feelin' like p diddy -- open

[leah thompson]

Waking up was always a hard thing for Leah Thompson. If she had to get out of her bed before ten in the morning she was not a happy bunny. So, it was natural that having been woken up at seven that morning and told to get her lazy ass out of the house so her parents could start redecorating, Leah was an angry bear. She stumbled through her bedroom trying to get dressed and was on the bus from Bangor to Ards before it had went eight. She hated having to get a bus when there was going to be school folk on it. Not that she had some superiority complex now that she was a university student, but they were so loud and energised for that hour. Like seriously, who wanted to shout a conversation and blast music from a shitty phone speaker at seven thirty in the morning? She plugged the headphones into her Blackberry and put some Rise Against on for a nice soundtrack to the morning.

As the bus reached Wardenstown, Leah started to wonder what she was going to do while she was there. She didn't have a university class until two that afternoon so there would be six hours to spend in Wardenstown on her own. Now she was on the bus with not much else to do, it occurred to Leah that she could have just went to her grandmothers house and continued to sleep, but compulsion had made her walk up to the bus station and board the oh so familiar bus route. She unlocked her phone and scrolled through her contacts to try and give herself a revelation of friends that weren't in school, work or university and would be in Wardenstown. The criteria didn't give her much in way of results. Lead came to the conclusion that all she would be able to do was spend the first four hours in Romas getting shitwrecked, then go to Openhouse to drink coffee and smoke until she sobered up enough to get her bus up to Belfast.

The bus pulled into the station and Leah quickly jumped up, making sure she was one of the first ones out. She gave a quick 'thanks!' to the bus driver before going into the bus station. She was going to head straight to Romas when she was introduced to the problem that it probably wasn't going to open for another couple of hours. She lit a cigarette and made her way out of the station, trying to formulate a plan of how to spend her couple of hours of waiting. It occurred to her that she hadn't had breakfast yet, and that was no way to go into the drinking session she was planning to have. She walked round to the Cafolla's that faced onto the square and quickly finished off her cigarette. Leah tossed the butt away and then walked inside, ordering a fry and a cup of tea before taking a seat that allowed her to look out the window.

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[drydan spencer]

Drydan usually prided himself upon his alcohol tolerance levels. he could drink nearly anybody he knew under the table and not feel it the next day. No doubt his liver was paying the price, but whatever. He'd go T-total once he was ready to grow up - say thirty - and that would balance out the damage...totally. But that wasn't the point. The point was he'd woken up on someone's bathroom floor in the middle of Greyabbey without a notion as to how he got there and the impression that his brain was going to run out his ears in jam form at any given moment. Not good, in other words.

After finding his vans (laces tied together and flung across the washing line, full to the tongues with bird seed and some little blue pills) he'd crept to the bus stop and finally made it back to W'ards courtesy of the delight that was Ulsterbus. Feeling a little beyond sensitive, he slunk his way round to Cafolla's looking particularly sorry for himself in a purple hoodie and ripped jeans. He was ninety percent sure they hadn't been ripped when he put them on. Then again, he wasn't even sure they were his. Taking a seat at the back, as far away from the ridiculously-early morning sunshine as was physically possible, Drydan began to steadily drink his own body weight in tea and steadily began to feel less fragile. In fact, but the time the delightfully familiar face of Leah Thompson popped round the door he was feeling sturdy enough to summon a smile and call her over, "Hey, is there an airport round here? 'Cos I think my heart just took off," he grinned at their personal joke despite how wince inducing his voice resonated in his still delicate ears. There was every potential Leah might have been at the back water shindig last night and could fill him in on the details. Then again, if she had been there, he probably would've woken up in her bed as opposed to the cold tiles of someone else's bathroom.

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[leah thompson]

Leah laughed as she heard her name being called followed by an oh so cheesy joke about airports. She got up again from her table by the window and walked over to where Drydan sat with a cup of tea. "Well if it isn't my favourite man whore," she greeted in return. Leah sat down opposite him and shrugged off her leather jacket, tossing it onto the seat beside hers. A cup of tea was set down in front of the teenager and she smiled politely at the waitress, waiting for the woman to be a suitable distance away before she looked at Drydan with a devilish smile. "You, my love, look like a sack of shit." With anyone else that would have been a harsh way to put the statement, with Drydan though it was a mixture between a joke and piss-take, not that she was amused by the pain of others of course. Leah took a sachet of sugar and emptied it into her cup of tea before taking a sip of the hot drink and giving that typical 'ahh!' after the first sip of a cup of tea.

She leant back in her seat and took a good look at hungover Drydan. It was an amusing sight to see. "You hungover is quite a sight to behold, I hafta say. You may even get upgraded from a sack of shit to a hot mess." Leah gave a little laugh at her own joke, fairly certain it wouldn't be appreciated by Drydan. This was one of the things she enjoyed about not going out to party's sometimes; she could feel a superiority complex about not being at deaths door the next day. Although the reason she had spent last night sitting in was to get caught up on essays for university, so really she didn't have that much win over her friends that had went out to parties. "So sweet cheeks," she started, "Where, praytell, did you end up last night?" Leah of course was just getting herself geared up to relentlessly tease her friend over whatever exploits he had been involved in the previous night, and knowing Drydan they would be most amusing for her.

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[drydan spencer]

And that was Leah. Good old, tell it like it is, Leah. Who for some reason was feeling the need to "tell it" at a ridiculously loud volume this morning. "Shhhhhh," Drydan murmured anchoring himself to the earth by the handle of his tea cup. "If you think a little louder, I could probably make out your brainwaves instead of all this talking business." He muttered in a plea, skimpily dressed as a joke. He didn't doubt she was right of course, he probably looked worse than even she was letting on. The fact that she was outrageously beautiful didn't particularly help matters.

"So sweet cheeks," she began, and her eyes were so damn...sparkly he couldn't even be annoyed that she refused to lower her voice, "Where, praytell, did you end up last night?" Ah. So she didn't know then. "Well, I was sort of hoping you might be able to shed some light on that one for me, oh wise one," he bantered lightly, avoiding the uneasy feeling he was developing about last night. While he'd been washing his face in an attempt to look like less of a car crash he'd noticed several violent, purple Hickeys dotted along his collarbone. He had assumed up until this point they were courtesy of Leah. "Give the caffeine a chance to work its magic, and something might clear up," he shrugged and took a long sip of his milky brew.

"And you, little Miss 'bright and early', what has you up and about at this glorious hour?" Drydan asked, shifting her focus, hopefully. If he knew her like he thought he did, then this time of day was as far from her comfort zone as it was from his.

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word count; threeohtwo.

[leah thompson]

Leah let out a soft laugh, trying to make it quieter to help her hungover friend but at the same time trying to show him how funny it was. She may have been heartless in her amusement, but she had some sympathy for the headache that must have been killing him. "Bro, that's not even funny. Do you know how many times I've thought 'cough if you can hear my thoughts' just to see if someone was listening in?" It was a terrible paranoia of Leah's for some reason. She really hated to think that someone may have been intruding on her random thoughts while she was totally unaware. "And this is teaching you a valuable lesson; control your drinking or suuufffffeeerrr!" She wasn't sure why suffer had to be dragged out, it seemed to add drama at the time.

"'Oh wise one'? You either think I'm Yoda or you're trying to kiss up about something. Regardless, I have no information." As soon as Leah said it, she remembered a peculiar voicemail she had recieved at two in the morning. "Tell a lie; I have a voicemail from you. You may have been crying or just generally over emotional, but you were upset that they were taking 'Two and a Half Men' off the air and apparently some kid ran off with a can of your beer and a condom from your wallet. It was most amusing, I have to say." She hadn't even been aware that he had watched 'Two and a Half Men' until the voicemail. Even though he was drunk, Leah felt quite bad she hadn't been there to give emotional Drydan a big hug when he was sad. She gave a snort laugh when he said he was waiting for the caffeine to 'work its magic'. "You're drinking tea for a caffeine fix? Oh my God, you're such a pussy!"

"Aha, well I'm awake now because of circumstances out of my control," Leah started, before taking a drink of her tea. "Momma and Poppa Thompson decided that today is a good day to start decorating, and for some reason this required Baby Thompson, being me, to get out of her pit and leave the house." She was in denial of the fact that they wanted her out of the house because the last time they decorated she decided to paint the radiators and stairs lime green. She had thought it was nice. "And I'm so happy today because I'm wearing my lovely new boots," Leah lifted her leg up beside the table so she could show off her boots to Drydan. "That's by the by. Wanna hear something even weirder? I was asleep before midnight last night. That never happens! I'm like an old woman compared to you now!"

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[drydan spencer]

Drydan snickered quietly at her thought theft paranoia. Of course he knew about it; after Andy there wasn't a soul he knew better than hers and that included his own. He knew her heart and mind and as a result he barely needed to listen to her response to know she was scolding for his drinking habits, or at least trying to. It didn't really matter what she was saying anyway, the sound of her voice (in its softer form) was like a gentle breeze blowing the cobwebs of the night before from his mind.

He cringed as she regailed him with tales of his drunk dialling and sparked a few vague memories of the boy in question. More specifically, the taste of his kisses and the pleasant smell of his coconut shampoo. Facts, he decided, it might be better to just not mention to Leah. As...undefined as their relationship was, there was no need to bring up each of his conquests in all their sordid glory.

Drydan took a slug of tea as it became apparent Leah had plenty to say and listened to her decorating lament, nodding sympathetically at appropriate interludes - said slug of tea nearly coming out his nose as she declared her old lady status. "Well, ma'am, we'll have to do something about that, then, won't we!" He decided, setting his now empty mug down on the cracked formica tabletop. "Furthermore," he continued, adopting a business like manner, "We can either buy you a zimmer-frame and begin to look at sheltered accommodation options or you can come out with us tonight." He caught a waitress' eye and with a wink and a charming grin managed to get his cup refilled. Clearly, he wasn't looking quite as rough as some people would lead him to believe. "You, Me, Andy, Pippa; half seven; The Ivy. I'm buying first round. You in?" He tried, honest he did, to stop her name catching like barbwire in his throat. Tried and failed, he could practically feel the metaphorical blood bubbling up as he spoke and dribbling from his mouth. All the time, however, maintaining a smile.

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[leah thompson]

Leah pouted at Drydan when he suggested a zimmer frame and sheltered housing. "I'd just like to remind you that you're two years older than me. Unless you're planning to check out the accomodation for yourself too, old man Spencer." She sometimes wondered if that was weird for Drydan; he and his friends were all twenty, and she was just this cocky eighteen year old that would hang out with them per Drydan's request. She didn't think he would, but the fact that his best friend wasn't fond of her could probably sway Drydan at any given moment. "Anyway, I'm more interested in shopping around my options for fibre cereal and bingo dabbers. Actually strike the cereal, specifying fibre made it kind of gross." It wasn't very ladylike to make a joke that had something to do with bowel movements.

Leah tried to hide the scowl that was wishing to take over her features when Drydan asked if she wanted to go out that night. It wasn't the idea of going out to The Ivy with Drydan that got to her; on the contrary there would be no other way she would like to spend her evening, as the chances were she still wouldn't be welcome at home. What bugged her about going out was the other two people he mentioned would be going with them. Andy wasn't exactly Leah's most favourite person; it wasn't that she hated him per say, it was just that they could never hold a conversation and there was just that awkward air of dislike when they were together. And Pippa? From what Leah could gather the girl was an utter oaf, and that wasn't Leah just being a university snob. "Yeah. Sounds... Wonderful." Leah wasn't even sure what tone that sentence had come out in, it had gotten stuck in the crossfire between sarcasm and false sincerity. "I might be a little late; I have some things to buy after uni, so I don't know what time I'll be getting the train back to Bangor."

The waitress came over and set a plate of food in front of the teenage girl. Leah smiled and thanked her, then pushed the plate in between herself and Drydan. "Eat, my love. You probably need a fry up more than I do." She grabbed a piece of bacon and then gave Drydan over the knife and fork she had been given as well. "What're your plans for today, then?"

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[drydan spencer]

"God, way to make me feel like a cradle-snatching paedo!" Drydan exclaimed, shivering theatrically. As much as people might say 'love is love' or whatever, age gaps disturbed Drydan in ways he couldn't express with words. Even the megre two years between them freaked him out. It was probably something to do with the fact his father was nearly eleven years older than his mother, and he'd always thought that weird. Or, it could always be the fact that Leah still couldn't eat solids when he was learning to read. He shuddered again, for real this time. That was enough of that.

Too wrapped up in his thoughts, Drydan hadn't really heard much of what Leah had been saying, but from the look on her face she'd grossed herself out enough for the both of them. "Well, how ever will we find you a husband if you insist on talkin' like that, Miss Leah?!" He exclaimed in his best Deep South accent. What was it with him and accents this morning? Must be something in the tea. Drydan suppressed a frown as Leah gave the most non-committal answer he'd ever heard. It was unnerving considering how delightfully sure of everything Leah usually was. She was the girl with the answers, "Jeez, when did you become such a politician?" He asked, trying to keep his tone light, but seeing the answer in her lack of eye contact. It was Pippa. That damn girl ruined everything. It was always like this; Andy people loved. There was no question of that. He had the most contagious personality ever handed down to a mere mortal and an infectious laugh to match. But Pippa? She was like a parasite.

Leah seemed to be being as evasive as possible, trying to fill the awkward silence with talk of food and such. As she tried to hand him the cutlery, Drydan ignored it and instead took hold of her hand. "Leah, I-" How was he supposed to say it? How did you go about saying, I need you there to keep my mind of the fact that whenever Andy and Pippa leave they'll be going to practice the horizontal shuffle? "I'd really like it if you were there," he settled on, trying to meet her gaze.

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[leah thompson]

Leah get out what was as shamefully girly giggle for her, "That's not a great way to put it. I prefer to think of you as my sugar daddy. Actually that makes you sound like a pimp, hm..." Leah went off in her own little cloud of thoughts to try and come up with a suitable term for Drydan rather than a paedo. "If it makes you feel any better, I can be a coffin snatcher rather than you snatching my cradle." She took another drink from her mug of tea, wondering what on earth was going through Drydan's mind as she watched him shuddering to himself. He could be a peculiar sort sometimes.

"I'm sure I'll have no trouble getting myself a fella, it'll be like 'Deliverance'; I'll find some hillbilly that thinks I got a purty mouth. I'd like to think my spouse wouldn't be inbred though." Leah thought over what she had just said to Drydan and couldn't help but laugh at herself, "Jesus, I have such shit standards for a spouse." After it came out of her mouth, it occurred to Leah that her thought could be offensive to her current company, given their 'arrangement' in their relationship. In a roundabout way she'd probably just compared him to an inbred yockle. She glanced up from her cup of tea to Drydan with a raised eyebrow at his politician comment. "How very insulting. I suppose the politician persona comes with hanging out with those uni-fucks all the time. You sit with a group of politics students in a beer garden once and bam! You think you're David fuckin' Cameron." Much like a politician, Leah was trying to babble on to avoid the conversation turning in a way which would make her have to admit her dislike for Drydan's friends aloud. After her babble she instead opted for intently looking at her tea as she took another drink of it.

It took Leah by surprise when Drydan took her hand and told her he'd like her to be there. To say that Leah wasn't used to this sort of affection would have been ridiculous; they'd been adding 'benefits' to their friendship for too long for there to be no affection. It was just something like this that surprised her; Drydan taking her hand in public and telling her he wanted her there. She set down her piece of bacon that had been in her other hand on the plate, thinking it weird to be holding it while they had their serious face on. Leah thought for a moment; she had given the train to Bangor excuse so she could show up late when everyone was already pissed and not have to deal with the awkward first drinks. Now she felt bad for it. She looked up from the table to meet Drydan's eyes and sighed, pulling his hand over to her and kissing the back of it softly. "I'll be there." It un-nerved Leah how she was acting; it was so... Kind-hearted for her. She let go of his hand and took a bite from her piece of bacon. "Just be glad I'm fond of you, Spencer," she added after swallowing the bacon.

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[drydan spencer]

As Leah gave the back of his hand a gentle kiss, Drydan revelled in how bizarrely out of character she was acting. Her clear, softly focused gaze told him she wasn't "on" anything, yet this mild response was so...against the grain for her he would have sworn otherwise. It wasn't that she was hard-hearted in anyway, but usually he was the touchy-feely sensitive one and she was more stoic. He liked it that way. It wasn't that he didn't care about her feelings, it was simply the fact that he spent much of his time dealing with Andy's feelings and the mess that left in his head afterwards. It didn't leave space for much else these days. For a moment, he felt a slightly sour taste in the back of his throat and wondered if it was repulsion at his lack of consideration for her. What if she was actually deeply sensitive and he simply never paid attention? Then he wondered if it was simply repercussions of last night's mindless self-indulgence. Then it was gone. With a new bite of bacon, Leah was restored in all her former simplicity, "Just be glad I'm fond of you, Spencer," and that was that.

"Everyday I thank the baby Jesus for as much, Thompson," He smiled with relief, and felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Checking the display he discovered several missed calls, a string of text messages and a new voicemail notification. The texts were from various friends cryptically insinuating the wildness of the night previous. The calls; Andy. His heart jumped to his throat. If Andy had been calling him last night...then he hadn't been at the party. That was all wrong. That made his nervous, to say the least. Feeling nauseous all over again, he dialled 121 and listened, scarcely able to hear the automated voice over his heartbeat.

“Man, man, man. Pick up your goddamn phone. Why do you never answer? Look I’m sorry for bailing. But you shouldn’t have said that shit about Pippa. I had to go meet her. And she’s my girlfriend. So you just need to accept it. I’m sorry, right? So fuck up. Love you man!”

Fuck. What had he said? He could've jeopardised everything he'd been building for years. Andy sounded high as a very weepy kite on the message, but all the same. How could he be so damn stupid? Resting his forehead on the table, his eyes pricking with tears, Drydan almost drowned in his self-pity, Leah's presence all but forgotten.

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[leah thompson]

"And here I wouldn't have taken you for the religious sort." Leah feigned shock before taking a piece of toast from the plate and starting to eat it while Drydan checked his phone and listened to a voicemail. She was tempted to make a comment about how he had no table manners whatsoever, but she couldn't bring herself to be bothered. She had been far too talkative already for that time of day, and it had resulted in an awkward display of affection towards someone. The social experiment taught the teenager the valuable lesson that unless she wanted to drop her guard she shouldn't wake up before ten in the morning. This report would have to be forwarded to Momma and Poppa Thompson so they wouldn't wake her up early ever again. She wondered briefly how she had survived her years in Glenlola and having to get up at half seven every day. The thought turned her.

Leah had finished her toast and was wiping her hands on a napkin when Drydan dropped his head to the table and sat quietly. She paused for a moment mid-chew/wipe and watched him, then finished both the actions in slow motion. This was unusual. Leah glanced from side to side to see if there was any reason within Cafolla's that may have caused Drydan's sudden moodswing. There was no change in customer though, so she just presumed that it was all down to his voicemail. "Dry?" She asked softly, reaching over to place a hand hesitantly on his shoulder. After a few seconds of no response, Leah removed her hand and frowned at her friend. She couldn't fathom what would cause her glass-half-full, usually happy friend to be so down. Well, she presumed he was down. He could have been staring at the floor and laughing for all she knew. Somehow she didn't think that was plausible though.

With a soft sigh, Leah got up and went round to Drydan's table. She perched down on the edge of the seat and put her hand on Drydan's back. She was probably far too close for him if he was in an upset state, but she didn't know what else she could do to provide a source of comfort. "Darling," Leah started gingerly, "What's wrong?" Although she was half expecting to be told to fuck off and mind her own, it wouldn't harm to try and source the problem.

notes for purposes of this post, I'm presuming that they're sitting at the booths in Cafollas (:
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[drydan spencer]

Drydan felt Leah's light touch on his shoulder, her soft words fluttering against his ears, and the comforting familiarity of her presence next to him. It soothed him and forced the clamouring tides of his emotions to abate. Taking a deep breath, his senses overwhelmed with the fresh smell of her perfume, Drydan blinked fiercely before lifting his head and looking at her. The concern in Leah's face was evident and he felt instantly guilty.

"It's nothing," He muttered with a feeble attempt at a smile, "Just Andy," his voice cracked in an agonisingly obvious fashion on the last word. So much for that idea. It was as if every part of his being objected so emphatically to the idea of Andy being nothing of consequence that it was giving him away on purpose. He looked down at the tabletop where his phone lay looking so deceptively innocent. The temptation to pick it up and call Andy repeatedly until he answered was intense, yet his hand refused to make any kind of movement to do so. Maybe his body simply didn't trust him after his apparent idiocy from the night before. God knew, he didn't trust himself.

"I think I should-" Drydan began, running a hand through his tousled hair. He stopped short of explaining that he had to go. He didn't want to go. The second he left her company there was every chance all control he was maintaining would depart and that was just about the last thing he wanted. Carefully, he lifted the treacherous piece of technology and slipped it into his pocket before placing a hand gently on her knee. He was so confused and the semi-hangover sensation sure as hell wasn't helping, but one thing he was sure of. Leah was there with him. She was real and sure and what he needed. "I think we should get out of here," Drydan suggested, running his hand lightly up her leg in a gesture that said all he didn't trust his vocal chords to comply with.

word count; threefivetwo
notes; forgot to mention, the voicemail was written by Andy himself, so no GM-ing going down (y)[/size]

[leah thompson]

Leah felt a slight wave of relief when Drydan lifted his head up to look at her. She didn't know how to handle people who went into a total sadness overload very well, and feared she would have ended up telling him to man the fuck up and sit up like a normal person, totally making the situation worse. She could be such a nice person sometimes... She gave him a smile that want meant to come across as comforting, but if Leah knew her expressions like she thought she did, it probably looked like she was about to start laughing. Comfort was something she struggled with bringing across in expressions sometimes.

"I take it he got an angrier drunk dial than mine last night, huh?" She asked, trying to appease her intrigue without coming across as a straight up nosey bitch. It annoyed Leah a little bit that Drydan let Andy get to him so much like he was right now. Bromance aside, from the way Drydan reacted he was either a big pussy or Andy was a downright dick sometimes. "Cheer up, Charlie. Just think of what Jon Lilygreen and the Islanders sang at Eurovision last year; life looks better in spring!" When embarassing references like that were made Leah could help but wish that a) she didn't love Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and b) she didn't religiously watch Eurovision each year.

Leah raised an eyebrow as Drydan placed a hand on her knee, slightly surprised by the warmth of it against her tight clag leg. When he declared that they should leave the usual small flutter overcame her stomach, and it wasn't really helped when he ran his hand up her leg. It didn't matter how intimate she had been with Dydan over the last couple of years, small things like this just gave her butterflies. Lead reached out to caress Drydan's cheek then kissed him roughly and quickly on the lips. "It'll have to be your place. I doubt Momma and Poppa Thompson would be pleased if we showed up." She stood up and went over to her original side of the table, reaching over to grab her leather jacket and purse. Leah left Drdan to gather his thoughts as she paid for her food and tea. Bill settled, she turned on the spot to face her companian. "Ready, doll?"

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notes belated excuse for gm-ing, not good enough. get into the cupboard for your punishment, paradox (;
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