"I imagined this going differently."

"Oh, poor thing."

His shoulders slumped a little bit because he would have liked to cultivate something there. What was it that he felt when he looked at Mat? He wasn't sure but something existed there in his chest as he held his eyes. He felt a bit uneasy with the feelings. He knew not to show them too much or else the fiend was going to catch on and things wouldn't turn out so well.

"Well this is the parlor, you bloody boring idiot." he commented with a grin as he gestured him towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry? There's tons to eat in here although the chef isn't around. She'll be very angry that we've eaten without her say so. So maybe just a light snack that you can sneak from the pantry?"

julien's - well, his overtures aren't lost on him. they were pretty blatant to be overlooked. and honestly when he had first met him he was a bit startled by it. that hadn't happened back home. light, he wasn't so sure what people back home would think of julien. it hardly mattered because he knew that he wasn't going to drag him back to some farming town. julien was his city friend, and he actually liked him in spite of all that. not that he was going to reciprocate any of that. but it wasn't as unsettling as he had first thought.

he lets out a small laugh as he moves to follow him along. "let's start from here." he says, looking around the room. it's a nice place, no it's more than that. it's bloody breathtaking, isn't it? he turns back to look at julien. "the bottom to the top. i'd like to see everything."

Surprise flooded through her and Stella turned to face him as much as she could as she locked eyes with him. Disbelief rang heavily inside of him as she slowly shook her head. That sounded impossible and she knew that if Lasher weren't so scared to be here then he would probably tell her that it wasn't true. But what did that mean? That meant that maybe it was true. She could feel hope again if it were true but that seemed like something that she couldn't put too much stock into.

"I would say that you were lying." She said, the water sliding off her body as she turned around fully so she could face them. The bathtub was rather large and she could put her legs over his so she had room to stay that way, looking into his eyes. "Please tell me that you aren't lying." She pleaded, tears already rising to her eyes. "Where is it? I want to see it. Can you show it to me?" It was almost desperate. "Does it...would it protect me from..." but she doesn't finish the thought, already hating how much she's stammering on her words.

he's not sur how she does it but every time she draws in closer to him it feels as if she's slipping inside of him. tangling herself up in him in ways that he's never known before. she's gotten to him good, he knows that. they all know that. he's been a bloody idiot for a mayfair woman. but he knows better, doesn't he? he knows that this can't last. but that doesn't mean he can't protect her. he wouldn't be able to live if something happened to her. he was thankful that she was so far away from the mayfair house, that she had come here with him. the place would surely kill her, wouldn't it? and that was the last thing that he wanted to happen.

under the warm water he lets his hands lightly run along her back. he likes the soft feel of her slick skin under his hands. he tugs her a little closer. swallowing harshly at the feeling of her pressed so close to him the way she is. a slight smile comes to his face then. trying his best to lighten the situation here. he knows how it must weigh on her. "what if i told you that centuries ago the talamasca got their hands on something - some sort of artifact that's said to protect someone? what if i told you i got it from the archives for you?"

She liked the sound of curiosity in his voice, rather enjoyed the sound of it. Once she had lowered herself down to her knees she stared at him where he sat, the plain wall behind him making it all the more easier for her to read him. He wasn't so hard to read but there was something about the colors that stood out to her, so many of them colliding all at once.

"You just sit there and look pretty." She teased with a small smile as she rested her hands in her lap, looking over his face. She just let it all come alive before her eyes as she let out a small sigh. "Orange, white...there's even some red, black. Mat Cauthon, are you intentionally confusing me?"

cute - he thinks, his eyes going over her before he lets them close. a small breath of a laugh leaving his lips. it's strange, almost vulnerable sitting there with his eyes closed. he's not sure why but there's a sudden spike in his nerves suddenly. he swallows harshly, a slight smile on his face. a little nervous still. what had the bloody woman done to him to get him a little mixed up like that?

"so how's it work now?" he asks, actually curious. even if there was something about the whole spiritualism and all that that made him a little more nervous than he already was. he couldn't seem to wrap his head around how people got so caught up in things like that.

That actually drew a small laugh from her in response. She would resent that later, she knew but she didn't retract it. She just gave him a pointed look in spite of the smile there across her features. There was something about him that she really didn't want to let go of. There was something that she didn't want to let go of. He was somehow more interesting to her than anyone else had ever been but she wasn't ever going to let that one slip out. Especially not right now. He didn't deserve it. Even if that smile had done something to her.

"Well, at least you listen sometimes." She stated with a roll of her eyes. He was nearing her again and she had to tell herself not to grab him immediately. Yet that was asking too much because her hand reached out then and she cupped his face with one hand, small against the side of his face, and she made him look at her. "Why are you so irritating?"

she kisses him good and hard then, pressing so hard that he can feel the line of her teeth behind her lips, the way her tongue sends a shiver down his spine. he wants to go in for more. but she's pulled back. and he knows better from the few times she had actually punched him! that going back for more was only allowed when she did it. but he can tell from the small hitch in her breathing that kissing him like that always did see to get to her, get right under her skin.

"you told me to stop talking remember?" he responses, his voice low. he inches in closer to her again. wondering if she'll do it again. he feels a little desperate, doesn't he? the sudden feeling hits him and he wants to hate her for it. it'll pass, he assures himself, doesn't it always pass? he hopes that she never sees what she seems to render him to sometimes.

He isn't sure whether it's anger or something more specific that fills him at the boys answer. It has to be anger because it spikes in him almost too sharply. Sharp and furious. This boy was not meant to have a place here with them and he had little say in what went on as well. Yet he sat there acting as though he should be here. Although Erik could find no arrogance in the response that he was given, simply honesty. Maybe that's what upset him more than anything.

"You saved lives." He stated but he didn't stick around - or rather he didn't want to. When he was about to walk away he stopped and then glanced back over his shoulder without turning around all of the way. His hand tenses and then relaxes at his side. "If you're going to be staying here tonight perhaps you should follow me."

there was a thick tension hoovering over him the entire time. he took in a deep breath and tried to relax. but it wasn't exactly working, was it? that heaviness, that uncertainty, the feeling that maybe something bad was going to happen. light, but he hated the feeling that twisted up in him. was it the use of his powers? his - even that sent a chill down his back. or was it the foreboding feeling that magneto would have some sort of punishment for him for not listening to instruction. simple instruction.

and there he is now. the tension burns, the feeling that won't let him look at him. but he knows that he has to. eventually he'll have to. he doesn't think that magneto will appreciate a man with his head bowed. only thing was he didn't think magneto would appreciate him ever, at all. born human his mutation was not something he had to live with up until a couple months ago. they weren't alike. "i saw an opportunity." he says simply, not wanting to post a challenge.

Robb was more than prepared to do whatever it took to get out of here. He wasn't even sure where he was or what he was doing here. The things that he had heard during his stay here did little to ease whatever complicated thoughts were currently stirring up there inside of his mind. Getting out would mean that he would be able to find out what had happened to his mother, his men, his wolf.

"I can do what you need done." Robb answered with certainty as he nodded his head. "That'll be easy enough." And he meant it more than anything. "Just promise me that we're really going to get out of here because I don't think that I can last another day in this Tower."

"so tonight's the night ---" he says coming up behind him then. he doesn't know anything about him. but he figured that two heads were better than one. he better not make him regret this decision. there was so much going on though, wasn't there? too much going on. he can feel eyes on him with every step that he takes. burning hoes into him. he's never going to be able to live normally again. but he can leave, he can get as far away from all this as possible.

he claps him on the back like he's an old friend, moving his hand to the back of his neck so he can drag him off to some corner. "look they say we're free to roam so there won't be too many questions with us out here. we don't need to worry about that. you need to be able to keep your mouth shut when i get us past the guards."

"so, then you think that I should...do what? keep silent? You can really do that?"

"I think you're pushing for an end result that will only disappoint you."

Maybe she had expected too much in coming close to him and trying to figure out just what to say. There was a lot to say between them but no words were ever passed. She knew that there was something that she should tell him, maybe even something that he should say. A whole world stood between them but Padme felt a bit startled by the way that he seemed to brush by her.

"Whatever you're having." she answered, feeling content to simply let him go about the way that he wanted to. She leaned on the table now that she had returned to sit down. What had she really thought would happen? "You're always eating." She recognized things anyways and Padme found that the little things about him made him real in her mind and maybe that was starting to war with everything there inside of her.

she comes in close to him. her arms coming around him. he tenses at first before he sets his hands over her's. feeling the tension leave his shoulders. his eyes close briefly as he takes in the feeling. a simple thing. they could keep this full of simple things. she was right he knew that he shouldn't have asked about any of that. he shouldn't have tried to take a step over a line.

"don't worry about it." he assures her softly before he starts on taking her arms off from around him. he wants to turn and look at her. maybe even take her in his arms. but he doesn't do it. he simply moves on ahead to start working on the food. he doesn't even chance a glance her way. "what do you want to eat?" simple, easy. he knew better. and this was what he always preferred anyways.

It took a long while to go through every single thread that he had seen and by the end of it Renarin was a bit depleted. There had been a lot to tell and Renarin did have to wonder whether or not Mat could even use any of this. Most of it was just guessing , possibilities, images that he had seen that seemed like they could relate to this moment here. Maybe it could but they wouldn't really know until they landed on the right way to go.

A breath was taken and he turned his gaze to Mat once more. He felt a little shaken and stretched thing here. After all, he was wanted by all of those in power the moment that they had assumed that his powers were going to work for all of them. "Did you hear anything useful?" He questioned with a slight furrow to his brows. "Or are we just going to play it by ear?"

he should've known. he should've known that the pattern wouldn't toss him such an easy way of doing things. but possibilities? well, those worked for him. he was going to have to take hold of them and run with them. he was going to have to base his entire plan on these bloody possibilities. and hope that his luck will get him where he needs to be. he wondered if that was good enough. he was going to have to bring the band in on this. he was going to have to bring renarin.

he lets out a heavy breath and then gives a small nod of his head. he's going to have to learn to accept it. even if it's the last thing that he wanted to hear. "we can work with that." he says, knowing that renarin might feel like maybe he was doing his duty. he looks at him directly, reaching his hands out and setting them on his shoulder. "tell me what you've seen."

"Of course I cornered you, fucker." She said with a small laugh as she shook her head. There was a feeling there between them that made her feel as though she had found someone that could be in her life for a long while. She really wanted to know that she fit in here even without...well, even with the way that things were with Joel.

A small sigh escaped her as she rested her head back, tapping her fingers against her knee before she trailed her gaze back towards him again. "I don't think that I ever asked you where they found you? Was it Tommy?"

the runs got easier. that's what he noticed as time went on. the runs got easier, time seemed to slow down a little. like it was trying to allow them to actually have something, grab onto something. do something that would matter to them. something that would last. he liked the way that felt after spending so much time running. it was good to know that things slowed.

he lets out a laugh then, shaking his head. "looks like you've cornered me." he doesn't like being cornered into doing something. but for this? well, for this he was actually a little bit grateful for the push. he was all twisted up over going for it. but he figured that he was going to have to do it if he wanted to stop having to hear ellie going on and on about it.

She just listened to his short answer and she wants to grab for more. She wants to look into his eyes and tell him that everything that he says gives her a feeling of warmth that she hadn't had before. It was all so normal and the sound of those words made her feel as though she could breathe again. She wasn't sure what it was or perhaps it was simply the sound of his voice that eased her as she sat there with him.

"I think that sounds interesting." She answered with a smile as she held his eyes. Her hands remained on his, his skin warm under hers. A soft laugh came from her and she looked around their place. Theirs. Just theirs. "It's far more than what I do here, isn't it? I just clean and make food and sit around. You're actually...well, you're outside."

she reaches for him. her touch is so soft, startles something inside of him that he can't seem to look at her. he looks at her hand on his. back when she was taken to that horrible place, home, hell, the only thing that he had ever known. back then he hadn't thought that he would ever be touched by her, especially not so gently. as if she were urging him. and she is, isn't she? as if she's trying to get him to open up for her.

he swallows harshly as he lifts his eyes to her face. slowly, his eyes move over her face. she's beautiful, in the way that innocent things are. like she's so untouched by everything it almost kills him to touch her. or to be touched by her. he swallows harshly as his eyes lower to their hands again. "you don't really want to hear about it all, do you? i look over orders and pack up boxes. i don't think we've ever got an interesting order either."

"So you think I'm doing the wrong thing?"

"There's such a thing as being too honest, you know."

"You aren't sleeping."

"you can lecture me after i sleep."

"I really think that we ought to try for transparency in spite of everything."

"Well, we don't have a choice. It's one or the other."

"That's selfish."

"that's an outright lie. it'd help me."

"SHould it reall ybe conditional?"

"But at our expense?"