notverywise | with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

Entry tags:

cameron winklevoss

with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

Logically speaking, Jenny knows she probably shouldn't be so nervous. The thing about it having taken so long — though it isn't as if she knew before yesterday that there was something to take long at all, regardless of how much sense it makes now that both of them have admitted to harboring feelings — is that she knows Cameron, she's comfortable with him, more so than probably any other person on the island. Before, to have gone out together would have been something perfectly normal, during which she'd have kept any thoughts of something more to herself. Now, everything's changed, even if nothing has at the same time. It's absolutely thrilling, leaving her as anxious as she is exhilarated, and certain that this is the happiest she's been since showing up here.

Because the thing is, she hasn't done this before, not really. When she went out with David, nothing ever officially changed; it was just one thing one day, and gradually, other things began to happen, too. She thinks now that that might have been the point from the beginning. So often there were others there, too, Helen and Danny, and even that could be part of the appeal. The more she thinks about it, the more she wonders if it was David she wanted or the life he could give her, and she's fairly certain it was the latter. With Cameron, it's entirely different. She's known him longer and she knows him well, and while it helps that he's so many of the things she'd have gravitated towards back home, it isn't just about that, especially not when so much of that would be irrelevant here. It's just him, and she's wanted him for so long now that this has so much more weight to it.

However much time he waited, she's glad it's now, anyway. Not all of the island's changes are things she's taken to well, the whole idea of moving backwards entirely at odds with the way she approaches most things, but it's certainly convenient for this, giving them actual things to do for a proper date (and just the thought leaves her biting her lip, trying to hold back a smile, though there's no reason for it yet). Now there's nothing but to wait a little longer, which shouldn't be difficult when so many months have passed. Pacing her flat and waiting for him to get here, though, feels a lot more difficult than that ever did.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's been a long while for me, too," Cameron says, nodding as he takes the bag from her. She doesn't really need the help, he knows, more than capable of carrying a pair of skates, but it's about the gentlemanly thing to do, not whether or not she needs it done. If he can keep her smiling, tonight, he'll call the evening a success. That he also gets to put the river to use whether or not the island wants to cooperate is just a bonus. "Usually if the water's frozen over enough for that, I'm home for the holidays and there's too much else to do. Family gatherings, that kind of thing."

"That sounds lovely, though," Jenny says, head tipping to the side. It's the sort of thing she can really only imagine, their own Christmases back in Twickenham typically quiet (just as everything was back there), but from all she's heard about Cameron's life before this place, it seems like it must have been wonderful. If nothing else, he'd have had his brother, anyway, which is bound to have helped when dealing with boring relatives. "If they were nice ones. We only had... stuffy dinners with aunts and uncles, which were mostly dreadful."

"Ah, yes," Cameron says, glancing at her more briefly than he'd like. It's the one drawback of talking while walking, not getting to really look her way. "We had a few of those, too. But no, it was... quiet, but nice." It's not like that here. Or rather, it's quiet and it's nice enough, but he's lucky just to have his brother here. He's lucky he has her, too, but even that doesn't change the fact that it just isn't the same.

If she really stopped to think about it, Jenny is sure she would miss home in some strange, distant way. Glad though she's been to have gotten away from where she was, it isn't as if everything there was awful. She doesn't want to spend the holiday like that, though, thinking about how odd it is to not be with her parents, and certainly has no desire to be giving it any thought at a time like this. "It'll be nice here, too," she says. "We still have a party to finish planning."

"We do," Cameron agrees, smiling a little broader as he steps ahead to push the door open for her. A blast of cold air swirls in with that motion, but there's nothing to be done for that, and he knows they'll acclimate soon enough. "Not that it would be a total mess if Ty and I planned it alone, but I think it might not come together quite as we'd like." Besides, he likes the idea of having her help, working together with her on this.

Shivering a little with the open door, Jenny nevertheless keeps smiling at the thought of that, barely able to take her eyes off him except when she has to. It was one thing to have agreed to help yesterday, before he ever mentioned wanting to be something more than friends; she was still glad to do it, but everything's changed now. Being his girlfriend, which she can only suppose is what this is, makes her practically a hostess, a responsibility in its own right that she can't help looking forward to. "Well, you'll have any assistance you need from me," she says, as if that weren't something already settled. "God, it's freezing."

"Here, get in," Cameron urges, biting back a fond laugh as he hurries to get the carriage door for her. There are heavy blankets in most of the cabs, he's found, an old custom he'd read about in literature classes required for graduation but had forgotten about until they got here. He's grateful for them now. As little as he minds the cold, he doesn't want her suffering for it while she acclimates. "And I knew I could count on you. Tonight is not about next week's party, though, tonight is for us."

"Yes," Jenny says, smiling at that, though it's a self-explanatory sort of thing. "For us." She likes the sound of it, mostly for the fact that there's an us at all, the two of them something now that, before yesterday, they weren't. Eventually, it will sink in, become normal, she'll get used to it, but for right now, it's still enough to make her heart skip a beat. Climbing quickly into the carriage, sliding all the way over to make sure there's room for him, she reaches for one of the blankets. "God, these are convenient, aren't they?"

"Very." Setting her skates down on the floorboards beside the pairs he's brought along, Cameron climbs in to the carriage. Helping to draw the blankets up over their legs as the carriage rattles forward, he leans slightly toward her. "How's that?" he asks. "Will you be warm enough?" Once they're on the ice, he's sure, and active, they'll be more than fine, and there's hot cider and things like that to drink at the fair, but until then, hopefully this will be enough.

"Oui, bien sûr," Jenny says, smiling up at him once the blankets are over them and they've begun to move. She isn't actually that bothered by the cold, or else agreeing to a night spent mostly out of doors would have been a nonsensical move on her part. It's really just the transition that's difficult, from inside where it's warmer to out in the icy air, but layers help and so do the blankets here. "I'll be fine. Once we're on the ice, I'm sure I won't even notice it."

Cameron smiles at that, charmed as ever by her easy French and the way she smiles (he's thankful, honestly, that Ty can't see them now. As it is, he's in for even more teasing after the party next week, because there's nothing he can do to conceal how positively dopey she makes him). "You'll warm right up," he agrees. "Skate in a few circles and you'll start overheating, even." He has the presence of mind, at least, to bite back an innocent comment on removing layers before it actually slips out.

"Well, I'll have time to cool down again, once we get to the fair," Jenny points out, shoulders lifting in a casual shrug. She's not much fazed by the temperature either way, really; if anything, she doubts it will be of much consequence when she's so easily distracted just by Cameron's presence, not to mention how wonderfully surreal this whole evening is. "Either way, it works."

Cameron shakes his head at her, playful, fond. "You are surprisingly easy to please," he says lightly. Reaching over, he brushes his fingers gently through her hair, the temptation to kiss her strong as ever. He's too much of a gentleman, though, to initiate that just yet, even if it seems unlikely she'd object. "Or just sensible. Either way, yes, you're right, it works."

"I'd like to say it's the latter, but I think I may be a bit biased," Jenny teases, smile small and content at the way he runs his fingers through her hair. It's the littlest things, she's noticed, that seem the most consequential now. While they've been close before — she remembers all too well leaning against him at the carnival, walking arm-in-arm, the way he held her after she told him about David — it's like the details have all shifted, and that stands out as significant. "I'm not that easy to please. This has just worked out well."

"Okay, so then," Cameron says, "the real question is what I did to get so lucky." That, he knows, might be laying it on a little thick, but that doesn't make it any less a valid question. How someone as lovely, cultured, talented, and bright as Jenny could still be available, rather than rolling in offers and gifts from her dozen suitors, he doesn't know. The general blindness of the island's other male residents, though, is decidedly his gain. "And while I'm sure being easy to please has its benefits, there's something to be said for being a little more... particular."

It sounds absurd, of course, but this is one instance in which Jenny thinks she doesn't mind that, if only because she doesn't think there's any intention behind it but to flatter her. Trust comes with far more difficulty these days than it once did, but Cameron has had hers since practically the day they met, and he hasn't yet given her reason to regret that. She doubts she would be here now if that weren't the case, and conflicted though she's been about the island since the very beginning, she catches herself thinking briefly that this is the only place she wants to be. "Well, that's good," she teases, barely managing to bite back a laugh. "Because I've always been particular, so you're going to have to get used to it."

"Do you think I'm not used to you yet?" Cameron asks, laughing a little in turn. "Maybe you're right." He never seems to get altogether accustomed to her, truthfully. No matter how much time they spend together, she still finds ways to surprise him or catch him off guard, and he still stops now and then, struck by her beauty, as if seeing it all over again. "I happen to like that you're particular, though, thank you."

She's opinionated and he likes that, plain and simple. She isn't afraid to know what she does and doesn't like. He may tend to be somewhat more diplomatic about his opinions, he respects those who don't mind giving their own a voice.

"Well, I happen to like that you like that I'm particular," Jenny replies, mostly teasing, a hand lifting to her mouth to hold back the laugh that threatens to follow. It's all a bit absurd, really, but then, she's not sure that that isn't how it's supposed to be. It certainly seems to suit them. In wanting him but not wanting to let on that she did, she almost managed to forget how easy it's always been to be around him; she's distinctly aware of it now, and even more grateful than she was when she was newly arrived and he was her first real friend. This is right, she thinks. If it isn't, she doesn't know what is. "We could talk ourselves in circles like this."

"I like that you like that I like that you're —" Cameron manages before he laughs, too, head bowing toward hers. There aren't many people in the world who can make him this relaxed, this comfortable with being absolutely ridiculous, but she's easily one of them, possibly the only person on the island other than his brother. He presses a kiss to her cheek and reaches for her hand as he feels the carriage slowing to a stop. "Come on, I think we're here."

It's all Jenny can do to keep her smile something like restrained after he kisses her cheek, even if it isn't the first time. This is all so new still, having happened so quickly, that there are moments it almost slips her mind that it's happening at all; something like that is as good a reminder as they come. Hand curling around his, the other reaching for her bag of skates, she nods once. "Oh, good," she says. "Something to keep us from driving ourselves mad."

"We'll see about that," Cameron says. Grabbing his pair of skates, he opens the door with a little difficulty once the carriage has stopped, and steps out, hand still in hers so he can help her down if she needs it. The pavement near the Thames is slick, frosted over, and he doesn't want her slipping before they've even made it down to the ice. "Watch your step."

"Thank you," Jenny says, keeping her hand in his as she climbs carefully out of the carriage. The last thing she needs is to slip and fall and make a fool of herself, and ruin the evening this early on in the process. Though wary, she finds her footing easily enough, smiling up at Cameron once she's sure that she's steady. "Alright. Shall we, then?"

"Of course," Cameron says, fingers remaining thread through hers even after he's sure she's firmly on the ground. Leading the way to the stairs that bring them down to the riverbank, he glances over with a smile. If nothing else, he knows, it beats dinner at the Winchester. He may have a fondness for the place, but he wants to give her something different, at least. "I'm still amazed it's actually frozen through."

"So am I," Jenny agrees, head tipped up so she can look at him. Starting on the stairs, she'll need to be careful, watch her footing so she doesn't go tumbling down and ruin the entire evening, but he makes it all too difficult to look away, and another moment won't hurt. "Especially when it was so warm not all that long ago. It seems like it shouldn't be like this at all, and yet here we are. It's worked out well, though, I think."

"I'm just glad to have the chance to really take you out," Cameron admits. "It's a little harder to orchestrate a real date on the island." He's still not altogether sure that they aren't still there, given the things he's heard, but it's easier to refer to them as separate places, this one, in so many ways, infinitely preferable to the other. She deserves a better first date than whatever he could have managed under ordinary circumstances.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject