I'm laughing at clouds, so dark up above.

[kristay]

Aya blushed, her smile widening just a fraction when he spoke. For some reason, she was relieved that he was sticking around, she needed someone to talk to and here Dan was. She shrugged. "I don't mind, and please don't feel bad... I hate it when people pity me. I get enough of that from my family. I feel so pathetic when I see those looks that they give me when they think I can't see." She gave a snort of disgust. "I prefer tactless people anyway, I think they're funny and the honesty is just so great in them that they'd burst if they don't say something, you know?" Aya grinned at him. "Don't worry Dan, you can be honest with me, I won't break. Promise."

[Raebee]

As she spoke, Danian felt himself relax. It was odd that someone understood him, even a little. The girls in his family were continuously giving him dirty looks whenever he said anything he shouldn't. And try as he might, he couldn't explain why he had to say what he did. It was more than he felt it best to be honest. He was compelled to.

He nodded as she spoke of pity, remembering the flashes of anger that crossed his mother's face when people in the street looked at them sadly. "I get it. My mum was the same way. She hated people thinking she was an invalid or something. There was one time that she dropped a pen and someone picked it up for her, and she just yelled at them." He smiled sadly at the memory and shook his head. "Sorry. I don't talk about her that much I promise."

[kristay]

Aya patted his hand affectionately. "It's not a bad thing to talk about your mom you know? I'd probably talk about my dad more if I had anything nice to say about him but I don't." She said with a shaky laugh. "But I guess I consider my grandfather, my mom's dad, more of my dad than anyone, anyway. He was always there for me." She said with an affectionate smile. She did feel like she could relate with Dan on loss however and she had always strongly believed that people who loved them were never really lost to them and that it wasn't a bad thing to think about them because sometimes the memories were the only things that kept them going.

Aya finished her food and as if by magic, the waitress appeared with their bill which she paid for. "Do you want to get out of here? I need some air." She said softly, one of her tiny smiles hinting at the corners of her mouth.

[Raebee]

Dan shook his head as she paid for their meal. "Sure we can go somewhere else. Did you have anywhere in mind? I can't imagine you know this place any better than I do though, so maybe we should just see where the road takes us."

Sliding out of his chair, he held out his hand for her to take. "I'm glad you messaged me Aya. Really really glad. I know it wasn't for a good reason for you, but..." Smiling awkwardly he shoved his other hand in the pocket of his jeans.

[kristay]

Aya grinned and nodded in agreement. She slid her hand into his and took a while to just look at him, one of those peaceful smiles on her face. "I don't, and I would love to walk around and get lost with you. I'm glad you came, even if it was just to hear me whine and groan... I'm glad you came for me."

She started walking, a silence had fallen over them; Aya followed Dan's suit and put her free hand in the pocket of her jacket, sighing softly once they were out the door and in the cold. "I know it's strange of me but I love walking around in this weather." She said with a laugh, wanting to break the tension between them.

[Raebee]

Danian nodded, tucking his head in slightly at the chill wind. "I know what you mean. I used to live in England, so I definitely prefer the colder weather. Although if I knew we'd be walking around I'd probably have brought some gloves with me."

Grinning, he laced his fingers through hers and gave her hand a quick squeeze. "Um...this is ok right? Just, let me know if anything I do makes you uncomfortable. I'm kind of a touchy-feely kind of guy."

[kristay]

Aya zipped up her jacket and shivered slightly as the burst of wind from opening the door surprised her. "I've been to England, the weather was gloomy but the cold was great; I loved it. Next time you go, take me with you okay? I want to see it through a Brit's eyes." She smiled at him and returned his squeeze as she moved a bit closer to him. "It's alright; I'm probably just as touchy-feely as you are." She said with a bit of a laugh.

They walked down the road at a slow pace her feet dragging along to wherever they felt like taking her. "So where are we going? My feet are walking without any thoughts running through my brain so I'm bound to get us extremely lost if you trust me on guiding."

[Raebee]

Dan shrugged, his eyes twinkling. "That's ok, cause how else are we going to learn what's around town? If we don't explore, we'll just move around in comfortable little circles. We'll miss out on all the tiny awesome secrets Riverside has to offer."

Looking around, he shrugged once more and pointed in the distance. "Let's see how far we can get before we get too cold and have to turn back."

[kristay]

Aya nodded and looked at him seriously before she couldn't control herself and burst out laughing. "You have a great point there. My brother and I used to do that everytime we moved for a shoot with my mom. We'd try to get ourselves lost and find home again. There were sometimes when we got royally lost but we always just called mom and found ourselves home again and then there were the good days when we got home by ourselves. It was great."

She followed suit and grinned. "Okay, you can always hug me if you feel too cold." She waggled her eyebrows playfully.

[Raebee]

Danian chuckled, and slipped his hand out of Aya's. "I'll take that as an open invitation." He slid his arm around her tiny shoulders and pulled her closer to him. It had been a while since he'd had physical contact like this with a girl. Not because he hadn't wanted to, but too many girls back home had known about his mother. Them knowing had led to them attempting to compensate, or them looking at him sadly if he visited their homes.

"So tell me something Aya. How old are you exactly?" Age didn't really bother him, it was just a number to mark the passage of time, but he did want to make sure he wasn't doing things he shouldn't.

[kristay]

Aya burst into laughter as he wound his arm around his shoulders, really it did help because it was much warmer now. She slipped her arm around his waist and grinned cheekily at Dan. "Oh? Worried you might be thought of as a pedophile eh?" She laughed but she knew that even if he had had asked in an offhand manner, it was a serious thing. "Don't worry. I'm turning 18 in a couple of months."

They crossed the street and she noticed that most people were going inside; it was starting to get cold but she didn't feel it yet so she continued. "So why is someone as great as you still single and uncomplicated?"

[Raebee]

Danian flushed slightly. then realised she was joking. "Well, that's great. Are you gonna have a party or anything? I only just turned 19 so technically we're only a year apart." He knew he was stretching it but two years wasn't really a big deal to him.

At her question he shrugged slightly and raised an eyebrow. "How do you know I'm uncomplicated? I may be a very complex guy deep down." He laughed and squeezed her shoulder. "I guess I don't know. I don't see the point in dating just because. So I just don't.."

[kristay]

Aya thought about it. "Hmmm, probably; even if I ask them not to, Georgie's still going to make me a cake so I must as well have a dinner to go with the party right? There's a Filipino tradition that a girl turning 18 is a really big thing. They have like giant parties where she gets to wear ridiculous clothes and she dances with 18 important guys in her life who give her 18 roses and gets 18 wishes from good friends and 18 symbols that represents her from other friends. It's really silly..." Aya would never tell him that she had thought of doing that last year, when she still had Monte to be her 18th rose. Now... Well, now was a long time ago from last year.

She mimicked his action, getting his exact emotion down pat. "I just do; I can tell you're not the type of guy to want an over complicated relationship for the hell of it. I know you're complex but sticky relationships are obviously not your style are they?" Aya knew she didn't really even have to ask, it was obvious Dan wasn't the type.

[Raebee]

Danian attempted to picture Aya all dressed up, but failed. It seemed too much fuss for a girl like her. Not that he'd known her very long, but still.

He smiled down at her easily, and stuck out his tongue. "And here I thought I had you completely fooled. You can see right through me can't you?

Glancing at the sky, he frowned slightly. "Looks like it's gonna be dark soon. You wanna wander in the dark, or should we head back? Did you drive, or do you need a lift home?"

[kristay]

The look he was giving her made her smile and pause in their wandering. "You're giving me that 'it's not possible she can be girlie' look. Trust me, before I got sick..." And before Monte and I... She knew she couldn't properly describe who she was before the events of last year so she stopped, disentangled herself from Danian and grabbed her wallet where she had kept a picture of herself before she had shaved her head and accepted her sickness. Her eyes were wide at the camera, and her long dark hair swept down her back and shoulders in beautiful curls. She fingered the picture with amusement before handing it to him. "Believe it or not, that was me a year ago." It wasn't that she had regretted the change, but sometimes she couldn't help but miss the past.

Aya laughed. "Of course I can see right through you double-one, I know we haven't known each other that long but I feel like I've known you for a long time." She paused before giggling. "Wow, that sounded immensely creeper-like of me."

Aya followed suit and stared at the sky, noticing the beginning of twilight and she shrugged. "I don't really care. I walked to Palmer's, did you bring a car?"