(elsie) tidal waves & hurricanes

[elsie]

She didn’t mind being stuck in this man’s apartment for the evening. She knew she was supposed to be wary of strangers and should be pretty against going into their apartments, especially late at night, in a storm, when no one knew where she was. But Elsie liked to think that she had good intuition. Besides, if Brodie was going to do something terrible to her, she was convinced that it would have happened already. Just because he was grumpy didn’t mean he was a bad person who wanted to kill her and stow her body in his closet for the rest of eternity. It could just mean he was having an off evening.

Elsie didn’t quite believe that his headache was gone, but if he wanted to be a stubborn moose about it, then she would let him wander around in pain. And anyways, she couldn’t force the headache out of him. It could still be there even if she tried. ”Good, I’m glad,” she said, giving him a smile as she walked past him to the kitchen area. She was definitely in love with this apartment loft thing. Her own house looked like it had been taken directly from a magazine. Everything was so pristine and perfect, and her mother cleaned the house obsessively-- it was rather boring. It didn’t feel lived in. This place definitely felt like someone lived here.

She stopped, stood up, and looked at Brodie. ”Did hell just freeze over and pigs fly by the window? I must be going crazy-- I thought I heard a joke coming from you,” she said, playing confused and surprised. She liked him when he was joking more than she liked it when he was grumpy. Much more. ”WonderBread is the food of the Gods, that’s why. Peanut butter sandwiches just taste like crap on any other bready surface,” she said with a nod and returned to her rummaging. Sighing, she shook her head and Brodie and frowned. ”I am most disappointed in you. I’ll have to buy some tea for you. How can you entertain guests if they don’t like booze and you don’t have tea?” Of course, it did occur to her that Brodie didn’t really entertain much company.

Elsie put the two mugs back, closed the cupboard doors, and grabbed the box of cookies she’d managed to find as Brodie finally gave her a little bit of information. Twenty-five? That wasn’t bad at all. She tended to like older men anyways, though she’d never dated one. All the boys her own age were immature and eventually they got on her almost nonexistent nerves. ”Don’t forget you just love taking home strange girls you meet on the bus,” she said with a wink.

She scratched behind Oscar’s ears as Brodie actually spoke more than a few words. The occasion was so rare, she felt she ought to listen. He was letting her take the bed? Elsie almost melted. That was so undeniably sweet of him. See? She knew he wasn’t a bad guy. In fact, that one simple act was enough to prove to her that he was quite the gentleman. ”Or...we could watch a movie,” she suggested as she flopped down onto the sofa and opened the cookies. She patted the couch beside her and Oscar jumped up, curling down beside her, leaving the other side of Elsie free for Brodie to join her. If he didn’t smack his head against the wall first. But Elsie was too awake to bother sleeping.

ATTIRE

[/color]  HERE CREDIT SAM !?  of Confronting the Faceless. Don't remove the credit or I will find you. LYRICS brick by boring brick - paramore NOTES  hungrryyy WORD COUNT 607  [/center][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[mel5]

There was very little Brodie was sure of right now. One thing, though, that he was certain of, was that he needed liquor.
Now.
Brushing past her, he reached into the fridge and plucked out a beer. Not bothering with the bottle opener, he pried the lid off with his hand and immediately took a hardy swallow. Her body hummed happily in response.

She was either extremely stupid to believe his bull about his headache being gone, or she was pitying him. Either way, he didn't care much for it. He would kill for some ibuprofen, but it looked like he had run out. Withdrawal sucked, and he should know better than most. He hadn't really quit anything recently, but the hankerings were still pretty nasty. He really wanted a cigarette, or to pop a couple pills, but had long since stopped both malicious practices. He did, after all, have some self-preservation.
As an overall outward response, he simply grunted.

Brodie couldn't stifle a beleaguered sigh as she poked fun at him. Why had he opened his mouth to begin with? "I didn't crack a joke," He explained calmly, "You just find stupid things amusing." Great. Now he was the elementary school bully, ostracizing the cute underclassmen because he had a crush. Yuck.
For a moment, he managed to wander into her blind spot, so he didn't feel guilty when she remarked on the quality of bready surfaces. God, bready surfaces? Did she live in Candyland? But damn if it wasn't kind of cute... "I don't know about peanut butter, but it makes BLTs damn good." When was the last time he'd had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, anyway? He was always too lazy to actually make the entire sandwich. Usually, he just took the bread and a jar of peanut butter and ate them in intervals.
The idea of tea and it's soothing, feminine ways made him cringe. "Please don't," He murmured, "Besides, you'll probably never be back here ever again so it shouldn't matter."

For a moment, he felt at peace. Brodie honestly did. He could deal with one teenaged girl. One cute, sexy, teenage... girl... Damn it, damn it, damn it. "Yeah, about that?" He turned to her and couldn't help run an uneasy hand through his hair, "Couldn't you like... text your parents? Let them know that you're going to be gone for the night?" And there came those damn nerves again. For a guy to claimed to be cool, he felt like a live-wire. "I don't want some damn psycho dad shooting my door down thinking I took advantage of his kid." Brodie purposely used the word 'kid' to place distance between Elsie and himself. She was at least seven years younger than him. Maybe more. His brain was working in ways it should most definitely not be working in when dealing with kids, and he needed to get his damn body to realize that she wasn't some willing woman. She was just a kid.

But damn it all if she didn't look like a woman.

Elsie seemed to be making herself right at home in his humble little loft. So much so that she was going to raid his TV. And, well, he was a twenty-five year old man. There were a few programs on his TiVo that he'd rather her not catch sight of.
Seeing as he had few options if he wanted to keep his porn cache safe, he begrudgingly joined her on the couch. "Alright. What to do you want to watch?" Promptly, he removed the remote from between them, giving her no option but to ask him to find a specific movie instead of looking for it herself.

[elsie]

Elsie blinked. She knew he was grumpy, but wasn’t that even just quite a bit mean? She stared at him for a moment, not quite sure how to respond. She could deal perfectly well with grumpy people or those who weren’t the most chipper, but when people were just plain old mean, Elsie tended to walk away from them. But she didn’t want to walk away from Brodie, but she didn’t want to stand there if he was going to be a jerk tomorrow. She was conflicted. ”At least I’m not the one saying the stupid things to begin with,” she countered back, flatly a first, before cracking a smirk.

”You know, I’ve never had a BLT before,” she remarked. Not that Brodie particularly cared, that was for certain, but she felt like stating it out loud. ”I’m more of a grilled cheese type girl.” She loved grilled cheese. Hell, if she wasn’t half worried that Brodie would yell at her for it, she’d probably have gone and checked to see if he had cheese and butter to make one.

Instead of replying, she merely gave him a smile. She fully intended on coming back here, whether he wanted her there or not. That was really his downfall of the evening: taking her into his place of residence. Had he taken her somewhere else, he would be able to live his life without her. Now she was going to bother him until she gave up or until he gave up.

Elsie laughed and looked at him like he was just the darndest thing. ”My parents are out of town for the weekend,” she informed him. Her laughing only grew moreso at the idea of her father shooting down a door. Yeah, that definitely wasn’t in the nature of Mr. Porter, not in the slightest. ”First of all, my father would more likely lecture someone instead of throwing a punch, and second of all, I’m not a kid. I’ll be nineteen in less than a month,” she informed him with dignity. She hated when people referred to her as a kid. She’d have graduated high school by now if she hadn’t spent 8 months building houses and digging wells.

She could vote, she could drive, she could drink in Canada, she could have sex, get married, have a kid, buy a house; she could do it all. Kids couldn’t do that. ”And even if they were home, like I said, I’m not a kid and don’t need to check in with them every five minutes,” she shrugged. Sure, if they were home she probably would send them a text to let her know where she was because she wouldn’t want them to worry, but if she told Brodie that, it would only work in his favour with the ‘kid’ point. ”And besides, maybe I’ll be the one taking advantage of you,” she said with a wink.

She was flirtatious, yes, but nothing ever really came from her flirtations. She’d had a few boyfriends, but she was certainly no skank. Most of the time she was just flirting to make boys blush, or in Brodie’s case, bother them slightly.

Smiling happily when he joined her, she shrugged her shoulders once more and gave it a moment of thought. ”The Notebook,” she replied with a nod. Boys hated that movie, she knew for certain, but she loved it even though it made her miserably depressed. She munched on cookies with one hand and pet the dog with the other, and rested her feet on the coffee table, her legs crossed over one another so if someone walked in front of her, she didn’t flash them. ”Oreo?” she asked, holding the pack to him.

ATTIRE

[/color]  HERE CREDIT SAM !?  of Confronting the Faceless. Don't remove the credit or I will find you. LYRICS brick by boring brick - paramore NOTES  hungrryyy WORD COUNT 640  [/center][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[mel5]

Placing his beer on the counter, he turned and looked at her. "Says the girl who followed a complete stranger into his own home. Yep, I am clearly the idiot here." He wasn't impressed by her innocent remarks or cute mannerisms. In fact, he wanted nothing to do with any of it. She was one of those good people. The kind that would see St. Peter and get let into heaven. The kind who probably said hello to everyone they passed by on the street. The kind that he wasn't supposed to associate with, ever.
At the same time, he felt a little bad about being a douche, but what else could he do? He wanted her to leave as soon as possible. Being hospitable and kind wouldn't foster a speedy departure. If he smiled at her or fished out the damned tea he probably had somewhere in the back of his cabinets, she might come back. And then he was screwed.

Staring at her dumbly, he said, "You've never had a BLT?" That was like... not living. Not breathing. It was a crime against humanity!
... It also wasn't his job to do anything about it. Still, if he wasn't going to get her one, who would? But then again, he owned no bacon. Or tomatoes. Or lettuce. Or mayo. It'd be a sad sandwich with out those. "Well... eat one soon. Order one from DQ or something."

Brodie didn't like the suggestive, and rather playful smile she made at him when he told her she wasn't coming back. She wasn't, damn it. She could knock on his door for hours. He'd just watch his porn, drink his coffee and be a man.

So he had no good defense against her now, apparently. Her parent's weren't in town (though she could be lying) and she was technically an adult (though she could be lying). He didn't care so much about the parents thing, but if she was really almost nineteen, he wanted to know. "Prove it," he said. If she was really that old... God help him.

The idea of little Elsie Porter taking advantage of him was laughable. In fact, it was so laughable, he almost spit out his beer. "Yeah, okay, princess," He said grinning and shaking his head. When his chuckle fit subsided her swallowed another pull from his beer bottle. Then he began chuckling again. "Her, taking advantage of me... That's gold..." Another laugh and another pull from his beer later and he'd settled back into his stony-faced silence. She wasn't supposed to know that he could laugh. So much for that.

As they settled in on the couch, he tried not to think of the many illicit acts that sofa had played a part in. Even if he was a bit of a loner, Brodie knew his way around a woman's panties. The sofa was his hub for sex. No girls made it to the bed. Not. One. Now, sitting here, all he could do was picture himself, Elsie, and the damned couch. It didn't help that she was legal. But he wasn't some monster-- just because she was surprisingly sexy and refreshing did not mean he was going to jump her bones. No fucking way.
The moment she said The Notebook, he groaned. "You're fucking kidding, right? The Notebook? Can't we watch something moderately manly? I'd rather watch a damn animal documentary over that piece of crap." He complained, sinking further into his couch like a pouting toddler. When he realized she wasn't budging, he sighed and found the movie. "No, I don't want your stupid cookie." Since when had he become a little kid? Damned girl...

[elsie]

Elsie blinked at him. Brodie somehow had managed to migrate from the continent of Grumpy to the universe of Just Plain Mean. She could forgive grumpiness but when he insulted her intelligence in such a manner, she wasn’t going to stand for it. She had many a people treat her like a blonde bimbo despite the fact that only half of that statement was correct, but she certainly wasn’t going to tolerate it from this uptight stick in the mud. ”I never said anything about you being an idiot, and I’d appreciate if you didn’t insinuate that I am one,” she said, her light humour gone from her voice as she stared at him, strong and confident in her words.

Luckily for him-- or unlikely, as he might have seen it-- his surly nature hadn’t thrown her off her game yet. Besides, it was storming shits out there and she wasn’t going to venture out in that weather, no matter how much of a meanie he was going to be. Elsie shrugged and tossed a tennis ball that she found on the floor, and watched as Oscar slowly trotted over to retrieve. ”I don’t like bacon,” she said, as if that was enough to explain it. It was, wasn’t it? ”Then it would just be an LT. It just wouldn’t be the same,” she sighed. Poor BLTs. They would never make it in Elsie’s belly.

Elsie rolled her eyes but went to get her purse from the counter. She dug around for a minute, attempting to locate her small wallet in the over-cluttered handbag, and eventually pulled it out. From that, she withdrew both her health card and her learner’s permit. ”Here,” she said, handing them over to him with an exaggerated sigh. ”And before you go on about how I don’t even have my full driver’s license, stop yourself. I don’t have my full license because I don’t like to drive. It pollutes the environment and encourages laziness. I bike or walk pretty much everywhere. I only got the permit in case something happened to my parents or my brother, and it was absolutely necessary that I could get them to a hospital or what have you safely,” she said her case.

She raised an eyebrow at his disbelief. ”You really think there’s not a single situation in the world in which I could take advantage of you?” she questioned. ”Especially when wearing nothing but a t-shirt and panties?” He was probably going to say that there was not a chance in hell, but while she may of been a virgin she wasn’t an idiot. He was a man. She was an attractive young woman. As long as he was into women, she was fully confident that she could seduce him if she really tried. ”Though I must admit it’s refreshing to know that you do find humour somewhere in this world,” she said with a small grin.

Elsie munched on a cookie and tried to ignore the sad puppy dog eyes Oscar was currently swaying her with in attempts to win an Oreo. ”Oreos aren’t for doggies,” she said to the dog as Brodie groaned on about The Notebook. Yeah. That was pretty much the same reaction she got from all guys she tried to make watch it with her. The only difference was, no one of the male species had ever agreed to it like Brodie had. She hid her surprise by smiling victoriously and snuggling into the couch. ”Very mature,” she scolded and took the cookie for herself. ”But more for me,” she muttered happily. She was thin. There was no denying this. She ate extremely healthy 90% of the time. The other 10%? Well, it often involved evenings like this when she fully intended on finishing the entire package of Oreos whether Brodie was going to help or not.

As the movie went on and on, Elsie munched her way through the cookies and a wide range of emotions. There were parts where Elsie merely sat there, sobbing to herself-- Goddamn, that movie was sad-- but by the very, very end of it, she had nodded off to sleep. The empty Oreo bag rested on a snoozing Oscar’s head, while Elsie’s own head had dropped to rest on Brodie’s shoulder. At least she didn’t snore.

ATTIRE

[/color]  HERE CREDIT SAM !?  of Confronting the Faceless. Don't remove the credit or I will find you. LYRICS brick by boring brick - paramore NOTES  hungrryyy WORD COUNT 744  [/center][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[mel5]

Brodie knew he crossed a lineby calling her in idiot, but that didn't change anything. She wasn't going to stick that porcelain chin out at him and get a smidgen of remorse. Brodie didn't deal in that business. Apologies and comfort wasn't his game, and he wasn't about to change just yet. "Newflash; I'm an asshole. Have been since the moment you met me. Don't get any delusions about me being nice." She'd do well to remember he wasn't some nice, sweetheart type fellow. He'd done drugs. He'd broken the law. He wasn't some sensitive lost soul that she probably imagined him to be. Gross.

Staring at her for a moment, all he could do was murmur to himself, "She doesn't like bacon. Who doesn't like bacon?" Then, to Elsie, he said, "Are you one of those vegetarian types?" Noticing that she was enjoying herself playing with Oscar, he whistled one short, loud note and the dog immediately flew to his side, the tennis ball barely kept inside his mouth. "Good boy. You know your loyalties."

While Elsie retrieved her information, he had to avert his eyes in order to prevent them from spending too much time memorizing her long, pale legs. He'd always been a sucker for nice legs.
When she showed him her permit and papers, he had to bend slightly to be level with them. She was damned short. "Well, I'll be." He barked a laugh, "She's really eighteen, Oscar. Here I was, thinking she was just a little kid." Patting his dog on the head, he straightened, and turned his attention to fiddling with some of the crap he'd dumped on the kitchen counter. His apartment keys, et cetra. Anything to give her the impression that her age left him unfazed.

Nodding honestly, he said, "Yes, I honestly believe there isn't one situation in which you could take advantage of me." Oh, buddy, he was going to hell for that lie, "Try it, and you'll end up on your ass in my hallway." The threat was as hollow as god knows what. Sure, he was a dick, but he wasn't cruel. If she tried anything and he was able to keep a level head, he'd just lock her in the bathroom, or something.
Humor? Oh, lords, he found plenty of things hilarious. His father's face whenever he bailed Brodie out of jail. Watching his dog chase his ball into a wall. Eating Wonder Bread. "I find humor all over the place. Just not here." He meant the general situation, of course.

The movie passed slowly, Brodie mostly absorbed in watching the clock above the TV tick. He had been honest when he said he'd rather watch an animal documentary over The Notebook. Chances were, if Elsie wasn't there, that would be exactly what he would be doing. Animal Planet was having a special on aquatic life forms this week and damn it, he was missing it. So much for expanding his knowledge on fish.
After the movie ended, he came out of his half trance-like state of boredom to find Elsie resting on his shoulder, thoroughly asleep. Sighing initially, he took that moment to simply rest his head against hers and murmur, "You're one odd girl." And then, with an unpracticed gentleness, he maneuvered her into his arms and carried her to the bed across the loft apartment. Once he'd settled her onto the king-sized mattress, her lithe body encased by his large black comforter and his decently fresh white sheets, he returned to the couch and after what felt like hours, finally fell asleep.