with a swerve my eyes avert*[CAS]

[cierra]

OUTFIT

MY MOUTH SOMEHOW FORGETS TO WORK

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so i stare until you shout[/center]

Cierra decided to herself that this mistake or 'just once' thing wasn't going to ever happen again. Sometimes when she told others she didn't want to go out, they laughed and simply labeled her paranoid. Yes, as much as Cierra was pretty paranoid, she had been right. The one time she decided to leave her rule this happened. Though it didnt' end badly, it very easily could have. She was the perfect victum for any type of kidnapping. Cierra woudl be frozen with fear for the first half of everything, making her very easy to move. Not to mention she wouldn't be making any noises. It took her quite a bit of effort to talk to Cas for the first time while she was being ushered to the truck. For someone that was probably expecting struggle, it would be the easiest assignment. She was bad with pressure anyway, no matter what kind of pressure it tended to be. Peer pressure, streesful pressure, and any type of high pushed situations. She crumbled so easily.

Even now, she kept trying to repeat to herself that she'd be safe here, but it was hard to think that when she was still in a strange house. A place she wsan't sure how to get to without her phone or having any numbers in her head memorized at the least bit. Cierra wasn't going to be looking for her phone though. A mix between not wanting to go the bar and not wanting to contact a couple of people, she just figured it was better lost. Getting a new phone might be a hasstle though. With the shake of her head, she glanced once more around the place she was at. She probably should have something like 'you have a nice home'. It was considered rude when she didn't, and now she was remembering. There wasn't quite much she could do now. Cierra really did think it was a nice home. Her bar wasn't set very high, but it was spacious. Wasn't trashed. Wasn't crammed with stuff that one needed a made walkway from the door to all the rooms. She had only seen a part of the house, but the part she had seen was fine. It had to make sense that the rest of it was.

Cierra was thankful he didn't say anything else. She tended to get emotional when she thought of any dramatic event like that night. It was bad enough that she cringed and such during the painful part. Intertestingly enough, she didn't do it as much as she might have been. She had been fighting them back. Most of the time, it didn't actually work as well as it did. With everything happened in her small life, her emotional scale was so tispy and horrible that results like bawling for something small happened quite often. When something huge happened, she was surprised she hadn't been tears all the way here. She blaimed it, of course, on the fact that her mind was pratically shut down from all the imagess he was having to herself. What she may have no realized was that a little emotional stability was happening for some reason or another. It was as if right now it decided to be balanced and work with the situation for once in her lfie. She was a little too freaked out to notice how much of a miracle this was. Anyone that could see her now were surely noticing.

Just looking at it, she couldn't really tell if there was glass or dirt on the wound. All she was able to see that dried blood was cleaned up nice and easy on one side where only the cut skin was showing but the other side was still covered in a dark maroon. Cierra didn't even know if anything was in there, but she figured she'd better get it clean to figure it out. When he said glass, she took a small inaudiable gasp in. The only clue to hint she gasped was her chest expanding with a deep breath and her expression widened. It went back to normal when she went to focus on the task at hand. Most of her thoughts were repeating over and over in her head that she needed to be stronger. She also didn't want to try to prove herself and become stronger while hurting someone else. Cierra would actually rather have herself in horrible pain than to see someone else. When she volunteered at the animal shelter all those years ago, she had burst into tears when she had to hold a dog getting the stiches out. Though it was good for the dog, it still squirmed and whimpered in Cierra's grasp. Thats why being a vet wold just end up in a fail.

Get it out? Her? Shoot, she should have seen this coming. It was the thing to make sense, of course, but it still seemed to make her nervous. For a moment, she thought about it. Sure. She could do it! "I can." She breathed softly before making a brief nod before setting all her focus on this task. It didn't even occur to the irony that she, a shapeshifter, was healing the wounds of the injured hunter. Her fingers reached the first aid kit that had been used on her moments ago and lightly delicatly dabbed rubbing alcohol on the small cleaning tool. Barely breathing, she didn't give him much warning besides approaching the wound slowly- as there was probably no way he needed the same treatment she had. Cierra took a little longer, but it balanced greatly with her very light touch. It left a small sting instead of a burning sensation. She was trying to work as fast as she could, but at the same time, digging it into the wound seemed like a bad idea. In her own mind, she was already digging and taking forever, though she wasn't doing too bad of a job for a beginner.

She lifted her hand away. There, it was clean. Cierra realized she had been holding her breath when a gush of air came out when she was finished and quickly back in for a small panic of the lungs. "Torture's over." She quoted what he used earlier, making an attempt at a soft smile. One of the first she had done that night. That was horrifying. She felt like she had just stabbed him a million times with the stupid cotton ball. Her mind tended to exagerate a situation. She knew this, but at the same time, it had to be true. Cursing herself on the inside, she didn't meet his gaze as she placed the used ball on the counter next to her. Way to go. Bad time trying to be brave and prove yourself. A stronger time would have been at the bar! You're booksmart, but goodness, Cierra, you can be such an idiot at times She thought, scolding herself in third person in her head, wanting to apologize a thousand times over to Cas- goodness, Cason. Still, she knew that one might have been enough. He probably wouldn't take it anyway. "What time is it?" She asked, trying to distract herself and say something before she had a chance to look over at his expression. Must have been close to midnight. At the earliest. She should have been in bed three hours ago. Now thinking about it, she should have been out of the bar an hour and a half ago. All estimated times at the least.

WONDERIN WHY YOU CAN'T FIGURE ME OUT

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with a change i call the names[/font]
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[CASON FLYNN ELLERY]

This whole impromptu 'rescue' or perhaps she thought of it more as a kidnapping, had Cas a little out of his element himself to be quite frank. He didn't even have that many people over to his house voluntarily, Sam and Jude mostly, with the latter often just showing up whenever she wanted and crawling into his bed at some random hour. A proper host probably would have offered the girl a more comfortable chair, a drink, maybe even something to eat. None of that had really even occured to the hunter as of yet though. His all too practical mind was more focused on the pressing issues at the moment, making sure they hadn't been followed and then tending to the cut on her forehead. When it came right down to it he was used to looking out for himself and that was it really. Ever since Natalie had died it had just been him wherever he went and well, a person just sort of got used to taking care of oneself.

So throwing a stranger into the mix shook up his normal routine, a fact his brain was still trying to wrap itself around it seemed. Take the whole trying to clean up his own cut thing for example. It hadn't even once crossed his mind to even ask her if she could do it for him, not until he'd fought with it in the shitty excuse for a mirror first. Even then it felt weird asking her to do his dirty work, or at least that's what he considered it. He was used to these sort of situations, seeing blood and dirt and god knew what else and she had looked dizzy just seeing the crimson substance on her fingers earlier in the truck. And she really had drawn the short straw if you were comparing which one had a worse task. Her cut might have been deep but it was fairly neat and small compared to the slightly jagged gash running above his eyebrow. Much more blood and certainly more debris involved. It just really didn't seem all that fair to her.

Yet, ask her he did and showing she had more backbone than one might think agreed to the plan, flinching only slightly as she leaned in to get a closer look. Her closer proximity brought the random thought that she smelled really nice, flowery and well just nice, especially after being in the bar. Green eyes flickered to the side, watching as she wet a clean bit of guaze with the rubbing alcohol before slowing bringing it towards his forehead, slowly as if to give him time to brace himself. And he was, knowing just how much the alcohol was going to burn and he couldn't help the slight wince at the first contact with his skin. Surprisingly enough though that was the worst of the pain thanks to the quick yet extremely gentle strokes she made with the guaze. It was like a feather brushing against his forehead compared to when he did it himself.

Before he knew it she pulled back, inspecting her work with a satisfied expression even as an obviously relieved sigh blew from her lips. Her words brought a slight smile from the hunter and he shifted in his seat just enough to catch a glimpse of the wound in the cheap mirror. Even with the crappy reflection it gave he could see just how much better the gash looked now than it had even after he'd partially cleaned it. "Thanks, it looks good," he told her appreciatively, glancing back towards her only to see her avert her gaze before placing the bloodied cotton ball onto the table. Was she expecting him to be unhappy with her or something? Cas wasn't really certain and man that he was doubted he'd figure it out anytime soon. "You did better than I could have that's for sure," he added even as he stood up from the chair to toss the rest of the used up supplies in the trash can.

Putting the first aid kit back together he flipped the lid shut, eyes glancing to the side towards the digital display on the microwave. "It's a little after one," he replied, half surprised by that fact himself. Time flies whey you're having fun apparently. Last he'd looked at the time it had been around eleven-thirty and he'd been at the bar watching the two supernaturals down beer after beer. It struck him that she was probably about ready to crash by this point. The adrenaline rush from everything that had happened at the bar was probably long gone now and he knew all too well just how exhausted you could feel when that happened. For a second he debated what to do, not sure if she was even aware that she would be spending the night here or not. Because there was no way he was letting her go anywhere else just now that was for sure. "I'm gonna be up for a while more so feel free to crash on the bed if you're tired," he offered, resting his eyes on her features for a moment.

Even if she hadn't been here he wouldn't have been using the bedroom anyway seeing as there was little chance he was going to sleep much tonight. The couch in the living room was what he used about ninety percent of the time anymore anyway, feeling as if he had a better sense of what was going on out there than back the short little hallway. "I can show you where it is if you want to come with me," he continued, motioning towards the door to the hall with a slight tip of his head before picking up the first aid kit and heading that way. She was jumpy enough he wasn't quite sure if she'd even go with him, glancing over his shoulder to see if she was even moving or not. He wasn't going to force her to take the bed but neither was she going to be allowed to leave either no matter if she took the bed or stayed in the chair all night.

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tag Cierra!! <3
words 1,035
notes <3333333333
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[/blockquote]

[cierra]

OUTFIT

MY MOUTH SOMEHOW FORGETS TO WORK

[/color][/font]
so i stare until you shout[/center]

Another thank you was shared, but for the first time, it had been by Cason instead of Cierra. Cierra had still many more thanks to be giving him, but since he didn't seem to be taking any of them, she had kept her mouth shut. To hear a thank you being said to her was... truely different. Maybe a little weird, but when it was said to be weird, it was said in a negative way. It was a good different. Like a little light of a 'your welcome' that hadn't been used before had shown in her face. Honestly, she hadn't been really told thank you too many times. Most of the time she was apologizing or thanking because it was to keep the other person going. Though it may have came casual through his lips, it seemed a great deal more to her. Wow, she did something right. She hadn't made a trouble worst, as she had already done several times tonight. Cierra perhaps should have say 'your welcome' but her voice wouldn't come to her. It made her perk her head up a little bit, but it fell back down, still wondering if it had pained him more. Surely did take a great deal longer than if he would have dealt with it.

However, that wasn't the case with him, it seemed. She lifted her head up, not backing away this time, and looked at Cason, slightly puzzled but mostly relieved. Most of the time, she might have shrugged it off and figured they were just saying it to make her feel better, as obviously she had done that. But she believed Cason this time. Cierra was very gulliable, but she found herself not only believing them, but breathing them in. He threw the stuff away, signaling that he didn't have any other little marking on him that she could take care of. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she could do it again. Between her minimum energy and still dizzyness from all of it, she would probably fall out of her chair if he asked for another one. It didn't appear that he had any, but considering Cierra could only see him face, she wasn't sure what other areas he couldn't see that might have one hiding.

Turned out lucky for her, as if she would have breathed in like she probably should of, it would have been worst. Her nose was rather sensitive- being dog and everything. Especially the scent of blood. Dogs by instinct usually went nuts over something like that. It was the strongest of scents, and Cierra was sure that was the reason why she was also prone to be dizzy with it all the time. It made her realize it at this point, as now that she was breathing, she could smell the very strong scent of alcohol on her fingers. Sometimes, it was easy to forget what she was, even the presence of a hunter. According to her family, she was a better human than she was a shapeshifter. That could be true, but on the other hand, she couldn't imagine not shifting into her husky form. It was apart of her. She thought of just not changing and making everything better, but she would always have the urge to chance. To escape from the cruelity of the human world and run around without having a care in the world.

She followed his gaze to where the time was shown, as if she didnt' believe him. She did. It was still just very hard to believe. Though she felt tired, she thought it was closer to midnight, not past one! Cierra autmoatically just felt tired thinking about it. Now that she was thinking about it, her whole body started to ache with the screaming of wanting sleep. Why it came on this suddenly, she wasn't sure, but she wanted it to go away at once. Since most of the time her bedtime was early, she hadn't experienced this too much before. Perhaps a couple of times when she had worked lates nights or something. Nothing like this. Cierra felt strange going from high alert to about to fall out of her chair. The only thing that seemed to not slump was her eyelids, as she was forcing them open. She was afraid if she closed them, they wouldn't get back up. How sad. Most twenty-five year olds could probably have an all nighter than go and function the next morning. Now it was one o'clock and she was done.

Cierra didn't count in that she had a rather stressful day. All she was thinking was how nice a bed sounded and how pathetic she sounded for that. When Cason said 'crash on the bed' she almost blocked out the rest, as she didn't even care about staying up a little later. Going to bed sounded so fabulous. She tried not to show it thought. Cierra tried to be good in staying to look alert, doing so by moving around every once in a while to show she had energy left (when fact was she didn't). He looked as if he had been waiting for an interesting reaction. Cierra knew she was going to spend the night as soon as he had said 'we're going to my place' for the frank reason that it just made sense not to go back. She hadn't know what the supernatural that lived was, but she did know that most supernaturals had speed and probably would catch them if they stepped foot outside. She wasn't going to put him in that danger because she wanted to wander around to try to find her place.

Very obidently, she hopped off of the stool, finding her legs for the first time in a while. Her socks wern't thick enough for pading, so it was as if she had been bare footed on the ground. Her jeans were tight and uncomfortable while the accessory belt on her shirt felt like she was carrying a giant weight over to where he was. She took a moment to re see everything, and spotted a couch. Where that was where she had expected to sleep. He shouldn't have given up his bed. She was quite content with the couch. At this point, she was about to fall asleep on the chair. Her head turned with a little bit of concern for him, "I can take the couch, if you'd like. Really, I can.. I'm comfortable with it." Also not fully true for the fact that Cierra was quite picky with the way she slept, but he didn't need to worry or know about that. Her bad lying skills wern't as bad as they were earlier, but being a trained observer, he could have seen it. She hoped he didn't. Even though a bed sounded like the best thing in the world, she would feel bad if he had to do that for her.

WONDERIN WHY YOU CAN'T FIGURE ME OUT

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with a change i call the names[/font]
[/center]

[CASON FLYNN ELLERY]

She seemed almost...surprised when he thanked her, like it was some sort of foreign word that she'd only heard a couple of times in her entire life. Maybe she just wasn't used to people actually showing some sort of manners (he did have them actually) or just plain decency, after all, this city was a fairly tough place to live sometimes. And judging from her reactions and timidness thus far he got the impression that she was the sort of person who tried to just slide under the radar if at all possible. Even back at the bar she hadn't been trying to call any sort of attention to herself, not in the way most of the women there did. Her outfit was nice but not provacative and he was pretty sure she hadn't even noticed the looks the warlock had been giving her most of the night either. Innocent, that was the word he would have picked to describe her if someone asked him right at that moment. Or perhaps naive. Not necessarily in a ditzy way but just didn't expect or try for that sort of attention.

He'd wondered a few times since the little riot they'd started at the bar why she hadn't screamed or tried to make some sort of noise when the supernatural had attacked her. It was what most women would have done in the same situation, in fact, it was the number one female response to any sort of danger he'd decided with some sarcasm. After just this short time he'd spent in her presence though he'd gathered that she was not one of those said women. In fact, he was having a rather hard time getting anything out of her, not that he was talking a mile a minute either though. Honestly he didn't mind the fact that she was the quiet sort, at least in high stress situations. It was always easier to focus when you didn't have someone babbling like an idiot in your ear the whole time that was for sure. Just because she didn't say anything though didn't mean he couldn't tell what she was feeling. Those big brown eyes of hers did that job quite well enough for her, no words needed. Fear, surprise, nervousness, it was all there at one point or another that night.

Right now though they were filled with exhaustion, that much was very clear to the hunter. That last little effort to clean out the cut on his forehead seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak. Even so she was still putting up a valiant effort to look awake and alert, moving around a bit on the chair as if she might need to get up and do something else at any second. Cason, however, had no plans on making her do anything else and probably wouldn't have asked for any help even if he did find some other injury later on that needed looked at. She'd done her part and done it well despite obviously not being a big fan of blood or open wounds period. He was capable enough of taking care of himself and honestly he was pretty sure that cut was the only injury he'd received during the bar fight. That needed tending to at least. He was certain he would wake up and find a few new bruises on his body but those weren't something he was overly worried about.

What he had been slightly concerned about was her reaction to realizing she was going to be stuck here for the night but it turned out to be a non-issue surprisingly enough. Or at least if she did have an issue with it she wasn't showing it. Going on her actions thus far he wouldn't have been surprised if she was indeed not at all happy about it but just didn't feel bold enough to tell him that. Then again maybe she was just too tired to care by this point. Whatever the reason she simply hopped off the stool and followed him out into the hall where he led her through the living room on their way to the bedroom. The sound of her voice caused him to glance back over his shoulder, pausing as she remarked that she didn't need the bed and could just sleep on the couch. An eyebrow lifted slightly, not believing the words for a second, though he didn't call her out on it like he had back in the truck. "I wouldn't have offered the bed if I didn't want you to use it. And like I said I'm going to be up for a while so it's really no big deal,"

Even without the added adrenaline rush and subsequent concern that the werewolf would track them down he probably wouldn't have been able to sleep well. Nights spent hunting and days spent running on caffeine and fumes had seriously messed up with his internal clock and by this point he grabbed sleep when he could or finally just reached the point of exhaustion. Probably not the healthiest way of living but he wasn't about to change it anytime soon. Not really giving her any chance to protest that decision he turned around and kept walking, going past the bathroom where he tossed the first aid kit on the sink before opening the door at the end of the hall. The room was furnished much the same as the rest of the house, containing the bare minimum as far as furniture and decoration went. A queen sized bed that didn't look like it got used much, a nightstand beside it with an alarm clock on it and a dresser against the wall across from them. Over all it had a very masculine vibe though not necessarily uncomfortable.

Standing just inside the doorway with his back against the now open door, Cas motioned into the room with a nod of his head. "Sorry if it's a little chilly, it doesn't get used much and I keep the door closed," Why on earth he was even apologizing for that fact was beyond him just then. It wasn't as if he ever would have for anyone else. In fact he pretty much had a 'suck it up and deal with it' sort of mentality when it came to people not liking the temperature of his house. There were plenty of blankets after all.

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tag Cierra!! <3
words 1,075
notes <3333333333
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[/blockquote]

[cierra]

OUTFIT

MY MOUTH SOMEHOW FORGETS TO WORK

[/color][/font]
so i stare until you shout[/center]

As much as Cierra was thankful for the bed, she still felt guilty taking the bed away from him. She had always had her own room, even when people came over to visit. No one really came to her apartment, as there was really no reason to. Almost anyone that had come over had a bigger place to sleep at. Which wasn't too hard to accomplish. The only person that had really spent the night was Vi, and they had shared the same bed as any girl sleepover should have been. She really would have been able to cope with a couch if she had just given the chance. Cierra knew she was picky about the ways she slept, which was odd, because dogs generally slept in any enviornment they could find. His comment wasn't really all that reassuring, as she was sure she would have offered her bed even if she longed for it just becuase it wsa the poliete thing to do. Still, she also saw there was no point in arguing with him.

Cierra went forward with him, seeing that it hadn't been very big at all, but perhaps perfect for just Cason. She hadn't seen anything to indicate he had a roommate. Including the other room. A girlfriend flashed through her mind, but she was sure that he might have called or she would have already been there. She wasn't sure of it. Cierra didn't want to try to assume anything that she didn't need to be assuming. Girlfriend was one of them. There was no way she was going to start questioning things. When she asked 'do you have a girlfriend' to others, they always looked at her strangely. It only took her the next couple of times and a hint from a friend that it sounded strange. As if she was the one asking him out. It was even more embarassing when one of them in the past had said no and smiled brightly at her. It all was making sense to her now but at the time, she just nodded and carried onto something else in the conversation.

She peeked into the spacious room with a bed that was the size of hers. It wasn't crowded along with stuff though. Again, much like the rest of the house, it had a very simple feel to it. All she could really focus on was the bed. Without thinking about it, her grip came on the coat she brought along and noticed it was a tad cold in the room. It wasn't an icecap though. Besides, she also spotted the warm looking blankets. Once of her favorite enviornments to sleep in was a cold room with warm blankets. Cierra had a strange habit from when she was a child, and she was sure it had something to do with her animal habits. When she had trouble sleeping, she often took a small heating pad and put it beside her and curl next to it. It was strange and a fact that not a lot of people knew about, but it did soothe her to sleep the majority of the time. Sometimes she felt like she should be on a show with strange habits, as she had tried to kick it. Now she only used it when sleep would not find her.

Cierra shook her head. Oh, she didn't care if there was snow in there. She just was thankful for sleep and a bed. It was a little sad it didnt' get much use out of, but all the same. "No, it's wonderful." She said, almost ending it with a yawn but getting the words out in time. There was hardly enough energy to yawn. She did manage to turn her head so that she was looking back up at him, realizing this is the first time she had been standing next to him. Just standing. It gave her a moment to realize his height and again, she cursed her shortness. But even as she did so, a light smile appeared on her face as she said for probably not the final time in seeing each other, but surely the final time that night, "Thank you." Her smile faded back down when she turned and walked toward the edge of the bed, picking the side that looked less used,which was very hard to tell by. Before she climbed into the covers, she took off her socks and her belt, placing them down with her black coat. Wasn't too comfortable sleeping in jeans but it wasn't going to matter. She crawled in and did what she normally did. Snuggled the bed all the way up to her nose and ducked her head into it, letting only her closed eyes show with her figure into a small ball. It may have looked uncomfortable, but she almost used herself as her own heating pad snuggling into herself. Cierra fell asleep in Cas' bed almost instantly.

*************************

Dear Cierra only got about a total of five hours of sleep. When her body just got enough to regenerate, visions of the warlock popped into her head. What else popped in happened to be the friend she was suppose to meet, being attacked by the supernatural that they never got. When she had nightmares, she twitched only slightly. A small movement of her cheek or foot under the covers. If it was an intense horrible nightmare, she talked, but in this case, it was only random flashes that made no sense, yet terrified her. In her twisted dream, there was even Cason turning on her with dark angry eyes. The image she had been fearing from the hunter. Something flashed in front of her to find it was her brother in his pitbull form, looking straight at Cierra and leaped an attack at her. Her eyes shot open. There was a moment of looking around in the dark room, looking at a distant clock that was flashing 6:00. Oh right. Cas. Hunter. Stuff that happened. Helped her. Saved her. Everything was okay.

She tried to close her eyes and fall asleep once again but for the life of her, couldn't find it. Cas' bed was terribly comfortable, but there was too much going through her mind. Besides, she felt wide awake. It was her day off today, so she could always sleep later. All day. All night and then be ready for the morning shift the next day. Perfect. With a final sigh, she sat up and got out of the warm covers, feeling the shivers hit her instantly. She doubted that he'd be up at this hour. If he was, she considered him to be officially insane. It was bad enough she was up now but the thought of him being up too after he had been up later was baffling. Possible though. Cierra didn't know him well enough to try to judge. She got her sock on but left her jacket and belt there for a later date. Just as a good guest, she took a small moment to neatly make the bed then floated out of the room.

She turned into the bathroom, looking at herself to see that the makeup she had on the previous night was now almost all off, showing her normal morning face. Her hand ran through her hair and she glared at it. It was a horrible mess. She looked around for some sort of brush, but considering it was guy's bathroom with someone that didn't have perticularly long hair, she didn't expect to find any. Her hands ran through her hair and it looked better, but probably still frightning. Cierra thought she looked pretty average on her normal makeup dressed up self so now it was almost horrifying. Still, couldn't fix it. With a deep breath, she debated on her next move. Sit and wake till a decent time? Maybe she could grab a quick bite to eat. Her head perked up. Of course. She could make breakfast. Since Cason wasn't going to be allowing to get anything, the least she could do was make a wakeup meal.

It had occured to her maybe he didn't have anything, but as she slipped to the kitchen and silently opened the fridge, she found he had some basics. Perfect. Bacon. Milk. Eggs. That's all she needed. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she grabbed the packages and attacked the cubboards to see that he did have a pan. She grabbed it then examined the stove and what knobs went to where. Now Cierra was no chief, but she did know how to make basics. She remembered when her mother called her and Tiara to come in and help with everything when they were stoaked up with company. Tiara had been a better cook, but she had also been much older than Cierra. It was so much easier to cook now that she could reach the stove and see it. At once, it started making noises and accidently shushed it out loud, then feeling a little silly telling the pan to stop making noises. She knew she should have crashed on the couch. Cierra flipped her hair like normal only to wince. The wound was still a little sensitive to head lashing. Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she grabbed a couple of plates, trying to judge how much both of them would eat. Cierra loved food. She truely did. A couple of times, she had tried to become a vegetarian, but a dog without meat was not a dog at all, so she had been very disfunctionate. Even with the fake meat they had. She started mixing the actual food, rather focused on attempting to make a decent batch of eggs.

WONDERIN WHY YOU CAN'T FIGURE ME OUT

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with a change i call the names[/font]
[/center]

[CASON FLYNN ELLERY]

Cas wasn't really surprised at her reluctance to take the bed. All her actions so far had pretty much painted a picture of someone who didn't like to be a bother and did whatever best suited everyone else. And despite what one might assume he really wasn't a completely selfish human being. She was already being forced to stay the night at a complete stranger's house as it was. The least he could do was let her take the bed, especially seeing as he wasn't planning on using it anyway. She seemed to accept his words easily enough though she gave the couch another slight glance as if she wasn't quite sure if he was just saying it to be polite or really meant it. Plenty of people probably would have been offering just because it was considered the proper thing to do even if they weren't so hip on giving up their comfortable slumber. He on the other hand was offering it mainly because he wasn't going to use it so why not? She'd at least get a better nights sleep that way.

At least if she didn't mind it being a little chilly that is. Maybe it was a male thing or maybe it was just him but he never was comfortable sleeping in anything above sixty degrees or so. Natalie had always complained about his being too 'hotblooded' and he'd never understood how she could stand a room that felt like a sauna. Probably one of the few things they had actually disagreed on really. Suffice it to say if Cierra was anything like her though she wouldn't be able to sleep no matter how many blankets she had on. Though it wasn't as if she'd tell him if it was too cold or not which meant he'd have to rely on her rather poor lying ability to clue him into that. For once though she replied in a tone that was completely sincere, if not just a bit tired sounding. For some reason he felt better knowing she'd at least be comfortable, a half smile pulling at one side of his mouth in response to the one she gave him along with a soft thank you. "You're welcome," Normally he would have said something like 'don't mention it' or 'it's no problem' but something about the way she said it made him want her to know he meant it just as sincerely.

Stepping back as she headed into the room to give her some privacy he headed to the bathroom, now surveying the gash he'd received in the bar fight in the much larger (and clearer) cabinet mirror. It was nasty looking that was for sure and he gave her props for handling the unexpected task of cleaning it so well. Wanting to keep it from getting anything else in it, he pulled out a piece of gauze bandage from the little first aid kit that was still sitting on the edge of the sink, just enough to cover the cut. In a manner that suggested he'd done it plenty of times before, he held the bandage in place with one hand while grabbing the roll of bandage tape with the other, ripping off a couple pieces with his teeth and quickly sticking them in place on either side of the gauze. Satisfied with his work he put the first aid kit away (for good hopefully) and turning started to head back towards the living room but as if on second thought stopped and padded quietly towards the bedroom. Intending on pulling the door closed a bit, he paused after reaching for the knob, his gaze resting on the form now snuggled beneath the covers. She looked so peaceful there, already fast asleep it seemed and for a moment his green eyes softened, not at all regretting stepping in to help her tonight.

Leaving the door opened about half way, he headed back out to the living room then, making his normal rounds to each window to make sure they were locked, ending with the door where he double checked the dead bolts. Any other night at that point he probably would have flopped down on the couch and passed out for the rest of the night but tonight that was definitely not going to be an option. Not knowing if the werewolf was still out there or if it was too injured to even go anywhere further had him more on edge than he would have liked to be honest. If it was just himself here he probably wouldn't have been but knowing there was more than just his life at stake if something were to happen raised the stakes quite a bit higher as far as he was concerned. The fact that he had yet to pull the pistol out from the waistband of his jeans was proof enough of that. In the small entryway of the house was a small closet and he opened that door now, pulling out a larger gun along with a small case of what one would guess was bullets. Bringing both with him he went back into the living room, setting the gun and case down on the rectangle coffee table in front of the couch before retrieving one more thing from the closet and then settling down on the cushions.

It was a familiar ritual, one performed most often on sleepless nights such as this one. The last item he'd grabbed proved to be a cleaning kit and without further ado he began to disassemble the gun, cleaning each and every piece meticulously. For some reason it always seemed to calm him down and this time proved no different, though he still kept giving a cautious pause now and again, listening. At one point a 'thump' sounded somewhere outside, sending him to his feet, the pistol tucked into his pants now suddenly in his hands like it had just magically appeared. It took him a good half an hour to be sufficiently assured that it had simply been a stray cat or raccoon rather than the werewolf. Damn this was going to be a long night...

••••••••••••••••

[/center]

At what specific point he'd finally fallen asleep Cason wasn't really sure but he was stretched out on the couch, pistol resting on his chest before the sun had decided to come up. He also remained blissfully unaware of Cierra's quiet movements from the bedroom and then finally out into the kitchen. A light sleeper even at his most exhausted it didn't take much noise for him to be jolted awake, quiet as she was actually being. His hand went automatically for the pistol, blinking the sleep from his eyes as his brain still struggled to process just what the heck was going on. Before he could even start to get up from the couch though another sense kicked in and for a moment made him pause in his frantic thoughts, brow furrowing slightly in confusion Was that... bacon? For a split second he wondered if he wasn't dreaming or something, having no idea why his house would smell like the breakfast food so early in the morning.

And then like a ton of bricks it hit him. Cierra.

Tucking the gun in the back of his pants underneath his t-shirt he got up from the couch, grimacing slightly at the aches the simple movement produced. Ah, you just had to love the after effects of getting into a full on brawl. Curiosity though kept him from dwelling on it too much and he padded slowly out into the kitchen, half wondering if he even wanted to know what was going on in there. Granted it smelled pretty damn good which was likely a good sign. Neither was the smoke alarm going off, at least not yet. Another good sign. Running a hand haphazardly through his hair he rounded the corner and was greeted by the sight of Cierra scurrying back and forth from the counter to the oven. Standing in the doorway, he leaned against one side, an amused sort of smile touching his lips. "You're up early,"
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tag Cierra!! <3
words 1,354
notes <3333333333
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0[/blockquote][/justify][/blockquote]

[cierra]

OUTFIT

MY MOUTH SOMEHOW FORGETS TO WORK

[/color][/font]
so i stare until you shout[/center]

Because dear Cierra liked food- and any guy she knew liked to eat as much as they could possibly stuff in their mouths- she made enough probably for about four people. An overload felt better than being done and still craving more. Thats why resturant sizes were so incredibly large. When she was there, she made sure not to eat the entire thing, as the last time she did it, the person looked at her like she was insane. Apperantally it left the wrong impression when she ate two meals. Cierra had always pictured that later in life she would be one of those short stout women who did nothing but cook and smack their kids with a spoon. Obviously her small figure showed that she wasn't close to reaching that stage, but her theory was that she liked to run and in an extent, work out quite a bit. It just would make sense she'd work most of it off. Plus, she tried to make sure that she didn't eat excessively.

Cierra had been so focused on making sure she didn't mess up that she didn't see Cason come in right away. It was amazing how much focus she could put into something. Sometimes she just thought too deep into things and it made a large mess as she worried and freaked herself out. The good news was that there wasn't much to be freaked out with food besides the small thoughts in her mind. Like what if he didn't want anyone in his kitchen? Some people were very freaky about their personal stuff. Her just wandering and using this stuff and the food he bought and paid for. Once that thought crossed her mind, she thought about stopping, but it was too late and he'd just end up getting mad at her at this point no matter what she was going to try to do to fix it. The more she thought about it, the more nervous she was about making this food.

But he spoke and she turned her head at him, making sure it was slower than she normally would put it. He didn't seem at the least bit mad. Tired of course, but not mad. In fact, he was making a small smile was on. The noise must had woken him up like she feared. A part of her wanted to sigh and usher him back to sleep, but she stood her ground, only thinking about it. He was wearing the same attire, looking as if he hadn't gotten any sleep but just stayed up all night. She thought only five hours of sleep was bad. Of course, now that she was thinking about it, what else would he wear? Certaintly not pajamas... Cierra had a pair. Silky royal blue comfortable ones that she was able to move very freely in. For some reason a simple t-shirt and comfortable pants didn't have the same cozy feeling as silky button up shirt though they shared the same purpose.

Cierra held a plate in her hand, ducking her head a little bit and smiling shyly at his comment. She supposed it was early, but it was actually only about an hour or two from her normal wakeup time. Though she supposed that she also went to bed about four extra hours earlier than she had the night before. With gentle hands, she set the plate down and searched silently for some sort of napkin or towel to put over it so that when food was done, they'd stay warm on the plate. "I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep..." She mused, feeling a little more chatty than last night. Now she was going to have to watch the amount she said. Truely, Cierra actually didn't talk too much, but since she was told to quiet down or ignored, she figured the situation was her talking too much. It didn't occur to her that the other person was just being rude and not listening like they should. Sometimes she did tend to say some things deep in her mind just to get it out.

The nightmares were still wandering in her head though. The dream hadn't even had any type of story line. They were nothing flashes. It was rather confusing, but the images were always about ten times worst than they had been in real life, since imaginations of dreams tended to twist it that way. It was all a mental thing, but of course Cierra still couldn't shake it out. She'd eventualy get out of it, but it was still oh so fresh in her mind. Trying to distract herself, she looked at the eggs and with a fork flipped it over ont he pan seeing as that side was done. She made scrambled and sunny side up, because she wasn't sure which he wanted and she could always eat the other. Cierra glanced at Cas with a little bit of a frown on her face, "Did I wake you?" She knew she did, but she still felt like she should ask for the small case it hadn't been her. Cierra still didn't have a clue what time he went to bed. He could have only been asleep for three hours for all she knew! Or ten minutes. With a little worry thinking about it, she flipped the bacon and it sizzled again loudly with the same volume it had done to wake the hunter up.

Then she went on the search to try to find the cover for the plate. She managed to find something and put it over the empty plate so she knew where it was. A moment later, the scrambled eggs were finished, so she put them all on the first place, grabbing another couple of eggs and cracking them right on the pan. This wasn't the first time cooking eggs, but she felt an amount of pressure when she realized it was the first time on her own for more than herself. The only other time she could think of was at Vis. The pair of them had tried eggs but got distracted in talking and ended up burning them. So they went and got a donut anyway. She felt sick eating too much sugar, so of course it had been a small one. That was the extent of her cooking besides the ones for herself. So far she was doing fine, but there was now a small distraction in the room.

WONDERIN WHY YOU CAN'T FIGURE ME OUT

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with a change i call the names[/font]
[/center]

[CASON FLYNN ELLERY]

Cierra's line of thought was quite correct. Cas loved food as much as any other man out there did that was for sure. His eating habits, however, were as sporadic as his sleeping habits, pretty much grabbing what he could when he could. Get him caught up in a hunt and half the time he'd be lucky to remember to grab a twinkie or something. And he didn't even like twinkies. He was the sort of person, however, who, once they were intent on something, practically forgot about the rest of the world until the task was completed. Which was yet another trait that made him one of the best hunters around but slightly exasperating for anyone else trying to gain his attention. Not that he had all that many people who were though, the two he was closest with also being hunters and therefore often right there beside him on said hunt. Though Jude did a fairly good job at playing the role of nagging mother when she was actually lucid and remembered she cared enough to give two hoots about her 'brother's' well being.

Lord knew he rarely considered it much himself.

Suffice it to say this unexpected wake up call was the first real meal he'd eaten in at least a week. Unless you counted a package of miniature Twix bars a meal then it would be the second. Though obviously this one would have a much higher nutritional value than the latter did. Cason wasn't even aware he had that much food in his refrigerator to be honest. He wasn't exactly a Betty Homemaker so rarely did he even bother to check through his cupboards to tally up what he might or might not need. Grocery shopping was also something he did quite rarely and only when absolutely necessary to ward off starvation. He'd been fairly quiet on his way to the kitchen, by force of habit you could say, and for a short moment had taken a second to watch her scurry around the kitchen. She appeared to know her way decently around an oven it seemed, better than he did at least. He could do a sufficient enough job if he had to but it had to be fairly simple or else he was done. One of many reasons he and the microwave were best friends. Nuke it and go. That was the way to cook.

Still there was no beating an actual made from scratch, cooked on a real stove meal, especially when that meal included bacon. A staple of men everywhere it seemed. It occurred to him after he spoke that maybe he should have given her some sort of warning that he was there at least. Startling someone near an oven was usually never ended well, either for the person or the food. And considering how jumpy she'd been the night before he half expected something to go flying in the air in a second. She surprised him, however, turning her head in a rather calm manner even if her expression did seem a bit nervous before relaxing slightly. Despite the rather early hour she looked much more rested than when he'd last seen her a few hours before, fresh faced even without makeup. The timidness was still there though, a slightly shy smile touching her lips at his words before explaining just why that was. Understandable. He never slept well when he wasn't in his own bed (or couch as the case may be) and often was up earlier than normal as well. "You weren't too cold or anything?" he questioned, straightening from his previous position against the door jamb and moving a little further into the kitchen.

For some reason it would have bothered him if she had been uncomfortable at all during the night and even though she looked like she had received a decent amount of sleep he still had to ask. Veering towards the refrigerator he pulled open the door, looking inside for a moment before a slightly triumphant smile played at the corner's of his mouth. Reaching inside he pulled out the item that had conjured such a response which proved to be a brand new carton of orange juice. Had it not been new there would have been a slight problem seeing as he normally drank straight from the carton. It was just him after all so why not? Thankfully he hadn't had the chance to destroy this one's share-ability yet. Green eyes shifted to glance over at Cierra as she presented a question of her own his way and resulted in a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I've always been a light sleeper," he wasn't the sort who would try and sugar coat it by telling her it hadn't because it had, even though he didn't mind at all. "Best wake up call I've had in a long time though that's for sure," That was definitely the truth. Considering half the time he was startled out of a very fitful slumber by some sort of noise that likely belonged to a less than savory character this was like being given a little slice of heaven.

Returning his attention to the carton in his hand, he reached above his head to pull open a cupboard door and retrieved two glasses from inside. Setting them on the counter he poured some in the first, pausing momentarily over the other one. "Half or full?" he questioned lightly, eyes flicking towards her, watching with some admiration as she rather skillfully transferred the scrambled eggs onto a plate before cracking two more into the pan. Without even breaking the yolks. If someone were to show up right then and look into the kitchen they'd probably assume this was the normal morning routine of two people who'd known each other for years rather than a less than a day.

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tag Cierra!! <3
words 976
notes <3333333333
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[/blockquote]

[cierra]

OUTFIT

MY MOUTH SOMEHOW FORGETS TO WORK

[/color][/font]
so i stare until you shout[/center]

To Cierra's complete relief, Cason didn't even say any word or complaint about her working in the kitchen whats so ever. She did kind of hack into his private space looking for various things. Now she actually knew or had an idea of where things were because the pans were in the last cubboard she looked in. That might have disturbed a couple of people. All this went through her head of course after the fact but he didn't seem to mind in the least bit. Not even by being woken up. In the very small experience she had with Cason, she noticed that he wasn't really the one to lie about a situation. If there was a bad situation, he wasn't really saying 'no, it's alright'. He wasn't too awful blunt about it. At least not to her. She quickly searched her memory and probably the harshest thing that may have happened was being tossed into the truck and growled at when she asked how she coudl repay him. The head thing was her fault.

She always had a kind of guilty sterotype in her mind when it came to hunters. Though she could see bits and pieces where he was the typical hunter, he was also human. Since the majority of Cierra's friends happened to be human, she saw that they had about just as much passion as the rest. Sometimes they could be cruel, but her family was proof that so could shapeshifters. Really anyone could in a species. In the supernatural world, hunters were a thing that were heartless and killed soon as look at you. She feared them. Now he was seeing proof that it wasn't exactally like all the rumors. Granted, Cierra had a very strong feeling that he was oblivious to her, but according to rumors, they wern't even kind to their own race. Clearly that one was strictly just a rumor. Maybe Cas was an exception. Cierra wasn't sure if she knew any other hunter.

No, cold was certainly not an issue. She had much success in bieng her own little heater. In fact, she think she woke up sweating. Getting out was a little cold, but that was very natural in whatever enviornment she was in. With a small shake of her head, she reassured, "No. I like to..." She paused, wondering if this made her sound like a very odd duck or not, but she already started, so she better finish, "curl up in the blankets." In a very small ball. She wasn't sure if he stayed any longer to see how she curled under the blanket or not, as she had been too tired to see if he even left the room. It was easy for her to sleep in pretty much any bed or surface. It was an amazing gift. When some of her friends came over for sleepovers, she could feel them moving restlessly in a bed they wern't comfortable with. Cierra slept pretty much the same. Except in insanely hot rooms, in which she just curled herself into a little ball but without the comfort of the blankets over her. Which was a very odd feeling.

She tightened up a little bit when he announced that it had woken him up. At the same time, it didn't seem as if it mattered or he cared. Again, the feeling of pulling his arm and putting him on the bed to sleep came across her again, but it seemed that he was ready to start the day just as she was. Despite having less sleep than her. She could easily take a nap later. Cierra wasn't entirely sure if Cas could. But even as she opened her mouth to object, she closed it to see that he said it was the best wakeup call. He even got some orange juice that Cierra had seen when she was searching through the fridge. Another smile appeared on her face, feeling that all the tension she had been going through the previous night was slowly fading away. It was very clear that she was safe. Of course, she fully planned on going home. His company was... fresh. As if Cierra had needed it (perhaps not as of a dramtic situation but all the same), but she needed to return home at somepoint.

Despite what he said, she still found herself a little guilty. Bacon wakeup call or not, he still managed to wake up. She knew she should have stayed in her room a little while then wait to start making noise. In the beginning, it had been very quiet. The sound of meat sizzling on a pan however was very much unavoidable. "What time did you finally get to sleep?" She asked, not able to hide the concern in her voice, slightly annoyed with herself after that. If she could control her emotions, she'd be able to do quite a bit of things easier. Lying for one. It'd be nice if she could just say even a hint to make someone feel better. She supposed that it made sure that she wouldn't lie to anyone, but at the same time, she always blushed with embarassment when it was obvious. Taking a deep breath, she could smell the meat and it drove her a little crazy for a moment. She got over it quickly though, and took the strips of bacon and put them on the third plate, but put more on there seeing that what she had wasn't going to fill. Even with eggs on the side.

Almost done. The sunny side up was the hardest. If her job hadn't been to crack the egg when she was little, she wasn't sure if she would be able to do it now. A certain flashback when she helped her actual mother- not her aunt her mother- in the kitchen came to her. Turns out the her parents wern't the angels that Cierra thought they were. At the time, they seemed like the best most wonderful people on the planet. She thought that it broke her heart more to find out they wern't good people more than the actual death. Shaking her head, she heard Cas' voice interupt her small flashback, snapping her back into reality. "Full, please." Cierra told him, saying please out of habit. She usually ate quite a bit, so it all made sense that she had a fitting drink with it as well. It had been a while since she had orange juice. Mostly milk, water, and sprite were the three basics she stuck to. She got a little bit of a warm home like feel when someone had orange juice.

Once she was sure that the second batch of bacon was done, she went to turn it and let her hand touch the side of the hot pan and snapped her hand back. The bacon landed right and she gently put the pan back, but then put the burned part of her hand go in her mouth, as if that'd soothe it. She was all over injuring herself as much as possible in front of this guy, wasn't she?! Still, it wasn't nearly as bad as the throbbing pain she went through last night. Cierra found she got burned all the time. However, when she looked at it, she saw it wasn't burned. Just a little red, so she snapped it back in time. Oh good, wasn't too bad then. She shook her hand a little bit and then put a towel over the last bit of bacon, turning off the pans after tending to the eggs, only breaking it a small bit when she moved it over. "I've got scrambled and sunny side up. You can have one or the other or both.. doesn't matter." She said quietly, smiling gently at him and stepping back to take his pick. For some reason, she was a little nervous. She liked her own food, but she was pretty much good with any food. It would be an awful lot if it turned out Cierra was a horrible cook and he rather polietly munched at it or didn't touch it. She reached over and grabbed her other arm in her own nervous habits.

OOC: O.o i think i rambled haha Cierra's muse is very chatty today nervous perhaps?

WONDERIN WHY YOU CAN'T FIGURE ME OUT

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with a change i call the names[/font]
[/center]

[CASON FLYNN ELLERY]

Cason was normally a very private sort of person. He liked his own space and didn't prefer having anyone else coming in to mess that space up. His house, truck or random motel room, it really didn't matter. There were a few select people that he let in that little bubble, Sam being one and Jude being the other. Both were for all practical purposes family to him after all and therefore granted such privledges, though he imagined Jude would have taken it upon herself to get all up in his business no matter what she was to him. Though with the way she tended to forget things it really wouldn't have been all that much of an issue really. Suffice it to say there were only two other people out of everyone else he knew that would have been given the free reign Cierra was being given and honestly he wasn't even sure why he felt so at ease with her here. Maybe it was the circumstances surrounding her being here in the first place. He'd wanted her to stay here and therefore it didn't feel like he was being intruded upon. Whatever the hell it was all he knew was that the sight of her rooting around in his kitchen looking for stuff to make them breakfast had been more endearing than annoying.

Honestly he hadn't been expecting her to be up this early, which was why he wondered if the room had been too cold. Considering she couldn't have gotten to sleep until close to one thirty and what with the sudden adrenaline drop he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd slept much later. Most people probably would have, though he really couldn't base it off any sort of personal experience seeing as he almost never slept in no matter how late he went to sleep. And she was even fairly cheerful too, another thing he normally didn't experience in the AM. Depending on just what happened the night (or nights) before he could either wake up acting like a grizzly bear or a happy half asleep puppy. This morning was proving to be leaning towards the latter description, which, considering the only half completed job back at the bar, was rather surprising. Her presence clearly had something of calming influence on the hunter, not that he even realized that just then or last night after they'd returned to his house.

She'd given a little shake of her head at his query, pausing part way through her response as if she though it might sound odd. The words brought a slight knowing look to his green eyes, having indeed seen just how snuggled up under the blankets she'd been. He was glad to know she'd been comfortable though, fairly certain he'd have been able to tell if she'd been lying about that fact. Despite the relatively short time they'd spent in each other's presence the few times she'd tried to convince him of something that wasn't quite true it had been written all over her face. A very unobservant person (or someone who wasn't really paying attention) might not have noticed it but there was no way he would miss such an obvious tell.

He also couldn't help but notice the nervousness in her body language when she questioned if she'd woken up him, as if she was expecting him to start yelling at her for it. It was true that he had a bit of a hot temper at times, mostly when something went wrong during a hunt or he happened to be provoked by some smart ass individual at the bar. It was a character flaw that was enhanced when he was in one of his more brooding or grouchy moods though and even then it took something more intense to make him blow up at someone. Thus the simple shrug and fairly mellow response, which seemed to allow her to relax slowly, even smiling at the sight of the orange juice in his hand. Even so though she still seemed worried about having woken him up already, voicing her concern by asking him just when he'd finally fallen asleep. The sidelong glance he'd given her at the words was almost a slightly confused one, not expecting her to care at all about how much sleep he'd had. It felt odd yet somehow nice all at the same time. "A couple of hours ago or so maybe," he returned with another slight shrug, not really sure when he'd drifted off himself. His tone suggested it was no big deal, which it wasn't, not to him at least. He'd functioned on that much or less plenty of times before and this time would be no different.

Her polite response to his question about how much juice she wanted was followed by him tipping the carton over her cup, filling it with the orange liquid. That task done he closed it and leaned over to stick it back into the refrigerator, looking back in time to see her jerk her hand away from the pan like it was wildfire. "Hey now, don't make me torture you again," he remarked lightly, though there was sincere concern in his eyes as he added softly, "You alright?" He was starting to wonder if she was always this accident prone or if it was just because of him. Her finger looked a little red but she didn't seem to dwell on it long, giving it quick glance before continuing with her little project on the stove. Everything was pretty much done it seemed as she put the last bit of bacon on the plate followed by sliding the eggs out of their pan as well. Eyeing the finished results now displayed neatly on the counter before him, he didn't take long to decide, smoothly transfering one of the sunny side up eggs onto the plate of scrambled eggs before doing the same with half of those onto the previous plate. Thus cutting each portion in half and giving them both a little of each along with the bacon.

"Thanks. You didn't have to do this you though you know," An eyebrow raised slightly at her with the words as he balanced his plate in one hand and grabbed the glass of orange juice in the other. Moving towards the table they'd sat at only a few hours before, he pulled out the chair opposite of his for her to sit in when she got there before depositing the dishes in his hands on the surface and settling down at the table himself.

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tag Cierra!! <3
words 1,099
notes Haha, I adore her. <3
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[/blockquote]

[cierra]

OUTFIT

MY MOUTH SOMEHOW FORGETS TO WORK

[/color][/font]
so i stare until you shout[/center]

Cierra was amazed at his ability to know when not to comment on the matter and when to say something. She was never good at that. Sometimes, she felt like she had to say something in a conversation at the end, to show she wasn't ingoring or not listening to the other person. Always a habit since she would get in trouble for not responding when she was younger. Cas didn't comment on her blanket story, which she thought was best. Honestly, her comfort level was leveling out, making her mouth want to just blather things like she had been with her friends. Which was all too odd. She usually liked to watch what she said and bottle up the words she desperately wanted to say. A lot of times, she'd have a long heart to heart with someone, but not see them for months and months at a time. It wasn't the other person's doing of course. It was Cierras. She didn't want to seem clingy, and the best way to make it that way was if she avoided them for a while. The only problem was sometimes she exagerated the time, so that even was rude on itself. She had hard times finding the middle ground. A lot.

He gave her a look of confusion at her question, which at once just made her head turn toward the food, not wanting to meet the gaze. It didn't occur to Cierra that showing concern might have been odd behavor. She often felt loads of concern for someone she didn't even talk to, so someone that she knew made it even worst. All depending on the defintion of 'knowing' someone, of course. Twenty-four hours, she hadn't known him. Not even twelve hours ago. Taking a moment to do impossible math in her head, she counted the hours back with her fingers, muttering 'eleven, tweleve, one, two' all the way down to 'six thirty'. As it had to be closer to six thirty than to six when she got up, spending a little bit wondering what to do then to actually cook everything. It had been a total of seven and a half hours ago. Not to mention at that time, she hadn't even known his name. She had just spotted him in her boredom of looking around for the face she had been expecting.

A couple hours ago? Not after? That didn't reassure her, even with the very easy shrug of the shoulders like it had happened all the time. If it was after, then it might have been another hour of sleep. Curse bacon being so loud. It could have easily been waiting for him until he got up. With the small napkins over the food, it would keep them heated for a while. If all else failed, Cierra noticed he had a microwave. Now there was no point in worrying about it now, she supposed, but there was still that guilt swarming a bit. For a moment, she gave a chance to ignore it, still wishing for the gift of knowing when to comment or not. For his sake, she hoped that he caught up on some sleep after this. She couldn't imagine herself getting that kind of sleep every night. Her five hours was bad enough. Since she was a morning person, she wasn't quite effected with it yet, but she was sure that she'd be going to bed early if she didn't take a nap when she got back to her place. It all depended of course.

She had no idea why injuries were just wanting to present themselves. Cierra wasn't normally a klutz, but it did appear like she was. Because of her shapeshifter abilities, she actually tended to be a little quicker at the reflexes, as animal senses were keener than humans in some areas. An animal's senses with a huamn's intelligance seemed like a dangerous combination. Cierra supposed that it could be, but at the same time, anything could potientialy be dangerous. A bad person with a gun versus a good person with a gun were two different dangers. With that thought in mind, she thought for a moment on which Cas- giving on on trying to remember him as Cason at this point- quialified as. He was a hunter, but the impression on hunters all vanished to Cierra almost as soon as things the previous night had calmed down. Not to mention she should know all about sterotypes and putting people in a general grouping. She was the oddball of the family. Meaning her family was probably the primary target of most hunters. Her parents were proof of that. With heartbreaking truth, she knew that it was all for a very grand reason.

When he teased her, she had the urge to stick her tounge out playfully at him, but she gently bit her tounge from doing any sort of that. She was getting too comfortable, she realized. Though it also couldn't really be changed, as she couldn't force herself to become uncomfortable. She found herslef not being able to fix it, so she ended up just watching herself. All sounded easy, but she found it not too much. She ended up making a crooked smile, looking over at him with shinning eyes, the tthoughts about watching herself vanishing almost as soon as her gaze set up on him. Nah, it'd be fine... it'd all be fine. It registered that he made a light comment, and it just made her crooked smile widen "Just almost burning myself. But I'm all good. No more torturing." She reassured, hoping that it sounded like she did it all the time, though she didn't know her problem. Probably the five hours of sleep or something.

She watched with curiousity, seeing as he had taken a bit of both. So she was at least right about the food thing. Cierra had actually been debating before if she should look deeper or get creative and make an omlet, but she wasn't sure she could do something that advanced well. It was worrying enough thinking about how these were going to turn out. Not to mention she wasn't really planning on cooking all the food he had. She had her own plate, getting the rest of it, and hearing his comment as he held both a glance and plate. "You won't take anything else. I might as well make you something." She said in a low voice, grabbing her glass to follow him to the eating area, which happened to be where she had spent not too many hours ago. It was much better having to sit here for eating purposes though than having to have her wound cleaned.

She sat down in the seat opposite to his, looking at her food with hestiation, curious and worried on to how it turned out. Cierra had done everything right, but for some reason, sometimes it turned out well and others it didn't. Probably a very plain simple breakfast though. Her hand reached out and lightly cut out a small corner of it, perfect little square out of it. Very delicately, she put the piece in her mouth and found with a little satisfaction and a lot of relief that it turned out very well. Nothing strange tasting, or what she had experienced in the past, crunchy eggs. She hadn't tried the bacon or the sunny side up, but as long as there was something she ended up doing right, she didn't mind too much. Looking up, her mind scrambled for a thought of wondering again. She wasn't if 'breakfast' conversation was typical. It wasn't in her household, and it was very eerie having about ten people devour food so fast and monstorly that no words were spread. Still, there was some that liked to remain silent.

WONDERIN WHY YOU CAN'T FIGURE ME OUT

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with a change i call the names[/font]
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[CASON FLYNN ELLERY]

People were always telling him he needed to talk more, be more social and all that crap. And he always gave them the same answer; why? It wasn't like his opinion was something they were going to view as life changing anyway and quite honestly he didn't care if they wanted to hear it or not. Mr. Life of the Party he was not. One on one with someone he was a little more apt to carry on a conversation but there still wouldn't be words coming out of his mouth a mile a minute. On the plus side that did make him a good listener, provided he liked you that is. When it came to his friends Cas would drop anything if they needed him. However, seeing as Sam and Jude were pretty much it under his list of actual 'true' friends anyone else was normally out of luck. Which made this whole little scene with Cierra rather out of character for the hunter. For whatever odd reason she didn't get on his nerves like a lot of people tended to do and he actually found himself enjoying talking to her, short though their exchanges had been thus far.

She couldn't have known it of course but the confusion wasn't really aimed at her in a 'this girl is weird' sort of way, though it probably came across that way. He tended to just react without thinking, yet another character flaw that he was told he needed to work on. Concern just wasn't something he'd been expecting to hear in her voice, at least not when the words were addressing him. There was no denying he lived a fairly hard life and it wasn't one that gave much room for any sort of sympathy. It was kill or be killed, dog eat dog, survival of the fittest. If you got knocked down you didn't wait for someone to help you up you just struggled to your feet and kept going as best you could. And yet here she was, a complete stranger for all practical purposes, showing him just that. Not just to be polite, you could tell when someone was doing that, no she actually meant it when she asked if he had gotten any sleep.

A faintly guilty look flickered in those brown eyes of hers when at his casually given reply. It almost made him wish he'd fibbed a bit and added a couple of hours to the total. Cas wasn't really sure why the thought of her feeling guilty bothered him, it wouldn't have with anyone else, except maybe Jude. But she was like family to him and therefore it seemed like a more legitimate response than the one he was having now. So he'd followed up with the lightly given remark in hopes of softening the blow a bit even if it was still the truth. The hunter wasn't really one to fudge the truth even if it might make someone feel better to do so. It just so happened to work out that this was one of the best wake up's he ever had, at least in a long time it seemed. Waking up to the smell of bacon always reminded him of home. Not here in Manuka but back in Nebraska, when he was a boy and things had been oh so much simpler. Every Sunday morning his mom would get up early and make a huge batch of pancakes along with scrambled eggs and off course bacon. It was something you could count on to happen no matter how tight the money might have been that month or that week even. Granted the portions might have been smaller but they still had that big family breakfast.

He wasn't sure if her slipping and burning her finger had been due to just your regular kitchen accident (he'd had plenty of those himself) or the fact that he was there and made her nervous. Or maybe she was just an accident prone person. Either way he wasn't quite sure if he believed her entirely when she lightly brushed it off as no big deal, only 'almost burning' herself. Still he let it go at that, focusing on the array of food she had cooked up and now had waiting on plates for them to dig into. He didn't really notice the slightly nervous and curious way she watched as he filled his own plate, thinking it all looked equallly as good, better than anything he'd made in a while at least. Most of the time his breakfast consisted of a piece of beef jerky or a handful of M&M's or something equally as unhealthy. Or nothing at all, depending on where he was and just what he was doing when it came time for the morning meal. It would have been a shame to not try a little of each he figured and also it seemed like the fairest way to split it up. Her remark after he said she didn't have to do this brought a bit of a begrudging smirk to his lips. "You got me there,"

Unlike Cierra, Cas started eating what was one his plate with little hesitation, more than satisfied with the end results once they were on his tongue. Damn. She was a pretty good cook. Glancing up he saw her apprehensively taking a bite of the scrambled eggs on her plate, a faintly amused smirk pulling up the corners of his mouth. "It tastes fine in case you were worried," Taking a swig of orange juice he continued eating, not really minding the quiet that settled between them but that was just him. After a minute or two though he did glance across the table at her, an eyebrow quirking upward. "I can take you back to your place after we're doing here. I'm sure you're probably ready to get out of here," By this point he should have been more than ready for her to leave too. More than ready actually. But quite honestly he wasn't minding her company at all strangely enough. Considering the fact that he hadn't really given her a choice about coming here though he doubted she would want to any longer than necessary.

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tag Cierra!! <3
words 1,044
notes Ha, so much for shorter. XD
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

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[cierra]

OUTFIT

MY MOUTH SOMEHOW FORGETS TO WORK

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so i stare until you shout[/center]

In the mist of it, he saved her life and so in return she made him breakfast. A very bizzare trade, but since there wasn't much else for her to offer, thats what she seemed to come up with. Not to mention that if she was going to eat, she might as well do something for him too, even if their meeting had been casual. Cierra was a very strong believer of everything happened for a reason. It was an easy concept to get, and it's what kept her going. Everyone that left her in her life, thats what she had to keep repeating in her head over and over. It was a nice thought. Instead of her just going to left around for the rest of her life, it meant that something better was going to happen. The thought hadn't really proved itself yet, but she hoped that it was going to eventually. With everything that was happening in her life, she thought that it should be coming soon.

For some reason or another, she felt herself straighten a little bit with a smile when he said he got her. There hadn't been any competition of the sort, but she still felt tha tway. She quickly tried to crush it down, seeing as it seemed to make no sense. Cierra tried to distract herself, seeing that she was very occupied when she looked over and saw that he dug in right away. No faces, no hesitation, and it made her relax a little bit before she even took a bite to judge for herself. Nothing would have been more embarassing if it didn't turn out well. Her trying to impress and trying to make it up to him and she ends up doing something stupid. For a moment, her gaze went on the part that burnt her hand, seeing that the redness had even started to fade away. That was probably the stupid part of her entire plan, but at least the food turned out well.

Cierra turned faintly pink when he commented on her food, mostly because that really was what she had been worrying about. It seemed ridiculous as she took a bite out of her own food, but she was glad that he liked it. He didn't seem like a picky person anyway, but Cierra could never tell. It was probably also very obvious that she was worried about it, so she had a moment of wondering if he was faking it. Though she pushed that thought out of her mind. First of all, liking food was very hard to fake. Delightment on someone's face when they took a bite wasn't easily fibbed. Secondly, in the small moments she had spent with him, she had learned that he wasn't really the one to sugar coat or fake anything. He had been, so far, honest about everything he had said. Cierra was lying from the beginning about her shapeshifting abilities, but after the morning, it wasn't going to matter. There was a very slim chance she was going to be seeing him again, considering she didn't venture around the big city for a long time. Not to mention in six years, this was the first time she had ran into him.

Strangely, when he mentioned that he could take her home after this, there wasn't the overwealming relief on wanting to go home that she might have felt if he had taken her home last night while they were in the truck. Though she didn't really realize it, she had enjoyed his small company, as stressful as it might have been. Now that they were making casual talk, it was a lot easier. It was almost the feeling she got when she was very young and had to go home after spending all day at a friend's house. Though Cierra knew that she needed to go home. She was sure this was the longest time that any stranger had ever spent at his house, so he was probably anxious to get her out of there. It was all understandable, but she was surprised of herself when she wasn't as excited to go. There was a lot of calls to make. Also a lot of sleeping to catch up on, and she hoped that Cas was going to do the same. He certaintly needed some sleep.

Now did come the embarassing part of telling him that she had no idea how to get from there from where she was at. He could go back over to the bar and she wold be able to know from there, but she wasn't sure if he was really up for driving past a scene, probably loaded with cops by now. The werewolf may have lived, but as the image was well printed in Cierra's mind- the warlock didn't survive the fight. Someone should have called by now. Maybe they were going to have to go by there to get to her house anyway. She wasn't sure. She hadn't been in this neighborhood before. "I actually don't know where it is from here." She said softly toward him, as if she was going to get yelled at. "It's on fifth at Reeves. On the other side of town." Worst case he could probably drop her off somewhere and she'd find it. Reeves was on the bad part of town. Cierra knew she lived in a particularly dangerous part of the neighborhood. It wasn't terrible awful bad, but it was a few blocks from a terrible awful bad part. For that area, the place was decent, which wasn't saying much about the quality. Cierra wasn't really worried about what happened during the day.

Cierra was done with her breakfast faster than she had been paying attention, eventually seeing that nothing else was left on her plate. She really needed to slow down. With a shake of her head, she took her orange juice and finsihed what was left of it, glad of the taste it left in her mouth as she stood up. She didn't like leaving him with all these dishes. It was always a pain for her little place considering she didn't have a dishwasher in there. Cierra didn't pay attention to see if he was or not, but gently placed the dish in the skin, using water to wash some of the little crumbs off the plate so they woudn't stick to it later. For a final time, she wandered back into the bedroom so that she could grab her black coat and her belt, putting the belt on her shirt where it belonged and carried the coat over her arm. Would have been a disaster if she left those. Gently, she walked out and closed the door behind her, making sure that everything was left as she found it. Looking around at the house for one last time, she spotted Cas and walked toward him, clearly ready to go.

WONDERIN WHY YOU CAN'T FIGURE ME OUT

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[CASON FLYNN ELLERY]

Though Cierra might have thought it an odd trade, Cas thought it was more than fair considering how much he was enjoying this impromptu home cooked meal. He truly hadn't wanted her to feel as if she owed him anything, not even something as trivial as breakfast but if it had made her feel less guilty or something to do it then it was ok by him. Especially since it was probably the best meal he'd had in heaven knew how long. Even when he happened to crash and Sam or Jude's place they never did anything spectacular. Mostly because Sam cooked about as well as he did and Jude, well let's just say putting her a kitchen was just one house fire waiting to happen. Her little foray into the kitchen had been fairly ueventful, save for the slightly singed finger and none of the smoke alarms had even gone off. So he wasn't sure why she looked so nervous about it and a slight flicker of amusement passed through him at the way her cheeks turned a shade of light pink yet another time since he'd walked into the kitchen.

The rest of the meal went by in relative silence and when he did finally mention getting her back home surprisingly enough she didn't follow up with a quick nod of agreement or look of relief like he was expecting. Not that she'd been acting as if she couldn't wait to get out of here or anything, no she'd been nothing but the perfect little house guest so far. But still he imagined she couldn't have been all too happy with being forced to stay at a stranger's house, especially after everything that had went down prior to it. Then again she could't have been too unhappy seeing as she'd taken the time to cook breakfast. Somehow it made him feel better knowing she apparently trusted him enough to feel somewhat more relaxed at this point.

In fact she didn't even respond right away to his remarks, keeping her gaze fixated downward upon the plate in front of her. When she did respond it was in an oh so quiet tone, hesitant almost as if she didn't quite want to actually say the words. It was the same sort of tone she'd used the night before while asking him if there was anything she could offer him in return for helping her and Cas winced inwardly as he remembered the rather brusque tone he'd used in response. Due partially to the pain of the alcohol or not he still regretted the action, wondering if she was expecting the same sort of reply from him now. It sure seemed like it. Honestly he wasn't all too surprised that she wasn't sure how to get back home seeing as it had been dark and ridiculously chaotic on the trip here. On Fifth at Reeves? "Not a problem, I know where that is," he returned in an easy tone, keeping the deep baritone pleasant. Certainly not the best part of town and for some reason he wasn't all too keen on the idea of her living near there.

Though her address wasn't exactly in the worst section of the area it wasn't too far off from what was possibly one of the most dangerous areas in Manuka. Unsavory characters of both the supernatural and human variety called it home or practically lived in one of the many dark alleys there. Going out at night alone was pretty much asking for trouble, especially if you were a woman. Still he couldn't very well tell her she couldn't return home, not after already pretty much holding her captive for the past eight hours or so. With only a couple of bites left on his own plate he finished it as she too her dishes over to the sink before following suit as she went back the hall to retrieve the rest of her belongings from the bedroom. Taking advantage of her momentary disappearance he went back into the living room where he proceeded to pull the t-shirt he was still wearing from the night before over his head, tossing it on the couch for now. A pile of actually clean laundry sat in the corner (folded by Jude most likely on one of her previous visits) and he grabbed the black one on top, throwing it on quickly before heading back towards the entry way as she came back out, looking ready to go.

Not bothering to throw on his jacket for just a simple drive across town, he grabbed the keys to his truck from the pocket before opening the door and stepping slightly aside to let her go out first. Following after he shut and locked the door as per usual and opened the driver side door before hopping in the truck and reaching over to pop up the lock on the passenger side for Cierra to get in. Once she was (safely) inside and buckled up he startred the engine before backing (much more slowly this time) out of the driveway and onto the road. Keeping it at a far more reasonable speed this time as well he followed the route that lead to her house with apparent ease until reaching the street she'd said it was on. Leaving her here was still not really sitting well with him but it wasn't something he could change, shifting into park as he eased to a stop in front of the building she pointed out as hers. "There you go. Home sweet home," Glancing over at the pretty brunette, he added softly, "You be careful, ok?"

He wanted to tell her if she saw any sight of the werewolf to call him but he didn't want to scare her either, which was not quite like him. Normally he wouldn't have cared whether it scared someone or not, he'd say it anyway. Besides he planned on hunting that son of a bitch down as soon as he left here. At the very least he knew where she lived now and could at least check on her every now and again if he felt like such a visit was warranted. And secretly he sort of hoped it would be, not that he wanted her to get hurt or anything. The thought of never seeing her again sort of made him feel... disappointed. Hell, Jude was right, he was finally going crazy.

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tag Cierra!! <3
words 1,076
notes Again. So much for shorter. XD But yeah I think after your next post we can start up the coffee shop thread me thinks. Sound good?
credit t to the illy @ caution 2.0

[/blockquote]

[cierra]

OUTFIT

MY MOUTH SOMEHOW FORGETS TO WORK

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so i stare until you shout[/center]

Oh he knew where that was. How fantastic. The thought of just driving aorund finding a street that she recongized didn't seem like a fun event for either of them. Not to mention, as all the events occuring proved, she was terrible at pressure. She was terrible under and it and easily crumbled or collasped. In the past, she had been pressured by classmates to do just about everything. A lot of times, she might have almost tried it, but usualy someone like Bradley would step in and take it away from her just because they knew who she was. Who knows what kind of things Cierra would be in- probably ones she didn't even know about- if it hadn't been for the small friends. It's why she missed them. Bradley went away to the military, and Cierra was afraid that he was probably dead and she didn't know it. Then there was a couple of others who seemed to drop all contact at once after high school ended. The worst times of falling into pressure even happened when the friends wern't around to save the day. She knew she needed them.

For example, she actually been pressured by old boyfriends to do the s-e-x word. (Cierra had a real problem with saying things like that. She felt like such a child sometimes, but it was just uncomfortable for her to say) For reasons she was not proud of, she really had almost caved into that. Not exactally one of her top most glorious moments, but she found she had a lot of those. The only thing, now that she had been thinking about it, that stopped her was that the relationships hadn't lasted long enough for the consistant pressure of it. So many told her it was really her job as a girlfriend to do so. Now she had heard differently, but at the time it made sense. Not that it mattered now. If she coudln't take the very pressure of that her in the passenger seat trying to find something so that she wasn't wasting too much of the time might lead to irrational descisions. Her asking to be dropped off just for the sake of it, even if she was able to lie about it. It would have been a mess. She was so glad that Cas knew the city better than she did, it seemed.

Thankfully, he didn't seem to comment on the bad neighborhood thing. When she told most people a horrified look at her. Then Cierra would have to explain with a peak of embarassment that it was all she could afford without having to ask for even more money. If she asked any more from her aunt and uncle, they were defintally going to be insisting on her marriage right away. She would rather have the place she lived at now then having to have an arranged marriage. Being married off like that made her feel like she wasn't Cierra. Like she was something to benifit from. That was a lot of the things that she was afriad of. She wanted to feel like she was an enjoyable person to be around. Though Cierra feared that the people pleasing attitude and clingyness were defitnally signs that she wasn't. She just hoped that one day she would be able to find the strength to be stronger than she was. It would solve a lot of problems in her life.

Getting into the truck again felt strange. Especially when it was day light and so casually. For a moment, she had a hard getting into the high truck, but she eventually got her shoe to prop her up there, feeling the discomfort of her shoes now on her feet. Though she knew there was a small chance that he was going to be making the escape he had, she stil felt herself preparing for it, almost feeling the healing gash in her head laughing at her as he backed out much easier this time. Most of the way there was silent, and Cierra appreciated it, looking in the review mirror to see her own tired reflecting and the house behind her disappearing into nothing as they entered her neighborhood. He stopped at the perfect place, and as he said 'home sweet home' she wished that it was accurate. Cierra tried making her 'home' homey feeling, but it mostly felt very cramped. She had to constantly keep it clean, as one thing on the floor made it hard to walk around in.

None the less, she looked over at him with a small smile. For what had to be about the tenth time in about a nine hour period, she told Cas, "Thank you." She really did mean it though, everytime she said it. He didn't need to do all that he was doing. She was sure that he was getting tired of hearing it, but Cierra felt like he really needed to know what he was doing for her. The act of kindness he had been showing had topped so many other events in her life that it was overly greatful. At the be careful, she opened the door and looked back at him for a final time, "I'll try." She told him, feeling the weird feeling in the pit of her stomach of never seeing the stranger again. Cierra really hadn't expected anything less, of course, for the entire time they spent together, but at the same time, the feeling came.

Cierra landed on the curb with a thud of her shoes hitting it at the same time, not looking back as she fumbled with the keys that had been sitting in her pocket the entire time. There was actually another way in she used. It was in the fire escape with the window open just enough for a red siberian husky to fit through. But she figured she'd use her keys today. Her eyes darted to the side, watching the truck one last time before she entered the apartment for a nice long needed nap.

FINISHED

WONDERIN WHY YOU CAN'T FIGURE ME OUT

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with a change i call the names[/font]
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