She made a mental note on his words as to where to stay away from. She would wager when it came to the world and it’s happenings, Recheov was a very wise man, as his body told the tale of the things he had seen and done. She couldn’t help but allow her mind to linger a moment on the thought of his body. While she had seen much of it while he had been there, she wouldn’t mind seeing more of it.

As his story unraveled, she had her index finger in her mouth, half chewing on it in suspense. Her eyes were wide and locked on his eyes, and his mouth, oddly enough. She nodded and tossed in a few..”Mhms” here and there.

But as his story went on, she could see the look on his face...that look in his eyes. He at this moment, was not a proud man. Reaching out, Kali placed her hand on his thigh and squeezed it gently. In all honesty her heart sank, and for many reasons.

First and foremost, she had viewed Recheov as strong since the moment they had met. Be it mentally or physically...in her mind he was strong. Secondly, while she knew he was flawed, she was comfortable with that, until now when he seemed the opposite.

“You know..” Her tongue wet her lips as she tossed a glance away from him. Nervous smile replaced the look of concern that had wore a path there just moments before. “I’ll gladly listen to whatever you have to tell me. Anything really that you want to say. Just let it be known that...I don’t want you to do so at the expense of your comfort Recheov. Mmk?”

The way Recheov saw it, there was very little he could lose here. Nothing that would go undeserved, at least. If Kali kicked him out tonight, then by all means. He wasn't going to argue it. After hearing that little bit of backstory, he fully expected her to, and wouldn't have blamed her in the slightest if she decided it was time for Recheov to find a new place to stay.

"Heh," he grinned slightly as he glanced her way. Kali wasn't looking at him. She seemed nervous. "oI really got no troubles talkin' 'bout it all. Jus' tell me when you want me t'shut it."

Really, he was just getting started. Theft, mindless seduction, rape, and barroom brawls were just the beginning. Those barely, if at all, explained the worst of his injuries.

"Or . . ." he trailed off.

Well, might as well just make it clear that she had the option.

". . . when ya want me out."

Out? The thought had never crossed her mind! In fact, the opposite. She was willing to let him stay as long as he wanted to. She was confused for a moment, averting her eyes back to him. Her eyes narrowed for a moment and locked to his own. Surely he did not think after she had told him time and time already....

“I will listen until you have nothing else to say, and I will take it for what it is worth to me. With that being said, it is nothing more to me then your troubled past Recheov.” She smiled a bit and brushed a few stray locks of hair from her forehead. “I may sit before you a sweet innocent young woman, but it’s not always been that way. I’m not exactly proud of some of the things I have done in the past, but Keeper taught me better. It is not a mans past that defines him, but his potential for the future.” She did her best Keeper imitation....

She laughed quietly to herself, and then scooped his hand up into her, unless he pulled away from her. “Least, it was woman in my case when he spoke it. Either way, you’ve brought me no harm, no problems, only good things. I like having you here with me.” A blush stoke the color of her cheeks and kissed at the bridge of her nose.

“There is nothing you are going to tell me that would make me ask you to leave. That is not to say that there aren’t things you could tell me that might break my heart for you, but in my eyes you are now....here with me...not a wicked man, and you have had your chances to be so.”

Again she blushed thinking to the many times he could have taken advantage of her. While she slept, while she had her back turned, while she bathed.... Again she blushed a little. “Just so it’s clear, if I didn’t want you here...Keeper would be sure that you weren’t.” She didn’t crack a smile as she spoke these words. She was beyond serious. If Keeper thought she was in danger of any kind, he would gladly be sure Recheov was no longer around, he had proved that much in the past.

Kali said something there, when she was attempting her best impression of Keeper. Something so philosophical. Something so deep. Something so genuinely true. It caught him off guard.

It's not a man's past that defines him, but his potential for the future.

And as Kali took his hand in hers, he couldn't help but think back to all the times he was so wrong about the future. His future. His friends' future.

He looked as surprised as he was. What he was hearing now sounded like a feminized rendition of something one of his old friends might have said to him before. Back when he was redeemable. Back when it didn't take severe injuries and a week's worth of hospitalization at that village's clinic to make him (somewhat) healthy again.

And through his surprise, an unfamiliar redness assaulted his cheeks.

Recheov gently pulled his hand back from Kali's, only to reach it up to the back of his head, where he scratched the back of his neck, spurred on by a sudden feeling of . . . nervousness? Anxiety? What the hell? Recheov didn't get these feelings. So why now?

"S-so, uh, er," Recheov cleared his throat, "Uh, a-anyways, oI did some bad stuff and . . . uh, oI pissed my friends off real bad and, uh . . . started some bad foights, and . . . er . . . yeah, now oI'm 'ere."

Where the bloody hell did my gusto go?

"So, uh, yeah, that's it. End'o story."

The look on his face spoke multitudes. Silently, and almost in a sort of awe, she watched him as he processed her words. A subtle hint of crimson kissed his cheeks in such a way she wished to remember this moment forever, and she very possibly could.

She wished to grab his hand and hold it tighter as he pulled away, but her digits unfurled and allowed his palm to graze hers as he did so. He seemed rattled, but in what way she couldn’t put her finger on it. It was cute...in a way charming as he sputtered over his words.

She wasn’t too sure about the abrupt ending to his story. Be it that something she had said struck a nerve, or if he just decided not to go on any further, she shook her head. She was here for him, whenever he needed her to be, hopefully by now he realized this, but she wouldn’t press him further, only prod a bit. “Are you alright? You seem....upset.” Maybe not the best choice of words, but she wanted to know what was on his mind without downright asking him.

"No, uh, er . . ." Recheov cleared his throat, "oI'm foine. Not upset or nothin'. No worries here. No worries there. Jus' foine."

Now he really wanted some booze. That would decrease the warmth in his cheeks and make all this a lot more casual again.

"You, uh-- you got any more to drink?" he asked, and while this had become a fairly normal question when it came to life with Recheov, the way he asked it was remarkably sheepish, almost as if he were afraid that Kali did not, in fact, have anything else to drink.

Well, if she didn't, he was going to have to go get some more . . .

Her lips curled upward ever so elegantly at his request. Perhaps she had struck a nerve? She wouldn’t press the matter, although oddly enough her heart was thumping under her bosom ferociously. “Of course I do.”

She slid off the couch, only to pause standing right in front of Recheov. She looked at him as though something was on the tip of her tongue, as if there was something she needed to say, or wanted to. Instead however, she placed a hand on the arm of the couch beside him, leaned down and placed her lips gently to his, and would allow them to linger for only a moment, should he also allow it.

As if nothing had happened, she stood and walked into the kitchen silently.

Once she was out of his sight, she placed her hand on her mouth and leaned against the counter. What the hell was that about? She felt warm, more so then normal, and her heart beat drown out all other sounds. She needed to collect herself, and quickly poured a glass of whisky for him, taking a long large gulp of it herself.

It took longer then it should have for her to return, handing him the glass. She sat a bit further from him then she normally would, feeling as though she may have overstepped a bound or two. She avoided his eyes, and stared blankly straight ahead, still feeling the burn in her throat from the drink.

Of all things, Recheov didn't expect that. It left him stunned, unable to move, unable to think. These people were crazy, weren't they? He'd just finished telling her how horrible of a person he was and she kissed him. That didn't mean it was a bad kiss. No, Recheov hadn't tasted a woman's lips in far too long. The shock of all of it left him temporarily stunned, and he didn't come to realize himself and his surroundings until she'd all but returned with his drink.

And the first thing he felt?

Temptation.

It was ravenous. He felt a terrifying need to reach over, draw this woman upon him, and kiss her as passionately as he could.

Except his breath was pretty ripe. So were his pits. Recheov actually made the effort to check both. He pulled at the collar of his shirt and sniffed. He was not impressed. Then he blew on his hand and sniffed. Again, he was not impressed. Then again, he worked outside all day and he was missing a few teeth. They all came from fights, but a few of them had cavities to begin with. Personal hygiene was not Recheov's forte. In fact, when Kali kissed him, she must've wanted to pull away when she tasted his breath-- right?

"Oi, uh," Recheov cleared his throat.

What was it he wanted to say, though? He didn't know what at first. The silence was simply too deafening. Or-- wait. Yes, that was it. He wanted to make amends for the horrible experience he expected Kali to have had.

"Sorry."

Throat still burning, she kept exhaling in tiny coughs. She knew it would only draw attention to herself, which she wanted, but didn’t want at the same time. That burn in her throat traveled to her cheeks, which of course, was not caused by the whisky.

She heard him speak, and at first found herself unable to answer him. She wasn’t sure why, she had kissed him after all, little did he know, that simply wasn’t something Kali did all the time. But before she did answer him, she couldn’t help but wonder why on earth he would tell her he was sorry......a good way for her to answer him.....with a question herself...

“Why are you sorry? You don’t need to apologize to me.” Her voice was small as she spoke, but when she did finally talk, it was like someone opened a dam. “I’m the one that should be sorry, putting you in an awkward position. I just couldn’t help myself. I suppose I could have...but I didn’t want to any longer. Please don’t hold it against me Recheov. I know it was probably nothing to you, probably not even enjoyable, but I have to be honest, I’d do it again if given the chance! I probably shouldn’t have told you that, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

After she rambled, she brought her hands to her face and covered it, shaking her head at herself. She was embarrassed slightly, still shocked at herself, and she could swear her lips were tingling still, as if his were still pressed to hers. However, she continued to mumbled to herself under her breath.

That wasn't what he was implying. Not at all! If he weren't so personally confused, he'd have called Kali a silly broad and suggested dropping all those insecurities like a bad hat. Thing was, though, he was pretty disoriented right now. He wasn't thinking straight, and the best things he could say were fairly neutral. Like explaining why he'd apologized.

"oI, uh, oI was apologizin' 'cause, uh . . ."

Recheov coughed in his hand.

"Ain'tbrushedm'teethinforever," he said quickly before coughing in his hand again.

It wasn't that he was terribly ashamed. He was kind of ashamed now (which was really, really strange), but he was moreso surprised that Kali hadn't picked up on that.

His breath really must've smelled terrible. At this point, though, there probably wasn't much he could do about that. If he weren't consistently intoxicated, he'd have felt the pain of tooth rot. It was yet another reason to drink whiskey like water.

She hadn’t noticed. In fact, she was surprised he hadn’t noticed the whisky on her breath, which in all honesty killed everything else. She lowered her hands and looked at him, half wondering if he was being serious or....

She bursted out into laughter. She couldn’t help herself really. Of all things that was the one thing she hadn’t thought of. Maybe because since she met him there was never a moment he wasn’t drinking, or at least thinking about it. And whisky has a way of lingering....

She inhaled deeply and let out a few more stray chuckles. “You worry about much different things then I do, that much is for certain.” She pulled her legs up under and rested her elbow on her knees, again staring off into nothing.

“I really like you Recheov.” And she left it at that. For now at least, she didn’t really know what more to say, knowing that on top of everything, she without a doubt, had to have had made an ass out of herself.

"Yeah?" he said.

You're probably the first.

Recheov took a long drink of his liquor. He held the glass to his lips and felt the warmth of it all slide down his throat until there was nothing left.

"Well, oI loike you, too, Kali," Recheov concluded as he brought the glass away from his lips.

He was just telling the truth. Kali was a fairly kind person. Sexy, to boot. Though, that didn't mean he had romantic feelings for her. It had long since been decided (by Recheov's former friends) that Recheov could not experience romantic feelings even if it meant saving his own life. While that might be debatable at this point, he personally didn't know exactly what he felt for Kali, only that he wasn't too keen on the idea of (intentionally) doing her any harm, be it physically or emotionally. At this point, that was a fairly big step in the right social direction.

She nodded and leaned back into the sofa, still keeping a bit more distance between the two of them then she had before. A long drawn in breath made way for a rather loud sigh as she rested her elbow on the arm of the couch and cradled her cheek in her palm.

“So anyways...” She didn’t really know what to say. Her mind was back and forth thinking of things that she wouldn’t dare speak, not that they were bad things, just that....even Kali had things she didn’t care to bring into the light.

There was an awkward, uncomfortable silence between them. Recheov, too, hadn't the slightest clue what to say. What, was he supposed to explain what depth he liked Kali? Because he didn't know that at all. Recheov was still recovering from the fact that he had any sort of emotional attachment for this woman.

When he looked to the window, however, Recheov was greeted by a strange surprise. The sun was going down. It was half-way through its regular descent, which meant that it must have been four or five o'clock. Seemed they'd actually been talking for a few hours. Well, a couple of hours; there was easily an hour of silence somehow wormed into that.

"So, wot 'bout an early dinner, eh?" Recheov prodded.

Earlier, she'd said something about wearing some finer clothes or whatnot. Recheov didn't remind her of that. After all, what he was currently wearing was just fine, right?

She was easily lost in her thoughts, silent and as far away from him as she possibly could be while sitting on the same couch. It was obvious she was being quiet, he would know that too after the time they has spent together, she always had something more to say. Finally, he broke the silence.

“Hm? OH, yeah that sounds great. Give me a minute.” With that, she was off and in her room, pushing the door half way closed before she fell back onto her bed. What were you thinking Kali!?! She brought her hands to her face and slid them down slowly. With a deep breath she got back up, jumped into some different clothes (jeans and a different tank top) and headed from her room straight to the wash room.

With a quick brush of her hair, she tied it back nicely and gave herself a long hard look in the mirror. Only minutes after she had left the living room, she was back in it, looking a Recheov. “Just need to toss my boots on and we can go.”