|
Post by Christian Patrick Elliot on Apr 1, 2007 4:34:26 GMT 7
A chuckle managed to escape from deep in his throat. Although Christian was never one to blush, the expression of slight embarassment came along - even if the rosy colour didn't. Running a hand across the back of his neck, Christian shook his head and cleared his throat. He did not look at Lexi when he spoke next; rather, he kept his eyes on his mug of coffee until the very end of his sentence. "I'm no Samuel Clemens, but apparently I'm sufficient enough for the Daily News."
Christian never enjoyed basking in any glory or pride. He was like his father in that respect. His sisters and mother, however, both enjoyed being the center-of-attention and worked hard to get noticed. It was useful in some cases. It was one of the traits Grace had that earned her the prestigious job in Italy. Christian, though, preferred to attain his goals in a more humble manner.
"Just my two sisters, Grace and Bianca, and me," he said with a smile and a nod. Subconsciously he was beginning to relax, his shoulders dropping and his legs relaxing enough to be crossed casually. "How about you?" he countered.
|
|
|
Post by Alexia DeMarco on Apr 1, 2007 5:29:00 GMT 7
Hearing the low chuckle coming from Christian, Lexi's eyes brighten a little, her small smile almost becoming a small grin. Thinking that he looked a little more cute when he blushed, she managed to keep her inner reaction to herself. That reaction would have been more like pumping her fist, and whispering yes! to herself. "Well, not many people are Samuel Clemens, except... Samuel Clemens. If it's good enough to keep your job, then I'll definitely have to read some of your articles. Any particular ones you can recommend?"
Still slightly grinning, Lexi takes another sip of her coffee, as Christian talks about his two sisters. She can see him starting to relax, and that made her feel a little more comfortable around him. Why was that so hard sometimes? At least she didn't feel totally out of place. "Two older brothers, actually. John's working at a bank in LA, he's going to be just like Dad, I think. And David is going to UVA, he's studying engineering. Give him something broken, and a week, and he'll have it working again."
Looking down at the table, Lexi did miss being with her brothers a little. Sometimes it was hard growing up, but it wasn't something that she could avoid. And it gave her an excuse to go to California sometime, to visit. Looking back up at Christian, she smirks a little, lifting her eyebrows slightly. "I miss them, most of the time. I mean, some things I don't miss. Like the pranks they would play on me. But I usually got them back pretty good. It sounds like you get along well with your sisters, though."
|
|
|
Post by Christian Patrick Elliot on Apr 1, 2007 7:21:48 GMT 7
His brows furrowed at the question, his lips tightening just enough to form a thoughtful line. Leaning back, Christian brought his mug to his lips as his mind wandered back through all of the pieces he had written in the past two years. After a few moments of silence, he lowered the mug and shook his head. "I'm terrible at recommending my own work," he said with an apologetic frown. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before adding, "Though if you are an art enthusiast, I wrote an article on the Venetian exhibit at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art last year."
Christian watched Alexia with a half-smile when she talked about her brothers. His eyebrow raised at the mention of engineering. "I imagine that comes in handy," he said with a broader smile, though he still did not show this teeth. Christian occasionally went through streaks where he could break multiple items in a period of one week. It could be anything from his remote to his coffeemaker.
He nodded and took another drink of his latte when she said that she missed her brothers. He could understand that - Christian missed his sisters quite a bit, too. When she said she usually got them back, he raised his eyebrow a little at her. "A trickster?" He smiled and lowered his brow, his moment of humour brief. "We got along for the most part. Though I think I got along better with Bianca than with Grace, but that was probably due to the age difference." He set his mug down and leaned back in his chair. "She is six years younger. Very sweet girl," he added with a genuine smile.
|
|
|
Post by Alexia DeMarco on Apr 1, 2007 8:41:13 GMT 7
Lexi watched Christian as he reflected on his own work, and had trouble suggesting something of his that she should read. He was truely modest about his work, and that said a lot about him. When he finally mentions the article about an exhibit at the Metropolitan, she nods her head slightly. "Okay, yeah, I'll check it out. I've been wanting to go back to the Met, but it's still closed for renovations. I may be making a field trip there sometime soon, to see some of the techniques they used to store the artwork. And I'll see if I can find some of your other articles, just because I'm interested."
Smiling at Christian as she takes another sip of her latte, Lexi rolls her eyes slightly, and nods her head a couple of times, when he asks if she were a 'trickster'. With a slightly guilty look on her face, she listens to him talk about getting along with his younger sister better. She was a little surprised how much younger Bianca was, and that made her curious how old Christian really was. "Is Bianca still in high school? Well, the only reason I ask is... you don't look that much older than my brothers. John is twenty five, and David is twenty two. And six years younger would mean she was high school age."
Feeling proud of that bit of reasoning, Lexi can see how much Christian adores his little sister. That was sweet, it was good that he was able to get along with her. Sometimes you would see brothers and sisters who would fight like cats and dogs. And it always made her a little sad.
|
|
|
Post by Christian Patrick Elliot on Apr 1, 2007 9:01:42 GMT 7
"Obviously my knowledge on the world of art isn't at its peak," Christian said. He smiled at her and shook his head. He did not know the Metropolitan was closed, but he was not a frequenter of museums. She caught his intrigue when she mentioned wanting to leanr more about their storage techniques. Lowering his chin, not wanting to seem intruding, he asked, "What are you wanting to do after you graduate?"
He nodded slowly, a smile creeping across his face as she evaluated. "She is a junior, yes. I'm twenty-three," he added, looking down once more to his mug before raising his eyes to watch her. Adjusting his weight so he could lean forward a little more in his seat, he asked, "And knowing you are the youngest, David is twenty-two, and you're a sophmore..." he bit his lower lip while he thought, "... You're nineteen? Twenty, maybe?"
|
|
|
Post by Alexia DeMarco on Apr 1, 2007 9:40:43 GMT 7
When Lexi heard Christian say that he wasn't all that knowledgeable about art, she decides to have a little fun with him. With a look of surprise on her face, she shakes her head slowly. "What? With a sister that works at a famous gallery in Italy? I'm so telling Grace that her little brother is not keeping up!" She then laughs a little, to show that she didn't really mean it, and was just teasing him. Getting a little more serious, thinking about what she wanted to do after graduation, she bites her lip, and narrows her eyes slightly. "I don't really know, to tell you the truth. I could try to get a job at a gallery somewhere, see how that works out. I'm still not sure I'm going to stay with this major, I guess I'm at a stage where I'm not sure I want to do this for the rest of my life."
And there it was, her small little crisis currently going on. It wasn't really like her to have something like that, but it almost seemed that she wanted something more, and she might not get it. Maybe it was time to think about changing majors. But to what? She was going to need some time to sort it out.
Blinking for a moment, Lexi listens to Christian talk about Bianca, and she catches that he is twenty-three. Making a mental note about that, her eyes meet his, and she smiles slightly as he tries to figure out how old she really is. As he suggests that she is twenty, she nods, and shrugs her shoulders. "Yeah, I'm twenty. Your pretty good at that, Christian, maybe you could have another career at guessing people's ages." And there she was, teasing him again, she just couldn't help herself. She thought he was sweet, and she would tease people that she liked sometimes.
|
|
|
Post by Christian Patrick Elliot on Apr 1, 2007 10:58:10 GMT 7
Christian chuckled. "Grace was always the artist in the family." He did not mention anything about his interest in music. Then again, he rarely did. Very few of his close friends even knew Christian played anything besides piano. To him, piano was nothing extravagant. Most of the children he went to school with and grew up around had been playing the piano around the same time. It was apparently a necessary skill to have in a wealthy society.
Dark chocolate eyes watched her intently as she spoke, a bit nervously, about her major and afterschool plans. He nodded when she seemed unsure of staying with her choice. He could understand that to some degree. "If it is of any comfort," he said once she was done, "there are several people that aren't sure what they want until they have tried several different careers or jobs." After taking another drink, Christian added, "There's a man at the paper who is forty-one and returned to college only five years ago to get a degree in journalism. He'd lived as a caterer all his life and finally decided it wasn't something he wanted to do anymore." He gave her a comforting smile. "Don't rush it."
He actually did laugh, albeit quietly, when she teasingly suggested he attain another career with guessing ages. His teeth flashed for that brief moment in time before he shook his head and chuckled again. "I can't even begin to imagine." Sighing in amusement, he finished his coffee and held his mug in his lap, resting on his jeans.
|
|
|
Post by Alexia DeMarco on Apr 1, 2007 11:34:55 GMT 7
Smirking as she got another chuckle from him, and sipping on her latte, Lexi listened as Christian told his story about the guy that worked at his paper. Her brown eyes watched him smile at her, and she thought that he was giving her good advice. As he finished, she nods slowly, and returns the smile, her eyes drifting into softness. "Thanks, it's not easy. My parents are pushing me a little to choose something else, and it's making me have second thoughts. But I can be a little stubborn sometimes." As she says this, she laughs lightly, and rolls her eyes a little.
As Christian laughed, after she had teased him, Lexi laughed a little with him. She sees him finish his coffee, and she is slightly disappointed, she was really enjoying this conversation with him. Glancing at the weather outside, it didn't seem like it was clearing up anytime soon. Turning back to him, she smiles a little, and takes another sip of her latte. Wanting to get one more question in, she tilts her head a little to one side. "Where did you grow up, Christian? You seem to know the area pretty well, but I'm guessing that's because you went to school here. And you live in New York, which isn't that far away."
|
|
|
Post by Christian Patrick Elliot on Apr 1, 2007 11:45:26 GMT 7
Christian nodded in understanding at the mention of her parents pressuring her to make a decision. Although Christian's parents had never pressured him into making a decision, they had made the majority of his decisions for him. His life had been full and interesting, but the intimacy that most children shared with their parents was nonexistant in his life.
It was a more teacher-student relationship than anything. Decisions were made, and Christian and his sisters followed them. For the most part, at least. Grace had only recently rebelled against the conformity her parents wanted to set for her. For all Christian knew, it was only a matter of time before the same frustration sank into him. But then again, it might never happen. Security was something Christian put more faith in than anything or anyone. And what is more secure than the thing you know best?
"Chicago, actually," he responded with a smile and lifted eyebrows. "Can you hear the accent?" he inquired, a hint of curiousity returning. When he first moved to New York, he got comments on a regular basis about tone and the way he pronounced certain words. After six years, though, he had assumed it was gone and replaced with the typical northern accent.
|
|
|
Post by Alexia DeMarco on Apr 1, 2007 12:22:08 GMT 7
A slight nod from Christian, as Lexi shared her concerns with him, and she wondered if he had been through the same thing. In some ways, she didn't think that he had. But sometimes she suspected that maybe something else had gone on also. And that was not really her concern, having just met the guy a little while ago. It was a boundary that she did not want to cross unless they became friends.
She was again a little surprised to hear that he was from Chicago, she thought she heard a little bit of something in there. But if he had been away for a while, then it probably would have disappeared, for the most part. Shaking her head slightly, she said, "I thought it was a little bit of a New York accent. But I don't know what a true Chicago accent sounds like. What is different about a Chicago accent?"
As she smirks slightly, Lexi then decides that she wants to test Christian's knowledge. Knowing that she had an almost neutral accent herself, but with a soft drawl to it, she begins to bat her eyes, supporting her chin with the back of her fingers. "Do you know your accents? Can you guess where I'm from? Or do you need a hint?" Her eyes show the laughter she feels inside, as she is teasing him again.
|
|
|
Post by Christian Patrick Elliot on Apr 1, 2007 12:33:16 GMT 7
"I ask myself that same question all the time," he said with a shrug and puzzled expression. "I can't hear a difference, but apparently those truly born and bred here in the city can." Christian never really considered the two cities to even be different enough to warrant different accents. If there was truly a difference, it was over his head.
Considering she did not recognize a genuine Chicago accent, Christian found it save to assume she had never visited. "You need to make a visit to Chicago, assuming you haven't gone." He smiled at the thought of his hometown. "It's a marvelous city."
Leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, Christian narrowed his eyes at the younger woman. He lifted the corner of his lip thoughtfully, tracing back to replay the words she had spoken. "Definitely not anywhere up here," he said after a moment with a smile and shake of his head. "The only southern states I've been to are Florida and Louisiana," he said, brows furrowing as he tilted his head at her. "And you don't sound like either of them." Dark eyes remained on her for a few more moments of silence before Christian shook his head in defeat. "I'm afraid I can't tell. Where?"
|
|
|
Post by Alexia DeMarco on Apr 1, 2007 14:25:24 GMT 7
As Christian suggests that she visit Chicago, Lexi wonders what it was like. He was right, she had never been, but she had heard good things about it. Pursing her lips briefly in thought, she suddenly smiles, and then nods. "You're right, I've never been. And I have heard that it's a nice city to visit. But what would you suggest that I see, when I go there? And please don't say 'the Sears tower', everyone says that!"
Lexi then grins slightly at Christian's difficulty in trying to figure out her accent. He knows it's southern, but he can't tell, which is not unusual, she didn't have a very strong accent. "Well, you're right, it's not Florida or Louisiana. It's actually Virginia, Central Virginia to be exact. But my parents were from Pennsylvania, and most of our neighbors were from other places. I can do a heavier drawl, sound more like I'm from there. But I just never had a strong accent." Taking another sip of her latte, noting that it was almost finished, she had to take another opportunity at teasing him. "You better stick to guessing people's ages, your better at that, Christian." She then grinned at him again, and couldn't help but laugh a little.
|
|