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“You’ve had a tough time ever since you were little, huh?”

She cuts him a sharp, startled look. "I — no."

But what kind of upbringing has she had, that she sees a text from her mother and has sat here, frozen, for upward of half an hour, trying to think of how to respond?

Her mother wants to visit.

Mouth working silently, she glances back at her phone, then at him, and then at her phone again. As if to spite him, personally, she fires off a that sounds fun. The hearts that return to her, instantly, seem fake. Are fake.

Body feeling hot and cold at the same time, she says, "It — no, I, like, I grew up. Pretty — normal. What, you don't think I'm normal?"

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when i said "i dont really reblog a lot of media for my blog" i apparently wasnt fucking kidding....

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frozen is so great for the ice power girlies

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hr got on my ass about being on my phone so if i am here less often its because my corporate overlords prefer me to be blankly staring at a screen waiting for tasks than engaging in meaningful side hobbies

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She needs to say — I don't know if this will happen again. I don't know what it is about tonight, but I love seeing you, and I love you, and I want to do this and experiment, but mostly in a curious scientific way and not out of what I imagine lust or attraction feels like. But the fact that we have done this is a triumph. I don't feel safe enough to do this with any one else.

But she's high on the feeling of actually doing it, and of Odysseus smiling at her, and of his quiet laugh which she doesn't often see. This has pleased him, which pleases her — if her giggles were of any indication — and anyway, there's a part of her that makes her think he already knows.

So instead she says, giggling: "Okay. One more. For — experimentation." Then she pulls a serious face, which doesn't last long. As she leans forward him, barely touching: "Stop laughing. I'm going to do it again, you piece of shit. Shut the fuck up."

Nevermind that she is the one talking!

Side note - did you know it's pretty awkward to kiss while smiling like a fool?

He tilts his head, quizzical. Props his cheek on his hand.

"You're asking me?"

And then he laughs, the wheezy, slight sound which is all but internal and more genuine—more than the grin showing teeth, too—for it. If she manages to actually rest her hand on his ribs, maybe she'll feel it. Without a shred of self-consciousness:

"Could be better. Should we try again?"

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Julie stares at the phone and endures Xeno's poking with what must be patience deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.

She is reminding herself that she likes Xeno, and that him having fewer fingers would likely strain their relationship.

She says, slowly: "He... is... asking... if. You would. Like to hang out. Soon. Today. This morning."

The typing bubble ... appears. Then disappears. Then appears again.

[ sms: Julie Sandgren ] Still? [ sms: Julie Sandgren ] He's been talking to you all night?

Forgive him, he just woke up. Doesn't even have his glasses on yet. Wesley fixes that, sits up in bed and scrolls back up through all the messages—many, many emojis, and even some voice messages. Julie really has been kept up all night.

[ sms: Julie Sandgren ] I'm sorry [ sms: Julie Sandgren ] I can come and get him so you can sleep?

Xeno, tapping Julie on the shoulder: "What's he saying what's he saying what's he saying?"

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ive been rotating julie and ts mastermind in my head for the past weekend

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thank u all for celebrating this momentous occasion (odysseus and julie kissing)

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Her lips are kind of dry. They were a little bit wet, but now they are drying, and they feel cracked, and maybe dry, and she wonders if maybe this is why everybody kisses more than once. She thinks maybe one was sufficient, but, like.

(She thought there might be — fear. At doing something like this. That she would be scared. Nervous isn't scared. Interested isn't scared. Tentative isn't scared.)

She needs to examine this. And how it felt. And whether she wants to again.

... But the concept is worth experimentation.

And she's more than willing to experiment! Julie's expression has turned less analytical and more curious. She wonders -- if -- what -- might happen -- if she --

Curious, she floats her hand down, and very very very very very very very gently presses it against his side. Ghosts against his side, most like.

"Was that. Did that. Were you. Is -- did you, like," and here's the giggles again. "Did you, um, was that good?"

In no rush to speak, he searches her expression rather analytically, once he lifts his head and his eyelashes. A quick search would have revealed shock, but not displeasure, and a thorough one turns up—

He still didn't really believe her. This was a way of saying, Oh? Prove it. She probably didn't believe herself. And Odysseus is still resting his weight on the couch and his elbow, just to either side of her, instead of pinning her down. He isn't quite ready to stop holding himself apart.

"It was a kiss." Or one kiss, she said. "Careful what you wish for."

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why are you liking that thread. you should be getting out your spray bottles. tell him to get a real job

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HE LAYS TWO FINGERS ON HER LIPS??

AND THEN KISSES HER?

Julie stops breathing, in fact! What a quaint little way to silent the giggles. Her eyes are wide open. And his eyelashes are long. And his skin is so close. And they are touching each other. With their lips. And it's.

Umm, should she be moving her lips? What is she supposed to do, again? Other than just let this happen? Hang on. What's the etiquette to kisses?

When they separate, she is looking past him, glazed over. Her eyes flicker to the side, and then focus back on him -- and she breathes again. That was -- hold on, hold on. Her grin and merriment is still there, a ghost on her lips.

"--Oh" she says, entirely uselessly. "That was. Huh."

Odysseus closes his eyes to receive the forehead kiss, quietly appalled, and then shakes his head. Breaking into a smile of his own at last.

He parts her hands from her face, having braced himself against the couch so he could take her wrist and move it. Her skin is warmer than his, for once. Feverish, even, and maybe that's all this is... but she sounds excited, not frightened. He lays two fingers over her lips.

"Breathe. Through the nose. I can feel your pulse."

Only after she does, he lifts his fingers and leans down to kiss her on the mouth. Not with haste, but deeply enough that she'll have needed that breath.

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i dont think julie has kissed anyone in her entire run so far. so like, since 2011. or 2012. whenever. so it took 13 years for her to even express one affection. julie aroace queen fr

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Stop... He's hot...

She cannot stop giggling, but she does say: "Okay, okay, hold -- hold on. Hold-- just, okay, wait-- hang on, I, hang -- just --"

Now there is wriggling. And giggling. She sits up straighter on the couch from her unceremonious dumping, hooks both her hands behind his neck, and mwah's right in the center of his stupid fucking forehead!

(As in, makes the noise and everything. That's how a kiss works. She thinks. This is the first one she's probably given ever, so...)

And immediately she falls back, covers her face, laughs an, "Oh God," and giggles more. Deliriously, even. What the fuck!!!!

Her face is the color of ripe pomegranate. He doesn't smile, because he's just told her not to laugh and he isn't ready to break character yet, but the quirk of his eyebrows is amused, and not for a moment believing she means it, anymore than he believed she was going to destroy him with a spray of mist.

"That generally involves less talking."

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"""Is everything okay?"""

READ THE FUCKING ROOM WESLEY!!! 🤪🤪🤪

Julie has all but had the phone thrown back at her the moment Xeno saw that Wesley replied, and she almost commits a murder for the sixth time. She types her reply very slowly.

(text, 6am) xeno is still telling me about your night

(text, 6am) sounds like it was

(text, 1 min later) eventful

(text, not long after) (many emojis)

@glacierfront sent: (text to wesley, 3am, for no reason) hey can u schedule dates to end before 8pm please so xeno can come talk to me earlier? (text to wesley, 3am) please

Wesley opens his phone after sleeping through the night like a normal human being. Julie — well, not Julie — has sent him a lot of emojis.

[ sms: Julie Sandgren ] (6:05am) Is everything okay? [ sms: Julie Sandgren ] (6:06am) You guys were up at 3am?

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i do think julie is so stressed all the time but she like thinks its normal and she is not actually stressed. and when she percieves good things they threaten her carefully managed emotions. so she is like actually i hate it

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There is a certain...

Okay, not necessarily that dull. The rush that floods her lungs and flushes out her anxiety is a relief she didn't know she needed. The knowledge that other people might be trying to help Xeno -- people that aren't her, who probably know more than her -- it's... it's. Wow.

(And she wasn't -- ISN'T -- even trying to help Xeno!)

"Okay." Julie nods back. "What... can you..." No, that isn't it. She squints into the distance, tries again. "Do you need money, or... Uh, rich -- connections....?" A beat. A huff. "I guess that's -- still money."

But it's all she has.

Her nose scrunches, immediately dismissive.

Wesley said Xeno said he lives here. Now this guy says he wouldn't have come if he didnt feel safe.

Bile pools in the back of her mouth. That seems like a lot of responsibility-- and something she doesn't feel like she's earned. Also, he doesn't pay rent. Does he know about the concept of rent?

(Oh, right, none of them pay rent. Whoops. Thanks, Tony.)

She is also quiet. "He called-- you, too." A beat. "Is it -- do you know each other -- well?"