Drake shrugged. "I deserve it." He scratched his head, but still kept a grip on one of Lily's hands. He looked over to wear Grant was buying some clothing and a frown crossed his face. Running around without a shirt wasn't exactly his favorite thing, but it had taken him years to find a pair of pants that could withstand his heat. Drake had gotten so tired of looking that he had given up on finding anything but the one pair of pants.

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Molly opened her eyes and looked up at Trent, giving him a small smile. "I'd like that." She said softly. Adjusting her grip on him, she unknowingly brought their faces closer together. She was still dwelling on that little kiss he had planted on her forehead. Was he just being nice or was their more behind it? The throbbing in her head didn't let her dwell on it long. She closed her eyes again and just hung onto him as he carried her.

Diva had shown Rik the way to the town before saying her goodbyes. Diva started off walking quickly before breaking out in a run; she hadn't wanted to do that in the town, knowing that people could get very skittish if they saw someone running. You only ran if you were a small child playing tag or a grown person running for your life.

It definitely woke her up, but it also brought the sense of panic back to her. It was way late and she should've taken out Sarah hours ago. The knapsack smacked heavily against her back and she jumped over obstacles, which seemed to only spur her faster to her destination. When she finally arrived, she pushed the door open, her hair flying forward from the sudden stop in momentum. She saw Richard and Sarah standing in the living area and she clutched her hands together as she began to apologize profusely.

"I am so sorry!" She panted, her knapsack slipping off and dropping to the floor with a big thump, "I got caught by an Infected and there were these people that I met who help me and I used my powers too much and went blind for an hour and...oh gosh, I am just so sorry! I didn't mean to be so late!"

Grant nodded, "Yeah, I did. You're going to need an extra set of clothes living with me. We generally have a pair for working and training and a pair that we wear when we're getting supplies or lounging at the house in." The question made him pause before he answered, "If he wears it when that ice girl, I think Trent refers to her as Lilly, is touching him. When she's not it should burn slower so he'll have time to get it on and off quickly." He said, "I'm assuming she'll be by his side most of the time though. I'll tell him it's mainly for in the house. There's ladies in the house." He'd moved on from the seamstress and was beginning to lead them home at a leisurely pace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lilly simply shrugged to his comment, not denying it nor agreeing with it. She followed his gaze when he frowned to see Grant and Rik by the clothing before she patted his arm, "What's wrong? Is it the shirt thing?" She asked, wondering if he realized he could wear shirts now when she was touching him. Of course they'd burn off when she stopped touching him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Trent noted her face coming closer to his but he controlled his sudden urge to close the gap, turning his face forward again as his ears started to grow warm. He didn't understand why he'd felt like kissing her but that could be his inexperience with females. "Need your bandages?" He asked suddenly without looking at her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the door flung open Richard and Sarah jumped to their feet, Sarah of course slower to rise. They both stared at her in shock, Richard moving across the room to her while Sarah stayed in place. Hearing her explanation the younger boy place a hand on her arm to calm her, "It's fine. No one's mad. We were just worried about you when you didn't come back." He shook his head with a slight frown, "Are you hurt?"

Diva calmed down when Richard placed his hand on her arm, seeing that they were more shocked at her explosion into the house than being angry at her. In fact, they didn't even look angry. Richard only had a look of concern on his face when he asked her if she was hurt. Taking a deep breath, she let it own slowly before giving her usual smile, "Yes, I'm fine. The people I was taking about were all Broken, like us. One could control fire, the other ice, and the last one controlled electricity; their names were Drake, Lilly, and Rik. I'm hoping to tell Grant about them and then maybe they could come live with us."

Diva liked a house full of people; it wasn't like it wouldn't be harder, but it was always nice when you had people around you who could understand you. It might be more difficult to get some supplies, but Diva would gladly work harder so that they could continue living together. Besides, she really did like those three and wanted to repay them with more than just her beef jerky. That was the only part of her story she wouldn't let anyone else know about.

"I'm also wondering if I could ask you, Grant, or Trent to help me out with my powers." She said, "For the manipulation part, I mean. The Infected shattered through my shield in two hard swings. I wasn't expecting it, so the shock left me blinded. I need to become more offensive and not so much...well, running away.

"Anyhow, we can talk or think about it more while we go for a walk?" She asked Rich. Diva knew he had been planning to take Sarah since Diva hadn't been there, but since she was back maybe he would have rather opted out, "If you want to, that is."

Drake nodded as he scratched his head. "Yeah, i haven't been able to wear a shirt in years." His face flushed a little but he smiled. He thought about adding another comment about never finding a pair of flame resistant underwear but he decided to keep that comment to himself, she didn't really need to know that little detail.

--------------------------------


Molly opened her eyes and looked at Trent as he spoke. She noted she odd shift in his color, but she said nothing about it. "Maybe." She said softly. "But if you rub my neck i think i can manage with out." She gave him a small smile. Strange enough, he was the only one she felt totally comfortable with doing such things.

But she kept noticing the strange shift in his color. "Is everything okay?"Her hand reached up to the fluctuation and she was surprised when her fingers gently landed on his ear. She pulled her hand back unsure of exactly what was going on with him, or why his ears were suddenly warm to the touch.

Rik nodded to him, it made sense of course. "I'll let him know." Rik said, then slowed down to talk to Drake. "Hey, Drake, Grant got you this shirt for when you're in the house. It shouldn't burn as quickly when you and Lily are together." He said holding the shirt up at him. He offered it to Lily to take, thinking that it would be if she held on to it for him. "You know, since there are young ladies in the house and all." Rik grinned at the younger man.

Other than Grant, Rik seemed to be the oldest one out of them all. He wondered if there were be any other who would be the same age as him. He shrugged and watched Drake and Lily for a moment.

Lilly smiled at him, suppressing the urge to giggle as she patted his chest, rubbing her hand against his skin for a second, "Well, I like you this way. I'm not sure others would agree with me though." She looked at Rik when he approached and nodded to him, taking the shirt, "That was kind of him." She said softly, looking at Drake then to Rik again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trent frowned a second, he couldn't rub her neck while he was carrying her, "I'm.... I'm fine. I just feel odd today. I just keep getting odd urges." He answered her question honestly. She'd be able to tell if he were lying so he never attempted to when he was around her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah and Rich listened to her but suddenly Sarah got a sour expression, "Don't bother Diva. He's met them." She crossed her arms, "I'm not bunking with the two saps though." She sounded frustrated, like the fight had already happened. She'd seen a passive fight between her and Grant, the man was trying to make her slip in the same room as Lilly and Drake so he could be assured they didn't 'try... Anything.' as Grant had been putting it in the conversation.

Just then Grant opened the door smiling, "Good evening!" He called to them cheerfully, "We have new additions."

Drake's face flushed when Lily put her hand on his chest. Then his lopsided grin appeared. "Uh, I'm glad you like it." he chuckled a bit nervously. When he saw the shirt Rik handed to her he scratched his chest near where Lily had touched him. "I hope i don't ruin it and waste Grant's money."

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Molly looked up at him. "Odd isn't always bad though." She tried to counter. She didn't really know what was going on with him, but she figured she could at least try to give him a few words of encouragement to make him feel better.

When they finally got back to the house, Molly was relieved. She could get some tea and have Trent try to rub her neck and get the pain to subside. She saw the others colors through the door. Everyone was home so they could try to get names and rules all settled. She looked back to Trent. "Thanks for carrying me, i know it was probably a pain." Her face flushed a bit as she realized she rather liked being held in his arms, but she wasn't going to say that.

Rik smiled at them and headed inside the house behind Grant. He looked around, keeping his hands in his pockets. He looked around, his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't know why he was nervous, they were like him, but he was. He was nervous that they wouldn't want him there or maybe they'd reject him in some way. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd been rejected.

He stood there, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He wished his hair didn't stand up in all sorts of funky places. He didn't try to fix it, knowing that if he did it would only make it worse. His smokey grey eyes looked around the house, making note of where everything was.

Diva felt both elated and confused at Sarah's statement. Elated because Grant had met the three and, from the sounds of it, was going to let them stay, but confused at the 'two saps' comment. Who were the two saps? Thinking about it, she realized it must be Lilly and Drake. The two had stuck together like glue, either being very close or touching each other in some way. Though how did that...oh wait, nevermind. The thought made a faint blush come across her cheeks along with a nervous inward giggle. Oh dear, they might just have to separate them at night for everyone's sake, if that were even possible.

Her attention was brought to the door when Grant came in, his own cheery greeting infecting her. She grinned brightly as the others game in, giving a laugh as she answered, "Yeah, Sarah just warned us!

"I didn't think I'd see you three again so soon, but I'm sure glad I am." She said in greeting to Lilly, Drake, and Rik. Then to the group, she replied, "Welcome home, everyone!"

Lilly smiled at Drake's comment, shaking her head for a moment as she took her hand from his and put it around his waist to hand him the shirt with her other, still letting him walk forward to lead her into the house, "Let's find out then. Put it on." She told him with a small grin up at him.

She nodded in greeting to Diva, "You look like you're feeling a little bit better now."
~~~~~~~~~~~

Trent looked down at her at her comment and laughed a moment, "It is when it gets you slapped." He responded, entering the house after Grant and making his way quickly into the kitchen with her, setting her down. "You're in the kitchen, Molly." He'd set her down on the patch where the kitchen's tile moved into the living room's worn wooden floor so she could tell exactly where she was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grant stepped over to the three in the living room, turning to Rich and Sarah, pointing to each of the new broken as he said, "Lilly, Drake, and Rik." He said and Richard immediately stepped over to shake hands, "I'm Richard. You can call me Rich." He ignored the small sound from Sarah though. It was a common sound she made when a vision shocked her. She kept the vision to herself, one of her sitting happily on Rik's knee, his arm around her waist to steady her was too friendly she thought. She couldn't help but glare at him through her bangs with her multicolored eyes as she announced her name, "I'm Sarah." Her voice was hoarse when it was raised to a proper level, one that everyone could hear.

Rik nodded in greeting as Grant said his name. He took Rich's hand and smiled at him. "I'm Rik. Good to meet you." He said. His eyes were drawn to the small, fragile looking girl. Grant was right, she did look much younger than she should. He gave her a soft smile as she spoke, her voice hoarse. "Hi there, Sara. It's good to meet you." He said. He stayed in one spot, unsure if he should move towards her to shake her hand. He rubbed his hands on his pant legs, they had started to tingle with electricity as he had become a little more nervous. He had hope he didn't give Rich a shock at all when he had shook his hand. "I'm sorry if I shocked you in any way, Rich." Rik said to the other man, trying hard not to stare at Sara. He wasn't staring at her because she looked strange to him or anything, there was something else about her. He was curious about her, he wanted to learn more about her.

Drake took the shirt and Pulled it on over his head. It was a little snug on his chest but fit good otherwise. He took Lily's hand back in his. When Rich offered his hand Drake hesitated. He looked down at Lily but then extended his hand. "Drake." He let a grin show when he was actually able to shake the kids hand.

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Molly smiled up at Trent after he set her down. "I doubt any one would slap you for doing something." She felt the floor beneath her thin sneaker soles and gauged where she was. She was now able to move with out any assistance, knowing exactly where everything was, as long as no one had moved it. She moved around the table and grabbed the tea pot from the counter. After filling it with water she put it on the burner to heat up for tea. Then she turned and found Trent again. "Can you get my tea from the top shelf please?" She asked softly wit ha small smile, as she tried to not let her golden eyes drift away from Trent and onto the others. She was glad he was there with her.

"It's amazing what a little run back here can do." Diva joked in return to Lilly's greeting.

While the rest were introducing themselves, Diva had gone up to Grant to ask him about the same thing she had with Richard. She never felt nervous about asking Grant anything, he had always been warm and inviting even when she had first started living with them. Sure, he could be very tough, but he never asked anything of anyone he wouldn't do himself.

"Grant," She said, the tone in her voice showing him that she was serious in what she was about to ask, "I was hoping you could help me control my powers more when it comes to manipulating the shadows into a physical form. The three you brought home today helped me with an Infected...and I can only imagine you ran into another one on your way back. The Infected was so strong, it shattered my shield in two blows."

She had a look of concern on her face, however, that clouded out her smile, "Though two Infected nearly simultaneously close to one another...that doesn't happen often. Do you think something is going on?"

Lilly had confidently shaken Richard's hand, the boy blinking when it was cool but not overly so, staring at her skin a moment before the boy moved on, making the connection between the two's contact when Drake was a little warm, no more than a person with a fever would be, "I see, you two are opposites." He said, waving a hand to Rik's apology, "Oh, no. Nothing." He shrugged, "But I'm permanently grounded." He joked, it was a somewhat serious joke though. He caught the look Rik was giving Sarah and motioned him, "She's just antisocial. There's nothing really wrong with her." He told him.

Sarah's eyes followed Richard as he introduced himself but when she looked back at Rik she saw he was staring. It made her skin prickle and her eyes burn but her face stayed calm though there began to be an undertone to the calm, embarrassment? Or maybe it was hurt. She wanted to leave but that would just call more attention to herself later when everyone noticed she was gone so instead she stared at her feet, hoping he'd lose interest in her as she wrung her hands in front of her as if she was nervous.

Trent raised a brow, "Promise?" He asked after he'd agreed to grab her tea and brought it to her. He was standing beside her again with his hand on hers, having already placed the tea in her hand. He was so close to her now. It was hard for him to hold back still.

Grant looked down at Diva as she spoke before easily agreeing, "Of course. I'll take you to training tomorrow. We need to test the other's strength. It'd be a good way to help you with your powers and test them at the same time." Her second question made him frown, "Was your infected a human? Animal infected are just as common as human ones and it can happen that way. It's when two humans or two animals go over so close to each other.

Rik shrugged at him. "I didn't think there was anything wrong with her." He smiled. "What's your power? Before yesterday, I never knew there were others out there like me." He said, curious about his power. He would make his way to her, hoping he wouldn't scare her away. She didn't look like she wanted to be around the group all that much. He wanted to talk to her, but he didn't think she wanted to talk to him. He bit his bottom lip slightly, looking between Rich and Sara.

Rik couldn't understand his draw to her. He tried to push the thoughts away, rubbing his hands on his pants again. He often did that was a nervous habit, not that he knew why he felt slightly nervous. Come one Rik, you're a man, stop acting like a kid. He scolded himself.

Drake nodded to Rich's comment. "Fire and Ice." He chuckled. "If it wasn't for her, i wouldn't be able to stand here, I'd burn your house down." He admitted a bit sheepishly, but he gently squeezed Lily's hand and smiled at her.

________________________________

Molly's face flushed when his hand stayed on hers. She felt her heart racing but she tried to ignore it. When she heard Trent she looked up at him. "Well I can't promise for anyone else, but i promise I'd never slap you." She smiled up at him, her face still red. After a slight hesitation, she put her other hand on top of his, hoping she wasn't reading into the situation too much.

"No. It was an animal." Diva said and allowed herself to relax, but some of the tension still didn't go away. Whenever there was more than one Infected, whether it was human or animal, it never sat well with her. She always suspected something else would happen and it would be a lot worse. So far, her suspicions were unfounded and nothing else had happened, but she could never escape that feeling of dread until hours, or even days, later. However, she never let it get so bad that others began to question her. She didn't like to bother them with such worries when all it did was just add to the stress. Oh well, perhaps the training the next day would help her work it out of her system.

"Thank you, Grant. It'll really be a big help for me." She smiled, "And sorry for worrying you unnecessarily. I'm just a big worrywart...you'd think I'd have stopped such silliness by now."

Her attention turned back to the group before turning back to Grant, an eyebrow arched in telltale curiosity. There was a certain tension in the air surrounding a few people, and the tension wasn't from anger or something unpleasant. It was more nervousness, like that nervousness you got when you were about to confess to someone.

Did I miss something? Diva expression said clearly, she didn't have to voice it.

Lilly squeezed Drake's hand back, "Yeah, and I'd be sticking to the floor." she glanced up at him with a sigh and moved her hands to grip his upper arm again, wishing that it was around her shoulders but he seemed to just want to hold hands for now. She'd not complain though, holding hands was better than not touching at all and not because of the repercussions that would have with their powers.

"Oh. Plants." Richard answered the older man, taking out a seed and letting it sprout in his hand into a simple weed. The boy frowned at that and glared at the plant in his hand. He felt bad a second after when the plant promptly withered. "Aw, man! I'm sorry. You're just not what I expected" He said to the helpless plant, clearly feeling guilty for having accidentally killing it. The boy looked up though when Sarah grew tired of being stared at and cautiously approached Rich to tap the lanky boy's elbow, careful not to let her sluggish body fall. When she walked it looked as if she were walking through water, as if something was weighing down her body and she was fighting against it. "I'm getting tired. I'm going to go lay down." She told him in her normal voice, barely more than a whisper. The boy made a face, "Already! We hardly went anywhere!" He protested and the small woman nodded to him, "Too many visions." And the boy understood immediately it seemed and agreed.

Trent considered her face as she spoke, weighing his actions against the potential outcomes and finally decided if she got mad at him she'd probably get over it later. If she decided to tell Grant and he got angry he would only yell a little, embarrass him and then get over it so before he could change his mind he bent down, laying his lips on hers, waiting to feel the stinging feeling of a hand hitting his face for the second time.

Grant chuckled, "Oh, it's alright. I'm just glad you're alright." He patted her head and turned back to the group, his expression asking the same, "I think it's Sarah." He said, looking down at Diva then back to the group.

Drake moved his arm from Lily's hands and promptly wrapped it around her shoulder, hugging her to him. He rather liked having someone to hold onto. He smiled at her and then looked at Grant and Rich. "Um, I really hate to be a bother, but you guys wouldn't happen to have any food to spare would you?" He bit his lip nervously, he hated having to ask but his stomach was rumbling, the only thing he had eaten in the past three days was that jerky Diva had given him.

_____________________

Molly was momentarily stunned when she felt Trent's lips on her's. But she recovered soon enough and let her eyes close as she kissed him back. Her heart was racing and pounding in her chest. He actually thought she was going to slap him for this? She had been waiting for this! She squeezed his hand as she stood on her toes so he wouldn't have to lean over so far, but she kept their lips connected.

Rik blinked and watched in amazement as the younger boy took a seed out and made it grow so suddenly. "Oh..wow. That's so cool." He said, his eyes lit with joy like a little boy with a new toy. Rik wanted to ask him all sorts of questions about how his powers work, what was the extent of them. However he didn't get a chance when Sara came up to him and told them she was tired. "Your visions take a lot out of you, huh?" Rik asked her with understanding eyes. He used to get real fatigued when he used his powers. He could only imagine the type of fatigue she got from her powers. He wondered how powerful her visions were and what or when she could see.

Rik decided to save the questions for later, when she wasn't tired and when they got to know each other a little more. He often got himself in trouble when he asked people too many questions upon meeting. He had learned that a lot of people in this world didn't like to talk to strangers much. He had been lucky with Grant and Lily, even though Lily hadn't been to thrilled about his questions, but she answered them anyways.

Rik ran a hand through his wild blonde hair, hoping that he didn't offend or scared off Sara. He felt tired, he wanted to lay down himself as well. He hid the fact, deciding that until he proved himself to the others, he'd keep to himself and stay out of their way.

"Hm." Was all Diva said to Grant's statement, not really sure what else to say about the whole matter. This was a lot different from when she had first arrived, so she wasn't sure how to react. Thankfully, Drake broke through the situation by saying that he was hungry. Diva immediately perked up, finally having something she could do.

"Sure! I think there's some leftover fruit from this morning that Rich grew." She said, walking towards the kitchen, "I'll be right back with some."

Humming a little tune beneath her breath, she made her way to the back where the kitchen was located. Looking back on it, Diva would say she should've been more observant and realized that the kitchen was too quiet. There should have been noise since both Molly and Trent had gone back there and hadn't yet come out. However, what she should've and could've done isn't the point. It's what she did.

Walking into the kitchen, the humming abruptly stopped as well as her feet. She stood shock-still at the scene playing out in front of her. Trent was bending down...Molly was shifting up...and their lips were touching each others...

Her back hit the wall with a bang, her face becoming enveloped in scarlet at having witnessed two of her house mates in the act of kissing. She knew that Molly had had a thing for Trent for awhile now, but he had seemed completely oblivious. That they were doing such a thing only meant that Molly had cracked through the dense shell. Just her luck that Diva had stumbled in on it.

"Um...uh..." She could feel her face becoming brighter as she fumbled for words. Oh, she wished they'd stop looking at her! And why had she had to hit the wall!? Rushing forward, she grabbed some of the fruit, "JustcametogetsomefruitforDrakeokaybye!"

Running back to where the group was, she pushed the fruit into Drake's hands, her blush having traveled down further to her neck. It was quite a sight to see so much blood rushing to that area. She could feel her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

"Um...g-gonna...take a make out--I mean a walk! I'm going to take a walk outside!" She said in strange, higher-pitched voice than was her normal before she shot across the floor and out the door.

Rik looked up from Sara and Rich as Diva came rushing out of the kitchen area, her face lit bright red. He tilted his head as she shoved the fruit at Drake and took off outside for a walk. "Now what in the world has gotten into that girl?" Rik asked aloud, not really expecting an answer from anyone. Rik rubbed his stubbly jaw, wondering what she saw in the kitchen that made her react that way. He looked to Rich, question on his face. "Any idea why she would react that way to something in the kitchen?" He asked the younger man.

Lilly laughed as Drake asked for food, leaning into him happily when he did exactly as she'd been wishing, "I offered you that lemon, you know." She teased. She was just as confused as everyone else when Diva came back blushing so badly. She looked towards the kitchen then up at Drake.

Sarah looked up at Rik as he spoke to her, her mouth going dry as she looked at him. She didn't understand the way her skin prickled the closer she got to him and she felt her cheeks flush pink when she nodded in answer to his question. "S-sometimes." She answered softly, beginning to edge back away from her strong desire to get closer to him. She was grateful for the distraction that Diva provided, "Trent and Molly. Presumably making out." She said in answer. It wasn't a vision but it was merely intuition. Trent and Molly were in the kitchen and Diva had just come out and in her embarrassment she let know that her mind was on kissing.

Trent jumped as he heard a sound behind him, holding Molly protectively in that moment as he glared at Diva, his face flushing bright red as he stepped back from the smaller girl, his hand still touching hers, "Um.... Well, yeah. Sorry." He said, unsure what to say.

Drake blushed nervously, "Yeah but that was your food." He admitted. Then Dive shoved the fruit into his hand and walked off. He raised an eyebrow but didn't hesitate to bite into the apple. It had been along time since he had gotten to eat fruit. He smiled at the long forgotten taste. Then he leaned over and kissed Lily's forehead. "Thanks." He said. But then he coughed at the smaller girls statement about the other two making out in the kitchen. "What they haven't done that already? They seemed pretty chummy earlier today."

______________________________

Molly almost screamed at the sudden sound that broke their kiss. Trent held her protectively and blocked her view of whoever it was that had caught them, but then she heard Diva's voice. When Trent let her go, Molly's face instantly went red, most likely matching Trent's color, but she couldn't be sure. She noted that their hands were still together and that made her happy, but when he apologized she grinned. "You don't need to be sorry. I'm quite glad actually." Gently reaching up, Molly pulled Trent down so she could plant a small kiss on his cheek. When she let him go she smiled, hoping that the whole event wasn't just a one time thing.