"Anytime"

He took her by the hand and lead the way up the stairs and to her room. Walking slowly, so that she wouldnt fall. Within moments they were outside her room.

"Well, i suppose this is goodnight then."

After not finding any chips grave walks back up the stairs and into his room. Then sat down on the foot end of the coffin for a moment reflecting on the day's events.

((SOrry I disappeared then re-appeared. Got a bit busy with school. :/))

Curiously Lyric poked her head out and ran up into her room not to be seen. Quiely she tip toed into her bed. Yawning. The day had been rainy and that all it ever had been for quite some time. Curling into a ball Lyric sighed. SHe could nearly feel her heart bear against the palm of her hand. It had been so cold sheh felt so sthin thatLyric nearly could feel her ribs. Then again she did lots of walking a few eating. Looking at the fogged window Lyric sat up and the bed creaked slightly. Putting her hand against the window she drew a smiley face. She smiled along with it.

Smiling, she nodded and released his hand from hers. She was very appreciative of everything he had done for her, whether he realized it or not. She hugged him quick, then opened the door to her room. Turning back towards him, she smiled.

"Night Guma. Thanks again."

Shutting her door quietly behind her, the light flicked off a few minutes later.

He nodded hopeing she slept well, as a shadow figure crossed his path once again. This time it was in motion and moved towards one of the rooms he hadnt been to a few doors down. He shrugged it off as he walked down stairs into the darkness. He adjusted his eyes enough to see what was atleast close in front of him so he wouldnt bump anything. He found the bar stools and sat upon one, laying his head on the bartop, he thought about the day and reflected. His thoughts lead him to her, as he drifted to sleep.

Grave yawned and took of his shoes. He got up and walked over to his sholderbag and picked it up, then walked back to his coffin and set the bag inside then climbed in himself pulling the lid over him then latching it shut from the inside. He pulled up his comforter and drifted to sleep.

As it seemed she heard no more noise it was time to go sneak something to eat. Sliding down the stairway rail Lyric was nearly smiling. Her dark hair looked like ribbons bouncing behind her. She grabbed a soda and was reaching for the doritos. Hand held high on top of the shelf nearly jumping up and down she finally caught the bag. With a slight crunch as it fell on her head. Lyric grunted slightly as to blame the noise on the bag.

((Lyric's look ))

Raeillieagh woke up early that morning. Blinking into the gray morning light, she let her bleary vision clear to see where she was. She was having one of those moments where she didn't remember where she fell asleep. Once she remembered though, her sapphire eyes shot open, and she sat straight up to see if it was all there. When she was satisfied that nothing was a dream, she climbed out of bed, her chestnut hair falling in messy, bedhead waves around her face. Scratching her head, she dug around for a hair tie, and pulled her long hair out of her face. She was heading to the market again. She had something that she needed to buy still.

Getting up as quietly as she could, Rae tiptoed over to her clothes, and got dressed as silently as she could. Slipping her shoes on, she made her way across her room and downstairs. On her way down the stairs, one of the steps her foot was on let out a loud creak, and she froze as if waiting for someone to yell at her for making noise so early. When no one did though, she continued down them. Rae paused at the bottom, her sapphire eyes wide with wonder when she saw Guma asleep at the bar. Shaking her head, she went to an old, wooden chest and pulled it open. Rummaging around it for just a minute, Rae pulled out an ancient looking blanket. Laying it on the edge of the couch, she walked back over to Guma, and picked him up as carefully and lightly as she could. Huffing slightly, she carried him to a couch and laid him on it, covering him with the blanket. She paused only for a second after she moved him. It was just to wonder why she acted that way around him. She frowned for a millisecond, then turned and headed out the door.

If anyone had seen the look on her face, they would have known that it was the look of confusion. Following that, would have been the guess that she had never felt anything personal towards anyone before, and that this was all new to her. Unfortunately, guesses are just that, guesses. No one can really know for sure what is going on inside her mind, and so the look on her face will remain a mystery. Both to her, and to any onlookers.

Drifting away from uncausiousness, he felt around him and knew he wasnt where he left himself. He slowly opened his eyes but stil kept them peeled enough that they still looked as if he was still asleep. His eyes opened wide once he realized he was on the couch being covered with a rather aged looking blanket. Not too entirely sure of who had been this kind, but considering his choices he knew it had been her. He smiled as he stretched and began to move himself to a standing position. He folded the blanket and left it on the couch hopeing she would find it there. He then wondered why she did this and if she was feeling any better, and above all, he was wondering where she disappeared to. He made is way groggely to the bar and poured himself a glass of milk and stared off into his own mind.

Raeillieagh parked the truck outside the building, and turned the key off in the ignition. Pocketing the key, she stepped out of the cab of the truck into a blistering, windy, gray day. Making a face, she shut the door, and went to the back of the truck. Smiling, she dropped the gate, and started to haul out a few tools. Carrying them over towards one of the walls, she set them down and walked over to the front door.

Taking a deep breath, she stopped for a moment, her eyes closed. Her thoughts had been scattered like leaves in a wind lately, and it bothered her. Currently, her mind plagued her with thoughts of what her parents would think, along with what all the people that cared for her would be saying if they saw her now. For a moment, one would have thought that Rae was about to cry. For if one looked at her, they would see her eyes watering, and saw one single, lone tear make a trail down her red, wind blown cheek. Frowning, she wiped it away with a bit of fury. She didn't care what they thought anymore. She was her own person, and nothing any one of them said mattered at all.

Gripping the door handle, she turned it and eased the door open. Her angry blue eyes scanned the room to see if anyone else was up. Seeing Guma spacing out, she shook her head with a smile flash across her face for a split second. She walked over to the couches, and pushed them away from the area, making room for something it seemed.

Right as she was finishing moving the couches around, a knock was heard on the door. Following the knock was a small squeak as the door was pushed opened and a couple of stronger looking men strolled in. She smiled, noticing who they were and directed them outside towards where she had lain the tools. After a moment, Rae returned inside, and the sound of tools running, and men working was heard.





Over the course of the past few hours, there was a major change to the main room of the tavern. Now, instead of there being just a blank wall where the couches rested, there was a brand new fireplace. It was a fireplace that was fashioned to look older, and well used when in fact it was clean, and unused. It was complete with dings and dents in the metal plating around it, and the stone flooring put in around it was cracked looking as well.

Rae smiled as she looked at the finished fireplace and nodded. She was more than satisfied with the results. She had hoped upon buying it, that the guys she hired would be able to make it fit in with the rest of the room. Little did she know that that had meant that they would break some stone tiles, and ding and dent the fireplace itself. It had taken her a couple hours alone just to find the right fireplace that she thought would best fit the place. After she had found it, she worried that she wouldn't find the men that she could hire to help her put it in. Then she worried over every little thing until this moment that had just came.

She pushed the couches back into their spots that they had been resting in before she moved them, and stood back to see how it looked with everything in place. Her face broke into a wider smile when she saw how well the room as a whole fell into place. Looking upon everything, she couldn't help but think how it felt so much like home to her, that she was glad that she took the chance to walk through that old, battered door that first night.

Turning, she looked around the room to see if Guma was still there. She was wondering if he had been watching the whole thing or not. When she spotted him, she saw that it looked like he was in his own little world again. Shaking her head with a chuckle, she walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you think Guma?"

photo by Rae

snapping out his his hour long daze, he nearly fell outta his seat at the slightest touch of a hand on his shoulder. He looked around confused as if looking for the time and wondering how long he was sitting there. Just as he went for a sip of his milk, his quickly changed his mind. HE also noticed the amazing looking fireplace that just seemed to appear in front of him. HE smiled as he glanced at the hand on his shoulder and followed it up to its owner and smiled larger.

"I take it you did this. Its amazing."

After a couple second pause, he blushed slightly...

"how long have i been just sitting here?"

Raeillieagh smiled, laughing softly. She had stood there, waiting for him to answer her for a while. Losing track after a while, she had ended up zoning out for a bit. When he snapped out of it, so did she. She chuckled a little bit more after seeing him blush.

"A while actually. I got up early to get it, and put it in. I figured the fireplace would look nicer if it had that old, used look to it instead of the brand new look. Do you think so?"

She smiled, and pulled her hand off his shoulder as she sat on a stool next to him. Spinning around on it, she faced the fireplace as she waited for an answer from him.

He analyzed her question as he tried calculation his hours of being zoned. he looked at the fireplace and agreed.

"Yea, that was a great idea and it fits in perfectly"

He looked back at his glass of milk and reached over the bar to pour it out in the sink.

Rae was about to chuckle a little when she realized that it seemed like something was bothering Guma. She watched him for a moment, her head tilted to one side. After a few more moments than a moment passed, she walked over to him. Placing one hand on his shoulder again, she looked at him with some concern in her eyes.

"You look bothered by something. Do you want to talk about it? We can talk while we go chop wood if you would like?"

"chop wood, huh?"

He thought about the offer then drifted away in his thoughts again. Before he got too deep he snaped himself out and blinked a couple of times.

"oh, yea. Sounds like a great idea. but where we gonna get wood from"

He asked becoming very aware of his surroundings. After all, they were in an alley. He didnt know where they would find any trees.

Rae laughed, and took his hand, walking away.

"You know how we have a little space in back right? Well, I brought in logs of wood, so that we could stack it like that, and just chop what we needed."

She flashed a smile back at him, and led him through the kitchen through the back door. Sitting there was a pile of logs on the ground.

He couldnt figure out what shocked him more. The fact that she took his hand or the fact they had a fire place and an ample supply of wood to burn. He gazed upon the floor that had a few logs ready to be chopped and wondered how exactly they were gonna chop them. But he figured shed already have an answer so he didnt asked, he just looked at her and smiled.

She chuckled and picked up two hatchets that were laying against the side of the building. She handed one to Guma, keeping the other for herself. She knew that he was wondering about that, so she didn't even bother saying anything. Turning, she began to chop wood.

Being handed a hatchet, and watching Rae begin to chop he then mimicked her chopping as they both started chopping in unison. He paused for a moment.

"was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

He began to chop again as he awaited her reply

Pausing for a moment, she looked at him with the ax resting on her shoulder. Standing upright, she blinked once, then smiled.

"Yea. It just seemed like something has been either bothering you, or occupying so much of your mind that you can't think straight. Want to talk about it?"

She watched him a moment longer, then went back to chopping wood. She didn't want to just stand there like she was expecting an answer.

He stood there, looking at her as she chopped wood, thinking of a way to respond.

"I cant really say. yea, my mind is kinda cluttered right now, bit i cant really explain why. I dont know. It was like this when i woke up this morning. I just keep going off to somehwere in my mind i dont recognize and i seem to lose touch with reality. Atleast thats kinda what it feels like"

He realized he just said a mouth full and decided to shut up and to continue chopping

Rae stopped chopping all together, and looked at him. She set the hatchet down, and walked over to him. Gently, she took the hatchet from him, setting on the ground. She stood straight up, and looked at him.

"You're worrying too much. You need to relax. You are letting too many things bother you right now. Let me help."

She put her fingers on his temples, and closed her eyes. A faint glowing appeared around her fingers, and she took a deep breath. After a few long seconds, she pulled her fingers away from his forehead, swaying. She blinked blearily, and looked at him surprised.

"Wow..."

Not being sure of what had just happened, he blinked a couple times wondering why she was swaying. Placing his hand on the lower part of her back he braced her just in case she fell. Looking at her, he copied.....

"wow?"

She blinked, placing one of her hands on her forehead. She closed her eyes for a moment, then let out a deep breath.

"Yes, wow. I helped you organize your thoughts. You are very bothered by a few things. Let your mind wander right now. What happens?"

She watched him for a moment, aware of his hand on her back. She was grateful for it, otherwise she might have fallen over.

Still mildly confused. he tilted his head and curiously asked...

"organised my thoughts? and wht do you mean what happens??"

he kept his hand on her back, half for physical support, half for moral support.