Cold Nights, Flashlights [Dorian]

[EVA RHIANNON HARDWICK]

Eva loved winter as it meant snow in the perfect scenario. And snow meant snow fights and snowmen and skating and hot chocolate. There was something amazing about how everything was white and how she hurried home to snuggle under a blanket. Eva couldn't help the feeling and she'd willingly argue about how amazing winter was with anyone that'd dare to disagree with her. She had met up with Dorian a bit ago and much after his initial complaints, he had dragged his ass to the upper east side and she then dragged him to a bar she loved not too far from where she lived. It was a little on the posher side when you looked at the alcohol they stocked and the prices, but it was surprisingly a rather chill place. Eva figured Dorian would enjoy it or at least like it enough not to complain too much. She had gotten there first, texted him the address and while normally she's wait outside and wave him towards the bar, she honestly was too cold to do that. She grabbed them a seat and ordered herself a drink while she waited. Thankfully the guy wasn't terribly late and once he arrived, the two spent over three hours talking and drinking before deciding to call it a day.

At first when she walked out, Eva was kept warm by the air coming from the bar and the drinks she's had. The girl quickly wrapped the scarf around her neck and grinned at Dorian, poking him as she started walking. It was snowing heavily and the wind was blowing and at one point, Eva would swear she almost toppled over backwards from the force. She was going to walk him to the metro station, she herself lived nearby and she'd walk home after dropping him off. Looking around herself, Eva soon realised that the weather was really shit. It was something that had escaped her attention when she was sitting inside the bar. She stuffed her hands into her coat's pockets but soon her hat was blown away since she stupidly had it on too loosely. She laughed, chasing after it and then caught up with the waiting Dori, giggling. Arriving to the metro station, Eva noticed that the metro was out of order and nudged Dorian, showing him the sign. She watched his reaction and then they just decided to flag him a cab and he'd be on his way. But after waiting in the freezing cold for quite a while, there were no cabs coming around.

“Listen, we canjust stay at mine till the weather gets better,” she tried reasoning with him. The brunette was sure she heard the wheels in his head turning and him possibly mumbling something about rich people and so on and she just ignored that bit. ”Come on, I know it involves stepping into what you consider the den of doom, but it's that or you freezing here,” she chuckled, teasing him and tugging at his elbow. He finally got in though she knew he wasn't happy about it at all. Her family's townhouse was not all that far. They have moved in a few years ago after her dad bought the house for her mum as an anniversary present. Eva loved the house and it had a small library and she'd sit on the window sill and read. Eva walked briskly towards her house, Dorian in tow. She couldn't wait to get in and fix herself something warm to eat and drink. She took out her keys and let them inside. No one was in, that much was obvious from the lights being turned off and she also knew for a fact her parents were delayed on their flight because New York's airports were currently not receiving flights. Older brother was at his dorms and younger sister was staying over at one friend's or another.

Dori was being a little hesitant and so she pulled him inside so that she could close and lock the door behind them. The coat and scarf were off soon and she put it on a hanger as she reached her hand and turned the light on. ”Well, welcome?” she smiled, walking through the foyer and into the large living room. ”Want anything to eat?” she asked, turning around to look at him. Her cheeks were flushed from the drinks she's had, the cold wind and now the warmth inside the house. Eva walked into the adjacent kitchen and she poured some water into the kettle and put it on to boil. She grabbed two cups from the cupboard and then some tea bags. ”Take your pick,”s he told him, leaning against the counter and waiting for the water to boil. Just as he was walking over, the lights had gone out. She furrowed her eyebrows in reaction. ”Hold on just a sec,” she informed him and felt the drawers and then thought of grabbing her phone from her jeans to help her find the flashlight that she knew they kept in the drawers. She found it soon and turned it on, turning to Dori. ”Well this is kinda spooky,” she laughed.


[OOC: I don't say this too often, but it kinda sucks, it will get better promise lol. Also I moved him around a bit, if you want me to change it, you know where to find me ;] ]

[DORIAN EARL GRAY]

Dorian didn't know why he bothered to cross the river and go to downtown New York during the holidays. Like it wasn't bad enough the whole season culminating in the gift-industries jackpot spoof of mankind. No, of course the candle industry had to declare the advent into a wax killing romance disaster that left the Brazilian places virtually short of their essential tools! While the electricity industry sat in their plants watching the power meters run by with dollar signs flashing in their eyes at the tasteless Christmas decoration the average American flung on their mortgage dumps every year again. It wasn't that the 18-year old southern boy was a Grinch, no, he thought he looked much better than that! He just believed much more in the Christmas spirit than the capitalist commercialization of some carpenter's birth two thousand years ago. He believed in family and friends overcoming their differences during the holidays only to realize it hadn't been anything but trivial to begin with. Which was exactly the reason why he had come to face Eva again despite his incredibly comedic virgin Mary impression on their squatter-night-out.

They had gone for a couple drinks which certainly helped to ease Dorian's feeling of oddity that probably wasn't even there. He found to see a dig at his previous behavior in any remark the pretty girl made but was luckily a good enough conversationalist to blend it over with his charm and jokes. There wasn't anything wrong per say he just couldn't stop thinking about his weird actions on her behalf - which she hadn't deserved. Downing one beer straight out of the bottle after the other, lining up by the edge of the table facing the wall, the brunette guy had to admit he was having a good night. He hadn't doubted that talking to Eva and having fun out was going to be a blast. Maybe he had just realized that women could eventually be great to have around not necessarily scandalously clad and with those bedroom eyes hinting at only one possible end for the evening. It was always good to have options and who knew where it could lead eventually, which was right up Beau's alley.

All to soon though they left the comfy warmth of the bar and the solemn safety of clutching a bottle of beer stepping out into the cold and whizzing reality called life ... or well: Winter in Manhattan. Which equaled life in the respect that it pretty much dominated it right now. The buxom gal on C-Span had warned everyone to defer their trip home tonight to much for there was more snow to be expected ... which was actually why Dori had suggested to call it a night and catch subway train home. Which seemed quite a good and safe idea until an iron-cast retractable gate virtually got in the way. Jiggling at the cold rods for a short but emotional moment the tall boy gave up pretty soon coming up the few stairs to his companion again with this distinct 'beaten dog' expression on his face. Snow was caught in his crazy hair and on the little tip of his pouty lips as his shoulders dropped. Even the prospect of hailing an overpriced excuse of a chauffeur in a bad color choice for a car didn't aid much to brighten that. He already saw himself at the Plaza desk asking for a storage room for the night probably ending up paying more than a months rent.

That was when the 'den of doom' got mentioned. A phrase Dorian ever only heard out of his mouth when talking Paris Hilton picking him up this one sinister 4th of July. However it did quite hit the notion in his head when thinking of the sandstone townhouse, high ceilings and marbled foyer with brass furnishings that the Hardwick's probably lived in. But seeing as it was obviously nearby Dori's garrulous objections didn't even get a chance to hit reasoning before they already stood in the perfectly lit interior of what one could only describe as the Winter Palace of the Manhattan town houses ... with a little dramatic embellishment of course. "Oh well now ... at least we know where the tax money from Obama's rescue plan went to!" Dorian chuckled inappropriately turning a little golden statue on a sideboard a few quarter inches. Though looking back at Eva and seeing the annoyance making her eyes go all spinning like a fortune-ball made the boy wince in regret. "Ah ... sorry!" he admitted coyly but with a fair bit of boyish frown that would make all the dander blow over like a pile of snow.

Following the girl into the spacious kitchen not missing out on any detail the decadent mansion had to offer Beau leaned against the central counter after taking his leather jacket off. Watching his bonny host smirking he glanced at the tea offering with a chuckle of sarcasm. Truly, the last time he had been offered that wide a selection he'd been staying in a five start hotel on a photo-shoot renting the other half of his bed out to an Australian backpacker! Picking one bag up he held it up between index and middle-finger with one brow raised. "Earl Grey?! Seriously?" he mocked the raven haired girl even though it was much more self irony. Luckily before further contemplating on the herbal refreshments could commence the power went out leaving the two in an all enfolding darkness that was actually kind of liberating. "Ugh finally!" Dori exhaled slightly amused, he wasn't afraid of the dark. "All the sparkle and gold was blinding me!" Reaching out his hand to make sure Eva would get astray to far in this labyrinth of French Doors he waited for her to get some light back into the situation since all he could think of was pulling his cell out.

As the lighter went on painting both their faces in warm orange he smiled solemnly. "Oh well ... a 25 million dollar mansion and all there is to bring light into the hallow halls is an 80 cent lighter!" Rubbing the girls arm as to show he wasn't seriously being a pain in the ass ... well, at least not on bad intentions ... Dorian did not really welcome the cold beam of light from the pocket lamp coming his way. Squinting slightly he turned his eyes away slightly. "Don't you guys have candles or something?" he asked clearing his throat. "And I hope that stove works on gas else there's gonna be iced tea and sulky Dorian all the way!" Smiling widely at his friend with eyes closed he rubbed the back of his head casually. Being here now in the dark didn't seem so bad after all. He wasn't constantly intimidated by the size and flamboyancy of the place. It was actually quite romantic! If she'd finally change the flashlight for a couple candles and a glass of whiskey maybe!

[EVA RHIANNON HARDWICK]

It was a good thing that the brunette knew the house like the back of her hand, thanks to the countless number of times the siblings had played hide and seek here and they're sniffed out every hiding worthy nook and cranny. Frankly Eva didn't even need to turn on the light at hight to get to the kitchen and back, she could probably do it with eyes closed too. Not that she's tried that, but she might give it a go soon now that she thought about it. Moving the flashlight from under her chin, the girl moved it around to see what was out. Thinking about where she could find some more flashlights, or candles, she bit her lip in thought. Honestly there were probably things in the storage which is where she'd go look in a moment. The downside of this outage was that their heating was electric and so soon enough the place would get rather cold. Once again, long live the back up plan and an actually functioning fireplace. Who cared that she had only lit it a handful of times with the help of her dad, when he was teaching them to do it properly. It would be a source of heat and there were always some logs right by it so they'd be nice and dry. The brunette supposed this was the time her camping skills either got her through or failed completely.

”Yeah, rub it in,” she laughed, not taking him seriously at this point. To be honest their townhouse wasn't the most lavish of things. Sure she knew it had cost a fortune, but the inside was decorated tastefully, at least according to her. Her mother loved wood and the idea of a comfortable cottage somewhere in the woods, so the house was rather functional, more than could be said about most places similar to theirs. And there was no gold around to blind Dori's silly eyesight. The kettle had clicked itself off, obviously so since it was electricity-powered, and Eva put a hand on it to see how much the water had boiled, which turned out to be not much at all. It was really a good thing that the cooker was gas, the girl thanking her parents for replacing it a few years earlier as the original cooker had been electric, but for some reason her mum never liked it. Whatever that reason might have been, Eva was just glad there was something that wasn't electricity powered too. The sudden warmth of the house has made her a little more mellow, especially after the few drinks she's had, but the lights going out made her alert again. And she was getting hungry, so after she dealt with the light and the fire, she'd probably try to see what was in the fridge.

Pressing her lips together in thought, Eva concluded that for Dorian to be a bit more amiable she neeeded to get the water to boil and then find candles, something she'd want to do anyways, since she wanted tea and some light that didn't make her eyes hurt. Deciding she'd put the water on first and put him on the 'watch the water' duty, Eva took a few steps to the side and bent down to retrieve a smaller pot from the cupboard and then moved back to the cooker. ”Hold this for me?” she said, not waiting for a positive reply, but simply giving the flashlight to Dorian, needing both hands. She poured the water from the kettle into the pot and then put it on one of the hobs. Adjusting his hand so it was shedding light onto the side of the cooker, she searched for some matches for a little bit and then grinning triumphantly as she found then, lit up the gas underneath the pot with water. ”See? No worries, you shall get your tea. Now wait here and watch the water, I'm gonna go find some more candles. If you want, there's some in the living room, you can light those up while I'm gone?” Eva suggested and then walked off, leaving Dorian with the flashlight, using her cell to get around.

She navigated towards the small storage space only a few corners away from the living room. Searching through the miniscule closet, she finally came up with a few candles and one more flashlight that had no batteries in. she passed her parents' room and her own and grabbed some blankets too since she knew soon it'd get cooler and it took a while before the place warmed up by the fire in the fireplace and still it wouldn't be the same as with the heaters on. Sighing, Eva closed the door and made her way back to the kitchen. She turned the stove off, noticing the water had started to bubble and poured it into the two large mugs after she set the candles aside for a moment. She could see the faint candlelight from the adjacent living room and she smiled. Grabbing two large plates to set the candles on in the living room, not wanting to get the wax everywhere, she walked over. First she put the blankets onto the sofa and then the candles with plates on the table. She then walked back, taking the tea mugs and bringing them over. ”Does this mean you'll be less grumpy now?” she teased, setting them both on the cloth over the wooden table. ”The heating's electric too, so it'll get colder in a bit. The house doesn't hold the heat as well as I'd like right now,” she chuckled, walking over to the fireplace and started working on the fire, her flashlight sitting next to her on the floor.

[DORIAN EARL GRAY]

Leaning against the counter in the kitchen watching Eva unfold her Bree van de Kamp routine, hovering through the room like on housewife acid, Dorian couldn't help but follow her with his amused gaze. She was kind of as demanding as his mother and he'd never deny to have turned out a little bit like his father, in all honesty, which was kind of an honor actually. He had always provided selflessly for his family ands till been able to keep his integrity as an independent man. A strong man, a southern gentleman with values and morals that his son hadn't necessarily all annexed. Yet - so Beau hoped - he could at least be a faint image of his father which was still a hundred times more than most guys could say of themselves these days. He could take care of a woman if he found one ... so the 18-year old boy believed. Maybe he was deluding himself with the notion that the 'right one' hadn't passed his way yet since the choices had been plentiful so far.

The buzzing around the premises like a hummingbird stopped only for a fleeting moment as a flashlight got shoved his way. But not only did he have to facilitate as the most handsome floor lamp ever but no, the lady of the house also had to point out which way to direct the beam at: The almost captivating dazzle of water slowly rising to the seething point! Rolling his eyes Dori chuckled ... for now though, seeing as this was her turf, he'd let the bossiness pass as a fluke delusion of grandeur on her part. Smelling the gas come from the stove after Eva had switched the hob on Beau already pointed at the nozzle ready to raise his concern as she appeared with matches and his brows rose. But before he could give the whole explosive combustion thing another thought she had already lit the plate safely. Which was probably not a good time to admit he had never seen a gas stove this closely. "Oh well thanks ... I am glad 'I' will get some tea since you never really let me speak for myself if I even wanted some!" Dorian smiled at Eva mischievously, the flashlight slightly illuminating his well documented face.

If it was true or not, Dori found that Eva had this way about her that made her assume things to be real that happened in her head. Not in a Sixth Sense kind of way with Elvis Presley's ghost creeping over her shoulder but she surely loved to go on with the presumptuous conga-line and get dragged to who knew where wondering why people hadn't followed. It was a flaw common in people generally and by all means Dorian wouldn't say he hadn't put words like 'Yes of course', 'You're so big' or simply 'his dick' in people's mouths before. Even though they had never said or openly admitted to even conceiving such notions. He surely wouldn't judge the cute girl for it who made him laugh on more occasions than she annoyed him which was basically what his sympathy simply ran by. "I'll light the candles ma'am since I presume the water will do just fine!" he winked at Eva turning to take his own lighter out and stalk the living room for flammable objects. The waxy kind of course!

Wandering through the room with the light beam revealing all sorts of literary and artistic treasures Dorian almost forgot his original task by skimming through all the books on the shelves. So many he'd want to borrow right away. Voltaire, Holst, Tolstoy ... and his all time favorite Milo Urban! A first edition even of the Living Whip! Catching himself gasping, his fingertips running over the rustic book cover Dori quickly found himself lacking in what the lady had ordered as Eva came back to the kitchen looking for the water. Almost stumbling over a futon on his way to the previously discovered candle arrangement the tall boy quickly flicked his lighter on and ignited the various wicks. "I was just about to yell for ya!" Beau noted redundantly as the raven haired girl made her way back into the living room with hot water, cups and the previous selection of teas. He watched her arrange the stuff on the couch table so carefully with meticulous detail to coasters and cloths so the fancy wood - prolly from the tree of life itself - wouldn't get stained. Simply setting himself on the floor taking a blanket thankfully Dorian sighed comfortably, pulling the soft fabric tight around him. Now this was a luxury he could see himself indulge in: Cashmere blankets.

"Now not so fast ... I wouldn't say 'less grumpy' because that would equal 'less charming'!" the young man mocked giving Eva a meaningful wink. He wasn't above subtly flirting with the girl, why would he? She was a catch! There was no denying about that ... but sure as hell she was more work than any chick the southern boy had come across so far. Which he wasn't sure of the worth yet to try actually ... since the most that could come out on his part was physical satisfaction. The cost/efficiency evaluation on simply being friends however was much more promising in that regard. "Okay ... let's keep this piece of sadistic parental mockery on the side!" Dori chuckled flicking the Earl Grey tea-bags behind the flower arrangement. "And well, I hold the heat just fine!" he tried an amusing pun looking back at her warmly illuminated face smirking. "After all I am still here on my side not invading that precious privacy of yours!" Nodding at his place Beau raised and lowered his brows meaningfully as if to flaunt what he was capable of if taunted. "But first ... do tell, is there a chance your dad will run in on us and ... does he own golf-clubs?!" Waiting for Eva's reply curiously Dorian picked a peppermint tea-bag and dropped it into his cup before offering to pour her beverage up first.

[EVA RHIANNON HARDWICK]

Eva didn't delude herself into thinking that Dorian could shut his mouth for a few hours and just enjoy not being stuck outside. There were times she'd genuinely consider just throwing him out when his presumptuous nature showed, but she knew she could never do that. Dorian or anyone else, she'd not have the heart to throw the person out knowing what sort of weather was there and that the metro didn't work or that there was no way to hail a cab. She just didn't have that badness in her at all. And if she did so, she'd open the door a minute later and go out to look for him, she knew that. Thankfully his comments weren't too bad and she was in a good mood. Partially because of the alcohol, partially because she's had a good afternoon and in part also because that was just how she was, rarely in a bad mood. Like properly mad. That she furrowed her eyebrows at someone or frowned a few times were hardly indicators of anger, only mild annoyance and that never managed to stick around for longer than few moments and then it was forgotten. It was sometimes annoying in itself that she couldn't hold a grudge to save her life, so if you had Eva properly angry at you, you must've done something really bad.

”Like you'd dare try invading my privacy,” Eva chuckled, turning momentarily and sticking her tongue out at him. He was staying put and that was the end of the story. Looking back at the fireplace, the brunette opened the glass pane and aimed her flashlight inside. Her first reaction was a mental thanks to her mother who thought having a nicely arranged 'ready-to-light' fire in the fireplace which made things easier on Eva now. Putting the flashlight down, she used couple of the matches and set the combination of paper and thin wood pieces on fire. It crackled a little, but it caught on fire which was a relief. She knew how to set a fire, but keeping it alive wasn't something she's had much practice with. She just tried remembering the golden pieces of advice on it and it'd be fine. Turning to the side and getting on all fours she scurried over a short distance and picked a few more of those thin bits of wood and stacked them onto the small pyre neatly. So far it was working and she needed to get it to burn for a while. She was hardly a patient person, so this should be an interesting venture to say the least. Half closing the glass pane, Eva moved away from the fireplace, not bothering to stand up, but coming to the table on all fours and her knees only.

She was grateful for the tea and put some fruity one inside and once she let it be for a few moments, took a long slow sip, smiling. ”My dad?” she laughed rather loudly. ”Why would you need to know that, not like you sitting on the floor wrapped in a blanket would be a reason for him to badger you to death with golf clubs,” she laughed at his theatrical-ness. She settled on the floor, keeping one eye on the fire before turning to Dorian. ”But if you really want to know, he's stuck in the airport in LA with mum, nothing's landing in NYC so they can't get home at the moment,” she said with a chuckle, shaking her head at him. ”Besides he's not a golf man,” she winked at Dori. Therefore there was no danger of golf clubs being swung at people. ”But he's an avid baseball fan,” Eva grinned a little suggestively before putting the cup down and moving towards the fireplace on all fours again, leaving Dori behind for a bit and adding some small logs inside, watching them catch on fire. So far so good and she was still warm enough and there were duvets, blankets and more clothes if ever needed anyway.

She fell back a little, sitting on the carpet in front of the fireplace and then lay down on her back, looking at the ceiling and then sometimes glancing backwards at Dorian. She had just thought about playing some music only to realise that the electricity had cut that out too and frowned for a moment before her face cleared up. No matter, no music then. She sat up, adding more small logs into the fire, the embers glowing red within ten minutes and she needed to get it bigger so it could burn proper big logs. Once done, she closed the glass pane, leaving only a small crack open so the oxygen would get in and the fire would stay on. Scurrying backwards until she was leaning against the heavy table, she watched the fire with a satisfied smile, feeling somewhat accomplished. ”There's not much to do when the electricity is out really,” she shrugged. No music, no TV, no Xbox games and the fridge has already started cooling down soon. Little light to read a book, at least until the fire started or with directly pointing a flashlight at the book. ”If you get tired or bored of me, feel free to use the sofa as your personal bed,” the brunette smiled, figuring Dorian was going to end up sleeping over, whether he liked it or not.

[DORIAN EARL GRAY]

"Fair enough!" Dorian shrugged at Eva so bluntly putting him in his place on HIS side of the couch table. His min couldn't help but circle back to that infamous night out on the town squatting in some abandoned building. Somehow the southern boy felt like being back in junior high where exchanging saliva with the opposite sex - even more so the same - was about as dreadful as eating worms. How had it come that the high and mighty Dorian Gray had fallen as low as to be the embarrassingly flushed drawback of a potential make-out session bound to happen?! It was a mystery beyond Beau's comprehension although the nescience in this specific case probably was better labeled ignorance than actual lack of knowledge. Truly he didn't really want to know what the possible emotional ramifications of his lingual malfunction were. He may not be a girl and his name may not be Britney but the boy knew the concept of self-delusion all to well.

Watching Eva crawl over to the fireplace, her humorous efforts at building a viable fire stack and her coming back Dorian couldn't help but let his eyes trail over her perfectly shaped behind that was so deliberately waved his way. Women had a way of - consciously or not - flaunting her most desirable attributes. Or the parts of their body they THOUGHT was most desirable. Which was why Paris Hilton didn't believe in panties and why Janet Jackson solicited poor Justin into ripping her bra on national television. Though far be it from Dori to mind it! Hell no ... for as long as the goods in the display were as favorably lit as right now he was surely not gonna pass the window without a glance. Biting his tongue the unrestrained juvenile fantasy went even as far as to imagine reaching out giving that booty a nice firm grasp ... resulting in a sharp pain to his cheek in the most favorable of scenarios. Beau may have been inspired but certainly didn't lack that essential sense for reality to ground him back on earth every few minutes. Still, he imagined it to feel just great, the firm round bun, just like a well aged piece of ham. What? Eighteen years was a great age for a ham!

"Well aren't you just killing the last bit of romance with your little boy-scout fire lighting ceremony?" Dorian asked Eva after a mild chuckle jokingly. "What ever happened to pushing ignite on a remote making the incombustible wood burn with hidden speakers imitating the solemn crackle of sparks whizzing through the dark?!" Shaking his head in mocking disbelieve the boy even jiggled his fingers into the air to mimic the imaginary motion, like fireflies vanishing into the night sky. It wasn't that she impressed him by igniting a fire in the ages of microwave and induction cooking. If anything he would've been surprised if this wasn't part of her multi faceted repertoire of skills. Eva wasn't an ordinary girl and with that came a lot of expectations. He wouldn't pat her on the back for just anything, she'd have to try harder. Catching him off guard with a kiss had indeed been a start ... surely though, in that pretty head of hers, there was a lot more to come the southern boy's way.

"Baseball fan ..." Beau replied with raised brows, nodding in slightly demure awe. "... now how is that better? I may not know much about baseball but I assume those aluminum bats hurt a wee bit more than a putting iron!" Wincing a tad the boy pulled the corner of his mouth up in an ineffable notion. It wasn't a smile, that was clear. "At least tell me he hasn't hit a ball in ages! Compared with the melon size of my head that may grant me the least bit of comfort after all!" he chuckled pointing at his head in a gun-shot like motion. Watching Eva go back to the fire now fueling it with bigger logs Beau squinted his eyes slightly. In comparison to the darkness engulfing them the dim flames were as bright as the sun. He could feel the warmth radiating already and it was comfortable. Opening his blanket slightly he almost felt no need for it anymore. Plus if everything else failed there was ALWAYS a way two healthy teenagers could make each other warm. It worked much better - Dorian had to admit - when he ignited it and wasn't surprised by someone else toying with the matches. That little control in his life he treasured.

"Well ... who is bored?!" Dori gasped appalled, shrugging lightly and looking around for other people creeping in the shadows the living room furniture cast away from the fireplace. Looking back at Eva he smiled innocently, his hands resting in his lap idly while his legs were in the attempt of a pretzel. He was just not flexible enough for that. "There are a couple good books there ... read any? ... Milo Urban ... maybe?" Raising his brows more with an anticipating look towards Eva Beau kept stabbing in the dark with his inquiries so far. "I am sure there's some board games somewhere!" he added laughing, knowing fairly well in his mind that board games were the wits end of human spare time endeavors. If you had to pull out Monopoly YOU KNEW that your entertainment qualities had reached rock bottom ... and when you got the Twister carpet unfolded you were just longing for some desperate physical contact right there. Scrabble put you in the role of an overcompensating smart-ass trying to prove your knowledge of words longer than 10 letters consisting of mostly Ws and Backgammon simply displayed your deeply harbored wish to have the monarchy back.

[EVA RHIANNON HARDWICK]

There was something about the fire that made the home feel even more like home. It was an odd notion, but it was something that had occurred to Eva. Maybe it was that idea of crackling fire and warmth of home that did it, maybe just her silliness caused by alcohol. But she felt better when the fire was already burning and emitting heat. She was definitely going to sleep here, maybe on the carpet in front of the fireplace or maybe in the armchair if the floor wasn't comfortable enough. But one way or another, she was not going to her room and away from the delicious feeling of warmth coming from the fire; she'd be damned if she'd trade this for hogging extra blankets in her room which was bound to be much colder in the span of few hours. She threw a pair of bigger logs inside and closed the glass pane of the fireplace, satisfied for the time being, the flames licking on the wooden pieces as she settled down on the floor next to Dori. She grabbed one of the blankets and let it fall over her shoulders loosely, the whole thing reminding her a little of their squatting trip with Leigh, though here they were inside a furnished posh home as opposed to a run down building downtown.

With the cup of still warm tea in hand, Eva smiled and took a sip. ”I'm making my way through the shelves. I didn't know where to start so I just started from the top,” she told him. ”I'm somewhere on the third shelf now,” Eva added, taking another sip. She liked reading, she really did. It was a nice escape from the reality even if the book wasn't cheerful. She liked story-telling and a good description. The type where she could put the book down, close her eyes and the place and events would unfold in front of her eyes vividly. Ones that made you want to imagine what it would be like to be a character in the book. Not necessarily the protagonist, a lesser minor character would do. But she was always curious about people's behaviour and their motivations for she often found she lacked motivation herself. It fascinated her to see hat people did under what circumstances. ”This is only one of the shelves, we have a few like this around the house, mostly in my dad's study. But there's one in the guest room, one in each of our rooms filled with more kid friendly books since we had them there at the time when reading Frankenstein would be too much of a feat,” she laughed softly

”I haven't read the one you mentioned, though I read up on the author for advanced European literature class, when we were doing a historical overview,” she explained, shrugging her shoulders. If she was to venture a guess, she'd say Dori was surprised that their library included anything aside form the universal American classics and some Shakespeare to show off they weren't some dumb black people that made money by chance. She couldn't fault him for the presumption if it was there, though it could certainly annoy her, just like he sometimes did with his rich people gibberish. She kept the mug firmly in her hands that now rested in her lap as her eyes moved over to the fire. Her smile grew a little as she saw it burning, feeling somewhat proud she managed to get it working without what Dorian had mentioned, the automated flame and all that crap. She liked how her hands smelled of the wood, actually how wood smelled in general which might explain why she liked spending time in parks. ”Board games? Seriously?” the brunette asked a little surprised before teasing her friend a little. ”Need to put a game between us to bear it with me?” she raised an eyebrow in his direction, but let him off soon when she laughed, not being able to hold her face straight.

”There's some cards in here somewhere and some board games, but I don't fancy playing anything, so you'd have to entertain yourself,” she winked at the phrase with double meaning and stood up. Eva put the mug onto the table and went off, grabbing her phone, it only took her thirty seconds or so to find a stack of cards and a portable chess board. ”We do have monopoly too, but I never have enough patience to play that stupid thing,” she shrugged her shoulders as she sat down, Indian style, balancing the things in her hand and sitting down not needing to use hands. ”You've read some obscure literature, I'm sure your anything-but-mainstream bohemian self knows how to play chess...” she trailed off with a teasing smile, putting the board between them. ”I'll take the black if you don't mind, it's only fitting,” Eva said jokingly and finished her tea before her fingers went on to arrange the wooden pieces on the chess board. ”Before we start, you hungry? Or thirsty? There's some whisky around among other things,” she offered. The fridge was most likely beginning to thaw out and there were some things they could just eat without her being too bothered with heating it up, some cake or other she was beginning to crave among other things.

[DORIAN EARL GRAY]

Listening to Eva's narration of her literate childhood and early teens made Dorian somewhat dreamy. He could only imagine what her life in these halls was about, beyond what she let him in on. He could imagine there to be little to no friction, her sliding through life like on Teflon, a fluffy cushion to rest on, filled with daddy's cash. Though he had to hand it to the ebony eyed beauty - she wasn't in it by choice and to say she'd have to show common sense and devotion by giving it all up wasn't exactly humane and/or reasonable. If she thought the southern boy disliked her for the world she was born into then the girl was wrong. He didn't agree with 5% of the world's population holding 85% of its wealth. He didn't agree with fat and bald business men making decisions over hundreds of thousands of employees out of pure lust for adventure, knowing they couldn't fail. For some people there was always a safety net, wasn't there. He had never tried to attack Eva or her way of living even though his teasing could've been mistaken that way at times.

"God lady ..." Dori chuckled as she came up for air once in a while. "... do you ever just agree and check out the handsome boy silently?" Raising one brow suspiciously he couldn't help but wonder why there was no Mister to Eva's Misses ... her persistence and the fact she needed to justify breathing air once in a while could've been a turn off. "You talk to much ... seriously ..." and before she could intervene Beau brought his index finger up to hold her horses. "I DO admit that I didn't react properly to you not using your lips for gibberish that one time ... but I am just not the kind of guy to go all carnal in an abandoned house. Got class, you know ... at least make it a shabby motel room, the back of a pickup-truck ... that kind of thing!" he explained elaborately, of course not missing any beat from the usual Gray humor.

"Now hold it!" he intervened in mock appall. "The only 'game' between us is 'who can string more words together without coming up for air' right now! And CLEARLY you're on a winning streak!" Pulling his knees up, hugging them Dorian waited patiently till all his hints into one direction left Eva with no choice but to ask him what else he thought she could do. For the eventuality he had himself wittily prepared already. Beau couldn't help but chuckle at the way she called him an 'anything-but-mainstream bohemian'. He was a bohemian alright ... but he did enjoy his little dose of mainstream porn once in a while ... after all, porn was something you shouldn't go to freaky on else the FBI'd be doing your door in some time soon. Also he was a huge fan of mainstream cinema ... or the bashing of the same ... it was all potato at the end of the day, wasn't it. Which was a very mainstream attitude! "I know how to play chess alright ... my grandpa used to be a master at it. So sure, let's play a turn in your racist chess game! The winner gets the girl."

Lining up his ivory knights, liking his lips in concentration Dorian tried to remember the first move his grandpa told him which was supposed to decide the game in his favor instantly ... had something to do with one of the center pawns. "Now ... as a big advocate of ethnic equity how about your ghetto-gangsta mob starts the round off with a big Broooyah to tha bling bling for all the sistas ... fo shizzle!" Trying to remember each and every little gangsta antics he had learned from his time in Brooklyn and being friends with some more than shady characters from the black rapper scene Dorian reenacted a rather poor and badly researched impression of the average black person ... on purpose, it was supposed to be comedic and he never failed at that. However, there was only so far a good joke could get you before it turned into bad taste ... that was when jaws dropped and champagne flutes fell to the floor in silence like a pin drop. The 18-year old boy had been there on occasion, with nothing but his bare handsome face and smile to weasel out of the minefield.