Let's Go To The Movies! (Arkady)

[Deleted]

Dusty actually sounded really worried about the whole zombie thing. Was she always this way? Well, she had been really easy to scare on Halloween, so maybe she was just a really jumpy, cowardly person. The fact that she carried weapons was, in Arkady’s opinion, scarier than any zombie. Terrified people with guns were how innocent people got shot.

Of course he wouldn’t say any of this to her, though.

She did sort of have a point, though, and it him to thinking of what his own parents would think if there were zombies here. He bet they would feel real horrible for sending him here if he got himself bitten. Maybe then they would regret everything they’d done.

“I hope they’re not real either,” he said aloud, glancing over at Dusty. Time to play the chivalrous hero. “But if it ever turns out that they are... I’ll keep you safe.”

He said it as earnestly as he could, though he was pretty sure she would have a better chance against the forces of the undead with her arsenal than he would. But she didn’t need to know that, she just needed to hear the sweet, unselfish, caring words. Girls were suckers for that sort of thing. “I’ll do whatever I can to keep them away from you.”

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty were real worried about zombies. Sure, she had a gun and a knife, but she’d never needed ‘em afore. Usually just havin’ on ‘er person were enough ta keep people away. Well, aside from the fact that e’erbody knew ‘bout ‘er momma, but Dusty liked ta pretend it were ‘cause she were always carryin’ some kinda weapon on ‘er.

Zombies just sounded like a bad idea all around. Dusty’d rather take on ghosts, ‘cause at least ghost don’t wanna eat yer brains or anythin’ just as awful. But Dusty listened ta what Arkady were sayin’ even though ‘er mind were thinkin’ ‘bout all the awful things that zombies could do.

But everything stopped when Arkady said that he would keep her safe. That he would keep the zombies away from ‘er. She stopped in ‘er tracks ‘cause ‘er brain were on overload at the moment. Arkady had just said that he would keep ‘er safe. In a way that were like sayin’ ‘e would take care a her. And no one had ever really done that before.

Her momma didn’t count ‘cause half the time growin’ up Dusty and ‘er momma took care o’ each other. There had never been anyone who would look out fer her without really even knowin’ ‘er. But Arkady changed that in a second. And it was all Dusty could do ta stare at ‘im fer a second.

“Do you mean that?” she finally asked, ‘cause it sounded like it, but she needed to know. She just needed to know if this was really happ’nin’.

[Deleted]

Taking an extra half step before Dusty brought him up short, Arkady mentally chalked up another victory as he turned to face her. Turns out that was a bad idea. Of course he had expected her to buy the whole thing, but he hadn’t expected such disbelief. Most girls would just melt into a puddle at such an exclamation; they would probably ‘aww’ and throw themselves at him, but Dusty seemed reluctant to believe that he, or maybe anyone, would want to put themselves in harm’s way to protect her.

If he thought himself capable of the emotion, Arkady might have found it almost sad, and not in the usual sarcastic way.

“Well... yeah,” he said with a shrug of his shoulder, finding it easy to look appropriately uncomfortable. It was supposed to be a bit of embarrassed, sheepish discomfort instead of the sort of distressed one he truly was feeling. “I mean, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

If only that were true. Maybe he didn’t want her to be eaten by zombies, or to sustain any physical injuries, but what he had planned... he didn’t really think about just how much it was going to hurt.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty’s lived out West fer her whole life so she didn’t really know any different. Her whole life she’d been lookin’ out fer herself ‘cause that’s what people out West did. They took care a themselves first, unless, you know, they had some kinda obligation and even then people didn’t always honor it. That was why she wanted ta be a cowgirl ‘cause they took care o’ each other. There was always someone lookin’ out for yah.

But ta hear Arkady say that, meant the world to ‘er and she appreciated that more’n anybody’d probably ever know. To know that someone were gonna watch out fer her were the best thing that’d ever happened to ‘er. Though she hadn’t meant to make Arkady uncomfortable. She just needed the validation. She needed ta know that this were real, that was all.

“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” she told Arkady earnestly, meaning every word. If only he knew just how true that were.

[Deleted]

This wasn’t good. The way she was looking at him right then... it should have been good. He should have been doing a mental dance, deciding that this part of the plan was as good as accomplished, because it was pretty obvious from the way that she was looking at him that he was getting to her, that she was really starting to feel something for him.

The problem was, it was making him feel things too.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, the words out before he could even think about them. What the hell was he sorry about? She deserved this. She had pulled a gun on him for Christ’s sake! A loaded gun! He should not be feeling sorry for her, he should not be feeling guilty for what he was doing for her, and he sure as hell should not be feeling... what he was starting to feel for her.

“You deserve better,” he continued, brushing a hand back through her hair before letting it rest at the nape of her neck. Better than what? Better than some juvenile delinquent who had been one offense away from imprisonment before being sent here? Better than the pain he was planning to cause her, the humiliation she would suffer at his hands?

Get ahold of yourself!

“You deserve to hear nice things like that. All the time,” was the eventual conclusion. A smooth cover if he did say so himself.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty were awful surprised ta hear Arkady apologizin’. He hadn’t done anythin’. He’d brought ‘er to a movie and then he’d told ‘er that zombies were real, but he’d only been teasin’. It weren’t anythin’ he needed ta be sorry for.

It was even more surprisin’ ta hear ‘im say that she deserved better. Deserved better’n what? Did ‘e know somethin’ that she didn’t know? Though she were quite distracted when ‘e brushed a hand through ‘er hair and kept ‘is hand there on ‘er neck. His hand were so warm and it were comfortin’. She didn’t know why, it just were. Maybe it were the lurkin’ threar o’ zombies or somethin’ like that and the fact that Arkady had said that he would keep ‘er safe.

She deserved ta hear nice things all the time? Well Dusty weren’t one ta think that she deserved nice things or even deserved ta hear nice things, but in this moment she believed it. She hung on Arkady’s every word. But she didn’t wanna hear nice things all the time from anyone else. “Only as long as you’re gonna say ‘em,” she whispered.

[Deleted]

He had her right where he had wanted her, eating out of his hand, but he couldn’t feel triumphant about it, couldn’t even enjoy it. She meant it; every single word she said, she meant them all. What kind of a life had she lead? Arkady could spend all night complaining about how his parents lied to him, betrayed him and deprived him of his birthright, but the truth was that his parents loved him and they did what they could for him and his siblings. They provided for him as best they could, they spent time with him, they were affectionate, and before he had known that anything was wrong, when he had still been a child, everything had been wonderful.

Dusty had obviously had a vastly different childhood all together, she seemed almost starved for affection, or even a kind word. It really was sad to think about.

So don’t think about it.

“Well...” Arkady replied, dropping his voice to match hers. Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against hers, his eyes slipping half closed and one side of his lips curling upward. “I think I can handle that. Like, for starters, when was the last time someone told you were beautiful?”

He needed a mental switch to turn off his brain. He had thought he had one, but it seemed to be faulty. Just play the part. She’s a goner already, just keep it up. A few more days, maybe a few weeks, and it will all be over before you know it.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty were starved fer affection. For all the good times back home with ‘er momma and as close as they were Dusty’d never really gotten the kinda mother she woulda wanted. Sure, the two of them were closer’n any parent and child Dusty’d ever seen, but it were hard fer her ta get past who ‘er momma was. And even if’n she could, there were a whole town a people who didn’t speak to ‘er on the street. The teacher at school had only taught ‘er ‘cause she’d had to, but she made it no secret of how she felt about teacher the daughter of a Saloon girl. So yes, she were a bit more starved fer affection than most girls her age, but she had plenty o’ reason ta be.

But her past didn’t matter right now. What mattered now, was just the two of ‘em, standin’ on the sidewalk, foreheads touchin’, livin’ in the moment. She looked up at ‘im through ‘er eyelashes. “Beautiful? I cain’t remember,” she told ‘im softly. Honestly, she weren’t sure anyone’d ever called ‘er that ever.

But what were beautiful was this moment. This was beautiful and she wouldn’t change this fer the world

[Deleted]

For someone so naive and inexperienced, she sure seemed to know how to do the whole half-lidded, through the lashes, sexy look. Maybe it was one of those natural abilities that all women inherited, but then again he had seen some girls try really hard to be sexy and fail miserably. Some people just looked stoned, or drunk, or constipated when they tried that look, but Dusty had it down pat without even trying.

Trouble with a capital T.

“Well, that’s just not right,” Arkady replied, moving his hands down to rest on her hips. “Because you are. You’re beautiful.”

It was easy to say because it was true. Maybe most people didn’t notice because they thought she was uneducated because of her accent, or strange because of her clothes, or they simply didn’t notice her because she was so good at blending in and being invisible, but if any of them took a moment to really look at her they wouldn’t be able to deny it either. She really was beautiful.

[Dusty Fae]

He called ‘er beautiful. He called ‘er beautiful and it sounded like ‘e meant it. And she felt beautiful, really beautiful. And it was all ‘cause ‘e said that. All ‘cause he had seen ‘er when all she’d ever wanted was ta be invisible.

Her heart were beatin’ a little faster, but she could breathe. And she felt special. It had been a very long time since she’d felt so special. And she felt wonderful. Really really wonderful, like this was where she’d always be safe no matter what happened.

She reached up and put ‘er arm ‘round ‘is neck. “Thank you,” she whispered. Then, moving on instinct she closed ‘er eyes and leaned in ta kiss ‘im, ‘cause he certainly deserved it fer that. And honest, what else was a girl ta do when ‘er boyfriend said such nice things?

[Deleted]

Letting his arms wrap around her waist, Arkady pulled her closer and returned the kiss. Now that was a reaction. He had played the perfect gentleman all throughout the film, hadn’t tried to put the moves on her at all in the dark theatre, so Dusty wasn’t the only one thinking he was deserving by now. Sure, it would probably only further confuse him, but if he was already going to question everything he might as well enjoy something in the midst of it all.

So he savoured the moment; the warmth of her skin on his neck, her mouth tasting of butter from the theatre popcorn, even the smell of her. He could definitely get used to this. Of course it didn’t hurt the ego that she seemed to think that he was absolutely wonderful, even if it did nag at his conscience. Consciences were such pesky little things, he wished there was a built in switch he could flick to just turn it off. That would make this whole thing so much easier.

Pulling back, Arkady licked his lips and grinned at Dusty.

“Well, if that’s my reward for saying nice things...” he said, a definite playful edge to his tone. “You smell really nice too. And those tights? Very sexy.”

[Dusty Fae]

This felt right. It just felt right when Arkady held ‘er in ‘is arms like that. It felt like this were where she belonged, like it were fate or destiny or somethin’. Either way, Dusty were happy. This were probably the happiest she’d been in a real long time ‘cause she didn’t haveta worry ‘bout what Arkady thought of ‘er. It were kinda obvious that ‘e like ‘er, so she didn’t need ta worry ‘bout if’n ‘e like ‘er or not. She didn’t haveta worry atall.

She laughed softly at Arkady. Yes, it were most certainly a reward and ‘e were most certainly deservin’ of it. There weren’t too many people who could make ‘er feel as special as he had. She grinned back at Arkady, though hers were a bit mischievous. “Is that your way o’ askin’ for another kiss?” she asked, pullin’ away from Arkady, disentanglin’ ‘erself from ‘im.

“’Cause if’n yah are…” she took a couple o’ steps away, still smilin’ mischievously. “You’re gonna have ta come get it.”

[Deleted]

Arkady put on a mock pout when Dusty pulled away from him. It was kind of nice to see this playful side of her instead of the shy, nervous one she usually put across. It made it easy for him to relax and play along too, instead of dwelling on... well, everything else. He could easily ham it up if the situation called for it, but it was always easier to do if he could forget everything else in the meantime.

“Is that so? Well, that sounds like a challenge that I can hardly re-” he started to reply, but suddenly stopped dead. His eyes going wide, he clutched at his chest in an over-the-top manner. “Something’s... happening,” he gasped, stretching one arm out toward Dusty. “I...think I’m...” he stumbled a step toward her, “becoming a...”

He stopped, his whole body seeming to slump a moment in an exaggerated way. Slowly he raised both arms in front of him, holding them straight out, and lolled his head over on one shoulder.

“Braaaaaaaainsssss...”

[Dusty Fae]

Whatever Dusty’d expected, it certainly weren’t a theatrical performance, but that were exactly what she got. She enjoyed this. She really enjoyed bein’ silly like this with Arkady. It was just so fun and she weren’t bein’ shy and quiet like normal. She were just bein’ Dusty.

She giggled at Arkady, what with clutchin’ at ‘is chest like that in such an exaggerated way. But when ‘e reached an arm out to ‘er, she giggled and took a half step towards ‘im, a little uncertain. Then she stepped back the same half step.

But then…oh then Arkady finished the transformation and Dusty were lookin’ at a zombie and she giggled even more. “No, yah cain’t have my brain,” she cried, takin’ a couple o’ steps away from ‘im. Then she wrapped ‘er hands ‘round her head, tryin’ ta protect ‘er brains. “I mean it. Yah cain’t have it,” she giggled.

[Deleted]

Arkady had to admit, there was a part of him that regretted this little act the second he had started it, because he couldn’t quite be sure if she would get the joke or if she would seriously believe he had become a zombie. The movie had really bothered her, after all, and it was possible that even his over exaggerated actions weren’t enough to make it clear that this was as fake as the film. The film she had believed was true, or at least possible.

Oh well, at least she didn’t have any of her weapons.

Luckily, it turned out she wasn’t quite that naive (ie: completely stupid), and she played right along with him. Or tried to, at least. She was giggling a little too much to be believable, but points for trying. It was almost enough to make him break character and smile but he managed to hold back.

“Braaaaaains,” he moaned again, doing the zombie shuffle toward her. After just a few steps, though, he made a sudden lunge, hoping to catch her off guard and to, well, catch her. Period.