Something's in the air tonight

[Rylee Rose]

Rylee stretched her arms over her head as she stood up out of her tent that night. It had to be close to midnight but she couldn't sleep...again. Ever since they had landed on the Ground, Rylee hadn't slept well at all. She would have nightmares or just jolt awake at any minor sound. She couldn't help it. She loved being on Earth with the fresh air and adventures..but she hated the fear of sleep. 


Looking up around the camp, she saw that no one else was awake so it seemed except those on guard. She grabbed a blanket from her tent and laid it out under the dark sky looking up for stars. There were tons tonight. She smiled imagining that one of them was the Ark and that maybe her dad was looking up at the same stars and moon as she was. She knew that there was a good chance he wasn't alive....but there was an equally good chance that he was....and that gave her a little hope.


Rylee laid down looking up at the stars and sighed. It was cold, but she didn't care. It reminded her that she was alive. She felt a shiver go up her spine, but she just shook it off. She turned her head suddenly hearing a sound come from her right. Sitting upright, she stared into the darkness and saw a giant shadow coming towards her. She pulled her knees to her chest and squinted to see who it was. She didn't know many people on the Ground, but she knew that this giant shadow had to be one of the boys.... "Hello?" She said softly, smirking. She could hear people coming from nearly a mile away especially in the quiet...so if he was trying to scare her....he was failing. 


Tag: Ahren

[Ahren]

@ Rylee Rose

Paranoid. That was the only word he could use to describe it right now. Everyone else in the camp seemed to be sleeping just fine; save for the few standing watch right now. But no, he couldn't quite shake these feelings enough to get a good night rest. At least...not yet. So what was a boy to do? Get up and walk around, clearly. The internal debate lasted for a few moments as he lay blinking upward in the darkness, the soft breathing of those around him assuring him that he was indeed the only one awake right now. A breath expelled from his lips out of frustration as he pushed up from the ground, his brows knitting together at that simple action. The ground. It was foreign still - and ultimately what was disturbing his rest. Maybe he could run a lap around the camp and calm his nerves, the idea as solid as anything right now. Chastising himself for being a coward, Ahren pulled on a shirt as quietly as he could before slipping out from his tent, blinking for a moment to let his eyes adjust. He almost pulled back into his sleeping quarters when a gust of air hit him - nothing like the vents back on the Ark. It was strange. But - something, or someone, was moving out there. A sliver of unease ghosted across his skin, causing his fingers to rub against the exposed length of his arms, his eyes seeking to see through the shadows even though it proved ultimately pointless. Nothing left to do now other than check it out himself. He armed himself with a short length of pipe he had been given the other day - small enough to fit in the back pocket of his pants without discomfort - and headed in the direction of where he had seen whatever it was, moving. He hadn't been trying to be quiet, on land it was hard to figure out how one would move to even do that, so it surprised him only slightly when he heard a soft greeting. A girl. Her name escaped him at the moment - but he recognized her at least by appearance alone. "Hey," came his short reply back, hesitating momentarily on his next move. "Er...yeah sorry. I saw something moving out here and decided to have a look." Did she want to be alone? The smirk on her face seemed to at least indicate that she wasn't feeling hostile. He took a break in the conversation to still himself beside a tree and lean a shoulder against it, his hand a moment later picking at some peeling bark. "Can't sleep? ...Or are you practicing for guard duty?" Talking with someone right now was better than wandering around by himself right?

[Rylee Rose]

Rylee looked up seeing the figure lean against the tree near her blanket. She smiled. She had seen this boy around the camp before. He was kind of independent...like her. She turned on her bottom to face him. "No reason to be sorry...I heard you coming" She smirked. "I couldn't sleep...haven't slept in days really..." She sighed and then laughed. "I'm Rylee! You can sit if you'd like..." She said moving over on her blanket and running her hands up and down her arms. It was getting colder by the minute, but she would much rather be outside than cooped up in her little tent. 

She looked up at the sky again and thought she saw something blink...maybe the Ark. But she didn't get her hopes up. "What about you? Why are you up so late...or early?" She said with a laugh. She usually didn't run into people at night. Everyone slept when they could...just not her. "I usually only see the guards at night." Rylee pulled her knife out of her boot and dragged the blade in the dirt drawing as she waited to see what the boy would say. She pulled her knees to her chest and laid her cheek against them, looking over at the tall boy. 

She smiled as the moon shined against her tanned skin and brought light to the boy before her. She knew she had seen him around. He was hard to forget..tall, quite attractive, and muscular....that's for sure. She couldn't forget that. She smirked to herself as she dragged her knife through the dirt again. 


tag: Ahren

[Ahren]

@ Rylee Rose

"No reason to be sorry...I heard you coming." she responded and he shrugged sheepishly, not really trying to make an excuse for that one. He wasn't the move silently type - nor did he think any sort of practice could help him with that. "I couldn't sleep...haven't slept in days really..." "Well, that can't be healthy," he chortled softly with a shake of his head, a lopsided smirk taking over his features. "Not that I can say much, considering sleep has been avoiding me as well." She sighed and then laughed a little, offering up her name - as well as an invitation to take a seat next to her on the blanket she had spread on the ground. "Yeah, thanks." He spoke with sincerity, pulling away from his leaning spot and rubbing at the soft imprint the bark had left on his skin. He stooped down a second later (after removing the pipe from his pocket), parking it on the cloth and not at all shy apparently about their close proximity. He hadn't thought to bring the long-sleeve throw over and sharing body heat didn't sound like a bad idea. Dark eyes shot her a glance as her attention shifted skyward."Rylee...That's pretty," a casual comment before he offered up his own name. "I'm Ahren." "What about you? Why are you up so late...or early? I usually only see the guards at night." Her voice wavered with a laugh, encouraging him to break into a smile of his own. He shifted, bending his knees so he could rest his arms atop them, his hands rubbing together as his shoulders rolled into another shrug. "Apparently my brain doesn't want to shut up tonight." He paused, his gaze drifting to the design Rylee was tracing in the dirt with her blade. "So I got up to look for a distraction." His eyes flit back up to her face, only this time she was looking back at him, her cheek resting on her knee the way his hands were on his. She was pretty - especially with the way the light of the moon filtered through the overhead branches and highlighted her hair. That half-smile was back on his lips before he knew it, his voice softer. "Seems I found one." He laughed a second later, breaking through any possibly weird tension, his arms falling away from his knees to support him from behind and he leaned on them. "So, Rylee, what is it that has you up for days? Anything I can do to help?"

[Rylee Rose]

Rylee laughed when the boy said it wasn't healthy for her to be not sleeping. She knew that to be true...but she couldn't do much about it. She tried her best to sleep every night, but nothing seemed to help her. When he sat next to her, quite close to her, she smiled and appreciated the warmth his large body brought to her small one. She felt a warm blush crawl up her cheeks when he said her name was pretty. She covered her face against her knees and smiled. "Nice to meet you Ahren." She let her eyes go back up towards him, uncovering her face. 


She couldn't stop looking at his smile. It softened his hard face. He was already attractive, but his smile only increased that for him. At the mention of her being a distraction for him, her cheeks flushed again and she was sure he could see it now that her face was highlighted by the moonlight. She laughed softly and let her body lay back down on the ground looking up at him and the sky at the same time. "Unless you know how put a 17 year old girl to sleep...I'm not sure much can help me." She smiled softly. "I haven't really slept well since we got down here...I'm always thinking about my dad and wondering if he's still alive up there. The same way I'm sure that he is wondering if I'm alive down here..." She ran her hands over her arms again as the wind blew. "But there isn't much I can do about that is there?" She laughed softly again and rolled onto her stomach to lean up to see him again.


"What about you Ahren? Why can't you sleep?" She smiled softly, blushing again as she saw him lit up by the moon this time. His features were absolutely stunning. She hadn't thought about a guy like this since Bradley...and it certainly scared her that it was happening so soon...especially because she just met this man. But she really couldn't complain..and she wasn't. She wasn't complaining at all..


Tag: Ahren

[Ahren]

@ Rylee Rose

He didn't miss the blush that began to bloom on her face, which only served to enhance subtle features on her face. His reaction was a simple one, his tongue slipping forward to wet his lips before he grinned and shook his head. Other than that, he didn't comment more on it and she laughed with him before laying down. "Unless you know how put a 17 year old girl to sleep...I'm not sure much can help me." If he had any immediate ideas, he didn't speak up, and so she continued. "I haven't really slept well since we got down here...I'm always thinking about my dad and wondering if he's still alive up there. The same way I'm sure that he is wondering if I'm alive down here. But there isn't much I can do about that is there?" Ah. It was a sobering topic. One that most if not all in their group of one hundred had in common to talk about. They all had left behind something on the Ark - be it family or friends or just the familiarity of the place they had all grown up at. How others found peace with sleeping - how he managed to be more worried about being on the ground, was a outstanding in itself. Ahren expelled a slow breath, mulling her words over in his head a moment. "Oh is that all?" Soft sarcasm before his visage took on a more serious tone, his eyes casting upward as a moment of silence fell over him. "I left both of my parents up there," he admitted a bit later. "I guess...it softens the blow of trying not to think of them because I've been practicing at that for almost two years now in the skybox." Well, one year and seven months, but who was counting. "They visited sure but..." he cut himself off with a shrug, biting his bottom lip. It was a topic one could easily loose sleep over. "You were pretty close with your dad then yeah?" It did neither of them any good to try and speculate what was happening on the Ark. The topic changed soon after however, Rylee's curiosity over Ahren's own insomnia getting the better of her and she questioned him on it. "Mmm...sensory overload?" He suggested, a bit of his earlier smile returning now. He shifted his weight, leaning over her a little now to touch at the dirt and grass up above her head, his head tilting slightly to the side. He clenched and un-clenched his jaw as his fingertips darkened with soil, a feature highlighted by the current moon. "It's surreal. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up back in my cell and this will all have been some bizarre dream." Dark eyes drifted away from his hand and refocused on her face, his smile growing a little more. "Kinda stupid huh? Way less intense than what's on your mind at least..."

[Rylee Rose]

Rylee laughed softly at his sarcasm. She always appreciated people who could poke fun at themselves like she could so she appreciated his humor towards her. "I was only in the box for a few months...but it felt like forever." She sighed. When Ahren mentioned her father, she looked over at him. "He was everything to me. My mom was floated when I was only 6 years old...and he was all I had. I had my best friend for a while and eventually we started dating...but I lost him too....to another girl so I guess you can say my dad became my best friend too." She laughed again, but there was an inkling of sadness to her voice too. "I'm sorry you had to leave both your parents...I would give anything to be with my dad again...and I'm sure you're the same way." She smiled softly. 


She tilted her head closer to his body when his arm moved above her. She smiled, mainly to herself, but her face was in full view. She felt her body get warm with his arm over head now. It appeared to be blocking some of the chill even if that wasn't his intention. She closed her eyes as he spoke. His voice was soft and intriguing. She could listen to it for hours it seemed even though it had only been a few minutes. At his question, she opened her eyes again and felt a blush creep back up to her cheeks upon seeing his eyes on hers. 


Rylee smiled and shook her head at his question. "It isn't stupid Ahren...we all have fears and nightmares. No one's is any worse than someone else's. We just have to find ways to work through them..." She kept her eyes on his and then felt another shiver go up her spine. "I didn't think it was going to be this cold tonight" She laughed softly and moved her hands to her arms once more. "The last few nights it had been pretty warm...but tonight was certainly a surprise." Rylee wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it felt like it had been hours just sitting here and talking to Ahren....she knew it had only been 30 minutes tops, but it felt like so much longer. That thought made her pretty happy. Sitting here talking to someone was the most interaction she had had in a long time...and it was an interaction that she actually wanted to have. It wasn't a forced interaction with a guard, or another delinquent. It was a conversation that she wanted to continue...and she hoped it would.


Tag; Ahren

[Ahren]

@ Rylee Rose

Rylee filled him in on bits and pieces of her life - the short version obviously but it was pretty clear where big sore spots lay at least emotionally. Her mother had been floated, the reason not given, but honestly it didn't really matter. It had caused her pain and loss, something he couldn't relate to at least on that level. Ahren was lucky to have kept both his mother and his father, and while the idea of losing them was painful, he imagined it was nothing next to actually going through it. Her story progressed to that of another boy, a childhood friend and one who, from the tone of her voice, had ultimately betrayed her. Ahren's jaw clenched and un-clenched at the waver of her words, a sliver of anger running through him as he suddenly felt the need to hit something. More specifically, someone. The emotion faded as quickly as it had surfaced. "Sounds like a quality, class A human being." He didn't hide his disdain, and while he himself had never actually been in a relationship, it was fairly easy to believe it wasn't that hard not to cheat on someone you actually cared about. He shook his head, only to stare at her a second later, his brows knit together as she instead seemed to try to comfort him. "I'm sorry you had to leave both your parents...I would give anything to be with my dad again...and I'm sure you're the same way." Her words made him uneasy. It was just easier to not think about it like that. They were there. He was here. That was it, end of story and he stopped thinking after that. With just a few words, Rylee pushed at the wall he had put up. Lucky for him they started talking about why he was currently awake and not what was now probably going to keep him up later. Her body shifted a bit closer as he leaned back, his hand in the dirt while a few loose strands of her long hair tickled the bare skin of his arm. He hadn't noticed when exactly she had closed her eyes, but the act of her blinking them open at him and then blushing held his line of vision steady. "It isn't stupid Ahren...we all have fears and nightmares. No one's is any worse than someone else's. We just have to find ways to work through them..." Neither one of them looked away from the other. "...Like I said before - I usually just find a distraction," he murmured softly and she shivered, her hands moving to warm up her arms once more. It broke the tension and Ahren pulled back to his original seat, dusting his hand off on his pant leg. "I didn't think it was going to be this cold tonight. The last few nights it had been pretty warm...but tonight was certainly a surprise." Ahren nodded in agreement, though the last few minutes he had felt surprisingly warm. "Well, our options then are; go back to our tents where it's warmer but we won't sleep, get up and walk around and probably tick off someone on guard or..." He shifted on the blanket, extending an arm. "Or you can come here and we can keep talking until our teeth chatter." It was a lighthearted offer, complete with a lopsided smile.

[Rylee Rose]

Rylee laughed softly at his remark regarding Bradley. "Yeah....he was a real jerk now that I look back at it....he was good for the first 10 years of friendship though...I promise." She smiled softly and looked back up at the moon. "I guess that door had to close to open a better one." She shrugged as the moonlight shined over her features once more. She knew that Bradley cheating on her and her catching him was better for her. She would much rather have been happy and single than lied to while she was with him. And besides...if she had never found Bradley, she wouldn't have been put in the SkyBox...and wouldn't have been on the Ground..with Ahren. The thought made her smile. 

When he responded to her with the same answer about finding a distraction, a blush, once more crawled onto her smiling cheeks. "I guess it's lucky you ran into me then..." She said barely above a whisper, tilting her head a bit and smiling at him shyly. Usually Rylee was much more open and flirtatious rather than coy and innocent. But something about Ahren made her want to be that....she'd rather just enjoy his company and slowly flirt her way into his space than jump head first..and that was a first for her. 

What Ahren said next surprised Rylee more than she expected it to. As he listed their options, she blushed again, looking down at her hands, when he mentioned her coming to sit in his arms. "Teeth chattering sounds perfect right about now..." She said softly as she sat up slowly and moved into his extended arm, drawing her knees to her chest to try and keep as much heat close to her body as possible. As soon as she was under his arm, she let out a sigh. Already she was much warmer...and being this close to him was something she didn't realize she had wanted.

Rylee turned her head and looked up at him. "So now that your pick up line worked..." She laughed softly and winked. "What got you locked up in the Box?" She said, keeping her eyes on his. She wanted to know all about this boy...and be close to him. 


Tag: Ahren

[Ahren]

@ Rylee Rose

He was going to cause permanent damage to her face if she kept flushing at the things coming out of his mouth, her smile infectious to the point that their generally serious topics of conversation didn't seem overly weighty. More than that, talking with her was enjoyable - and in a way, she was meeting him head on with everything he said or did, even if her smile was soft and her voice quiet. Way better than biting sarcasm and a cold shoulder he might get from anyone else. Then again, maybe he pushed the envelope a tad too far with his last sentence. Her eyes dropped to her hands and he worried his bottom lip with his teeth, certain he had stuck his foot in his mouth this time. ...Or not. "Teeth chattering sounds perfect right about now..." came her soft reply, and a moment later he let his arm drape over her shoulders, her back flush against the left side of his chest. It was his turn to be surprised, her easy acceptance of such close contact not exactly what he had expected. Not to mention the fact that he had actually never really cuddled with anyone, let alone a girl. It was in his blood to treat it like second nature however, and other than the subtle increase in pulse, he sat every bit the gentleman his mother had taught him to be. Rylee wriggled slightly, just enough to turn so she could look at him. Even sitting as they were, it was easy to see he was a good bit taller than she was. "So now that your pick up line worked...What got you locked up in the Box?" Her question was asked lightly, paired with that pretty laugh of hers and a wink. A throaty laugh huffed from his lips, his hand lightly rubbing a bit of warmth into her exposed arm. "Not just a line," he clarified with mock hurt and a bit of a grin. "I'm enjoying talking with you - " he paused, dark iris' searching her eyes and his hand paused. "...And I'm avoiding the question." His admission was one of amusement but he also wasn't exactly used to talking about himself. Generally people just didn't really give a damn. "I got caught stealing. Some...tech we weren't supposed to touch." He hesitated, his eyebrows knitting together. Even though he was here on the ground, his crimes supposedly pardoned and those capable of punishment all still on the Ark - it was difficult to untie his tongue from the lies he had kept repeating to ensure his friends didn't end up locked up right along with him. He studied Rylee for a second and then made up his mind; after all, they were still all on the Ark and he had been grounded. "The truth? I was just there to make sure my friends didn't fuck up. Aaand...when they did, I decided it would be better to take the blame. I wasn't in immediate danger of being floated - the others... well it was just better if the guards just thought I was being an idiot." And there it was, no real tragic story, no superhero moves. It certainly didn't make him look "badass" or "dangerous", titles he was certain some around here strived for. "In the moment, it seemed like the best move. Looking back on it now, I can think of a few things I would have done differently." He snorted softly and shook his head, focusing back on her before he gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "What about you? ...You're going to tell me you're secretly one of the dangerous, deadly ones that got locked up right?" He flashed her a grin, assuming at least that his jest was just that and not fact.

[Rylee Rose]

Rylee let out a happy laugh when he told her that it wasn't just a line. She wasn't used to being this happy...hadn't been in months. Ever since she had walked in on Bradley and his other woman, she couldn't remember having been truly happy. She leaned a bit back against his chest feeling his arm wrap around her a bit more. She felt warmth running through her body at his touch and it brought a smile to her face.


As he started telling her about his arrest, she turned her face to his again hearing his voice waiver. He was lying...she could tell. She arched her eyebrow with a smirk and when he told her the truth she let out a soft giggle. "You don't have to lie about what got you thrown in there....." She looked into his eyes, realizing for the first time how close their faces were to each other. "You were brave to take the blame for your friends...not may of the other kids down here would have done that." She looked back down at her hands when he asked what she had done. 


Rylee let out a soft sarcastic sigh. "I killed four Arkers in less than 2 minutes and then took out 3 guards...." She waited a moment before looking up at him with a smirk and then laughed. "Sorry....I'm awful liar." She laughed again. "I caught my boyfriend cheating on me and ran as far away as I could, making my way into an air vent above a restricted area where he and I used to hang out when we were younger. I got angry and kicked the vent where we carved our initials....a Cadet caught me. So I tried to flirt my way out of it...despite my not so good attempts at being cute and flirty tonight, I used to be pretty good at it..." She gasped, and covered her mouth with her hand, another blush finding her face, when she realized she had said that sentence out loud. She actually admitted that she was trying to be cute and flirty...and it was up to Ahren to do with it what he would. But she had no intentions of it coming out that way...it was too late. "I'm just going to be quiet now...." She said softly with a quiet laugh. 


Tag: Ahren

[Ahren]

@ Rylee Rose

You don't have to like about what got you thrown in there..." Ahren's lips turned upward faintly. "It's...just a lie I've been telling for too long now. Hard not to slip into the same story." You were brave to take the blame for your friends...not many of the other kids down here would have done that." "Eh, stupid is more like it," he corrected with a small shake of his head. "If they hadn't been screwing around and if I had thought faster, we all could have gotten out of it." Whether or not they would have gotten in trouble later for something else however was still questionable. After Ahren had taken the blame however, his friends had at least kept their noses clean since. His story finished up and he turned the question back on her, joking about her possibly being some dangerous criminal. "I killed four Arkers in less than 2 minutes and then took out 3 guards...." Ahren's eyebrows shot up in surprise but he didn't pull away or drop his arm, and his grin formed right about the same time her own mouth pulled into a smirk. "Sorry...I'm awful liar." He laughed, shifting his body a little to hunch a little closer. The night air had grown chilly enough now that he could very faintly see his own breath. He was close enough now that she could speak almost directly into his ear now if she tilted her head back, her story slipping into one of unfortunate circumstances much like he had been in. Wrong area, wrong time. "So I tried to flirt my way out of it...despite my not so good attempts at being cute and flirty tonight, I used to be pretty good at it..." She caught her slip up too late, her fingers rising to her mouth as if trying to catch the words that had already floated away, her face turning scarlet. Ahren's immediate reaction was a brief look of surprise before it melted into playful; the right corner of his mouth hitching up into a teasing half smile. "And this Cadet was apparently resilient to your charms?" He glossed over her blunder - for the moment. "I'm just going to be quiet now...." She responded quietly, clearly embarrassed and that was when Ahren decided to stop being a "perfect" gentleman. His free hand reached forward, covering the fingers of the hand that was covering her mouth, moving to pull it slowly away from her face if she let him. His dark eyes fell to look at her mouth then, his tongue moving out from behind his teeth to wet his lips before he spoke again - this time his voice a little lower. "It's good I wasn't old enough to be doing his job," he paused as his eyes lifted to look into her's once more. "Or you'd still be up on the Ark, free." He left it at that for now - no other advances other than the fact that they were already very close to one another.

[Rylee Rose]

"Eh, stupid is more like it,"  Rylee looked up at him. "I don't think you're stupid...You took a risk to protect people you cared about. I wish my reason for being locked up was more heroic than it is." She smiled faintly and looked back up at the sky. Upon seeing his reaction to her fake confession, she laughed softly. She knew she had the capability to kill that many people, but she could never imagine having to take a life on the Ark. Now....that was a different story. Feeling Ahren bring his body closer to hers, she leaned back into his body, feeling his muscles against her back. She smiled softly.


Seeing his surprise to her response about the Cadet wasn't what she had expected. He laughed and responded "And this Cadet was apparently resilient to your charms?"  Rylee laughed softly and shook her head. The Cadet was awful to her in the end. He didn't even give Rylee a chance to explain herself before taking her in. Her breath hitched in her throat when she felt Ahren's hand over hers, his large hand removing her's from her face. She could feel his eyes on her lips and seeing his tongue run over his own brought chills to her spine. 


"It's good I wasn't old enough to be doing his job...Or you'd still be up on the Ark, free."  Rylee felt her mouth form an 'o' at his words. She had not expected that response from him. She thought her slip up may have been cause for him to turn away....not move closer. She could hear her breathing, it was much slower than it was earlier in the evening. She looked up into his eyes only to find that his eyes were already on her own. She was sure her heart had to be beating out of her chest, but she didn't care anymore.


Rylee turned her body in his arms looking up at him, her eyes still on his. "Is that so?" She whispered softly and bit her bottom lip. She had never imagined that she would have found someone she felt so open with after Bradley...and especially not this soon. But there was nothing telling her 'No' when she looked at Ahren. There was nothing in her head telling her to stop when she got closer in his big arms. This just felt right. She thought perhaps he was going to make the next move but just before she could think of anything else, a light flew by her peripheral vision and she looked up at the sky. 


A shooting star passed over head. She had never seen one before. "Oh my goodness...Isn't it beautiful?" She whispered. Her body and face was still very close to his. She followed the star's trail until it disappeared out of site and then turned her eyes back to him, realizing that it appeared they had gotten even closer this time....


Tag:Ahren