23.) voice.

[ijustlivehere]

[There's shallow breathing on the line, and maybe if you listen really closely, you might even be able to hear Neil gulp.]

Uh... don't think I'm goin' out today.

Sorry I'm missing work or whatever. I'm... not feeling... uh.

Just, can't.

[And that's it.]

Comments

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

[Oh, he doesn't doubt your skills, Amy. He's thought about them in the hypothetical more than he'll care to admit.]

Just don't wanna make anybody mad. Stuff gets weird with curses like this.

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

It's a curse. Who'd get mad?

[private.]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

[He switches the broadcast to be sure no one can listen in.]

...Lucy.

[private.]

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

Lucy?

[ Pause. Pauuuse. Ooooh. ] Your girlfriend?

[private.]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

Y-- no. Yes. Sorta. Maybe? I dunno.

[private.]

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

Gotcha. Your sorta maybe girlfriend. Like Rory was my friend-boyfriend.

[private.]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

W-we're not engaged. [He feels like he has to specify.]

[private.]

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

Neither were Rory and I when he was still my friend-not-quite-boyfriend.

[private.]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

Yeah, kinda like that, then, I guess.

[private.]

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

So y' don't want to hurt her, yeah? 's nice of you.

[private.]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

Yeah, 's the idea. She kinda freaked last time a curse made me do... stuff.

[private.]

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

Yeah? What happened?

[private.]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

Marriage curse thing freaked her out. Kinda talking again now, but it's... weird.

[private.]

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Talking can do that. [ Amy does not like talking about feelings all that much, okay. ]

[private.]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

Yeah. 'S better than the silent treatment thing though, I guess.

[private.]

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Yeah.

[private.]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

[Something of a frustrated sigh, here.]

Girls're hard.

[No offence, Amy.]

[private.]

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

So's boys.

[ None taken. ]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

Yeah? [No one's ever said as much to him before. Boys are supposed to be the ones who make sense.]

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

[ Definitely. ]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

Like, how?

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

Like, you offer them sex without strings, they want to marry you. Or not have sex at all. Blokes, really.

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

[He's going to try really hard to keep himself under control. It won't do to keep forgetting how to breathe every time Amy says the word "sex."]

That uh... happen to you a lot?

[waitedforyears.livejournal.com]

Nah, only sometimes.

[ And maybe if he stopped reacting she'd stop mentioning the word around him so much, but for now she's torn between just plain wanting to fluster him and sort of feeling the need to de-sensibilising him to the word. ]

[illgrowoutofit.livejournal.com]

[What a noble service she is doing. Slowly but surely, maybe he'll get used to it.]

O-oh. Right. Just happens to... girls in general?