finishes, but it's probably not too noticeable. She focuses her gaze on her hands and the water running over it. Almost zoning out until she gets a startle when Nathaniel is suddenly behind her. She tenses up before she glances back at him as he pulls away something besides her, realizing he's just getting the bag of ice. She turns back toward the sink, trying to pretend nothing happened. Once he fully stepped away and is focused on something else, she lets out a small sigh. He's been breaking her composure throughout this experiment. He does regularly too though. Then again, he's really the only one that actually tries to go against her. She does what he told her. Applying the moisturizer and then wrapping it. She can't afford to let this bother her for too long. She walks back to the table to all their equipment are and where he's is setting up the rest. She pauses when she sits back down, deciding on of she should say this or not. "Um, thanks," she says to him awkwardly, not making eye contact, gesturing toward her hand. She clears her throat before she continues speaking. "Is everything ready for the rest of the experiment?" she asks, getting them back on topic.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: Café || Tagged: Audrey

Michael was trying to speed walk away from the backroom without being too noticeable. Just he could get a breather from Audrey and all that just happened. Still mentally hitting him, he has a slightly pained expression on his face. He was trying to force it away though. He manages to do so just as Audrey came up beside him. Her appearance was pushed that he needed to force himself back to his usual self. He's glad that she seems to fine with quickly reverting back to their usual dynamic. He, however, having too many thoughts in his mind, he could only get out a "Yup." at her questions. He says it as brightly as he can and gives her a grin before logging in with the other rarely used register. He doubts that there will be enough customers to need to be used that one today. Which, for once, it was disappointing for him. He needs a distraction. That distraction would usually be teasing Audrey, but currently, he needs a distraction from her. He can't believe he's thinking this, but he actually needs to think and sorts his thoughts. So instead of bothering Audrey, he decides to actual work. Doing mostly clean up and storage would probably be the best since otherwise, he'll probably just be standing next to her all this time. And he knows that as hard as he going to try, he can't act completely normal around her right now. So he starts his shift cleaning up all the tables.