Approach With Caution [Emma]

[emmalise]

Turning around, she couldn't help but smile when he stepped up behind her and said, 'shall we?' In fact, she had to stop herself from chuckling like a little school girl. James was being very gentlemanly, which never in her life had she expirenced before except through a TV screen. She was highly enjoying this new feeling that she had bubbling inside her. Granted, she was still very nervous and afraid, but she was willing to let him take the lead and show her that good people did exist. At least, that's what she was hoping. Naturally, he could totally be pulling her leg and setting her up for disaster, but she didn't want to think about that. Right now, anyway. Nodding her head finally, as he gestured toward the path, she stepped forward and walked along side him.

Emma held her skates in front of her, allowing them to bounce lightly against her thighs. She was so tiny walking next to him, and this had her on edge a bit. But she wasn't going to let it bother her, she couldn't. She couldn't think bad thoughts right now, it would only ruin a good day. Looking at his chest, she smiled softly, her voice still quiet. "James? Do you mind if I ask where you came from?" She bit down on her lower lip, feeling foolish for asking such a personal question, but curiosity had gotten the best of her. Shaking her head slightly, she spoke up once more, back tracking and attempting to explain herself like usual. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked that.... I was just curious... With what was said in the chat room and all.... I just wanted to hear from you personally, I-I guess. M-mind you, I didn't believe what Cameron said, if-if it's any consulation. She's not the nicest..." Emma shrugged slightly. "I have no room to judge though." Placing a hand over her mouth, she shook her head again. "I'm talking to much and about things that have nothing to do with me, I'm sorry."

She went back to looking at the ground in front of her, and being silent. She didn't mean to ramble and go on talking, and by doing so it made her feel like an idiot. Who wanted to hear her talk about nonsence and go on and on about something that was none of her business? She walked silently, chewing on her bottom lip and mentally slapping herself for asking personal questions.

Tags: James!
Notes: Muse! It's back! Hahaha!
Listening To: The clicking of my BlackBerry keyboard. XD

[james thomas leroy]

James held the borrowed skates in both hands, a few fingers gently running across the blade. They weren't all the sharp but with just the slightly bit of force they could definitely do some real damage. So while he could smile and speak to her like a normal person would, his thoughts still hinted at something quite scary and disturbing, not that she would ever know.

"Maryland," he said quietly with another smile, "Where are you from?" he asked. The place where he lived was pretty quiet and normal. It was a nice neighbourhood until a brief moment in their history, a few years in fact, when pets would go missing on and near the street in which he lived. It was very strange and no one knew what was happening.. At least, no one had proof of what was happening.

James just smiled a little, but had to force himself to keep it there when she mentioned the chatroom and what was said. It was a bad decision but he came out of it fine. Leo couldn't say much of anything, he was crazy and James had no respect for something who couldn't at least follow through with a simply activity and all for a damn dog! If it were James, the dog would have been out of the house before the fire, only so he could have a bit of fun with it and hear it whine and plead in its own way for him to stop. Most people might be upset about a hurt animal but James enjoyed being the one causing the pain. It was almost interesting to watch. It wasn't fun, it was more like an interest.

"It wasn't true.. Most of what was said was just Cameron feeding me lines to see Leo's reaction. She doesn't seem to like him very much," he told her, using that to his advantage. "I'll answer any question you have," he told her quietly. It would give him a chance to put his own spin on it. There was no way out of the fire, anyone with the brain to google it would find the news article, especially now knowing where he lived and having a rough time period of when it occurred etc... But the thing with the animals, that could easily and completely be denied and that was exactly what James planned to do.

[emmalise]

As he spoke up, answering her questions, and actually not seeming angry that she even brought it up, she risked a glance at him. He didn’t even really seem all that phased. Or like it was all just a huge joke about what had happened. And from what he was saying, that’s what it seemed like. Just a huge joke on Leo. She actually quite enjoyed Leo and his company. He stuck up for her at least. Emma nodded her head slowly, speaking up softly, ”I’m from New York…. My parents were originally from France though.” She missed them dearly. And it hurt to bring them up, but needed to be done. Otherwise, she would just sink herself into a hole.

Chewing on her bottom lip, she tilted her head to the side to look at him, her soft blue eyes avoiding his own orbs. ”So… the whole thing with the animals and the house fire… that was all just a, just a joke?” Her voice quivered a bit, afraid to hear the answer as it would seem. She loved most animals, if not all of them. And if he really did harm animals the way they had mentioned in the chat room, she would be devastated. First of all, she couldn’t bare to let him any where near Bijou. But then, she shook her head softly, ”Why would you get Bijou treats if you didn’t like animals?” She giggled softly before continuing on. ”If, if you were going for a scary joke with Cameron, you pulled it off well. I was definitely afraid… and nervous of running into you actually. T-terrified.”

Emma shrugged lightly, continuing to walk next to him and toward the lake where all the skating went down. It wasn’t the longest walk, but it was long enough to at least let them get to know each other a bit. And for him to prove that everything really was a joke. From what she could tell, it was all just to throw Leo off. Which is what Cameron was good at, fooling with people and making them either dislike her or fear her. Emma-Lise was in both crowds. Granted, she usually feared everyone and was easily lead in certain directions. ”You can ask me any questions… if you’d like. If… if you don’t know everything already.” Her voice dropped off a bit at the end, having known that Cameron had basically sent her profile to him with the important parts highlighted.

Tags: James!
Notes: Muse! It's back! Hahaha!
Listening To: Miss March

[james thomas leroy]

James raised an eyebrow with interest. France? Now that was something new and different for him to think about. "Parlez-vous Français?" he asked, assuming that she might know the language at least. She said her parents were from there but not that she was. Was that to mean that she was born here? Perhaps, but she might still speak the language if her parents did and that would be something. James only knew the basics. A few classes junior year, nothing fancy or all that in-depth.

Still, there was more to read into this. Why bring up France at all.. Perhaps it was her parents. She mentioned them briefly and seemed to stop there. It seemed a little abrupt. She could have said more but perhaps she was just the quiet sort... No, she brought them kept, kept them current for a reason. Her parents weren't in her life anymore. That much he was certain of from the few things she said and the way she had said it.

"And they live here now?" he asked quietly, refraining from almost using past tense. Instead, he chose to keep it current and let her correct him. In cases like these it was better to be wrong about a few things because people weren't general good at picking up subtle hints and knowing too much or at least appearing to, was not always a good thing. Still, he didn't know her history, just a few facts he had gleaned from her file when Cameron showed it to him.

James opened his mouth to speak but paused as though this was something he didn't want to talk about. He took a moment to look sad about it before speaking. "The animals, that part wasn't true," he said, quietly building up the feigned emotion in his voice, preparing to get a little sadder for the next part, "The fire.. did happen," he said taking his time. People who were upset or didn't want to speak of or even think about a topic generally slowed down and took their time with it. "I was staying at a friend's house next door and um... They.." he said, biting his lip, looking as though he was trying to keep from being outwardly distraught by the whole thing. "They didn't get out in time..." he told her, looking at her for a second then looking away as though it were hard to speak. "They're alive but they've got severe burns," he told her,neglecting to mention the part about them hating him for it and how he thought it was funny. Well done, a great performance, James mentally applauded himself before waiting to see how she would take it.

"I like animals. That was Cameron's idea because of something about Leo and some dog and a fire?" he said with a shrug, it was entirely plausible. Leo saved a freakin dog so he clearly had some like for animals so saying he hurt them was a good way to get at him. It was an entirely workable argument as far as James was concerned.

"I'm sorry.. I didn't mean for it to get out of hand," he said, unable to help the slight smile on his lips. "His reaction was kind of funny but you're right, it was definitely way too much. It should never have happened and for that I am sorry," he apologized.

"I.. don't actually know much of anything," he told her. "I know that you're afraid of guys but not why," he said, he had to admit that much at least and it was sort of true. He did still lack most of the details but he wouldn't ask her, he would let her tell him on her own. It was an easier way to gain trust.

[emmalise]

Emma giggled softly, listening to him ask if she spoke French. ”Oui, mais seulement un peu.” She held up her hand with her pointer finger and thumb close together, showing that she only spoke a little. She was excellent at hearing it and understanding it, her parents having spoke it very often, but she could only speak the basics. Enough to get her by, at least. Swallowing at his next comment though, she shook her head slowly. ”Uhm… n-no… they don’t. They died after… after I turned seven.” She couldn’t stop her voice from cracking a bit, but she did manage to hold back the tears that seemed to swell in her eyes every time she spoke of them.

Tilting her head to the side slightly, she heard the emotion in his voice and immediately felt bad for even bringing up the topic. He seemed so sad about the fire, much like she was about her parents. Instinctively reaching out, she placed a hand on top of his, her fingers barely grazing the skin. She was one to think that there were people out there that had it worse than her, and James’ family was one of them. Having been burned severely, but still alive? She couldn’t even imagine it. ”You don’t have to talk about it, James… I’m sorry I brought it up.” She let her hand rest on his for a few more moments before allowing it to fall back onto the skates she was holding in front of her.

Emma shook her head and shrugged. ”It’s okay. Now that I know it was all a joke, I’m okay.” She smiled over at him in a reassuring kind of way. She was used to jokes. The cruel ones that her foster siblings would pull on her. At least this joke hadn’t ended in any physical pain, which she was okay with. Sighing softly, she couldn’t help but actually smile faintly to his comment about not knowing much. It was good know that Cameron didn’t tell him everything. Or well, left it up to her to actually tell him the majority of it. She just wasn’t sure what she actually wanted to tell him. Licking her lips and chewing on her bottom one once again, she shrugged, debating on where to even start. Or to even start for that matter.

”It was… my first foster family…. They, uhm, did… things… to me.” She shrugged, knowing that it was well over and in the past. ”I was the youngest girl there and they seemed to… like that. But uhm, they would rape me and beat me…. My foster mother wouldn’t do anything….” Emma-Lise brushed at the side of her eye casually before sighing and continuing forward. Well, now that that was out of the way, it couldn’t get worse, right?

Tags: James!
Notes:
Listening To: Totally 80‘s music videos. XD

[james thomas leroy]

James nodded and smiled. He understood what she had said but replying in the same language would require more thinking. "I only know what I learnt last year, which isn't much," he admitted with a shrug.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," he said, feigning sympathy. Yes, that was what he was expecting. It made sense too. Her phobia would have developed after that and he could think of a few reasons why it would have happened but then it was always better to hear it from her.

James gently held on to the hand that touched his, just for a moment before letting go. He knew with her phobia that he shouldn't push things too far, too quickly and have her running in the other direction. James just smiled as though grateful for what she had said. It was hard to talk about it and he was glad he didn't have to say any more. That worked out well, James thought.

"Good," James said, "I'm glad we got that all sorted out," he told her. Now that he had gotten that out of the way, he could move on to step two. James listened as she finally opened up. He would have grinned as his accomplishment if it hadn't been important not to. Mm yes, he thought, exactly what I thought it'd be. It was almost predictable and boring but something about her still held his interest perfectly well.

"That's horrible," he said, looking as though he felt sorry for her. "You know, not every guy's gonna wanna hurt you," he told her, for the purpose of comforting her with that knowledge. "I know I definitely don't want to hurt you in anyway," he said with a smile.

[emmalise]

Emma shrugged, allowing one shoulder to rise up and fall limply. There wasn’t really much she could do about her parents death, and when he had said he was sorry to hear that she nodded slowly. ”It’s okay, really. Thank you though.” She offered him a small smile in return. When he held onto her hand for a moment softly, her cheeks bloomed with a soft rose color. She wanted to blame it on the wind chill, but she knew for sure her cheeks were warm and not chilled from the weather. She lowered her head, her long blonde hair falling forward, her attempt to hide her blush.

Her dainty fingers curled around her skates when he said that he didn’t want to hurt her in any way, and how there were people out there that really didn’t want to hurt her either. She knew that, deep down, but there was always that chance that someone would pop up, pretend to be all nice and happy like her foster parents, and then abruptly turn on her. But that wouldn’t happen again… she wouldn’t let it. She wasn’t going to let anyone close enough to even try. She swallowed, having realized that she had let James too close already. Pulling her skates to her chest and crushing them there with her arms crossed. ”There’s still that chance though… there are bad people out there…. I don’t want to believe that there are…. But with what happened…. It’s happened to-to a lot of girls like me…. And I-I don’t want to let it happen again. I d-don‘t know who I can… who I can trust.”

She was closing off again. And not by choice. Having told James what had happened to her, and why she was the way she was, it scared the piss out of her. She needed someone she could trust… and he had said that he didn’t want to hurt her. That was just talk though, wasn’t it? She chewed on her lower lip and decided to push the thought to the back of her mind. She wasn’t going to keep herself locked in a hole her entire life because of a few years that she had to go through hell. Maybe just maybe, she could trust him. If he promised not to pull a prank on her like he had with Cameron on Leo. ”You… you’ll never pull a prank on me… like you did, Leo… will you?” She turned her head and actually looked up into his face with her soft blue eyes.

Tags: James!
Notes:
Listening To: Totally 80‘s music videos. XD

[james thomas leroy]

Well of course there would be the whole trust issue. James knew that it would be one of the bigger hurdles to get over but that was why he was working on it. Right now what he said was true. He had no intention of hurting her. He had no real plan her except to find out if he could in fact get her to learn to trust him. He wanted to see if he could push his skills to the limit and achieve that goal.

He nodded and threw in a look that said he understood that. "It must be hard, not knowing who to trust," he said, thoughtfully, not wanting to add anything that might appear to pushy. He didn't want to force her to trust him, he would instead just carefully lead her in that direction.

"What?" James said, a prank? That wasn't really what he did. That whole thing with Leo had been genuine, James wouldn't actually sink that low so here was yet another chance to give her something that was actually true. "No, of course not," he said, with a slight hint of disbelief in his face, as though the thought of it was just plain absurd and he couldn't believe she'd even think he would do such a thing.

Seeing her look at him gave him a chance to take in the sight. She was beautiful, he wouldn't deny that. She had her looks, she was interesting to him. She gave him more than a few reasons to keep her around. James could be very protective and perhaps a little obsessive at times. He had been good to Eliza at first but when she went against him he couldn't help but turn on her, so suddenly and so quickly. Like a pet snake, he could be good to you but one wrong move and he would strike without a second thought. That was the danger that surrounded James. Play his game, do what he wanted you to do and you could have everything but one wrong move and it was game over.

[emmalise]

The look of disbelief on his face when she had asked the question made her smile. He wasn't going to mess with her head and fool with her like he had Leo and the others in the chatroom. Though it wasn't a major thing, it still made her feel a bit more comfortable with him. A bit more like he was capable of being trusted. And seeing as she had told him what exactly had happened to her, if he could keep that from others, he was one step closer. Seeing as she hadn't exactly told a soul why she was there to begin with. Still smiling sheepishly at him, she nodded her head. "Good." It was a simple answer, yet her voice held a higher pitch to it. A happier one.

As they reached the lake, she paused near a bench and sat down on one end. Reaching down, she slipped off her shoes and stuck them in her bag quickly before smoothly loosening the laces on her white skates and slipping her small feet into them. Lacing them back up, she stood up, placing her bag in her previous spot. She was wobbly at first, her ankles not quite used to the thin blade supporting them yet. It wouldn't be too long though, and she'd back to where she last left off. It was like riding a bike, at least, that was how she liked to think about it. Turning around and smoothing out her pea coat over her stomach, she smiled sweetly. "Ready to go, James?"

Tags: James!
Notes: I'm thinking we should end this thread soon and perhaps start one up in the kitchen or something? Get them in a different setting? It's up to you. XD
Listening To: The clicking of my BlackBerry keyboard. XD

[james thomas leroy]

She was smiling. That was a good sign. Though considering the 'nice guy' role he was currently in, it wasn't all that surprising. He had specifically worked to get this sort of a reaction from her. He had done what he knew to do in order to have her trust him more and more and for one afternoon, he really wasn't doing too bad at all.

James just smiled back at her. There was no need to say anything else, if he had, then he would risk over-doing it and over-doing it meant risking it all falling apart on him. She would see right through the façade if it made it that obvious and James would never let that happen. He took these things seriously.

When she sat down, he moved to the other end of the bench. It was still good to give her a bit of space. Emma-lise seemed to still be in a position where she wanted to believe him but wasn't quite certain about him yet and James understood that. This was just how these things went and he was happy to go along with it and take the appropriate amount of time to get there.

Putting on his skates, James left his shoes aside but neatly. They sat perfectly aligned in front of the bench. He wondered if she had thought about why he was here. Now that he had convinced her that it wasn't for something he did to poor defenceless little animals or for trying to kill his family, she had to have wondered why or perhaps she simply didn't want to think about it.

James knew that it wouldn't last. She would eventually keep hearing the warnings and then this fun little game would be over. So for now, he was going to take advantage of it as much as possible. "Yeah," he said with a smile as he stood up and moved toward the ice. He had good balance and despite the time between now and when he was last on the ice, James would pick it back up relatively quickly. He paid attention to the details and posture and balance were details that he didn't like to lose sight of.