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Post by Aaron Pritchard on Feb 6, 2011 10:59:21 GMT -5
The first thing that struck him, when he had nonchalantly placed his hand on her arm, was how warm she was. It was pretty hot outside and he reasoned that she was feeling a little warm on account of the weather. Brushing it aside he smiled when she asked if they could pretend that the whole conversation hadn't happened. The more time he spent with her, the more he realised that she was the kind of girl he could really like. She seemed to be fun and easy without being loud or overly outgoing; he hated girls who were loud just because they thought it would get them more attention.
“Pretend what?” he asked teasingly, his definite nod towards moving on. With his happy-go-lucky temperament, Aaron wasn't the sort to get hung up on things like people putting their feet in their mouths. Lord only knew, he'd done it himself a few times without people being as generous to him. Besides, there would be plenty of time later to think about what happened to poor Thelma-Rae. When she looked up and met his gaze, showing a little more confidence perhaps, Aaron smiled.
“Yeah, it's great,” he said genuinely. “I always was good with cars, and I like being my own boss. Besides,” he added with a quick grin, “I have this piece of junk car I'm fixing up, so it's easier if I have my own workshop to do it in.” They continued to walk through the aquarium, the water making an entrancing pattern on the floor by their feet. He spotted a vending machine along the way, and paused to fish out his wallet. “Hey,” he added. “Would you like a soda? It's kinda warm.”
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Post by jayleetaylor on Feb 9, 2011 2:20:17 GMT -5
A smile spread across Jaylee’s face easily when Aaron played up the pretending thing. It was nice to know that she hadn’t completely ruined their conversation; she’d been worried about that before. Jay tried to tell herself that there was no way she could have known that the news of Thelma-Rae would make him react that way and that with the way news traveled around Bon Temps, at least, she hadn’t been completely stupid in assuming he’d heard. Of course, it was never a good thing to assume, and she should have known that, but still, rumors were an art for in such a small town. She had to remember that she was in Monroe though, and sometimes their small town news didn’t get to here, or even Shreveport sometimes.
She nodded at the appropriate times, smiling and tucking her hair behind her ear from time to time. Being shy usually came with not knowing what to do with her hands. If she wasn’t careful, she’d start to fidget, so most of the time her fingers stayed locked together behind her back as they walked. She actually found the fact that he was working on his own car interesting, though she wasn’t really into cars. But it was a nice quality in a man - someone who knew how to fix a car. Sure, it sounded sort of sexist, but if Jaylee didn’t know cars, it made sense to her that knowing someone who did was a good thing, even if they were just friends. She was sure she’d screwed up ever getting a date with the guy, but she didn’t want to think about it either - it made her nervous.
Absent-mindedly, she’d started to play with a strand of her own hair when Aaron asked if she’d like a soda. “Oh, um, sure, thanks. I hadn’t actually noticed the temperature in here, but I guess it is kind of warm after walking around.” She smiled. Really, she was warm, but she didn’t know if it was warm to everyone or if it was just her little shifting condition that did that to her. “I have a piece of junk car too, but it runs so I can’t really complain that much.” She smiled, trying to offer something to contribute to their conversation. “I don’t really know much about cars, so I guess running is all I really need in a vehicle.” She laughed a little, a soft, almost nervous sound.
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Post by Aaron Pritchard on Feb 16, 2011 8:16:28 GMT -5
When Jaylee got to know Aaron a little better – and he was really hoping that would happen – she would realised that he was, in general, a pretty nonplussed guy. Not much got him worked up, and he didn't make a big deal out of things that would work themselves out, given a little bit of time. His mama had raised him right, and he didn't behave in private any differently than he'd behave in company. Returning her smile, he almost skipped over to the vending machine, plucking his wallet out of his back pocket on the way.
A couple of bucks later he moved back to Jaylee, cracking open one of the sodas and handing it over to her before opening his own. He took a drink, relishing the instant coldness that soothed his throat. He hadn't actually realised how thirsty he had been until he'd had the soda in his hand. He took another mouthful, swallowing it hastily when Jaylee mentioned that as long as her car ran then she didn't really mind about it. “No, see,” he pointed a knowledgeable finger in her direction, the rest of his hand wrapped around his sweating can. “That's where you're wrong.
“Cars are like people. The better you treat them, the most rest they get and the higher grade gas you put in makes all the difference.” As if he only just now realised he was preaching the only sermon he would actually lend himself to, and that Jaylee was a girl and might not want to hear it, Aaron laughed and felt a little embarrassed. “Sorry,” he said. “I tend to get protective over cars. I'm the one that has to perform the emergency surgery,” he winked.
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Post by jayleetaylor on Feb 16, 2011 14:55:31 GMT -5
Jay bit on her bottom lip as Aaron walked over to the vending machine. She thought about following him, but she feigned an interest in the tank they had stopped next to, not wanting to look like some lost little puppy, following the guy everywhere. Besides, she needed the space between them for just a moment to collect her thoughts. The blonde was still twirling her fingers around her hair, wishing that it was just a little bit longer (even though it was already almost waist length), as if that could hide her from her embarrassment at all the slip ups she was sure to make, like mentioning that dead woman. Luckily for her, it seemed like Aaron had really meant that there was no harm between them done, since he looked as though he was particularly pleased with this idea of a drink.
She managed a shy smile and mumbled a thank you when Aaron handed her the opened soda. Her mind provided the term she was grasping for: gentleman. It looked as though Aaron had been raised right; he was kind, forgiving, and had even opened a soda for Jay. Or maybe he was just naturally generous. It didn’t really matter, it made Jaylee a little more nervous. She wondered what he’d think of her other life - the one that made her change into an animal, or the fact that she was attracted to both men and women. That wasn’t really a thing some Southern people accepted, or people in general for that matter.
No need to ruin the mood with all that though. If things went well today and they saw each other again, maybe she could let him in on her dirty little secrets, that weren’t really secret as much as just not common knowledge. She took a drink of the cold beverage, only now registering how hot it really was. So it wasn’t just her body temperature that had her sweating, it was the actual temperature. That was sort of a relief, she thought maybe she’d developed some weird shifter fever.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” she said with a smile, looking up from under her eyelashes and then turning back to the tanks. “I get it. I’m sure if I was that enthusiastic about cars I’d wanna make sure everyone took care of ‘em too. You’re really lucky to be doin’ somethin’ you really enjoy.” Not that Jay didn’t like working at the police station, it had just sort of got to her emotionally sometimes.
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