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[therealgansey]

[ There is a young man on the screen and despite it being obvious he's recently arrived, he appears to be coping quite well. He's wearing a lemon yellow polo shirt, cargo shorts and a pair of top siders that probably can't actually be seen on the video, but he does look like the sort of boy who wears topsiders. His brown hair is mussed and he's got a polite smile on his lips. HIs voice, when he speaks, is even, all old-money-virginia vowels. ]

Pardon me for repeating a scenario you've all, no doubt, heard several times given the little I have learned about this place, but I'm Richard Campbell Gansey the third and I'd very much appreciate any information any of you could give me. Specifically, might there be an Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch or Blue Sargent here? [ He'd settle for any of the women from 300 Foxway or even Declan right now. He's feeling all together out of sorts and Gansey doesn't much care for that. ]


{ooc: prose, network or action welcomed!}

Comments

[makeslouder]

[Oh Gansey. Accidentally condescending, even in narration. But she's slowly (very slowly) starting to learn that this is a part of who Gansey is. He says things without thinking and, most of the time, he doesn't mean any offense. It's just Gansey being Gansey. In celebration of his arrival, he gets a free pass. For now.]

I know where the ice cream shop is. [And meeting for a cone sounds innocent enough. The sort of thing that friends would do, especially if Blue pays for her own cone. Which she will insist on doing.] It shouldn't take me long to get there.

[Itinere is, after all, a proper little town. And she had awoken to find a bicycle much like the one she has back home in her apartment unit that morning.]

[therealgansey]

[ Accidentally is immeasurably better than purposefully, isn't it? Actually, Gansey is very aware that his words are weapons of mass destruction and he tries very hard not to say things that will detonate the moment they're out of his mouth. However, Gansey, being Gansey, doesn't always properly gauge how a person will take his words. Surely he can't be held responsible for the narration though? Because in that case, Blue will always be offended. He's quite fortunate that she can't read thoughts the way (it seems) some of her family can. She would be offended by him. He does appreciate the free pass. ]

I'll meet you there then. [ She'll be quite surprised (and probably offended) that nothing costs in Itinere. There's little need for money when residents can simply wish things into existence. Of course, Gansey hasn't figured that bit out either so he'll be surprised as well.]

[makeslouder]

[There's such a thin line between love and hate. Blue had never realized how true that is until she met Richard Gansey III. For however often he irritates her, she just as often finds reasons to admire him and even maybe fall in love with him. He wouldn't be Gansey, she knows now, if he didn't offend despite meaning all the best.

Sometimes, she still wishes that Adam could have been her true love. Wouldn't that be easier?

She doesn't bother replying to his last statement and instead slips her PDA into her small bag and hops on her bike. It really doesn't take all that long to find the ice cream shop Gansey had referred to. She leans her bicycle against the building and walks inside.]

[therealgansey]

[ You wound him, Blue. He is aware of his ability to offend while having the best of intentions though. He's tried to minimize the damage since she made him aware of this. He's not sure how successful he's been. He tends to say a good deal less around Blue in any case.

Easier. Yes, but Gansey thinks he would still find himself in love with Blue regardless of who her true love might have been. He wouldn't have ever declared himself, not if she were in love with Adam, but it wouldn't have changed his feelings.

By the time she arrives, Gansey is perusing the case of flavors and questioning the poor boy behind the counter. ] Yes, but is is made real strawberry or some sort of sugary strawberry flavoring?

[ The boy behind the counter looks gobsmacked and answers 'there are bits of strawberry in it?'. Gansey looks up, smile racing across his face. ] Jane, come help me decipher this strawberry sorbet. I'm trying to decide if it'll provoke an Anaphylactic reaction or if it's safe to have. It looks quite good, doesn't it?

[makeslouder]

[Don't worry too much, Gansey. The effort hasn't gone unnoticed. They haven't spent much alone time together, not since the night of that not kiss beneath the stars, the twinkling lights of Henrietta in the distance. But she had called him once. It had been late and the conversation brief but it had been memorable.

Not loving him would be so much easier. But fate and curses don't care about easy, or about fair. If that were the case, she wouldn't feel shivers go down her spine when she sees that smile on Gansey's face.

She smiles back, unable to keep herself from doing so. But that smile is brief. Blue hadn't known that he was allergic to strawberries too, but now that she does, she simply won't take any chances.]

We'll take two cones. [She says this to the boy behind the counter, ignoring Gansey's questions and desire. He can't always get everything he wants.] One vanilla and one chocolate.

[It's now that she looks up at him.] Or will one of those provoke an anaphylactic reaction as well?

[therealgansey]

[ He still thinks about that phone call and that not kiss far more often than is probably healthy.

It had been much easier when Gansey had only had his town and his quest to be in love with. However, he's not entirely sure he could (or would) go back to simply being in love with his town and his quest. He finds he likes the way his heart thuds a bit faster when Blue smiles back at him that way. ] I quite like the sugary, chemically-proudced without any real strawberries strawberry ice cream.

[ Its' a weak protest, but a protest all the same. ] No. Both are entirely safe as houses.

[makeslouder]

[Someday, they'll get to have their first and last kiss. In Cabeswater, before Gansey's death. She'd like to keep him alive long enough to be able to experience what it's like kissing Richard Gansey III. She'd like to keep him alive much longer but that's the thing about curses. They're like a well kept promise and not easily broken.

She saw his ghost on St. Mark's eve. She knows that he'll be dead within the year.]

And I quite like you alive and without need for epinephrine alongside your ice cream. [All the more reason to keep him alive now. For however long it is possible. She looks sharply at the ice cream boy again.] One vanilla and one chocolate, please. There will be absolutely no strawberry for either of us. Not even a hint.

[therealgansey]

[ Yes, he'd rather not think about that. Yes, he's got a bit of a death wish, or at least a fascination with his own death, but he doesn't like the idea of kissing Blue only once.

That's the bit he doesn't know about. He only assumes that she loves him and that's why she won't kiss him.]

Strawberries don't cause quite the violent reaction in me. [ He'll only swell up a bit, break out in hives and have a difficult time breathing, but he'll survive long enough to get to the hospital, or at least that's what the doctors tell him. The ice cream boy doesn't have the spine to argue with Blue. He nods and starts scooping two cones: one vanilla and one chocolate. He hands it over without any mention of payment (becuase there isn't any). Gansey being Gansey though...]

How much do we owe you? [ He's aware that Blue will probably try to pay for her cone, but he's getting his wallet out for his cone at the least. The ice cream boy grins and shakes his head. ]

You guys must be new here. Don't cost anything. Nothing in Itinere does. I work here 'cause I like the job. Got bored doin' nothin', you know? Enjoy the ice cream. It's on the house.

[ If the house is the trio of creatures that run this place. Gansey gives him quite the stunned look, blinking. He has a difficult time processing a society in which money won't fix problems or create them. ]

[makeslouder]

[Oh, his assumption isn't so far off. It is her true love that’ll die should she ever kiss him. She’s never loved any other boy. Blue’s supposed to be sensible and love is about as far from sensible as you can possibly get. It stands to very good reason that he might be her true love. At least, she suspects that she might be falling in love with him now. The thought saddens Blue when it should excite. For years, she’s known of the curse. She never realized how hard it could be to live with once love becomes a reality.

As the ice cream boy finishes making the cones, she waits patiently. She notices Gansey reach for his wallet and is about to stop him when the boy answers for her. She’s learned by now that money isn’t a thing that exists in Itinere. Blue’s never been rich but they weren’t the poorest family in Henrietta. She’s not sure what she makes of this currency-less society quite yet. But Gansey had been born into a rich and prestigious family. Money is everything for him.

Gently, she places a hand on top of the one holding the wallet and pushes it back towards his pocket. Then she nods towards the cones.] Chocolate or vanilla, Gansey?

[therealgansey]

[Gansey doesn't know when he fell in love with Blue. He thinks maybe he has always been in love with Blue even before he knew her and he knows that's ridiculous and illogical. He thinks it just the same.

Gansey's brow furrows at the boy's explanation. How can it be possible that this place functions without money? Ideas of barter systems and trading occur to him. He'll have to do some research, and as simple as that his mind is back on the quest. He will have a difficult time with a society in which money isn't something he can use to manipulate, control, buy and smooth things over. Money is how Gansey communicates much of the time, how he deals with problems and issues. In any case, that's a problem for another moment.

He gives Blue a confused look and puts the wallet back into his pocket. ] Vanilla [ He responds, realizing that he's not certain if Blue likes chocolate or not. ] unless you'd prefer it. [ He'll accept which ever cone she hands him. ]

[makeslouder]

[There's nothing logical about love. There's nothing that isn't ridiculous. At least, that's what Blue is learning about love. That and that it was worth the wait. Gansey, for all she sometimes still wants to roll her eyes and scoff at that president cell phone persona, has been worth the wait.

She rolls her eyes now as she snickers at Gansey's confusion. To be fair, Blue had been doubtful herself when Adam explained how everything is free in Itinere. Though it still puzzles her (how can any complex society function without so much as a barter system in place?), she's accepted it and moved on. Money isn't something she had a lot of growing up. Not having it now isn't such a horrible fate.

At his request, she hands him the vanilla cone. She'll have taken either flavor easily enough.] You don't always have to be so chivalrous.

[therealgansey]

[ Gansey is learning that as well even if he refuses to acknowledge it because he believes that ultimately it won't matter.

It's odd and it's going to take gansey a little while to get used to it.

He takes it and licks around the edge of the cone to keep it from dripping, eyebrows shooting up at her words. ] Honestly. It's chivalry that separates us from apes, otherwise known as the larger population of Aglionby. [ He points out so helpfully. ]

[makeslouder]

[There's nothing incorrect in his statement though Blue suspects that wild apes behave better than the the larger population of Aglionby. But once again, it seems as if Gansey missed the whole point of what she had been trying to say. Blue doesn't want chivalry in her life. She's a capable girl and doesn't need a man to hold the doors open for her or offer her a choice in ice cream flavors. She can make her own decisions.

She ignores her own cone. The chocolate ice cream drips on to her hand which makes her glance down for a second. Then her attention is back on Gansey with a stern look on her face.] I believe it's less than a percent of difference in DNA that separates us from apes.