turnstile blues

[Deleted]

He genuinely thinks he might be sick as she discusses the extent of her injury. Ordinarily his squeamishness was a cause if embarrassment to him, but Charlotte knew him too well and relished this aspect of his personality too much, so he refused to indulge it. He closes his hand around her affected digit, applying the most minimal amount of pressure as a warning. Still, he could tell she was excited that he was there and that filled him with both relief and elation, the young girl usually keeping her cards too close to her chest for him to be able to tell what she was thinking. "Addicted to making out with you, yeah," he said, his eyes greedily sizing her up for the hundredth time. "Who could blame me, have you seen yourself?" He laughs shortly at her comment. "Like your brother, or like tater tots? Either way, I refuse to believe you didn't name them," he says, looking at the monkey. Though he would never admit it, his heart swelled like a water balloon at the sight of the abandoned monkeys, fit to burst with affection. Then she speaks and he grins, "ah, tater tot it is. I thought that was against the rules, giving African animals anglicised names." Still, watching the animal rush towards Charlotte is almost too much to bear, and for a moment he thinks of Fez-- the poor dog, surely wondering where she was. He pushes the thought to the back of his mind, taking the monkey in his arms and beaming from ear to ear. He turns to Charlotte, uncharacteristically thinking of her rather than himself. "It's incredible what you're doing here, you know. You're a little rich girl," he smiled, trying to show that it wasn't an insult, "and yet here you are, trying to better the world. It's gross of me to say but it needs to be said - you're incredible."

[charlotte lemeir]

She laughs at him, having never had someone be so outwardly interested in her she's not quite sure how to take a compliment. She imitates his gaze, her bright eyes running from his head to his toes, "have you seen yourself?" The little baboon scurries up and hugs her knee, his fingers reaching for something she doesn't have. "I didn't! The other girls got here before me," she sticks her tongue out at the wrinkled face in front of her. "Is it?" she feels her cheeks become warm, caught off guard with a fact she didn't know. She just about dies as she watches the baby baboon leach onto Oscar, her heart swelling up and her smile wider than it had been all day. Her fingers scratch the thin black hair on it's back and she shakes her head at Oscar's comment. "I'm just doing my part and having fun doing it," she lifts her head to see the other monkey a branch lower to the ground. "You look so hot with a baboon.. do you want to feed him?" she raises from her squat to leave the enclosure and grab a couple of bottles. "Here," she returns to pass a bottle of milk to him, "just like a baby." The shyer monkey becomes more daring with the sight of dinner and she slowly crouches back down to greet him as he lopes over. "Be careful, you know, they might bite your face off," Charlotte teases as she picks up the hairy ape and cradles him.

[Deleted]

She practically blushes at his obvious affection and it's the most endearing thing he has ever seen, more endearing even than the baby baboon in his arms. He looks down at the creature, realising he was slightly rocking it as though it were a baby. Laughing at himself, he grinned down at the wrinkly little thing, understanding how easy it must have been for Charlotte to have chosen this path for herself. He feels a sharp pang of remorse for all the opportunities he had inadvertently lost for himself by being such a little shit in school, but quickly gets over it, knowing he doesn't have anything like the drive she does. "You're gonna make one hell of a vet. Won't it be boring going back to cats and rabbits after you've been this close to baboons?" he asked, faintly worried that she might be tempted to move somewhere even further afield than New York. What was wrong with him? Worrying about a future that distant was so unlike him, so contrary to his total fear of forward planning. He grins as he takes the bottle from her, tilting an eyebrow. "Ah, see, that's what makes them so dangerous - they've got you fooled," he started feeding the baby, surprised by how easy it is. Still feeding and rocking, he gives her a knowing look. "It's like how I played innocent dog walker for long enough that you wouldn't think I was a predatory creep, and now look at us. You're stuck with me."

[charlotte lemeir]

She smiles softly as her ego is stroked. Having excelled throughout life, she's still not very good at a compliment and smiling politely and giving thanks is a new thing. Whereas before she'd give a negative for every positive, 'smart' would have equaled 'but I suck at anything arts.' Charlotte gushes at him at the baboon, her eyes turning into hearts as he rocks it back and forth. "I think I might look into zoological medicine, or maybe be Jane Goodall and live with the chimps," her current drip to Africa had lead her to think of other career possibilities she hadn't before thought of. Something in wildlife and an endangered species feeding more to her hero mentality than tending to the spoiled dogs of New York. "Tater would never hurt me! You're just too sweet, aren't you?" her speech is bubbly as she speaks to the wrinkled faced of the baby baboon, knowing full well that that sweetness would eventually turn wild. "Excuse you!" she retaliates, her brow furrowing, "I pursued you and tipped you in sex. You are the innocent dog walker." The baboon begins to push the bottle away and she places the baboon on the ground. "Here, you're mom will like this picture more," she slips her hand into his back pocket and takes out his phone. "Smile! There, that's perfect."

[Deleted]

He gave her a sharp look at the mention of working with chimps. "Charla. Nash." It was a name her father had drilled into his head, the concerned man sending him a flurry of emails begging her to reconsider her choices. Usually out of sight was very much out of mind for Oscar, but between how much he missed Charlotte and how much her dad had managed to drum up panic around her choice of destination, he couldn't stop worrying about something bad happening to her. He laughs, though it gives him the truest pleasure of his young life to think of her lusting after him as much as he was lusting after her for all those weeks. "That's what you think, because that's what I led you to believe," he said, only half meaning it. He leant over and placed an intentionally condescending kiss on the top of her head. As she whips the phone out of the pocket of his frayed jeans, Oscar pulls his best blue steel expression before breaking out into a grin. "You're right, she's gonna lose her mind," he agreed, crouching down to let the primate go. "This was fun, but you and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel."

[charlotte lemeir]

She laughs at the combination of the name drop and his look. Chala Nash, a name she knew so well only because it was mentioned every time she spoke to her father, or in a voicemail by him or in an email by him. "Well, obviously I'm not going to dress them in sweaters and play babies." It was terrible because her father's concern only caused her to be more turned on by the idea of zoology. Her idea of rebellion was saving endangered animals and making world-altering discoveries about them - it could be much worse. "Yea whatever," she shies away from his kiss, "without me you'd probably would have left America blue balled and lusting about what could have been." She grins as he poses, quoting Zoolander in a mocking voice, "blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? They're the same face!" She raises from the ground, her hand falling on his chest,"are you sure? We have warthogs and pretend friends here too?" She kids, and takes the bottle from him before leading him out of the room. "Come on, we're doing drinks later but I think I can fit you in."

[Deleted]

He shook his head sadly, as if she were too far gone. "You'll be like the Grizzly Man. He did everything right, but nature is wild, Lottie, it doesn't play by the rules," also, he didn't want her to be off in some exotic country for the rest of their lives. "Can't you develop an obsession with, I don't know, ducks? We've got loads of them in the UK, you'd be having a great time and you'd get to keep that perfect face of yours." He hears himself and feels he's given a little too much away there - this wasn't supposed to be about where she was living, it was meant to be him passing on her father's only semi-valid concerns. "Whatever you need to tell yourself, LeMeir. Definitely wouldn't have been blue balled though, remember Jem? Now there's a forward woman if ever I saw one." He held a hand up to his heart, mock wounded. "Don't deride my profession, I work so hard." He knows he's probably annoying her with all his pawing and nagging, but the raging hormones of a twenty-year old boy stop for no one. Smiling as she led him away, he paused, washing his hands again for good measure. Immediately he felt better. "Introduce me to Roger first, I want him to know when we're doing it."

[charlotte lemeir]

She raises a finger to him, "or! I'll be like Jane Goodall. Think of the research and discoveries. You could be fucking a real life super woman." Her cheeks turn rosy at his next comment, her stomach becoming nauseous as if suddenly wary of the situation. "I wouldn't overthink it, they have zoos there and I accepted Oxford last week," not wanting to talk about it further, she pulls his hand toward the door. "Maybe I should have left you with Jem! If I could do it all again..." she teases, following his lead as he soaps him his hands. "Really? He'll make you so sleepy, he's an organic xanax," she gives in, her sandaled feet taking a stride and heading out the building, "he's probably right where we left him." Charlotte loops her thin arm through his bulked up bicep and leads him out to the courtyard, finding Roger exactly where she presumes him to be. "Hi, Roger," she smiles at the mousey looking Brit, his hair falls into his eyes as he looks up, "this is my friend, Oscar. Oscar, this is Roger. "

[Deleted]

He rolls his eyes, obviously unconvinced by the comparison but unwilling to fight it any more, lest he seem desperate for her to stay at least within continental Europe. She's doing nothing to assuage his concerns, at least until she says she accepted a place at Oxford, blasé as anything. Not caring that he's lost his cool, Oscar's eyes widen, obvious glee spreading across his chiseled features. "Hang on, are you serious? You're 100%, definitely going to Oxford?" It seems unreal to him. Whilst not a pessimist, he preferred to err on the side of caution, never allowing himself to get excited for something until it was fully confirmed. And yet he had been fantasising about her being in the UK, about being able to be close to her without the ball ache of a green card or having to abandon his family. Excited all over again, he couldn't stop himself from slipping an arm around her waist, bringing her in for another kiss. "Congratulations, you beautiful, beautiful genius," he trilled, grinning down at her as he placed another short peck on her lips. He's appeased by her critiques of Roger, though he shoots her a skeptical look as though he weren't. He felt he needed to do something to keep her on her toes. Finally confronted by the man, he grinned, taking his hand in an all too firm handshake. "Hear you've been taking care of my girl," he said, sounding misleadingly jovial. He wonders if Roger thought his accent would be an easy in, the same way Oscar did whenever he spoke to an American girl. He made sure to ham his up. "Good to meet you mate, I've heard a lot. Thanks for keeping her warm," he said, placing an affectionate kiss on the top of her head.

[charlotte lemeir]

She watches as excitement takes a hold of his features and she rushes ahead of him to avoid the attention. "I'm not going for you," she waves her hand at him. This was only slightly true. Oscar was an obvious pull toward Oxford, the distance making her heart grow so hungry she clicked the acceptance button a couple weeks back. Though the other obvious pull had been how it would look on her resume, she couldn't deny that her yearning for her good looking British boyfriend had been the final push. She reluctantly kisses back, her hands pushing his weight away as her lips push closer. "Only for a year.. will you take Fezzik when I go home for holidays? Even if we break up?" It's a thought she doesn't want to think about, but she always forces herself to look into the negative areas as well as positives. She watches as Roger takes Oscar's hand, his shy expression not knowing what to do with Oscar. Charlotte glares up at her model boyfriend, her eyes giving an annoyed warning. Roger laughs awkwardly at him and shrugs a little. His reaction grosses Charlotte out, but what Oscar says next grosses her out further. "Ew, gross, you're disgusting!" she jabs Oscar in the side, not even thinking about how hurtful she might sound to Roger. "You'll join us for drinks later, won't you Rog? I got one of the boys to grab us beer and vodka.. and Asprin for the morning," she pulls at the fabric of Oscar's shirt, leading him away from the picnic table. One out of earshot she jabs him a second time, "you're so gross. He already thinks it's okay to stare at me and breathe heavy. If I wake up to his sweaty pasty English body next to mine, it'll be your fault for giving him the go ahead."

[Deleted]

"Of course you aren't," he said, eyes narrowed, before shaking his head and laughing. "No really, of course you aren't. It's an amazing opportunity and I'm so proud of you and I'm so relieved it works out for me too," he said, stopping himself before he said too much. Not that he hadn't already. But he couldn't get it out of his head, mentally trying to work out how far Islington was from Oxford, whether he could afford to move out, where he'd move to if he could. West London, that much was obvious, but wasn't that crazy expensive? Realizing he was getting way ahead of himself, he made a point of focusing on the here and now. "Of course. Not saying I'd give him back, but I'd happily take him." Before he can stop himself he's entered into a very obvious, very cheap alpha jostling with her sort of colleague, and he can feel irritation radiating off his girlfriend as he does so. Making a point of not looking at her based on an educated guess that she was most probably glaring at him, he laughs as he's jabbed, slinging an arm around her shoulders in an affectionate headlock and pulling her close. It was petty but he appreciated her saying it was gross, given that the man in front of him very obviously was not, at least not physically. The idea of him sharing a bedroom with Lottie was definitely gross though, and it's this thought that stops him from coming to the other man's aid. Nodding as she invites him to drinks, he nods a goodbye too as he's dragged way. "Lottie," he says, stopping her and holding her face in his hands. In full view of Roger he bends down and kisses her sloppily, intentionally exaggerating every move and grinning even before he's pulled away. "I think he knows I'd walk back to Africa to break his neck if I had to."

[charlotte lemeir]

She's uncomfortable with how excited Oscar gets about Oxford, though it's an obvious and expected reaction from him. Charlotte can't help but feel like she was putting all her eggs in one basket with him. By sharing him with her parents, her friends here and now having accepted Oxford, they were becoming a very real thing. "I'm not sure who's head of my fan club. You or my mother," her fingers slide through his and she pulls his up for a kiss, an inner reminder to keep it together. She rolls her eyes over how animal-like Oscar becomes, his chest practically puffing up like a gorilla's to make sure Roger knows who's boss. She wonders if Roger is picking up on this and will laugh about it later. Charlotte leans more softly into the kiss, her hands bracing against his chest to push him off slowly. "Stop showing off! Everyone's going to think my boyfriend's a prick," she pleas, her hand taking his again and pulling him inside. "Seriously annoying. I think we should skip the drinks tonight and I'll lock you in my room so you can't embarrass me again," she sways into him for a quick peck on the lips. As they reach the door, she pulls out her keys and starts fiddling with the lock once again. "The thing is though, I'm so turned off that I don't think I can be turned on again. "