♪ Laying The Groundwork ♪

[Skylar]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

This RP takes place on Friday 2nd January 2015.

Skylar:
I read his message, email him back and – dress in hand -head through the portal to the Quarantine Zone. We did have things to talk about but I’m unsure if well make any headway before we have to go out. If anything I expect that he’ll avoid the conversation and I’ll let him, because explaining the truth of it all was probably still more than he can take.
“Ricky? You find your suit okay?”
I pretty much call this out as I open the door to the apartment, for all I know, he could be dressed already.

Ric:
I actually expected her to be here already. When I got back. When she wasn't, I was sure she wasn't coming to the event as planned. Which meant I wouldn't be staying long. I appreciated having Skylar around as a buffer between people and me. Without that buffer, I just wasn't comfortable. I was looking at the suit that I put on the bed, when she came in. "Yeah. I'm just wondering why suits have to have all these parts to it." I leave the bedroom still dressed in my regular clothes. "Did you find something?" I look at her then what's in her hand.

Skylar:
“Sure did.”
I hold the dress up for him to see.
“Looks better on me I promise. You’re all right with it being a short dress right? I kinda semi feel like me in this one. And did you like what I picked for you or not?”
I know formal isn’t really our thing but it seems like the season for it or something. I’d be way happier in jeans and t-shirt, Ric too, but it was a cheap price to pay for a night out with him.

Ric:
"It's alright." I nod my head. "I was just seeing if I had to wear all of it. But it's only for a few hours." I would, as it said on the invite, 'suck it up.' "And I don't care. It will show off your calves." Which were nice. I didn't add that in, but she would hopefully get the compliment.

Skylar:
“Charmer.”
I smile at him. This isn’t the first time he’s mentioned my calves and if I’m honest that’s part of the reason I chose a short dress in the first place.
“So… You wanna get changed first or you happy to share that room of yours?”
I don’t know why I’m asking. It’s not like we haven’t seen each other naked before. I’d happily change with him in the room, it felt normal to me. Ric however, might view things differently; he usually does.

Ric:
"We've got to get going." I tell her as I look at the clock on the wall in the living room. "Sharing it is." I head inside the room, cringing at the suit on the bed, then start ripping it apart. Without actually ripping it. Just pulling it apart. I pull off my shirt and put on the blue button down on first. I'm fumbling with the buttons, because I'm annoyed. At the shirt and why she felt she had to stay away from here. "So, you were giving me space because?" I'm not sure I understand her logic or agree with it.

Skylar:
I follow him into the bedroom and hag my dress on the back of the door while I start to work my way out of my jeans.
“Because I thought you needed it.”
I watch him with the clothes and once I’ve worked the denim off and onto the floor, I kick it to one side. I’ve still got my heels on, which made getting out of the trouser legs tricky but not impossible.
“You need a hand there?”

Ric:
"What gave you that idea?" It was like pulling teeth with her the last night or so. "Because I leave and do tasks? My tasks are important and need to be done.

Skylar:
"It's the timing Ricky. you bolt for the door whenever things get... Well.. you know. You do the same thing at social engagements when you poof into shadows. It's obvious I make you uncomfortable."
I try to explain it to him again. I was pretty sure I’d already spelt this out to him in an email but apparently he still needed a little more information. I don’t mind that though, it means he’s trying to understand me, or us.

Ric:
"No. When things get what?" I stop fumbling with the buttons and move over by her. "I would appreciate the assistance." I tell her with a sigh.

Skylar:
I start buttoning up his shirt as I stand there in just my t-shirt and undies.
“Whenever I get close to you Ricky. If I’ve kissed you or something. You seem to get… I dunno… annoyed by it maybe or something. I don’t know. It’s like you immediately regret letting me touch you and so you get as far away from me as you possibly can.”
I shrug. I’m not judging him. I like him and his odd ways, but he did ask. If any other guy had asked me that I’d of told him he knew damn well what I meant but with Ric I could believe that he really was that clueless.

Ric:
"Sometimes I have to leave." I tell her as if she should just understand that logic. "To think." I give her a little more insight. "You are very forward and a lot to take on. To understand your reasoning and actions." I leave it at that as a hand goes over the buttons she just did, smoothing the shirt down.

Skylar:
“You can’t think about it in the same room as me?
I’m not really sure if him thinking things over is a good thing or not. He has strange ideas at times and lord knows how he was explaining my actions to himself.
“You know you can just ask… right?”
I run my hands down over the front of his shirt as I finish doing up the last button.
“What I’m thinking and stuff. And yeah. I know I’m a handful. Been told that my entire life.”
I walk away from him and pull my t-shirt off as I go.

Ric:
"No. I need space. I like space when I have to think about things. You are some of the things I think about. What you say and do." I tell her honestly before staring at her now naked back. I move back to the suit after I stare for maybe a second too long and slip on the coat. "I don't want to ask you. You might be biased. As I'm thinking about what you're doing and saying." I point out.

Skylar:
“Smart boy. But everyone’s biased you know.”
I look over my shoulder at him as I say that and then turn back as I need to grab my dress up from off the hanger.
“And I wasn’t saying you should ask me about how you feel or anything. Just… you know… If you want to know why I do something. You can just ask. I can always refuse to answer.”

Ric:
"Then what's the point of asking if you might refuse?" I shake my head, frustrated with Skylar before grabbing the suit pants and thinking 'really?' to myself. The entire ensemble is ridiculous. You can't carry a sword wearing this ****. My jeans get pulled off and kicked to a pile against the wall of my clothes that I've randomly changed out of for the last couple nights. "I don't know how long this thing is going on. With Tytonidae. Do you have other plans?" I change the subject because I'm not going to ask her anything if she's going to refuse to answer. About herself.

Skylar:
“You’re free to ask any question you like Ricky.”
I undo the zip and step into my dress, wriggling slightly as I pull it up over my hips.
“Just as I’m free not to answer. Most of the time I will though. ‘Kay?”
Once I have the dress on, I walk over to Ric and turn so that he can help me by zipping the dress closed.
“Could you give me a hand?”
I pull my hair out of the way, looking over my shoulder at him as I wait.
“And no. No plans. I’m all yours if you want me.”
I’m aware how that sounds but it’s too late to take it back. Besides, I meant it.

Ric:
"Fine." I just agree because I don't get that logic. If she asked me something I would answer to the best of my ability. At least I believe so. I zip up the dress, my eyes on her neck before my tongue sweeps over my lips quickly. I'm pretty sure she did this on purpose, the whole moving her hair out of the way thing to get me to bite her, but we don't really have time for that. I hate being late. "I invited you." I remind her, looking past the way she said it. "Why do you say stuff like that? Do you say it to the other guys you hang out with?"

Skylar:
“Huh, say what to who? What other guys are you talking about?”
I’m honestly not following him as he says this, though I probably would figure it out if I wanted to wait and process what I’d said followed by his reply. I’m pretty sure Ric knows I’m not seeing anyone. I’ve told him that outright before.

Ric:
"Dillon and the guys in your band." I say as I move away and yank up the trousers that go with the suit. "The whole, I'm yours if you want me." I say it just as she did so she can hear how it sounds as I zip up the fly on my pants, eyes on her.

Skylar:
“Oh. Yeah I guess so. I mean… I joke around with them.”
I close my eyes, my back to him and bite the inside of my cheek as I wonder if I should expand further on what I’d just said. On the one side I don’t want him to think that I say that kind of thing to everyone I know and mean it, but on the other, admitting it means something different with him could lead to further questions that I wasn’t sure he actually wanted the answers to.
“But it’s different with them Ricky. They’re like my brothers or something. You know. They see me as one of the guys. Well… Maybe Dillon doesn’t see me that way, but that’s his issue. Not mine.”
I run my hands over the dress and fidget in it slightly.

[Roderic]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

Ric:
I nod. That makes sense. We're joking around. I think she's joking around more than me, but that's typical. "Stop fidgeting. You look fine." I tell her as I button the pants together. "Can't really hide any good weapons in there, but you won't need them tonight." I assure her. "And maybe I'll try to think in the same space. Instead of running off. Not that I'm running off. I'm just thinking without any possible distractions." Like you, I wanted to add in, but don't.

Skylar:
“You sure?”
I’m not feeling insecure about the way I look, but I like the idea of Ric looking me over, so turn to face him.
“You’re already looking quite the gent. Just need your tie and jacket and you’ll be good to go.”
I don’t really need to tell him this, I’m sure he knows it already but I wanted to get in the handsome remark while I could. He looks pretty damn good, even if I do prefer him in his usual outfits.
“As for me hiding weapons in my dress. You know I don’t carry anything like that on me. I’d be in more danger of hurting myself than anyone else. And if you have to run off. Run off. We agreed to be ourselves remember? You’re letting me be me, so it’d be wrong of me to get annoyed at you for being you. I’m sure I won’t confuse you forever. I’m really not that difficult to figure out.”
And we did too. The night of the auction. I knew then he was the skittish type, so I really couldn’t hold that against him. It was part of the reason I had tried to stay away, to give him the space he needed. Only he hadn’t needed quite as much space as I thought he did.

Ric:
I look her over and then nod. "Yeah. I mean it's not entirely you, but neither is this." I use my whole left hand to point out my ensemble for her, not that it was needed. When she said I was looking like a gent, I assumed she meant gentleman and I immediately wanted to rip the stuff off. I weigh my options. Piss off Velveteen and Micah, and possibly embarrass Nix to be myself or look like a gentleman. My shoulders slump. I'd never embarrass Nix and most these people were her friends before I was even a blip on their radar back in my blood thief nights. "You can see the best part about you." I point to her legs. "Isn't that what we're supposed to do?" My arms wouldn't be exposed but it was what it was. "We should talk about that weapon thing. Some other time. I don't think you really know what's all out there." I tell her pointedly as I wrap the blue tie around my neck in a dishevelled order before slipping on the suit coat. I grab my sunglasses off the dresser, where I'm surprised they still are. Only because I don't live in it-she does. That's when I pause and look around the room at the thought that entered my head. Skylar lives in my bedroom. I look at her and take a step back. "Give me a minute." I take another step back, so that it's two solid steps away from her. "Do you have clothes here?" I hadn't even really bothered to look and don't plan on it because I asked her. "For after the party." I attempt to cover up my curiosity with that added question.

Skylar:
“I’m sure we can suck it up for a few hours. Yeah?”
I’m about to walk over to him and start adjusting his tie but he suddenly backs away from me. I’m not entirely sure what the emotion is I’m feeling from him right now. Worry maybe. I figure he’s just worried about how he looks, since we’d both clearly rather go in our own stuff.
“Yeah of course. No need to worry about me. I have some stuff in a bag under the bed. Though I probably should swing by Ellie’s and pick up some other bits. Worse comes to worse I figure I’ll just borrow some of your sweats or something.”
I sit myself down on the bed, as I’m not really sure why he’s suddenly worried about my clothing. The stuff I just took off was on the floor. It wasn’t like it was all that dirty.

Ric:
"How much stuff?" I ask her as I look at the bed, or more so, trying to look under it to judge the size of the bag and how much stuff would be in it. "You know where my sweats are at?" Now I'm a little worried. Skylar didn't seem the type to go through anything that wasn't out in the open for her to go through, but now I'm wondering if my perceptions are wrong. And if they are, just how much stuff did she find? I realize she must have not found that much because she's still here. If she thought or suspected I was a serial killer, I doubt she would be here and wouldn't go screaming to the cops. I relax a little. I relax more when I see the bag and from this angle it doesn't look like there's that much that could be in the bag. A couple changes of clothes and whatever she sleeps in. Acceptable and practical. "We should go." I tell her as I pull at the tie. "Is this necessary?" I start to yank it off.

Skylar:
“Yes. It’s necessary, for now.”
I walk over and start adjusting his tie for him before I tackle his other questions.
“And well, I haven’t exactly gone looking for them but I know they exist since you leant me some when that shadow thing attacked me. Remember? And I don’t have all that much stuff here. But then I really don’t own all that much stuff anyways. Is it a problem? Me putting my stuff under the bed? Would you rather I put stuff away in the wardrobe or something?”
I look up him, concentrating not only on his features but on whatever emotions I can feel from him. I really didn’t practice that superpower often enough, and I kinda wanted to know what was going on with him. Was he nervous about his appearance? He fidgets too when he’s uncomfortable, apparently. Both of us pull on our clothes like 2 year old that want to tear them off and run around naked. I smile at this thought, it’s random but it comes with a great visual.

Ric:
"No. There's no room." I tell her, nixing that idea. If she put stuff in my dressers, where would my stuff go? "For all our things." I nod my head, then shrug my shoulders. "I guess if it's needed it's ok. I know women need their things. Like make-up and whatever else you all wear." I let go of the tie and smooth it down over my chest, trying to uncrumple it. "Do you know how to tie these things? I can, but it might take half the night." It did the last time and I was pretty sure it was crooked. "I would appreciate it."

Skylar:
Nope. Still not able to figure out what it is he feels. I start to wonder if he feels. He has to. But maybe I can’t figure his emotions out as he has no idea what he’s feeling. There seems to be more to this clothing thing than he wants to let on. I start wondering if I should bring the rest of my stuff over. Having everything in one place made sense and I hadn’t been home for the day in like a week. The one night I thought to stay away, Ric had asked me where I was.
“Well then I best take a look at what space you have. See what I can do about keeping my things out of your way.”
It wasn’t exactly an invitation but it was likely to be the best I’d get from Ric. Telling him all my stuff was necessary was probably the way to go if he did start complaining.
“Is there anywhere that’s off limits?”
It’s only fair to ask, as I don’t want to go poking around in his things without knowing what’s what. He might have something sentimental in here somewhere.
I pull up his colour, since adjusting his tie was doing nothing to improve the look of it and undo it. I straighten it out, adjust the length of it and start to tie it for him. You don’t grow up in a society like mine and not know how to do these things.

Ric:
I keep my glance straight ahead as she works on my tie and start to think about all the places that were off limits. There really weren't too many. "The closet has a lot of space. If you need to hang your shirts, dresses or coats." I tell. The dresser was off limits only because that's where I had what little clothes I had in there and I didn't want her girl stuff in there. She probably washed her clothes in perfume or something smelly which would get on my clothes and that could identify a person. Me. "Dresser is off limits." I finally tell her in case she needed me to vocalize that for her. "I guess that's it." The other place wouldn't even be discovered by her unless she wanted to tear apart the apartment looking for hidden places. Then we would have a problem. When she's done tying the tie, I step back and run a hand over the tie and then look at her. "Thank you." I tell her with a small smile offered in her direction for the task she completed. Whatever it was that I was feeling before was lifted away and I was completely relaxed now. "Ready? We have to catch the train to Coastside."

Skylar:
I listen. What I take away from what he says is that I can basically have the cupboard to put my things in. That wouldn’t’ be an issue. I could get a couple of boxes to put my underwear in. I have to wonder how we even started talking about this and if Ric has any idea as to what he’s actually said and done. Did he mean to tell me I could keep stuff here and make myself at home?
“Don’t touch the dresser. Got it.”
I stand back and look him over. He looked good. Not great. I really didn’t have a thing for guys in suits. I thought him much more attractive in his leather jacket.
“I just have to run a brush through my hair.”
That was about all I had to do before we could leave. I had no idea where we were going and hadn’t actually thought to ask. So long as Ric knew where the party was I really didn’t need the address. I pick the brush up from the bed side table and start pulling it through my long, blonde locks.
“All right Ricky.”
I say when I’m done.
“Let’s go play nice with others.”

[Skylar]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

----- After The Party ------

Ric:
I walked away from the party in a different mood then when we arrived. I wasn't feeling awkward and uncomfortable anymore. I won some award for being me, brought back 'The Sprinkler,' with the help of some guy whose name I didn't catch and stayed longer than I normally would. Probably longer than I even stayed at an Altaire party. Maybe because there wasn't sex being talked about and a lot going on where eyes weren't almost always on me for whatever I did or didn't say and do. Or maybe I was just more comfortable around the people in Tytonidae. Was that possible? I would think on this more later. As soon as we get to the apartment, I start taking the button down off as quickly as possible, by yanking the fabric apart and sending buttons flying. As I say this, I address Skylar, "You can ditch the dress whenever you want." There's no need to wear it. The party was done and it was obvious I wasn't going to wear the stupid suit anymore. Any part of it.

Skylar:
The party wasn’t bad, even if I did get more than one lecture from Do. He seemed to act more like a dad than Ellie did. Hell. Had I gone to the bar with Ellie, he’d of joined me in knocking back a few shots. I was pretty sure of that. Ain’t nothing wrong with living life and enjoying it. I swear he thought he was being helpful by pointing out my bad behaviour but my behaviour wasn’t any of his business and I knew the rules. I was purposely breaking the social etiquette rules to piss Ric off. Not that it worked. In the end he just gave up trying to moderate my drinking and went to embarrass himself on the dancefloor. Maybe Doc was right. Maybe I had been embarrassed by him. But that wasn’t like me. No. It wasn’t that. I was embarrassed for him. There’s a difference.
I’d have to teach him a new dance before the next party. At least then he’d have options. I should have just walked over and kissed him like I wanted to. That would have put an end to it.
As we walk back into the apartment, my attention is immediately captured by Ric’s unique strip tease. I laugh when he tells me I can ditch the dress. He definitely doesn’t know how that sounds.
“So you want me to grind on you naked then eh?”
I get my shoes off and wait to see what he says. I’m not sure me dancing around naked is a good idea for me, let alone him. I’m not drunk but I’m definitely not one hundred percent in control of myself either.

Ric:
I almost forgot that was how or rather, why we left. I asked her to show me this grinding move that she talked about before. Which she declined to show me at the party. "I-ah-" I'm thinking what to say because I know I should say something that will irritate her, but I'm in such a good mood I actually don't want to irritate Skylar. "If you think that will help demonstrate your technique better." I say with a not so casual shrug. I leave the ball in her court as the tie gets yanked off next, crumpled in a ball and tossed on the coffee table before I sit on the couch in just the suit pants.

Skylar:
“Nope. Won’t do **** for my technique. Especially if you plan to sit down.”
I go to put on some music. I’m not really sure what I should be dancing to so I start looking for something on the radio. Saturday night. Urgh. Dance music. Stupid ******* songs. I finally find a station I can work with, and so I head back over to Ric.
“You said you wanted to see the difference between a lap dance and grinding in a club right?”
I should probably start with the lap dance one but the song that kicks in is more a club thing, so I offer my hand out to Ric.
“Come on you. On your feet. I’ll demonstrate grinding first.”
The song is Enrique Iglesias’ Tonight (I'm Lovin You). I can dance to this no issue. It’s all in the hips and hands. The lyrics are funny too, or would be if I chose to think about them in any great detail. I wind myself around Ric, running my hands over him as I see fit; all in time with the music of course. I could do more of a routine, I have moves, but I stick to the typical, girly dancing I’d do in a club. It’s the kind of dance where you’re close enough to feel if you’re having any effect on your partner… If you’re dancing with a guy that is.

Ric:
I knew what a lap dance was, but I wasn't going to tell her that. That would open up a can of worms on a lot of fronts. It wasn't as if I enjoyed getting a lap dance, but in the name of science it was a necessary evil. She tells me to get on my feet and I look around, shrug and stand. I take a few steps over by her and then make a 'what the ****' face when I hear the song selection. Whatever this was, was garbage. I wasn't sure why she picked this song or station. It didn't seem very Skylar like, but then again I never saw her out with her friends at the bars and clubs. This could be who Skylar really was. She's all over me in a lot of ways, but I'm really not feeling anything other than her *** against me. And not that it was a bad ***, it was a little above average compared to other females, but her dancing isn't really my main focus as the song just flat out sucks. I stand there while she does all the work, awkwardly.

Skylar:
The song finishes and it’s clear it hasn’t had any effect on him. I’m a little disappointed and put it down to my dancing not really being what it should be. Dancing like this in your living room was a little different to doing it in a club where you have limited space and a lot more people around to work off of. Cos that’s the sad truth. You start dancing like this and the guy’s friends usually want to get involved. I’m kinda lucky really that I can mess around with my band like this. I don’t mind being passed around them on the dance floor. It’s comfortable. As much as I love too dance and move and will dance with practically anyone after a couple of drinks, I still like to be the one that picks the partner.
“Right… Well… Yeah…”
I switch the radio off.
“That’s good for a club but not so great for your front room. I’m gonna get a song I’m more familiar with for this next demonstration.”
I’m not as ready to do this next one but I said I would. I’m pretty sure I’ll be the one embarrassed by it as I’ve never tried giving a guy a lap dance before. I had an idea on what moves I needed to do and how I had to go about it and figured the whole thing would go more smoothly if I was familiar with the song. If all else failed, I could just pull away and start singing.
I disappear in the bedroom and begin the hunt for my iPod which should be somewhere in my duffle bag.

Ric:
"Ok." I say. All the other strip places pretty much had songs like the last one playing and if she were going to do a lap dance, wasn't this apt? I thought so. I move to the couch, and then get a second thought. "You know, you don't really have to give me a lap dance. I'm sure there's not much difference. I'll just be sitting instead of standing." I sit down, my arms at the back of my head as I get comfortable. Well, as comfortable as I can but with Skylar in the bedroom doing whatever she's doing, I wasn't going to barge in and change, even if that's how it went down earlier tonight. Time wasn't a thing now. So, I'll just wait until she either flakes out or is done with her presentation.

Skylar:
“Nonsense. If I say I’m gonna do something I do it.”
I call back to him.
While I’m in the bedroom I change into something more me. Basically what I’d been wearing before the party, minus the jeans. If I was going to do this, I needed to be the kind of flexibility that denim didn’t really allow for. Ric really couldn’t complain. He was sitting there in nothing but his trousers. I could have gone a step or two further and come out just in my underwear but truth be told I was more comfortable in the t-shirt. Besides, he had warned me that anyone could come in, since a few of his family members had keys to the place. I start to wonder if I should try and drag his arse in the bedroom but decide against it. Sadly. I already know this isn’t leading us anywhere that would require that kind of privacy.
“All right Ricky.”
I say as I walk back into the front room. IPod in hand.
“I’m gonna give this a go, but be nice okay? I’ve never done this before.”

Ric:
I stare at her as she comes back in the room with different clothing on and lack of clothing. I don't really think it's necessary to not have pants or a skirt on, but apparently Skylar thinks it is. She would probably know better than me. "I'm nice." I say, even though I know I'm not. And she knows it too. "I'll be nice because it's your first time." I say which might give away that I know what a lap dance looks like and consists of. But I don't flat out say it. "I'm sure you'll be great." My hands drop from the back of my head and I sit up a little to indicate I'm giving her my full attention and am looking forward to it. The first part is true, the second part? Not so sure.

Skylar:
“Yeah right.”
I mumble when he says he’s nice. This coming from the guy that called me a cold sore not so many moons ago. I don’t argue it though. I just get on with what I’m doing. I’m pretty sure he’s had more hands on experience than me in lap dancing. And not because I think he’s the kind of guy that gets off on that kind of thing - he’s pretty a-sexual at times - but because he’s said things in the past about strippers and stuff that seems to suggest he has first-hand experience with them.
I plug my iPod into the stereo and thumb through my library. I have so many songs that I really don’t know where to start. I consider a couple of songs by Nickelback but end up choosing one by Halestorm. I’m not entirely sure the song I’ve chosen is entirely appropriate.
I wait for the first verse to kick in and then do my best to imitate the kind of things I’ve seen strippers do in movies. It doesn’t take me long to get into the swing of it and I start to actually have fun with it. A fact that probably shows as the flush in my cheeks subsides and my smile becomes more genuine. I get to a point where I really want to just give up and start kissing him – because all this flirtatious dancing is starting to wind me up – but I manage to control myself. Just.

Ric:
The song choice was a lot better than the last one. Props for that and I even let her know by my head trying to find the beat of the song as she makes her way over to me. I don't say anything about her dancing when she comes over. Nothing good or bad. I've seen both good and bad dancing and she's about average in her technique. What could someone expect from a person that didn't do this for a living? When she gets into my space, I sit up taller, my casual posture changing completely as I become a little defensive on her invading my space with practically nothing on. The both of us. Sure, we took a shower together before, but the circumstances were different. At least in my eyes. She's half-way through her routine and I clap. I figured that was what I should do to let her know she didn't suck. "That wasn't that bad." And then I mess it up. "You would make some good tips." I try to cover it up. "If you wanted to get in that line of business."

Skylar:
I don’t know where it comes from - somewhere deep inside and driven by frustration mist likely – but I can’t help but slap him. And while I don’t put the full force of my weight behind it, it’s not exactly playful either. I pull back, place my hands on my hips and look down at him.
“I’m not a ******* whore. Okay? You got that? Can you quit calling me one? I have a healthy ******* appetite for sex, unlike someone else I could name right now.”
I’m glaring at him, so he has to now I mean him.
“I mean what the **** Ric? Any normal guy would be pawing at a girl that does that for him. You don’t even react, aside from insulting me. You know I looked up lack of sexual appetite. There are two main causes. Brain tumours and sexual abuse. Since you’re a vampire and can heal and stuff it’s probably not the former. Which really only leaves the latter. You have some creepy ******* non-uncle in your past that took advantage of you?”
The moment I say it, I want to take it back. The way I’d said it was horrible. I clap my hands over my mouth to stop myself from digging a deeper hole than the one I’m already standing in. Unfortunately that stops me from apologising to. I just don’t trust myself to have freedom of speech just yet, cos **** knows what else I might say.

Ric:
She slaps me and I just sit there. I'm not sure why she did it, so I just look at her and wait for the explanation that I'm sure is going to follow. And boy did she have one. And then some. I just listen to her contradict herself. She says she isn't a whore but wants me pawing all over her like she is one. I'm not sure Skylar even knows what she wants or who she is. Deep down. But then she starts spouting off some research she's done and I'm no longer sitting. I'm up on my feet and she's on her ***. "So because I'm not pawing at you, or begging you to **** me, obviously someone's done something to me at some point? Because no one can possibly resist Skylar? That sum it up?" I glare down at her.

Skylar:
I stand no chance of remaining on my feet when he pushes me over. For one my hands were still on my mouth and I wasn’t expecting it, and for the other I had, had a couple of drinks.
I begin to sulk, my arms folded across my chest as I look up at him from the floor as he berates me for what I said. He kinda had a point. I had leapt to conclusions. I was just upset and annoyed that he didn’t respond to me like I thought he should. He likes me. I know he likes me. I just don’t know how to make him see that.
“You don’t respond to anyone though do you Ric. You don’t date, you don’t love and you don’t have sex. And of course people can ******* resist me. I was just hoping you wouldn’t be one of them.”
I half want to cry but I don’t’ want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d upset me. My eyes begin to look glassy but I manage not to give into my emotions. At least for now. I don’t want him accusing me of female trickery or anything.

Ric:
My glare softens. A little, but it does. "I love people. I love my mom." I remind her, because I'm sure I've talked about her. "And I lo-like Nix and Jules. In a different way than other Altaire. They mean a lot to me." I didn't say love because I'm not sure if I love them, but I knew that if anyone did anything to them, I would be the first one in line to send them to the shadow realm. That meant something, right? "I don't date because it doesn't interest me. For a few reasons. Mostly the ******** associated with it and the fact my parents divorced. Divorce rates are higher than the staying together rates these days. It's unnecessary to waste anyone’s time. Mine or theirs when the deck is stacked against them. I think about the last part she said and I wouldn't say I didn't like Skylar. I don't know why she thinks I don't. She practically lives with me and has her stuff here. But if I say she's tolerable, she's going to get all girl on me and maybe slap me again. "And maybe, you're just trying too hard. Again." I've said it before and I'll probably say it a thousand times. "Throwing yourself at people isn't an attractive quality." I offer her a hand up as the first step in trying to get her to shut up about her and me.

Skylar:
“I don’t throw myself at people.”
I grumble, refusing to take his hand. I’d known Ric for two and half months now, almost as long as I’d been a vampire. Throwing myself at him would have been trying something on the night we first met. Which was more his style what with what he did to me in that abandoned pub. I crawl onto my knees and push myself up and onto my feet, trying not to work myself up any more.
“I don’t usually have to work this hard to get someone’s attention.”
I’m not happy. Not happy at all. I fold my arms across my chest – again – and glare at him. The tears still threatening to break through and destroy the more composed image I’m trying to maintain. I take a moment to focus my thoughts, as I’m honestly not sure why this whole thing was prompting such a strong reaction from me. It was probably that damned PMS thing again.
“I want to know something. And I swear to god I don’t want to hear the words tolerable or okay come from your lips. All right? I want to know what you think of me? What you think this…”
I uncross my arms and indicate between the two of us with my right hand.
“… is?”

Ric:
I think she does. Almost all the time when we hang out together. But that's a matter of opinion because Skylar doesn't think she does. Something we just won't agree on. She doesn't take my hand, so I put it back at my side and just flex the hand as I wait, listen and think. I watch how she indicates the two of us after she asks her question. "I don't know. I thought we were hanging out, but it seems like while we were hanging out you moved in. Somehow. Ellie's place does suck though, so I don't blame you." I tell her with a casual shrug. "We're friends. We do a lot of stuff together that I don't do with anyone else. Which is sometimes cool. So maybe we're best friends? Like Pyper and I were."

Skylar:
I want to hit him. But I don’t. I can’t be angry at him for not knowing what we are. He truly believes he doesn’t date and I know I’ve been avoiding telling him that that’s exactly what we’ve been doing. I don’t know exactly when it started. I don’t have a date for it. We’d been in each other’s orbits since the night we met. We bought each other at the auction. He didn’t have to buy me. He had plenty of other options. I’d of hung out with him for free.
Actually as I think about it, I realise just how funny what he said sounds and start smiling. Damn him. He’s not trying to be funny but he just is. In like an almost innocent way. He’s not entirely clueless though. Though to be fair it was quite obvious that I hadn’t been home in like a week or so.
“Okay. You’re right and you’re wrong. We’re friends but we were friends long before you worked that out. And I have no ******* clue what your relationship was with Pyper -whoever that is - so I can’t comment there. But yeah. We could be best friends. But that doesn’t fit us either. Not really. I mean yes when you date someone they should be your best friend too, that’s only right but that isn’t how you define your relationship.”
I pause for a moment and let him process what I’ve said so far. I know he’ll argue with what’s coming next, he might even argue with what I’ve just said but I need to say it, as our relationship felt like it was based on a lie.
“I have practically moved in. Yes. But you let me. You pretty much invited me to. You don’t even realise what you do and say at times do you? You and I Ric. We’re dating.”
It feels good to tell him this, but that feeling doesn’t last long as I quickly begin to fear the backlash of this revelation.

Ric:
I knew I was right, but I'm pretty sure I'm not wrong. But, I give her the floor to let her say what she feels she has to say as my arms come to my chest. I was right about being friends. But I already knew that a couple weeks ago. Maybe two? And we could be best friends. Only as she semi-agrees with me, she's starting to disagree. And she says we're dating. She's wrong. I don't date people. I just told her I don't and why I don't. And she keeps saying it. She's standing firm with her analysis. "I don't date." I tell her. "And lots of people have a key here and could crash here. "Pyper, Simone, Juliet, my thing. That doesn't mean we're dating." I nod my head and take two steps back. She was partly right. I had let her move in, but that wasn't intentional. It was for security reasons. My own. A hand ruffles my hair and I let out a big sigh through my lips. No, I don't realize what I say and do until it's usually too late. "How do we fix it?" 'It' being the dating thing. I don't realize she might take that negatively, but numbers and studies show there's really no reason to date and I don't want to get her hopes up on something that really won't work out in the end.

Skylar:
I roll my eyes when he tells me he doesn’t date and starts listing a number of women he’s related to.
“We fix it by you acknowledging I’m right.”
Okay, maybe I was being a little too blunt now but it’s the truth of the matter. Though I don’t need him to label what we have, so much as I need him to stop fighting it.
“You do realise that of all the people that have keys to your place, I’m the only one you aren’t actually related right? I’m someone you’ve chosen to let into your life for no other reason than the fact that you want to.”

Ric:
"You have a point and are correct in that one circumstance." I tell her after a minute of silence and deep thinking. "That doesn't mean you can't be my best friend outside of those I'm related to." I point out, my arms going behind my head as I take another step or two back and lean up against the wall. "And if, by some miracle you are right-you're wasting your time. As I pointed out about relationships before. So we should agree we aren't dating and just skip past the inevitable." I nod. Twice.

Skylar:
“The inevitable? What that we won’t last? Who ******* cares about that. Relationships never come with guarantees. Any relationship can break down Ricky. You can fall out with both friends and family. Hell. You just used past tense when you referred to your best friend. A best friend, by the way, that I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention up until now.
You don’t give up on something before it’s begun just because you’re worried it won’t work out. That’s stupid. That’s not living.”
He’s backed away from me, about as far as he can go without leaving the apartment. I know I should stay away, probably even back up a little myself so as not to crowd him but I don’t. Instead I step forward. I move to stand before him, place my hands on his face and look into his eyes.
“Kiss me. Come on. Kiss me Ricky and then tell me that we’re nothing more than friends. That you don’t like me in a different way to the way in which you like the other women in your life.”
I don’t say love. I don’t know if he loves me. I don’t know if I love him. All I know is that I like him, a lot. And that just being near him is enough to get my blood pumping. I know he doesn’t feel what I feel. He’s not programmed that way. But I do know that he likes me more than just tolerating me.

Ric:
"I don't really talk about my life or my frie-" She's in my face. Literally. Hands on and staring at me. I move to takes a step back, two actually, but I can't even take one. I've forced myself up against the wall. In a few ways. "I think you watch too many Disney movies, princess." I've seen one because apparently Phoenix loves those movies and I had to research them. Boy, did I regret that decision. Never again. "But sure. Ok. If you think that will give you whatever answer you're looking for." I shrug my shoulders and grab her face, pretty much exactly the same way she has a hold on mine. And I just stare into her eyes for a minute. Maybe less, maybe more. I can do this, it's really not that big of a deal. I keep telling myself this and finally, I more or less yank Skylar towards me and plant one on her lips. I'm not sure how long we're supposed to be lip locked for, but I want to make sure we don't have to do this again tonight, so I keep our lips connected for an ungodly amount of time longer than necessary. And right when I'm about to push her away because I think we've spent enough time with this experiment, one of my hands goes to her arm to help push her off. Only that hand snakes around her upper arm and keeps her in place, my other hand goes to the back of her head, weaves its way into her hair and I yank down on her strands to angle her jaw up so I can kiss her more. Harder. Deeper and when I actually start to not mind us this close together, that's when I push her away. I let go of the hair I'm probably close to ripping out, and push on her arm with the other. "There. Happy now?" I ask her as I move away from her, two steps to the right, sliding against the wall.

Skylar:
I half expect him to shove past me and make a run for the door but he doesn’t, he kisses me just like I asked him to. It’s nothing short of a ******* miracle. Only he doesn’t seem all that into it. Not at first and I hold back from pushing against him as I want to see exactly what he’s capable of without my guidance. When his fingers curl around my hair I try not to moan but damn it if I don’t want and just when it starts to get interesting – and maybe a little painful – he stops and pulls away from me.
I take a moment to gather my thoughts because who can talk after a kiss like that. Well. Him apparently but I still need a moment or two to recover. I note he needs distance again, only this time I give it to him and I take a few steps back.
“Not really.”
I shrug slightly.
“Forgetting the fact that you stopped just when the going was good, you still haven’t told me what that meant. So? You kiss all your friends like that? Cos I can tell you right now I sure as **** don’t.”
Even drunk I wasn’t capable of that kind of thing with Dillon and we went a hell of a lot further than just locking lips together. Of course I don’t explain this to Ric. Explaining physical needs to Ric was not unlike trying to describe colour to a blind person.
“What the **** are you afraid of… really? Intimacy? Letting someone in?”

Ric:
Of course she wasn't happy. You give Skylar an inch and she wants a ******* mile. I groan as she starts shooting questions off at me, resisting the urge to plant my face in a palm. Both of them. "No." I say quietly, between clenched teeth as my arms go to my chest. My stance becoming defensive. "Don't start that psychoanalyzing ******** again. It's not like that. Not all of us are like you." I say that, without it meaning to be offensive. "We're not all experienced at whatever this is." I head into the bedroom so I can take these stupid pants off. The party has been done for at least an hour by this point. As I go through a drawer to get out a pair of sweat pants and a tank top, the closet catches my attention and I start to have second thoughts about offering it to her. So I take the offer back. "I'll clear a drawer for you. The bottom one. In exchange for the closet." I say loud enough for her to hear, eyes still on the closet.

Skylar:
“Well someone’s gotta get inside your head and clean your **** up.”
Probably not the best things to say but it’s about all I have as a retort at this point. I lean against the doorframe and watch him as he does his thing. I figure if he doesn’t want to change in front of me he’ll push me away and close the door. I’m not trying to perve on him, I just don’t want to be yelling at him. Not about all this.
“You really think I can fit all my **** in one drawer?”
I look around the room. It’s big enough. We could get a double bed in there easy with room to spare and maybe another dresser too. Of course I’m not going to touch on the bed issue right now. I couldn’t even get Ric to admit we were in a relationship, so how the **** I was supposed to get him into bed was beyond me.

Ric:
"There's nothing to clean up." I say as I put the tank top over my head. "You're just making this a bigger deal than it actually is." Once my head is through the tank top, my eyes stay on the closet. "Fine. Two drawers. Closet is mine. Off limits." I tell her. I don't know why I offered it to her before, but now I wasn't willing to part with it. Not without a fight and it might even lead to the physical kind. Not the kind Skylar was probably hoping for in that fairy tale head of hers. "So you're bringing all your stuff here? Moving out of Elliot's? Since you need so many drawers?" I work on getting my pants off-the suit ones and stand there in my boxers, eyes locked on her as I wait for an answer.

Skylar:
I try not to stare at him my arms folded across my chest.
“Might as well. I mean I spend all my free time here lately anyways. We could just get another dresser you know. You have that one, I’ll have the new one. Would make things easier. I’ll sort something out on the back of the door for my dresses. I really don’t own all that many, anyway.”
I’m not going to argue with him over a closet. Not yet. Though if he doesn’t agree to a second dresser I might have to. I wasn’t like most women. I didn’t have enough clothing to fill a room or enough pair of shoes that I could wear a different pair every day for a month and still have to decide which ones to wear on day thirty-one. I was pretty simple really. A pair of trainers. A pair of heels. Though I probably would need to replace both soon, what with all the running around I’ve done lately.

[Roderic]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

Ric:
Another dresser? First all her clothes and now another dresser? Again, give an inch and she takes a whole ******* mile. "Fine. Whatever. Probably better that way so your stuff won't touch mine and make it smell funny. Like a girl." I slip into the sweats and look around the room. There was room for another dresser, I just liked things the way they were. How they always had been. "But you can't live here forever. I mean, eventually you'll want your own space with your own stuff. Maybe in a few months. Make something your own?"

Skylar:
His answer tells me he’s still living in lala land. It must really be ******* nice there cos Ric didn’t show any signs for leaving. I roll my eyes and lean my head against the doorframe too, my eyes trained on him but my look is soft and pensive.
“You want me to lie? Or you want the truth?”
I kind of already know he’ll say the truth but I give him the option of hanging on to his fantasy a little longer.

Ric:
"Why would I want you to lie? That's the stupidest question I've ever heard. If I ask you something I want the truth." I cross my arms at my chest, eyes going back to the closet for a brief glance before returning to her.

Skylar:
“Fine. I’ll leave when this…”
I motion between the two of us again.
“… is over. You may not want to acknowledge what’s going on but it is, what it is. We don’t have to label it. Hell I haven’t even attempted to label it with you until now and I kinda wish I’d just kept my mouth shut.
You know what when Nishaa was talking about teams tonight she wasn’t talking about teams Ric. She was talking about genders. She was asking if I was into women. Which I’m pretty sure means she was single, cos she seemed almost disappointed when I told her that I was with you. Which I did. When I told her I was on your team. That narrowed down for her not only my sexual preference but also the fact that I consider myself taken. Which I do. So you can stop asking me about other the other guys I hang out with and if I treat them the way I treat you. Cos the answer’s no. All right? You up to speed now? We good?”
I watch and wait for his reaction to everything I just said. Knowing Ric it won’t be much. Of the two of us, I’m the talker. Ric will say the least amount possible and probably hope I go away. But we’ll see. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he’ll surprise me. Pfft.

Ric:
I had my suspicions that Nishaa was single. I hadn't seen Paige in months and every Tytonidae event that I went to, if Nishaa was there-there was no paige to be seen. "Oh." I say after everything she's said. I'm processing this and whatever this is and it's starting to sound like we are dating. At least other people will think that. She told Nishaa as much. And everyone else at the table tonight. "****." I say quietly, but not so quiet that she couldn't her me say it. I'm dating Skylar. I think it again. And again. "Ok. Whatever. We're dating." I give in, only because I need some time to think about how not to date Skylar. And if I say it, she'll stop talking about it. And maybe then it will go away.

Skylar:
I hear him swear to himself and lightly shake my head. I kinda hoped when the time came I might get a better reaction out of him but having him admit we’re dating is kind of a win I hadn’t expected. I still think he has issues we need to clear up as to why he is the way he is but I guess we’ll get to those in time.
“Don’t worry Ricky.”
I walk over to him and put my arms around him, hugging twice like I usually do when I greet him.
“I’ll take it easy on you. I mean you were fine with things till now… Right? So what does it matter.”
I lightly kiss him on both cheeks, pushing myself up onto the tips of my toes as I do so.
“I’m going to kiss you properly now… Okay? Then we can go watch tv, play games, or whatever else you want to do.”

Ric:
She hugs me and I just stand there. I know what is coming next, so again, I just stand there and let her kiss my cheeks. "I tolerated them. So yeah." I nod my head. I guess if this was dating, it wasn't that bad. The hugging thing was a little much, but maybe in time she wouldn't do it so much. I could hope, but I'm not an overly optimistic sort of guy. I have my doubts. "Why?" I inch back about four inches and look down at her.

Skylar:
I smile at him.
“Because I want to and because it’s kinda part of what couples do. You can’t tell me you hate kissing me Ricky. You’re gonna have to get used to it sooner or later.”
I shrug and attempt to pull him back to me so that I can kiss him.

Ric:
"Fine." I say with a shrug. "But I don't think we have to be like other couples. I'm not like everyone else. And neither are you. So why pretend we are a couple like everyone else?" She doesn't answer me. Skylar decides to kiss me to probably shut me and my logic up. She can probably only take so much of it, like me with her delusional Disney fairy tales. There's no response from me at first, but I realize she won't be happy with this and might make us kiss again or more, so I return the kiss with a little more force. Ok, a lot more force while my hand snakes around her neck and pushes it to the side. I hadn't forgotten that I needed to feed and that she was the source I liked to feed off these nights. I break the rough kiss to shove her against the wall, my other hand against the wall to keep her there before I rip into her neck. I didn't give her any warning or hint that I was going to feed off her, but I figure if she gets to do what she wants to, then so do I. Since we're a couple now, in the words of Skylar.

Skylar:
Ric has two styles from what I can tell, passive and brute force. So when he doesn’t respond at first I figure I’m getting the former. Then out of no-where he practically takes control of the situation and I’m left feeling a bit like I did the night we met when he attacked me, only this time is way, way better. I let one hand press against the back of his neck, keeping him to me as he begins to feed. The other hand clutches at his top near the small of his back. I can’t help but giggle as my legs go weak and I hope to god he doesn’t feed off everyone else the way he feeds off me.
“We’ll be us.”
I whisper, my voice practically stolen from me by his actions.
“I promise.”

Ric:
I hear her laughing-she always does that. She's the only one that I know that does that when I'm engorging in her blood. I don't want to hear her laughter-not tonight. I pull back off her neck, my lips still smeared with her blood and kiss her. I kiss her like I've never kissed her before just to get her to stop laughing. My lips are demanding her silence as they press harder to hers, the hand that was on her neck on her waist, pinning her to the wall in case she tries to get away. I don't want her to get away, or to do anything I don't want her to do. I want her right where I want her and that's here, against the wall with me demanding her silence.

Skylar:
I’m not sure which of us is more surprised by what happens next, him or me, as after he’s fed, his lips seek mine again. He rarely – if ever – initiates anything physical between us, but I’m not about to complain. I kiss him hungrily, because who am I kidding; I’m ******* starved for this kind of attention. Or have been since I met him. I don’t fight it in any way but I do reciprocate, as much as I can considering he has me pinned to the wall. My tongues seeks his. The taste of my own blood fills my mouth. I’m not sure how I feel about that but it is what it is and while it doesn’t taste right, it isn’t going to stop me from enjoying every second of this.

Ric:
Her laughter is cut off as she kisses me back and I actually allow the reciprocation. Until I feel her tongue in my mouth and as soon as her kissing session started, it was finished. She's not laughing anymore, I succeeded in that, so the hold on her stomach is released and I move away from her. I look at her for a few seconds, ten exactly, then run a hand through my hair, ruffling it forward. "I was thinking we could watch the news and play that monopoly game." I say quietly as I take another step back, making that two steps now. "Thoughts?"

Skylar:
Frustration. I’m frustrated. Every time things get good, he pulls away from me. At first I can’t speak. I just stand there, my palms flat against the wall behind me and helping to keeping me upright. I know if I move I’ll likely end up flat on my face as I’ve gone weak at the knees.
I nod. News. Monopoly. Whatever it was all good by me.
“First, I shower.”
With slightly shaky fingers I indicate in the direction of the bathroom. If I was going to function around him tonight, I was going to have to take matters into my hands. My voice is breathy still too but I’m getting used to that. I could have sworn I never used to get this way around guys but then I’d never dated a vampire before. Or been one either. As far as relationships went, that aspect at least was new to me.

Ric:
I think Skylar has some OCD obsession with being clean. She's always wanting to shower. And she thinks I have problems? I don't live in some sort of fluid half my life-water or alcohol. "Ok. I'll go set stuff up." I say as I move past her, from the bedroom and into the living room. "You want any of your stuff from your cabinet?" I ask as I pause at the kitchen area before I actually go in the living room.

Skylar:
“Popcorn.”
I’m not even sure why I reply. My mind is on anything but food right now and popcorn was just the first thing to come to mind. If anything I probably needed to replace the blood he’d just taken from me, but my mind hasn’t gotten that far yet. It’s still replaying the kiss over and over.
I stay where I am a little longer, until my mind goes quiet and I’m sure that I can trust my legs to stay beneath me, at which point I head for the bathroom. This was not how I saw this night playing out. Not at all. But I’d take it. All things considered. It could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Ric:
Popcorn it was. I rummage around for the popcorn and put it in the microwave for exactly as long as the directions tell me to. I move to the living room, turn on the television and set up that monopoly game. I wasn't good at it, and that reminded me to try and find a new game I might be better at. Though, I'm pretty sure Skylar cheated that one time, I'm just not sure how yet. This time I'll watch her more carefully. I pick the same piece as before as I wait for her to finish up in the shower.

Skylar:
I take my time in the shower. Rushing wasn’t the best idea. Not when I had to go back and spend more time with him. Even when I’m done, I stand under the shower a while longer and just let the water rush over me. I imagine it taking with it every negative emotion I don’t want to feel. A few minutes after that, dressed in my t-shirt nighty and bunny slippers, my wet hair hanging down my back, I join him in the front room.
“All right Ricky. You ready to lose?”

Ric:
"I think you have an obsession with being clean." That shower took much longer than what was necessary. I stand and move to the kitchen and bring back the bag of popcorn and offer it to her. "I'm not going to lose this time. I have my eye on you." I tell her, dead serious. "Do couples have rules to follow? Or procedures?" I want to know and make some of my own, if I can.

Skylar:
Nope. I have an obsession with being dirty. My cheeks flush with colour at that thought. I debate explaining my need to shower to him and if that would that be TMI for Ric at this point. He was barely ready to accept the fact that we were dating and if he knew the effect he had on me, there was a good chance he’d never kiss me again. With that thought bouncing around in my brain I decide against replying to that and focus on his dating questions instead.
“Rules? Erm… Maybe. I guess the biggest one, usually, is don’t date anyone else. I mean some people do. They have open relationships or whatever but I’m personally not into that. So… do I have to tell you not to date anyone else or can I assume you’re good with that.”
I quickly realise Ric doesn’t really understand dating and that I might have to expand upon that one rule.
“That basically means no kissing or having sex with other people. You know. No relationship behaviour with anyone but me.”
I highly doubt I have to spell it out to him quite that much but it never hurts to be thorough.

Ric:
I just stare at her as she gives me that one rule. I don't even want to date, let alone date two people but somehow I'm dating Skylar. That really won't be an issue. When she says no kissing other people and no sex, I just have a 'really?' look on my face. We've barely even kissed. I take that back-Skylar's kissed me a lot and I've kissed her, in theory, without any prompting once. To shut her up. Which I don't think even counts as a real kiss because I had an ulterior motive. "That's all couples do? Kiss and have sex?" This wasn't going to last long and she could probably tell by the tone in my voice.

Skylar:
“Well it’s how couples differ from friends and best-friends so it’s a pretty important thing to know. And yeah. I know, you don’t have to give me that look. I know it’s a rule you aren’t likely to break but do you really want me picking and choosing which rules I tell you? Not that there are all that many.”
I’m not entirely sure what he’s thinking but I’m betting the fact that sex is inevitable probably isn’t going over well. Though to be fair I haven’t even begun to try for that yet. Well… Not really. If I was going to do something, I’d probably have tried it the other day in the shower.

Ric:
If Sky thought I was just going to start planting kisses on her because we were 'dating,' she was going to be very disappointed. "Ok. So no kissing other people and no screwing them. Got it." I look at her candidly-was she going to follow her own rule? "Are you going to stop kissing people? I'm sure I'm not the only person you kiss. Anywhere." I added that on so she wouldn't start insinuating that I think she's a whore/slut/whatever else comes in to Skylar's delusional mind. "And how many rules are there?"

Skylar:
“I can only think of a few common sense rules. I guess we’ll cover the others as and when we come to them. Add our own and stuff.”
I shrug.
“And yes and no. I’m still going to kiss my friends and family on the cheek if I feel the need. But that’s about it. I won’t be making out with anyone else or anything. I haven’t done that for a while anyways. And the rules generally go both ways. I wouldn’t ask you to do something I wasn’t willing to do myself Ric.”
I take a look at the piece he’s chosen to use. He’s obviously a creature of habit, as am I in some ways. I pick up the bus from out of the box and put it on the board.

Ric:
"Fair enough." I say when she says if I have to follow these rules, then she does too. "What other rules?" I say as I put my piece on the board. I don't like people adding in things later. I hate surprises. "The rules shouldn't change if you're playing the same game." Now I knew Skylar cheated in some way with the first round of this game we played.

Skylar:
I smile at him. I can’t really do much else. I hadn’t exactly planned to have this conversation yet and so hadn’t even begun to try and organise the rules of dating into a list.
“The rules don’t change Ricky. I might just not remember them to say them now. There aren’t really any fixed rules for dating and couples can make up their own. As I said. Some couples like to sleep with other people. I’m just not that way. I’m a one man kinda woman.”
Like I’d have the time to devote to anyone but Ric. This was part of the reason Dillon was always so annoyed with me lately. He thinks I’m pulling away from him. Which in some ways I guess I am but it was bound to happen one day. I couldn’t live on his couch and be his pseudo girlfriend forever. I hadn’t planned on being his pseudo anything truth be told. Dying had opened my eyes to a lot of things. Unfortunately some things, once seen, can’t be unseen; Dillon’s feelings for me being one of them.

Ric:
"I have to agree to this rules? No addendums? What you say, goes?" I push the cards towards her, indicating she was up first because last time I went first. "Your go first." I add on for extra emphasis so that she knows. "So what's the next rule?" I ask as I lean back against the couch, my eyes on her.

Skylar:
“Well you asked what the rules were. And if you don’t agree with them then tell me. As I said. We can make up our own if we want to. So no. It’s not what I say goes.”
I take the cards and set them in the correct places and then pick up the dice.
“Actually we’re supposed to roll to see who goes first and then you play to the right if there are more than two of you. But sure. I’ll go first.”
I roll the dice to get the game started and move my little bus along the board.
“I guess the next rule is no secrets. Relationships tend to fall apart when people hide things from one another. Of course I don’t expect you to tell me something you’ve been asked to keep to yourself. But you know… we should be free to tell each other anything. Oh and we keep each other’s secrets too.”

Ric:
I think about this rule. "Define secrets." I say after a thoughtful moment. I just want to be clear of her expectations because as she said, I'm not going to tell her some things that have to do with Altaire business or Tytonidae business. I wouldn't expect her to tell me about her family things. But what if she asked me something and I didn't want to answer them because she might start making delusional comments? I think that it's ok to keep my mouth closed in the interest of keeping my sanity about me. I follow suit with rolling the dice after she's moved her piece and move mine, keeping a close eye on how many squares she moved in conjunction to the number she actually rolled.

Skylar:
“Seriously? I have to define what a secret is. I’m pretty sure that’s one word we can both agree on Ricky.”
I give him my ‘are you serious’ look even though I aid it outright. There’s no way on God’s green earth that that boy doesn’t know what a secret is.
“I’m not asking for you to spill your guts right now Ric. But if there’s anything about you or you know, some non-uncle…”
I give him a cheeky smile, as I don’t exactly intend to launch back into that particular topic right now, though I do want him to know I haven’t forgotten my quest to find out why he doesn’t like physical contact.
“You’re hiding. You probably should tell me at some point. But it’s more than that really. It’s knowing that you do have someone you can tell anything to. And if you do anything that might piss me off, or that breaks a rule, you should probably fess up sooner rather than later.”

Ric:
"I think there's a fine line between what should be said and what shouldn't be said." I say with a serious tone. "You want me to tell you if I think you look fat, stupid or say things that I think are stupid?" I lean back against the couch as I keep an eye on her, no amusement in them. If she starts up with that non-uncle **** again, I don't know if I -won't- act out at her in some form of hostility and that probably would end with her being dead. And even though she got on my nerves at times, I don't think I want to kill Skylar. No. I know I don't. Unless she keeps pushing something that she read online, probably in some gossip thing or wikipedia that could be altered by any idiot.

Skylar:
“Use your common sense Ricky. I’m sure you have some.”
I snatch up the dice and take my next turn.
“And yeah you have to tell me if I’m making a prat out of myself. I tried to do the same for you earlier when you were dancing but you ignored me.”
I don’t say it with any judgement. I’m just telling him matter of factly, since that’s the most recent example I have to give him.
“And no. I’m not having a go cos you didn’t listen. You looked like you were having fun and really that’s what dancing is all about. But we may need to teach you some new moves. You could come out with the guys and me if you like. See how it’s done. Actually. Might be better if I have Dillon throw a small thing at his. Less people and all.”

Ric:
"I don't really like parties." I say with a shrug. Which is true. The fact I had fun tonight was some wild fluke and probably wouldn't happen again. "Any other rules? No secrets, no having sex with anyone else." The last bit won't be a problem-wait. I rethink what I just said and just stare at her. She thinks we're going to have sex? I would laugh at her delusion, but I don't. I'll let her think it, but she'll soon find out that wasn't going to be happening. I watch her and her turn, then take mine. I hope there's no more rules because I don't really like following anyone's rules but my own.

Skylar:
“Yeah I know. That’s why I was suggesting something small. I mean you probably should get to know the guys. They’re kind of a big part of my life.”
The game continues but I’m not all that into yet. The first go around the board is kind of boring and uneventful.
“And… erm…”
I try to think of anything else I should say now. For some reason I’m drawing a blank. I shrug as I take my turn.
“Respect I guess. But that’s kind of a given. Like I respect you, you respect me. You know like how you said the wardrobe is off limits. I’ll try and listen. I mean really we’re just building on the friendship thing. Only we’re more intimate on a physical and mental level. Make sense?”
I know I’m not explaining this all very well to him but he’s a smart guy, he’ll get the hang of it… eventually.

Ric:
I just nod because I think Skylar's delusional and she's probably not the first woman that thought she could 'date' me. But I like the respect rule because that means she won't be nosing through my stuff. Like the closet and the other place where I have my more personal possessions. The ones that could get me in trouble if they got into the wrong hands. "Sure. Whatever. If that's a requirement for dating." It's the second run around on the board and things are starting to pick up and get interesting, but I don't lose my focus. I have to keep an eye on Skylar because she wouldn't think twice about pulling a fast one on me to win the game.

Skylar:
“Well they’re requirements for dating me. So… You happy with all that? Wanna object to anything? Add any rules of your own?”
I’m not sure if discussing this while playing a game. Though getting any guy to listen to this kind of thing is a challenge. Worse comes to worse I can tell he should already know the answers and tell him that this was the night he was told.

Ric:
I had a few things in my mind but I doubt any of them would be agreeable and meet 'dating' requirements. So I just shake my head no. "Seems pretty basic. I guess." I shrug my shoulders. "But some of these rules don't seem to apply to just the dating scene. I mean, you shouldn’t lie to your friends, right? And you should respect them too. So I'm not seeing much difference. And not to be offensive, so don't get your panties in a twist, but you're friends with Dillon and you two have, well, had sex."

Skylar:
I groan and place my head in hands. I’m not facepalming. I’m literally trying to hide. Like a child the hope is that if I can’t see him, he can’t see me. It’s stupid but I really didn’t want to have to talk about Dillon.

Ric:
I see what she's doing and I'm thinking on what I said. It seems to me Skylar had dated Dillon and I don't really care. I don't know why she's pretending she didn't, but I change the subject. "I have something to add. If you bring more c-stuff in, you have to run it by me first. I like this how I set them up." I tell her honestly. If I come home to a lot of things changed, I wouldn't be happy.

Skylar:
I pull my hands from my face.
“Ric I’m gonna move ****. I’m not gonna lie. If I live here too. I need to be able to move stuff about. But I won’t go changing any furniture or anything without talking to you first. And I won’t touch ay of your projects. Okay?”
I think I’m good and that I’ll leave that there but my mouth and brain are not communicating properly – possibly due to my pride – as I soon fid I’m speaking again. I’m clearly not happy with this next part.
“And I did not ******* date Dillon. Got it? Yeah we had sex occasionally but… Well…. I don’t ******* know. I was drunk all right? Seemed like a good idea after a few drinks. I’m not like you. I need sex. I had an itch. Dillon scratched it. It was that simple. I never dated him. We were friends with benefits. And you aren’t allowed one of those. You have me. Okay? Is that clear? I’m not attracted to Dillon. Having sex with him was a bad idea each and every ******* time it happened. All right?”
I’ve stopped playing the game at this point, because I need him to hear me and understand this. Dillon was my friend. That was it. It never should have gone any further and I was stupid for ever having gone there. Stupid and incredibly drunk pretty much every time; the only exception being the time I had to keep him quiet till Ellie arrived and could help me explain me biting him.

Ric:
I stop playing the game as I listen to what she's saying and then speak the truth. I think she needs to hear it. "So, you had sex with Dillon each time after drinking? And you know it's a mistake, but you don't believe you have a drinking problem?" I look at her as a leg raises up and I rest my arm against it so I can lean forward, my expression blank. I want her to really think about it without any judgement from me; tone wise or expression wise.

Skylar:
“I don’t have a drinking problem Ric. I just do stupid stuff if I drink too much. I’m willing to admit I should probably listen to my inner voice before I do some things. But seriously! What’s the harm in sleeping with someone you trust if you haven’t had sex in like forever? Better Dillon than some random guy I picked up at the bar. And I never heard Dillon complain. In fact he probably instigated it ninety percent of the time anyways.”
Oh yeah. That sounds good. I try not to hide myself away again but my head is dipped and I haven’t tried to clear the hair from around my face. I’m not embarrassed so much by my behaviour as I am by the fact that I can’t clearly explain this to Ric since he just doesn’t seem to get sex stuff. Dillon was… convenient. That’s when it strikes me.
“Convenience. Dillon was just a means to an end Ricky. Much like I was the night you met me. You didn’t care if I wanted to be fed on and you fed on me anyways. Okay so not exactly like that. But kinda. I had a need that Dillon could help me with. Dillon’s not my type. Like at all.”

Ric:
I listen to her and wonder if she realizes what she is saying. Not just about the booze, but about Dillon. I don't ask any more questions or say anything else about it. Skylar's dated a lot more than I have and had much more sex than I have, so what seems complicated to me, must not be for her. If she has it all figured out, then what do I care? "Ok." I say with a shrug before changing the topic. "I think it's your turn again." I lean back against the couch, not really giving the drinking bit or Dillon anymore thought. "So you're bringing more stuff over tomorrow?" I want to be here to supervise.

Skylar:
I’m not sure he believes me but he seems to let the subject drop, so, so do I.
“Yeah. I guess. I don’t have much. Another bag of clothes, my guitars, some art supplies and stuff. It’s okay if I keep some of that out here right?”
I get on with the game, my feelings settling back into a level I could deal with more easily. In some aspects I’m probably lucky and I know it too. If Ric was as emotional as me, I’d probably end up picking up on his feelings too and then god knows how I’d control myself.

Ric:
"I guess so. Probably would make more sense. Can't keep everything in there or there won't be room to sleep or get changed." I tell her after I watch her take her turn and then snatch the dice up and take mine. And this is what we do. We keep playing the game, me asking the random question that pops up-avoiding topics like Dillon, drinking and dating. I was fine with things being the way they were, I didn't see the need to label it and try to change it up any.