Gwen Havers
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Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 9, 2007 16:09:27 GMT -5
"I don't even know what happened. We were joking around, and he was showing me the stars and the constellations, and it was one of those typical kissing moments with the moonlight, bonfire, water lapping, all that, and I was just--ugh, I don't know," she groaned, not even bothering to hold her pose anymore as she gestured dramatically with her hands.
"I can't really say that it surprised me, because it didn't. I know that he has feelings for me; I'm not completely blind. I just didn't know how to react. I think I said something vague and cliche about needing space or something. On an island--how silly is that? I mean, I don't understand why I can't just be honest. Why I can't just say 'Sorry, you're a nice guy, but I'm hung up on a ghost that has prevented me from entering into any real relationships for years. Please take a number while I ineffectively deal with my grief'," she continued to ramble.
"I'm sorry, it's probably not a big deal. Things'll be awkward for a bit, but it'll blow over. We're all adults, right? Understanding, sensible adults?" she asked hesitantly.
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Post by Severin on May 10, 2007 4:32:09 GMT -5
He listened carefully to her ramble, uncertain exactly what was the right thing to say. She clearly didn't want Ethan's attention, but like it or not, she had it. All there really was left to hope the man didn't bear a grudge or turn out to be an obsessive psychopath.
"I'm sorry, it's probably not a big deal. Things'll be awkward for a bit, but it'll blow over. We're all adults, right? Understanding, sensible adults?"
"Well, I...erm..." he began, trying to think. "Don't take this as an offense, but do you think maybe it was his way of dealing with all the trauma? I don't know Ethan, but he seems calm about the entire thing, so maybe he's acting out in other ways."
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Gwen Havers
Help Translate Rousseau's Maps
Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 10, 2007 7:41:20 GMT -5
"Acting out?" she repeated. "You mean like beating Sawyer to a bloody pulp? I know he said it was nothing to do with me. But I was upset with Sawyer, I told Ethan about it, and...well, you saw what followed. Action, reaction."
She exhaled and wiped a few stray hairs from her face. "Maybe that was just a one-time thing. All the fear and anger coming together in some perfect storm. When I spoke to him this morning, he seemed calm, like you said. Maybe this is something we'll all look back on and laugh."
Gwen finally looked back at Severin. "And you'd probably rather I shut up now and stop ruining your drawing, wouldn't you?" she asked with a weak smile.
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Post by Severin on May 10, 2007 14:03:03 GMT -5
"And you'd probably rather I shut up now and stop ruining your drawing, wouldn't you?"
He smiled gently back, his eyes looking into hers with empathy. He set his pencil and paper down for a moment, and edged closer. "Gwen...if he really cares for you, at all, he'll understand what you want and what you don't want." he said smoothly in an assuring tone. "And it's not right for you to blame yourself for what happened to Sawyer. Ethan made a choice to attack, not you. You had no way of knowing what was going to happen."
He considered for a moment. "And don't think you're alone in dealing with a ghost. I know what that's like, and...and I still do." He avoided her eyes for a moment, unsure why he was talking about Leonora, no matter how vaguely. Perhaps because he hadn't openly said it before. "It leaves you...hollow, and...and uncertain that you'll ever leave the ghost behind."
His eyes drifted back to hers and he recomposed himself. "If Ethan can't understand you, can't give you space and contain himself, then you were right not to kiss him." he said firmly. "All that can be expected of any human being in a situation like this is to do their best, and as far as I see, you're doing just that."
He lowered his head slightly, looking at her directly and unblinkingly into her eyes, and then smiled. "So shut up and let me draw."
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Gwen Havers
Help Translate Rousseau's Maps
Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 12, 2007 21:07:50 GMT -5
"So shut up and let me draw."
"Yes, sir, Severin, sir," she agreed, resuming her pose and resolving to silently keep it as he went back to drawing. He understood about the awkwardness between her and Ethan. But more importantly, he understood about the pain of living with loss. The hurt, haunted look in his eyes made that clear. Yet as quickly as the pain came, it was gone, and he was back to being the professional detached observer. He'd have to teach her that trick...
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Post by Severin on May 13, 2007 5:20:37 GMT -5
"Yes, sir, Severin, sir,"
He rubbed out the line he'd scratched along the page, and went back to drawing Gwen, his eyes darting from her to the page. He would fill out the more minor details on her body later, for now he wanted to concentrate on the face. “You have a nice nose.” He said randomly, not thinking about it. He paused. “That was a very bizarre thing to comment on, I’m sorry.”
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Gwen Havers
Help Translate Rousseau's Maps
Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 13, 2007 7:59:12 GMT -5
She kept quiet as he continued to work, fascinated by the quick moves of his pencil and the intent focus on his face.
“You have a nice nose...That was a very bizarre thing to comment on, I’m sorry.”
A wide smile crept across her face, having never heard that one before. "It's okay. One of the few things I get from my mother, apart from frequent guilt trips and reminders about etiquette," she replied.
"You have nice eyes," she observed, an automatic reflex to return a compliment for a compliment. "I mean, y'know, when they don't seem to be staring into my soul," she added quickly, with a hopefully tension-breaking laugh.
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Post by Severin on May 13, 2007 9:56:49 GMT -5
"You have nice eyes,"
He turned a little red, smiling a little.
"I mean, y'know, when they don't seem to be staring into my soul,"
"I have soul-staring eyes, do I?" he asked, chuckling and raising an eyebrow.
(ooc: ok, I'm off again, was just quickly posting)
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Gwen Havers
Help Translate Rousseau's Maps
Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 13, 2007 11:16:53 GMT -5
"I have soul-staring eyes, do I?"
"Well, it's sort of an artistic requirement, isn't it?" she remarked. "I just worry that you might not like what you find there. And I was supposed to be shutting up, wasn't I?"
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Post by Severin on May 13, 2007 13:23:56 GMT -5
"I just worry that you might not like what you find there. And I was supposed to be shutting up, wasn't I?"
"Oh, trust me, Gwen, I can't see into your soul any more than anyone else can." he claimed, continuing to carefully sculpt out Gwen's face on paper. "And if the eyes are the window to the soul, then your soul is beautiful." As he spoke, he began work on the eyes, leaning in a little more against his page.
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Gwen Havers
Help Translate Rousseau's Maps
Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
Posts: 2,010
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 13, 2007 18:35:16 GMT -5
"And if the eyes are the window to the soul, then your soul is beautiful."
Her eyes widened a bit at his words. "Right, well...normally I'd have a smartarse remark, but um, lucky for you I'm running low on those," she said.
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Post by Severin on May 14, 2007 2:20:19 GMT -5
"Right, well...normally I'd have a smartarse remark, but um, lucky for you I'm running low on those,"
"Oh, I'm sure if I give you time, you'll bring up a collection of remarks." he replied, not looking up from his paper. "Each one more crippling then the last."
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Gwen Havers
Help Translate Rousseau's Maps
Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 14, 2007 7:48:16 GMT -5
"Only for those truly deserving of my condescension. You haven't made the grade yet," she countered with a wry smile.
She cast her eyes downward for a moment. "You must have been angry with me, though. When Kate told all of you what we'd learned from the pilot. Or disappointed, at the very least. The truth just...seemed a bad idea at the time," she said, finally looking back at him.
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Post by Severin on May 14, 2007 10:02:05 GMT -5
"Only for those truly deserving of my condescension. You haven't made the grade yet,"
"Give it time." he replied with an equally wry smile.
"You must have been angry with me, though. When Kate told all of you what we'd learned from the pilot. Or disappointed, at the very least. The truth just...seemed a bad idea at the time,"
"Maybe at the time I was a little disappointed." he admitted. "But my head's clearer now. You did the right thing, and doing the right thing doesn't always means your popular. I do understand, though, I don't blame you."
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Gwen Havers
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Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 14, 2007 12:21:21 GMT -5
"Good, okay. So that's one less person I have to apologize to," she nodded slowly.
"Speaking of, if I were to contemplate apologizing to someone else," she began, "Someone whose head is perhaps less clear and who is probably feeling less understanding, justifiably so...what do you think would be the best way to go about it?"
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Post by Severin on May 14, 2007 14:49:55 GMT -5
"Speaking of, if I were to contemplate apologizing to someone else, Someone whose head is perhaps less clear and who is probably feeling less understanding, justifiably so...what do you think would be the best way to go about it?"
He raised his eyebrows at her, and then went back to drawing, start to shade parts in. "Well, it depends who we're talking about, I suppose." he replied carefully. "Perhaps you could fill me in, much like I'm filling you in."
He was quiet for a moment. "That was a joke, I'm currently shading in parts of the drawing. I apologize, it won't happen again."
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Gwen Havers
Help Translate Rousseau's Maps
Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 14, 2007 17:20:31 GMT -5
"That was a joke, I'm currently shading in parts of the drawing. I apologize, it won't happen again."
She stifled a laugh at his seemingly unintentional double entendre. Severin had such a proper air; it was like hearing a priest utter a curse word upon flubbing a homily. "Well, that's a shame. I've always thought it was something that got better with practice," she remarked, then hastily clarified, "The joking, I mean."
Returning to the task of actually answering his question, she began, "Anyway, say there were a certain Latina cop who already had a firm belief that you were a lying, manipulative wench and desperately wanted to throw rocks at your head. And then perhaps you, in retaliation, had used the enthusiastic naivete of a junior high science teacher to indirectly insult her with less-than-flattering Spanish phrases. And then she, in turn, had introduced a possibly poisonous exotic insect to your shelter during the dark of night, leaving you with a bug carcass and a highly annoyed junior high science teacher," she offered. "What then?"
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Post by Severin on May 15, 2007 2:52:15 GMT -5
"Well, that's a shame. I've always thought it was something that got better with practice,"
He raised his eyebrows. "Why, Ms Havers..."
"The joking, I mean."
"Ah, of course." he said, slightly embarrassed that he took it the other way.
"Anyway, say there were a certain Latina cop who already had a firm belief that you were a lying, manipulative wench and desperately wanted to throw rocks at your head. And then perhaps you, in retaliation, had used the enthusiastic naivete of a junior high science teacher to indirectly insult her with less-than-flattering Spanish phrases. And then she, in turn, had introduced a possibly poisonous exotic insect to your shelter during the dark of night, leaving you with a bug carcass and a highly annoyed junior high science teacher,"
He blinked.
"What then?"
He leaned forward, his face expressionless. Then, he laughed out loud, trying to stifle laugher that continued to burst through. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...." he said, trying to maintain a straight face. "It just sounds like something out of a sitcom. Sorry for laughing."
He cleared his throat. "Perhaps, for once, honesty isn't the best way to go. He'll perhaps be happier thinking his insect died by accident while you were appreciating it's unique body structure, or something."
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Gwen Havers
Help Translate Rousseau's Maps
Ready to Fallplg%%Gwen, Shannon, Etana%%
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Post by Gwen Havers on May 15, 2007 9:39:59 GMT -5
"It just sounds like something out of a sitcom. Sorry for laughing."
"I know," she agreed, laughing along with him. "It's gotten so completely and utterly ridiculous. Maybe we just have too much free time 'round here. Or maybe I just need to learn how to keep me trap shut."
"Perhaps, for once, honesty isn't the best way to go. He'll perhaps be happier thinking his insect died by accident while you were appreciating it's unique body structure, or something."
"Right, good plan," she nodded. "And perhaps if I find him a suitable replacement, a moth or beetle or something, all will be forgiven." She tilted her head at him. "Yet that still leaves me with the problem of a certain Officer Ana. I don't think your policy of smiling and agreeing with her will be sufficient."
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Post by Severin on May 15, 2007 9:49:22 GMT -5
"And perhaps if I find him a suitable replacement, a moth or beetle or something, all will be forgiven."
"On this island? You won't have to try very hard." he said. "Yes, I wonder why Hallmark don't do 'I'm Sorry' tarantulas."
"Yet that still leaves me with the problem of a certain Officer Ana. I don't think your policy of smiling and agreeing with her will be sufficient."
"Well..." he began, trying to think. If Ana didn't want to be apologized to, she wouldn't be handing out forgiveness in spades. "That offer for me to talk with her is still available."
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