Happy Birthday (Jarrod, Reilly)

[Lovely]

Name: Reilly Winters Aliases: Rye, Rile DOB: 19 Location: Joplin, Missouri played by: Lovely likeness used: Michelle Ryan

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Name: Jarrod Sharpe Alias: Sharpie Age: 28 Location: Joplin, Missouri Played by: Tripp Likeness used: Cillian Murphy

[Lovely]

August 16, 2007
Late evening, nearing sunset
Joplin, MO


The light of day wouldn't get any brighter than now. The doorway faced North, always shrouded in shadow, but he had the keys and knew how to turn them as quick now as he did when closing at 2 a.m. in the pitch black after last-call. Jarrod looked down the street carefully assessing the movements before turning his back to it and pull the door open. In, out and gone was his plan. The steel grates over the windows and door had kept this stash safe so far. Although the glass had been broken in several places, no one had gotten past the bars.

He turned the key and fluidly moved into the shop to get his rations for the day. Thirty seconds, no more, that's all he knew for sure he had. Something rattled in a corner, startling him enough to keep his bat close in hand. Behind the counter he discovered the mouse trap was tripped and the creature was clattering around in the metal box looking for escape. Taking pity on the creature that was only doing the same as himself, he released the door and waited for it to run free.

The food supply in the normally well stocked pantry of her family's house had finally run out, almost four days before.. Reilly had been living off the last box of cereal trying to make it last. She didn't have milk and would only eat a handful here and there but it wouldn't last forever and now she was so hungry. Daddy had told her to stay inside when he went out to investigate, but he'd never come back and Reilly had been all alone for three weeks. Her sisters were missing, her brother and mother had been infected and it had just been her and her dad. It hadn't been so bad.. he boarded up the house and protected her and they sat on the floor playing go fish during the day after they checked to make sure things were still secure.

Reilly wiped a tear from her cheek and kept walking, her head turning and her eyes darting around. It looked like everyone was gone or maybe just holed up in their houses like she had been. It was creepy and she kept looking for her father's truck, hoping beyond logic that he'd just be there and.. She stopped walking as she realized the door to the quick mart place wasn't gated off like so many other places were. Her stomach clenched with hunger and she ran along the sidewalk to the door, food, they had to have something, even if she had to swallow gum! She pulled the door open, flinching a little as the little bell above it chimed her arrival.

Jarrod turned, bat raised against an attack and ready to bash the head and chest of any attacker without blinking and hope that if it wasn't an infected creature, that it would think twice before doing the same to him. A girl? His mind faltered a moment... Deanna? It wasn't her, but the split second was enough to save whoever it was from a killing blow. He took a breath, waiting, staring, ready.

He startled her and she tripped over the cardboard candy display as she jerked away from the attack. She landed on the display as it toppled to the floor and she stared at her attacker, her hand and arms up to try to protect herself. "Oh god.. I'm sorry.. please don't kill me!" She managed to squeak out, her eyes brimming with tears. He'd scared the crap out of her and if he'd actually hit her rather than pause the second, he's have crushed in her head with that bat.

"You're human?" He asked, still holding his breath a little, ready to strike. She didn't jerk and gurgle and certainly didn't appear enraged as much as she did terrified. He moved back to the doorway, watching her and peering out to the street. He hadn't seen her, maybe there were others he didn't see either. There was nothing else in sight, but he didn't chance it. One he could fight off but more than that, he wasn't sure. He closed the door and locked it from inside. Nothing else was getting in and it might be only one of them leaving - and it was going to be him if that was the case. "Are you?!"

She watched him lock the door and the tears spilled out, he was going to kill her! The tears were silent, born of fear and pent up emotional pain. "Oh god.. oh god.. please.. look, I'm sorry.. I didn't know anyone was in here.." She started to crawl backwards, her breath coming a little faster in her panic as evident by the rise and fall of her chest beneath the light fabric of the v-neck tee shirt she was wearing. "Am I what? Human??? Yes!.. aren't you?" Her legs kicked, to get her over the display and possibly keep him away if he followed after her.

"You're not infected?!" He wasn't sure what to believe but his hands lowered slowly though his guard didn't. He looked at her sideways and glanced back at the door. "Are you alone?"

"Yes.. I mean no.. I'm not infected, yes I'm alone.." She cringed and closed her eyes for a second, realizing she'd just told her potential murderer that no one was going to bust in and save her. That was just brilliant. "Do I look like a stark raving lunatic to you? You're the one with the bat and you attacked me!" She reasoned and tossed back at him, looking at him as if it should be obvious that she wasn't infected.

"Are you afraid of mice?" He lowered the bat completely now and leaned on it, waiting for her to calm down now. "I didn't attack you, I was protecting me. The mouse is a different story."

"Not anymore." She said quietly, wiping her cheeks as she stared up at him. She didn't move back anymore but didn't get up, not convinced he wouldn't try to hit a homerun with her head. "The stark raving lunatics sort of voided out all other fears." She took a deep breath and bit her lip. "I wasn't attacking you, I was just hungry and saw the door wasn't gated.. "

He frowned and partly shrugged, looking around the shop. The mouse, himself and now her. "Great. Help yourself then," he offered, sweeping a hand around the meager offerings of stale donuts, melted ice cream, half an aisle of salted things and sixty different kinds of candy bars. "Antifreeze? Batteries? Pringles.. whatever floats you." He sighed and turned to complete his task, fairly certain she wasn't going to try to attack him as long as he had the bat.

"You.. you're just taking stuff?" She asked, slowly, softly as she gathered herself up to her feet and brushed down a little. Jeans, sneakers, the t-shirt and a jean jacket in her back pack in case she needed it, she didn't think she looked particularly dangerous for him to try to kill when she walked in the door.

He unlocked the cooler where he'd put a few things he'd gathered from trucks he'd passed, looking in and turning back with a nod. "Yup, pretty much. Who's going to stop me? Or you? You're hungry. You want to fix that you have two choices - eat... or drink the antifreeze." He shrugged again and let her think about that while he disappeared into the cooler and came out with a netted bag of apples.

He had a point, even if he was nuts. She looked at the door, considering just running as far and as fast as she could.. hunger won for the moment and she slowly moved into the aisle with the snacks. She eyed him as he went in then came out of the cooler, her eyes and face lit up at the sight of the apples but she had yet to take a single thing from the shelf. "I.. I've never taken anything that wasn't mine before." Her hand hovered, trembling just a little over a box of animal crackers. She didn't know why she'd said that out loud, like he even cared..

"Geezus." His eyes rolled a little with the muttered comment. "What's your name, huh? Look, I'm Jarrod, I work here... more or less. You think I'm going to turn you in? To who? When? Huh? You want them? Here." He came up beside her and put the box of cookies in her hand. He pulled an apple from the bag and held it out to her. "These... are now yours. Enjoy."

"Well you don't have to be nasty about it." She whispered, her mouth opened to protest that they weren't paid for but she just closed it again, her fingers curling gently around the apple and the crackers. "Thank you... I'm Reilly." She added after a moment, there was just so much to take in. The whole world had gone insane.. she was shell shocked, she'd always been good and did what she was supposed to do. She desperately wanted to believe none of this was real, it wasn't happening, and that everyone would be coming back and everything would be normal again.. things would be 'right'. She looked down at the apple and then up to him. "Things.. will never be.. normal again.. will they?"

He started to say much more than should have been necessary. She wasn't a stupid girl, just more hopeful than he was. "No." He grinned gently, trying to appear less hostile than she seemed to think he was. He reached out his hand. "We have to go. It will be dark soon."

[Lovely]

For a moment, after he answered, she looked like she was going to burst into tears again, but in then they were blinked away and she shifted the box of crackers to her other hand and reached to take his hand. "Thank you.. I needed.. to hear it.. I didn't want to believe.. you know?" She looked around and then brought her gaze up to his. "I only have a few things in my back pack if.. you know quickly before we go, take some with us?"

"Bring it if you can carry it. We can't stay here, but we can come back. It's only safe during the day." He pulled a few cans of tuna and sausages into the netting with the apples and popped open a plastic sack for a few more things that filled it to the top. "Keep your hands free and," he paused to look around for something, anything she could use to defend herself."Keep something ready, always."

She saw that he grabbed tuna so she assumed he must have a way to open the cans, which gave a greater option of what she could grab. Her back pack was shifted off her shoulders and unzipped, she'd started to fill it when he spoke again and she looked up. She didn't know what he meant. "Ready?" She put a few cans of tuna, a few of fruit and a few of ravioli and beefaroni, testing the weight before starting to add in lighter things like more animal crackers, pringles, and candy bars.

"To kill anything that tries to kill you, hm? Try this. Is this too heavy to carry?" He took the lock bar off the cigarette case while he took a few packs for himself. The bar had the lock core on one end making a nice sharp and heavy bludgeon. The rest was thin but sturdy metal.

Her eyes widened at his words and stayed slightly so as he handed her the bar, she still held her bag in one hand and tested the weight of the bar with the other. "How far do I have to carry it?" She asked softly, moving back and around to the other side, into the 'next aisle' where she grabbed a box of tampons, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and some midol and advil. Who knew where she was going and when she might need them, she was a girl after all. While she was right there she grabbed deodorant, it almost made her laugh to think how she would never buy stuff like that in places like this since the packages were usually so small and expensive. With that in mind she grabbed double of a couple things then added in some first aide stuff in the front pouch and zipped the bag. She shrugged it back on her shoulders and rolled them, it was a little heavy but not as bad as when it was filled with her school books. Her right hand gripped the bar he'd given her and she sighed softly, looking over at him.

"First thing. When you meet someone do you always do what they say? Huh? A minute ago I tried to kill you. Of course I thought you were going to kill me but that's beside the point. Yes, you can trust me. Not like you have a lot of choice, but just think about that, okay? If I'm not around and you see anyone... ANYone else... think twice."

"Wha.. wh.. I.. " She blew out a long sigh after looking quite bewildered as he scolded her. "No, not usually, but well.. there is no one else around and even if you're a criminal or something.. you're like the only other person left alive and if you can crack my head with a bat you could just as easily crack the .. freaked out crazies!" She pointed her finger at him. "You know just because you're all 'mister I know what I'm doing' does not mean you have to be... It's not my fault all this happened and I didn't take apocalypse survival 101 in school!"

"Yeah, it shows. Come on," he said more gently, unfazed by her rant. "I didn't say I knew anything, but I don't want to see you get killed over common sense. You're what.. seventeen?" He made sure she had the bar in her hand and his bat in his along with his sacks.

She dropped her head and took a shaky breath her voice coming more subdued. "Nineteen... today." Her fingers flexed around the bar and she gripped it a little more tightly as she started to step behind him.

Jarrod unlocked the door, making sure the blinds were down and flush. His hand raised for her to stay back behind him as he pulled the door open carefully, an inch to take a peek then gradually wider to see down the street. "Yeah? Well f*ck, let's go have a drink to celebrate," he said, turning back with a smile, waving her on to follow closely while the path was clear.

[Lovely]

"Yeah." She followed quickly and quietly, not quite sure what to expect as they went back outside, she was still hungry and she would be glad once they got where they were going and she could stop to eat. "I.. um.. don't drink."

"Today, you do. My house, my rules... do you smoke?" He was jonesing bad himself and hadn't stopped for anything yet but didn't want to take the chance out here.

"I.. no.. I don't smoke." Reilly shook her head and chewed her lip, though as she walked almost next to him, she didn't really know if he could see it.

He double checked his pocket now to be sure he'd put the key where he thought he had and spun to take a look behind them. They could come from anywhere. "Next lesson, keep a sharp eye," he said, picking up the pace a little as they neared the intersection.

"Right." She nodded again, watching him closely as he looked around and walked. She wasn't dumb, just.. never dealt with anything remotely like what was happening in the world now. She mimiced him somewhat, looking around herself, trying to see 'more' and quickened her pace, which had to be faster than his since his legs were longer. "What comes after that?" She asked him quietly, wanting to learn as much as she could from him. One to keep herself alive and two to help him and three so he wouldn't think she was an annoying tag along.

He turned back with a slight frown. "Then, nothing. We just walk until we get there. Anything useful, see if you can carry it, or remember where it is for later, maybe hide it if you have to. Don't go anywhere in the dark - and if you're in the dark, keep it dark."

"Oh.. okay.." Now she felt like he thought she was dumb, but he was the only not infected person she'd seen in weeks.. "I sort of have alot of.. questions.. if you don't mind.. when we get somewhere safer?" She caught up to him and walked next to him now, still looking around and following his lead. "How far is it?"

"Not far. Well it didn't used to seem that far. Two more blocks." The shadows on the street were low and getting longer with the late part of the afternoon.

"Everything seems longer and farther now.." She agreed with a small sigh and tried to shake the unease as she really looked around and noticed the shadows and lack of normal everyday life that should be present in the city.

"Perfect," he nodded, though he watched ahead of them. He glanced over only a moment. "Keeping aware is really all this is about. Love... money... power... it's all pretty useless here. It's about spirit and strength, at least I think so."

"In the short time that I've known you.. I'd say you have both, so you'll be fine." She shook her head a little. "You're right about money.. but love and power, those are fundamental.. they don't go away even if the world has gone to sh*t."

"Unless that's the reason everything in your world has gone to sh*t... because it lacks those things," Jarrod sighed, his eyes closing a moment. He shook the thoughts loose and kept going, nearly jogging now. "C'mon. We need to beat the shadows."

"If they're the reason your world has gone to shit, then that makes them all the more powerful." She had to jog to keep up with him, but she'd always been in good shape so it wasn't hard to keep up.

Jarrod's jaw clenched tighter, obviously keeping a thought quiet as he moved down the walk, again spinning to keep an eye behind them as well as in front. He glanced at her, somewhat making sure she was simply still there and not needing to slow down. His eyes seemed to blaze with whatever thoughts were in his mind.

She bit her lip and didn't say anything for a moment, she watched his face and eyes and she understood a little.. at least she thought she did. "I'm sorry, for everything.. everyone, you've lost in this."

He stopped cold and turned to her. "Are you? Sorry why? Sorry that you get to watch as the world burns? Sorry that we have families we won't see again for all we know? Sorry about the families we didn't even start? Not that they'd have much of a chance, would they? Look around Reilly. Why be sorry? You're living... breathing, here and alive." He turned and started off again. "Get used to it."

[Lovely]

She sucked in a deep breath as he snapped at her and she just stared at him, she didn't deny his words, all of it was true and she was sorry.. for everything that had happened to everyone around them and for all suffering. She stood staring after him for a minute, her feet didn't want to move to follow him. She looked around, wondering where she could go if she didn't go with him. Reilly started to follow him again, but wasn't jogging to keep up or trying to speak to him anymore. She didn't attempt to catch right up with him and at the moment wasn't sure she'd still be behind him when he got to where he was going. She wasn't really far behind, but there were several paces between them, she walked and watched around them.

Jarrod scarcely noticed the distance she kept, listening only to be sure she was still behind him somewhere. The two blocks had far too many opportunities for mishap but thankfully nothing happened this time. The bat he carried was loose in his hand now as he took a turn toward a flight of stairs up an older looking building and pulled his key out, waiting for her to catch up.

Reilly had kept back and almost turned off to go a different way a few times in the two blocks they walked to the building they were at now. Finally she'd decided that he was better than no one or the infected -at least for now. When he turned to go up the stairs at this building she wasn't as far behind him as she'd been and it only took her a minute to catch up to him now. She decided not to say anything as she stepped up closer to him, since she figured no matter what she said he was going to treat her like she was stupid anyway.

"We're here. See? Not far, not that bad, right? Wouldn't want to be caught out here much later though. C'mon," he said, unlocking the door and letting her go in first. "Small but comforting."

Reilly still didn't say anything but gave him a funny look as he suddenly seemed to warm up a little and was.. nice? Okay he was definitely one confusing guy, but she gave a slight smile and nodded, stepping into the small apartment. She wasn't going to judge him on his place, only on the way he treated her. "The size isn't important as long as it's comfortable."

"Not the first time I've heard that," he muttered, closing and locking the door before sliding past her. Much of his artistic talent was seen in the way the windows had been boarded and painted to block the light from being seen down in the street. The pieces of plyboard were taped together and bright colors splattered in stylistic designs over them, some scenes, some random shapes and designs, but all clearly the work of someone haunted by a particular theme, or limited in the number of colors available in his selections. The rest of the apartment clearly had a softer and more feminine design to it that appeared to slowly fade in the corners under newer piles and artifacts he'd been gathering. Jarrod tossed the bat on the floor near the door and turned the corner to grab some beer from the refrigerator and stow the items he'd dragged back. "It's not really that cold, but colder than it would be sitting out. I need to find a way to get ice. Here - happy birthday," he said, giving her one of the luke-warm bottles.

"I.." She bit her lip and shrugged under the weight of her back pack, taking the beer and giving him another small smile. "Thank you." She actually had to look at the bottle to find out it said twist off on the cap.

"Give me those. You might as well be comfortable. I'm not going to make you stand in the doorway all night," he chuckled, trying to help her get the pack off while she managed her beer. "There's a spot on the couch. Normally I'd have the stereo on, but unless I end up singing, we'll have to do without if that's okay. Go on... relax a while. It's your birthday.."

[Lovely]

She eyed him with a slightly curious and questioning expression as she shifted and switched hands with the bottle so he could get the back pack from her shoulders. "Beer, ravioli, and you singing.. it will be a birthday to remember for sure."

"Ah, see, that's where you're wrong. If you remember it, how good could it have been? You need to really let loose and enjoy it this time. Go all out," he insisted, smilingly excited to help her celebrate. "Okay, well as all-out as we can. Beers are good and well for a start, but I think I know just the thing to get your party rolling next."

"Oh.. I.. nevermind, you already think I'm a big loser, why give you more ammo?" She laughed softly after she said it and shook her head. "I suppose my life has been very sheltered.." She held up the beer as she started toward the couch. "This is my first beer, ever.. and I've never had one of those good times I can't remember.."

"What makes you say that? I don't think that at all," he said, throwing himself down into one empty corner of the couch, leaving her the other. "So what if this is your first time? Cheers - may it not be your last."

"Because of everything you've said to me after anything I've said or admitted to." She said quietly, sitting down more in the middle of the couch. She held her beer in her hand, timidly taking the first sip of it.

Jarrod leaned an arm across the back of the couch and reached to tap her bottle with his. "Because you don't know me," he clarified with a quiet and teasing smile, taking a sip of his beer and looking her over a little more thoroughly before sitting back comfortably. "And I don't know you, so how could I know what you know? I'm a champion of stating the bloody obvious... at your service. That by no means means I think you're stupid, so please... No, listen, I really don't think you are, okay? I mean, how could you be if you've lasted out here?" His warm and lively tone shifted again to near pleading apology as he looked into his bottle and took another drink. "Here's to f**k**g survival of the fittest."

"I didn't think of it that way.. you just seemed to.. snap at me everytime I spoke up." She watched him as he sat back and then let out a small sigh. Reilly took another drink off the beer, draining a good deal of it at once, before she glanced at him again. "I never thought of myself as being.. you know one of the fittest."

"Did I snap?" He looked up at her, somewhat shocked. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I had. A few things on my mind, I guess... nerves, memories, you know. You said you don't smoke, I do. Want to try one?" He reached over his shoulder to the corner table, grabbing a pack and the ashtray under it. "Filterless.. clove... Deanna's. You'd like her."

"She'd probably think I was a dumb sheltered kid... if the world hadn't fallen apart, you know you'd never talk to someone like me." She shrugged again and watched him take the ashtray, but she shook her head to the offer of one.

Jarrod shook his head. "Nope. She'd adore you. Quiet and shy.. her idea of a good time? The latest Clancy novel and a bag of Doritos," he explained, holding one of the dark cigarettes in his lip to light. The sweet spicy aroma from the cloves quickly filled the air. He took a long drag as he thought then watched her with her beer. "You don't like it, do you?"

[Lovely]

"No.. I mean.. yes.. sort of. I just never had one and I'm still worried that you don't like me.. or that you're going to think I'm stupid.. which is stupid considering everything going on around us. It's my birthday.. I'm nineteen.. and no offence but I'm sitting with some guy I don't know drinking a beer.. I'm just not sure what to do with myself."

"Some guy you don't know?" He glanced at her then back at the beer he swirled a little, planting his tongue in his cheek a moment. "Alright then. I'll go first. Jarrod Sharpe. I'm 27 and I'm an artist, working at a shop on the corner. Mom died when I was a kid and dad's missing. So is my sister, same age as you and two older brothers who are god-knows-where. Deanna.. was my fiancee. So now I'm not just 'some guy'."

Her eyes moved over him as he spoke and she slowly nodded when he was done. She didn't say she was sorry since the last time she'd said anything he'd bit her head off, though he did seem much calmer now. "Reilly Winters. I'm nineteen today. My brother and mother ended up infected and are dead.. my sisters are missing, my dad left three weeks ago to try to get some supplies because we were running out of food and he never came back." She shifted the beer into her other hand and held this one out to him. "It's nice to meet you."

Jarrod slipped the cigarette in his mouth and reached back for her hand, holding it gently. "I'm sorry," he said, seeming to mean it whole-heartedly when he didn't let go right away. He chuckled after a moment and let go to tap the ash off of his cigarette. "I'm sorry. It's strange to feel the warmth of another person after so many weeks of feeling so cold."

His hand felt nice for the moment it was held in hers and she almost tried to grab it back when he pulled it away. "Yeah.. it's strange to be talking to another person.. I kind of thought I might never.. but you're really here? I mean I'm not just hallucinating or something?"

He flicked the aromatic ashes away and took another puff before putting it out entirely. The exhale was slow and deliberate as he looked up to the ceiling. Jarrod turned back with a strange smile. "Remind me tomorrow to show you something. Tomorrow... Tonight, however, I don't want either of us to remember a damned thing. Is that alright with you? Drink up. Don't even think about it, just suck it down. I've got something better next."

Reilly laughed a little at the way he put it wondering how she was supposed to remind him if he didn't want them to remember? She 'obeyed' and finished the beer in a few big gulps and wiped her lip of a few drops that fell as she pulled the bottle away. "Okay.. I'm ready.. what's next?" Her smile beamed more brightly as she turned to look at him, holding up the empty bottle proudly.

He finished his own and leaned to take her bottle for her, smiling brighter since she seemed willing to accept his offer so far. "It's a surprise," he wiggled an eyebrow and stood to take the bottles away. He turned and came back, whispering at her shoulder with the scent of cloves still lingering, "Being that it's a special occassion and all... only the very best."

The way she shifted slightly toward where he whispered, it was clear she was super sensitive on her neck and ears. She bit her lip and tried not to giggle, but his breath tickled and smelled of the cloves. "Do I have to close my eyes?" She asked, turning over her shoulder with a smile.

"Mmm... not yet, not if you don't want to. Be right back," he said, so close he could kiss her, but he slipped away, returning to the kitchen where a couple cupboard doors banged and dishes rattled. "Promise not to laugh! Well.. f*ck, I don't care, laugh if you want to." When he returned, he had a plate in one hand with ding-dongs on it, a candle stuck and lit in one of them and a bottle of champagne tucked under his arm with two glasses pinched in his fingers of the other hand. "Happy Birthday to you...... I warned you about my singing... happy birthday to yoooou..."

Her face lit up, her eyes sparkling in unexpected delight as she clapsed her hands together and giggled. "Oh my.. this is the sweetest.. thank you." She rose up, meaning to kiss his cheek but in trying to get around the flame and his full hands, she managed to get the corner of his mouth as well. It was a quick thank you kiss, with her hands on his shoulders and then she was taking the plate to help him. Still grinning like he'd just given her a new car, she sat down with the plate in her hands. "You're singing is great.. this wouldn't be the same without it."

[Lovely]

The kiss surprised him and was warmer than her hand, at least his cheek felt warmer. The sound of laughter was something he'd forgotten, not hearing it for weeks. "You're welcome. Now wish or something and blow it out or you're going to be eating wax. Make it a gooood one," he chuckled, tempting her with a wiggle of his brow. "Make it real good, something outrageous or even insane. Why not? It's you and me against the world, right?"

Reilly looked up at him smiling at his wiggling eyebrow and then even more at his last comment. "Right." She bit her lip and then nodded her head. "Okay.. I have my wish." She blew out the candle and looked back to him. "I hope you're going to have some with me.. I mean really I can't eat a whole cake myself.. I'll get so fat!" She teased with a small laugh.

"Please. It's a ding-dong, you can eat a whole one and then some. You're not going to get fat. Drunk, maybe," he remembered the champagne and set down the glasses so he could pop the bottle open.

"But this ding dong is my birthday cake and it's only right that I share it with you.. please?" She pouted at him a little and patted the couch next to her for him to come join her. "So.. I've never been drunk.. don't you feel special to be with me for my first time?" She laughed softly. "Oh no.. you're a bad influence on me! So far you have me stealing, going home with strange men, and now getting drunk.. oh dear, what's next?"

He let the cork of the sparkling wine fly loudly as he broke the seal with his thumb and splashed the foaming liquid over teh glasses, not caring what mess was made. "Depends. What did you wish for, huh?" He laughed and took a piece of the dark cake, threatening to paint her nose with it. "I'm honored to be with you."

"Can't tell you what I wished for.. it won't come true." She grinned at him and chased after his threatening cake with a snap of her teeth. Her eyes were bright as she watched him a moment. "Well.. then I propose a toast." She picked up her glass and gave him a wink. "To us.. and getting drunk!"

"Careful. You have no idea where flattery and suggestion may lead you. Cheers," he smiled, letting her have the cake from his fingers even if she bit him. She wasn't infected and any other peril seemed so small compared to that. Jarrod took his glass up to hers to tap it lightly like he had her bottle earlier.

"Mmm well you did tell me I could have anything I wanted and we're supposed to have a good time, right? So.. maybe you should be careful?" She blushed a little that she'd said something like that but it just came out naturally in reply to what he said. She clinked her glass to his and took a drink from it.

"Not in my nature unless I'm out there," he said, nodding to the boarded window. "Art means taking risks. Now... about that good time. Where would you like to start?"

[Lovely]

"I'm not sure.." She replied, taking another good drink from her glass. "I've never had.. a good time like this. I'm the sheltered one remember? You're mister.. risk.. so.. lead me down the path."

Jarrod looked her over, the same puff in his jaw where his tongue rested, trying to make heads or tails of the situation, whether it was a good or bad thing that he'd come across a scared, lonely, inexperienced girl in the new wilderness of the streets he knew better than the Public Works staff did. "I already have," he said, deciding to be safe in vague conversation for a while longer. How much did she know about her life, the world, ding dongs and graffiti artists, he wondered. She should be thankful he didn't have a batch of Deanna's brownies to share that usually led to the later Doritos fix, but he wasn't mentioning that just yet. "Drinking, taking sweets from strangers, telling your darkest, scariest secrets..." He chuckled and put his fingers over his mouth, gesturing an 'oops'. "Oh, we hadn't gotten that far yet. Wishes, you can't tell me what you wished for, but you -could- tell me a secret, or a hundred. Who the hell would I tell?"

She had to agree with him on the last part. "True.. " Reilly nodded and chewed at her lower lip, another sip of the chapagne swallowed as she shifted and relaxed into the cushions on the couch next to him. "..but what would I tell you? What kind of secrets?.. I'm not sure I really have any. Maybe.. you should help me with that.. ask me something you want to know and whatever you ask I have to answer, honestly.. but you have to answer the same question.. ?"

He nodded slowly, almost anxious to share something with her, though he'd keep her waiting a while. He wasn't planning on wasting good information on a temporary state of consciousness that would have her forgetting her own name if had any say in it. He filled her glass and waited for her to start. "Ladies first."

She stared at him a moment and shook her head, shrugging. "What do you mean ladies first? You're supposed to be asking me what you want to know.."

"You're supposed to be telling me something juicy and sweet, some dark red, deep and ominous secret, one so hot you blush even too much to get through writing it down in your diary. There... I asked... what have you got?" He smiled like a cat batting a quaking mouse and sipped at his bubbles.

She blushed just at being asked something like that but still didn't think she had anything to tell him that was worthy of such a description. "I think you're going to be left disappointed.. I don't have anything like that. The worst I have is walking in on my boyfriend while he was watching a porn.. and it was mostly horrifying.. disturbing really and I didnt get it.. and I kind of hope I never do. You don't have any.. weird foot fetishes do you? I won't wake up to you trying to stick your toes in me or something.." The expression that came to her face showed that what she'd seen had definitely grossed her out instead of turning her on in any way.

From the frown of consideration as he stared into the slowly rising bubbles in his glass, she might think he did have something like that to hide, but his head shook. "Nope. I'm a sick bastard, but not that sick, thanks. That's it? You're sure?"

"What else could there be?" She asked him in return, she was trying to think of something but she wasn't coming up with anything. "What did you expect me to say?"

"Anything you want, even if you make it up. That's okay, it's fine. I want you to be honest, actually, that makes things easier." What things did he mean? He wasn't even sure yet. "Fair's fair. Okay. I killed a guy once."

"You.. before this whole virus thing?" She asked, eyeing him a little as she waited for him to explain it more.

Jarrod nodded, staring into his glass. "Yeeesss," he started slowly. "So what, big deal, right? Things happen, blokes fight, more sh*t happens, next you know, one's down and not moving anymore. They said it was an anurism. Ha. Not bloody likely."

"You.. like in a fight.. you beat someone to death?" Her eyes went wide and she looked him up and down, he was kind of skinny but apparently he was tough. "Well.. I suppose on a positive note, I couldn't ask for someone better to have on my side in all this."

He shrugged and finished the drink in his glass in a hollow gulp. "Far as I know, neither one of us asked for that, but I guess.. it's my honor to serve... especially if we're talking another glass. One of us is too sober and it isn't me. Drink up," he said, pouring more in each of theirs though hers was close to brimming.

She looked at her glass and chuckled softly, taking as large of a drink as she could from it, nearly downing half the glass before holding it out for more. "I'm not sure I need that much.. you know it's not like I have a tolerance built up or anything." She smiled some and wiped a little moisture from her lower lip. "We didn't ask or choose really but we did end up together .. I think I got the better end of the deal."

"Maybe. Next question," he said, setting the bottle down heavily and sinking his own glass down as if it were a common shot. The resulting belch was enormous and made him laugh a moment. "Okay, I deserved that. That burned," he sniffled, rubbing his nose lightly. "Okay, next question... what would you -like- to do that would become that dark juicy secret, huh?"

Her mouth opened and she didn't say anything, her head tipped to the side slightly and she ended up chuckling and taking another drink. Once she swallowed without the belch like he had, she regarded him, her hand brushing under her chin a little. "I.. I don't know.. there is so much I haven't done.. seriously.. " She felt herself blush and looked away from those pretty blue eyes of his.

"Then you'd better have another drink. I'm sure you'll find it inspiring. Don't make me find another bottle. What the hell... do! I'm sure I have just the thing," he sprang up despite the tipsiness and refilled her glass with the last from the champagne, ready to take that bottle away and replace it with something else.

Reilly giggled a little watching him spring up and she obeyed, drinking more from her freshly refilled glass. "You're.. getting me.. drunk.." She stated, not accusing him but finding it amusing.

"All in favor, say 'aye'.... AYE!!... Yes, I think I am, though I think I already said that a short while ago. Finish that, then we try this." He came back rocking a bottle of slightly expensive hard liquor that had not yet been opened either. "I have it on good artho... authority... hmm... I think I'm getting myself drunk, too... it came recommended." He plopped the bottle down then himself beside Reilly, though quite a bit closer this time.

"Okay.." She leaned toward him as he plopped down closer to her, touching his chest lightly as she pointed and spoke to him. "..but you.. have to stay sober enough.. to teach me all the really bad, naughty, dark red, juicy.. things that I don't know how to do.. or haven't done.."

"All of them? We'll starve. We don't have enough apples to last us long enough to teach you everything at once, but... since it seems that time is one thing we've got a lot of, I promise to, if you promise to let me. How's that?"

"Okay.. I promise.." She held her hand out to seal the pact, smiling at him and letting herself meet those incredible eyes of his.

"Good. What?" He chuckled back, noticing how she looked at him strangely. "Do I have to teach you how to do that too? Gaaaa...," his eyes rolled playfully with the groan as he leaned forward. "Like this," he said, trying to give her a quick kiss.

[Lovely]

She had no idea what he meant until he leaned forward to kiss her, it was quick and she didn't jerk away from him or anything but looked at him questioningly after. "So, not shaking on it.. maybe you should show me again to make sure I got it..."

"Are you a lawyer? Neither am I. Handshakes are pretty worthless, but this is priceless, truth, a promise sealed by a kiss. Sure you need to do that again? You almost had it... almost," he teased further, not so quick this time since she knew what he was doing. Jarrod leaned in gently, giving her a little wink and a much longer opportunity to be sure she knew she was doing it right.

The way he described a kiss to seal their deal was nearly romantic and much deeper than anything her boyfriend had ever said. Reilly smiled a little at Jarrod now and leaned to him when he shifted toward her, ready this time. Kissing was the only thing she'd done, though she'd done it quite a bit with her boyfriend since she wouldn't let him go any further than that. Jarrod stayed close longer and she had the chance to show him that she did know at least this one thing well.

"Yeah... pretty much... just like that," Jarrod whispered, licking the kiss delicately off his lip as he slowly moved back, thinking a million things in that second and trying not to think at all. "Thing about dark... we can't even so much as have a candle lit. Tonight.. you really don't know your way around this place. You think you'll be okay.." He shrugged at the thought, okay with it himself before he even really laid out the game plan. "You know... staying close all night.. safety, of course."

She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or him that made her feel all tingley and trembley. She licked at her own lips, her eyes following him as he moved back slowly. Reilly wanted to follow and keep kissing him.. "Yes.. I'm alright.. with staying close." She felt herself nod and heard herself agree, which wasn't as strange as the way she felt about staying close to him all night.

"Good." The smile slowly peeked out, carving his cheeks deeper and brightening his eyes even more. "Since it's nearly time. Let me show you," he added, looking around at the edges of the wood that had hardly any glow left from the deteriorating daylight. Some of the images started to jump out, their outlines glowing on their own faintly in irridescence - enough to paint a path but not be seen through the cracks between and around the boards. "Landing lights, sort of," he pointed out how they drew down the short hallway and highlighted the bathroom door and another beside it that stood open a small way.

"Wow.." She breathed out, leaning a little to look and smiling softly. "You did that.. wow.. that's.. pretty awesome." She pointed to what was illuminated by the painting. "Bathroom and bedroom?" She asked, turning her warm gaze back to him.

"Yes.. and yes. That's not a problem is it? Staying back there away from the windows?" Jarrod slid off the couch, reaching out to her to join him, at least hoping she would. "There or here, it's safer if we stay close."

She looked up as he stood and reached back, her eyes met his in the darkening room. "You're right.. I think it might be more comfortable for both of us back there instead of here.." She licked her lips, tugging on the lower one as she reached up for his hands and stood up to join him.

"Okay, then follow the yellow brick road with me. The tour is pretty fast. Kitchen, living room, studio, entertainment center... here. Pool and jacuzzi...," he chuckled a little, pointing out the small bathroom and antiquated offerings of stained tile and cracked porcelain, but it was otherwise clean. The glowing lines and dots faded their way around the key areas... sink... commode... medicine chest... with a dazed looking smiley stick-figure face staring out of its blank hallunication-swirled eyes from the mirror it was on. "You could probably find your way in here in the dark, but you never know. And here, voila... pretend it's ... well anything but a closet... and it helps. Okay, it's small. Think you can deal with this?" He left her at the door to consider it a moment as he sat on the bed to take off his shoes and smooth out the rumpled and tossed covers.

The house she'd grown up in had been a nice one, roomy but not like it was some huge mansion. It wasn't small like this but Reilly didn't seem affected by the size. "It's great, really. Don't worry about it being small. It's more interesting then most places I've been." She grinned and came further into the room, not sure if she should sit down with him or what, though she did want to be closer to him in this still unfamiliar place. She'd spent weeks afraid, and then alone as well once her father disappeared.. she didn't want to be alone anymore. Afraid it was hard to get rid of, though Jarrod while scary in some ways made her feel safe. His scary wasn't like psycho zombie eating your face scary.

[Lovely]

*****

It was morning and he woke with a start, his hand reaching for the bat when he heard the breath so close in his small room. His mind raced in that second - how did they get in, how did they find him, had he been exposed, bitten... He lifted his head, taking in the information immediately and lay back calmly. Exposed? No. Bitten? Once or twice, he smiled to himself, turning to kiss Reilly's cheek.

The movement next to her woke her, for a moment her eyes were wide and she was scared, but seeing and feeling Jarrod shift to kiss her cheek settled that fear. Reilly smiled softly, sinking down into the pillow with a light blush and a content sigh. "Morning?" She murmured, shifting her hand up over his arm, finding that her whole body was a little sore but pleasantly aching with strained muscles she hadn't used like that before, especially concentrated in one area which is what caused the blush.

"Unfortunately it is. If we want food or anything, we'll need to go soon. But...," he mentioned a little sadly though his smile perked up a little. His hand ran over her once more, stopping and lingering to wake her a little more. "How do you feel?" He asked though he knew... very well... that answer already.

She half hid but peeked out from the depth of pillow, biting her lower lip as his hand ran over her and woke her up in a totally different way. She shifted beneath his touch as if reaching for it a little. "I.. mm a little sore.. but really.. really good.." She blushed a little more deeply but didn't shy away, looking at his face directly, her fingers trailed over his arm lightly.

"I have the best remedy for that, too," he grinned, massaging her thigh lightly as he moved closer to remedy his own morning condition. The tenderness and gentleness were so different than the man she'd seen the day before, it almost confused him too. "Can't think of a better wake up call," he suggested, moving slowly to help ease her soreness.

Reilly nodded, inviting him closer with her soft smile and warm brown eyes, she still seemed shy but that was because this was all new to her, she was more than willing to try his kind of wake up call. He confused her and surprised her in the nicest way, she'd been afraid she'd find the passion and tenderness they had shared the night before wouldn't be there in the morning light or without the alcohol to alter his mood. She wasn't silly enough to think he'd always be so nice or to think his sharp personality would be gone, but the sweet way he was with waking her up was nice too. Her hands slid over his arms and around to his back, and her leg shifted, curled up around his hip, showing him that she agreed to his wake up call.

Jarrod seemed to sculpt and paint in the way he held her and moved with her so slowly and carefully, building still on her innocence yet teaching her with every shift of his leg or hand or kiss what he was that was so far from removed, so opposite her innocence. He encouraged the occassional scratch or bite that was unintentionally too hard and without the alcohol he seemed to encourage it more.

This morning's experience was so different from the night before yet more of the same and built on what they'd started then. She followed his lead, trusting him to guide her and a few times braved a move of her own, whether it was a gentle nibble or digging in with her nails, he seemed to enjoy and encourage it all. She gasped out, turning her head to the side as she took a few panted breaths, her arms wrapping tenderly around him.

He chuckled against her shoulder, nibbling lightly. "Good morning. Should I carry you to the shower? We can't be in there long, but we can enjoy it together."

She was kind of glad to be hidden as they curled to each other like this, she thought he wouldn't notice the blush that way. "Good morning." Her voice soft as she kissed his temple. "You can carry me if you want to.. " She didn't know how walking would feel but she figured that not being able to walk only really happened in movies.

[Lovely]

"You want to try on your own and let me know?" He chuckled a little and slid away, crawling off the small bed and not bothering with his shorts. He stood there, bold as she'd remember though he waited, holding out his hand for her this time.

"No I want you to be all 'grrr' and scoop me up to carry me off to the shower.." She smiled as she shifted, carefully to the edge of the bed and swung her legs over to dangle her feet down to the floor. "I think I am capable of physically walking... just.. tender.." She blushed yet again, bit her lower lip and looked up at him with an expression that was shy yet playful at once, saying pretty clearly that she didn't mind being sore or how she'd gotten that way.

The flash of a raised eyebrow was his response before bending down to lift her from the bed's edge. "Be careful what you ask for," he reminded her, although more playful than the snarling retorts he'd given her before. "I've got a lot of grrr to share and I'm more giving than I tend to let on."

Reilly's eyes lit up as he scooped her and his reply didn't scare her off at all, in fact it encouraged her and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I'll see your grrr and raise you.." She pulled his mouth to hers, laying quite the kiss on him, a moment without a trace of shyness in it as she boldly told him what she thought of taking what he had to give.

She had raised him quite a bit including lifting spirits that had been so devastated by his own loss. The kiss held him still and fascinated by that revelation, seeking some level of comfort he hadn't realized he was lacking. She made him feel something other than hate and anger that had kept him company for weeks and he found himself encouraging that as well. After a moment his feet turned to take them the few feet to the shower though he stopped short to rest her on the counter.

The counter was cool under her bare bottom and she wiggled slightly as he set her down, her eyes playful and hopeful with her small smile, she kept her gaze on him. She'd been scared, alone, lost evryone she cared for as had he, but he helped to ease that loss and fill the empty place. He made her feel like there was something worth hanging on to, worth surviving for. The bad and the world gone all kinds of wrong didn't magically disappear, but finding him, being here with him like this made it better, made it bearable.. made it feel like she was a little less lost.

"Don't move," Jarrod said, biting his lip and slipping out of reach for a moment. He went back to the living room and brought back a can of paint with him, a bright shade of red according to the cap he snapped off. He started to shake it, rattling the bearings inside loudly, the first loud noise they'd had in a day. As he shook the can, he stared intently at her and around her at the mirror behind her. "Do you trust me? Get the soap and lather your skin. Everywhere."

"I trust you.." She said slowly and reached for the soap but watched him with a confused and curious expression. "Are you going to tell me why or what you're doing?" She turned the water on in the sink and got the soap wet, starting to work up a lather. "My face too?"

He bit his lip a little, considering her question, then nodded. "Face too. Everything with a thick lather. Put this over your hair," he suggested, grabbing the empty plastic bag from the trash and a rubber band. "A new fashion statement. Really, I don't want you to have to cut your hair when we're done."

[Lovely]

"Uh huh..okay.. I may need a little help with this hat.. my hands are all slippery already.." She kind of held up her lather covered hands to show him and chuckled. "I'm a little worried about this.. you know you mentioned not having to cut my hair.. those are scary words.." She teased, running her hands and the soapy lather all over her skin, starting with her feet and legs.

While she lathered, Jarrod set the can of paint down and took up the bag to make a sleeve over her hair and top of her head, tightening it down with the rubber band around the mussed length of mane behind her to keep it from getting coated. Tangled around her again, he helped a little with the lathering, painting her first with the soap. "Consider it me sharing a little more grr."

"It's different.." That was a compliment, delivered with a cute little excited smile, her eyes all lit up as she enjoyed the help with lathering and reached to put a small dollop of suds on his nose. "I like it... so far.. " She was excited to see what he was up to and what would happen next.

"Let me see," Jarrod said, flinching back with a smile as she dabbed him. He took her hands into his to see where the lather stuck and seemed pleased, slowly raising her hands up toward the mirror and leaning to kiss her again, soap and all.

Reilly still didn't know exactly what he was going to do, but kissing her kept her distracted from the worry for a few minutes, The kiss was more thrilling with him pulling her hands up, though it didn't quite makes sense to her why it made her tingle, she still liked the feeling and kissed him back.

"Perfect, keep your hands right there," he whispered, feeling how she seemed to want more from him now and how it posed her against the glass in need of him. He peeled away slowly to grab the can with one hand and keep his other entangled with hers. The can hissed and dotted them and the glass, around his arm snaked along hers, making a light silhouette around their embrace.

As much as she wanted to pull him back and kiss him till her head was spinning from it, she stayed just how he posed her. Kept still yet needing by his husky whisper, never in her life had she imagined doing something like this, being with someone like him, or feeling anything like this. Perfect, he was so right, thats what it was, strangely scary, terrible, and wonderful.. the world as they once knew it had crashed and was gone, and he was painting her on the mirror. Reilly smiled just a little, trying not to move though she was dying to see what it looked like, she distracted herself by watching him.

Once he'd filled in around that arm he started the other, letting go of the other hand and grabbing the closest thing he could find for a straight edge, using the box of toothpaste to give him a clean line to make flares and sharp edges around the design as if the image were exploding out onto the glass. He sprayed down and along her side at the slightest angle for her breast to cast a perfect curve in the outline and down to the curve of her hip, getting as much red on her as on the glass and across the counter. He took a deep breath and hummed out delight. "That's the smell of something beautiful coming to life, Reilly."

[Lovely]

"I'm sure it will be.. something beautiful." She couldn't she it and wanted to even more, seeing how making it was making him sharper, more lively, more intense. She was sure by looking at him that it was going to be pretty amazing.. and maybe not just the painting.

Jarrod's arms were dripping with the red glaze now, a horrific and spectacular image of a madman at work, transfixed on angles and shading now as he painted her other side and added more lines where his arm had been crossed over hers. Something was missing to get the perfect feel and stood back a moment in thought. "How agile do you feel? Would you let me hold your leg up there... here?" He let her turn to look where he imagined another set of lines and shadows, casting off to the side of the mirror above the smiley face he began to scape away. Then he stopped and smirked. In a way, it seemed to fit.

Reilly blushed as she realized just what he wanted and was creating on the wall and thought it was awesome that he could think and see things like that. "Oh hon I'm wicked flexible.. " She'd always been active and being a cheerleader and all, she grinned and lifted her leg up toward where he indicated, holding it for him to take her ankle or behind her knee to push and set just where he wanted it.

"Thank you," he beamed, running his hand down her leg until it seemed exactly the spot he needed to show in shadows. It was wicked and beautiful at the same time, the angle of her knee and the perfect height of her ankle he raised above the counter. The hiss and vapor of the can filled the room but he was fast to outline her. He was done with the painting, satisfied and glowing with appreciation of the work and the model. Jarrod kept hold of her ankle and set the can down. He ran his free fingers over the paint and soap on her skin, smearing and painting her as he massaged and stroked, making her a part of the painting.

"You're welcome.." She whispered, her eyes closed as he ran his fingers over her skin, smearing and painting his caresses with her as his canvas in a totally erotic way. She held her leg up letting him reach her from a different angle as she perched on the counter, a living part of his art.

Shades of pink and white with darker streaks of brilliant red swirled over her legs and up her torso and breast, coating his hands and dripping down his arms as his fingers stretched and kneaded. He leaned in close and drew his fingers up along her face. "It is beautiful," he whispered then kissed the paint off her lips. His cheek ran over hers, sharing the smears he began to pull over himself.

She arched up toward his hands and his torso as he stroked and leaned. Her cheek smeared along his as she tried to find his mouth, her passion growing with each inch his fingers trailed over. Her own hands joined him, running through the red on his arms and spreading it in flowling lines over his shoulders and back. "Amazing.." She shook her head, protesting his comment of beautiful and saying the piece and the artist were so much more.

Adding to the piece, he leaned around her, putting his hand prints over the bare patches in the picture as if trying to hold onto the girl who wasn't there, a print on either wrist. Then he pulled her forward from the glass, leaning into her more so her legs could curl around him again.

She curled and wrapped around him, both smeared and streaked with the mix of soap and paint as she was pulled closer and he leaned. Her legs lifted up around his back and she encouraged him closer, her mouth clinging hungrily to his.

[Lovely]

They could have been frozen an eternity in dried paint in this embrace and he could think of nothing better, but they couldn't stay like this and survive. Frozen... He whispered into the kiss and carefully pulled away without stripping her of her paint, "I want a picture of you. I want to remember you like this, both of us." Jarrod let her turn to look now at their mottled red and pink reflection and the outline of Reilly's perfect shape held in a state of desire in its stark red. "It breathes like we do, alive and reaching for something more."

She looked and nodded, biting her lip, lost for words for a long moment as she took it all in. "It's really amazing.. not just this.." She gestured to the painting and then to them. ".. but you.. Jarrod, you have such passion and you see things.. it's like everything is more vivid and alive and intense around you.. things are beautiful because you've seen them.." She squirmed a little and tried to chuckle it off. "That probably sounds stupid.."

"Actually it's flattering, thank you. I still want a picture even if you are nervous, though. Don't think I go around taking snap shots of all my work because I have a big head or anything, either. It's because it's making me feel something I have trouble remembering on my own." He glanced up, shy and reserved for the first time since they'd met up.

"Shy is just kind of part of my personality.. even when I'm being bold." She reached out to brush his cheek gently with her finger tips. "You can take the picture if you'd like.. I'll try not to be too nervous."

Jarrod leaned ever so slightly into the touch. "You learn fast and you learn very well," he noted, giving her well deserved praise considering how she sat and posed for him and let him create with her when only a day earlier she was afraid and too uneasy to walk beside him. Now she walked in his mind, becoming more inspiration for more projects as he slipped out of reach to dig for his camera.

The small silver box was covered in its own red film as he returned to have her pose again. "If you were the only woman on earth and you felt sexier than ever, even more than five minutes ago which is going to be very hard on me, I'll tell you now, that's the pose I want to see."

Her legs swung lightly and she giggled as she leaned forward a little, one hand supporting her on the counter, just between her parted thighs. "More sexy.. only woman.." She bit her lip and leaned a little more. "Are there any men?" Her eyebrow arched slightly.

He started to snap and the flash lit up their small space. "Only one. He's an artist and part time photographer... a real jackass," he said. She could see the smile beneath his fingers. "And he's in love with her but she doesn't know it yet."

She reached up to pull her hair free from the plastic wrap they'd put it in, shaking her dark thick mane out over her smeared shoulders as she brought one foot up on the counter, curling her toes. Her head tipped down and then up as she gasped in surprise at what he said about being in love with her.. he couldn't really mean he was in love with her, right? He was just telling her a story to get her to pose for him.. wasn't he? She couldn't help blushing and shifting, her other hand coming down between her legs and her leg dropping back down. She was nervous but she tended to move when she was and she actually lifted herself off the counter, supported by her arms, slowly moving her legs out in a split. "He is? And she doesn't know yet? Why doesn't he tell her? Is he mean to her? Does he think she sees him as a jack a**?" She asked, looking back up at him, her head to the side a little, pointing her toes and flexing her feet as she 'warmed up' a little.

"He is mean, an absolute bastard to most people, but not to her. He saw something in her the minute they met," he went on, snapping carefully as she lifted herself on strong arms. He made it no secret that he wanted as much of her in each shot as he could get. "He'd tell her, but he just hasn't found the right way yet. He wants to see her through his lens as his muse, his art, and maybe too beautiful." The camera lowered slowly and he looked at her without the lens.

She let him snap as she moved and stretched, showing off her strength and lean form, slowly she moved one hand at a time behind her, still holding herself up. Reilly listened, curling her knees to rest her feet on the counter, in a sort of crouching position. Her teeth pulled at her lip and her head shook a little, "But she's only that beautiful because of how he sees her, he makes her more beautiful, because despite being an a** to most people he has this special talent, he is as inspiring to her as she might be to him. He makes her shine.. makes her feel as beautiful as he thinks she is.. it's mutual." She licked her lips slowly and brought her gaze up to meet his. "He should tell her.. show her how he feels if he can't find the words.. though they don't need to be fancy because she's falling in love with him but doesn't know how to tell him either. She's afraid he'll think she's just a silly young girl, with her head in the clouds."

Fade to Black .... End Scene