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Terrible Ideas (Maia/Isaac/Elliot)
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 9, 2016 19:10:29 GMT
Isaac sighed and leaned back into Maia's arms as she wrapped them around his shoulders. He wouldn't let himself cry, even as he found himself shuddering and a few tears escaping the corner of his eye. He wouldn't let this break him. He couldn't. It refused to stop, however, and the more Isaac tried to hold it back the worse it became. Eventually he just gave up and let it happen, quietly sobbing as the weight of fifteen years firmly clamped around his shoulders. Sometimes letting go didn't feel fun or easy, even if it was necessary. At least Maia's presence was of small comfort to Isaac, helping him keep it together even when he wanted to crumble.
"Thank you," he said as Maia lent him her sympathies. There was really nothing she had to apologize for, but he understood the sentiment and appreciated it dearly. He cautiously lifted his hand and placed it on hers, letting her presence help cheer him up. For a while he sat there in silence with her, his tears slowly starting to fade and his shuddering coming to a gentle still.
Then came Kuu's unwanted advice. Isaac wished it was that easy, to just pick someone else to be his father. If that was the case he probably would've gone seeking out his birth father ages ago. At the same time, though, why? He was abandoned by that man just as hard as he was neglected by Elliot's father. Neither of them were fathers to him. Neither of them deserved that. And Maia's dad was nice enough, but he wasn't really Isaac's dad.
Isaac was glad Kuu didn't know about the details of marriage, or he could've twisted that "make Maia's dad your dad" quip into a much more embarrassing joke.
Maia's advice was a lot better. Isaac smiled softly as he listened to what she had to say, the last of his tears drying up. He wasn't entirely feeling better, but how could he when he had brought up such heavy thoughts previously? While he could never truly forget them, today he tried to let them slide into the past while he reached out to embrace the future. He turned around slightly, trying to make eye contact with Maia even as she stood behind her. It wasn't exactly easy, but at least he was able to establish that he was looking at her. "It means a lot knowing I can rely on you, Mai," he confided. A bit of a flush came to his face as he prepared one last admission, but he realized with Kuu in the room he couldn't just say it. What the heck was he supposed to do?
Then he remembered there was a language option they had that Kuu might not necessarily understand. Turning to Maia and letting go of her hands, he began signing at her to the best of his ability. The movements were slow and shaky, and occasionally he needed a second try to try and capture a sign, but soon he had managed to tell Maia the current summation of his sign studies so far.
I love you.
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 10, 2016 5:11:48 GMT
There was little that the teen could do, except for stay with Isaac while he struggled with his emotions. It wasn't like there were many words to help the situation, after all. Instead, Maia remained silent, hoping that it was enough to just be there. She really wasn't great in knowing what to say in these situations! Or, any situation, really. But, nobody could say that she never tried.
Kuu simply let out a huff, while eating away at the food on the plate still. Nobody ever listened to him! One day, he was going to say something seriously relevant, and a single person wouldn't notice! ...Then again, the pipefox did similar things frequently, and went unnoticed. Ah, the curse of needing to be ridiculous! But, being taken seriously was a loss that he was willing to take!
Realizing that the boy was trying to turn to look at her, Maia shifted to his side more. It was awfully hard to see facial expressions at her previous angle. "You can always rely on me," she murmured, with a smile. Of course, that was in part because Maia knew that she was able to always rely on Isaac. If it weren't for him, who knew where she'd even be right now. Even with Kuu, who didn't even have a name when the two had met.
All thoughts were silenced, as sign language suddenly came into the mix. With the choppy motions, it took a bit to fully process the wording, initially. Had he been working on this for her? It was really sweet! Lips parted, only to close again, as she reached out to lightly take Isaac's right hand into her's. There, she'd gently open it, only to press his ring and middle fingers into his palm. "It's, uh," she murmured again, incredibly softly, "it's actually easier to remember this one." Pulling hands away from his, she made the hand symbol that she was trying to show him, but adding an extra sign onto the end, almost seamlessly. With any luck, eyes would be on her hand, to hide the blush spreading across her face.
I love you too.
To this, there was another huff from the chair, as Kuu grumbled, "why doesn't anyone ever tell me that?" Jealous!
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 10, 2016 5:35:20 GMT
Isaac was kind of amazed by seeing Maia in action. Her motions were so fluid and graceful, in contrast to the choppy and clumsy ones that he had so far been practicing. How was she able to do it so smoothly? "You're a pro at this," Isaac said as Maia began her demonstration, doing his best to follow along with her signs. "If I wasn't trying to surprise you, I would've so came to you for advi-"
Maybe if he wasn't busy running his mouth, Isaac would have noticed the little addendum to her sentence sooner. Now Maia wasn't the only one blushing brightly about this mutual confession. A grin spread across his face as he wondered how just four special words could turn him from morose to the happiest he had ever been. He practically spun out of his chair, standing up to hug Maia closely. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world," he admitted, voice trembling slightly as if he was about to cry again. This time, rather than small and cold, his voice was practically brimming with joy and confidence. Who knew such happiness would come out of such an awkward start?
Now his emotions had time to bounce off of each other, and Isaac was slowly reasserting a mood equilibrium. His shields would be re-raised, but this time he'd be much more prone to letting them down to help let others in. Until then, though, he let himself slip back into his usual state of mind. After all of the feelings he had to slog through today, he sure as heck earned it. "So, yeah. I've been trying to pick sign up on the down low, from time to time. If I ever seemed a bit spaced out during our Japanese lessons, trying to mull over the words in three different languages might've been a part of that," he admitted. "Do you speak any others, or have Japanese and sign been your main two focuses?"
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 10, 2016 8:43:13 GMT
Letting out a small squeak, the tamer found herself in a hug. For some reason, she really hadn't expected him to stand up so quickly! Maybe because moments before, she had been listening to him as he tried to keep in emotions that shouldn't have been. Or, she was just too wrapped into her own signing. And, definitely knowing that Kuu was watching out of the corner of his eye made it all the more distracting.
Luckiest guy in the world? Ha. That might have been an exaggeration, if he was referring to her! But, she certainly wasn't going to kill his mood with that kind of statement! Kuu was more than willing to kill the mood, making a dramatized gagging sound, "there are people eating over here," he whined, looking at the mostly empty plate. Okay, maybe it wasn't really people. It was a white and purple fox monster, who really liked his tamer not smelling like boys! Why couldn't Maia just be a hermit and not like anyone romantically? She could have the Kudamon's love, and nobody else's!
Then, the fox added, "if you wanted to learn ASL in secret, I could'a helped you." Well, it wasn't like anyone else wanted to spend quality time with him! The only real problem was that Kuu didn't have fingers of his own, so he would have to rely entirely on Isaac's ability to understand what he was trying to explain. At least there may have been an opportunity for clarity.
"That was pretty good, though," Maia tried to encourage. "For learning Japanese and ASL at the same time, you're doing really well." After all, the girl didn't have any pressure on her when she had started either language. She didn't need to learn one of them in an absolute rush. With the next question, she glanced around the room, a little awkwardly. "Yeah. About that," she shrugged, "turns out, I'm really bad at learning new languages. I probably wouldn't be able to speak Japanese, if I hadn't learned it when I was a kid." Was a kid? She was still legally a child! Which was insanely annoying in instances such as getting grounded. "What about you? Any other languages you're keeping secret?"
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 10, 2016 15:18:00 GMT
For some reason, Kuu's offer took Isaac completely by surprise. Maybe it was because he didn't have hands to sign with, or because he wasn't great at keeping secrets, or because he didn't even seem to like Isaac very much. Okay, so maybe Isaac had a lot of good reasons to be surprised by Kuu's offer. That said, it was a surprisingly kind and helpful offer from him, and Isaac found himself considering it. Slowly he grinned, voice warm and somewhat teasing. "Promise you won't throw me out the window and I might take you up on that," he said.
His grin shifted to a more prideful one as Maia complimented his handle on his languages. Considering she was a trilinguist with a ton of proficiency in both languages Isaac was currently struggling with, that meant a lot to hear. "Thank you. You know, it's kind of funny. I'm always an awful learner until I need to do something important. Then I'm always able to step up to the plate." If Maia was paying close attention, she might have noticed that Isaac was putting impressing her on par with his continued existence in Japan. He was being quite the flirt today, wasn't he?
And then it turned out as far as languages went, Maia had basically hit her peak. It seemed some skills just didn't hold up as easily after the flexible child years, and language seemed to be a big one there. Isaac simply shrugged, figuring it wasn't really a big deal for either of them. "That's fine. We've all got different talents. And it isn't like kicking ass at three languages is too shabby." Speaking if talents, wasn't Isaac forgetting something?
"Like art, for example. Mind if I see what you've been cooking up for the past few weeks?"
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Oct 3, 2016 8:28:53 GMT
A small chuckle came from the fox at the table, as he shook his head to Isaac's comment. "I'm too small to throw you out a window!" Okay, so that wasn't much encouragement. Oh well. It was probably the best that anyone would get out of the Kudamon! After all, he was already busy licking Dad's plate! And, there weren't any situations to throw anyone out of windows, at the current moment! "But, just remember, if you ever need someone to throw you out a window, you said I'm not supposed to." How did someone licking a plate manage to say something so ominous? At least it probably didn't mean anything. Who would want to be thrown out a window?
Maia only shot a glance at the Digimon, trying to think that he was trying to be funny. Sometimes, it was really hard to tell! The teen didn't seem to fully connect the compliment to Isaac's ability to function, and simply continued listening to what the boy had to say. With a shrug, the girl walked around the table, and back to her seat. "Nothing too new. I think 'horror' might be one of my strong suits, though," Maia flashed a small smile at this, thinking about some of the art that she had been making her mother horribly uncomfortable with over the past month. After all, it wasn't like her mom could restrict pencil usage! Maia actually needed those for school!
A snort came from the fox, as he held back laughing at the comment. Scampering off of Mr. Quinn's chair. "What about the Kuu art?"
Smile vanished, as the tamer leaned back in her seat, "that-uh. That's not done yet," she mumbled, awkwardly. "I don't like showing something that's barely sketched." This elicited a groan from her partner, but he gave up on the subject. Another time! People would have to admire him sooner or later!
On the thought of subjects, time to change this one! "Have you thought any further on joining the drama club?" After all, that was a great way to pull the conversation off of herself!
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Oct 3, 2016 12:44:19 GMT
A look of mock shock and horror formed on Isaac's face at Kuu's statement, his voice wavering in a parody of fear. "Oh no!" he said. "What will I ever do then? Truly, I have made a grave mistake." He could barely get through the sentence without bursting into laughter at the absurdity of it all. When the heck would he ever need to get thrown out of a window? Heck, he was young and fit. If push came to shove he could just jump out of the window! Sometimes Kuu could be so ridiculous.
Horror, huh? Briefly Isaac wondered if he should be concerned about the effects of jumping into a parallel universe full of deadly monsters on everyone's psyche, if that was the first thing Maia jumped to when there was no more access to the Digital World. However, he shrugged it off. Sure, he sometimes worried about how he and Elliot were finding their senses of danger increasingly warped, but Maia seemed the most well adjusted out of any of them. Besides, horror was cool. Sometimes a skeleton was just a skeleton. "Think I could sneak a peek?" he asked, hoping he'd be able to check out Maia's latest work.
Not her latest-latest, though. As a fellow creative type Isaac understood how reluctant Maia was to show off WIPs. If he had to perform a monologue in progress for her, he'd probably end up dying of embarrassment. Heck, the mere idea of doing so threatened to make him start blushing. "I know exactly how you feel there. But hey, success takes time, right?" he asked.
Just like joining a drama club did. A bit of pink flashed over Isaac's face as he was forced to return to the pit of nerves in his gut. "Well, the good news is I've decided I'm going for sure," he confirmed, hoping to feel a bit of extra security in having a concrete decision. It was an important first step, if only because that meant he was holding himself accountable now. "But it isn't going to be easy. There are going to be so many people with better language skills than me. Even younger students are going to sound so much better. I think what I'm going to do first, then, is see if there are any roles described as foreigners. My shaky language and accent can only help me out there, right? Might as well play to my strengths.
That art club show is coming up soon, right? How's that shaping up so far?" Jeez, with how often they got the conversation off of themselves, you'd think these two were playing hot potato.
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Dec 24, 2016 9:11:53 GMT
Surely, Maia wasn't losing her sanity to the Digital World just now! If that was going, it was already gone. Kuu had a larger affect on her mentality, than the Digital World ever could, on it's own. After all, the Kudamon slept with her, and spent every waking moment with her. It wasn't like the Digital World could do that.
But, did she really want to show Isaac any of that? "Uh, it's not," she paused, a little embarrassed. "I don't know. Maybe if I get better at it." After all, she didn't want to go showing off disturbing art, to begin with! Maybe if it became really good, she'd actually consider it. After all, there were always potentials for careers as some sort of horror-themed artist, right?
Either way, she was glad that the boy didn't want to see her horribly unfinished Kuu art, too. That was just a mess! "R-right," she nodded, thinking about it. Story-boarding was harder than it looked, when she couldn't decide on what words to put where! Kuu was just a little too eccentric for this project, it seemed. But, he was also a perfect test subject!
Still, it was exciting to hear that Isaac was going to try for the drama club! "I think you'll do great," the girl encouraged. That was the best she could do, really! That, and help him more with the language! But, he had a good idea when it came to roles. "Well, you do fit the descriptor for foreigner pretty well," Maia found herself teasing, while reaching out to lightly brush her fingertips over Isaac's bangs. After all, his hair color even screamed foreigner! "But, I'm sure you'll get a role, no matter what you try for." Talk about confidence in her boyfriend!
But, the subject was quickly spun back to her, and the art club. Oh, yes. She hadn't really been updating anyone on that. Including her own parents. "Shh," she hushed, looking toward the doorway. Oh, good, there wasn't any screeching. Her mother hadn't heard! "The project's almost done, actually. Just a few finishing touches, I think," she murmured, trying to think about it.
Was it actually almost done? It seemed like every time they thought they were finished, something was adjusted. Which, given that they had decided to work with paints, wasn't always the easiest. But, it was looking really good! "I still don't actually know when the deadline is for that," she admitted, with a small smile. Wow, Maia really needed to learn when to ask questions! For all she knew, the entire thing was due in a week!
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Dec 24, 2016 20:03:05 GMT
Embarrassment? Huh. Isaac had usually seen it coming from Maia when she was working on new things, so it wasn't too much of a surprise, but to suddenly do a 180 from calling it one of her new strong suits was a bit odd. "Afraid it's so good you'll terrify me, huh?" he asked, a somewhat teasing tone to his voice. Generally Maia's gentle teasing and prodding help get him into new comfort zones. Maybe him doing the same would help ease her worries a bit. "Nah, I get it. It takes a lot of practice to feel comfy with showing off sometimes. Still, if you're ever feeling up to it, I'd love the chance to play art critic."
He did his best to look hoity-toity as he peered at one of Maia's walls, thoughtfully stroking an invisible beard with his fingers. "Like this piece, Maia's Wall," he said, fancying up his voice. "The even, monocolor coating suggests a sort of repetition, but what's this? The soft tones add a feeling of warmth and comfort, turning what could be monotony into a sense of ease. Quite the exquisite piece, if I do say so myself." By the end he was cracking up a little, but he managed to adjust his invisible glasses and keep a straight face.
Of course, Isaac wasn't the only goofball in the relationship. He smiled a little as Maia fooled around with his bangs. "I know, right?" he said, grinning. "Its almost like I'm not from around here." Teasing aside, though, the amount of faith Maia had in him meant a lot. Hell, she probably had more faith in him than he had in himself! "Still, thanks. I know it might be a lot to ask, but when it comes time for me to audition, think you'd be okay with coming with me? I know if I've got you cheering me on, I'll be able to do anything." Now there's some confidence! Sort of.
He nodded as he listened to her describe the art club project, her smile infectious. "Jeez, already?" Isaac asked. It felt so recent ago that Maia had been starting that thing. "Nice! Not that you probably need to worry about the deadline. I'm sure you've got plenty of time. Can't wait to see it when its time for show.
So, you probably don't want to show it off yet, but can I get a hint?" Can't blame a guy for trying!
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Dec 27, 2016 7:04:37 GMT
Maybe it was a little weird to call it a strong suit, then refuse to show it. But, it also felt weird to show people horror drawings. Like that Porcupamon drawing hadn't been enough! "Well, I wouldn't want to give you nightmares," the blonde counter-teased. But, she really doubted Isaac was that easy to scare! "Maybe! If I feel like drawing more of that kind of thing." After all, horror muse could be hard to come by! Especially when there wasn't anything scary in the house, except for her mother's obsession with demons!
But, with Isaac's role as wall-art critic, the teen had a hard time keeping a straight face. How was he doing such a good job at pretending to be serious about this?! "See? This is why you need to act." It actually surprised her slightly, to hear the request for her to come as support.
Smile widened across the girl's lips, pretending to think it over for a moment. "Hm, well, I'm awfully busy," she started, in a progressively playful tone. Oh yes, so busy. What, with being grounded and all! "But," she drew out the word, as if still pondering. "I'd be glad to," she finalized. Of course, she intended on happily accepting the request, no matter what! But, it was more fun to see if she could make Isaac sweat a little first! Except, he surely knew how her answer was going to turn out.
Already? It had actually been a little while since they'd started the project! But, Maia could see how it would be easy to lose track of time. "A-are you actually going to that show?" That would be kind of embarrassing, actually! What if the project ended up a horrible flop, and Isaac got to see that? But, that really didn't answer his question! "No hints," the girl was quick to respond, upon realizing that she hadn't. "The art club is taking this entire thing very seriously." Jeez, art students were crazy.
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Dec 27, 2016 7:25:23 GMT
"Alrighty, sounds good to me," Isaac said, smiling. "I'll be sure to make our next adventure extra-terrifying to give you lots of material to work with, okay?" It seemed without parental or Kuu supervision, these two could joke up a storm. Hell, Isaac had almost forgotten Kuu was there! It was the quietest the pipe fox had ever been, and for a second Isaac wondered if he decided to sneak out and hang with Elliot instead of putting up with their flirting any longer.
It probably didn't help that their flirting involved some of the stupidest jokes of all time. Sure, to an outsider the wall critic bit would've probably looked insane. But with the way Maia was having trouble keeping a straight face, Isaac knew he struck gold. It certainly helped that she just had the cutest snickering face. Just like the cutest smile, the cutest pout, and the cutest sleepy face.
Maia just had a really cute face.
Okay, back to focusing on stuff that wasn't Maia's face. Like the encouragement he just got about going for acting. "Heh. If I went to the drama club with that bit, they'd probably look at me like I had three heads," he joked. "But if I can get reactions like that? Hell, I'll call it a job well done."
Maia was getting reactions, too. Isaac put on his best nervous face as Maia started giving her response. Sure, her playful tone gave her away immediately, but they were having way too much fun with this for him to be the wet blanket here! He even managed to call up a tiny bit of nervous sweat on his brow as she dragged out the but. It wasn't enough for a full reaction, but a little bit of extra selling for a lot of extra effort that really showed his commitment to a "role." Naturally, though, he sighed in relief as Maia gave her verdict. He teased her hair a little, smiling softly. "Heh. Knew I could count on you."
Just like how Maia could count on Isaac to go to the art show, even if she seemed a little shocked by his decision. "Well, of course!" he said. "I gotta be there to see you jump-start your career as an artisté extraordinairé, right? And if you're gonna come around to watch me flub at monologues, the least I can do is support you on your kickass projects." How did Isaac know they were kickass? Well, he couldn't. Maia wasn't allowing any hints. But he had faith in her, and wasn't that what counted most? "I can tell they're taking it seriously, though," he said. "There's fliers all over the school for it, and it still isn't gonna be on display for a long while. That's some serious dedication.
Slowly, a mischievous grin spread on Isaac's face. "But if there's any crazy, secret afterparty after all of that, think you can sneak me an invite?" After all, art nerds threw the craziest parties, right?
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