Tuesday, August 17, 2004

- giggle and bounce -
In honor of writing about my meeting with Solo, I'm stealing his color. Because, as much as I'd have loved to, I didn't get to steal any items of clothing from him ;_;

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Gather round and Wednesday shall be told !

We'd agreed to meet at Hammersmith station at 11 am. The time was my idea, since I didn't know how long it'd take him to get into London and it felt evil to make him get up super early just for my sake. For some reason I also thought I'd sleep in that morning and would need extra time to get ready. Which, of course, never happened. My eyes refused to go shut again after waking up around 7 am, lol.

At 10.30 I didn't feel like waiting in the room any longer, so my sister and I walked down to the station (a mere 2 minute walk). She had planned to lunch with a friend of hers in Camden and meant to leave at 11. I guess she was kind of hoping that we'd be able to help guide her there, but the lunch date required her to leave at 11 the latest and she couldn't wait for Solo to come in. So I hugged her off and proceeded to run up and down stairs, go back and forth the two departure/entrances for the tube and generally wait around for Solo to appear.

It turns out that he was waiting at one departure/entrance and I at the other, lol. Thanks to some text messages and a phone call, I got his position and headed that way. And I must confess, if it weren't for knowing what he'd be wearing ... I probably wouldn't have recognised him. At least not straight away. It's not the same to see a person from a picture, where you freeze them in one angle in certain clothes, and seeing them from all possible angles in a different outfit, heh.

By this time the heat and humidity had dehydrated me quite a bit, so when I walked up to hug him ... I sort of lost balance and more or less tumbled into him -^_^- At least he wasn't completely knocked over. That would've been a fun sight, no doubt *giggles*

After I regained my balance I explained that I was in dire need of water, upon which he pulls out a water bottle from his backpack. From there on in he spoiled me rotten, which I was totally unprepared for but was very happy about *spins on chair, blushes and smiles*


Once the pleasant introduction and supply of water had been taken care of, we headed off on the tube to the Natural History Museum. At this point I was still very quiet. Partly because it was the first time my English skills was put to the test on the trip (along with my horrible accent/inability to speak) and secondly because ... well, it was so enjoyable to just be with him that I forgot about talking and ended up staring at him/his hands -^_^- Hrm, besides, it's virtually impossible to keep a conversation in a noisy carriage. Yes.

Thanks to Solo's excellent guiding (and immunity to my ability to get myself and others lost) we got to the museum safely. And that was one impressive building ! My jaw dropped considerably, as did my vocabulary. 'Wow' was all that came out, lol. There were these really cool looking gargoyles of different animals, carved into the stony building which reached way up to the sky.

The inside was equally stunning, though without a map it came off as quite the maze. My sense of direction is obliterated in museums *cough* Luckily Solo got his hands on a map (while I played a quick game of hide and seek *giggle*) though I can't say it did much to clear my head about where to go. Apparently there was an exhibition about 'hair', but neither of us could figure out where. Not wanting to waste time looking for something that sounding a bit dubious, to me anyway, we followed our noses and wandered around.

It was really interesting to see these huge skeletons of dinosaurs and just how big/small some [now living] animals are in real life. I said it was a surprise that elephants weren't bigger, though it probably would've been a different story had they been alive and moving >_>;


After that we figured it'd be a good idea to eat and headed off towards Hyde Park. I, being absolutely in love with Kensington Gardens, was thrilled that we 'dined' there and was thoroughly amused by the 'baseball joke' that came up as we ate. (You can read it at Solo's place.) It took me a while to stop giggling but no one had to perform the Heimlich on me though ^_^;;;

While I didn't get to steal any clothes from him, he let me check out the shirt he brought with him (in case he needed to change). He'd worn it in a picture and I'd commented on how cool it looked, so getting to hold/feel it was a major bonus of the day. But boy was it ever tempting to not give it back and snuggle it all day ^_^;

Moving along :p


Next up was the Science Museum, which we passed on our way to Kensington Gardens. In between the staircase, inside the building, resided this gigantic pendulum. It was 'controlled' by gravity and told the time really accurately. Cool thing.

There were simulator rides on the 3rd floor, so we (read 'Solo') bought some tickets for us and we trecked upwards. Luckily the stairs were quite broad, so by staying close to the wall I could avoid the side effects of looking down a dwindling, swirling, .... eh, stupid being afraid of certain heights combined with heat >_>;

Had it not been for the .... *foul language* .... people at the back of the ride (it seated two rows with 4 people in each row, I think) and the murderous hotness in there (not talking solely about Solo here *grins*), I'd have enjoyed it more. We all know I'm in muchly need of anything that resembles amusement park rides, heh.

Getting out of that thing was pure bliss, as was stocking up on more water. I felt like such a thief though, robbing all the liquid, heh. At least the bottle occupied my hands ~_^;;


While sitting down to consume some water, it hit me that we needed to bowl before it got too late. I wasn't too sure if I should press that idea, because Solo looked kind of drained and it would've been fine to spend the rest of the time sitting wherever and talk. But I really wanted to bowl and I dared to suggest it *bites lip and smiles widely*
It earned a smile from him and before he could say more I had bounced up and was ready to go, hehehe.

(Oh, and on the way down again we saw some people fencing. Nothing for lazy people, I tell ya.)


Funland, where the bowling alley was, turned out to be the old Sega-something-place. And that place is loud (at least upstairs where the games are). Not to mention pretty crowded. And like Solo mentioned, next to a bar. Turns out we would have to wait for about 45 minutes and, tempting though it was to go someplace else, there really were no guarantees for finding another alley in time. Determined to go through with it we booked a lane and went downstairs again, trying to come up with something to do in the meantime.

That included sitting down on the uncomfy stairs for a little while, even though it was forbidden, naughty me *giggles* Sitting in Solo's lap would've been comfier, but that might've been an offense too. Hrm.

A security guard came and ushered us away soon after that, cutting our rest short. HMV was right next to the stairs though and we browsed around there the rest of the time. Originally I had only planned to find Princess Mononoke, but Solo (the tease) kept finding more items for me and reminding me of more stuff to look for ~_^

* Princess Mononoke DVD
* Empire Records DVD
* Matrix Revolutions Soundtrack (FINALLY)
* Princess Mononoke Soundtrack
* Nightmare before Christmas Soundtrack

He let me use his student discount and by doing that also came very close to being glomped to death by my happines of getting so much goodly goodness all in one strike ^____^ I opted for bouncing happily and smiling :p


Now.... the time had come .... to BOWL !
(At least after some waiting and worrying our lane was given away >_>;;;)

It was less crowded when we bowled, which was nice, but I agree with Solo that the setting could've been better. Most of it was blocked out for me by the sheer joy of bowling though, lol. We both earned a couple of strikes and some gutterballs, which we believed was due to the lane not being fed on a regular basis :P And gravity had a hand in it too, I'm sure.

Looking at Solo's update I notice that he kept the score, claiming I won *blinks* It felt pretty close though and main thing is that we had a lot of fun shaking our fists at those evil pins that refused to go down and allow more strikes >:o


Throughout the day I was more thirsty than hungry, but after the bowling it felt like a good idea to stack up on energy. Eating at Pizza Hut might not be the best way to do it, but hey :p
While waiting for our food we compared nails, played around with various objects on the table and I tried to talk a little instead of just staring at him ^_^; My speech came along a bit towards the end but it was still affected by simply enjoying being where I was and soaking up as much as possible _^_
He had me literally eating out of his hands, tsk. I'm not sure if I was supposed to use my hands for that though, heh.


*pause for happy sigh and giggle*

Continuing after much needed rest was another long walk, with Solo forced to lead the way. He did a great job with that, once again. So great, in fact, that we ended up at Forbidden Planet. A place that deserves a whole day dedicated to looking through the shelves, because the place was pretty big and filled with yummy anime/manga-ness *drool*

Upon spotting some Kill Bill action figures, we both said (almost simultaneously): "James" !
There were actually several instances during the day when you'd be reminded of other myO/OB peeps. Like at the Natural History Museum, with the Pandas there. Or a restaurant by the name of 'Benjamin'. Oddly fun ^_^ (The best was walking past the 'Hugo' restaurant ~_^)

Sadly it closed fairly soon after we came there, but next time I go to London I'll be sure to spend more of the day there *grins*


It was getting pretty late, we were both tired from all the walking and decided it was best to head back to Hammersmith. It was quite a way to go by the tube and keeping my head off of Solo's shoulder was close to impossible, heh. We arrived at the station around 8 o'clock and unfortunately (.... well, it depends on how you look at it ...) my sister wouldn't be at the station until 9. She had the key, which meant I couldn't get into the room and I didn't want to wait in the reception building since there was a bar there. Drunk people and girl in skirt does not make good combination *nods*

Solo was wonderful enough to stay way longer than he should've had to, helping the time pass by lending me one of the earphones to his cd player and (sitting on the stairs next to the toilets in the station) listening to Princess Mononoke. Once again, his shoulder seemed to want to pull me in, lol.

As it got closer to 9 it really was time for him to leave, and rowdy people began storming the toilets, so we went down to the platform and sat on the bench there. It had been a long day (an extremely fun day, but long none the less) and poor Solo looked like he would need a week to recover. Once again I resisted the urge to run my fingers through his hair and cuddle him until the train came.

(Being a physical person, who hugs a lot, can be quite straining if you're not sure how far you can go, lol. And the question "How physical can I get with you ?" would've come off very weird XD)

I did however squeeze as much out of that goodbye hug as I dared and managed not to cry when he hopped on the train *pose* Silly as I am I even did the classic Hollywood scene, where you run after the train and wave *giggles*


My sister showed up shortly after that and we went back to the hostel together. She only stayed for a couple of minutes to check if I had had a good day, because she was meeting up with some friends to go to the pub. It was nice to get some time by myself and let the day sink in. A few text messages later and the day was officially over, being the best I had during my London visit ^______^

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All in all I don't think I've ever felt so at ease with someone as I did with Solo. And strangely enough it never entered my mind once how I looked, despite being with a gorgeous guy. Though the thought of whether or not he could see up my skirt raised itself a few times. Especially since he sometimes went up stairs and escalators after me, heh ~_^;;; But I didn't ask about that since, if he wasn't aware of it, I didn't want to make him conscious of it >_>;;;;

Hopefully my accent still enabled him to understand some of what I said, dreadfully bad as I was at communicating. But I really had a blast and there weren't enough words to relay that _^_


So take anything nice you can say about him, multiply by a million .....
and you'd still end up with an understatement of how wonderful he is ^_______^


EDIT: Forgot to say this, but I got to touch his sword ! ....
The one on his necklace of course, you dirty people ~_^
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