just can't get enough · alexei · COMPLETE

[anouk lirienne fournier]

Anouk couldn’t believe she was going to see her brother. She had put so much effort in avoiding him that it seemed stupid to go running to him now. She didn’t know he was going to be the one replying to her im, if she did then she sure wouldn’t have wrote it. She wasn’t going to waste time getting dressed just to see him, mainly because she was planning on dropping by just for a little bit and then leave him with his work. She had to get ready for a date that night, not that she was going to tell him that. She looked at herself in the mirror and fixed her makeup before taking her keys and waving goodbye to her parents. Why bothering telling them where she was going if they were busy? They wouldn’t even realize she was gone anyway. Shaking her head she faced the streets of Paris, trying to make sense of how her parents could be behave like that. They were the parents, for crying out loud! Though Anouk had to admit she had never seen her mother so happy since her father left them both.

Anouk had been dealing with her parents’ relationship for far too long. They wouldn’t talk to each other unless necessary; everything was good to start a fight. At some point she had stopped caring and had completely given up on them, she wouldn’t even care when they fought about her. Truth be told, she couldn’t blame her mother for being mad at him, he had been a complete stupid, even when he tried to be on good terms with her for Anouk’s well being. Anouk stopped at the usual place to pick up both the coffee and the apple pie; she always did that when she was going to have coffee with Alexei. It was strange for her to call him brother but she had gotten used to it by force. She was nervous; it had been so long since she had last see him more than five minutes. She had left home early so she wouldn’t have to have breakfast with him and she had made sure to go back home when he wasn’t around. When it was time for him to come back then she will made sure to have some plans and leave.

Alexei hadn’t even noticed, or maybe he did, but she had no way of knowing. He was too busy lately with his gallery to mind other business and honestly, Anouk wanted it to be that way. If he decided now to have a talk with her about her behavior she might end up saying everything, which would ruin all her work. She could still remember the first time she had met him, when her mother introduced both of them and explained they will have to live together as a family. She had been more than thrilled, but he had disliked her since minute zero. She had softened him with time and effort; it seemed unbelievable now that she was throwing that effort through the window just to keep her feelings where they belonged, which was deep inside her heart and silenced. She looked up to find herself in front of the door, her feet had taken her there without realizing it while she was daydreaming. Taking a deep breath she opened it and smiled, walking over to him. “Here, your coffee.” she said as a way of greeting. “Now tell me what was all that about mom and dad? You know I won’t let you go so easily on that one.” She was trying to act as normal as possible, kind of hoping he would buy it and kind of hoping he knew her enough to notice it.

----

OUTFIT, here
WORD COUNT, 628

[alexei leon fournier]

IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE HAD THE IMPULSE

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UNWRAP YOUR SKIN AND AXE OFF YOUR LIMBS!
--------------------------------[/center]

The fact that he had a gallery for himself was a good idea, mainly because he could get away from the family. Sure, he was still sort of acting like a sulking teenager who liked to live by himself and stay away from his parents, but that was because of the way they acted. Who knew that his father could act just like him? Even though his father didn’t seem all too old, he was still an elder man; he didn’t need to act like a teenager did he? Any child would be embarrassed to see their parents kissing in the morning or snuggling up to each other on the couch, it was weird to see his dad do it especially since Alexei had never seen his dad with another woman since his mom. Not that his step mom was a bad replacement, she was pretty nice, friendly even and gave Alex time when he needed it. He was twenty two when he met her for the first time, so that probably made Anouk, his step sister seventeen. A year before he had a feeling that his father was seeing someone, after all there were all the obvious signs such as new suits, aftershaves and a new haircut. It was just weird to see it happening after quite a few years.

Turning around in his seat as he finished his IM chat with his step sister, he began chewing on the end of his pencil while looking at the figures on the account sheet settled in front of him. Even though his gallery was small, it was very neat, cosy and gave off that artistic vibe that tourists liked a lot. Scrunching his face up, his eyebrows moved closer to each other and his eyes nearly looked as if they were crossed over one another as he sighed. Accounts were boring, but he had gotten himself into this building. He needed someone to do this stuff for him; all the maths was hurting his artistic side and his brain. As a day dreamer always, his mind began to wonder away, the idea of coffee sounded perfect right about then and he was glad that his sister was online. He realised that he hadn’t spent a lot of time with Anouk ever since he had opened his gallery, that was a horrible thing for him to do but he was working so hard that he forgot he had a family sometimes. Both were old enough to have very different lives and he didn’t know whether or not she wanted him in her life anyway. He wasn’t going to pressure her into spending time with him, what kind of brother would that make him? It was slightly awkward though, he had never had a sibling and then finally he received one, all grown up whom he didn’t even like at first.

He began to tap his pencil against the table, waiting for coffee made him slightly agitated and fidgety; it was a need for him really. Where was Anouk? Getting off of his chair, he stretched himself, it was annoying waiting, he liked to do things quickly and in the heat of the moment; it made everything feel better for him. Turning around as he heard the door open he raised an eyebrow, rolling his eyes as Anouk went straight in to the topic about their parents. He shrugged his shoulders, nodding his head in appreciation towards the cup of coffee that she had brought him and picked it up. Taking a sip he sat back in his chair, leaning back and placing his feet on the desk. “What? No ‘Hi brother, long time no see...?’ I mean if I was you, that’s the first thing I’d say.” Smirking he moved his feet from the table, sitting up in his chair, the pencil on the side slightly lolled away and he took a good look at his sister. ”Are you ok? You seem...slightly worried. Saw more of mom and dad than you actually expected?” He chuckled, teasing her with a cheeky wink in her direction.

tagged// anouk!
word count// six hundred and eighty four!
muse// breathe carolina - i have to go return some video tapes!
thoughts// whee!

[anouk lirienne fournier]

Having his gallery art so closet to home that you could go walking, you would believe Alexei would at least stop by sometimes, but he didn’t. Lately her home had been so… strange that she had the urge of getting out. She spent more hours at the academy, tried to hang out more with her friends and went home only when Alexei wasn’t around. He wasn’t doing the effort to spend time with her either so she didn’t know why she was trying so hard to avoid him in the first place. She looked at the couples walking down the streets and stopped to daydream a bit, but she had to come back to earth or Alexei will scold her for being too slow. He was sitting on his desk when she opened the door, an exasperated look on his face. Her brother had no patient whatsoever and he had a bad habit of getting restless if things weren’t going fast enough for him. “Hello, hello.” She said rolling her eyes when he scolded her for not greeting him properly. “And don’t get so restless, it hadn’t take me that long. You are lucky your gallery is so close to home.” She had kind of forgotten how he was, both on his personality and his looks. Her fantasies had messed up with the reality, but that didn’t have any negative effect on her, she still liked him.

When he asked if she was okay Anouk frowned her eyes. Had she been so obvious? Did he really notice her efforts on avoiding him? But it had been too good to be true, he didn’t. She had to force herself to laugh at his joke, and blushed a little when he winked at her. “I wish they will stop acting like teenager when I’m around.” She sighed, it had been hard to see her mother with another man, but he had made her happy and that was all Anouk needed to like her new step-father. He had been good to her and she liked to be around, just not when they had lovey-dovey moments. She bumped into them in the kitchen and even in the bathroom once, it was irritating. For sure she would receive a good scold if they ever find her snogging with her boyfriend, even if it was in her own room with the door closed. She never brought them home in the first place; he had to be really important for her to make such an effort. “I’m fine anyway, changing the topic, how’s looking for an assistant going?” She asked nodding toward the papers in the table.

She knew he had been looking for someone to help him with the gallery, she would have offered herself if it didn’t mean to spend so much time with him, alone. She got up and went round the desk to read them, she was only going to make sure he didn’t pick any cute girls. “Don’t pick this one.” She said, tapping her finger against the paper and taking a sip of her coffee. She looked around the gallery to see if her brother had any new up. She hadn’t been there for a long time, she hadn’t wanted to stop by because it wasn’t necessary and if she had to see him she had wanted it with her parents around. “Hey, I was thinking about taking those water paints home with me now that I’m here, it will save you time and that way I can go to my date.” She really didn’t have a date, she just wanted to get out of the house that night, go clubbing, find some guy… just have some fun and a break. “Are you really stopping by in time to dinner?” It had been some time since they had dinner all together, her mother will be thrilled at the thought.

----

OUTFIT, here
WORD COUNT, 648

[alexei leon fournier]

IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE HAD THE IMPULSE

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UNWRAP YOUR SKIN AND AXE OFF YOUR LIMBS!
--------------------------------[/center]

Even though he could receive everything within walking distance of his home, Alexei preferred not to step foot into the house because he liked the silence of the gallery and the art that hung up on the walls. At home, he felt as if people were far too interested in him, and even though he loved his family he didn’t think that he could spend all day in their presence. Everything at home seemed so at ease, slow paced, funny and smooth, but for Alex he needed the adrenaline rush and fast paced lifestyle; it was a part of who he was. He felt as if he had to do things quickly, the quote ‘live life as it were your last’ was always on his mind. Sure at some points he didn’t feel like going by the quote but at times Alexei could surprise people. His eyes lightened up a little as he finally caught sight of his sister, sometimes she could be a far bit too slow and he would scold her because of that. “I know I’m so lucky, why do you think i chose this place? But you were still a little bit slow.” He rolled his eyes, chuckling a little to himself. He was so used to teasing and joking about with Anouk; it had become a part of his lifestyle. Anouk and her mother had found a way to wedge themselves into his life and he was happy about that.

Seeing the frown on Anouk’s face, Alexei tilted his head a little but made no comment. If Anouk was in trouble she knew that she could speak to him whenever she wanted and he wasn’t going to pressure her into telling him. But he knew that one day he would have to step up to the plate and ask her directly, he couldn’t just wait for her to say something because she was obviously not going to tell him much since he was her brother. He nodded his head, taking another long sip of the hot drink in his hand. He smiled like a child on Christmas morning; he loved his coffee very much. “I know right? I don’t understand why they think they’re our age, it’s not like they let us do the same.” He rolled his eyes and leaned back into his chair, closing his eyes for a second before opening them. Art was his life, but art sometimes took away his life too, important parts of his life like sleeping. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in some time because most of his great art ideas came to him when he was half asleep. “Mhhm, if you say so sis.” He nodded his head at her and fixed some papers on his desk, making it look neat. He didn’t really care about being messy in front of his sister but if a potential buyer came in, they would obviously want the place to be clean, what shopper wouldn’t? “It’s going alright, shredded about thirty resumes and have got just a few more left.”

Taking a sip of his rink once more, he raised an eyebrow as she picked out one resume and told him not to choose this one. He scanned the sheet quickly and raised an eyebrow. “She seems pretty decent, Audrey told me to keep patient when it comes to these things. This girl is fine you know, I can teach her the basics.” He picked up the sheet, eyebrows furrowing against one another as he re-read the page. “Hmm, she seems pretty decent for this job.” He put the sheet on top of the seven that he had kept as a ‘maybe.’ He hated how nearly over half the majority of the applicants had no artistic background. What made them actually think that Alexei would choose them? But then again, when Alexei was looking for jobs, he would send his resume to any place, hoping to just land a job in any place that he could. Nodding his head as he turned it to the side to look at the figures for that month, he sighed. “Yeah, sure. They’re in the back in the cupboard where I keep my own paints, just don’t touch anything else.” He raised his head up once, looked around the empty space then back at his sheets. “Date? Who with this time? Jack? Henry? Or is it Lucas this time? I’ve lost count of all your boyfriends.” He smirked, finding it slightly amusing for no apparent reason. “Yup, I could do with some home made food; living on junk isn’t doing me any good.” He frowned, picking up his shirt and poking his stomach before looking over at Anouk.

tagged// anouk!
word count// seven hundred and eighty six!
muse// breathe carolina - i have to go return some video tapes!
thoughts// whee!

[anouk lirienne fournier]

Anouk stared hard at him deciding to just let it go, she didn’t want to spend the little quality time with her brother fighting over something as stupid as being slow, for Alexei everyone and everything was too slow. “Just shut up.” She said rolling her eyes and sighing. As much as he annoyed her sometimes, she had to admit her life wouldn’t be the same without him now that he was in it. She smiled a little when she remembered asking her mother for a big brother and now years later she had granted that wish. She never imagined, though, that she will fall for him. Shaking her head she tried to push away those thoughts, if something slipped through her face then she will be in trouble and being around him was hard enough already. She bit the apple pie in order to keep her mouth shut and looked at him wondering what he was thinking about. “That’s why I never bring my guys home.” She shrugged and took a sip of her coffee, almost laughing at Alexei’s face when he did the same. She couldn’t understand how Alexei could live of coffee but that would explain how he managed to sleep so little and get that bags under his eyes.

“You know, it wouldn’t be so bad to stop home to at least sleep.” Anouk bit her tongue, it had kind of slipped. She didn’t have intentions of inviting him home in the first place, and she wasn’t the best to talk, she hadn’t been sleeping home much lately. It was just easier to avoid the problem than facing it, some days she thought she got it under control, but then when she was in front of Alexei she realized how hard it really was when he was around. “I mean, look at you.” She threw her hands out toward him to emphasize the point “ You look like you didn’t have a good sleep in days.” Anouk decided it was time to stuff another bit of pie and chewed on it slowly to keep herself from talking again. She saw him taking the paper sheet she had left on his desk and reading through it. Anouk raised her eyebrow as if she couldn’t believe the words that were coming from him, she almost got up to check his temperature when he said something about improving his patient. Moments ago he had been scolding her for being slow, for crying out loud! “Wait there, are you telling me you are going out of your way to teach her the basics?” She chocked on her apple pie and stared hard at him. “It’s obvious she can’t work here if she doesn’t even know that!”

Right at the moment her mind focused on another piece of important information that she had missed. She had mentioned Audrey, she couldn’t believe he would listen to something she had said when his own sister had said the same to him millions of times and he never even did the effort to change it. “Woah it seems I’m not the only one with a love interest here.” She said, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice and acting as if that was a normal conversation and she didn’t have any feelings toward him. Which was easier said than done. Then Alexei gave her the perfect chance to get away and compose herself. She walked to the cupboard, took the water paints and spent a very long moment there just looking at them. Admiring the colors and the scene calmed her down enough as to come back to the desk and sit in front of him again. “Hey this are very good, and I wasn’t going to touch, you silly.” She looked away as he asked about her date and pointed how the long list of guys she had been during the last month. It was true; she had been with a lot of boys trying to find one to make her forget. “Doesn’t really concern you.” She said and laughed when he poked his stomach, admiring his abs at the same time. “You are right, you are getting fat.” Since he was going to tease her, she decided she could paid him with the same coin. After all it was her brother.

----

OUTFIT, here
WORD COUNT, 720

[alexei leon fournier]

IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE HAD THE IMPULSE

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UNWRAP YOUR SKIN AND AXE OFF YOUR LIMBS!
--------------------------------[/center]

Because Alexei wasn’t much of a speaker and more of a listener he let topics go easily, he didn’t like dwelling on one for that long because he felt as if he would keep on explaining sentences, and what was the point of that? His sister wouldn’t even listen to him half the time, so what was the point of explaining something to her and wasting his time? He smirked, shrugging his shoulders at her comment about wanting him to shut up. It was funny to him for annoying her so easily because he hardly annoyed people. Well, that was what he thought of course. When else would anyone think so negative about themselves? Girls tended to do that more than boys but boys were just as bad, looks these days were important in society; if you didn’t have a good look or didn’t have the ‘right’ style you were considered lowly for some reason. It was similar for Alexei whenever he walked down the street in his overalls, he was used to having paint splattered everywhere but many people on the streets weren’t. He let out a chuckle. “That or because dad and I tend to go overboard with all the gruelling questions?” He raised an eyebrow, wiggling it around in an amusing manner before sipping on his coffee again.

Rubbing his eyes to wipe some of the sleep dust away, Alexei raised an eyebrow once more., He realised that raising his eyebrows and opening his eyes wider seemed to sometimes wake him up a bit more because a rush of air always hit him, which was a good thing because he couldn’t really afford to go sleep at times. “I do sleep at home, you just never notice because you come in either really drunk, or you’re already in bed.” He nodded his head at her as if he were proving a point to her; it was sort of true though. At times when he couldn’t be bothered to go home from other galleries or from his own he crashed at a friend’s or a sort of girlfriend’s for the night, but when he was at home, Anouk seemed to be away somewhere and it wasn’t just once or twice it was all the time. Even at that age Alexei didn’t spend half the time she did outside. He was more content with sleeping at home. “I haven’t actually, but hey I take that as offence, I look good! But yes, I’ll promise to come home more often and go to sleep, mommy.” He rolled his eyes at the last word, shaking his head at her obstinacy. It wasn’t as if he were a little kid anymore and even though he was to his parents, they didn’t really care if e was home or not, more so that he was alive. His head sort of moved back when Anouk seemed like she was shouting at him, eyes widening in curiosity at her sudden outburst. “Hey, I’m changing for the better darling, I mean, I need as much help as I can get anyway and so far she’s unquestionably the best.”

He flipped over the sheet, grabbing a stapler and sticking a pink piece of paper on top of it. Pink for him meant a ‘need’s work’ and so far there was four of the seven ‘maybe’s’ that needed work. He looked up at Anouk and rolled his eyes, smirking a little. “Maybe, maybe not. Not going to tell you anything.” He stuck his tongue out, acting like a little child. He really wasn’t romantically involved with Audrey, she was a nice girl but she could sometimes be annoying and he knew that he also got on her nerves at times too. It was as if they were more siblings than partners in a relationship. Alexei hadn’t been in a committing relationship in some time anyway, he was mostly into flings at that very moment, his work didn’t really allow him to become loving towards people but whoever stuck around for the longest got their rewards from him. He checked over another resume as Anouk went into the back to grab her paints, this girl was definitely a no. He placed the paper into the shredder and the familiar rumbling sound erupted suddenly, the noise filling the already silent gallery. “It really does concern me; after all you’re my sister.” He rolled his eyes at her and leaned back in his chair, trying to get more comfortable after poking his stomach. He faked a gasp, his palm flat against his stomach. “Says the girl who seems to be putting some meat on her thighs.” He chuckled, scrunching up a piece of paper and throwing it at her.

tagged// anouk!
word count// seven hundred and eighty eight!
muse// breathe carolina - i have to go return some video tapes!
thoughts// whee!

[anouk lirienne fournier]

Anouk let the topic drop, not really wanting to discuss that with him. She didn’t know how to act around him anymore because she wasn’t comfortable anymore. There was a time she had been able to laugh freely with him and truly enjoy his company, now she had to watch her tongue all the time, stop her hands from trying to reach him and it was sort of painful. Anouk snorted, it was right they had been kind of pushy about her love life, it was as if they were worried she won’t even find someone to settle with, but also scared that she will. She took another sip of her coffee before replaying. “It’s because I don’t want them to meet my crazy brother.” She said sticking out her tongue at him. “No, seriously, why you have to ask so many questions about them.” Especially when he clearly knew they meant little to her, she wanted to add. She could understand it coming from her father but not from him. It was so pointless to try to make something serious when she knew it was going nowhere, she wanted to mess around with them for a bit and then just drop it and so far it had worked well that way.

“You know, it doesn’t help to your case the fact that you keep rubbing your eyes and blinking.” But she had to lower her head because she knew he was right. He didn’t say it as an accusation but he didn’t say it as if he thought it was something strange coming from her. Anouk sighed in defeat, she had to stop hoping he would notice and just keep on pretending. She could have made it big in the cinema with her acting skills. “I’ve been sort of busy too.” She said in a small voice and looking at her coffee as it was the most interesting thing in the room but raised them again when he called her mommy. She couldn’t help being worried about him, he was working so late at night, barely sleeping and eating bad… it was matter of time he got sick or something. She knew his gallery was consuming most of his time; that was the reason he was running through dozens of applications to find an assistant that could take care of the technical details. “Well excuse me if I show some concern about your health.” Biting her lip hard she tried to hide the blush that creep on her checks as her own stupidity, wasn’t she trying to shut up her own mouth? But there she was, acting weird and letting her emotions slip, taking the best of her.

After counting to ten and being sure she had her expression under control she raised her eyes to look at him again and shrugged smiling. “Who knows, maybe you are right.” She said with the most fake cheerful voice she could manage. It felt like a stab when he didn’t denied about Audrey and she had to bit her lip again so the tears will keep where they belonged. But she had to pretend for the sake of their relationship so she smiled and stick her tongue back at him. “Then don’t ask for the same consideration when you are questioning me about my love life.” She said laughing and taking a big gulp of her coffee, which suddenly seemed to not be enough, it was in need of a soft touch of… rum or vodka. She played with the cup, rolling it between her hands as she looked at him; he seemed so at ease in his gallery, so comfortable… as if it was really his home. He loved so much this place that Anouk couldn’t believe he would trust it to some chick that needed basic teaching. But it was his choice, or better Audrey’s choice for him. She rolled her eyes at the thought but said nothing.

She decided to ignore his comment about her being his sister and whatnot because she wished so much it wasn’t true, that he didn’t see her in that kind of light. But it was hopeless. Anouk’s jaw dropped in mocking amazement and got up to smack the back of his head. “Never said that to a girl, you rude boy!” She said laughing and sitting back. “Besides, I am not getting fat, I lost 3 pounds.” She said proudly. It was because of the frenetic life style she had lately, with so much work and so little time to eat or do anything besides painting and hanging around. She burnt all she ate dancing at nights and having fun with guys, it was like playing a sport but the pleasure couldn’t compare. Watching the clock at her wrist she counted the hours she had left to get ready and go for another night of partying. If that keep going on like that she would be the one getting sick because of lack of sleeping, and there she had been scolding him moments ago for that when she didn’t even sleep more than three or four hours a day.

----

OUTFIT, here
WORD COUNT, 857

[alexei leon fournier]

IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE HAD THE IMPULSE

[/font]
UNWRAP YOUR SKIN AND AXE OFF YOUR LIMBS!
--------------------------------[/center]

Alexei had rarely noticed anything different about Anouk, it wasn’t that he cared it was just that because he was busy and he was sure that there were a lot of people who cared about Anouk and if her older brother was caring over her it would probably make her feel annoyed. He knew how a lot of his friends felt who had siblings, they felt suffocated as if their siblings were just breathing down their necks trying to see if they were safe and Alexei didn’t want to become a nuisance in Anouk’s life. Anouk just seemed normal, he knew that he wasn’t acting normal though. Life was just becoming difficult nowadays, he needed money to live, he needed money to run what he loved doing and he couldn’t just pressure someone with all this. He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders at Anouk. “Well that’s bull, I’m not crazy....maybe slightly insane but not full on crazy.” He laughed and shrugged his shoulders once more. “Why can’t I ask questions for? You’re my sister and I have a right to know who you’re with and if you’re being safe.” He nodded his head at her as he placed the pencil back in its place in between his lips. He nibbled on the already chewed eraser and took it out of his mouth, making a face and getting rid of the weird taste with some more coffee.

He sighed and just shook his head at her.”Well, I know but I can’t do anything about it, can I? I’ve got to run this entire thing by myself at the moment don’t I?” He extended his hands out as he emphasised on his point, the gallery, even though from the outside looked small, was large from the inside. Massive paintings hung in some places, small ones on the other, Alexei hadn’t even placed paintings of a certain theme together, he just shoved the ones he liked together on one side and the rest on the other and somehow it had actually turned out really nice. He raised an eyebrow, not looking up from the other pieces of paper scattered about his desk as she spoke in a small voice. He nodded his head softly, “Well we all have been, right?” He didn’t question her on what she was busy about. Any nineteen year old would be busy any way, she had her school life, her school work and she had her social life to hang on to too. She wasn’t like Alexei who preferred to be introvert and stayed to himself, she was more of a social butterfly. “Aww, you care about my health Anouk?” He smirked, raising an eyebrow at her and letting out a chuckle; it was sort of funny to hear that leaving from her mouth.

He flipped the page around, blinked at the picture of the girl and nodded his head. “I think I am.” Looking up at Anouk, he flashed her a smile with some tooth, narrowly missing her expression that she had just managed to calm down. Laughing, he nodded his head. “Fine, fine. I understand, I won’t ask you anymore on your love life then.” Putting his hands up as if he were surrendering, he gave her another smile, shaking his head at her. If he wasn’t allowing Anouk to be a part of his love life, then there was no point in him intruding in hers. He was different when it came to topics such as love and relationships, he was more careful than most people. He liked to take things slow, not just because of his hectic schedule but because he wanted to be sure that he wanted to spend some time with that girl. Obviously he didn’t just give up on one night stands and things like that, he was a guy and a guy always had needs, so Alex had needs. He just didn’t do it as much as some people did. He liked to keep his emotions under control; he didn’t want people to see that he liked them because if he did then it would just create a lot of problems for him.

His eyes widened in mock surprise as she smacked him behind the head, he got up from his seat and rubbed the back of his head, making his hair stick up from behind and making him look as if he had a serious case of bed head. “But you’re not a girl!” He chuckled, sticking his tongue out once at her and stretching his body, his shirt rising up a little as he jumped up in the spot at the sudden sport of energy that rushed through his body. “Oh, wow. That’s great.” He really wasn’t interested in the losing weight part, he liked food, and food was an essential part of the daily life of a living organism, so why give it up just to look skinny? He raised an eyebrow at her as he watched her check her watch on her wrist and sighed. “You need to go somewhere soon? Sorry if I’m keeping you, you can go you know, I won’t mind.”

tagged// anouk!
word count// seven hundred and fifty seven!
muse// breathe carolina - i have to go return some video tapes!
thoughts// same word count!

[anouk lirienne fournier]

When her mother had told her for the first time that she had met someone Anouk’s first impulse was to shout at her if she had gone insane. Everything fall into place right at that moment; the new clothes, new perfumes, getting home late, and the healthy glow her skin had. It didn’t get any better when she told her that man had a son older than her. She was so enthusiastic about the idea of them all living together under the same roof and get on well as a family that she didn’t notice Anouk’s annoyance and of course it never crossed her mind the possibility of them Anouk’s and that boy not getting on well. Now sitting there talking to him all that seemed so far away and such a stupid worry. The first time they were going to meet she had spent hours looking for the right clothes, trying to give the right impression. She laughed at her own memories, maybe the crazy one here was her, it sure was a possible. “You can’t ask because you never answer my questions.” She said smiling. She knew after some minutes she will start feeling better or at least getting used to him, it had been so long since she had saw him. “Stop chewing on your pencils, that’s such a bad habit.” She scolded him jokingly getting up to throw the apple box into the trash can.

Anouk noticed her brother was acting… different. He seemed to be having problems, or at least something was worrying him. It was the way he talked and acted. She hadn’t heard anything about the gallery from her father so she had no idea what it could be. She wanted to ask but was afraid he will snap at her saying she was too young to understand or something.“You are right.” She said defeated, sighing again. She rubbed her neck feeling a bit tired and another headache on its way. She felt weird lately, her head was killing her all the time and she didn’t know what to do about it. She rubbed her temples too, and closed her eyes slightly. “Hey if you need temporary help I can always come around until you find someone.” She knew about art and knew the business, she could be of help until he got someone, and well, maybe everything will get better if she spent some more time around Alexei. “I mean now thanks to you I have the theme for the project and I’ll have more free time.” She laughed at his brother comment, she had never stopped caring about him; she just didn’t show it. “Maybe I do.” Taking one of the water paints she looked at the colors, great choice for her feelings right now, blue.

Her expression softened a bit, her mood calming down now better. She laughed at him and was glad he understood. Anouk didn’t have problems talking about her love or her sex life, she just had problems telling him about it. It would hurt if he thought she was an easy girl because she didn’t seem to settle down with one guy for long. But she was the kind of girl who got bored of things soon and guys weren’t any different. But the more time she spent around Alexei, the more she fell for him, which was really a first for her. She almost smacked him again when he said she wasn’t girl, wasn’t it obvious? So instead she rose from the chair and modeled for him. “Now are you going to say this is not a girl’s body?” She said rising her eyebrow and blowing a kiss to him, laughing. But her amusement was gone as suddlenly as it has come because his sad expression killed it. She hadn’t realize it was going to hurt him so much seeing her check her clock. She go up and rounded the desk, doing something she had been restraining herself for all afternoon, she hugged him and kissed his check, trying to cheer him up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” She said, biting her lip and then getting back to her chair. “I’m really happy to be spending time with you.” In fact she decided she could just not go out that night, if Alexei was going to be home for dinner maybe it was time to get things right.

----

OUTFIT, here
WORD COUNT, 737

[alexei leon fournier]

IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE HAD THE IMPULSE

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UNWRAP YOUR SKIN AND AXE OFF YOUR LIMBS!
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Alexei’s father didn’t even really need to tell him about dating Anouk’s mom; Alexei was old enough as it was to realise that something, or in this case someone, was making his father a very happy man. He didn’t even bother to ask his father, sure there was some initial shock at first but that was because his father had never even thought of another woman ever since his mom had died, so it was pretty awkward when the topic finally came out and about. For Alexei; he tried to keep things straightforward; he wasn’t a child who needed consoling and just beat it to the bush, telling his father that he was happy about him dating again. The only shock and surprise that he felt at the beginning was that his step mom had a daughter from a previous relationship; he didn’t know what to think of that. He was annoyed, the sudden annoyance just came into his head and he had no idea why. How could he hate a girl that he hadn’t even met before? But it was possible because the first time Alexei saw Anouk he was cold towards her, indifferent of any emotions, he didn’t like her at all. She seemed too bubbly, too calm when getting used to this relationship between the both of them and that he didn’t like at all. “Well alright then, I won’t ask any more questions.” He wasn’t going to start answering Anouk’s questions; he wasn’t ready for her to dig into his past life or life now. Rolling his eyes at her statement he chewed on the end of his pencil purposely, even though it was disgusting. “It’s a habit since I was eleven, haven’t given it up before and to going to give it up now either.”

He nodded his head happily as she told him that he was right, he was, and well he thought he was. Looking up at her as she closed her eyes slightly and rubbed her neck. “Hey, you alright? Need another coffee?” He smiled at her, he was always concerned about the welfare of his sister, he just didn’t want to show her that he cared too much otherwise she would have taken advantage of him and get him to do things that he didn’t want to. But then again, Alex wasn’t all too naive; he knew when to say no. “Well, if you said that before you’d have saved me about an hour’s worth of reading.” Shaking his head, he rolled his eyes. “But yes, I’d love the help while I train some people.” He gave her a grateful smile, he really could use the help; frankly he didn’t have the time or the money to help people and do things. Even though the gallery was fairly new, it was doing well but just like all sorts of businesses it had it’s up and down weeks. He nodded his head slowly, stacking some papers on one another and placing them neatly on the top left of the desk. “Well you’re welcome for the help I gave you.” He smiled and nodded his head, dropping the subject of her caring; he didn’t like people caring about him too much and at least Anouk didn’t pressure him and watch over him all the time.

He leaned back in his chair, hands crossed over his chest as he watched her model for him. Shaking his head he let out a little chuckle. He put his hands up and snickered a bit more. “Alright, sorry, sorry. I guess you are a girl.” He smiled at her, and rolled his eyes as she blew him a kiss. He pretended to catch the kiss just not to hurt her feelings and patted his pocket, indicating that he was saving her kiss for later. He was slightly surprised when she came behind his desk and hugged him, kissing his cheek. He laughed, patting her arms that were around his neck and pushed his cheeks up against her arms for a second before she moved back to her seat. He smiled at her apology. “You didn’t really. Don’t worry, I understand you’re busy with your life and I’m glad that you enjoy my company, as I do yours.” He smiled at her, blowing her a kiss himself, feeling slightly weird doing so but he was alright with it.

tagged// anouk!
word count// seven hundred and twenty nine!
muse// breathe carolina - i have to go return some video tapes!
thoughts// whee!

[anouk lirienne fournier]

Alexei never shared much of his past or even his present with her. Anouk tried to let him know as much about her as she considered necessary, but he just preferred to be closed. She had the impression he didn’t considered her much of a sister yet, though he tried to act as a big brother. Of course it would have been hard for him at first to do so, to think of a stranger as a sister and she tried to excuse his coldness towards her for the first months they spent together. Anouk had tried so hard that in the end he had come around. But she didn’t pressure him, she believed that at some point he will end up opening completely to her. It still hurt though, that wall that was always between them and that she couldn’t demolish. . “I guess it’s like me chewing on my fingernails.” she answered, running a hand through her head and tapping her feet against the floor. “But that’s just… ewww. It tastes horrible.” She said laughing at the face he made when he chewed on it again. He was such a sweet guy, every girl who tried hard enough to get to know him will helplessly fall in love, and that scared her. The thought of Alexei opening up to someone who wasn’t her made her shiver and she tried to hide the goose bumps on her skin, running her hands up and down her arms.

She smiled when showed his concern for her; she had been aching all over different parts of her body through the week. She didn’t know if it was just the fact that she barely sleep and worked too much or maybe it was another thing. She had been feeling depressed for a while now, but she hided it perfectly well from her parents. . “Yeah I am fine, just an slight headache.” She shook her head no refusing the coffee, if she drank more then she wouldn’t be able to sleep even the four hours. She smiled at him, her eyes still closed. Darkness was good, it relieved the pain a bit, right now she would love to press her head against the cold floor. “How would I know? I’m offering now.” When he accepted her help she almost fell from the chair, she opened her eyes wide. “For real?” She had thought he would refuse, and part of her hoped so, she took a deep breath and smiled at him gratefully. Of course it vanished when he heard her brother would be teaching the girl the basics, it almost made her scream of frustration. “Well then just tell me when I have to come and I’ll be here.”

She tried to tame a soft curl of her hair that had fallen out of its place while she hid her face from him. She was spending half of the afternoon doing that, it couldn’t be helped since it was blow after blow for her heart. Now working with him didn’t seem like such a great idea and she was starting to regret she had even offered. Would her poor heart handle all this? She hardly doubted it, and of course she was now afraid of messing their relationship. Things were hard enough as they were; she didn’t need to break the little she had built over the years. She tried to push those thoughts at the back of her head as she modeled for him, she smiled when he ‘took’ the kiss and ‘saved’ it on his pocket. When sat back on her chair after the hug Anouk was still impressed about what she had done but at least he didn’t seem to take it badly. He seemed amused at her sudden outburst of love. “Yes I am busy with my life but I also need to take some time off for you.” She said and smiled when he blew her a kiss. How could she not love him when he worried about her this much? “I really don’t have a date, I was just planning on going out to be honest.” She confessed before she could bit her tongue. She wanted him to know, to understand that all that she was doing was because she was avoiding him. She lowered her eyes a little ashamed of herself.

----

OUTFIT, here
WORD COUNT, 725

[alexei leon fournier]

IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE HAD THE IMPULSE

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UNWRAP YOUR SKIN AND AXE OFF YOUR LIMBS!
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Losing his mother in a fire had made sure that Alexei kept himself closed off from the world and the people in it. His dad knew of course, how he felt about everything and what he thought about everything. He was always a mommy’s boy; he spent a lot of time with her and loved her immensely, so the sudden thought of losing her had shattered him completely. As a child of eleven years of age, he had no idea how to cope with the sudden vanishing act of his mother, he was old enough to understand that she was dead, that she was gone and never coming back, but he was still young enough to not know how to cope with it all. He didn’t like opening up to people at all, ever since his mom had died he had begun to chew on his pencils, it was just because he got paranoid slightly easily at that age and it made him do that, now it was just a habit that he did. He nodded his head, making a face at her for biting her fingernails. “How do you know it tastes horrible? Have you done it yourself?” He raised an eyebrow at her and nodded his head, putting the pencil down to the side and rubbing his arms.

He didn’t really know as to why Anouk would be tired, sure being a student was hard enough as it was but it wasn’t that tiring was it? Well, Alexei hadn’t studied in over three years so the curriculum could have changed during that time and he was already out of it. He frowned a little at the thought of education and children, he always wanted children. Of course he had to get married, he wouldn’t mind a child out of wedlock but he wanted to find that person who he would spend the rest of his life with. As you grew older, you started to think about the future and Alexei didn’t want to see himself as an alone guy, sitting in his gallery without a person to hold his hand, it was just a miserable sight in his head. Coming out of his little bubble of futuristic thoughts, he nodded his head. “Alright, I’ve got some aspirin in the back if you want it?” Raising an eyebrow at her sudden shock of him accepting her help so quickly, he let out an amused smile. He wasn’t kidding when he said that he needed all the help that he could get. “Yes for real. I think I’ll need you next week Thursday. We’re having an opening of another painter in this gallery.” Flipping through his pages he got out the list of painters. “I think her name was...Anouk.” He looked up at her and smiled, wiggling both eyebrows. “Your second painting is coming out next Thursday so you’ll have to be here.”

He smiled at her, he was happy that he was finally going to get help; it wasn’t easy managing a big gallery like his with just one person. Of course, this was not one of the things that he thought about when first opening his gallery, he was just euphoric at the thought of having a piece of land and building under his name. “Yes, you certainly need to make some time off for me; we haven’t caught up with each other in a while.” He smiled at her, getting off his seat and walking to fix a painting which looked slightly crooked, once it was placed back on the wall at a perfect angle, he turned around and smiled at her, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “Well, you can spend the night with me then. Dinner and a movie at home?”

tagged// anouk!
word count// six hundred and twenty four!
muse// breathe carolina - i have to go return some video tapes!
thoughts// whee!

[anouk lirienne fournier]

Anouk respected Alexei enough to give him the space he needed, but was there a way to know how much space that was and until when? Because certainly everyone needed space, she asked for it a lot, but it got lonely after a while and then she wanted company back again. But people don’t read minds, so how could she know if she was giving him too much? Or maybe she wasn’t giving him enough? Anouk had the habit of chewing on her fingernails when she was worried or anxious about something. She knew it was a nasty habit but she didn’t even realized she was doing it most of them time. She had chewed on pencils and pens when she was at school, what more to do when you have an hour of boredom stuff ahead you didn’t even care about? Instead to taking notes or trying to pay attention she just went on chewing the caps of the pens. It wasn’t nice when the ink got into your mouth because the pen exploded or you chew on it too much. Once she got her mouth completely red, making her look like she had drink blood or something like that. “I used to do it back at school.” She explained shrugging her shoulders.

Finally she rested her head on her arms, not caring one little bit about if she looked or not fine. Her brother had seen her sick, with a running nose, with bed hair, with puffy red eyes… she still didn’t understand why she was trying so hard. “Yes thank you.” She accepted weakly. It was the pressure and the pain, it was the fact that she couldn’t be happy no matter how hard she tried, and the fact that she couldn’t get over Alexei. But it had a bright side, it inspired her so much and gave her so many things to get off her chest that she could be working all night and have a paint done. Sometimes she liked to sit on her bed and look through the draws she had done of Alexei. She had stopped drawing him because it brought her more paint that it relieved. When she started to like him, she had started to convey her feelings on the paper, just like she always did when there was something she couldn’t get off her mind. Now it was of no help so she had decided to stop and stuffed them in the darkest corner of her room so she wouldn’t have to see them.

Anouk’s eyes shot wide open when he mentioned she had an exhibition that Thursday, it had been so long already? She didn’t even remember she had one! She looked at him still trying to make sense of his words, refusing to believe she had forgot about her own exhibition. “Is it this Thursday? But…” She tried to count the days in her mind, then with her fingers just to make sure and shook her head in disbelief. That was the proof of the effects all this was having on her, she had started to forget the most important things. She smacked her forehead, adding more pain to her already aching head and grateful her brother had an aspirin for her. She wanted to bang her head on a wall. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” She said, suddenly panicking. It wasn’t as she had to get some paint ready or something, she already had everything sorted out, it just that she wasn’t ready for it yet. But if she kept hiding she never will anyway. “When do I have to bring the paints to hang them?” She asked now getting into business mood. She wanted to make him proud; his approbation meant everything for her. She raised an eyebrow when he got up to fix a paint. He was such a perfectionist. A smile spread on her lips when he agreed with her that she needed to make time for him, followed by an invitation of spending the night with him. “Sounds like a good plan.” She said excitement on her face. “Do you have one in mind?” It was amazing how such a short sentence could change her mood so much, she was going to get emotionally exhausted.

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OUTFIT, here
WORD COUNT, 712

[alexei leon fournier]

IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE HAD THE IMPULSE

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UNWRAP YOUR SKIN AND AXE OFF YOUR LIMBS!
--------------------------------[/center]

What really was there to say? He wasn’t someone who was really social; he just liked to be quiet. Artists, painters especially, were stereotyped as to being in their own little world, they tended to just paint, draw and do anything artistic that came their way. Artists literally lived and breathed all the paints that they used, consumed it in a way so that they could make something amazing and incredibly beautiful, but most weren’t even like that. It was funny how much people outside the arts community thought that artists spent literally most of their lives just working and painting, he found it amusing because they really were just normal people. They ate, walked around and spent time with loved ones, and they didn’t just shut themselves in a little hole and paint as if their lives depended on it. The way most people thought of artists was sometimes just way too funny. He nodded his head as Anouk told him that she used to bite pens and pencils in school, of course most students would, school was just so boring; sure sometimes information was amazing and interesting but most of the time teachers just droned on in a monotonous voice; making everything boring. Even he used to do it as a teenager whenever he was at school, he didn’t learn much there anyway and that was the best he could do.

He smiled as she rested her head on her arms, she was probably tired from all the partying, and staying up late and studying she had been doing for some time. She really did need some sleep. Sleep was an important part in everybody’s life, without it a lot of people became cranky, tired and moody, for him eight hours was definitely not enough, he liked to sleep for longer; even though it made his body much more tired than it was usually supposed to be. He got up from his seat, straying to the back room where all his paintings and work hung up and opened up a cupboard in search for the aspirin that he kept back there. It was like a little home back there, a sink, some cupboards and a place to sit; all he really needed was a bed and he could live in his gallery if he wanted to. Opening up another cupboard he finally found the little packet of pills and drew them out. Grabbing a glass and filling it to the rim with water he walked back slowly to Anouk, making sure that he didn’t drop anything. Extending his hands as he came to a stop in front of her, he gave her a gentle smile. “I think what you need is a good night’s sleep, you’ll probably be fine by tomorrow.” Smiling he waited next to her, just in case she needed anything.

He chuckled as her eyes shot wide open, he knew that she had forgotten about her exhibition next Thursday and that was why he had mentioned it. She was so busy with work and school and boys that he knew the exhibition would have slipped past her mind. To be honest he had also forgotten about the exhibition for a few days because he was so busy looking through resumes, paying bills and trying to stay on top of everything without everything drowning him down and out first. Raising an eyebrow as she counted the days on her finger until she was supposed to present her artwork was amusing; she looked like a lost child. Nodding his head eagerly, he laughed. “Yes! This Thursday you silly goose!” Shaking his head at her memory, he let out a little sigh. “Because I thought you knew, don’t worry, you’ll be fine ok? I’ll be there every step of the way, all you have to do is dress up and act confident because Thursday will be your night!” He looked down at her appreciatively, trying to boost up her confidence quickly, she was an amazing artist and she knew it and he didn’t want her confidence to be shot down so quickly. He quickly calculated a few days in his head and nodded his head, looking down at her once more. “Bring them in on Tuesday? I’ll have a hook up by then and I’ll make sure it’s up perfectly.” Turning around from the painting he had just fixed, he raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. “Hmm well for food I was thinking Chinese or something but for movie? I don’t really know…maybe The Little Mermaid?” Letting out a laugh, he walked towards the front of the gallery, looking at each painting.

tagged// anouk!
word count// seven hundred and seventy two!
muse// breathe carolina - i have to go return some video tapes!
thoughts// whee!

[anouk lirienne fournier]

Being an artist was such a pain sometimes. Anouk smiled back at his brother as she snatched the glass water and swallowed the pill as it was a candy. To be honest Anouk had been living that way for a long while, she had bottles of pills spread around her room and she made sure she kept some at school too. The pain wasn’t going to go away completely but at least it would be bearable. It wasn’t just because she skipped sleeping, it was because of everything, and most of the nights she did tried to sleep she just couldn’t. She lay there flat on her bed, her eyes wide open until she got plain tired and got up to work on another paint, sleep usually paid her a visit when her body was just too exhausted to keep awake. She had more or less an idea of what was going on but she refused to believe it, her life wasn’t so bad, she just couldn’t see a reason why her body was reacting that way. The gentle way her brother took care of her brought one of the sweetest smiles Anouk hided just for her special ones, and she rarely flashed it at him. But this time it was different, it had been a while and he was being sweet and she just felt like it.

She nodded but said nothing, thinking it was better to leave him out of it. He would get worried unnecessarily, she was sure she would get out of the hole soon enough, and while she was at it she could always drawn her sorrows in alcohol, the way she had been doing it until now. But of course, if the exhibition was coming so soon she just wouldn’t have the time anymore. She had some of the paints but she wanted to do something to surprise her brother, now she will have to work through more nights to get it all done. She ran a hand through her head, exasperated at her own forgetfulness, it was alcohol and her lifestyle what was dragging her down. But there was no way out now that she was in and she had to say she had a great time when she just couldn’t think anymore. She tried to smile at him in apology when he laughed at her. Anouk knew she was going to be blaming herself for this a lot, and she expected no one to know she will have to do a quick recovery and pretend again. “I know, I know, my fault, I just had too much things in my head lately.” Her brother thought it was guys and school and partially it was that, but she just feel down for no apparent reason sometimes.

Not to mention she had become a cry baby lately, at some point during her painting sessions she will have a block and then she will start crying. She shook her head trying to erase every trace of thoughts off her face. “Thank you, you know that means a lot to me.” She said, truly grateful. It was good to have a hand to cling to when you were so nervous you even get sick. It was her case every time she exposed something to the world. He could be close about his feeling and his things but he was always there when she needed him, well, almost always, because she never really told him when she needs him. “I’ll make sure you are proud of me.” And she really meant it. It was money and reputation what they were talking about, he needed it to keep running the gallery, a bad exhibit could mean losing money. She nodded knowing she could have it all for Tuesday and smiled at him. “Chinese sounds good.” Anouk laughed at his brother wanting to see the little mermaid, when she was a kid she used to lover her a lot. “Well, I’m not very sure about that one you know.” she answered between laughs. “But who would have thought, the big guy wanting to see Disney.” The idea was so hilarious that had anouk laughing for a few minutes.

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OUTFIT, here
WORD COUNT, 709