Smooth Surfaces

[Syntaphar]

Aron nodded solemnly as she spoke the case for Zed. He didn't like to hear it, no, but it didn't reduce his suspicion. "Nevertheless, keep an eye out. He weirds me out, regardless of his behavior. I don't necessarily think he's dangerous. I just get the feeling he needs watching. And of course I know I can't come in. That's why I offered to stay out her, Sophie. Looking forward to that coffee though." With a serene smile, he turned to look out into the street. No sign of Tony yet, but he was due any minute. As he turned back, Sophie surprised him with a quick kiss. He tried to pull off the same serene smile, but anyone looking closely would notice the sadness in his eyes and the forcedness of the grin. "Yeah, no problem, I'll tell him hey. Have a nice afternoon, Sophie." As she shut the door, he sat down in front of it too, lying back against it, eyes closed.

Sighing deeply, he watched the street outside, hearing the familiar rumble of Tony's delivery truck. He would probably chat with the guy a few minutes, acting nonchalant, pay for his food, and then follow through with both of his promises. He would say hey for Sophie, and then he would leave her property. He looked forward to this little bit of social interaction, as he knew he had a lot of thinking to do as he walked home. Putting on his best casual smile, he stood up to greet the man opening the door to the newly parked truck. Sighing once more, he took the first step since yesterday off of Sophie's property.

[Ramlock]

Zed showered fairly quickly, not really having any soap or shampoo he wanted to use. He certainly didn't feel comfortable with using Sophie's shower products. How exactly was he going to explain coming out smelling like her, in that case? He would clean up as well as he could, drying off and getting dressed again, breathing a sigh of sorts. It was... Almost domestic, being here. It didn't really feel wrong, though maybe it should have...

Zed would, however, take a bit of Sophie's toothpaste, brushing his teeth with his finger. He at least had to do that. After cleaning his teeth, he brushed his hair back casually with his hands, having no gel with which he wanted to prepare his hair today. The towel and washcloth would be hung neatly on a towel rack, and he looked over the bathroom to check it looked essentially like when he had entered. Finally, he would emerge from the bathroom, noting the lack of any more notes as he went to the kitchen.

"Thanks for that. I'm ready for breakfast when you are..."

She seemed a bit off from before... But Zed didn't ask about Aron, or anything like that. Again, it was her business.

[Skylar]

She tried to shake off the feelings she was harboring and went back into the kitchen. Everything was nearly finished when she heard the bathroom door open. A forced smile met Zed. “Feeling better then I assume?” She pushed a fresh cup of coffee his way.

It only took a few seconds for her to serve up the food on two plates, gently placing one before him. “Feel free to only eat what you like. I won't be offended if there's something you don't care for.” On the bar top before them was a tub of butter and a small pitcher of syrup. Fixing her pancakes, she cut them up and moved the pieces around on her plate.

“Oh! Before I forget...” She stopped herself for a moment. She didn't want her next question to come across odd in any way. Then again, he had stayed the night at her home..... “Could I get your number?” She pulled her phone out and hit the power button.

[Ramlock]

"Yes, I feel better."

Zed smiled, looking over the food on the plate. There was nothing he didn't eat on the plate, though he did start with the coffee, drinking almost half the cup before even touching the food. After that, he would put butter and a small amount of syrup on the pancakes, hungrily preparing to consume breakfast. It had been a long time since he'd actually eaten breakfast; he was usually out at night. And no one cooked for him at home...

"Oh, sure."

Zed recited his phone number, smiling a bit at the question. Everything seemed to be backwards here. She was asking for his number, after he had already spent the night? It was a fair enough question. He also asked for hers back, though he didn't take out his phone. In fact, if Sophie was to see, there were no numbers stored in his phone at all...

"Thank you for breakfast. It's very good..."

[Skylar]

In the back of her mind Arons words haunted her. It was slightly odd that this man, this stranger stayed in her home, showered there, and now is having breakfast with a woman who he knew nothing about. Then again, she did offer her home to a stranger. However, that wasn't so strange. Sophie liked to help people, but in this instance it seemed it was he who was helping her.

She entered his number into her phone, and in return gave him her number. There was no reason for her to question this mans intentions. He was a gentleman. Thus far anyways. In all honesty, she had had a good time with him there. Then why the sudden battle within her mind? She shook her head to herself. Regardless the situation, Arons opinion mattered.

“Oh, you're welcome. It's not often I get to cook for someone other then myself. It's kinda fun on occasion.” She smiled wide and took a bite of her pancake. Truth was, she wasn't very hungry. Not to mention she wanted to ask him what came next? Were they friends? Would they be hanging out again? Was this like..a one time get outta jail free card?

Surely the questions played over her features. But how odd would a question pertaining to that be? She continued moving the food around on her plate, and sipping her coffee unsure of what to say or do next.

[Ramlock]

Zed, for his part, hadn't thought much about whether the situation was odd. He had just stayed because... Well, because he wanted to. Thousands of people were spending the night at essentially a stranger's home on any given night, and those people were almost certainly more intimate than Zed and Sophie had been... Aron's situation, of course, was a bit stranger...

"Well, you're good at it, for apparently not having much practice."

Of course, Zed couldn't help reading just a little bit into what Sophie had said. After all, her not cooking for someone else very often had certain implications, the most important being that there was rarely anyone else here... That was certainly a fact to file away in regards to future plans...

"I'm going to be around this neighborhood for likely the next couple of weeks. If you have free time, I'd love to come by again..."

Zed wasn't entirely believing what he was hearing coming out of his own mouth... For some very important reasons. Reasons that seemed less important, the more he was around Sophie...

[Skylar]

“Well I thank you sir.” She offered him a silly bow as a crooked smile flashed across her features. “I'm really glad you like it.” She grabbed the coffee and topped off both of their cups. Maybe somewhere in the back of her mind she thought he wouldn't leave until it was all finished.....She'd make a million pots of coffee if that were the case...

“Really?” Her voice was not filled with excitement, though she was sure that it twinkled in her eyes. She was however curious. In all the years she lived here, Aron was the only man that ever showed interest in her. Then again, she was always with him. Perhaps that gave people the wrong idea...or maybe Aron gave people the wrong idea, or didn't correct them when they did.... Or just maybe...Zed was the first man that didn't care what Aron thought...

“Of course. You are more then welcome to stop by anytime. After all, you have my number.” She winked at him, remembering how he didn't write it down. For a moment she had thought maybe he wasn't interested, yet he had just asked if he were welcome to see her again.

“It's a shame that it's only for a couple weeks though.” She smiled wide as she felt a rush of warmth invade her cheeks only to kiss on the bridge of her nose. Sometimes she found herself too honest, but keeping herself grounded....well, that was important always.

Deeply she inhaled, trying to calm the rapidly beating heart that she might swear one could see from beneath her bosom.

[Ramlock]

Zed couldn't help smiling in a bit of a goofy way as her own crooked smile passed. He was enjoying being here... Enjoying it a lot, really. Maybe it would be safer if he was to come over every night, just in case. After all, Aron seemed harmless, but maybe, just to be safe...

"I do have your number. I'll give you a call sometime soon."

She was right about it being a shame he was only around for a couple of weeks. He lived close to two hours away, normally. But... Well, moving had been on his mind a lot lately. An awful lot, really. And if there was something here for him to come to? Well, that would make this place as good as anywhere...

"I should be going soon... But I've got a few minutes. Do you want me to walk you out? I can run off your doorstop boyfriend if you like, too..."

Zed sipped at the second cup of coffee, perhaps sign enough that he was perfectly fine if his time here went long...

[Skylar]

“You do that. The sooner the better.” She looked down at the dark liquid in her cup to avoid meeting his eyes. While she made no attempt to make a joke from her words, she knew the truth in her eyes would give herself away completely.

“Uh...no I um..I don't think I'm going to go anywhere anytime soon. And, Aron is not my boyfriend.” She made certain that there was no mistaking in her voice the tone. However, all the seriousness of the events of a couple evenings ago rushed back to her. She, had killed a man.....

She brought the cup to her lips, noticing how badly she was shaking now, thinking back to that night. Never could she think of a time when such harsh feeling were allowed to take herself over like that. She was ashamed to know that she was capable of such abominations...

[Ramlock]

Zed smiled a bit, fully intending to call. He'd had fun, even if it hadn't necessarily been an intimate night. Still, he was going to be around for a while, and he'd certainly enjoy coming by again... Hanging-on friend or not.

"I will."

Zed frowned as he saw her new reaction, though. It seemed... Strange, certainly. At first, Zed thought she was upset about Aron, but that didn't seem quite right. It was hard to say, though. Maybe he should stick around for more of the day? Or maybe she wanted to be alone? It was sometimes difficult to tell what the right action was...

"Are you okay? You seem a little... Bothered. I know a lot has happened lately, though..."

[Skylar]

“You don't know the half of it...” It was spoken under her breath and without thinking. Her eyes quickly met his. “No...no, not at all. I'm fine.” She forced a smile. Even knowing her as little time as he had, he would know it was only half-hearted.

“Need more coffee?” It was a weak attempt to change the subject, but she needed to try something. As she turned to reach for the coffee pot, her fingers didn't fully let loose of the cup handle, and her almost full cup of coffee came crashing to the floor.

“Shit!” Quickly she nabbed the kitchen towel off the handle of a nearby drawer, trying desperately to sop up her mess. She felt a lump form in her throat and fought back feverishly tears the stung her eyes. She couldn't allow herself to lose control. Not now, not in front of him....not ever again....

“I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into me.”

[Ramlock]

Zed watched Sophie spill her coffee, perhaps due to the fact that she was a bit shaken up. It was going to take a bit of time to clean up, but he didn't think it was a very big deal... Before realizing it wasn't the coffee at all. She was broken up about something else, and it wasn't about the coffee at all.

"You don't have to apologize, just..."

Zed moved from behind the counter, walking over to where Sophie was cleaning, and putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Just let the damn coffee spill for a minute, and don't worry..."

[Skylar]

She ceased all her movements and allowed her eyes to close. A deep breath drawn from between slightly parted lips caused a bit of a quiet gasp of exacerbation.

Slowly she stood, feeling his hands upon her shoulders...strong, gentle... She needed to calm down. And over and over she told herself this.

Without pulling away from him, she turned to face him. “About what?” He would be able to hear the unfallen tears in her voice as she choked them back. She averted her face toward him, her eyes still closed, until slowly they opened. Sorrow....it raged within her eyes.

[Ramlock]

Zed crouched down, putting his arms around her shoulders.

"I don't know. And that's allright with me."

All things considered, he'd only just met Sophie the night before. He wasn't going to dive headfirst into her life. Their lives had just crossed paths for a minute. She was just having a bad moment, and it was certainly more uncomfortable for her than it was for him...

"Just take a minute away from it."

[Skylar]

She tossed the towel in the puddle of coffee, and ran her hand across her face. Deeply she inhaled, and with her slow exhale, her radio turned itself on. Her eyes widened for a moment. How could that have happened? She wouldn't deny that the feeling of his hand on her shoulder mustered a warm feeling inside her...but...

“It's set on a timer.” She smiled as she moved toward the radio, turning the volume down so it played softly in the background. And as quickly as she moved to it, she moved away, as to not draw more attention to it. “It startled me for a moment.” She forced a laugh, and a very convincing fake laugh it was.

Moving closer to him now, she scooped his hand up into hers. “Thank you for being so kind and understanding. I suppose my I'm a bit unnerved. It's kinda hard to swallow Aron’s actions, since I've known him for so long, and he has never behaved in such a manner before.”

Returning to the kitchen, she pulled a small mop outta a side closet and make quick work of the mess she had made earlier. “Alright, let's try this again.” With that being said, she flawlessly poured herself a new cup of coffee, and sipped it slowly, her eyes all the while locked onto Zed.