Google Hangouts
2:55 PM
Bram Stoker
I can’t believe you're gone. This house seems empty without you. Even when you were just quietly reading, I still felt your presence.
Harker Westenra
Bram, hi, wow.
Bram Stoker
You're so easy to impress, Harker. :)
I'm not interrupting you, am I?
Harker Westenra
No, I, actually I was reading :)
Bram Stoker
I know how you get when you're reading, so I'm flattered you're up for chatting.
Harker Westenra
I thought…I thought maybe I would never hear from you again.
Bram Stoker
What? No way. Did I give you that impression? I didn't mean to. Maybe I was a bit cold because your friends didn’t approve of me at first.
Harker Westenra
You didn't. I just had this horrible thought that maybe I would wake up, back here, at home, and it would all have been a fantasy. Just a silly story I told myself about a woman who…who loved me?
Bram Stoker
A woman who absolutely loves you.
And let me tell you how I am about things I love, Harker: I don’t give them up without a fight.
Harker Westenra
You are very stubborn. And bad at sharing
Thanks, good. I'm glad.
Bram Stoker
Very, very bad at sharing ;)
Especially things that *shouldn’t* be shared.
Harker Westenra
I want to share everything with you.
Oh god.
I— That came out more…intense than I meant it.
Bram Stoker
Did it?
Harker Westenra
Well. No. But.
Bram Stoker
Harker, if it were up to me, you'd still be here, sharing my life, my shower, my couch, my bed. My everything. But I'm aware you have a life, friends (very…devoted friends ;D), family, and academics to contend with. I don't want to distract you.
Well, I do…
Harker Westenra
I wish I were still there, too. My place doesn't really feel like home anymore. I used to love being here. I…well, I hid here, really. But now I have an urge—an itch at the edge of my mind. And I just want to drive straight back to you.
Bram Stoker
You know where to find me, love. I'm working but of course that isn't anything new. I would love to have you here with me.
Harker Westenra
I don't know…I don't know how to balance anything. I've never had anything to balance. I know I must sound pathetic, I just… *sigh* I just miss you, I guess.
Bram Stoker
You don't sound pathetic. I feel the same. I love coming into the room to find you reading, or hear you talk out loud to yourself as you write.
Harker Westenra
*blushy smile*
I love watching you work too.
You glare at the computer screen like it's offended you. It's adorable.
Bram Stoker
I don't think anyone's ever called me adorable before. I like it.
Harker Westenra
You are. You're so grouchy, but…not at me? So that makes it adorable :)
Bram Stoker
Nope, not at you, love. I save my ire for broken code, restaurants that won’t deliver to rural areas, and Big Data (and the companies that cater to it argh!).
Harker Westenra
Yeah, I know. I do listen when you mutter.
And rant.
And talk to yourself. About all this stuff.
Bram Stoker
I'm…used to being alone.
Harker Westenra
I know. I understand, believe me.
I…uh…sing a lot.
When I'm alone, I mean.
Bram Stoker
I noticed ;)
Harker Westenra
What?
Bram Stoker
And in the shower.
When you're alone in the shower, that is. Without me in there, distracting you.
Harker Westenra
Oh god. I had no idea I did it when I was there!
Bram Stoker
You do. I like that you're comfortable around me to do that. And you have a nice voice.
Harker Westenra
Thanks. I've never sung in front of anyone.
I just like it.
Bram Stoker
Feel free to do it in front of me anytime. Since I definitely won't stop muttering or glaring anytime soon.
Harker Westenra
We're pretty loud for two quiet people, huh?
Bram Stoker
We are. And there are other times you're loud, too, love. Which I VERY much appreciate. ;D
Harker Westenra
Oh god, I don't…you know I'm not good at saying those things. But I don't want you to stop.
It makes me feel like you want me.
Bram Stoker
You just need practice, love. And I do want you. Very much.
Harker Westenra
Bram, I want you so much too.
You know that right? Even though I'm not good at the talking part?
Bram Stoker
I do know that. You might not say it out loud but you act like it, and that matters more to me anyway. Words are cheap and it's so easy to lie.
Harker Westenra
It's not very easy for me to lie. But I know what you mean.
Bram Stoker
Listen, Hark, you’re still on fellowship until September, right?
Harker Westenra
Yes
Bram Stoker
And you can work on your dissertation anywhere, isn't that right?
Harker Westenra
Well…anywhere with the internet and a library that has access to Interlibrary Loan and where I can use my JSTOR subscription, yes.
Bram Stoker
Would you like to come with me to London?
Harker Westenra
On a vacation?
I'd love to!
I've never been.
Bram Stoker
Mmm. A bit longer than that. Several months at least. The whole summer, maybe.
Harker Westenra
Really? I…yes, still yes.
Yes to anything with you.
Bram Stoker
I was hoping you'd say that. Just make sure to tell your sister where you're going this time, mmm? I don't want her showing up in London with that knife. ;)
Harker Westenra
*Groans* God, she is a little bit impulsive, isn't she. I can't believe she rushed at a shadowy figure holding a knife.
Well. I can, actually.
Anyway, what are you doing in London?
Bram Stoker
Demeter is launching Thrall there. The bigger the city, the larger the data pool. They need me on the ground to work out bugs in the local interface. Well…they need *someone*—of course, they thought they were hiring someone who lives in London ;)
Harker Westenra
You create new personas to apply for all of these jobs?
Bram Stoker
I am legion ;)
Harker Westenra
When do we leave for London?
Bram Stoker
<3 Soon