fireworks [event/c]

Hmm. That was a bad start, definitely. He probably looked like a creep with that hand holding attempt, and was almost glad when Nat pulled away as if she had seen a roach. It meant that an apology would mean something, anyway. When was the last time he apologized for something? He didn't remember, but it was probably for a girl about some silly misunderstanding, just like this one.

He tried to not smile, maybe seem a little more serious. He wasn't sure if he took this seriously, but it was probably his fault for making fun of her name. So when he did have her attention, he immediately stood up and vacated his amazing firework seat (wow- if someone sat down on it he'd probably regret talking to her now...) and looked at her in the eye and said, "Hey, look. I just wanted to apologize about what happened earlier."

His hand shifted awkwardly to his hair, scratching it innocently. He wasn't usually good with these kind of things, and he wasn't sure how much the girl hated him. Wincing while remembering her expression when he had touched her, he quickly continued. "It was totally my fault."

His tone was sincere enough to be believed and he was truly sorry, even if a small part of him still blamed her for being so cute about the whole thing- what was he going to do if he hadn't laughed, honestly? "Can I, ah, make it up to you?" he asked, a little hopeful he could get this out of the way. Nat was cute, but he was sure she wasn't the flirty type- and while annoying people was always fun, it wasn't as entertaining if they took it so seriously. Especially girls.

God, he remembered that one time in junior high he'd made that one girl cry...awkward.

Oh fuck. He was so not good at playing the nice type- it worked for a day or a while, but he just wasn't used to apologizing. He liked annoying people. It was fun. But often times with girls he took it too far, and right now he did want to apologize, but this girl was being a prissy little princess here and his hopeful smile wore stale the more wide it became.

He wanted to force himself to look all meek and cute when she called him an asshole but it wasn't working. His goofy smile was just looking more and more sarcastic as she spoke. "You're the one who took things way too seriously," hje pouted, almost like a child. He then bit his lip like he was being scolded long before she could speak, and then came up with a better plan to raise his hands in surrender.

"Sorry," he said, wondering just how hard it was to kill old habits. It appeared like she wasn't the kind to just be like 'oh no it's alright, no problem' and allow him to swifty move out of her life and her to swiftly move out of his. Instead, she wanted this to be long and boring for the both of them.

Fine.

He sighed and sat down next to her, still slightly annoyed he was sharing his seat with someone but deciding to shut his trap instead.

"The best seat in the house," he mumbled, looking into the sky.

He smiled at that. She was acting calmer, more rational. Serious and logical. Those were the kinds of people he liked- the ones that could take command of things and sort them out. Leaders. He looked at Nat with a renewed sense of like, the edges of his mouth curling up enough to reveal some of his pearly teeth. "I never made fun of your name," he said, quickly putting his hands in his lap and looking at her as though he was challenging her. "You said your name was Nat, didn't you? And you never did tell me if your name was Nathaniel or not, so I just questioned the legitimacy of it." He smiled triumphantly, wondering in all earnest if she'd answer that obvious question or not.

His smile parted to let out a woosh of air as she nonchalantly disregarded his seating. Tough love, much? He shook his head dramatically. "I'm afraid that is all this poor man can give you, m'lady," he said, half annoyed and half genuinely impressed at the girl's growing indifference. The ocean breeze kicked in and Nat's hair flew around in the wind, the golden locks tangling and untangling at nature's fancy. She was pretty, even Julius had to admit.

"Why thank you," He said, although the compliment felt so half-hearted he was tempted to roll his eyes. "So if you won't tell me your name, at least tell me what you do? You a coordinator?" He asked, looking over to her, and possibly implying with this eyes that she was suited for it.

If she hated coordinating and things flipped over on him again, he'd officially give up.

"Fine, that's more than fair enough," he said, throwing his hands into the air. He liked arguing, but he sensed she didn't, and he decided to just let it be. He'd probably made her angry enough for one day and everything he was doing here was just to let her chill it out while watching fireworks. To end things on a happy note and walk away. So trodding on toes was something he'd need to watch out for.

Honestly he didn't want to give her the seat at first and he definitely hadn't invited her to sit on it. According to the grand scheme she was supposed to say something along the lines of 'it's okay' and then walk away. Instead he was left with a small bench, a cute blonde, and a heck lot of space between him and her. Pretty much the definition of an awkward beach party.

"Volcanic research, huh?" He asked, unable to hide his interest at the words. And then she revealed that she didn't like being bound to a certain place and he nodded in sympathy. "Yeah, I agree. Limiting yourself to a single place or object is never good when it comes to research. Travelling's an easy escape from all of that." He nodded, showing that he agreed with her decision to move around a bit.

"Eh?" he asked, laughing a little at her childish leg-swinging antics. "I can see that," he said, automatically. Crap. "Well I mean, I can see you wouldn't be interesting in something like coordinating."

Smooth save, Julius, real smooth.

Nat seemed too be having a lot of other things in her mind, as if she was in a separate world from him. He was fine with just staring around for now- watching her watching the sky and then turning up to check if the fireworks had started without him noticing. But they hadn't. So instead he put his hands behind his back, used them as support and he let his head be lazily supported by his back, and he listened. Listening wasn't something he did a lot but it was a nice change of roles.

The girl seemed so normal- a breath of fresh air compared to Andrea. The adorable relationship of her parents seemed like a once in a lifetime thing, and it made Julius think about it for a bit. He'd never really dreamed of a girlfriend or a cutesy lover, so it was a foreign concept. He smiled at her stubbornness, and dcided to say nothing in response. The sunsent was pretty enough to warrant his silence.

He laughed at her comment, a happy one, not necessarily rude. "You don't have to take everything so seriously, you know." He let out a sigh, and then then the first little star shot out at the sky, and the fireworks display began...

Indeed, if Nat had told him that she was affiliated to magma he might have possible tossed her into the water right then. Criminals were criminals by affiliation- and although generalizing could be painful, it was necessary. Otherwise it would be impossible to create a new world. But enough about that- goals had their place and so did pretty blondes and fireworks. Julius try to make himself content with the moment, but it was hard to be content without doing something.

He smirked at her comment about fun and was about to say something a little on the fuck boy side but he wondered if he should just keep his mouht shut and let the fireworks do their magic. Nat had this overwhelming aura of secruity around her- like a blanket of silence and comfort. He didn't want to ruin it.

He let out a long breath of admiration along with Nat, and the girl started leaning on him. Ne noticed long before she did and at first he was surpised, but then he found himself smiling. His eyes went from her to the fireworks and then to her again. Both were pretty in their own way.

It was when he felt the light brush of her ears against his shoulder and then heard her sudden jump that he chuckled. Her face was burning up and he looked up at her, green eyes meeting hers. She attempted to waddle backwards, but the fireworks weren't over yet.

He reached out after her, his fingers finding hers again. "Wait..." He paused, not sure where to take this. "Stay." Yeah, he probably still had it.