[Oren doesn't continue at first, opting to pull out two paper plates and setting aside a third piled high with red pepper flakes and powdered parmesan packets. And then he opens up the first pizza box to serve a large slice of cheese to Gale.
His silence is deliberate, not because he doesn't want to reply, but because he's the type of man who's slow to speak and takes time and consideration for his mostly short statements.]
No one was wrong here.
I think you couldn't help yourself. And I think she's just confused.
Confessing love after she cried over someone she was sad about hurting just yesterday is a questionable move.
[wow this is the most oren has ever spoken to gale]
Like I said. Couldn't help yourself. In deeper than you thought.
[He serves himself a slice from another box (jalapenos, pepperoni, sausage, and red onion), but doesn't take a bite from it yet. Oren remains standing across from Gale and looking at him as if expecting him to take the first bite.]
Why though? She's a pain in the ass.
[Though his exact relationship with Berna has been left in the air, there's no doubt that they are of the same mind on several topics, including their opinion on Amelia's fluctuating emotional maturity.]
[After another soft grumble of assent, Gale reaches for his own slice and lifts it to take a bite, pausing midway as Oren's follow-up remark takes him by surprised.
Rather blunt, isn't he?
Though he raises an eyebrow in response to start, he does take a bite of his pizza and chews thoughtfully before swallowing and giving his answer.]
It's— difficult to say, if only because it feels somewhat reductive to do so.
[But not because he doesn't know why. He does, and he's almost certain Amelia knows why, too. Why both of them had decided to push past that initial awkwardness to become friends, and why they had kept themselves in enough denial to remain so.]
Have you ever met someone that you feel as though you simply fit with? Everything comes easily, almost frighteningly so.
[He thinks back to that first night, when he had recognized loneliness in her and offered up his own. It was only supposed to be for one evening, but now that they knew one another better, now that he knew her— it seemed a terrible waste that either of them should feel lonely when her company made him feel the way it did.]
[He makes a sound, neither agreeing or disagreeing. His fingers take hold of several red pepper flake packets and he rips them open one by one.]
You're a romantic at heart then.
[But Oren understands to an extent. Amelia wouldn't go out of her way to befriend someone that wouldn't share some traits both on and under the surface.
He said nothing on the morning he picked her up from Gale's apartment building and had assumed the same thing they all had; it was just the one time and nothing more.
But here they are months later sharing sadness pizza. Funny how life works.]
[Gale lets out a mirthless chuckle as he helps himself to another bite, a weak smile tugging at one corner of his mouth.]
I suppose I am, for better or for worse.
[Which it was tended to depend on who you asked, but even after all he'd been through, despite his best efforts, he had been unable to curb that part of his nature. He doesn't know that he wants to.
He pauses before giving a careful nod in response to Oren's assessment, his brow furrowed.]
It's not only that, but... no, I don't. I don't believe she wants to be, either.
[But some part of her believes she has to be, or deserves to be, he thinks. He understands that better now, after what she had shared with him yesterday.]
[Don't mind Oren as he covers his slice in red pepper flakes to the point where it's covering up the actual toppings...]
Prideful. But also hard on herself. Strong in some ways, weak in others.
So, like a person.
[wow insightful
But Oren's point, it seems, is that Amelia's fastidiousness and stubbornness to be independent has shaped her into a person who is reluctant to be taken care of. Whatever happened between her and Gale was an indulgence she allowed herself, a moment of weakness she hadn't predicted would have spiraled into this.]
[Despite his own focus on the topic at hand, Gale does stop to let his gaze linger on Oren's red pepper flake masterpiece for a few moments.
Clearly, this man is built remarkably different.
Gale exhales, giving the other man a rueful look.]
I hadn't quite gone to that extreme, but the reassurance is nice all the same.
[Amelia doesn't hate him, but whatever was between them was complicated, as was her history— as was his own. He imagines there are a great number of conflicting feelings involved, confusion not the least of them.]
I know that she believes things need to be a certain way. She's determined to do everything on her own. Quite stubborn, as well, though I'm sure I don't need to tell you.
It sounds like you've dealt with your share of Amelia upset.
[Of course, who would know her better than her friends? From what Amelia herself has told him, Berna and Oren have both been a part of her life for a long, long time.]
I don't think of it as trouble.
[Perhaps a personal failing, given what he had allowed himself to endure in the past, though that had been without knowing. This, though challenging, doesn't feel like trouble. Perhaps because he's sure he's right, at least about some of it. He had said, in the heat of the moment, that he must have misread, but he hadn't believed it.]
It isn't all up to me, though. What she wants— whether or not I agree with it, I have to respect it.
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sunfloras2024-01-21 09:17 pm
no subject
[Oren doesn't continue at first, opting to pull out two paper plates and setting aside a third piled high with red pepper flakes and powdered parmesan packets. And then he opens up the first pizza box to serve a large slice of cheese to Gale.
His silence is deliberate, not because he doesn't want to reply, but because he's the type of man who's slow to speak and takes time and consideration for his mostly short statements.]
No one was wrong here.
I think you couldn't help yourself. And I think she's just confused.
Confessing love after she cried over someone she was sad about hurting just yesterday is a questionable move.
[wow this is the most oren has ever spoken to gale]
no subject
Of course, the professor agrees with him, letting out a soft, miserable noise of assent as he accepts the pizza he's served.]
Mmn.
[He slumps forward against the counter to lean on one elbow as he draws the paper plate closer to him with one finger.]
I don't disagree. I'm sure it will come as no surprise when I say that was not planned by any stretch. It just—
[It had just come out in a heated moment. Oren was right, he couldn't help himself.
He sighs. That, he truly wishes he had done differently.]
I don't quite know how we got there.
no subject
[He serves himself a slice from another box (jalapenos, pepperoni, sausage, and red onion), but doesn't take a bite from it yet. Oren remains standing across from Gale and looking at him as if expecting him to take the first bite.]
Why though? She's a pain in the ass.
[Though his exact relationship with Berna has been left in the air, there's no doubt that they are of the same mind on several topics, including their opinion on Amelia's fluctuating emotional maturity.]
no subject
Rather blunt, isn't he?
Though he raises an eyebrow in response to start, he does take a bite of his pizza and chews thoughtfully before swallowing and giving his answer.]
It's— difficult to say, if only because it feels somewhat reductive to do so.
[But not because he doesn't know why. He does, and he's almost certain Amelia knows why, too. Why both of them had decided to push past that initial awkwardness to become friends, and why they had kept themselves in enough denial to remain so.]
Have you ever met someone that you feel as though you simply fit with? Everything comes easily, almost frighteningly so.
[He thinks back to that first night, when he had recognized loneliness in her and offered up his own. It was only supposed to be for one evening, but now that they knew one another better, now that he knew her— it seemed a terrible waste that either of them should feel lonely when her company made him feel the way it did.]
no subject
[He makes a sound, neither agreeing or disagreeing. His fingers take hold of several red pepper flake packets and he rips them open one by one.]
You're a romantic at heart then.
[But Oren understands to an extent. Amelia wouldn't go out of her way to befriend someone that wouldn't share some traits both on and under the surface.
He said nothing on the morning he picked her up from Gale's apartment building and had assumed the same thing they all had; it was just the one time and nothing more.
But here they are months later sharing sadness pizza. Funny how life works.]
You don't want her to be alone.
no subject
I suppose I am, for better or for worse.
[Which it was tended to depend on who you asked, but even after all he'd been through, despite his best efforts, he had been unable to curb that part of his nature. He doesn't know that he wants to.
He pauses before giving a careful nod in response to Oren's assessment, his brow furrowed.]
It's not only that, but... no, I don't. I don't believe she wants to be, either.
[But some part of her believes she has to be, or deserves to be, he thinks. He understands that better now, after what she had shared with him yesterday.]
no subject
[Don't mind Oren as he covers his slice in red pepper flakes to the point where it's covering up the actual toppings...]
Prideful. But also hard on herself. Strong in some ways, weak in others.
So, like a person.
[wow insightful
But Oren's point, it seems, is that Amelia's fastidiousness and stubbornness to be independent has shaped her into a person who is reluctant to be taken care of. Whatever happened between her and Gale was an indulgence she allowed herself, a moment of weakness she hadn't predicted would have spiraled into this.]
She doesn't hate you.
no subject
Clearly, this man is built remarkably different.
Gale exhales, giving the other man a rueful look.]
I hadn't quite gone to that extreme, but the reassurance is nice all the same.
[Amelia doesn't hate him, but whatever was between them was complicated, as was her history— as was his own. He imagines there are a great number of conflicting feelings involved, confusion not the least of them.]
I know that she believes things need to be a certain way. She's determined to do everything on her own. Quite stubborn, as well, though I'm sure I don't need to tell you.
no subject
But don't mind him and his red pepper flake pizza. He's helping an astrophysicist with romance cope.]
She'll need space. Time. It will feel like she hates you. Moody like wildcat.
After that, up to you. Decide if the trouble is worth it or not.
no subject
[Of course, who would know her better than her friends? From what Amelia herself has told him, Berna and Oren have both been a part of her life for a long, long time.]
I don't think of it as trouble.
[Perhaps a personal failing, given what he had allowed himself to endure in the past, though that had been without knowing. This, though challenging, doesn't feel like trouble. Perhaps because he's sure he's right, at least about some of it. He had said, in the heat of the moment, that he must have misread, but he hadn't believed it.]
It isn't all up to me, though. What she wants— whether or not I agree with it, I have to respect it.
[Even if she continues to choose denial.]