[FIN] Islands

[Gwennythe]

(set between 'Lull' and 'Tricksters In The Dark')
Tambrey stopped herself from running all the way back to the room after leaving the cafeteria, though it had been very tempting to do so.
Star or not, she didn't have time to be stop there and flew into the process of getting changed; her hat found a home atop a pile of books, her uniform was exchanged for blue jeans and a blue tunic, boots were exchanged for sandals, and a necklace of round volcanic beads looped around her neck.
Her hair was shaken loose and she caught herself in the mirror, brushing it in the hope it wouldn't look quite so untidy, before she cleaned her glasses and then took one final look.
Not wonderful, she thought, but it would have to do; she, at least, looked less like, well, someone who had just finished a shift for Team Rocket.

A final rummage through a drawer produced a yellow envelope, stiff with the card inside, and then she was ready to go.
It wasn't that hard to prevent herself from running this time; there was a little bit of anxiety involved. She still, however, made good time, arriving through the rec' room door just a tiny bit later than she'd anticipated and said she would.  

[LexThetaSigma]

Thankfully when Rory arrived down in the rec room, there was hardly anyone in there; most were either still busy with their dinner or with their shifts in their departments. The first thing he did as he waited for the few stragglers to clear out was to set the kettle on to warm and searched for the tea. If he just kept himself moving, the nerves that were threatening to take hold weren't as apparent, though he could see his hands slightly trembling as he set the tea near by as he grabbed two mugs.

As he heard the few stragglers leave, he breathed a small sigh of relief and tried to calm himself down. After all, it was just hanging out with a friend. Right? But if it was just hanging out, why did he find himself incessantly checking to make sure his flannel shirt was flat and not bunching and checking to make sure his hair wasn't anymore of a mess than usual.

When he heard someone else walk into the room, he turned in time to see Tambrey. He sent her a small, shy smile as the kettle whistled.

"Hi."  

[Gwennythe]

She hid the envelope behind her back as she entered and returned his smile with one that rather matched.
"Hi." Tambrey replied, at first not quite registering what the whistling sound was- and thus experiencing a small moment of confusion- before she remembered that, in fact, Rory had said he'd make tea and that was clearly just what he was doing.

The envelope was still clutched between her hands, behind her back, and she worried about when she should hand it to him.
That moment did not work, for giving it to him as soon as she walked through the door seemed to, in her mind, take away some of the meaningfulness of the gift contained.
"Um. Oh, tea. Right, thank you." She offered, then attempted to pivot in such a way that she could make pretense of thinking very hard about what to watch from the choices available while hopefully shielding the envelope from his view, for now, as she brought it in front of her as she looked at the cases on the shelf.
"Um... Any genre preference?"  

[LexThetaSigma]

The whistling from the kettle brought Rory back to reality and forced him to tear his eyes away from Tambrey to continue with what he had been doing. He scratched at the back of his neck; it wasn't like he hadn't seen her in casual clothes before.

"How do you take your tea?" he asked as he did his best to focus on pouring the water into the to mugs. "Not really, besides I told you, you choose."  

[Gwennythe]

"Um. Just as it is. No milk, no sugar, not too strongly steeped." Tambrey replied as she browsed what was available. She remembered last time they had watched Thor, and it had been good- different, rather, than what she had been expecting, and she lingered on one of the other superhero titles she found before spotting a DVD of a certain film, short but based on a play she'd liked a lot.

"Um, have you seen, or read, 'The Importance of Being Earnest'?" The dark haired grunt questioned, holding the envelope out of sight still, while she held up the dvd she'd found.  

[LexThetaSigma]

Once he had both cups of tea to their liking and was almost sure his hands would remain steady enough, Rory made his way over to the television as she held up the DVD Case and held her cup out for her to take.

"No, not really," he said as he took a seat on the sofa, "what's it about?"  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey still had both the dvd case and the envelope in her hands, one hidden behind her back.
"Um. It's... about these two men, in Victorian England who kind of... live two lives each; one in the countryside and one in the city. Anyway, they know eachother, but didn't know about eachother's secret life- they both know the city versions... and then one of them sort of entangles his country life into the other's... It sounds, um, dramatic how I'm saying it, sorry, but it's actually an old comedy. It's not very long, but it's fun and kind of sweet." She tried to explain before blinking. Ah, the tea.
"Um. Could you put it on the table please? My hands are kind 'f full... If we sit down though, uh..." She placed the dvd on the table too- that could be set up when they were ready, she was sure, but it seemed, now, a good time.
Her hands free, the envelope now rested between them, in front of her, as she sat down, bidding Rory to do the same.
"This is for you."  

[LexThetaSigma]

Rory hummed slightly as he set the tea cups on the table before he took a seat next to her. "Sounds good to me," then again, he had a feeling it wouldn't matter what she had picked, he would have been good with anything so long as he could be around her.

When she held the envelope out to him, he raised an eyebrow as he took it from her hand stared at it. "What's this for?"  

[Gwennythe]

"You aren't the only one able to find out certain dates, you know; though admittedly I had to dig a bit for it rather than asking an indiscreet relative..." Tambrey couldn't help the little bit of a grin crawling into her expression.
"So. You should open that."

show spoilerhide spoiler

Inside he'd find a birthday card, somewhat simplistic- a red balloon on a white background with 'happy birthday' written above it- and, inside that, a photograph from his coordinator days of himself and Pinkie.
A message in the card read:
'Rory, happy birthday! Surprise! I turned the tables! I hope you like the picture; I found it and thought it was something you should have. Lots of love, Tambrey xxx'

 

[LexThetaSigma]

Rory felt the tips of his ears turn a hint of red as he returned her grin. "Hey, she was more than willing to offer me almost anything I wanted, I just obliged her."

He opened the envelope and pulled out the birthday card, smiling as he was about to say 'thank you' until he opened the card.

The image staring back him shocked him; the light in his young eyes, the sight of Pinkie standing next to him...before everything had gone bad.

"W-where did you find this?" he asked quietly.  

[Gwennythe]

"Hm. Yes, she's always been a bit like that..." She watched closely as he opened the envelope, and then the card, to find the photograph inside.

"I, uh, hope it's okay..." It was difficult to buy gifts on a Grunt salary, but she'd hoped he'd like what she'd found, even if it hadn't really cost anything; that it would be a sentimental gift, a memory, was so much the better. It did seem like something he should have.

"I... told you I used to get magazines and stuff from contests? Well... I have a storage place in Sandalwood, where I lived and went to school, before I came here. Anyway... I thought this was something that you should definitely have."  

[LexThetaSigma]

Rory continued staring down at the picture in his hand, mesmerized. He couldn't have been much older than sixteen when it was taken, his eyes bright and hair trimmed down so it wouldn't be a huge mess for them to deal with before he went on stage.

He knew that she had enjoyed the contests and he had shared a few, small anecdotes with her, but he hadn't been aware that she would have recognized him, much less had anything like this.

"T-thank you."  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey watched for his reaction, perhaps a little anxiously, waiting to see whether he was pleased or not.

She smiled when he thanked her. That was a good sign, then.
"Happy birthday Rory."
The words didn't seem quite enough on their own, so she leaned forward to offer a peck of a kiss to his cheek.  

[LexThetaSigma]

Rory blinked rapidly to clear his eyes before finally setting the envelope and the picture down on the table. As her lips met his cheek, he took her hand in his and squeezed. It scared him, in a way, that she had that picture....she knew of him...before. And yet she didn't look at him the same way as the people back then.

He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder before pulling her into his side to press his lips against the side of her head.

"Thank you," he whispered once again.  

[Gwennythe]

There might have been some surprise, but there was no resistance as she was pulled into the embrace, and a smile as she felt his lips on her hair.
Good gift then.
Another smile; she was glad about that.

Tambrey's lips quirked upwards as she heard him say the words again, repeating himself. Perhaps it would 'ruin the moment' or perhaps it would lend something more to it... She wasn't sure, but despite how she felt she couldn't resist.
"Yes. You've said that." She muttered softly, her words carrying only warmth, burying even her amusement at the repetition, though the smile kept that visible.
"I'm glad you like it." Five words that seemed to carry a lot of weight for how softly they were spoken; that it seemed he was happy meant a lot.