maybe this time [bright]

[alecsander lee devere]

a l l . t h e . o d d s . a r e . i n . m y . f a v o u r
s o m e t h i n g ' s . b o u n d . t o . b e g i n

[/font][/size][/color]

He didn't normally eat popcorn. It was greasy, it was abnormally yellow, the stuff you got at movies had way too many calories than was sensible. Yet here he was, walking back to their seats with one large-size bag of popcorn. Alec had calculated that it would be cheaper to get the one large size rather than two smalls. Even so, it was still a rip-off. Why couldn't he have simply brought a plastic bag of homemade granola, instead? Oh right, because popcorn was supposed to 'complete the effect'. No such thing as a night at the movies without popcorn.

It was already dark in the theater by the time he reentered, but a quick glance at the screen told him that it was still at the trailers. He would have hated to miss the beginning of the movie because of that woman with five children who'd been in front of him in line and had decided that fifteen minutes was a perfectly respectable time to take ordering. Alec blinked slightly, trying to adjust his eyes to the lack of light. He had to resort to keeping his head down to stare intently at the tiny little lights bordering the edges of the aisle in order to make his way towards their seats without tripping. That would have been embarrassing. He remembered a time when he'd tripped walking to his seat and the popcorn he'd been carrying for a friend had spilled over everyone in the vicinity. Humiliating. He hoped never to repeat such an experience. Maybe that was why he didn't like popcorn. That, and it was bad for his complexion.

He eventually made it to his row, and attempted to slip through it disturbing as few people as possible. Even though the movie hadn't actually started yet, and the theater was occupied by only a handful of people, really, Alec still didn't want to upset anyone who might be riveted by the trailers on the large screen. It was somewhat difficult to maneuver, with a popcorn in hand and two bottles, one of apple juice, one of water, tucked underneath his arm, but in the end, he managed it alright - and without any mortifying fiascos, which was always a plus - and eventually plopped himself down into his seat beside Bright.

The girl was one of the few people he really actually hung out with, without some sort of hidden agenda. They shared common interests and conversation was generally quite easy. Lately, though, he had been feeling...less than entirely comfortable. Alec couldn't quite place the feeling. Normally he was just himself with Bright, but he'd been nervous recently, occasionally afraid of what she'd say about his thoughts, his actions and the like. It was unnerving. Maybe things were changing now that they went to the same school? Alec hoped it wasn't anything more serious than that. He needed Bright to let loose with. He propped the popcorn up in between his knees. "Water or apple juice?" he asked, holding out both choices for her to see.

Gone With the Wind was his choice for tonight. It was a classic that he felt they would both appreciate, and was neither particularly dark, nor light and frivolous. There were plenty of films he'd enjoy seeing with Bright, but most of them weren't playing, possibly because they weren't the big Hollywood films with all the special effects. It had been hard to find something playing that wasn't all sex and explosions, which seemed to be what was popular in Santa Ria, but he'd eventually come across this in the movie schedule. At least it had substance.

He was aware that going to the movies wasn't exactly the most social of activities, since it involved sitting in silence and staring at a screen, but Alec was still making an effort. He doubted they'd stay perfectly silent for the entire movie, anyway, considering it was horrifyingly long. There weren't enough people in the theater to make Alec feel bad about making noise. Not that he was going to scream at the top of his lungs, of course, but Alec had a feeling that hushed comments would go unnoticed. Alec smiled at Bright, offering her the popcorn. "I didn't get the extra butter. You don't mind, do you?"

TAG; bright
NOTES; hope it's alright?
LYRICS; cabaret
WORDS; seven two four

[bright óla ivanova]

MIDAS IS KING AND HE HOLDS ME SO TIGHT

AND TURNS ME TO GOLD IN THE SUNLIGHT

Bright always enjoyed the movies better when she was on her way to see something older. She disliked hype. The cramped theatre, the rustling of packets, the invariable buzz and its unavoidable downfall as the thrill of being in the movies with overpriced treats and leg cramp soon wore off. It didn't appeal to her. Given, she had ignored this ideal for a night when she had bought her ticket to go see Avatar, but that was an exception, not the rule. Generally she didn't have a taste for the content of the big block busters, but the general theme of the film had drawn her in. She was a sucker for anything fantasy, throw in a bit of Sci-fi and she would have been doing herself a disservice not going. In any case, she had been riveted for the length of the picture. Usually, however, she much preferred these types of showings. A more or less empty cinema, a film with more substance than machine guns and provocative females. Films like that made her feel uneasy. Fair haired, slightly built, dorky girl that she was, being exposed to buxom sirens with glittery makeup and a head of extensions didn't exactly do wonders for her self image. Though at least she found solace in the fact that when her looks faded, she would still have some knowledge and content in her own head that could entertain someone. Her face wasn't her only attribute. Well, it wasn't an attribute at all in her opinion. She was pretty strange looking, like a perfectly amicable alien. Not hideous, just odd, and certainly not Jessica Alba. She pursed her lips, where was Alec?

Pulling her legs up, she looked up aimlessly, her eyes tracing the linear pattern of the ceiling tiles, just visible in the dimness. Bright never sat in a seat with her legs on the floor. She had no idea why they were made in such a way to suggest that position, she found it very uncomfortable. Wriggling backward in the chair a little, she pulled her knees up to her chest, folding her arms on top. She looked cozy to say the least, having said that, the chunky cardigan wrapped around her was keeping her nice and toasty no matter how she sat. Bright was one of those incessantly cold people, those at present her arms and body were warm, her face and fingers were icy, uncovered by any fabric. It just seemed normal to her now, to be that cold. It felt like an amiable temperature to her. Her attention was distracted as Alec appeared at the end of the isle, sliding somewhat effortlessly past the few people between him and his seat. She grinned, though she doubted he could see. Alec lived next door to her, and had done since she had moved here from Russia. She liked that he wasn't born in California, as she wasn't, but then, she liked most things about Alec. He seemed to have a fair few enemies, though she couldn't see why. She got on very well with the young man, spending a fair amount of her time with him.

As he sat, she turned slightly in her chair to listen to what he had to say. Pressing her lips together momentarily, she unfurled her arms like a kitten stretching and took one of the bottles from him. "Apple juice. Water is...too wet." she shrugged with a smile. That made no sense but she had a habit of off-hand remarks, most which made little to no sense. "Not at all" she said, taking a few pieces of popcorn and nibbling at the first. She ate exceptionally slowly, even more so when distracting. Still, she insisted on popcorn all the same, even though she consumed very little of it. At the bottom of her stomach, almost unnoticeable, there was a sort of nagging feeling. A strange uneasiness that kept bothering her. She couldn't identify it, or why it should be there, though it seemed to make itself known if Alec was near. Bright couldn't fathom any reason he should make her feel a little odd. Perhaps it was the change in circumstance, being that Alec now went to her school, but that didn't make much sense. She liked Alec being around. They weren't in many of the same classes but it was nice to see his face around the campus, and it gave her an extra friendly face to talk to at breaks. It wasn't as if his presence there irritated her, if it had perhaps she could understand the anxious tug she felt, but though she had tried, she couldn't find much of a reason. Still, it wasn't so big as to eclipse everything else, she could put it to the back of her mind for the most part. "You do realise this movie is going to be on for half of our lives right?" she asked, her little grin reappearing. Gone with the Wind was a sensationally long film. "And since you picked it, I am completely within my rights to fall asleep on you." she added, taking another piece of pop corn. She wasn't tired. Not yet, anyway.

notes ♥
words eight seven eight
song yellow - coldplay
lyrics florence and the machine[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[alecsander lee devere]

a l l . t h e . o d d s . a r e . i n . m y . f a v o u r

s o m e t h i n g ' s . b o u n d . t o . b e g i n

[/font][/size][/color]

Alec couldn't suppress a grin. Bright could just be so...amusing, at times. He noted that she was swaddled like a baby in an overlarge cardigan, but he didn't say anything. However much he thought she could benefit from a few lessons in dress sense, he refrained from giving any. After all, who was he, to try to change who she was? Besides - she looked rather adorable like that. Hold on...adorable? Alec swallowed hard, blinking blankly for a second or two, before deciding that that particular thought couldn't possibly mean what he thought it meant. In fact, he was actively trying to think about the kind of adorable that he worried he might have been thinking about; he was that afraid of it. Alec tried to calm himself down. Puppies were adorable. Smiling three-year-olds with missing front teeth were adorable. That must have been the kind of adorable he was subconsciously thinking about. It was the only rational explanation.

Fortunately, he was distracted by Bright making her choice of beverage. "Water?" he questioned, quirking an aristocratic eyebrow, "Wet? I hadn't noticed." There was the smallest hint of a grin at the edge of his mouth, just a small tightness at the corner of his lips that curled upwards. He plucked a single piece of popcorn out of the bag, examining the yellow-white fluffy thing for a moment, before popping it in his mouth. He generally ate popcorn at as slow a rate as possible, which was yet another quirk he had in common with Bright. Scary, that was. He glanced down at the mounds of little yellow things, still all the way up to the brim of the bag. Good thing he hadn't gone with the jumbo size. Alec highly doubted that they were going to finish even this one bag of popcorn between them, but at least that meant they wouldn't have to deal with the kernels at the end. Those were always unfortunate. While eating popcorn might have its long-term effects on his health, getting little bits of kernel stuck in his teeth was something visible to the general public, and all around quite disgusting. He didn't think Bright would probably mind, but he had to maintain his sense of pride. Having food stuck in his teeth wasn't too good for that.

He supposed that he took having Bright around for granted. It had been pure chance that she'd moved into the house next to his, and so he counted himself extraordinarily lucky that she had. It was strange for him, to click almost so immediately with someone, especially a girl, and on a deeper level than a physical one. He did still consider Bright quite pretty, although he hadn't really said as much to her to avoid making things awkward. She held herself with enough poise that she surely knew that important fact. Alec, after all, was perfectly aware that some people found him attractive. Or, at the very least, model material. It was a good confidence booster. But it really didn't seem to be making him any more popular. Oh well. Life wasn't without its challenges. But he didn't need to worry about any of that with Bright. There were a lot of things he didn't need to worry about with Bright, which was one reason he valued their friendship so much. But as of late, he'd started worrying more and more when it came to Bright, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

"At least we'll still be friends when I'm old an gray-haired, right?" he said, chuckling lightly. Something about that sentence felt wrong, but he couldn't quite place it. Maybe it was about the 'old' part. Alec liked to think he would never wrinkle, but at the same time, he knew that that was physically impossible. Alec grinned down at Bright. "As long as you don't snore," he replied calmly. In actual fact, Alec could care less if she snored or not. Snoring did, after all, come in many different forms. There was the obnoxious kind, like the one from heavy middle-aged men, where it sounded like a bull snorting and rendered you incapable of sleep, and then there were soft, gentle snores that could actually be quite soothing.

Really, with a girl like Bright, snoring might even be cute. Alec blinked again, whipping his head around to face the screen, which was now displaying the opening credits. Why were his thoughts suddenly taking that road? It was probably the popcorn having strange effects on his mind. He'd always wondered what sort of strange chemicals they put in that stuff. Alec quickly screwed the lid off his bottle of water, taking a quick swig before recapping it. "I, though, will probably try to stay awake so I can take you home." There was only what...three and a half hours to go? More?

TAG; bright!
NOTES;
LYRICS; cabaret
WORDS; eight two six

[bright óla ivanova]

MIDAS IS KING AND HE HOLDS ME SO TIGHT

AND TURNS ME TO GOLD IN THE SUNLIGHT

"Its like, the wettest of the wet!" she exclaimed in somewhat hushed tones, hoping to mimick a peppy cheerleader. Of course, her continental take on a Beverly Hills type accent didn't exactly sound authentic. She pretty much just sounded like an excited Russian. Which was, essentially, what she was. Right now anyway. The opening credits were on. "I could have been in this." she said, off hand, unscrewing the top of her apple juice as she stared at the screen. "I mean, I'd be horribly wrong for it. And I can't act, but still." she shrugged. Maybe not. She probably would have made it a hell of a lot more amusing, though she wasn't sure that Scarlett O'Hara would have been as appealing if she was an amusing little dork. Also, Bright wasn't half as lovely to look at as Vivien Leigh was. Perhaps more interesting, but interesting didn't sell three hundred and ninety five hour long movies. A slightly exaggeration but it was an exceptionally long, good thing Bright rather enjoyed it. Besides, if it got boring, she could always just talk to Alec. Talking to him about nothing seemed to be a favourite past time of hers, she liked it. Probably more than she should. Her face dropped a little for a second, lost in thought. The odd little feeling was back again. Why was Alec making her feel so bizarre? She wasn't used to it.

She was drawn from her thought. Stifling a laugh, she arched a brow at Alec. "I can't imagine you old and grey. I think you're going to stop aging at like twenty. You couldn't handle being old." it was true, she really couldn't imagine Alec being old. She couldn't picture him with wrinkles or aches and pains. In any case, Alec was too lovely to age. It would be a shame. Hang on. Alec was too lovely to age? Of course, Bright was aware that Alec was, technically, insanely lovely to look at, but that didn't really apply to her. Alec was just the boy who lived next door who she happened to be best friends with. The nagging feeling was back again. She frowned, taking another drink and turning, as abruptly as her position allowed, in her seat to face the screen. The actors had begun speaking but she wasn't really paying attention. This sensation was beginning to bug her. At first, she had thought nothing of it. As it had continued, she had mostly been able to ignore it, but it was irritating her. There was no reason for her to get such a sensation. Perhaps it wasn't Alec, maybe it was a coincidence that he was around when it struck her. Granted, she was with Alec a lot of the time anyway, but that seemed improbable. Still, that was the explanation she was going with at present. She didn't know what was causing the feeling, but it wasn't him. Bright just wasn't sure what it was.

"Snore!?" she squeaked, immediately resign as the word had been a touch too loud. Still, no one was really near them, and she hadn't seemed to have disturbed anyone. No one looked to riled as she glanced around. Looking back to Alec, she set a defiant expression upon her pale features. "I do not snore. You snore." she said decidedly. Of course, if Alec did snore, Bright had never heard him, but how would he know? If he did, he would be unconscious while he did it. He would have to take her word for it. "You're terrible for it." she said with a slightly more playful edge, sinking back down in her seat. She pulled the cardigan up at the back of her neck, settling down against Alec's arm for extra warmth. Being stationary was starting to cool her down again, despite the cardigan's thick knit. Placing her bottle in the holder on her seat, she pulled the soft material up around her mouth, smiling to herself. She sat like that for a moment, smile peeking out of her jumper, before her face went blank. She felt more comfortable than she should, more happy. For the moment she chose to be irritated by those facts, and ignore the feeling, which had never really gone away, showing itself again. It was bad enough that the cinema had air conditioning (an invention that was terribly unkind to cold people). Bright wasn't prepared to deal with this flurry of random thoughts battering her brain. She glanced up at Alec. It was his fault. Unintentionally, obviously. Pulling her hand a little further inside her sleeve, she bit down on her lip. This is weird. she thought. Still, she didn't move.

notes ♥
words eight zero three
song digital love - daft punk
lyrics florence and the machine[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[alecsander lee devere]

a l l . t h e . o d d s . a r e . i n . m y . f a v o u r
s o m e t h i n g ' s . b o u n d . t o . b e g i n

[/font][/size][/color]

Alec smiled gently, unable to keep the amused expression from his face. Bright just made him want to laugh all the time - he couldn't think of anyone else who was like that for him. "Hmm...You mean to tell me that you're in your late eighties, Mademoiselle Bright? Because that's how old Vivien Leigh would be if she were still alive." Alec paused to think. "But you might be a reincarnation of her." He shuddered. "But then you'd have the same name as my sister." Alec snapped his mouth shut right there. He hated talking about Vivienne. In fact, he liked to pretend that she didn't exist, which was growing increasingly more difficult, as they now went to the same school. He had barely mentioned Vivienne with Bright, and hoped that she didn't press the issue. So far, he hadn't come into any major conflicts with his little sister, and so there hadn't really been a need for Alec to mention Vivienne to Bright. He hoped he'd never have to. The mere existence of the younger girl annoyed him.

"You'd be a wonderful actress," he added weakly, trying to divert the subject matter to other things. He shifted in his seat, growing uncomfortable for some reason. It was so entirely...awkward. He just didn't understand it. Maybe she was having a girl moment. Alec knew that he sometimes had issues dealing with girls. "You're right," he began, with a small sigh, "I'll probably never age beyond my currently perfect self." With someone else, such a comment probably wouldn't have been said sarcastically. With Bright, though, it was. It was like she discretely deflated his ego, just being in the immediate surroundings. "I bet you're going to age, Bright, but you seem like the type who will never wrinkle and will look as flawless as ever until you're ninety." He turned abruptly to face the screen again, unsure of why he was saying such things. Vivien Leigh was saying something, although he couldn't really register the words. Bright was right, even if she had only been making a joke. She would've made a pretty Scarlett O'Hara.

Enough of those thoughts.

He was staring fixated at the screen even as he replied to Bright. "What are you talking about? I don't snore. In fact, I proud myself on having perfectly clear sinuses." A weight on his arm finally drew his attention. He glanced towards it to find that Bright was leaning in, still wrapped in that bulky cardigan of hers. Strangely enough, though, he found that it flattered her. A remarkable feat, really. He noticed that it was pulled right up to her face, making her look even smaller than she already was, her startling blue eyes peering up at him. Alec immediately felt like shifting in his seat, clearing his throat, anything. It suddenly struck him that such actions were signs of discomfort. But that couldn't be it, right? After all, he and Bright had leaned on each other tons in the time that they had known each other. They were like puppies, sometimes, just all over each other without thinking anything of it. But now...it felt like it was different. Alec swallowed. He didn't want to hurt Bright's feelings by moving away...he had to admit, too, that it was kind of nice, having her leaning on his arm like this. It felt...familiar.

As long as he'd known Bright, she'd always just been an important person in his life. She was always...there. Nothing that he needed to concern himself over - someone he could count on. He didn't even need to think with her; everything just happened. But now, he was second-guessing himself, and he couldn't figure out why. Alec could detect the hint of tension between them, and found it profoundly disturbing. Were they at the edges of a fight? The thought made his insides squirm. Impossible. Surely Bright would have given him signals if she didn't like where their friendship was going. It wasn't like her to hide things from him. Really, though, it was just like him to hide things from her and he suspected that she knew that. Could that be what was driving a wedge of discomfort between them?

He wasn't sure what prompted his next actions. Without thinking, Alec leaned over until his face was right up next to hers, and brushed a lock of hair out of Bright's face, tucking it behind her ear. "Cold, are we?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly. He wanted to jerk violently away, to look back at the screen where Scarlett was yelling at someone, but he found that he simply couldn't. Alec swallowed hard, trying in vain to keep the action inaudible. In the darkness of the theater, Bright probably couldn't see the light flush rising in his cheeks. Alec, on the other hand, was all too aware of it, just as he was hyper-aware of Bright's presence, right next to him, in contact with him.

TAG; bright
NOTES;
LYRICS; cabaret
WORDS; eight six one[/blockquote]

[bright óla ivanova]

MIDAS IS KING AND HE HOLDS ME SO TIGHT

AND TURNS ME TO GOLD IN THE SUNLIGHT

She grinned wickedly, with a little nod, and took another piece of popcorn from its holder. Even if Bright was, somehow, an eighty odd year old woman, that probably wouldn't be the weirdest thing she could tell you. The things she said weren't exactly weird in such a way that people thought she was creepy, more just whimsical and odd. They rarely made sense and generally had no connection to any conversation going on around her. Though, if they did, you could still bet that she would somehow find a way to make it completely conspicuous. It seemed to be a talent of hers. Thankfully, Alec seemed to find her silly rambling more endearing than strange. That was why she liked being with him so much. As a friend, of course. Nothing more. Yes? Her thoughts were getting complicated again, her mind was battered by now. Why did she feel so strange this evening? She glanced quickly to the screen, collecting herself. Talk. That seemed like a good idea. Surely she couldn't speak and think at the same time. "I look pretty good for my age, don't I?" she said, striking a pose. She nodded, "You know, I think I might be. Though if Vivien Leigh was as...peculiar as I am, she hid it well on screen." Vivien was a beautifully composed woman, blindingly feminine with the correct answer for everything. Bright was...well, not that. She glanced down to the bottle as Alec mentioned his sister. He didn't talk about her a great deal, but it was a sore subject. Though she was curious, Bright never pressed the issue. She liked Alec too much to be the person to pry where he didn't want anyone. If if she didn't like him as much as she did, she still doubted she would have asked. It wasn't in her nature.

She scoffed. Bright really hadn't a clue whether she could act or not, she had never tried, but even if she could, she was the wrong type of girl for the job. Bright was quiet, she didn't sink into the background, but she was never the center of attention, and she liked it that way. The idea of a theatre full of people staring at her while she reeled off lines that she could only know by remembering them sickened her. Acting was for some people, she certainly wasn't one of them. Taking a sip of her apple juice, she smirked, swallowing the liquid in her mouth before she could laugh. Alec's ego was a delicate thing, she could only imagine the horror on his face when he noticed a soft line appearing, or if his hair started to grey. Being a model, Alec's looks were his livelihood, and she knew he didn't want that to change. Though Alec seemed to bright one of those people that could pull off distinguished. Someone who could still be attractive as they aged. Like George Clooney or Johnny Depp. Older, but still captivating their female audience. She arched a brow in response to that, dropping it quickly so as not to cause suspicion. If she thought he would still be attractive when he was older, did that mean she thought he was attractive now? She knew he was good looking, but appreciating the fact that someone was aesthetically pleasing and finding them attractive were two different things. If you found someone attractive, that meant you were attracted to them. Which was ludicrous. Obviously.

She laughed, the sound slightly startled as she tried to push that thought away. "To be flawless in old age, you have to begin flawless. I'm afraid I don't fit the bill." she said rubbing her nose with her balled up hand. Bright couldn't imagine herself old. Perhaps she would be one of those old bohemian women who had traveled when they were younger, who had a million random stories and interesting trinkets everywhere. She liked the sound of that. It was interesting at least, though obviously, she couldn't choose how she would be in old age. Still, it seemed like a probable path for her. She would suit it.

All thoughts about her older self vanished instantly, all at once, Alec seemed to be next to her. Though he had been the entire time, now he was really next to her. His face was so close to hers that the tip of her nose was almost touching his, close enough to feel his breath on her cold skin. The sensation was inexplicable for such a simple thing. His hand brushed the side of her face, moving the hair that usually fell into her eyes away, behind her ear. She was almost frozen, her eyes wide but not exactly in a frightened way. Bright had no idea what had possessed him to move in such a way, but as soon as he had, her mind went in to hyper speed, then went blank. Cold are we? She parted her lips fractionally, shutting them again before she eventually spoke. "Yes." her voice was barely audible and the tone was one she had never heard herself use before. Her hands were still folded under her chin, just the fingertips visible under the sleeves. Her face, her gaze, they were locked still, but with the smallest of movements, she flexed her fingers. They moved more slowly than she meant them to, partially frozen. Closing the infinitesimal gap, she touched the tips to his jaw, only just touching before they recoiled sharply. Bright had no idea what was happening, her mind seemed to have failed her, her body moving, if not much, of it's own accord.

notes
words nine zero six
song we are the people - empire of the sun
lyrics florence and the machine[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[alecsander lee devere]

a l l . t h e . o d d s . a r e . i n . m y . f a v o u r
s o m e t h i n g ' s . b o u n d . t o . b e g i n

[/font][/size][/color]

"Vivien Leigh was actually bi-polar, did you know?" he remarked, before immediately shutting his mouth. Best not to say anything, lest something as inappropriate as his thoughts come out. He and Bright normally didn't have misunderstandings, but well, he had a feeling that tonight was different. Something, he couldn't quite wrap his head around, had changed. The mild anxiety that was currently plaguing him was made only worse by the fact that it was so unfamiliar when he was with Bright. They were normally easy-going together, they laughed, they talked. Now, it was all tension and inexplicable feelings. It was scary, in short.

He snuck a look at Bright out of the corner of his eye. She may not think so, but the girl was actually quite beautiful. Even wrapped in that thick sweater as she was, Bright had a certain air about her. Her blond hair fell in gentle waves to frame her face, enhancing her striking blue eyes which stood out starkly against her smooth pale skin. She had one of the most beautiful jawlines he had ever seen...hold on. Why was he thinking like this? Alec had spent many an hour looking at Bright before, so why was he only on this train of thought now? When he looked at Bright, he normally saw solely what was inside of her. The slight quirk of her lips that told him she was amused, a twinkle in her eye when she was excited. Those were the kinds of things he noticed about her. Why now was he thinking about complexions and jawlines? Alec tried to force the thoughts from his mind. It was the sort of thing he really couldn't have right now.

"You exceed the bill," he blurted out without thinking. Alec immediately blinked in surprise. The comment had surprised even him, perhaps more than it probably had Bright. He knew that she didn't really think much of herself - and her words reflected that - but he thought she was perfect the way she was. And that wasn't the new, strange feelings talking - that was what he had thought all along. Inside and out, she was one of the most genuine, most interesting, all-around best people he knew. Alec wasn't sure if he'd made that clear to her yet. He wasn't sure how to say it in a way she'd understand.

And then he could see her eyes; wide and blue and clear. He held her gaze with his own dark ones, feeling as though his irises were on fire. He felt like he needed to look away, but at the same time, he was far too riveted to even try. It was like looking at the sun; you tried to see how long you could keep up your gaze. And like the Sun, she was radiant, mysterious, utterly captivating, and she was...Bright. But also, like with the Sun, she was scorching, overwhelming. Thoughts seemed to flee from his head, and all that was left in his mind was the girl just inches away from his face.

The only other thing he could register was the feeling of her soft hair and smooth, cold skin that had once been in contact with his fingertips. It had only been one brief moment, but Alec had ingrained in his mind the route his fingers had taken, from the bottom left of her forehead, just above her eyebrow, to around the curve of her left ear, brushing gently across her earlobe. It was as though there was an invisible line drawn across her face, like the first down line when you watched football on television. Although Alec couldn't imagine such a line marring her features. Right now, he couldn't even think that far.

Yes.

Fingertips on his face, cold as death and as delicate. His breath caught in his throat. Seconds earlier, he had been torn between continuing to stare at her and pulling away. Now, options seemed to fly out the window. He couldn't turn away from her. The fingers were gone as suddenly as they had appeared, although Alec could still feel the cold on his jaw. It was like he had been touched by a ghost. One moment it was there, cold and eerie, and then it was gone - with the same sensation, only a lump was beginning to form in his throat, cutting off his air.

Alec moved his own hand - larger, and much warmer than Bright's - and raised it towards her. He hesitated once, his hand hovering in the air between them for a split second, fingers trembling, before it finally came down to rest on the side of Bright's face, palm just along the extremity of her cheekbone, fingers lightly brushing along in an arc from her ear up to her temple. Bright's skin was cold under his hand, enhanced by the warmth of his own skin. He was normally a hot-blooded person. Now, though, it felt like his blood was boiling in his veins as his heart stopped.

Alec couldn't blink, he could only stare. His jaw tightened as his dark eyes remained frozen on Bright. He had never in his entire life felt like this before, and the feeling was driving him nothing short of insane. But he couldn't move. With his hand lightly on Bright's freezing skin, Alec's brain couldn't function. It was as though he'd been turned to stone. His breath was coming erratically, and it was as though her were living through a haze. Bright was in his vision - and he couldn't even begin to comprehend her.

TAG; bright!!
NOTES;
LYRICS; cabaret
WORDS; nine four zero

[/size]

[bright óla ivanova]

MIDAS IS KING AND HE HOLDS ME SO TIGHT

AND TURNS ME TO GOLD IN THE SUNLIGHT

"She was?" her cold hands clasped together, leaving even paler marks where she lifted them from her chilled skin. It was a strange feat, imagining someone so lovely, an elegant beauty having any such flaw. It was an easily forgotten fact that the beautiful people of the world had such things within their sparkling existence. Hard to imagine the such a condition even existed for them. Glassy eyes roamed back to the screen, watching Vivien. Though her mind laboured the point for a moment, Bright was unable to conjure an image of the young woman any different to the one on the screen. Her poise was unmistakable, the way in which she carried herself captivating. Surely if there was any justice, someone so lovely as she would never be burdened with something so sad. Rightly or wrongly, Bright found that, looking at her face, she didn't want anything bad to happen to her. Of course, the woman had since died, but that didn't matter at present. She was doe eyed and beautiful and for that, she seemed almost immune to something like bi-polar. Her face was the kind that needed to smile, needed to look radiant. Such a lovely face troubled by a frown was a disservice, she was the kind of woman who's happiness would affect others. She needed to be happy, she needed to smile, she was too pretty to be sad. Bright's nerve faltered.

You exceed the bill. It was four words, but four words enough to send her heart beat skipping erratically, a siren in her ears with every pulse. There was an electricity now, faint but clear, gripping the back of her neck. Her skin felt inexplicable, icy, with a mad heat that wouldn't leave. The pale tips of her fingers curled in on themselves, afraid the shaking would give her away, Bright wasn't this girl. She wasn't the girl, inches from some unfathomably beautiful boy, all strong angles and soft eyes, she shouldn't be. And still, she was. Any sound was lost on her, the movie played as it had since the opening credits, but they could be sitting in silence, in darkness for all she was aware of at present. Every sense was overwhelmed, blinding her with an almost inconceivable feeling, a heat creeping over her skin, setting every nerve alight. The words were emblazoned in her mind, there was no response, no protest from her fragile self-esteem that she, in fact, did not exceed the bill. She was a statue. Her lips, flushed and cold, tried to part, but her body screamed in protest. They shouldn't part, they should stay closed. There was no possible response she could make that was the right one, silence was right. She understood now, understood the wings beating against her rib cage, the delicious nervousness that had lingered around their entire evening, around every evening. It was Alec, it was all him, and though she understood it, the tension in her stomach didn't lift, but she needed it there now. It couldn't leave, it was compelling her not to turn, not to drop her awe-stricken gaze. It was her courage, for now.

The boy living next door, initially no more than a convenient friendly face, an attempt to fit somewhere into a new country. That was all he had been, and then they had became close, and he was...more. More than that, someone she relied on as just being there. A constant, but not this. He had never been this. He had never been the warm hand to brush the hair from her eyes; never the intense, mesmerizing gaze, the one she couldn't even hope to disentangle herself from. There was something unearthly about how he looked, the motion in which his hand moved, and it had never occurred to her. The ethereal fluidity and languid charm, they had been lost on her, unappreciated. Her former acceptance of what Alec was had gone, she was unable to think of him in any way but the way in which he now sat before her, intense, unmoving. She was bewitched, the sense of being in control of her body, something she had, naturally, become accustomed to over the years, gone. Her reactions felt slow, laboured, like her mind couldn't make them work right. Though she tried, it wouldn't work, and if her hand moved the wrong way, if she attempted to shift herself, her body fought against her, doing what it knew it should, even if she didn't.

And he moved. His hand, lifting again, moving towards her face. The motion, fluid, with only slight hesitation, seemed like an age, and she felt it. The tiny tremor of his finger tips as they settled against her skin, burning against her cold cheek. It moved, gently, tracing a soft line against the curve of her face, a kind of fire left in its wake. Her breathe came, jagged, forcing the air out of her lungs where her breathing had slowed, almost stopped. Her body was responding only to him, oxygen was of no importance now. It paled in comparison to her current state. She was trance like, hypnotized by the faintest touch, the softest motion against her skin, but it was enough. She was Bambi, stuck still in the headlights, frozen with fear; and he had caught her. She was trapped now, looking away had become something she was unable to do long before this point. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, she unfurled her hand, her fingers lifting slightly, hesitating, longer than she meant to. They were cold, icy by now, but they moved as she told them to, settling against the fiery warmth of his wrist, keeping his hand at her face. For the first time, she looked down, a fraction of a second, edging nearer to him. He was so close, it was unbearable, but if it ended, Bright wasn't sure what her reaction might be.

notes awwwwwww
words nine nine nine xD
song the next untouchable - cajun dance party
lyrics florence and the machine[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[alecsander lee devere]

a l l . t h e . o d d s . a r e . i n . m y . f a v o u r
s o m e t h i n g ' s . b o u n d . t o . b e g i n

[/font][/size][/color]

His fingers were tracing ever so lightly across her face, barely brushing against her icy skin, although he could feel the cold radiating from that pale, porcelain surface, seeming to condense against his own fingertips. Or perhaps that was just perspiration. Clammy hands. Tension. Yes, it was tension. The air around them was thick, and he couldn't even begin to hope to breathe it in. He couldn't move - every muscle, every tendon tight with this electric sensation that was shooting through his body, pooling in the bottom of his stomach. Tension.

Alec had never looked at Bright this close up before. Yes, he had hugged her - fallen on her a couple times - but he had never really looked. And now, it felt like for years he had been blind, and could suddenly see. He could see the gentle curve of her chin, tucking into her slender, narrow jaw. He could see the way the pale, even skin stretched out, without blemishes, looking like polished marble, aside from the minuscule pores that he could barely make out. The two slight dimples in her full yet artful cheeks, the left slightly more prominent than the other. He'd always found those adorable. He'd always teased her about them. But now, they were beautiful. He could see her small, chiseled mouth, the pink lips parting ever so slightly with every exhalation, sending the faintest traces of warm, humid breath to caress the skin of his chin and neck. He could see her cheekbones, not razor-sharp yet somehow still eye-catching, giving form, and air of grandeur to her face. He could see the gentle curve of the bridge of her nose, leading up to delicate, almost feline brows, that perched above her eyes.

Those eyes.

Alec could never look away from those eyes, and as he stared into him, he felt as though he'd never want to. Bright was a beautiful girl - he supposed he'd never doubted that from the start. But he could really, truly see her now, and what Bright had focused on him were her eyes. They were brilliant - piercing yet soft, in awe, yet wise. He could get lost in those eyes. And he probably just had.

His breath, without him realizing it, had slowed to a steady, heavy rate. It was as though he was coming up from drowning on every single breath, taking in the air as though it were about to save his life. But Alec's breath remained quiet. He felt like he was drowning, yes, but he simply couldn't bring himself to gasp and snap the tension. Like a whip, it would recoil. No way he would change this for the world. Their breaths were both coming out warm in the chilly air of the theater, mingling in the short space between them.

Bright was the cliched girl-next-door. The best friend you take for granted until one day when everything changes. Bright was...right in front of him, right now. Alec's mind couldn't even begin to start worrying about the future - the statistics of how many people stayed with their high school crushes. He didn't care. Bright was his right now, his everything. Even if he were some sort of omniscient god, Bright would take up all of his attention no questions asked. He couldn't look away. He no longer thought it an option.

The characters on the screen were doing something strange - there was a lot of running around and yelling. On the far end of the theater, a young child that a parent had foolishly brought in was tossing popcorn around and complaining. But Alec, despite his senses being in overdrive, took no notice of any of it. They didn't apply to Bright. Nothing applied to Bright. Nothing ever would. Except him.

Then she moved, and it was as though someone had shot him in the foot. Not fatal, but jarring and terrifying enough. Intense enough. The burning cold on his wrist, a new-found sensation, made his heart rate shoot up, causing him to swallow hard to avoid his breath picking up the pace as well. Her hand was on his wrist, a reassurance, although it certainly didn't feel soothing. It felt...he couldn't describe it. Only that her hand - Bright's hand - was on his wrist, the small appendage wrapped as far as it would go around the larger circumference. Her fingers didn't meet. But Alec didn't care.

And then she was closer, and Alec couldn't breathe anymore. The few lightning-quick thoughts that had been darting through his brain earlier suddenly stopped, replaced by a dark void in his mind - a vacuum. It was sucking him in - into what, he wasn't sure, but he didn't have the proper mental faculties to object, nor would he necessarily have done so if he had had that option. The outside world, as it had long been, was in a haze - a fog he couldn't and didn't want to permeate. Bright was clear - she was what mattered. She was the one taking his mind and twisting it into all these new shapes, scaring him, enthralling him. The feeling of exhilaration was too much, and not enough at the same time. Bright was right in front of him, only inches away...he could imagine what her skin would feel like, pressed against his. Having his hand dance like a specter over her clean white skin simply wasn't good enough. It wasn't the kind of contact the blood in his veins was screaming for.

It happened slowly, with many hesitations, cringes, really. Alec moved his head forward, taking many long moments to close the inches between them. The tendons in his neck were screaming at him to move faster, to alleviate the strain, but Alec couldn't listen to them. His brow finally came to rest against hers, his hand still cupping the side of her face, tracing lightly, his breath mixing with hers.

TAG; bright!
NOTES; *tear* -faints-
LYRICS; cabaret
WORDS; one zero zero three

[/blockquote]

[bright óla ivanova]

MIDAS IS KING AND HE HOLDS ME SO TIGHT

AND TURNS ME TO GOLD IN THE SUNLIGHT

It stung, the warmth of Alec's skin against her own, a slight buzz in her fingertips as the temperature rose, only marginally, but enough. It stung for a moment, dulling as she grew warmer, but it was not uncomfortable, not painful, not enough to make her move. She could have been scalded, her hand burned by the heat, but she doubted, even then, if she would have moved. The damage was done now, they were, invariably, too close to back away, to reside into their own thoughts. Bright had no thoughts to reside into, she could feel her mind, empty except for him. Thoughts should have been there, made weak attempts to surface, but her effort was futile, hopeless. She could conjure up no sensical thought as well as should could summon Vivien Leigh to stand in front of them. It was impossible. Her mind, cultured, intelligent, sensible, even whimsical at times, it had deserted her. Bright was articulate, imaginative, if everything else did, her smarts had never failed her, and now she couldn't pull a single thought from the depths of her mind that didn't include Alec. By now, her thoughts contained little more than Alec, different, minuscule details, but still, all him. No musings on Scarlett O'Hara or popcorn, nothing that she expected to be thinking about as she wrapped herself in a ridiculously over sized cardigan to go out for the evening. And, eventually, she was distracted for a moment. She was nice, nice enough, but she was still herself. Still dressed too casually, not some stunning vixen, but the girl next door. His girl next door, that was all she should be.

And her eyes, so watchful and observant, seemed to be lost for a moment. Bright was quiet, preferring to watch, to notice, so why did it feel as if she had never seen the young man in front of her? Some strange, ethereal being next to her, dark and warm against her fragile skin. Her eyes, wide and watchful were lost, watching her cold fingers trace patterns against his skin, running slowly, always slowly, along the length she could reach. The curve of the bone under his skin, the slight incline of his hand, soft and strong, against her face. His eyes were on her, burning into her, she was unable to look any where else. Her own, pale in colour and soft, some expression about them she couldn't place, they looked back, wondering, still watching. He was fascinating, the way the breath left his lips, hot against her face, the strong shape of face, the angles at which she had never really looked before, captivating her. The cold span of her hand was on his, smaller in comparison, but stretched across the expanse of his own. She didn't know why his hand should rest there, on her, painting patterns against the side of her face, but she didn't want to question. She didn't want him to question it, and so she kept him there. Her own movement willing him not to recoil, not to remember that the girl inches away from him was her, a girl whom he had never really looked at before. Alec was attractive to most, he knew that, aware of the fact, and yet it was Bright next to him. She was the reason for his heavy breath, for the tension between them, and she didn't want to let that go.

And he moved, not his hand, nor his eyes. It was slow, too slow, but at the same time, too fast for her to comprehend the action. Too fast for her to do anything but watch, static, as he inched closer to her. It was agonizing. There was a weight on her chest, a gripping at her throat and a wholly inexplicable feeling in her stomach, a kind of excruciating euphoria clamouring at her neck, suffocating her, but she didn't want to breath, didn't want it to leave. It only escalated as he moved, ever closer, but still too far away from her, she needed him closer. And he was there, his too-hot skin pressed against hers, cold and pale aside from the heat creeping along her cheeks, flushing. Her skin warmed to his touch, her nervous system electric, screaming wherever he touched her, wherever their skin met. Her breathing had slowed again, noiseless, shallow breaths, not deep enough to satisfy her aching lungs. She inhaled, sharply, the sound quiet, but enough to startle her. Her eyes shut, lids covering the bright, glassy colour, soft lashes grazing the delicate skin below, hitting the tops of her cheeks. Her mind was black, she needed some sane thought in her head, some point of clarity, but there was nothing. It was dark, the nights sky inside her mind, but there were no stars, the moon had hidden itself, and Alec, he was the only light she could see. Brilliant flashes, erratic and quick, dazzling her whole heartedly. He was too bright, even like this, and yet not enough. Her mind couldn't fathom the composure of his face, couldn't get the angles quite right. In an instant, she opened her eyes again, almost scared he might have gone, and the burning sensation where his skin touched hers may have just lingered, not quite lifting. But he was there, in front of her still.

Her breathing had slowed, a little deeper now, but as she sat, as perfectly still as she could manage, it changed. Heavier, moving with her increased heart beat. There was no distance between them left to close, he was close enough that she could feel his breath, close enough to make her hyper aware of the hand on her jaw, soft, just gentle, but the strongest touch she could remember experiencing. Bright could barely move, but she had to, her muscles ached with the tension, but the pain was nothing. It dulled to his electric touch, to the atmosphere. Slowly, too slowly, but still fast enough to keep her moving, she closed the only space between them, between her lips and his. One tiny, soft kiss against his momentarily defenseless lips. The action was so small, so weak that she wasn't even sure she had really done it, but it was enough. All her bemused brain could manage. The action didn't help, if her mind had been blank before, it was too fast now. Too many thoughts, so fast and flitting she could no easier pick on out than when there had been none to choose from. Alec had eclipsed her vision, she was totally and utterly unaware of anything going on around her, except him. The smallest, infinitesimal movement registered, the tiniest flicker in his eyes, the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. For the moment, nothing much mattered. There were no consequences or repercussions that existed in this moment, they were for another time. They didn't belong here, all that was here was Alec, and her, and that was all that she needed.

notes ♥ ♥ ♥
words one one seven two
song love and some verses - iron and wine
lyrics florence and the machine[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[alecsander lee devere]

a l l . t h e . o d d s . a r e . i n . m y . f a v o u r
s o m e t h i n g ' s . b o u n d . t o . b e g i n

[/font][/size][/color]

He couldn't imagine anything different. Vivien Leigh and Leslie Howard were sharing a passionate kiss on the screen, full of desperation and soul. The theater was entirely quiet as the audience stared in wonder at the moment between Scarlett and Ashley, caught up in the chemistry, the sense of desire between the two actors. But Alec was entirely unaware of what was happening on the screen, unable to see the glistening tears in Vivien Leigh's eyes, unable to see how she and Leslie Howard clung to each other. While the actors on the screen had their moment, Alec was having his. His and Bright's. He wouldn't change it for the world.

He'd never stopped to think about perfection in anyone but himself. That was his goal - to achieve perfection, a level no one else could match. But now, in his eyes, Bright was absolutely perfect, and he could never hope to match her. And for the first time in his life, Alec didn't care. He could stare at her until the end of time, and never want anything more. In fact, that was what he wanted to do - just watch her. The way she sat there right next to him, the cold skin of her forehead searing into his, numbing his brow. Her cold seemed to seep through his skin to his skull to his brain, until his mind was enveloped in an icy haze. Any other day, the sensation would have been uncomfortable, painful almost. It was as though Bright were a block of ice. But today, tonight, in this theater, he couldn't imagine it being any better. This was what perfection was like. This was the moment he'd remember on his deathbed, whenever that was. This was Bright.

Every minute movement Bright made was like witnessing the Earth shake. The tiny stretching of her lips, curling, tightening, revealing tiny flashes of pearly white teeth. The light clenching and unclenching of her jaw as she breathed in and out. He could match her breath to his own - he could match her heartbeat if he were so inclined. That was how aware of her he was. And how could he not be? The universe might very well revolve around Bright Ivanova. In fact, it would be a travesty if he didn't. There was no doubt in Alec's mind that Bright was the most important, gorgeous and utterly perfect creature to ever exist. The sun would look on in jealousy. She was more than a goddess...she was...everything.

He could hear her breath catch, and his own soon followed. This was the first time he had ever been so in tune with another human being. Gone was the Alec that sat back making dry remarks on his observations of general human stupidity. That Alec was a stranger now. This was the Alec that simply lived and breathed Bright Ivanova. And to have his skin pressed up against hers, to be able to feel that friction that made him reel with an unidentifiable emotion, it was almost too much. He was sure he couldn't handle it, but despite that, he was. Bright was so close to him, not close enough. She was there, all around him, his hand on her face warm fingers feeling the icy skin underneath. His brow so entirely in contact with hers. Alec was sure he was going to have a heart-attack, and was waiting for the chest pains to begin. Bright was too much - he didn't know why he was still here, conscious, with her.

Alec couldn't think, but if he could, he doubted that the thought to move from this absolutely perfect position would have crossed his mind. He could have stayed this way forever. But when Bright moved, Alec wasn't startled. It was as though their souls had melded together, and everything she did was mirrored in his own actions without Alec even having to think. Not that he could have, anyway. His reflexes were most definitely shot at this point, but when it came to Bright, nothing was a problem. Everything was right, in sync, perfect. Everything with Bright would always be perfect. His mind was enclosed in a shroud, and although he couldn't see, he could still intuit. And his instincts made him move smoothly, fluidly to meet Bright's soft lips in a soft kiss.

It was almost as though he could hear choirs of angels singing, the moment was just that divine. The moment, in reality so brief, felt like a thousand glorious years to Alec. His hand ghosted from the side of Bright's face to lace through her soft golden locks as his lips slid over Bright's, with a natural ease that made the moment seem only too heavenly. Such sensations, he was sure, didn't normally belong on this mortal plane. Bright's lips were cold against his hot ones, but sweet and gentle, yielding. The moment in which their lips were touching was brief, and he felt as though he'd die if it ever ended, but when the contact was finally over, the memory of those angelic lips against his made his heart flutter wildly, until he was sure that the sound would reach the masterfully-carved ears belonging to the perfect being who had deigned to kiss him.

A kiss.

Just a kiss, and Alec was lost. He had kissed before - hell, he had made out with girls he didn't even know, had slept with them, had widened his sexual horizons beyond what most boys his age normally just dreamed of, but this was different. And it felt like the first time. It was the newest, freshest, most beautiful sensation he had ever felt, and Alec felt like crying. It was like looking at an angel - a moment of utter euphoria. She had stolen his breath away, stolen his attention, stolen his vision, stolen his mind. Stolen his heart. And he hoped to whatever all-powerful being that might be ruling humans and all their devastatingly powerful emotions that he had done the same to Bright.

TAG; bright
NOTES; omgomgomgomgomg
LYRICS; cabaret
WORDS; one zero two four[/blockquote]

[bright óla ivanova]

MIDAS IS KING AND HE HOLDS ME SO TIGHT

AND TURNS ME TO GOLD IN THE SUNLIGHT

Momentarily, all vocabulary, all the words at her disposal seemed to have gone from her mind. She wanted to speak, so desperately to say something, but her mind had been so shattered by that kiss, that one action, that she couldn't find the words. By now, all that was left was the notion that she wanted to speak, she couldn't remember what it was that had been so pressing that she needed to say, nor could she pick out the correct phrasing even if she had remembered. He was in her head, confusing her, amazing her. She was disorientated, just looking at him, it was enough to send her crazy, to render her brain totally useless. The feeling was disconcerting. Unlike Alec, Bright had little to no experience with the opposite sex, the only knowledge she had came from the actors on screen, though she understood now that not even the greatest talent could portray her current state. It was impossible to force for an audience, all of the heart-breaking, breath-taking Hollywood kisses seemed weak now, lifeless, no more exciting than passing someone on the street. All this time, she had been so terribly clueless about romance, spooked by even the mere thought of flirting, never mind anything else, and yet here she was, locked in some impenetrable moment with a young man who seemed so utterly out of her league she dared not to think about it. She could see no imperfections on the warm planes of his face, he had no flaws, and still, here he sat. There were countless pretty girls in Santa Ria, with their soft curls, and their bright smiles, skin kissed by the sun, not pale like her own. She had no doubt that Alec had been entangled, at some point, with a great deal of them, and yet there was a voice in the corner of her mind saying that their embraces had been nothing like this. And she believed it.

They were so different, such a stark contrast. Alec looked so warm, his dark eyes, unquestionably intense, enough to make her breath catch each time she concentrated too hard on them, soft skin, darkened slightly where the sun hit it. Bright was pale, seemingly immune to the sun, and fragile, so slight and gentle that she felt as though she might break under his hands. Everything about her looked cold, her eyes, a kind of frozen blue, looked glassy and meager in comparison to his own, dark, burning, the kind of intense brown that looked obsidian in the right light, penetrating. And yet they complimented each other. She had imagined him a thousand times, the young man who might be kind enough to take interest in her, and in all those times, it had never been Alec. He had been like Bright in every way, but now, any other than the God-like creature in front of her seemed horrifyingly wrong, as if this moment with another would be some unforgivable crime to humanity. No matter how vivid her imagination, she could paint no mental image that could possibly feel more right than this did. She was sure any such thing simply didn't exist, it couldn't, anything more would surely be too much to handle, too much for any mortal being to experience in a life time. Their location had no consequence, the circumstances, the time, nothing mattered. Bright was so colossally unaware of her surroundings that all she seemed able to hear was her heart beating, louder than usual, in her ears, and the gentle sound of his breathing. The movie had been totally silenced.

Surely this was not reality, there was no possible way to be so utterly oblivious to everything except one person, and yet she was. She felt helpless, a child, unaware and unable to control herself. Her senses felt new, as if she had never seen, never touched, not really. Her skin had never burned that way, her eyes had never seen with such clarity, every inconsequential detail registering in her mind. She felt so blind, she had watched and observed and looked for seventeen years before this moment, and yet all her memories seemed so pale and blurred now, as if she had been looking at them through frosted glass. Alec's face, so sharp and clear in her mind, made them feeble in comparison. How had she never noticed him before? How had she been around him every day, become so accustomed to his face? She was sure that she would never acclimatise to him now, that every time he looked at her, she would be struck with spell-binding awe again, lost. It seemed such a mystery to her that she could have looked at him as many times as she had and be so unaware of his utter perfection. When they had met, Bright had been younger, even more conscious of her short comings, how had she managed to speak to him, to put together a coherent sentence, in his presence. She knew now that he had always been like this, always immaculate, flawless, but she didn't know how she had managed to over-look this perfection of his for so long, or at all. He was so obviously radiant, so inexplicably charming in every mannerism, that it was a miracle she had been able to feel so relaxed with him near, and yet she couldn't have possibly felt more comfortable. Any more and she would soon be sleeping, he had softened her completely.

She wanted him to know, to understand how important he was, how essential it was for him to just be. Not even in her own mind, but at all. It appeared that everything should orbit him, should bend backward to please him. His face, himself, he was too perfect to be unhappy, to be uncomfortable. Bright had though the same about Vivien Leigh, how her gentle beauty was too much of a gift to be marred by a frown, but now she couldn't have cared less. The woman looked startlingly average next to him, everyone did. Bright's eyes were wider now, her lips, small and rounded, closed together. He had kissed her back, he hadn't recoiled or pushed her away, he needed her too. The fact was astonishing. She had no idea how much time had passed, it seemed to stand still as she looked at him. He was so close, she felt wrapped up in him, so small and inconsequential, and she didn't want to move. The words were at her lips again, the burning desire to say something, though she had no idea of the words her mind wanted her to speak. Anything, perhaps, so that he might respond. To hear him speak would be a blessing, to prove that he was really there, and that she hadn't fallen asleep as she said she might. That her mind hadn't conjured some wonderful, vivid dream in her unconsciousness. But then, this was too wonderful to be imagined. There was no creating that feeling of his skin against hers, or the way his lips felt. Her own lips parted, trembling only faintly as she tried to find the words. She found her hands shaking, only a tiny tremor, but enough for her heightened senses to notice. Her lips stuttered, grasping internally for the words, it felt impossible. "A-Alec.." seemed all she could manage. His name, a name that seemed so artful and musical, a name so fitting for him. The words still didn't come, perhaps it was just the desire to hear him speak that made her lips move. It didn't appear totally improbable in her head.

notes i know!
words one two eight three
song longing for the day - frank turner
lyrics florence and the machine[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[alecsander lee devere]

a l l . t h e . o d d s . a r e . i n . m y . f a v o u r
s o m e t h i n g ' s . b o u n d . t o . b e g i n

[/font][/size][/color]

For the time that he had known Bright, they had had a lot of moments. And if he thought about it - which he was currently most unable to do - than he would realize that many of those moments had really been culminating towards this special, extraordinary, unforgettable moment that he now had the honour of sharing with Bright. They had laughed together, had intense, drawn-out discussions-turned-debates with each other. There had been moments, obviously, when the shine of Bright's hair had caught his eye, when a flash of her smile had made a rush of giddiness rise up in his chest, but none of it compared to this. This was it. He couldn't imagine anything more intense, more poetic, more beautiful than this moment, this moment that was holding on him and Bright with desperation, digging its claws so far into them that Alec felt - and hoped - that it would never let go.

But moments always ended, didn't they? Alec knew that. The human world, the mortal world wasn't meant to be perfect. Perfection and glory belonged solely to God/the divine ruler of the universe/fate, etcetera. He wasn't deserving of such absolutely gorgeous moments. It wasn't even as though everything he had done in his life had put him into a position to be rewarded by this moment. Alec was no fool; he knew he was a jerk. Maybe not the biggest asshole to ever walk the Earth, but he quite possibly made the top twenty. Not because he sneered at people at every turn, shoved their heads in toilets or put red food colouring on girls' chairs, but because he considered his peers as stepping stones on the way to the rest of his life, and he treated them as such. No one was worth his notice. No one was worth his care. That made him a jerk. He knew it.

But he was done with that Alec - that Alec had died and crumbled to dust the moment he had seen his smoldering dark eyes reflected in Bright's, blue, glassy and clear. It wasn't as though he was entirely reformed - no doubt he'd still maintain the same holier-than-thou, I'll-always-be-better-than-you attitude - but Alec couldn't help but feel grounded by this new discovery. He had always been entirely aware of Bright. Maybe not of her in her glorious entirety, but of her existence, most definitely. But still, this Bright that shone in his eyes like a goddess, this was uncharted territory. The new, fresh land. Home.

That single thought took Alec's breath away, so swiftly and harshly that he had to rapidly draw in another as his lungs collapsed, the sound of the air whooshing audibly down his throat, rattling through his windpipe as he attempted to sate his urgent need for the crisp, clean air. It came crashing into his lungs like water slaking the throat of a man who had gone weeks without drink. Alec's mind was as sharp as the edge of broken glass with that one breath - he was aware of every detail, of how every nerve in his body seemed to be screaming at him. Not in agony or in bliss, but screaming nonetheless. The sweet air was in his lungs. It was as intense a feeling as he had ever felt.

Home.

It was so common, yet so foreign a concept to Alec. As a young toddler, Alec had never felt truly accepted in the large, mansion-like home his family had occupied. Even though the servants had treated him with a demure sort of respect, his parents, he felt, had never truly loved him. Never made him feel at home. (Because of Vivienne, a small part of his mind snuck in, but he ignored that). And then in France, it was like the world opened up before his eyes, but it was Alec that was ready to swallow it whole. Still, despite the new discoveries, new experiences, new people, new place, France was not his country of birth. It was not where his family lived. It wasn't his heritage. It wasn't even where he spent most holidays. And so for Alec, 'home' had never really been a topic he was capable of broaching conversation on. He always pushed it to the backburner. Let's not talk about 'home'. Let's talk about the future, possibilities for advancement. Aspirations. Ambition. Sucess. It had taken him one moment to find out what home was.

And it was Bright.

"A-Alec.." His name, stumbled over by the goddess before him, sounded like a crystalline drop of the purest water, falling from the lips of an angel. She might very well have started shouting nonsense at the top of her lungs - he wouldn't have cared. The sound of her voice sent thrills straight down to his stomach, where his gut twisted in a strange sort of euphoric anguish. Anything Bright did - or would ever do, he was sure - would be perfect. No questions asked. And Alec probably couldn't formulate any sort of coherent question, anyway. And, as it appeared, Bright couldn't either. But he didn't dwell on that.

This beautiful being so very near to him - both in body and in soul - had willingly placed her lips upon his in the most honest of kisses he had ever experienced. He wanted to reach out and touch her glowing face with his hands, but he felt almost as though his hands would fall right through her. Bright looked...effervescent, ethereal. Immortal. And he knew that her hair was slightly frizzed and askew, that the cable-knit sweater she was wearing bunched unflatteringly in certain areas. He knew that her skin was dry in some areas, that there was the tiniest fleck of popcorn in her hair, which she probably would never notice unless he pointed it out for her, but fuck it - Bright was perfect.

He didn't hesitate - the moment they had shared a kiss in was gone, broken just as their silence had been. But a new moment had begun. And it was just as passionate and unforgettable as the last one. Alec's lips parted, slowly but steadily, as his eyes burned deep into Bright's. No matter how loud the screen was, no matter that he had dropped their bag of popcorn to the floor and it had spilled out around their feet, little yellow fluffs blocking out the surface of the smooth gray floor, Alec only had his eyes for Bright, and couldn't conceive of a time when that would change. Alec's lips formed the word - one single syllable that matched the reverence with which the faithful sang their hymns.

"Bright."

TAG; bright!
NOTES; methinks i'm gonna die
LYRICS; cabaret
WORDS; one one three one[/blockquote]

[bright óla ivanova]

MIDAS IS KING AND HE HOLDS ME SO TIGHT

AND TURNS ME TO GOLD IN THE SUNLIGHT

That moment, that seeming age had passed, it was over and yet her lips still stung from the contact, still ached to be where they had a moment ago. Bright had never imagined kissing Alec, before tonight she had been wildly blind to her actual feelings towards him, but if she ever had, it would have resembled nothing that had just happened. The way his skin felt against hers, the insane euphoria, the numbing of her mind, she couldn't have imagined those would exist in any situation, never mind at all, and certainly not whilst kissing Alec. Not whilst kissing anyone. A kiss. Before tonight, it had seemed like such an innocent action. Pleasant, a little giddying, that was all. Bright had found out first hand that this was not so. It was hard to comprehend that such a small motion, so gentle, could bring about the feelings inside her, the total blankness of her mind or the electricity coursing through her veins. On the grand scale of things, it was so small, almost invisible, and yet for Bright, it was everything. Alec was everything. A moment of such grandeur that she was sure it would be burned into her mind for ever more. The way he looked, the soft touch of his warm skin, the gentle movement of his lips. She would remember everything, it was too clear to forget. If everything else slipped away, if every event in her life was condemned to photographs and mementos, this would remain. A moment in time, so explicitly vivid, that nothing could capture. No picture, no trinket or written proof. There was no way it could exist except in both of their memories, and she was sure that was where it would stay until she no longer existed.

Her fingers flexed once more, confidence that she hadn't been made aware of in her mind lifting them towards his face. They slipped softly over his jaw, just touching as he uttered her name. Her name, one syllable, so ordinary. She had grown accustomed to it over time, but from his lips, it sounded extraordinary, some beautiful forgotten language spoken by a Godly creature. People spoke to her all the time, her name was thrown about countless times every day, and yet she felt like she had never even heard it before. Bright. It sounded magnificent, but in her mind, it was now Alec's voice speaking, and it couldn't have sounded any better unless he spoke it himself once more. Her fingers, only cool now, traced the extremity of his jaw, running down the hollow under his cheek bone, gently brushing against the corner of his lips. The lips that had managed to knock her so completely, so utterly that she might never recover. Not that she wanted to. If what she had been used to before was normal, she never wanted to feel normal again. Her senses were on edge and completely obsolete at the same time. If Alec moved, if he breathed or touched her, she was suddenly hyper aware, everything he did, she noticed, but to anything else, she was blind. Deaf and dumb, unfeeling, it may as well have not existed. It didn't to her. She felt trapped by him, unable to command herself properly, and she never wanted to be released. She felt like a prisoner, locked up for countless years. If she was to stumble out into the light of the world, allowed to work and live as she pleased, she would be so unaccustomed to it she might well be unable.

Though it was quiet, something penetrated the silence. A low rumble, and...music. Her lips parted marginally, disorientated. Where was it coming from? Alec was unmoving, and the sound shouldn't come from him. It was louder, the music still playing, accompanied by a low chattering sound. Reluctantly, her gaze moved from Alec's perfect face, her actual surroundings slowly coming back into focus. She felt like she had just awoken from a deep sleep, confused and disconcerted. The film had ended. Of course. The music, a soft, lovely melody that now sounded tinny and out of tune in comparison to Alec's voice was playing over the credits. The rumbling; people getting to their feet, sweeping up their belonging into careless bundles, stretching their stiff limbs. They chattered amongst themselves, probably discussing the movie, maybe noting that they were tired of asking who had the keys. Their conversations seemed to pointless and futile now, as if they were so unimportant that it might have been wiser just to stay silent. The already fairly sparse audience was dissipating, walking in laboured motions to the exits. Dim but growing bright, the lights turned on, slowly adjusting so as to leave the audience's retinas intact. It was over, there was no clinging to the moment any longer, they couldn't. If it had been somewhere else, Bright may well have been tempted to just stay there all night, regardless of what her mother might do, but they had to leave. They weren't allowed to be here any longer. The ushers would be in soon to clear the cinema for the night.

Slowly, she turned back to Alec. His face looked a little sleepy, as she was sure anyone's might after such a lengthy film, but somehow, still devastatingly perfect. She felt so compelled to simply look at him, to trace the perfect curvature of his angular jaw, but she knew she couldn't. With every effort she could muster, she unfurled from her curled up state, her hands finding the arm rests next to her, bracing herself as her slender legs lowered from their perch on the chair. With all her strength she pushed herself up wards, standing in a surprisingly fluid motion for having been curled up so long. The floor felt wrong, perhaps it was because she hadn't stood up for around three hours, but none the less, she cast her glance down. The floor was wrong, there was popcorn scattered all around her and Alec's chairs, the box lying, mostly empty, just under the seat in front. The sides of her mouth curved slightly, her typically feline smile, though more fluffy kitten than prowling cat. Bright was here, if she was near then something had to go wrong, and apparently, this was it. Her laugh was soft, quiet, but there. Something normal, like the popcorn tipping over during a movie, seemed so strange now. Reality was a harsh thing after such a wholly unreal moment, but it was inevitable. Lifting her eyes from the floor, she met Alec's gaze, still as dark and penetrating as it had been a few minutes ago, still as beautiful in any light, and smiled, an action that had never felt more genuine. "We need to go now." she said softly, standing, unmoving, waiting for him.

notes d'awww they're so cute
words one one four six
song so insane - discovery
lyrics florence and the machine[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[alecsander lee devere]

a l l . t h e . o d d s . a r e . i n . m y . f a v o u r
s o m e t h i n g ' s . b o u n d . t o . b e g i n

[/font][/size][/color]

Alec knew he could never even begin to comprehend time. It was always a constant, yet it seemed to slip through his fingers at times, and move like a flower petal through molasses all at the same time. Like a flower petal, it was the most delicate of feelings, having time pass over you. But it could also go quickly, as clean, cool water over smooth glass. And that was how this felt. Like they were petals suspended in some heavy, viscous substance, moving slowly but easily through, but at the same time, the hours were moving swiftly over them, faster than Alec could even begin to understand.

Looking at Bright seemed to take all the time in the world, and yet not enough. She seemed to warp the very fabrication of existence - or at the very least, the way Alec perceived it - but in a way that only made him more drawn to her. Every tiny detail about her that was imperfect only made him even more captivated. It was startling, how such a beautiful creature might have aspects that made her seem more...human, more mortal. No human was meant to be so...radiant. Humans destroyed, they took what they wanted, more than they needed. They used. They abused. They were selfish, arrogant, inconsiderate, arbitrary. But Bright was entirely above that.

This glorious being had rendered him entirely oblivious to everything going on around him. He didn't think it mattered, really. After all, Bright was who he was with - Alec was hardly feeling worthy of being in her presence - and Bright, he had a feeling, was who he'd be 'with' for a long while to come. It was as though someone were creating white noise by his ears, and he didn't even want to try and see past the buzz. It was gentle in a way, soothing even. That, combined with the fact that for the first time in his life he felt truly and entirely comfortable with another human being, rather than hosting feelings of another sort. He had no hidden agenda. He wasn't holding out on her. With Bright right now, Alec was as true and honest as he could possibly be.

Alec was perfectly content to just stay in this little world that belonged solely to him and the lovely Bright Ivanova. Even the thought of her name sent chills down his spine. Her first name, short but bursting with life, holding some sort of radiance that he couldn't put properly into words, and then her last name, with just the right amount of sophistication, with the way it simply rolled through his mind, subtle yet harsh at the same time. There was so much power in a name - it spoke so much of a person, and yet at the same time, made you wonder. But his Bright - yes, his Bright - was the perfect personification of her name. If ever there was a person in the world who was as bright as bright could be, it was her. Naturally. He couldn't imagine a world in which she wasn't the most amazing thing that existed.

It was amazing how, in so few words, they had managed to connect on such a deep, complex level. In fact, Alec barely believed that any words were at all necessary. Everything else about Bright was enough to draw him in. Her eyes - those crystal-blue depths, forever captivating - her smell - warm, and calming, almost like a mug of tea - her kiss. Her kiss. Alec stared at her lips, making no attempt to hide it. They were formed with an artistic sort of care, flawless and pink, full, yet not overly so. He had kissed those lips. Or, rather, those lips had kissed his. Alec couldn't think. He didn't want to. And so he was incredibly jarred, disappointed and terrified when Bright suddenly broke eye contact, even more so when she turned back to him, and stood, speaking. Alec could hear the words coming from her mouth, although there was a slight delay as he processed them. Bright's voice, belonging to Bright and all, was gentle enough - sweet, beautiful enough - to bring him back to reality smoothly, but he still felt like a newborn baby; unready for the world, dangerously vulnerable.

Alec lurched to his feet, eyes wide, to come to tower over Bright. She wasn't necessarily short, but her bone structure put her at a significantly lower height than Alec, who had the altitude of a model. He looked down at her, swallowing hard. His rise up into a standing position had been far from graceful - he had been sitting for a while, and his mind was still in a fog, and so he hadn't had the proper faculties to rise with a reasonable amount of poise. Not that it mattered. He could still stare at Bright this way. That was fine. But Alec did break eye contact, sweeping his dark irises across the theater, which was being lit up again, slowly but surely. The few other moviegoers were grumbling about something, and he could hear faint snippets of conversation about the theater people having 'technical difficulties'. Alec snuck a look at his platinum-plated watch, noting that the movie had only started a scant forty-five minutes ago. Oh. He felt like he had been sitting for four hours. Picking up on the conversations around him, Alec quickly gathered that something must have been wrong with the tape, because the credits showed just fine, but it got scratchy and skipped around for the grand majority of it.

Alec turned his head back to Bright. "Of course," he replied, his voice hoarse. The French accent came out slightly stronger than it normally did, but his words were still entirely understandable. And against the low hum of the theater, there was no way she hadn't heard him. Alec forced a smile to his face. Although he had been having a genuine moment just before, Alec was still dazed enough that certain emotions had to be shoved onto his face manually. He moved to put a hand on her shoulder to steer her out of the row, like he normally would have, but stopped short. Just now, having his hand against her face had been so intense. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that again just yet. So instead, he dropped his hand to his side, where it dangled limply, and gestured for her to exit the row. Alec took his own step, only to find that it crunched against something on the ground. Shocked, Alec looked down to find the spilled popcorn coating the floor. He cleared his throat, the very tips of his ears tinged pink. "Well, yes. Let's get going."

TAG; bright!
NOTES; they're so sweeeet
LYRICS; cabaret
WORDS; one one two nine

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