Battle of the Ships (Noah & Lucah)

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Lucah was behaving surprisingly well all things considered. He wasn’t really a violent person, though if he was pushed to it, he’d definitely throw a punch. Seeing her move a little closer to Noah had Luc hurting more than anything. Was he really that horrible to be around? His expression softened the tiniest bit and his feelings began showing through his eyes. Only someone who knew him well enough would see that behind all of the cold exterior he was putting up, he was honestly crushed by what was happening.

She stepped towards him and unintentionally, he tensed further as she hugged him. The feeling of betrayal had him pulling back. She’d just been all fun and flirty with that guy, why was she hugging him? As if he were a moron that hadn’t seen the way she acted around other guys. Her response had Lucah biting down on the inside of his cheek, inflicting pain to keep his mind off of who he’d planned on really giving the necklace to. It wasn’t like she’d really appreciate it anyway. Once he caught a glance at Noah, he saw his lips twitch in almost a smile and Luc’s hands tightened and the temperature around him grew colder.

“Friends, huh. Is that what they call it here? Sure as hell seems like a little more than just the occasional work buddy to me. And no, I’ve never been, nor do I ever plan to be.” Luc’s composure was slipping and the pain was making his throat tighten. All he wanted was to bolt right then and there and never talk to her again.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Was there something else behind Lucah's cold expression? For a brief moment Ravyn thought she saw something, but it could have just been her hoping that he wasn't as furious as he looked. Yeah, right. She felt the tension in his body as she hugged him, and definitely noticed he didn't return the gesture. The temperature around him dropped even further, and she had no idea why, but shortly after Noah stepped towards them and she assumed maybe he had done something that irked Noah that she had missed. Crap.

Right, they worked together too! How had she managed to forget that bit of information? Oh, maybe because they danced and sang together like dorks while they waited tables, and more than once she had had a customer tell her how cute they were together. She always just smiled and shrugged it off. They were just having fun. But it was probably a good thing Lucah HADN'T visited Abe's place before. He had only caught a glimpse of their friendship, and he was acting like this.

"Um, yeah, what else would we call it?" She gave a tiny laugh, rubbing the back of her head and wishing she was anywhere else but here. "We've been friends for a while, we're just... Messing around." She winced at her choice of words. "Right, Noah?" She gave him a glimpse, wishing she was more elegant with words. "That's too bad, Luc, it's a really nice restaurant." She felt herself slump a little, sad that he was so obviously against their friendship to the point of avoiding the place they worked at. Then again, it was probably a good thing.

She had an idea. Maybe it was horrible, or maybe it would help, she didn't know, but right now she just wanted to catch her breath. "Hey uh, I gotta run to the um, restroom, I'll be right back." Before either of them could say anything, she plopped her bags next to Noah and made a quick exit, heading for the nearest restroom. Once there, she let out a long, shaky breath. Let the boys talk it out a little, she needed to recompose herself. She would go back out soon, but right now, she didn't feel like she was helping the situation.

[Noah Washington]

Noah frowned again at the guy's reaction. Damn, this was like jealousy tenfold. He wasn't even aware that they were actually together; last he heard from Ravyn, they were just dating. Didn't that mean they weren't exclusive? Maybe some people just didn't get what dating was.

"Exactly." Noah replied when she looked back at him again. "Seriously, we're just hanging out." But how seriously douchey was it that he was boycotting the place she worked at because of his jealousy? He might have said something if it weren't going to be detrimental to their cause. It wasn't his call anyway, but she wanted to be with him so he wasn't going to do anything that might hurt or stop her chances.

Cause he was not a douche.

"We'll be here." Noah replied with a smile, because Ravyn bolted. And he figured she had a right to need to get out of the situation. The (cold) pressure this guy was putting on her shoulders was ridiculous. He watched her go and when she was gone, he looked back over towards Lucah. "Seriously, you have nothing to worry about. We're just friends."

[Lucah Ivaskov]

It wasn’t as if Lucah was trying to be a jerk. Honestly this was nothing compared to what he could have done. He could have just walked right up and started screaming at Ravyn and decking this guy. But he hadn’t. He’d kept his cool and was actually trying to get past this whole jealousy thing. It just didn’t help that they sure didn’t look like ‘just friends.’ And no, it wasn’t an official thing, but he had wanted it to be. How was wanting to be with a girl being douchey? Ravyn and Noah should be glad that he couldn’t read minds.

The way she kept looking at Noah for guidance had Luc wincing. He’d always wanted her to take comfort from him, to want guidance from him. And yet she barely even looked at him. It was like she was afraid of him when he hadn’t even done anything! Why was it that no matter what he did everyone thought of him as the bad guy. And Lucah was not ‘boycotting’ this Honest Abe’s place just because Noah and Ravyn both worked there. He wasn’t planning on ever going there because he was not a huge fan of American restaurants. It had been several years of growing accustomed to American things, but he still found most restaurants in America far too noisy and not as refined as the ones he’d grown up with. But neither of them would know that because neither of them knew him.

As Ravyn excused herself, Luc’s eyes followed her when she left. He’d wanted Noah to leave…not her. If anything being alone with this guy would only make Lucah more irritable. But he was going to try and be polite. This was Rae’s friend, therefore he shouldn’t be mean.

Seriously though…it would have been better had Noah let him speak first because his insistence that they were just friends was not helping his case. “Well thank you for reassuring me of something that I’ve already picked up on. If I needed you to make things any more clear I’d have asked you to. I’m not an imbecile, and I’m fairly sure I’m not stupid. That being said, I see how you are with her. That is not simply just a friendly way to act.”

[Noah Washington]

Noah raised an eyebrow at his response. It was a complete load, like he had already forgotten the cold shoulder he'd given off in tandem with all the other things he'd said. Noah was no fool, he knew how to read between the lines when it came to guys. Especially the jealous kind. It was not his first time in this position; he was smart enough not to say anything before. But he wasn't just going to sit there and let some random guy walk all over him from a misunderstanding.

"That's just how we are." Noah replied, shrugging lightly before allowing his hands to fall to his sides. "But you don't seem like you've picked up on it the fact that you have nothing to worry about. Otherwise you'd be a little nicer to her." One of the things Noah always had a problem with was jealous guys not letting girls have guy friends. It was so high school it was pathetic. He expected more of someone who should have grown out of the behaviour. Ravyn had said he was acting a lot warmer when she was around. He had yet to see that in the flesh.

"I don't like her like that. She doesn't like me like that. Ask her yourself, she's not going to lie to you." The more he spoke the more he started to realise that he had more trust in Ravyn than Lucah did. Or was it that Lucah didn't trust a guy- any guy, to be her friend?

[Lucah Ivaskov]

"How am I not being nice to her? And you know even if I'm being a little harsh, it could be because I do feel threatened. I mean, you go to Hammel. She can see you everyday! Do you know how hard it is not being able to have that luxury?" Lucah ran his hands through his hair, showing just how hard this was for him to explain what he really felt. Yes, there was jealousy in there, yes he didn't particularly like Noah for having that close of a friendship with Ravyn, but that didn't mean he didn't want her to have guy friends.

Ravyn was one of those types of girls that had a lot of guy friends. Luc had been one of them at some point. And if he was a total jerk like everyone thought he was, Lucah would have totally wigged out on her by now for being with Noah. But he hadn't. Had either of them realized that he hadn't really gone off on her or him? No, of course not. They just saw that he was being cold and distant. That was just what happened when he felt threatened.

Sighing quietly, he rubbed at his arm, "You don't get it. I am jealous of you...but only because you have the type of personality that fits hers...and I don't. You try being this horrible person that everyone makes you out to be because you're afraid of getting too close, then let me know how it works out for you." Lucah couldn't figure out why he was telling Noah all of this. Maybe because he'd kept it to himself for so long, but either way there it was. Out in the open.

C'mon Noah, give him a break...he's really not that much of a jerk.

[Noah Washington]

Noah didn't say anything at first. Somehow he'd broken into something really important and Lucah was willing to explain himself. Anything he might have said at that point could have deterred him from speaking further. "I'm not doing anything." He replied finally, after it seemed like things had settled. "I'm the guy she talks to about guys. Girls don't go out with that guy." There was another side to this that no one understood, and furthermore he had a point that hadn't been understood either.

He sighed, knowing where the conversation was taking him. He'd already basically admitted to knowing about their relationship; he was that guy. "She talks about you all the time. She says that there's a side of you that people don't get. That you're not just some cold guy that everyone makes you out to be." He had no reason not to be honest about it; sometimes the lack of communication needed to be filled by another person.

"I don't know much about you," Noah added, his smile cracking slightly, "But you do come off a little scary. She doesn't think that though. And that's a good thing." Was he helping the situation? He was trying to add his natural shade of lightness to everything, because the heavy approach Lucah made was what made it difficult in the first place. "She doesn't want to hurt you either. I'm pretty sure that was obvious. But I'm not here to get in your way. I'm trying to help you out." If only this guy got how often Noah talked him up to Ravyn.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

At least Noah was taking this seriously. Had any jokes been made, Luc would have gone straight back to being a real asshole. This was something he didn’t take lightly. What irked him so much was that Noah didn’t understand how he’d been raised. How his father had hated him for so long and made sure he knew it. No one really understood it fully. Not even Ravyn. “You’d be surprised. At least she can trust you without regretting it. For all I know she secretly hates me and that’s why she has to get out with other guys that make her feel worth something…”

And as Noah continued, Lucah had a hard time believing his words. Why would she say it if she didn’t believe it? How could she believe it? Lucah wasn’t a nice guy, he was cold and brutal just like his father. Or so he liked to believe. It was just easier to act that way because it kept him from being the one who got hurt. “But that’s just it. I am that guy. I’m exactly that guy to everyone that I meet. For God’s sake I’m being that guy right now!” He threw his hands up in frustration. This wasn’t fair. He couldn’t be both guys.

At least he’d admitted that he didn’t know Lucah. Most people tried to act like they really did know him. Luc glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow. “It’s not like I enjoy being ‘scary’ as you put it. And sometimes I just am. I have a very short temper, it seems to run in the family,” He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, “I just don’t want to lose her again because I was a dick. I’ve done it before, I can’t afford to have anymore people hate me.”

[Noah Washington]

"If she didn't trust you or like you or whatever, she wouldn't be dating you." Noah replied. It was as simple as that; this guy needed to remember that she wouldn't be spending her time with him if she thought she was wasting it in any way. "You're not that guy to her." He repeated. He didn't get frustrated by it though. He understood that longstanding issues were not something that a random person could break away at.

He waved a hand at the notion of Lucah losing her. "Seriously. You're not going to lose her." He replied, feigning his very best smile at the notion. He looked around; still no sight of her, but she'd probably turn up soon enough.

"I've gotta go." Noah said, taking a step forward and handing the shopping bag he was holding out to Lucah. "It's like you said, I'll probably just see her on campus. You both have time right now, so you guys should hang out instead." He handed the bag over and took another step, walking past the guy. After a short moment he turned back, realising he would have to tell her something. "Oh, tell her I'm meeting my tutor, or something. I'll catch her later."

And he left. How did he feel about it? That was something for him to deal with. Because he certainly wouldn't be talking to Ravyn about it.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Okay. Ravyn had taken enough time in the bathroom, they would certainly be wondering where she was by now. Steeling her nerves, she took a breath and left the room, glancing around and hoping she wouldn't find the boys arguing or anything. What she saw surprised her - Noah was gone, and Lucah was holding her bag with her few other bags around him. "Oh," she mouthed, looking down the mall from left to right, wondering if Lucah had made him storm off or something. She wasn't going to ask what had happened though - that would just make Lucah angry. She would talk to Noah later.

Not knowing how to react, she walked back up to Lucah and picked up her bags. She felt even more insecure, now that she was alone with Lucah, but she tried to remember - this is the guy who made her feel beautiful, the one she had spent time thinking about since they broke up. He was hurt, and it was her own fault.

"I-I'm sorry Lucah," she murmured. "I really do want to be with you. Noah and I just... We're comfortable around each other, which is why we're like that. And I'm not going to change my relationship with him. But just know... I want to be with you. Exclusively. If... If that's what you want." Her cheeks burned and she was looking at the ground, surprised at her own decision. But she couldn't deal with breaking someone's heart. Not again. And they just... Were right for each other. She hesitated a moment and then enveloped him in another hug, this time squeezing him tightly no matter how he reacted.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Upon seeing Ravyn walking out, he rubbed at his arms nervously. Noah had just left, what if she took it the wrong way? What if she thought he’d done something to push the other guy to leave? Noah had left willingly, but what if she blamed him? She walked closer and he kept his eyes cast down, his hands gripping the bags. His own bag feeling heavier. He wasn’t sure if he should give her the necklace or not. After all that had happened, he wasn’t sure if it was the right moment.

Seeing the way she was curled in on herself had Luc frowning. In hopes of making her feel less insecure, he spoke quietly, “Noah said he had to go meet up with someone. Not sure who it was, but he said he’d catch up with you at school…” He trailed off as the lie faded. It was Noah’s choice to leave, Lucah could have stopped him but wasn’t sure what would have happened if he had. Would all three of them finish the day off one big happy group of friends? Unlikely. Lucah was incapable of having any good guy friends, and he didn’t want to burden Noah and Ravyn by his brooding personality.

Her stuttered words had him feeling more guilty than ever and he shook his head slightly. “No. You shouldn’t be apologizing. God, I’m such a selfish, and jealous prick sometimes. I just…I dunno. I’m always worried that you’re going to find someone your age that suits you better than I do.” His hands rested on her arms and he looked down at her, “Y’know you could find someone so much nicer to you than I am. And for all I knew, Noah could have been my replacement. But I never should have reacted so horribly and I’m sorry if I upset you.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, “I really do want to be with you. Exclusively or otherwise, it’s up to you. As long as you have room for me, I’ll be there.”