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Post by Pietro Maximoff on Aug 21, 2008 13:12:03 GMT -5
"It's good to have passion," ::Pietro said, before taking a long drink of his vodka. He believed that wholeheartedly, even if it echoed what Samson had told him, as a criticism of his own avolitional lifestyle.::
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Post by Aqua on Aug 21, 2008 13:18:39 GMT -5
"As long as it doesn't turn into a fixation of some kind," Emily said. "I used to bury myself in studies and training to escape thinking about some situations and eventually losing hopes of solving them. So it's a double-edged sword." She looked at Pietro, taking in all his features one by one. She had missed him, even though it, too, was something she was trying to escape.
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Post by Pietro Maximoff on Aug 21, 2008 13:24:31 GMT -5
::Pietro set down the bottle of vodka, but his hand remained around it. He nodded once, a means of conveying his understanding, the need to purge oneself.:: "Try a semester, see what happens."
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Post by Aqua on Aug 21, 2008 13:27:25 GMT -5
Emily nodded, then sipped some of her cocktail and set the glass back down on the table. "I plan to," she said. "This is really good," she added, commenting on the drink. "Thank you."
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Post by Pietro Maximoff on Aug 21, 2008 13:28:29 GMT -5
"You're welcome," ::Pietro had remembered she'd liked it the last time, which was all of the reason he needed to buy it for her this time.::
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Post by Aqua on Aug 21, 2008 13:33:43 GMT -5
"So, um..." Emily glanced at the drink, then back at him again. "What have you been doing all these months?" she asked, knowing she'd have to say it sooner or later but just not having much courage yet.
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Post by Pietro Maximoff on Aug 21, 2008 13:40:50 GMT -5
::That was a question, which only once again caused Pietro to think of his sessions with Samson, where the psychiatrist pointed out that he could accomplish anything in the amount of time that had passed, and yet he had done so little. Avolition. Well, he had showed the other man; after all, Pietro was signed up for the New York Police Department entrance exam. And he understood the irony of doing this from spite, but thought nothing of it. So much of his past involved spite.
It had been a long seven months, during which he had acted mainly as support. Support for Wanda, support for Rossignol. Then had come the fights with Magneto, several of them, and finally the trip to Italy. What a crushing experience that had been. His eyes sought hers, as he was unafraid of the answers, although not proud either.:: "I have done my security duties, helped the X-Men a bit. Fought Magneto."
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Post by Aqua on Aug 21, 2008 13:51:59 GMT -5
"Oh..." Emily said, her little smile fading. What little she knew about Magneto, made an impression on her anyway. "My... I hope everything is all right with you." She leaned forward, propping her forehead on her hand. "I wanted to call you. I really did. But I... I couldn't."
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Post by Pietro Maximoff on Aug 21, 2008 13:55:37 GMT -5
::Pietro was doing far better than he had been, the previous month, and was secretly glad that she had not seen him at what he considered to be his low point. Nobody need bear witness to that, particularly not Emily. With their complication relationship, and her own self-image problems. And for once, he could say these words and mean them wholly.:: "I'm fine."
::Not splendid, but fine, which was how he strove to live his life. With her other words, the profession of a desire to call, and yet never doing so, he grew more concerned. His question could be interpreted multiple ways, why had she wanted to call, or why had she not been able to?:: "Why?"
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Post by Aqua on Aug 21, 2008 14:00:12 GMT -5
"Well, I don't know," Emily made a helpless gesture. She kept looking at the table. "I would dial your number, look at it, and then switch it off again."
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Post by Pietro Maximoff on Aug 21, 2008 14:02:25 GMT -5
::That sounded to Pietro like self-doubt, fear of doing something because of not knowing the consequences. She was so similar to his own childhood in that way.:: "I'm not leaving there, so if you need to call, I will be only a few minutes away."
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Post by Aqua on Aug 21, 2008 14:13:06 GMT -5
Emily looked at her glass, running her nail up along its side. She glanced at Pietro. It looked like her confession hadn't ended so catastrophically as she had thought it would. "True, but how will this work if I'm afraid to even press the dial button?"
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Post by Pietro Maximoff on Aug 21, 2008 14:15:09 GMT -5
"We are talking now," ::Pietro pointed out to her. Long periods of silence made it harder to speak to another person. This was a restart.:: "It would not be months gone next time."
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Post by Aqua on Aug 21, 2008 14:19:29 GMT -5
Emily thought about it, still looking at him. She remembered how she wanted to call a few times - spending an hour thinking what she would say to him, then gathering courage to dial his number, then spending another hour walking around with the digits ready, flashing at her mockingly from the phone screen, as she would once again think what she would say and how, feeling how the words died in her throat, suffocated before they were even born. Months, days... would it matter?
"I feel stupid," she admitted finally. "But I do hope you're right."
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Post by Pietro Maximoff on Aug 21, 2008 14:21:42 GMT -5
"You aren't stupid," ::The words left Pietro's lips harsher than he intended them to be. But the anger was not directed at her; it was a demon from his own past. How he had been thought damaged because of his mutant gift. Emily had intelligence, even if she was shy and naive, which clouded it from her view. She had to realize that.::
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