» YOU'RE TOXIC, I'M SLIPPING UNDER //

[thalia]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | BETH AS FLETCH | THIS WAS FASTER THAN I THOUGHT This was ridiculous. It had almost been a week since Thalia had even seen Fletcher again, but she still couldn't stop thinking about him: it was worse than ever. She had been distracted the entire time during meeting her newest client, who's name she would have remembered any other time, but now she couldn't even decide whether it was Callie or Carrie. Thalia was never this distracted. She was always focused, nothing threw her off her game. Nothing but her ex boyfriend, it seemed. She had never forgotten a bride's name before. She was always the epitome of distinguished, but she just felt dischiveled. And she felt really bad for that poor to-be-bride, being the first one Thalia had ever forgotten's name. She was a jumbled mess, but she still managed to get the job, so she guessed she couldn't have been too horrifying. But Thalia still couldn't believe herself. She was acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. This had to be stopped, it really did. And the beach was somewhere she usually went to clear her thoughts. Ever since she was a little girl, it seemed to calm her down. It did help a little with this problem, but it seemed the only thing that made it better was going home and binging on ice cream and Audrey Hepburn. But she still couldn't resist the beach on such a nice day. She had already had her swim in the water and she was now sitting on her towel, her legs up and her arms around her knees, her shirt unbuttoned and her shorts and shoes laying carelessly beside her, and her hair pulled up as always in a much messier (and damper, she usually didn't drip) than usual bun. She couldn't stop analyzing every word that he had said to her. Had he been someone she hadn't known as well as him and he'd told her he was engaged, she would have left the conversation abruptly after half of what he said to her. But it was Fletcher. Thalia had barely been able to resist him in high school, let alone now. And he had started it.. Though, she'd finished it with a bang, hadn't she? The stupidest thing she could have done, and she did it. Had there not been a wedding the very next day, Thalia probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed for the next week or two. And why had she said it, after they had been getting along so very well? She had absolutely, positively, no clue. Sure, she had been trying to get away from him, wouldn't that be the natural response for anyone after having found out the man you were still in love with was getting married? But she handled it so .. uneloquently. She just wanted to curl up in a corner somewhere and just die. And could you blame her? She was positively mortified with herself, someone she usually could depend on if no one else. She'd blown it. Maybe for good, this time.

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[fletcher]

Fletcher hadn’t been able to get his past interaction with Thalia out of his head. He’d missed her for quite some time, and their interaction in the ice cream aisle wasn’t quite how he imagined their reunion. To be quite honest, he thought that his first visit home would have been the rekindling of their relationship. Wherever he was going, he thought that if he ever did decide to come home, to get married, and to more or less settle down, that Thalia would be there, willing to take him back with open arms. He was the one that broke up with her, yes, and he was the one that left, yes, but it didn’t necessarily mean that he wanted to leave her behind in Capeside.

What Fletcher had wanted was for her to come with him. There had been no one else that he wanted to see the world with. He’d hung around town while she finished up high school and thought that once she graduated, she’d be willing to go with him. But after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, she graduated and he found that she didn’t want to leave Capeside. So, although it was a nearly impossible decision for him, he left. He knew that if he had made the decision to stay there, he would have later to come to resent Thalia. That was the last thing he wanted. So over the past five years he sated his curiosity, at least for short bursts of time, and got to do what he’d always wanted.

It just so happened that he fell in love with a woman, one who wasn’t Thalia. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. When he looked into the future, it was almost as if he couldn’t see the life that he and Callie would have. He didn’t put too much thought to that, however, as whenever he looked at anything he had a hard time thinking of what might happen. He lived in the present and didn’t like to think about the past or the future. And that was why as he adventured his way over to the beach, he didn’t think about their interaction at the grocery store and her words that wounded him. Instead, he found himself grinning broadly as he strutted on over to Thalia. If there was one thing that Fletcher possessed in the world, it was confidence.

He plopped himself down on the sand, not caring if he got a tiny bit of sand in his shorts. It was just sand; he’d dealt with far worse when rolling around the floor of the rainforest, attempting to dodge the venoms bites of a snake he’d accidentally upset. ”Hello, sunshine,” he said cheerfully, giving her a bright smile as he poked her in the ribs. ”My, my, you need to eat more. I can feel your bones. You better take me up on that bagel offer. It’ll give you some padding,” he teased and told her with a firm nod.

word count: 510 - tagged: thalia - notes: nom nom nom outfit: shorts & t-shirt

[thalia]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | BETH AS FLETCH | (: Thalia looked up in surprise as a shadow fell over her, her expression growing only more shocked when she recognized the shadow to be Fletcher's. What was he doing? And then he reached over and actually poked her in the ribs, making her jump and flinch away. "What?" She murmured, her eyebrows knitted together as he greeted her.  She honestly had no idea what he thought he was doing. Could he have honestly forgotten about the grocery store incident, or was he just pretending it never happened? Because.. it had. It wasn't fair that Thalia was left worrying about it for so long and he just pretended like it didn't happen. "I don't really see why you'd be feeling me anyway." She said, and then paused, blushing as she realized how that sounded when she said it out loud. "You know what,  I'm not even gonna go there." She shook her head. "What are you doing here, Fletcher?" Which was a simple enough question. Of course, the beach was open to the public, anyone could come and go as she pleased, but that was not what Thalia was talking about. Thalia was asking why he was here with her instead of with his fiancée. Was she here? Oh, please, Thalia didn't want her to be there, she didn't want to meet her, she didn't want anything to do with her. But Fletcher obviously hadn't forgotten their re-meeting or else he wouldn't be bringing up the bagels. If she'd just agree to the bagels, would he drop it, or would there be something else that he would want her to do? This was cruel and unusual torture. She couldn't figure out what he really wanted from her, and it was killing her. Maybe that was what he wanted, though. Probably not, knowing him, but it certainly felt like it right now at least. She just stared at him with an unreadable expression, trying to figure out his angle.  It was a sad day when even Thalia thought you had an angle. She did not often think of things like that, honestly. She liked to think of the best in people. Not angles. But it was hard not to with particular situation. She shook her head and stood up, bending over to pick up her pants and then slipped them on, and then she raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "Come on, get your fat behind up. Bagel time." Then, and only then, did she crack a smile, wiggling said eyebrows. As if Fletcher would ever allow himself to get fat. But no one would get away with calling Thalia skinny.  She much preferred thinking of herself as healthy. Weight was once something she was obsessed with, but not anymore. She'd decided as long as she was healthy and happy with her own body, everyone else could suck it up. Even though it was still a bit of a compliment to be thought of as skinny. She snatched up the rest of her belongings then, holding out her hand as if to help him up.

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[fletcher]

Fletcher laughed to himself when she jumped. Silly woman, did she not know that her reaction only made him want to bother her more? Some people never learned but that only made it more amusing for Fletcher. He was a simple guy and the simplest things amused him. Unfortunately for Thalia, that just meant she really did have her own personal poker. ”You. You’re very skinny,” he said with a nod in response to her question. ”Though I suppose women like to hear that, don’t they? Huh. Confusing creatures you are. Did you know that in one place I visited, women sit in huts and drink milk before their wedding? Yup, they just sit in their huts all day and night, drinking this milk which, believe me, is not like the milk we get, all so that they can gain a lot of weight to be fat on their wedding day?” he said, spurting off random, pretty much useless, trivia.

Fletcher grinned and was about to answer her statement when she stopped him. ”Darn, I was going to have fun with that one, too,” he said with a mischievous grin and a wink. He shrugged and looked out across the water. ”I don’t know. Got bored. Callie’s off looking at silverware or something. I love her and all, but looking at knives and forks for two hours followed by staring at floral arrangements for another two is just not something that I will ever take part in. Then I saw you here, all alone, and decided you needed to be bothered. Was I right? Were you in desperate need of being bothered? Oh Thals, please tell me you were so that I can be your knight in shining armour,” he said dramatically.

While it was true that Fletcher remembered their last meeting, he believed that they knew each other well enough to get past a silly little spat, or he at least hoped it was the case. Weren’t there more important things in the world to be bothered by? He thought so. But his mind always seemed to be somewhere that other peoples’ minds didn’t feel like going. It just made him an odd little duck, that was all.

Despite his upcoming nuptials, he couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting along Thalia’s lean legs. Damn. She really grew into her body well, hadn’t she? ”Fat?” he asked, his eyes filled with sorrow and despair as he allowed himself to be pulled up by the blonde. ”Here I thought these shorts made me look so trim. I’m wounded, Thals, I hope you know that,” he said, clearly joking. He ended up smiling cheerfully; he was pleased she wasn’t avoiding him like he worried she might. ”Now I haven’t done any investigation yet. Is that little cafe on the corner of Seventh and Brooks still there? They always had the best Asiago cheese bagels,” he said, his tummy grumbled appreciatively in response.

word count: 504 - tagged: thalia - notes: nom nom nom outfit: shorts & t-shirt

[thalia]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | BETH AS FLETCH | (:  Thalia shot him a look when he seemed far too pleased in her reaction to his poking her. Her eyebrows raised in confusion as he then continued to ramble on about women that sat in huts and drank milk. Why on earth he thought she'd want to know that was beyond her, and she just sat there and stared at him in silence until he had finished. "Cool story bro." She managed to spurt, and then she shook her head. "If we could avoid the subject of weddings entirely, however, that would be amazing, thank you," Which probably seemed like a strange request from a wedding planner as Thalia was, but the last thing she wanted to talk about with Fletcher Donovan was anything about weddings right now. After all, that was what had to the ending of their conversation last time. Plus, it just felt sensitive and awkward.   "And I'm sure your fiancee would just love to hear what you had to say, too." She said simply, narrowing her eyes as he winked at her. Jerk. Did he have some sort of innate desire to make her melt every time she spoke to him, or, what? Thalia froze for a second when he said the name Callie, looking to the side. Callie. Callie? As in.. her most recent clientele? .. No. There had to be more than one Callies in Capeside, obviously. She most certainly could not be the same Callie that Fletcher was talking about. No. Thalia refused to believe it, and in turn, didn't hear half of what he'd just said, as she'd racked her brain trying to think if her client had said anything about her fiance that sounded like Fletcher. But Thalia was making connections with everything about Fletcher recently, unable to get him out of her mind. She had to just be making this up. "I'm sorry, what?" She said breathlessly as he then begged to be her knight in shining armour.   Which was weird, anyway, wouldn't that bother his fiancee in the slightest? Was that the smartest move, really, asking to be another woman's knight in shining armour? "If anything, you're the wild horse that bucked the knight off and left him stranded in the forest so he could claim all the fame and glory of saving the princess by himself. Silly horse, you can't fight off the dragon that keeps me captive without my prince. You don't have a sword and even if you did, you don't have the correct limbs to wield it." None of that even made any sense whatsoever to her, much less to whom she was speaking to, but it would probably shut him up long enough to gather her thoughts, which was what she was going for right now.   Thalia only hapened to glance over as she yanked her shorts back on to notice that Fletcher was indeed checking her legs out, and her cheeks flushed. What was really sad was that the one guy who decided to be attentive to her that she was interested in, was getting married. Every other one was usually a sleaze or just really creepy. Did this make Fletcher either one of them? This was way too confusing for her. But it wasn't her fault, either, he was the one sending mixed signals. Unless she was involved in that, too. She really needed to stop hanging out with him because she was really feeling guilty about what could possibly be nothing. "Fat." She replied resignedly, as she yanked him up. "I only wonder how you managed to outrun a hippopotomous with all that flab."   Thalia smirked and patted his nonexistent stomach to prove her point, and then grabbed his shirt and pulled it gently, walking backwards to lead him off towards the cafe he was referring to. "But of course." She said with a smile as she let him go and turned around, putting her sunglasses on and attempting to put her shoes on while she walked, as well. "And if anything, their bagels have only gotten better, if you'd ask me."

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[fletcher]

Fletcher knew that his rambling often put people off wanting to talk to him. He also knew that he didn’t care. If they didn’t want to sit and listen to him ramble, then he didn’t want to ramble to him. Obviously they were not worth his previous tidbits of knowledge. He glared at her when he got the sarcastic response from Thalia for his story. ”I am never telling you interesting things ever again,” he decided stubbornly. Fletcher furrowed his brow and tilted his head to look at her quizzically. Wasn’t she a wedding planner? Strange woman. ”Alright, if you insist,” he said with a nod. Might as well not piss her off. Leaving her to go travel the world was bad enough. He didn’t want to add salt to the wound.

Fletcher laughed and shook his head. ”Probably not. She’d be more likely to stab my eyes out with those claws she calls nails.” Women and going to the spa. He didn’t understand it. Frankly he thought it was both a waste of time and money, but it was Callie’s time and money that was being wasted on herself, so he wasn’t going to say anything. Fletcher frowned; he didn’t know what she was confused about. ”I wanted to bother you?” he repeated, more so asked. ”And silverware isn’t interesting?” To what exactly was she referring when she said what? Oh women, they needed to be much more straightforward. Oh well, he liked Thalia’s strange riddles, even though they drove him nuts. Or was she confused about him being a knight? ”A knight, you know, with armour and unicorns,” he nodded.

Fletcher laughed and ruffled her hair up. That’s what she got for teasing him. ”Hey, if I’m a horse not only would I be a magical unicorn, but that would also mean that I could definitely take down a dragon if need be,” he decided. Even though in their last meeting he’d stated that he’d be terrified of a dragon. But that was Fletcher in human form, not unicorn form. ”And if I was the knight, then I’d still be totally badass. So really, I’ll be your unicorn or your knight. Or your knight who has the ability to become a unicorn.” Was it just him or did he sound more unintelligent than usual? Being around Thalia clouded his mind. She sort of took over and made him speak gibberish. More gibberish than normal, at least.

He gasped and shook his head. ”Ouch, keep this up and by the end of the day I’ll be nothing but a crying child. So mean, you are,” he said. ”And hippos tend to weigh far more than even the fattest of humans.” Even if she was going to ignore his random facts, he was still going to keep spurting them out. He was full of them, though they weren’t really that much use to him on a daily basis. He grinned when she pulled his shirt and followed only like an obedient puppy. There were many things that certainly had gotten better since he’d last been back. Dammit! Why did those thoughts keep popping into his head? He felt a little guilty, he supposed, but it was alright if he didn’t act on any of the thoughts, right? ”Oh yeah? We’ll just have to see. But maybe my tastes buds have grown accustomed to more exotic things. How do I know that I’ll find the same old thing delicious?” he asked. Was he even talking about the bagels anymore? Sure, he totally was. ”And coffee. They better still have delicious coffee.”

word count: 624 - tagged: thalia - notes: nom nom nom outfit: shorts & t-shirt

[thalia]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | BETH AS FLETCH | (: Okay, so Thalia's original response may have been a tad bit harsh, but it was her original response. She only raised an eyebrow at his statement, and shook her head. "Yeah, and we both know that isn't going to last for very long." She mumbled, holding back a laugh. Fletcher never did know when to shut up, she knew for an absolute fact. So no, she didn't believe that his decision was final. She didn't offer up at any sort of explanation for her wanting to avoid the topic altogether, though she was sure that was extremely confusing for him after she'd told him she was a wedding planner. But wouldn't it make sense that she planned so many weddings that it literally made her tired of weddings? Though that indeed was not the case, it would make sense at least to her. But a lot of things that made sense to her tended to not make any sense to anyone else. "Thank you." Was all she said. Thalia couldn't help herself from chuckling as he laughed, and she shook her head again. He had been gone for so long, braving all sorts of animals, and yet he still considered his fiancee's nails as claws. Which meant he was either exaggerating (which wasn't hard to believe) or comparing them to some animal he'd taken pictures of wherever he'd gone. Either way, it was still funny. She blushed slightly as he repeated himself. "Right. Sorry." She nodded, looking down as she scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably. It wasn't all her fault she had gotten distracted and stopped listening. It was his, stupid hot engaged man. "Heyy, stop ittt!" She slapped his hands away lightly and smoothed her hair back down to the best of her ability, though she didn't even know if she had made it better or not. Probably, knowing her luck as of recent, she'd made it even worse. "A unicorn? ..Really?" She asked in disbelief, raising one eyebrow. Because that was a normal thing to say, wasn't it now? She wasn't even sure how to respond to that. "Well, congratulations, Donovan, you've rendered me absolutely speechless." Thalia threw up her hands in defeat, giving up on that conversation. She couldn't really say he'd never made her speechless before, but that was beside the point. She only smirked at his next comment. "'So mean, you are'? When did you become Yoda?" She asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly. "And there is a first time for everything, I think you of all people would know." She said as if it were obvious. Though anyone who looked at him could tell that he was far from fat. But she could be just as stubborn as he was, she wasn't letting it go. She exhaled quickly as he claimed that he was more accustomed to exotic tastes, and glanced back with a look torn between mischeviousness and an unspoken question. "Only one way to find out." Thalia said quietly, shrugging slightly. Was it just her or did this sound like it had a double meaning? Probably just her, but enough to make her feel her cheeks flush, and she was glad she wasn't facing him anymore, as her fingers quickly buttoned up her shirt buttons. "Please, now you're just insulting them." She scoffed. "Of course their coffee is still amazing. Some things just never change."

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[fletcher]

Fletcher frowned. ”I guess you’re right but, interestingly enough, there was a time when I didn’t talk to anyone for three weeks. It was an awful long three weeks, mind you, and I contented myself by talking to some lizards and of course, listening to my own charming voice,” he said with a grin. Yeah, he was pretty sure he had gone mildly crazy during that spell. He did get some wonderful photos, however, many of which he sold to one of his usual travel magazines. One of his pictures he actually wrote an somewhat well written article to go along with it. They published it, but he wasn’t exactly pleased with his finished products. One of his goals was to start trying to write more in order to advance his skills and such. It would be much easier for Fletch to find more assignments if he had more than one thing going for him. Besides his dashing looks and wit, of course. He smiled a bit, though he was confused, and knew that it was going to bother him as to why Thalia didn’t want to even speak of anything related to weddings.

Fletcher was pretty concerned that one day he’d just wake up and be missing an eye. You never knew what was going to happen when you went to sleep next to someone else. What if Callie had a nightmare, started thrashing around, and then WHOOPS there went Fletch’s poor eyeball? It was far fetched, but entirely possible. ”You laugh now, but one day I’ll come to you and my ridiculously handsome face will be horridly marred and you’ll have to pretend that you still think I’m attractive to protect my outrageously large ego,” he said with a serious nod, though he was anything but serious. He laughed and continued to mess with her hair until she swatted him away. ”What? Unicorns are bad ass. Horses have raw power, this is true, but unicorns have the additional horn and magical abilities. They could kick any horse’s ass in a fight, so I’d much rather have a unicorn, despite their girly associations,” he said with manly pride. Or what he could muster.

He grinned proudly to himself and slung an arm around her shoulders. ”Come on, Thals, I’ve always been able to render you speechless. One sly smile and your attention is mine,” he teased, though a part of him wondered if there was any truth to what he was saying on her part. He knew that after all this time, he still thought she was gorgeous and charismatic, which didn’t make this whole ‘being engaged’ thing any easier for him. He’d never been one to settle down and he certainly hadn’t thought that if he did, it would be with someone other than Thalia. If anything, he would have said that the one person in the world he might have considered giving up part of himself for was in fact Thalia. ”I’ve always been Yoda; you’ve just been too busy staring at my six-pack to notice,” he said with a definitive nod. He merely stuck his tongue out at her next comment. It was nice to know that he was still a very mature man.

At the flush of her cheeks he nearly leaned down at claimed her lips with his own. He cursed-- a lot-- inside his head and managed to stop himself from doing such a thing. Why did she have to be so damn tempting? Why did they have to have so much history? If he just got married in France or England or wherever the hell Callie originally wanted the wedding, he wouldn’t have to deal with old feelings that were surfacing more and more quickly as each second ticked by. He found himself thinking about Thalia as much as he thought about Callie, if not more. She was just...Thalia. She was the first girl he ever truly loved. How was he supposed to forget something like that? He finally smiled when she spoke of coffee and nodded. ”I guess I’ll have to try it and see if it’s delicious as before,” he said. Why did he still feel like he was speaking in tongues? He wanted to punch himself. ”Hey, are you doing anything for the rest of the day?” he asked before he could stop himself. But hell, he’d waited five years to spend a day with her. He’d be an idiot if he missed out on such an opportunity.

word count: 765 - tagged: thalia - notes: nom nom nom outfit: shorts & t-shirt

[thalia]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | BETH AS FLETCH | (: Thalia raised one eyebrow as Fletcher already began telling her something "interesting". Talking to lizards for three weeks, sounded sadly like something that he would do if he was bored enough. "I'm not really sure I want to know about that experience." She trailed off, chuckling softly. Thalia, for one, would never be able to survive three weeks without people, she may have not be the most talkative person on the planet but she was certainly someone who needed some kind of human interaction every once in a while. She didn't know how she had fallen in love with Fletcher, they were so entirely different. Opposites attract, though, she supposed. She couldn't help but to laugh even harder at his ridiculous allegations. Personally, Thalia couldn't imagine Fletcher being horribly marred and unattractive. He was going to look like Harrison Ford when he got old, still handsome and charming. Unfairly so. Thalia only shook her head. "You are insane." She told him simply, not having much else to say about it. It wasn't like she could just tell him that he'd never be unattractive to her or anything, after all, he was engaged. Thalia didn't want to make a fool of herself. She would certainly never be cared enough about to be considered a homewrecker, though, she was quite sure. He had proposed to Callie, or whatever her name was, not Thalia, she'd lost, the end. Why couldn't she just accept that? Why couldn't she just forget about him? He then continued to defend unicorns, and Thalia just stared at him. He had to be joking. What man in his right mind decided that he wanted to be a unicorn? Thalia had no idea what she was supposed to say to him now. But she couldn't stop the surprised, amused smile pulling the corners of her lips up. She had always known he was insane, but really. It was like he had the need to make sure she was aware of the deterioration of his mental health every few seconds. She pursed her lips and glared at him when he told her that all she needed from him was a smile and she was speechless, and threw his arm around her shoulder. "Try me, hot stuff." Thalia said sarcastically, though she was lying through her teeth and she knew it. Thalia only rolled her eyes and chuckled as he informed her that he had always been Yoda. "What six-pack?" She asked as though she had no idea what he was talking about, her eyebrows raised expectantly, smirking as he stuck his tongue out at her and sticking her own tongue right back out at him. "..we are twelve." Thalia sighed after she realized what she'd just done. Last time she had stuck out her tongue at someone was when she was in high school, at least. She'd gotten boring after high school, it seemed, she put too much pressure on the "mature" part of growing up. Looked like Fletcher had thrown maturity out the window, though, she wasn't surprised at all. "I guess so." Thalia replied with a tight lipped smile. She looked back up, surprised, when he asked if she was doing anything for the rest of the day, and she paused, weighing her options. She could lie and say yes, and get away from him now and avoid heartbreak, like she should do, or she could tell the truth, say no, and risk that heartbreak. Was he worth it? She stared at him for a few seconds, eyes narrowed, trying to decide, when she finally looked forward again. "Haven't decided yet. I'll let you know." She said, cryptically ever, and then she swung out from underneath his arm around her shoulder and she grinned. "Race you!" And without waiting for a response, she turned around and ran off towards the cafe.

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[fletcher]

Fletcher grinned and shrugged his shoulders. ”Maybe, maybe not. There was one really weird evening when I discovered I still had whiskey left and I had a conversation with a monkey who then just tried to fling poop my direction. I woke up with several huge bug bites and that’s when I had to go into town and get some medicine so I didn’t die in a random jungle alone to be eaten by jaguars,” he nodded. There were certain things that happened to Fletcher in his adventures that he would never be able to forget. That instance was certainly one. Wait, Thalia had said she didn’t want to know about that time. Whoops, well, now she knew.

Fletcher grinned and shook his finger at her. ”Now, now, that’s never been proven,” he grinned. And it never would be proven. Who actually wanted to go see a psychologist? If he was going to lie down on a couch and pay a woman extreme amounts of money, he certainly was at least going to get a facial out of it. Not that he had ever been to a spa. No...that would be silly and very unmanly. Yes, very silly indeed,

”Do I sense a challenge coming from a small, unshielded blonde?” he asked teasingly, then quickly moved to stand in front of her, preventing her from moving forward. He placed a hand on either of her shoulders and looked down out her, quite seriously. ”Alright, you sure you’re ready for this?” he asked and then, without any further warning, he gave her a smile that he’d only ever saved for her. ”It’s so lovely to have your attention in the palm of my head,” he said.

Fletch took a step back, gasping and shaking his head, before he managed to speak. ”What six pack?” he repeated. ”This,” he said, lifting the hem of his shirt, ”six pack.” He stuck his tongue out at her again and smiled proudly to himself. He was highly energetic and never sit still. It was only natural that he’d throw some of that energy into working out. ”Twelve and proud of it,” he said with a nod and lowered his shirt once more, breaking out into laughter as he threw his arm back around her slim shoulders. ”Ouch, you’re trying to figure out if you can stand spending a day with me, aren’t you? I promise I’m not [that intolerable,” he said, then watched as she got a head start. ”Hey, not fair!” he said and chased after her happily.

By the time they got to the cafe, Fletcher reached out, grabbed her hips and pulled her towards him so she couldn’t beat him. He laughed when he swung around and reached the door first, pausing to catch his breath. His hands rested on her hips and he found that he was closer than he expected. As he looked down at her, she found that he was tempted-- too tempted. Immediately he released her hips and let his hands fall limply by his side. ”After you, milady,” he said with a grin as if nothing just happened in his mind, holding the door open for her.

word count: 558 - tagged: thalia - notes: failpost D: outfit: shorts & t-shirt

[thalia]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | BETH AS FLETCH | (: Thalia laughed and shook her head at Fletcher's next story. "You have an inane amount of short stories, my dear. Though proving them is a whole other matter." She raised her eyebrows. Not that she didn't believe him, she had a sinking feeling that he had meant every word of it, but even Fletch had to admit that it sounded extremely ridiculous. As did the majority of every other story he had told her since his arrival back to Capeside. The hippos, the brides, now something about jaguars and monkeys, she didn't understand anything he was talking about now. Though Fletcher did seem to confuse her a lot, even when they were dating. But he did keep her on her toes, she'd give him that. Thalia gave him a disbelieving look as he told her it had never been proven. "Speak to a psychologist for five minutes. Just five. See what happens." She wiggled her eyebrows playfully. She knew that there was no way on earth that Fletcher would ever go to a psychologist, he probably thought that they were all quacks. Thalia, of course, disagreed, but she disagreed with a lot of things he said. She was always too quiet to say anything about it, though, so you'd rarely to never hear her in an arguement over something so trivial. She hated arguing, conflict in general just didn't sit well with her. She would rather use her rather catty ways to sway people's opinions to her liking. But she had never really used these feminine powers of persuasion against Fletcher. He was far too stubborn for that. Thalia only scoffed at him until he swung around and stood in front of her, and before she had the chance to react, he was smiling at her. She froze a little in surprise, and just stared at him, unfortunately doing exactly what he said she'd do, being left entirely speechless. She narrowed her eyes and sucked her cheeks in as he told her that it was lovely to have her attention in the palm of his hand. "Well, isn't that cute." She said sarcastically. "You're only lucky I have a little more self restraint than you or else I would have you begging on your knees for me already, Donovan." She smirked, crossing her arms against her chest. She didn't even believe that, but she had been told that she was believable enough as it were, but it still didn't make it any less amusing to her, who was grinning again. "Woah, there, big boy." She said as she looked down at his six pack that he was so proudly showing off, and she put her hand up to help his own hand down. "No one wants to see that." Which was a flat out lie, of course, but he didn't need to know that, either. She seemed to be lying through her teeth to Fletcher since he came home. Was that as terrible as it felt? She didn't feel like she needed to be telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth to him, seeing as he was engaged and the whole truth was against her fifth amendment right. So lying seemed to be the next best thing for her right now. "Yes, yes I am." Which was actually completely honest. "You can't blame me though, can you?" She shrugged. She had almost beat him until she felt him grab her from around the hips and she squealed in shock and laughed a little before she realized how close they were and it died off, and she caught her breath. "Cheater. I was going to win." She whispered finally as he let her go, and cleared her throat. "My head start was totally justified by our height difference." She rambled instead of responding, walking past him into the cafe quietly, like a zombie, attempting to ignore what had just happened and forget it, like he apparently had no kind of problem with doing.

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[fletcher]

”Yeah, well, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to prove anything to anyone,” he said with a chuckle and a sad shake of his head. ”But I think that’s what makes it more fun, y’know? Seeing just how obscure reality will be, but how little people actually believe things are possible. Plus I could always mess with someone and they’d be none the wiser because they already assumed I was messing with them to begin with.” But he didn’t usually mess with people other than his buddies. Otherwise he was blatantly honest, even if it annoyed some people. ”Although I do have some pictures to prove certain things. I couldn’t call myself a photographer, now could I?”

Fletcher laughed and flicked her nose in disapproval. ”Now that will never happened. All that stuff is a bunch of crap. If I wanted to listen to some woman tell me what’s wrong with me, I’d just talk to you. And if I wanted some guy to judge me, I’d go grab a beer with my father. Simple as,” he shrugged. He certainly didn’t give a single thought to all of that psychological stuff and he probably never would. He didn’t need to pay someone to tell him his flaws. He knew what his faults were and chose to ignore them. He felt like he had the right to. Besides, he liked who he was and didn’t feel the need to change that.

Fletch let out a scoff that met her own. ”Is that sound, Thals? Go for it. I dare you. Woo me,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her with challenge clearly written on his face. Both adults were stubborn to a point. Fletcher loved challenges far more and couldn’t resist them, no matter how poorly decided upon they were. And sure, it probably wasn’t the best idea to challenge his ex-girlfriend to woo him when he was engaged to someone else, but that particular ill-advised whim wasn’t exactly his main concern. ”Just try not to embarrass yourself in the process. I know it’ll be so hard because I’m just so good at resisting feminine wiles, and that’ll inevitably make you rather frustrated, but just...keep your wits, yeah?” he said, purely teasing.

Fletcher pouted and made a noise of displeasure not unlike a ‘harumph’. ”All this work and no one can properly appreciate my poor tummy,” he said. Alright, perhaps he was indeed mildly insane. And that was only further proven when he had an almost-inappropriate-interaction with his ex-girlfriend. ”I don’t believe in that old notion of letting women win. If equality is what you ladies want, I’ll gladly let you have it...especially if it means I get to beat you at things,” he said happily. Perhaps he was a tad bit twisted, but he had never really denied that fact. ”Liar, your lack of height has nothing to do with it. It’s just sad watching you try and justify your failure. You should stop,” he said with a sad nod and wandered over to the counter. He smiled cheerfully at the teenager behind the counter as his eyes scanned the familiar but unfamiliar menu. ”One large coffee, double double, and an asiago cheese bagel with extra cream cheese. And whatever the lady would like,” he said, gesturing to Thalia with a cheesy flourish. He dug his wallet out of his pocket as he awaited Thalia’s order and secretly thought to himself that he’d missed this, just feeling like a teenager again with no responsibilities. It was nice. Freeing.

word count: 618 - tagged: thalia - notes: hungrryyy outfit: shorts & t-shirt

[thalia]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | BETH AS FLETCH | SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! Thalia couldn't help but chuckle as he continued to ramble on, her eyebrows raised slightly. He just liked the sound of his own voice, she was certain. Maybe he thought if he kept talking it would compel her not to leave, she always did have a problem with staying until the conversation was over. "Well, whenever you feel ready to show me these so called magical pictures, I'm willing to see them." She teased, grinning. He really was ridiculous. She wasn't entirely positive he even knew how ridiculous he was. He had to know how unbelievable he sounded, he really did. But she had to admit, the fact that he didn't even care was a little endearing. But just a little. She totally wasn't liking him just that much more right now because of his tangent adventures, of course not. "Ughh!" Thalia frowned as he flicked her nose, and she bit at his hand playfully. "Hey, I am always open for business in the telling you what's the matter with you portion. I mean, obviously, it's my true calling in life. The wedding business is just to pay the bills. Your stupidity is my passion. Along with stripping, of course." Referencing to their first catching up, of course, because stripping was the first thing anyone thought about when they thought of Thalia. She was obviously joking, however, from the disbelieving look on her own face. Honestly, Fletcher wasn't that flawed. She wasn't saying that he was flaw free, of course, she wasn't an idiot. But he didn't have as many as she was acting like. Thalia narrowed her eyes and glared at Fletcher as he scoffed. She swung her arms around and held them behind her back, closing distance between them by taking a step and being about an inch and a half away from his face, which she studied quietly. "Is that so?" She asked in as sultry a voice as she managed, and slowly she ran her tongue across her teeth. "Well, I don't know, Mr. Donovan. I really just don't think you could handle me." Her head tilted to the side as she smirked at her ex boyfriend. "Besides. Wouldn't want to drive a wedge between you and dear old darling Callie- that's her name, right?- would we now?" She said flatly, her smirk fading and being replaced by her sucking her cheeks in and taking a step backwards again, turning on her heel and closing her eyes for a second before she kept walking anyway. Thalia only rolled her eyes at his comment about his tummy. He knew full well that she was being sarcastic. Whiny little turd, wasn't he? "Hey, hey, hey, grabby hands. If you could only keep your paws off me, I would have won!" She insisted, shoving him not altogether gently, but with a teasing grin. "I mean, I don't blame you. Look at me." Pure sarcasm as she gestured to herself. "But using it as an excuse to cheat a woman of her rightful win is really just .. lame." She wrinkled her nose as she looked up at the menu herself. "A medium mocha is all for me, thank you." She told the teenager with a smile, crossing her arms over her chest. It felt weird to her, ordering with Fletcher again. It had been a really long time, after all. But he seemed comfortable enough, so it looked like she was the only one with the problem. She seemed to be the only one with the problem in a lot of situations, though, so she just shrugged it off and played it like she knew what she was getting herself into.

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[fletcher]

”Hey, they’re not magical!” he said with defense in his tone, but knew she probably wouldn’t even believe them if he did show them to her. What with all the photoshopping that was done these days, you’d be hard pressed to find something real. But his photographs were all real. He rarely edited them, and usually if he was editing them he was just fixing a small imperfection, rather than the main image itself. ”You should come over and see them sometime, I’d really like for you to see them,” he said honestly. After all, if she liked all the pictures he took, then maybe he wouldn’t feel so bad about leaving her. Well, no, he’d always feel bad about that. But he’d like to see her smile anyways.

After being momentarily distracted by the thought of her being a stripper again, he grinned and fought the urge to stick his tongue out at her. If he kept doing that, she might think he had some sort of disorder. ”Is the stripping to pay the bills once you lose the wedding business because you’ve spent far too much time telling me every single thing that’s wrong with me? I feel like I should clarify so I know how guilty I ought to feel,” he said with a nod. He could just imagine Thalia sitting there, writing out a list of all his flaws and all the things he had done wrong. He’d be the first to admit that he’d made a lot of mistakes-- the biggest one was constantly playing every time he thought of leaving Thalia-- but he didn’t try to hide them. Mistakes meant he was getting somewhere, somehow. He wasn’t just sitting at home afraid of life. ”Although if you told me which strip club you were at, maybe if I slipped you a few bills then I wouldn’t have to feel so guilty,” he winked.

Shit, what had he gotten himself into? Fletcher had run his mouth again and found himself in a less than beneficial position with Thalia. If he didn’t have a fiance at home, he wouldn’t even try to put up any defenses against her. But he knew that he couldn’t easily just bend to her wooing, however good it was. Yes, he had to be strong. Come on, Fletch, he thought to himself, man up. In his mind he frowned; he didn’t like hearing Callie’s name on Thalia’s lips. It was like he didn’t want the two worlds to mix. ”I could handle you just fine...” he muttered to himself as she turned. Crap, well, he had lost that round. Couldn’t win them all, he supposed.

”What? You expect me to keep my hands off you, Thals? And here I thought you knew me better,” he said, shaking his head. Well, he should have been keeping his hands off her. Fuck, he was a terrible person, wasn’t he? If he was going to Hell, he might as well have fun on the way down. His eyes trailed down her body and he grinned slightly. ”I could get used to this permission to look at you,” he said. But not just look. Really look, from head to toe. Fletcher laughed and shook his head. She was just going to have to get used to losing if she intended on getting into challenges with Fletcher. ”Hey, hey, hey, how are we supposed to have coffee and bagels together if you don’t get a bagel? If I knew any better, I’d say you’d forgotten our little tradition,” he said, poking her cheek. ”You haven’t forgotten what we used to do every Saturday morning, have you?” he asked. He’d show up at her house before she’d even woken up, ignored the snide remarks from her father, charm Thalia’s mom with a youthful smile, and help Thal’s mom make muffins. By the time Thals rolled out of bed, the muffins would be done and he’d forced her to watch the old classic cartoons with him. Callie didn’t like the cartoons.

word count: 693 - tagged: thalia - notes: I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO EFFING LONG, PLEASE DON’T HATE ME D: outfit: shorts & t-shirt